by Holly Hood
One
“I think she broke my nose!”
I fight the urge to scream and shake my hand, wiggling each finger one by one to make sure none of them are broken after decking this guy in the face.
I tear through the crowd going for the exit before he makes an even bigger scene than he already is, I don’t want to wind up in jail.
My phone buzzes from its resting place in my bra as I slip past the bouncer and out into the cold night air. I lift the back of my hair and welcome the breeze.
“What do you want, Jackson?” I demand searching the parking lot for my car. I’ve only had one drink so I am perfectly fine getting behind the wheel.
“I stopped by to bring you soup and you didn’t answer,” he tells me. “Something tells me that you’re not sick and that you are not home.”
I hit the speaker and aim my phone at the row of crotch rockets. “That’s because if I told you the truth you would have never let me leave.” I snap a couple of pictures and bring the phone back up to my ear.
“Savy.” He pauses, doing his best to keep his voice the same smooth level headed octave it always is at. “You didn’t drive across town to that bar by any chance did you?”
I step a little closer to the bikes and press my fingertips down on the cool metal. My insides ignite with a burst of excitement when I read the words I have been obsessing over for months now.
“It’s really not that bad of a place. I made it out just fine,” I assure him. I leave out the part about punching an overly eager guy in the face when he tried to grope my boobs.
“I told you not to go there alone.”
“And I told you not to propose to me but you did that anyways,” I smirk. “We don’t always get what we want.”
I hit end on my phone. I need to leave before I do something I regret.
“What the hell are you doing to my bike?”
I slam into six foot three inches of muscle and flesh and jerk my head up. “I…wasn’t doing anything.”
But that’s not a good enough answer because this guy now has his hands on me. And he isn’t letting me go anywhere. He stops me when I try to knee him in the balls.
“Don’t even think about it,” he shoves me away. “If you’re not going to play with them hands and knees off.”
I cross my arms and refuse to give him a response. But now that I know he is the owner of one of the bikes, things just got a little bit more interesting.
“I don’t know what you’re even doing at a bar like this alone but you need to get the fuck out of here.” He slips his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“I didn’t ask for your advice.” I glare to let him know that I am serious and that he isn’t going to intimidate me.
“Well consider it a gift. Because if anyone else would have caught you out here touching their bikes, you would probably be missing some of your pretty little teeth,” he says. He spits out of the side of his mouth and looks me over.
I know that kind of look.
“Thanks for the compliment but big meatheads are not my thing.” He’s muscular and has a head full of dark brown hair and these majestic eyes that see deep inside to all of your deepest darkest fears.
“Dumbasses aren’t mine,” he tells me. He bites down on his lip. “Goodbye, dumbass.”
I flip him the bird and spin around.
I have a feeling I am making the biggest mistake leaving but what other choice do I have after verbally assaulting him?
At least I have the pictures.
“My name is Savy,” I tell him. “Not dumbass.”
I unlock my car and look at him. He slings a leg over his bike. “Nash.”
We lock eyes for several seconds before I climb into my car. My heart is racing. I throw my head back against my seat and sigh. I’m not feeling so tough anymore.
His bike speeds out of the parking lot. And I follow soon after, knowing I need to get to the safety of my own home, and away from this bar.
Two
“I must say this is the most I have seen you drank in quite some time.” Sophie smooths the front of her dress and shoots me an amused grin. “I thought for a moment you let your boss tame you.”
I lick my lips putting my glass down on the table. “Jackson and I have a clear understanding.”
She points a red fingernail at me. “I know. I know. As long as you are able to spend time with Ryker and I use that term very loosely, he is allowed to tote you all around town like pretty little arm candy.”
“That is so not what is going on,” I take another sip of the hard liquor in my glass. I am trying my best to blend in. But trying to resemble any of the women sprinkled as far as the eye can see, it’s very hard to pull off.
I watch a girl climb up onto the bar and rip her shirt off.
“The Red Skeleton.” Sophie reads the words carved into our table. “I wonder what that means.”
I shrug. “I think it’s a law to name bars something odd.”
Sophie takes another swig of her beer. “I think we need more. And it’s your turn to beg the bar maid to wait on us.”
I roll my eyes and leave Sophie, skilfully making my way around the tables. A group of guys at one of the pool tables does his best to use his best pickup line on me, and I ignore him.
“What can I get you?” The barmaid asks. She cocks an eyebrow—she’s sort of a memory of what pretty once was. Dark circles hang under blue eyes. And a thick ponytail secures her hair out of her face. When she furrows her brows, she has even more wrinkles. “You ain’t related to the Burgess brothers are you?”
I shake my head. “Not that I know of.” But for all that I know, I very well could be. She crosses her arms and stares me down. “You remind me of someone.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“If you’re related to the burgess brothers it could be bad. The last time I saw them I wound up in jail,” she glares at me. “Now what can I get you?”
“A beer and a whiskey,” someone says. And a hand drops down on the bar along with several bills. I follow it up to the owner.
Oh shit.
“You know it’s very impolite not to thank someone for a drink,” he informs me. Him being Nash, the grouchy biker I ran into the night I was digging up my past.
He pushes the glass across the bar and it comes to a stop right before it crashes over the edge. I grab a hold of it and look at him. “Thank you.”
The barmaid leans over the counter. “What can I get you, Nash? I hope you’re not here to cause any more trouble like last night.” She smirks at him.
He raises his chin. “The usual. And I can’t make any promises.” He looks over at me when he says so.
I raise an eyebrow, daring him to assume anything else about me. Our first run in wasn’t the best and now I have the pleasure of having to do it all over again.
He faces the crowd. So I do the same. I hold tight to my glass. Sophie gives me a wave from her seat at our table. I wave back, refusing to smile back.
“This is the second time I have found you someplace you don’t belong.” He takes a swig of his beer, not giving me another look.
“Maybe that’s because you have such a hard time minding your own business.” I raise my glass and head back to my table.
“Who was that?” Sophie asks.
“That was an asshole,” I inform Sophie, taking the spot next to her. I hand over her beer and push my own drink away. I am not feeding into his manly manipulation.
I know the second I wrap my lips around the glass he will see that a little part of me has let him win and I am not willing to do that.
She tilts her head. “That asshole is staring like he wants to kill us. But…he’s really attractive so I a
m finding it hard to be bothered.” She sighs.
I’m finding it hard not to flip him the bird. And when I glare back he doesn’t falter, he just keeps right on staring us down. Our eyes lock and I look away. Most times looking into blue eyes makes my heart flutter, now I just want to grab my purse and run for the door.
I can’t read him. And I don’t like when I can’t figure out a person’s intentions. But I do know that he is bothered by me. And I also know that he is part of the one thing I so desperately want to find out more about.
I lift my glass and bring it to my lips keeping my eyes on him. And I take a sip. “He drives one of those bikes I showed you.”
“You mean the 8th Sin. This elusive gang Jackson found out about?” She lowers her voice. “The one you believe is responsible for what happened to your mother.”
I nod. “Yes. I’ve never felt more close to answers then when I am sitting inside of this place.”
“Then I believe you know what you have to do,” Sophie tells me. “You go straight to the source.”
I swallow. “Even if the source looks like he would stab me in a dark alley and take off with my purse?”
Sophie nods. “But he would look so dashing doing so.”
We both laugh. And I attribute this to the amount of alcohol coursing through my veins.
I brush my hair out of my eyes and stand back up. “You’re coming with me this time.”
Sophie shakes her head. “Let him come to us.” She waves him over.
My heart kicks into overdrive as we wait to see if he makes a move. He pushes off of the bar and heads right for us.
“I really like that shirt he is wearing,” Sophie points out. “It really brings out his eyes.”
He stops in front of our table.
“Were the two of you calling me over here for a threesome or are you too scared to walk back to your car alone?”
I roll my eyes. This man is a sleeze.
Sophie speaks up. “Actually, we were hoping you knew of any after parties.”
He studies Sophie. And he plays it cautious as he gages whether or not he wants to say anything else to her. Just as I am beginning to think he sees right through us, he opens his mouth.
“I know of a lot of after parties. None that welcome the likes of the two of you,” he focuses on me as he says it. “I’m still trying to figure out why you two are here in this bar.”
Sophie doesn’t back down. “It’s awful lousy of you to assume you know anything about me or my friend.”
“You sound like Mary Poppins,” he informs her, folding his arms across his chest. “And you get on my nerves.”
Sophie smirks at me. “When I was a little girl my mother always said a boy who slings insults is smitten.”
“Your mother is an idiot,” he raises an eyebrow, daring her to say anything else.
Sophie picks up her purse and stands up. She moves forward and pokes him in the chest. “Nobody ever talks about my mother. Look here. I don’t know why you have such a chip on your shoulder but when two hot girls ask you to party, you say yes.” She looks at me. “Let’s go, Savy.”
I gladly follow her to the exit. I can only imagine what kind of party a guy like him would take us to.
Three
“I think your mother dropped you on the head when you were born,” I tell Sophie as soon as we make it to her car. She laughs, shaking her head in disbelief probably at what she just did too.
“My mother was a bitch. I was trying my best to get you in but it seems he is a bigger obstacle than I ever anticipated,” she unlocks her door. “And I really shouldn’t be driving.”
I sigh. I wish we had thought things through a little better.
I hear footsteps behind me and I don’t have to turn around to know who it is. His presence carries this feeling of dread.
“I changed my mind,” he tells us. “Let’s go.”
I look at Sophie and shake my head. “There’s no way I am going anywhere with you.”
“Why?” He lifts his chin and grins. If it wasn’t for my complete fear of the situation I might find him attractive grinning like that. “Are you afraid I am going to kill you? Just remember, you two are the ones who asked me.”
I nod. “That’s exactly what I am afraid of,” I tell him. And I don’t care what he thinks about my assumptions of him. He’s way bigger than me, he’s clearly in shape and I think he might get off on torturing people.
“What are you doing?” Sophie and I ask at the same time.
He pulls his shirt over his head and starts working on his belt buckle.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I demand, looking around the dark parking lot for an escape route.
“I’m showing you that I’m harmless,” he says stepping out of his jeans. He wears boxer briefs quite well and I hate myself for thinking it. I look away from his crotch and back up to his face. He keeps his eyes on me.
“See no gun,” he smirks that stupid smirk again. “Still don’t believe me?”
I cross my arms. Sophie laughs.
“Well fine,” he grabs the waistband of his boxer briefs and tugs them down and tosses them. I watch him raise his arms and rotate in a slow circle.
“Is that a piercing?” Sophie ask.
She’s referring to a part of his body I never wanted to see impaled with anything. And now I really am convinced there is something wrong with him.
“That’s a piercing,” he says with a nod. He raises his chin at me. “Feel any better?”
“No, I feel deeply violated. Who do you think you are exposing yourself in front of two girls in a dark parking lot?” I roll my eyes as he stands there staring at me.
“You’re pretty hot when you’re angry,” he tells me.
“Oh, I think that might have been a compliment,” Sophie tells me. She elbows me in the side and lifts his pants from the ground. “Now that we’ve made friends, we would be glad to go with you.” She hands him his clothes.
They both look at me. I shrug.
“Just so we’re clear,” he says, getting his clothes back on. “We aren’t friends. I just like proving people wrong.
“Fine by me.” I follow behind Sophie. “I don’t want to be your friend.”
Sophie takes my hand as he leads us back up to the bar. “What are you doing?”
He turns around. “I’m taking you to the after party.”
The after party is down in the basement. As soon as we start down the stairs I hear music and flashes of lights. Well at least I hope they are lights.
I pray I am not being taken to my final resting place.
I dig my phone out of my pocket and secretly type in the name Nash trying to find anything I can. As I scroll through my phone, I miss a step and my phone goes skittering into the darkness.
He grabs me by the elbow, tugging me back to my feet. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to text and walk at the same time?”
I shrug, searching for my phone.
He bends down and picks it up. “Looking for this?” Instead of giving it to me he starts looking at it.
I grab for it but he is no match and strong arms me away from him. “Easy killer.” He hands it over. “Looks like someone still has some trust issues. Or you’re already obsessed with me.”
I scoff and take my phone back. “You’re wrong.”
“About the trust issues or that you are obsessed with me?”
“On both parts.” I loop an arm with Sophie and wait for him to lead the way.
“This place is insane,” Sophie informs me.
“This place looks like a giant orgy filled pool hall,” I tell her. I cringe at the couple making out on the leather furniture. The way he is groping her ass for the entire world to see doesn’t sit well with me.
I swat at the smog of cigarettes and lord knows what else. Nash stops at a giant sectional. And takes a seat. The people sitting don’t seem to care that he is there but they are interested in why we are standing there.
After
the tall guy stops sucking face with the blonde straddling his lap, he gestures toward us. “What do we have here?”
He looks from me to Sophie and from Sophie to Nash.
Nash slips an arm around the back of the sectional. “These two were dying for the after hours.”
“Oh, is that so?” He raises an eyebrow at me. “You don’t look like the sort to party hard.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” I tell him and I look at the other girl sitting on the other side of him. She claws down his chest with her nails and starts massaging his shoulders. He pulls his shirt over his head and immediately my eyes settle on the tattoo on his chest. I squeeze Sophie’s arm at the sight of it.
“Why don’t the two of you have a seat, we can have a little fun. We all like fun am I right?” He lights up a cigarette and settles back between his two women.
Nash pats the spot next to him. I sit down, making myself as small as possible, so I don’t have to touch him. I don’t want him getting the wrong impression. Sophie goes to take the spot next to me but the guy stops her.
“Why don’t you come over here, lovely?” He moves over, making room for Sophie. “The name is Ike. Nash and I are brothers, not sure if he told you that.”
I look over at Nash. “You look nothing alike.”
“That’s because this fucker got all the good looks,” he chuckles. “Is that what you’re trying to imply that you think I’m hideous?”
I swallow, brushing some hair behind my ear. I’m not implying anything. And he is not a bad looking guy. He’s got a wild head of dark brown hair that dangles in his eyes. A long body with pale skin, sort of like those strung out rock stars you always dream would pay you even an ounce of attention. But he is definitely not Nash. “I don’t think I said that at all.”
“Brothers because of circumstances,” Nash throws in. “He wishes we were related.”
I nod, lacing my fingers together.
Ike sits forward snuffing out his cigarette. “So, tell me what brings you two here?”
I exchange knowing glances with Sophie. I don’t know what to say. A waitress comes toward us and stops. Ike nods and she starts towards us again. He takes the glasses off the tray and hands them down the line.