“Yeah, you do that . . . but do me a favor.”
I stop walking to turn around. “What is that?”
“Stay away from my maniac brother and his friends. You’re too good for those assholes.”
I let out an annoyed laugh. “You really are a lot different than I remember six months ago. I hope you can see that before it’s too late. Goodbye . . .”
With that, I jump into my jeep and drive off, wanting nothing more than to get away before my chest explodes.
I LOOK BESIDE ME AT Madison and shake my head at her last question. She never ceases to amaze me. “No he didn’t get on his knees and cry like a pussy.”
Madison gives me a brief look of disappointment. “Oh damn.” She pouts. “I was hoping he would cry, or at least wet his khakis.” She waves her comb at me. “He didn’t do either, huh?”
I laugh and turn back to my client, Kaci, to start on cutting the next layer of hair. “Sorry for the disappointment, Madi, but no.”
I see her shrug from the corner of my eye. “I wouldn’t have been there to see it anyways. There’s always another time.” She smiles and reaches for the blow dryer to dry Susan’s hair, her regular client.
Focusing on the task at hand, I spend the next fifteen minutes or so giving Kaci her newly layered look, before walking her to the counter to take her payment and say goodbye.
It’s close to closing time, so I start cleaning up my station while Madison finishes up with Susan and sees her out.
We both plop down into our chairs when done, and start chatting as the other girls finish cleaning their stations.
“How’s that tattoo?” Madison reaches for my shirt and lifts it up. I lean back and let her examine it. “It looks really fucking good.” She replaces my shirt. “You getting another one soon? I think you should. You would look badass tatted up. You’re just the kind of chick that can pull it off.”
I pull my bottom lip into my mouth in thought. After the other night I’m not sure that we’re welcome back to the shop, and after having Royal’s work on me I don’t think I’d let anyone else tattoo me.
“We’ll see.” I stand up and pump her chair up as high as it will go. She’s super short; tiny but lethal for sure.
“Is this your way of distracting me, woman?” She slaps my hands away as I start playing with her hair. “Not going to work.” She points over to my chair. “Thanks for the lift, but take a damn seat.”
“Madison, I’m tired.” I close my eyes and yawn; not just for show either. I’m actually pretty exhausted, and ready to get the hell out of here, but we still have about fifteen minutes before close. “I don’t really know if I’ll be getting another tattoo, and I don’t feel like thinking about it right now either.”
“I think you should. Just saying.” Madison’s eyes widen and she sits up high to look out the window when the sound of motorcycle engines come into close range. She stands on the bottom part of her chair. “Is that . . . Holy shit. I think Blaine and Royal just pulled up.”
My heart involuntarily starts going wild in my chest as I look out the glass to see the two guys, now pulling their helmets off. I get ready to say something, but then stop when I realize that I have no idea what to say.
I never thought I’d see two badass, tatted up guys in ripped clothing pull up outside of a pretty little feminine salon like Stylin’ on motorcycles.
Apparently neither did Ellie and Anne, because they’re watching with wide eyes and flirtatious grins as the guys walk past the glass and reach for the door.
Suddenly feeling nervous, I turn away from the door and start organizing my station as the door dings.
“Boys,” Madison says cheerfully. “Miss us already?”
I look up into the mirror to see Royal watching me with curious eyes. He lifts a brow when our eyes meet.
Next thing I know he’s taking a seat in my chair and lowering it.
From the corner of my eye I see Ellie and Anne whispering to each other and watching the boys’ every movement.
“Do me,” he says huskily.
“Excuse me?” I shake my head and pull it out of the gutter when I realize he’s not actually demanding me to do him. “You want me to cut your hair?”
I smile in amusement as Royal reaches for the stylist apron and snaps it around his neck, before pulling his hair toward his face. I swallow hard as a thick strand falls over his eye and he peers up at me. It’s that sexy, lethal look again that makes my legs quiver with both fear and excitement. “A number two.”
When I look beside me Blaine is sitting in Madison’s chair, but facing her. He grabs her by the thighs and pulls his bottom lip into his mouth, giving her a sexy look.
She laughs and reaches for her apron.
“Alright.” I turn back to Royal and grab his shoulder, yanking him back to sit straight up. “Hold still or I might shave that gorgeous hair off.”
He smirks at me through the mirror as if my sassiness entertains him. Oddly . . . that makes me smile to myself.
Shaving his hair is somewhat nerve-racking. I’ve been cutting hair for five years now, since I first turned seventeen, but the thought of shaving off any of his pretty hair by accident has me almost sweating.
He notices me getting nervous when I get to the top of his hair, so he places his hand on mine and yanks it up, just under the long part. “There you go, babe. Loosen up a little.”
Our eyes meet in the mirror, before I move his hand off mine. “I’m not tense.” I take a deep breath. “I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”
He reaches up and grabs the clippers from my hand after I shut them off, then watches me through the mirror as I reach for his apron to undo it.
Setting the clippers on the desk in front of him, Royal spins around in the chair and places both of his hands on my hips. Looking up at me, he begins sliding my shirt up.
As hard as I fight it, a small moan escapes my lips at the feel of his hands running up my sides. “You been taking care of that tattoo?”
I close my eyes and nod my head as his thumb lightly brushes the skin, just under the feather. My stomach fills with butterflies from the contact, but I do nothing to push his hands away. I don’t remember the last time I’ve gotten that feeling.
“Yeah. Jax sent the aftercare instructions to Madison and she sent them to me.” I breathe.
He lowers my shirt and our eyes meet. “Good. It looks good. What about my brother? Did he flip his shit?”
I shake my head and watch his hands as he runs them over the sides of his head. “We’re on a break. He hasn’t seen it.”
He lifts a brow, but then looks up and winks at Ellie and Anne when they walk over to my station, smiling at him.
Both of their faces are completely fucking red; especially after that little wink and from the look on Royal’s face. I know he’s aware of the effect he has on women with little effort at all.
Anne clears her throat and then speaks. “We’re out of here. You girls need anything else done before we leave?”
“We don’t mind sticking around for a bit,” Ellie adds, while looking between the boys.
Don’t ask me why, but this annoys me. They both know damn well that they’re only offering because of the tatted up eye candy. They’ve been bitching all day about how they have better shit to do tonight and how we should close early.
“No thanks.” I motion for Royal to get out of my chair. “We’re walking out in just a few minutes here anyways. We’ve got it.”
“Sure thing,” Ellie says, while grabbing for Anne’s arm. “We’ll see you in the morning.” She turns to Royal and pulls a business card out of her bra, handing it to him. “In case you ever come back.”
With that, the girls walk out the door, looking back to get one more glance at Royal and Blaine, before jumping into Anne’s Range Rover.
Blaine jumps to his feet and starts checking his fresh haircut out in the mirror. “Damn, I’m looking dope as shit.”
I laugh under my breat
h at him. “Thanks for stopping in boys, but you’ve got to get out. We closed ten minutes ago. Claudette will have my ass for letting you guys stay inside after close.”
I reach for the broom and start to sweep, but glance up at my desk when Royal tosses a fifty down. “What’s that for? I don’t want any cash for the cut.” I pick it up to hand it to back to him.
“We’ll be outside.” Royal looks down at my hand, and then walks toward the door with Blaine following behind him.
“Seriously,” Madison says with a grin. “They’re gorgeous and tip well?” She shoves a fifty into her bra that Blaine left on her chair, and starts sweeping up her station. “Remember the lousy ass tip that Colton left you the day y’all met?” She bursts out laughing. “About as pathetic as his dick. I told you not to fall for him.”
Shaking my head, I hold back my laughter and continue cleaning up so we can get the hell out of here.
We’re walking out the door about twenty minutes later. Royal and Blaine are sitting on the sidewalk, but stand up when they notice us come outside.
I lock the door, my heart racing in anticipation of what’s to come next. “You guys didn’t have to wait for us. I’m sure you have shit to do.”
“We did,” Royal says stiffly. “Fucking creeps come out at night. You can’t trust anyone; no matter where the fuck your business is located.”
I offer Royal and Blaine a smile as I walk over to the passenger side of Madison’s car. I look down to reach for the handle and let out a sigh. “Again, Madi? I thought you took that tire to get replaced.”
“Hell no. I’ve been busy. It’s called Fix-A-Flat. I’ve been using it for weeks and it’s a quick fix.”
“Yeah, and a temporary one too,” I point out.
“Hop on,” Royal says while holding out his helmet for me. “I ain’t got shit to do until tomorrow.”
I shake my head and start digging through my purse for my phone. “That’s okay, I’ll just call–”
“Who? My fucking brother?” I shake my head, realizing that I had no idea who I was even going to call, but definitely not Colton though. “Then get on.”
Blaine grabs Madison by the hand and starts pulling her away from the car. “I’ll take care of your car. Let’s go.” He hands her his helmet and watches her put it on, while pushing down on the crotch of his jeans. “Dayum, girl. Want to ride on the front of my bike?”
It almost looks as if Madison is considering at first, but then she walks around to the back of his bike, sporting a huge grin, and hops on.
“You coming or what,” Royal asks, making me pull my eyes away from Blaine and Madison.
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
Royal stands up, while holding his bike up, to put my helmet on. Then he sits back down and grips the handle as I climb on behind him.
Wrapping my arms around him, I notice how my heart goes crazy in my chest. I’ve been on the back of his bike three times now, and being this close to him still makes me nervous.
We ride for about ten minutes before we pull up in front of a little white house. Royal kills the engine and helps me climb off his bike.
“Who lives here?” I keep my eyes on the house, looking for any lights that might be on, while handing my helmet to Royal. “It looks like no one is home.”
“They aren’t,” he says without hesitation. “Come on.”
Royal grabs my hand and pulls me behind him when I don’t make an effort to move. I almost think he’s going to break into this person’s house until I see him pull out a set of keys.
Relief washes over me as I watch him unlock the door and flip on the lights, not trying to hide the fact that we’re here.
With my hand still in Royal’s, I follow him through the small living room and into the even smaller kitchen.
I stand back and watch as Royal opens the cabinet and pulls out a stack of plates. Popping his neck, he lets out a breath and then throws one across the room, breaking it against the wall.
I jump and cover my mouth in surprise. “What the hell are you doing?”
He flexes his jaw, looks at me, and then throws another one at the wall, breaking it. “Blowing off steam.”
“By breaking someone else’s shit?” I instinctively jump when another one breaks against the wall.
“Blaine’s shit,” he corrects me. “He breaks my window . . . I get to come to his house and break some of his shit. That’s how it works with us.”
Backing me against the counter, he grabs me by the hips and picks me up, setting me down with a smirk. “You need to blow off some steam, and since I can’t fuck it out of you . . .” He hands me a plate. “Here.”
I swallow hard from his words and look down at the plate in my hands. Is it possible to choke on air . . . because I think he just made that happen? I swallow again. “I’m not going to break Blaine’s dishes. I don’t feel right. I hardly even know him.”
“The fucker just cost me close to two grand from throwing some dick’s head through my bar window.” He runs a hand through my hair and tugs it. “Break it.”
He’s got a point. These dishes will cost him less than a hundred bucks to replace. Blaine does sort of deserve it. He could’ve slammed that guy’s head into the wall or took him outside or something.
“Fine.” Holding the plate like a Frisbee, I toss it across the room, slightly jumping when it crashes into the wall.
I find myself smiling after a few seconds. “Hand me another one,” I say excitedly. “This does feel nice.”
Smiling, he hands me a stack of smaller plates and chills against the fridge, crossing his arms across his chest to watch me. “Damn,” he says as I toss another one. “Watching you break Blaine’s shit is making my cock hard. Keep going.”
I look over at him and can’t help but to smile when he does. He doesn’t smile often, but when he does, it’s extremely contagious. “Stop watching me like that,” I say with a small laugh.
I toss another one and watch as he opens the window next to him and lights a cigarette. My chest quickly rises and falls at the way his lips look as he slowly blows out the smoke.
I’ve never found smoking to be attractive, but watching Royal and the way he moves his mouth is oddly making me hot for him.
Pulling my eyes away, I clear my throat and toss the last plate. This is the weirdest activity I have ever done with anyone, but oddly freeing. “That’s it. That’s the last one.”
Taking one last long drag, Royal puts his cigarette out in Blaine’s sink and starts walking over to me. “Good girl.” Grabbing me by the hips, he sets me back down to the ground and grabs my chin, pulling it up to look at him. “Feel better?”
I nod my head. “Surprisingly I do.” I almost feel like breaking more shit. I’ve never done anything like this before.
“Good.” He sucks in a deep breath. “At least one of us does.”
“Ah fuuuck!”
I look away from Royal, who is smiling, and over to Blaine who is now standing in the doorway.
“I should have hidden the fucking dishes.”
Royal grins and tosses a shot glass at Blaine. Blaine attempts to catch it but misses, with it landing and breaking at his boot. “Or just learn to buy paper plates, asshole.”
Blaine scrunches his forehead and reaches for a cigarette. “Fuck that. Then you’ll find other shit in my house to break.”
“Where’s Madison,” I ask, when I realize that she’s not in the house with us. “Is her car already fixed?”
Blaine pulls the cigarette from his lips and nods his head. “Yeah, I’m fast as shit with cars. Been working on them since I was ten.”
“Good,” I say softly. “Thanks for helping her. She’s been putting it off forever.”
He nods his head. “Sure thing.” He lifts a brow at me. “Thanks for helping this dick head break my shit.”
“Sure thing,” I reply back, fighting to keep my cool and not show my nerves.
Blaine and Royal both smile at my
response.
“Have fun cleaning this shit up.” Royal grabs my hand and pulls me close to his side. “I’m dropping her off and then heading to the bar to take care of some shit.”
“Fuck . . . okay.” Blaine runs a hand through his hair while checking out the mess in his kitchen. “See your ass tomorrow.” He turns to me. “Later, babe.”
I smile when he winks and blows out smoke. “Later, Blaine.”
We pull up outside of my house and I quickly hop off this time, handing him his helmet. “Thanks for the ride. Later.”
I attempt to walk away, but Royal grabs my arm, stopping me. He pulls me back, turning me around to face him.
He looks at me for a few seconds, as if he’s not sure he should say anything, before finally speaking. “Come by my place on Friday night. We need to celebrate you handing Colton his ass by adding another tattoo to that beautiful body.”
I pull my arm out of his reach and smile, while backing away. I almost can’t stand to listen to him talk, because everything he says has a crazy effect on my body. He does something to me that I’m not familiar with. “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”
Without saying a word, he growls when I turn to walk away.
By the time I reach the porch and turn back around, he’s pulling away, speeding off on his bike.
I find myself smiling as I let myself inside and close the door behind me.
There’s no way in hell that he came to the salon tonight just for a damn haircut. Guys like that don’t need a fancy hairstylist to cut their hair. They do it themselves in their bathrooms, kitchens, or at a friend’s house.
That somehow leaves me happy, knowing that he most likely came just to see me. Colton has never shown up at the salon to get an unneeded haircut. In fact, the day I met him was the only time he set foot in there.
Royal may be a little rough around the edges, but there’s something hiding deep inside, wanting to come out; possibly a bigger heart than his brother’s got.
The question is, should I hang around to find out?
Twenty months ago . . .
“WHAT THE FUCK, JAX,” I snap, when he pushes my door open, interrupting me for the third time in the last twenty minutes. “Can I finish this shit so I can get home to Olivia already? I’m tired of looking at you dickheads tonight.”
Royal Savage Page 6