by Lane Hart
She opened the door, and I was able to glimpse a tall man with dark hair holding a bouquet of flowers before she shut the door.
He looked sweet and nice.
Fancy was going to chew him up and spit him out.
I grabbed a slice of pizza from the box and turned on the TV.
Everything she said, I needed to think about, but tonight was not going to be the night I delved into that. Tonight was pizza and watching Food Network until Quinn came home.
Head firmly buried in the sand for at least another day.
Chapter Three
Quinn
Same party, different bullshit...
“Clean him up.”
“Fucker never stood a chance.”
Hog and Myxer, the president and VP of the club, walked away from the cage shaking their heads.
“Lemme at him again. I can fucking win.” Core tried to get up off his knees, but his legs gave out and he fell flat on his face.
“Uh, I think you’re done for the night, Core.” I crouched down in front of him and handed him a bottle of beer. “I thought you had him there for a second.”
Core smiled. “Yeah, I totally had him.” He sat up and took a swig of the beer and spit it out. “Lost my footing and it gave him an opening.”
I didn’t want to break it to him, but Major had an opening the second Core opened his mouth by challenging him to fight. I stood up and held out my hand for him to grab. “You’ll get ‘em next time, brother.” In the four months I had been a prospect for the Rolling Devils, Core had gotten his ass kicked nine times. Each of those times, the ass kicking was done by Major.
I hoisted him off the ground and put one of his arms over my shoulder. Major had kicked his ass, but he had also taken some cheap shots at Core’s expense. We wove our way through the crowd that was lingering by the fighting cage and limped into the clubhouse.
It was half past two, and I was ready to go home, but I knew I couldn’t leave until Major gave me the go-ahead that it was okay.
The guy who had just kicked Core’s ass also happened to be the biggest asshole in the club, and it was hard as hell some days not to tell him to fuck off. I loved the brotherhood of the Rolling Devils, but there were also some things I didn’t like yet was overlooking them for the time being. I needed to bide my time when I was a prospect and not overstep.
I helped Core into his room and got him cleaned up.
I walked out of Core’s room, and Major called, “Prospect.”
Here we go. He was either going to tell me to take off for the night or give me a list of shit to do that was a mile long. When I decided to join the club, I knew being a prospect wasn’t going to be easy, but this shit was straight-up hard.
For the past thirty years of my life, I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Now I had someone constantly breathing down my neck intentionally making my life hell.
I made my way down the hallway to where Major was standing with his arm slung over the shoulders of some random chick. “Need something, Major?”
“Max threw up in the kitchen, and all the garbage cans are overflowing.”
I nodded. I wasn’t going to be lucky tonight. If I got out of here before four, I would be surprised. “You got it.”
“Also, Hog needs his bike washed before he rolls out in the morning. Once you get that all done, you can take off.”
I had just washed Hog’s bike two days ago, but I couldn’t argue that fact. Major told me to do all of this bullshit because he was testing me. Seeing what it would take for me to break.
That wasn’t going to happen tonight. “I’ll get right on it.”
Major looked me up and down and smirked. “You do that, prospect.” He waltzed off down the hallway with the chick attached to his hip, and I headed to the kitchen.
By the end of the night, I was ready to kill Max for not being able to find a fucking garbage can and Hog’s bike was sparkling under the outside lights.
“What in the fuck are you doing to my bike, prospect?”
I dropped my rag into the bucket and turned around to see Hog standing in the doorway of the clubhouse. The party had cleared out for the most part, and I was looking forward to heading home. “Just washing your bike before I head out for the night,” I explained.
“You washed that shit two days ago, and I only drove to the fucking gas station.”
Facts I already knew. “Well, just making sure she was clean.”
Hog took a drag on his cigarette and shook his head. “Major is riding the hell out of you, huh?”
If I said that, then it would look like I was complaining, but if I said he wasn’t, then Hog might tell him to step up his game. “It’s all good. He’s making sure I’m ready to join the club.”
Hog laughed and tossed his cigarette butt on the ground. “If you make it into the club.” He closed the door on his cryptic words.
Fucking hell.
I wanted to be a part of this club, but hell if I knew whether it was going to happen.
When I did time for aggravated assault, my cellmate told me about an MC in his hometown he was going to join up with once he got out. He still had four years of his sentence ‘til he could join, but since he had talked it up so much, I decided moving a few states over and starting a new life was exactly what I needed.
Jason had been a hang-around before going to prison but mentioning his name when I approached the club had helped me get a foot in the door. I hadn’t made much headway since, but I had gotten my prospect rocker and that was at least a start.
I finished putting away all the shit I had used to wash Hog’s bike, then headed straight for my bike. I knew if I went back into the clubhouse, one of the members would find some bullshit for me to do.
The ride back to our apartment was a half an hour, and by the time I made it there, I was dead on my feet and just wanted to fall into bed. She left the kitchen light on for me like always, and I flipped it off on the way to her bedroom. My clothes didn’t even come off before I fell into bed, and she rolled into me.
“Quinn,” she whispered.
“I’m home, baby.”
“You okay?” She asked me the same thing every night I came home late from the club.
“Good now.”
She sighed and pulled the covers over us. “Night.”
I fell asleep with her body pressed against me wondering when in the hell things were going to change with the club.
Until then, at least I had Kimber to come home to every night.
Chapter Four
Quinn
How bad can it be…?
“Remember, there’s another party tonight.”
Kimber kicked her shoes off and beelined straight to the fridge. “They’re still going through with it? Aren’t they still hungover from last night?” she asked over her shoulder as she walked past me. She grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge and set it on the counter.
“They probably are, but hair of the dog, baby.” I walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.
“I just worked four hours on a Saturday that I wasn’t scheduled to work but did because Maddy needed the day off and I’m too nice of a person to say no.”
I nodded. “I know, baby. I listened to you bitch this morning while you got dressed.” When Kimber had rolled out of my arms when her alarm went off at seven, she bitched in the dark about Maddy, then pressed a kiss to my lips before she left. I had woken up half an hour before she came home from work. I tried to act like I hadn’t slept all morning, but I knew she wasn’t buying it.
“Quinn, I really don’t want to go out tonight. Tomorrow is my only day off, and I don’t want to waste it being hung over nine tenths of the day.” She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with wine. “Can’t you skip the party and stay with me?”
Kimber didn’t get what being a prospect meant. Especially being a prospect for the Rolling Devils. “I can’t, but I know it'll be more bearable if you’re with me.” I hoped
if I brought her along, they would lay off me doing stupid shit all night.
She took a sip of her wine and glared at me. “If I go, I’m wearing leggings and a sweatshirt.”
I didn’t care what she wore as long as she was there. “You can wear a garbage bag and tin foil shoes, baby.”
She wrinkled her nose. “While a garbage bag seems flowy, I don’t think I could do the tin foil shoes.”
“Baby, wear whatever the fuck you want. Just say you’ll come with me.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll go, but I can tell you right now, I am not going to enjoy a second of this.”
I really didn’t know if she would or wouldn’t like it, but she wouldn’t find out either way until she gave it a chance.
She came to stand in from of me with her glass in one hand and pressed her palm to my chest. “You know you’re totally going to have to make this up to me.”
I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. “Is that so?” I whispered in her ear.
“Yep.” She tilted her head back to look up at me. “I was talking to Kelly today.”
When Kimber came home talking about Kelly, I knew she was going to want something crazy. “What did she talk you into today?” I chuckled.
“I want a tattoo.”
Kimber had virgin skin. A needle had never even been close to her skin. While I was basically covered from head to toe with tattoos, I preferred her just the way she was. “You sure about that?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“What and where are you thinking of getting it?”
A huge smile spread across her lips. “I saw this super adorable shooting star that I want to get behind my ear.”
“A shooting star?” That was not at all what I had expected her to say.
She nodded. “Yep. And I want you to take me to get it.”
“I’ll talk to the guys at the club and ask them who they think is a good guy to go to here.” I was new to Whitmore Lake, Michigan, but I knew the club would know where to go to get some decent ink.
“How long do you think that is going to take?” she asked hopefully.
I brushed her hair from her face and pressed a kiss to her lips. “A day or two, baby, and then I gotta make you an appointment.”
She pumped her fist in the air and spun around in my arms. “Whoop! I can’t wait!”
I pulled her against my chest and smiled down at her. “I didn’t think you would ever want a tattoo, baby.”
She shrugged. “I guess I’ve learned to appreciate yours and see that they can mean a hell of a lot more than you know.” She reached up and brushed her fingertips over the tattoo I had next to my eye. “This one's my favorite of yours,” she whispered.
I grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. “Of all of my tattoos, that is the one you like the most?” She didn’t even know what that tattoo represented to me. It wasn’t anything to like.
“Hmm, I like the big one on your chest, too, but this one on your face just seems to do it for me,” she purred.
I glanced at the clock on the stove. “We need to leave in about four hours. I think that gives us just enough time for you to tell me just exactly what you like about all of my tattoos.”
She set her wine down and then trailed her hands down my chest and pulled up the hem of my shirt. “That sounds like a good way to pass time. And maybe I can convince you to stay home with me.”
I took her hand and pulled her to the bedroom.
I would enjoy her trying, but it wasn’t going to work.
Her ass was going to that party tonight.
Kimber
The party wasn’t so bad.
Quinn told me it was pretty tame compared to other parties. Everyone partying the night before had worked in my favor.
The clubhouse was much bigger than I thought it would be.
It was more like a compound with all of the different rooms and a huge area where the party was held. Though it seemed members trickled off into their rooms now and then to have a little more fun, there were a few who didn’t go anywhere to get it on.
“You good, baby?”
Quinn had pulled me into his lap after he had taken care of something one of the members had come over to tell him to do, and I had to say, it was the best seat in the place. “Um, I think I’m good.”
“See, it’s not as bad as you thought it would be. As long as you’re with me, you’ll be fine.”
I took a sip of the warm beer in my hand and looked around.
There were four large couches along each wall and tons of odd chairs all over. The couches were filled with members who were either talking amongst themselves, or they were getting better acquainted with the women who had come to the party. “Do you know any of these girls?” I asked Quinn.
“Uh, I’ve seen some of them before, but some are new.”
I looked at him. “I have so many questions right now.”
He brushed my hair from my face and laughed. “I know, baby. I can see the wheels turning in your head.”
“This is like a whole different world.” There was a couple moaning in the corner, and I forced myself to keep my eyes on Quinn and not be a peeping tom.
“I know you wanna look, baby.”
I lightly shook my head. “No, I don’t.” I did. I totally did.
His hand slid up my neck, and he threaded his fingers in my hair. “You can watch, Kimber. If they didn’t want anyone to see then they wouldn’t be out here.”
“I really doubt that is why they’re out here. They are probably too drunk to find a room so they figure why not just do it out here.”
“So that means if I get you drunk enough, you’ll fuck me right here?” he asked quietly.
I lifted my beer to my lips and took a sip. “Not enough beer in the world to make that happen,” I said smugly.
His fingers tugged my head close. “You are gonna fuck me as soon as we can get to our place then, baby.”
“And that would be when?” I whispered.
“Prospect!”
He rested his head against mine and sighed. “As soon as I find out what Major wants from me.” He pressed a quick kiss to my lips and slipped out from under me.
I tucked my feet up under my butt and watched Quinn move over to the guy who was apparently Major. He had been bossing Quinn around all night, and I had already decided I didn’t like the guy.
“What can I get for you, Major?” Quinn asked.
Major wasn’t anyone Quinn should be answering to, in my opinion. The guy was on a huge power trip, and I knew whatever he was about to tell Quinn to do was going to be ridiculous.
“Who’s the girl?” Major demanded loudly.
“What girl?” Quinn asked.
A slick smile spread across Major’s face. “The one who was sitting on your lap two seconds ago.”
Quinn looked over at me. He had introduced me to a couple of the members, but Major wasn’t one of them who I had the pleasure of meeting. That might have been a bad oversight on Quinn’s part.
“That’s my girl.”
“Your girl?” Major questioned. “Anyone say you were allowed to bring your girl tonight?”
“It’s a party, Major. I didn’t think it would be a problem. I can do whatever you need me to do with her here.”
“She gonna hold your hand while you clean up the puke and piss in the bathroom?” Major laughed.
I watched Quinn flex his fists at his side. He wasn’t happy. I could tell he wanted to punch Major in the face and tell him where to shove it.
“If that’s what you need me to do,” Quinn replied calmly.
I tucked my legs tighter under me and wished I could disappear.
“You know what? I can take care of your girl while you clean the piss off the floor.” Major moved to take a step around Quinn, but Quinn shifted to stand in his way.
“She’s good on her own.”
Major bumped his shoulder into Quinn and looked d
own at him. Major only had an inch or two on Quinn, but his dickhead personality made him think he was a foot taller. “Didn’t ask you if she was good, prospect,” Major spat. “Told you what I was doing. Now go clean the bathroom and don’t worry about me and your girl.”
“Leave her alone,” Quinn said quietly.
Everyone around the room stopped talking and listened to the exchange between Major and Quinn.
“You don’t get a say, prospect. Shut your mouth and clean the bathroom,” Major growled.
Quinn had tried to tell me that being a prospect was normal and a way to earn respect with the club. It appeared that Major didn’t have even a trace of respect for Quinn and thought of him more as scum than anything.
Major tried to move around Quinn again, but he didn’t get any further.
I didn’t know what to do. Quinn was trying to protect me, but I didn’t want him getting in trouble because of me. I felt like me being at the party was just causing problems. Quinn should have listened to me when I said I didn’t want to come.
“Stand down, prospect.”
Oh, hell. Now another guy was getting in on this.
An older guy moved to the side of Major, and I saw he had the word “President” on his cut.
This was not good at all.
“She’s mine,” Quinn said.
“Nothing belongs to a prospect,” Major spat.
The hair on the back of my neck rose as two guys with cuts stood on either end of the couch I was sitting on. My feet slid out from under me, and I planted them on the floor. I had to get out of there, and everything would be fine.
“She isn’t part of this, Major.”
Major smacked his gums and turned to leer at me. “Should have thought about that before you brought her here. Anyone and anything in this clubhouse is property of the Rolling Devils.”
“Don’t look at her,” Quinn growled.
“Prospect,” the president said. “Major tell you to go do something?”
“Yes, Hog, but I’m not going to leave Kimber here alone.”