“Wrap your hands around my waist and scoot—”
“I learned to ride when you did, Logan,” I interrupted and straddled the Harley behind him. “It’s been a while since I’ve ridden, but it isn’t that hard to sit still.” I linked my arms around his sides and cupped my hands together in front of his stomach, giggling a little at his reaction in the mirror.
His eyebrows rose, and he tilted his head to the side. “Oh, you’re bad, huh?”
“That’s right, buddy.” I slid my sunglasses over my eyes and pulled the black and red handkerchief up over my face to keep the risk of windburn down as much as I could. “Are you bad like me?”
“You bet your fucking sweet ass I am,” he gruffly said, plastering a devious smile across his face as the engine of the bike roared to life. “I’m the worst, a fucking nightmare.”
I grinned wickedly behind the material and leaning forward to whisper into his ear as I got comfortable on the bike, “Depends on the judge.”
It was nice to be on a bike again. It was something I hadn’t realized I’d missed, but I did. After a while on the road, signs and trees all blurred together, blending into the background. My eyes became transfixed on the sky ahead of us as it pulled the sun into the horizon. Being on a motorcycle for a prolonged time was kind of like driving in a snowstorm, you didn’t pay attention to the things around you, only the road ahead. This was much like the situation between Logan and me; we had tunnel vision and weren’t giving any thought to the things around us. I hoped it didn’t come back to bite us in the ass, but I didn’t want to over-analyze anything. If I did, that meant this was more personal to me than it needed to be. We weren’t putting a title on it, mostly because a status of “Who the fuck knows” didn’t really roll of the tongue well for when nosey ass people would ask. Yet, with the exception of answering Mom, it would most likely be the answer I would give to people, either that or “Mind your damn business.” I never claimed to be eloquent, there was a reason most of my co-workers had been male and not female. I often said things that didn’t go over easily with others. Truthfully, I should come with my own warning label, but then again, people really should mind their damn business and tend to themselves. What was going on between Logan and me didn’t concern anyone else, not that anybody had asked about it other than Mom. Neither of us really gave her an answer simply glanced at each other and then shrugged our shoulders in agreement.
The trip was short…or long…frankly, I wasn’t sure. I had lost track of time and wasn’t paying attention to the duration. Logan parked his bike, and as soon as it was safe, I climbed off the back, groaning due to the pain in the middle of my spine as a result of sitting in one position too long. I guess that answered one thing, it wasn’t a quick ride by any means. I stretched my arm above my head and pushed against my elbow with the opposite hand to force it a little further toward my shoulder, doing the same to the other side afterward. Logan was doing similar movements with his body, but they weren’t as exaggerated. He obviously wasn’t as bothered by the ride. Over the course of the last week, I’d only seen him drive his truck one time, and that was to go get some guy named Spider who I would apparently meet tonight.
There were a lot of guys dressed the same as Logan with black leather vests called “cuts” decorating most of their torsos; however, a small number of them wore blue jean cuts that had a “Prospect” patch on the upper right side of theirs. I didn’t say much at first because I didn’t understand all of the biker jargon they were using when talking to each other. Although I didn’t know much about biker gangs, the one thing Logan made sure I did know was that the most important thing with them was having and giving respect.
“The fuck you been? Did you forget how a phone worked?” a loud voice boomed as soon as the door opened and Logan stepped inside. He led me by the hand into the clubhouse and stopped in front of the person I assumed owned the loud voice.
“This fucker here, this is Ghoul, our Prez,” Logan introduced me to a bear of a man as we passed the pool table, and the stranger untangled his body from a redhead clinging to his side.
“The man,” Ghoul waved his hand in front of his body, “The myth,” he tapped the word President on the patch across his right chest wall, and finished, “The Legend—”
Logan grabbed Ghoul’s hand before he could grab his junk, and Ghoul winked in my direction, his head falling back as a huge hoarse laugh filled the air. “You should see your fucking face, brother,” he guffawed and pulled his hand from Logan’s, holding it out for me to reciprocate. “It’s a pleasure, young lady.” He gave my hand a firm shake and clapped Logan on the back with his other.
“Don’t get your panties in a fucking twist, Crow. Nobody is going to mess with your girl, you know that.” He released my hand and nodded toward the bar, leading us through the crowded place. A ball of nerves swelled up into my throat, and I tried my best to force them down as I swallowed hard. Is that what I was now? His girl? I started to correct Ghoul but remembered what Logan had said about respect, especially to their President. He was the boss of the whole gang, and although Logan hadn’t been too liberal with the details, he made sure I understood he wasn’t someone to fuck with. He and Ghoul were close; he’d told me that much, but that wouldn’t mean much if I straight up disrespected Ghoul in their house. This was their turf, not mine, so I did try to mind my p’s and q’s more than I normally would.
“Borrowed the panties from your drawer, Boss,” Logan laughed as we three sat down on stools at the bar. It was nice to see Logan laid back. Well, as laid back as he could be, I guess. “Any updates from Heavy when they’ll get here?”
Ghoul shot him a look and his eyebrows drew together. “I’m sure your lady…What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Ray.”
“I’m sure Ray here doesn’t want to hear shop talk. Let’s save business for later; pleasure always comes first.” He opened his hand and the guy behind the bar gave him a piece of a straw before Ghoul pulled a baggy from his shirt, pouring a little onto the woodgrain of the bar. I hadn’t ever seen cocaine up close and personal, but I figured it was what the white powder was. “Want a toot?” he spoke to me, and I fought the urge to giggle out of nervousness. It made no sense, but when I was on edge, I tended to chuckle when other people talked to me.
“A toot?”
“You know, a snort, a line, a toot? Damn, Crow, I don’t know where you got this one, but she needs some education,” he joked and elbowed me in the side before sliding a straight razor out of his pocket and tapping the pile of drugs out into a line. “My name is Dr. Ghoul, and I’ll be your drug instructor,” a huge guffaw bellowed out of his throat, and he shook his head.
“Ghoul,” Logan warned him.
“Crow.” Ghoul met his gaze and obviously didn’t give a shit. I didn’t understand what words they were silently exchanging with me in the middle, but they didn’t appear pleasant.
“Fucking hell, Crow, I’m just having a little fun, ain’t that right, Ray?”
“Right,” I answered, unsure if I was supposed to really answer him or not.
Logan leaned close to my ear and whispered at a volume no one else was able to hear, “You okay?”
A smile crept onto my lips, and my eyes flickered to Logan’s, finding his filled with concern. He was trying to be protective and keep me safe, but the thing was, Ghoul reminded me of Randall, one of my old co-workers. They were both harmless in the sense, they didn’t really mean half of what they said to me, or at least, I thought that was what Ghoul was doing. I could be completely wrong, and if I was, I would probably find out sooner rather than later. I hoped I was right, though. I hadn’t really thought of my old co-workers since I came back to Ohio, I didn’t think I’d had the time to, honestly. Yet, seeing the exchange between Logan and Ghoul, made me miss them and the constant back and forth shit we all gave one another.
“I’m good. I promise, Log—ow.” I tried to call him Crow as soon as I remembered, but it didn’t exa
ctly work out.
“Fuck. See, she’s good, Logow.” Ghoul’s eyebrows raised high on his forehead, and he slid a shot to me. “Ms. Ray and I are going to handle the pleasure portion while the rest of you fuckers talk business in the back,” he said in a firm tone with a hint of humor. It was an order, but my guess was he was trying to keep the conversation light on my behalf.
12
Crow
“Heavy, the DC Prez, just called, they’re hitting the road tomorrow. They’re going to stay the night at Cyrus’ clubhouse up in Pittsburgh then they’ll be on the way here. Should put them in Cleveland sometime Wednesday, depending on how many stops they make,” Wily said in a hushed tone after he shut the door behind him, his eyes shifting around the room to make sure we all were paying attention. We got a lead from an anonymous source The Dogs were going to retaliate—this much we expected. They didn’t anticipate we would be ready, but this was our fucking town. The law was in our back pocket, and when they caught wind of something shady going down, they let us know. Truthfully, I think there was a pig in the doghouse because for the cops to have knowledge meant someone fucking squealed. For that alone, I would happily beat the fucking breaks off those guys. Add that to them trying to fuck us out of the AK deal, and those fuckers had a hell of a storm coming their way, and its name was the Royal Bastards.
“They bringing some girls?” Sledge asked, rubbing his hands together. Our DC chapter was in the porn business, and we all knew it, but not all of our dicks had ears like Sledgehammer’s did. Someone could simply whisper the word pussy and his dick got hard.
“I doubt it, this is a business trip,” I paused, taking my normal seat at the table and scrubbed my palm over my face. “Is fucking all you think about, man?”
“Fuck. Ride. Sleep. Isn’t that what we all do?”
“He has a point, Crow. What else do we do?” Circuit chimed in adding his two cents, which wasn’t at all needed as he leaned his back against the wall, propping his left boot behind him for support.
“You fuckers are a bunch of dirty bikers.” I tapped the table with the tip of my finger and closed my eyes for a second.
“So are you brother, that’s why we let you stick around.” Sleeper sat down beside me and waggled his eyebrows, both of us knowing that I’ve held a patch longer than he has.
“Matter at hand, what’s the plan once they get here, Wily?”
“Heavy and the guys are going to stay around the clubhouse and make sure those fleabags don’t try to come looking for the guns that aren’t here anyway. Diablo, Sac?” he called their names to grab their attention.
“Brother?” They said in unison.
“No way of trailing those AK’s back to us, right?”
“No fucking way, man. The law got their cut of the money, so even if someone did come snooping around, we have an alibi and the cops on our side,” Sac assured in his usual laid-back voice. I wasn’t sure how the fucker could function given the amount of weed he smoked on a daily basis, but it leveled him out. I saw him one damn time sober, and I hoped I never witness it again. I barely got a word in the conversation with him because he was talking so fast about nonsense. To be blunt, he reminded me of someone on crank—he was all twitchy and shit. If I didn’t know he would never touch anything harder than weed, my money would have been on crystal.
“Ghoul know all of this?” I asked, concerned he wasn’t in here and was out in the common area with Ray and Flashman. This was definitely a conversation he should be a part of.
“Yeah, he wanted us to fill you in,” Diablo nonchalantly informed me, shoving a cigarette between his teeth and fishing a lighter out of his pocket.
“Everybody knew about this except me?”
“Ghoul tried to call you. Said you didn’t answer. Probably just luck you are who you are, or you might be trading places behind the bar with Flashman.” Diablo sucked on the end, and smoke bellowed down his body from his nostrils. Right now, Flashman was on Ghoul’s shit list along with Circuit and Sledge. Circuit already did his time, and Sledge’s was coming, but I could easily join them.
“He did mention that. My phone died.” It was a rookie mistake, especially now, and although I couldn’t stand Diablo most of the time, he was right. The stakes were high, and if anyone else had been unreachable when I tried to call them, I would be raising five levels of hell right now.
“Won’t happen again, brothers,” I promised. I would be the first to admit when I was wrong to people I cared about. I lived by the motto that you should be completely clear when it came to people who may be put in the position of saving your life or not. We were all Royal Bastards, and we lived by a creed and a set of bylaws, but that didn’t mean a bad seed didn’t come in under the radar every now and then. I wanted to make sure if that ever happened and we didn’t catch it in time, maybe the fucker would remember my honesty and think twice before double-crossing me.
“How’d my boss treat ya?” I questioned Ray, noticing her glassy eyes.
“Perfect. The doctor is in.” She laughed and turned toward Ghoul. “Ain’t that right, doc?” A small giggle popped through her lips, and she nudged his shoulders with her own.
“That’s right. Have you met my number one nurse, Crow?” Ghoul joked, catching her as she weaved on her barstool a bit. Rage, blind fucking rage was all I saw, but I reminded myself that she was her and he was him. Although she didn’t have the word property slapped across her back, she was mine, and Ghoul wouldn’t dare cross that line with me. I took a handful of cleansing breaths and resumed my seat at the bar beside Ray.
“Your girl is alright by me, brother. She can hold her whiskey and cusses like a fucking sailor. Why the fuck did you wait so long to bring her around? She’s the little sister I never had.” He laid it on thick after our eyes connected. Ghoul was more than aware I had a jealous streak a mile long; it was one of the reasons I never brought a girl to the clubhouse. The second was I hadn’t had someone serious in my life since Ray. I guess I’d always been hung up on her even when she wasn’t here.
I didn’t have an answer for him, not one he wanted to hear anyway. If she’d never left…No. I wasn’t spiraling down the same slope I had for so many years. We were trying to give us a shot, though I didn’t know what target we were aiming at, and I needed to keep a clear mind to do so. All it would take was the smallest glimmer of negativity to drive all of this to shit. I refused to let it in. We’d spent so much time practically hating each other for letting everything fall apart, and I wouldn’t do it this time.
“Yeah, she’s pretty fucking awesome, isn’t she, Ghoul?”
Ray smiled and slapped the bar. “Flashman, can I buy another round for the doctor and me?” I see she was introduced to him while I was in the back.
“This one is on me, Nurse.” Flashman wickedly smiled, flaunting his perfect teeth. He was a pretty boy, definitely, someone most wouldn’t picture when thinking about a biker. I hadn’t when he walked through the club doors saying he wanted to prospect for the Royal Bastards. The thing was, the guy had a sinister streak; he liked blowing shit up. A pyro if I’d ever seen one.
“Thanks.” She smirked and leaned her head onto my shoulder blade. “Thank you for this.”
“For what?” I asked her, having no fucking clue what she was thanking me for.
“For helping me forget all the bad shit in the world.”
When she said that, it fucking gutted me. I wanted to cradle her in my arms and never let her go. The truth was, I didn’t know how many horrific things that were passing through her mind because she hadn’t told me. It could have been because I didn’t ask her. Yet, if I was being honest, even if I did, she probably wouldn’t have told me. Ray wasn’t one to slice her heart open and let the contents bleed out for everyone to see. She was more of a grin and bear it type of person. At least, she used to be.
“Thank you for being here with me,” I voiced simply, my throat cracking. If I wasn’t anything else, I tried to be truthful with everyone
around me. My theory was, they could like me or hate me, but at least it would be the true person they formed their feelings about.
“Any time, Logan,” she whispered.
“Boss, is it okay if we skip out?”
“As long as you promise to take good care of my nurse, then tires to the asphalt, brother,” Ghoul reassured me, taking the last shot with Ray.
13
Ray
My head was dizzy from all the alcohol I’d consumed last night. I was compensating in liquor for what my body was screaming in nervousness. Once I hit my limit and I knew it, Ghoul still kept insisting we take another shot. I really liked that guy; he was an Ohio Randall if I ever met one. I could easily see him being someone I worked alongside.
My stomach churned, and I regretted drinking as much as I did last night, but at the same time, I didn’t. It was the first time since Dad passed that I’d actually let loose. I yawned and stretched, opening my eyes, expecting to find Logan beside me. Instead, a white piece of paper on the nightstand greeted me.
Beautiful Nurse,
Here’s a couple Tylenol, you’ll probably need them. I had to run to the clubhouse, but I’ll be back before you know it. Make yourself at home. There’s eggs in the fridge and frozen biscuits in the deep freeze, just pop them in the oven at 375 for about fifteen minutes and they’ll be done.
XO,
Logan
I smiled, thinking of all the years that brought us to this point. It was almost as if we had to lose one another to find each other again. This time would be different, I would be honest and upfront and demand the same from him. If our feelings were hurt by it, so be it. At least we would understand where we stood at the end of it.
Bad Like Me: Royal Bastards MC Ohio Chapter Page 7