Accelerate

by Kay Marie

  “None of them have ever looked at you the way Raze does. He didn’t grow up with us. He may be one of the brothers, but he isn’t your brother.” She talks like he looks at me some type of way, but I don’t see it.

  I wouldn’t mind getting to know him, but these guys aren’t the type to settle down. I don’t respond to Tink and I finish curling my hair. When I’m done, it falls in long, beach waves. For my makeup, all I do is add a swipe of mascara, making my lashes even longer than what they already are, and put on a deep red matte lipstick. All three of us are just finishing up when there’s a knock on my bedroom door. I open it to see Buster standing there.

  “Well hello, gorgeous,” he laughs. “Think you ladies are ready to head over to the clubhouse? You’ve been up here for a good two hours.”

  “We were just about to head downstairs,” I tell him. I look over my shoulder to Tink and Rivet. “Let’s go cause some trouble.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Savannah

  After Buster came to get us, we hurried downstairs and the group of us headed over to the clubhouse. I linked my left arm with Rivet, and Shade is walking to the right of me. His posture was kind of defensive and he keeps looking around like he is looking for something, or someone. I brush it off and leave him be.

  I don’t want any issues tonight. I plan on drinking and having fun with my friends. Buster, Diesel, and Clutch are behind us with Kicks and Tink following at the end. I can hear them whisper yelling at each other, but I can’t hear exactly what they’re saying. I need to talk to Tink later and get her to tell me what’s going on with them. It’s really not like her to keep something from me.

  We walk into the clubhouse. It’s loud, smells like alcohol and weed, and it feels like home. I didn’t realize just how much I missed this place until I came back. I missed my family. Now, both my families are together, even if only for a short time.

  “If he doesn’t at least try hitting on you with you looking this gorgeous, don’t even bother with him,” Shade says in my ear with a light laugh. I smile, lifting my head up to respond and instead of looking at Shade, my eyes instantly find Raze.

  Of course he has a cut bunny hanging all over him. Instead of paying attention to her, he’s looking at me with a fire in his eyes, telling me he likes what he sees. I give him a mischievous smile before I look at Shade. He’s looking toward Raze.

  “Who’s the slut?” Shade asks, looking back to me. I laugh.

  “I’m sure she’s a cut bunny, but not one I’ve ever seen before,” I tell him. I’m not worried about it.

  “She looks like a fucking Barbie doll. All fake,” he says, shaking his head like he’s disgusted. The girls Shade goes for have a more natural beauty to them.

  “Who’s ready for a drink?” Rivet shouts over the music. She starts tugging on my arm, so I grab Shade’s arm and we head toward the bar. There are a couple of seats open, so Rivet and I sit down. Shade stands between us with his arm across the back of my chair.

  “What can I get y’all to drink?” Lolita asks us with a bright smile. She usually works at Rosie’s. I never did ask why she was bartending tonight.

  “I’ll take a Jack and Coke,” I tell her. I look around the room pretending to watch the brothers, while Shade and Rivet order their drinks. I notice that Raze isn’t by the pool tables anymore. I wonder where he went.

  “Everything alright?” Shade asks. He and Rivet are both looking at me.

  “Yeah, just checking out the scenery,” I laugh. I’m sure Rivet sees through my lie, but I choose not to look at her. I think back to the anonymous text I got earlier. Now is not the time to think about that, I think to myself as Lolita brings us our drinks.

  “Y’all look fucking hot!” she says to me and Rivet.

  “Thanks, Lo,” Rivet says.

  “Yeah, thanks.” I wink at her.

  “Now that y’all are home, we need to plan a long overdue girls night out!!” she exclaims. I smile at her excitement. I’ve missed them so much. She winks at us and goes to check on the other people around the bar.

  “Where did Buster, Diesel, and Clutch disappear to?” I ask Shade. He looks around the clubhouse.

  “Looks like they found the pool tables,” he responds, pointing toward them.

  “And some cut bunnies.” Rivet and I laugh.

  “Why don’t you go play a game or two with them,” I suggest to Shade.

  “Nah, I’m okay with you gorgeous ladies,” he smiles.

  “You know we’re safe here, right? Minx’s Pops is the Prez. If anyone looks at us funny, they’re dead,” Rivet explains to him. Shade lets out a sigh and relaxes a little.

  “I’m sorry,” he says to both of us. “I forget we’re in your territory now. I’m just so used to looking out for both of you.”

  “And we love you for it, Shade, but go. Have fun. Enjoy yourself,” I push him.

  “Alright, alright. I’m going,” he says. He grabs his beer off the counter and makes his way to the others.

  “He deserves to have some fun,” Rivet says as we watch him walk away.

  “Yeah, he does. He worries about us too much,” I reply. I sense Raze before I see him. His scent wafts around me. I turn around to look at him.

  “Hey, Kitty.” The corner of his mouth lifts in a small smile.

  “I’m gonna go check on the guys,” Rivet says to me. “Lo, can I get four more beers please?” Lolita brings her the beers, also bringing one for Raze. They both thank her and she’s off again. I just watch Raze.

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Rivet sing-songs as she walks away. Raze lets out a small laugh.

  “Your friend is something else,” he says, then takes a drink of his beer. I watch his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallows. He turns to look at me. His stare is intense. I distract myself with my own drink, taking a sip before I respond.

  “She’s a wild one,” I tell him and right away, I wish I could take that back. We’re both a little wild, but I don’t want him thinking I’ll put out or anything. I look at him out of the corner of my eye. He has his eyebrow cocked with a smug grin, giving me a suggestive look.

  “Oh, no. No. Don’t go getting any ideas.” I glare at him and he smiles a full tooth-baring smile. A smiling and laughing Raze is definitely something I could get used to.

  “Now, what kind of ideas do you think I would get from that?” He winks at me. I look away from him and take another drink, not wanting to make eye contact again.

  “I don’t know. The kind of ideas that we can’t be doing together,” I tell him. I can feel him staring at me.

  “Kitty, look at me.” I don’t know why, but I actually listen. I find myself staring right into his gorgeous blue eyes. And that’s the moment I know I’m screwed. I don’t want to stay away from him. “Is it because you have a man?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “I told you yesterday at the diner, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “What about Shade? You and him seemed pretty cozy when you walked in.” Raze has a hint of jealousy in his voice and I smile. “What?”

  “Oh, nothing. Shade is just protective of me. Some shit happened in Arizona, and he’s the one that helped me. He saved me. Ever since, he’s just kept a more watchful eye on me,” I explain to him without telling him too much detail.

  “But this is your home. No one here would ever hurt you.” It’s almost like he’s saying he wouldn’t hurt me, but I shake that thought away. I’m thankful he didn’t ask for details about what happened. If I told him, I’m sure he would tell Pops.

  “Once Rivet reminded him that my Pops is Prez, he relaxed. And before you say anything, I know he’s still been watching me from across the room. I’m sure it will be a hard habit for him to break.”

  “So tell me,” he starts, and then brushes a strand of hair out of my face and behind my ear. “Why can’t we do anything together?”

  Just before I respond, the cut bunny from earlier saunters up to Raze and rubs her hand ac
ross his shoulders, ignoring how close Raze is to me.

  “Raze, baby, I’ve been looking for you,” she says, trying to sound sexy. I roll my eyes. Raze smiles at me.

  “I told you I wasn’t interested, Trix.” He doesn’t even look at her when he talks to her, holding eye contact with me the whole time.

  “But, baby—”

  He turns to her. “Quit fucking calling me baby. I’m not interested. Go fucking find someone else,” he growls at her. I smirk.

  “What the fuck are you looking at, bitch?” Trix snaps at me. I calmly get up from my seat and stand between her and Raze, making sure she’s paying attention to me.

  “I’ll let you have one pass since I know you don’t know who the fuck I am. But if you ever talk to me like that again, I will rip out your fake ass hair and break your pretty little face. Now be a good little slut and leave Raze the fuck alone,” I bite back. I feel Raze wrap an arm around my waist and pull me into him. He turns me around and I hear Trix huff out an angry breath before storming off.

  “Calm down, Kitty,” Raze whispers in my ear and by his tone, I can tell he’s smiling. He pulls away and his beard brushes against my face. He must purposely keep it short. It’s not much longer than it was the day at the diner. Feeling his beard on my cheek has me wondering how it would feel between my legs.

  “Come out to the fire pit with me.” It’s not a question, but he sounds hopeful. Part of me feels like I should go find Rivet and the guys. Then something tells me she would chastise me for not listening to the part of me that wants to go with him.

  “Okay.” I decide and as soon as I say it, he’s up and leading me outside.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Raze

  After Minx and I made eye contact, she got pulled away to the bar. Shade had his arm around the back of her chair and that unfamiliar jealousy washed over me. I had walked away from Trix without a word to her. All she did was piss me off anyway. I sought out Sketch, knowing he would have just what I was looking for. A joint. I sat with him, smoking and watching Minx. Waiting to make my move.

  Once Shade left Minx’s side, I was there to take his spot. Rivet was kind enough to leave us to talk alone. I need to be sure to thank her for that later. While we were talking, Trix decided to try to make a move on me and ended up saying the wrong thing to Minx. Yet again, Minx surprised me by standing between Trix and I, and telling her off. Minx’s fiery attitude is sexy as sin. I decided to ask her to go outside with me, and maybe we’d have a better chance of being alone out there. As soon as she said okay, I stood up, took her hand in mine and walked outside with her.

  We walk over to the fire pit and there’s nobody out here, which is surprising. I sit on the bench of the picnic table, leaning and resting my back on the edge of the table. Minx sits down next to me, leaning forward, propping her elbows on her knees. The back of her shirt has a design cut out. It looks like a skull, but what I really notice is there’s no bra showing and I see bits of a tattoo down her spine. I lightly run a finger down her arm to get her attention and a shudder runs through her.

  “Should we pick up where we left off before we were interrupted?” I ask her, leaning forward and mirroring her position. She sighs but doesn’t respond. Maybe thinking of what she’s going to say.

  “Growing up with Pops as the Prez, I’ve known a lot of these guys my whole life. Then throw in three brothers and their best friends. Most of them have always been against relationships. I always told myself I’d find a nice civilian guy and get out of this life. After Hawk died, I was even more determined to get out of this life,” she explains. The thought of her with another guy makes me want to punch something. Jealousy is becoming a regular feeling when it comes to Minx.

  “You got out of this life and came back. Do you plan on leaving again?” I ask her. I know she came back to see her brother, but know nothing of her plans.

  “No. I’m back for good,” she says with a nervous laugh. I wonder if whatever happened to her in Arizona has anything to do with that.

  “What made you decide to stay?” I question. Minx moves her hair so it’s hanging over her right shoulder, giving me the perfect view of her neck. Her skin looks so soft. She stands up before responding.

  “It was hard being away from my family and the club for so long. I don’t regret moving away. I needed it. But it was just time to come back. Even if Jager wasn’t in the hospital, I had still planned on coming home. Him going into the hospital just got me back here sooner than anticipated,” she tells me. With that response, I’m even more curious about what happened to her.

  “How long have you been with the club?” she asks me. I think she’s trying to change the subject from herself. She’s not looking at me. It seems like something might be bothering her.

  “I became a prospect about four years ago. Got patched in about six months later,” I tell her and move to be next to her. I put a finger on her chin and move her face so she’s looking at me.

  Her eyes drop to my lips and then up again. The hunger I saw in her eyes earlier is back. I cup her face in my hand and she leans into it. I move my head down, about to kiss her, when the clubhouse door opens and I hear a group of people talking as they walk out.

  “Shit,” I say on a whisper as Minx practically jumps away from me. She sits down in a chair on the other side of the fire and I just stand there. The group of people gets closer, and it’s Rivet, Saint, Tink, Hollywood, Clutch, and Buster.

  “My, my, my. What do we have here?” Tink asks looking between Minx and I.

  “We interrupting something?” Saint asks, looking at me.

  “Nope, we were just talking,” Minx says to both of them. Buster sits next to Minx and whispers something to her. She nods her head with a small smile. Rivet keeps looking between Minx and I, questions dancing in her eyes. I ignore everyone and sit back down at the picnic table.

  “So, what were y’all talking about?” Hollywood pries. I give him a look to shut him up and he just laughs. “You know everyone can feel the sexual tension between y’all, right?”

  I look to Minx and she looks like she’s ready to bolt. Fucking Hollywood. This is new territory for both Minx and I, and of course Hollywood has to go and call us out on some shit.

  “I think I need another drink,” Minx says standing up and I stand at the same time.

  “I can—” I start and she cuts me off.

  “No, it’s fine,” she says and walks inside. I watch her until the door closes behind her. I feel like I fucked up, but I don’t know what I did.

  “You wanna tell us what that was about?” Saint says, looking in the direction that Minx disappeared to.

  “No, I don’t,” I respond and sit back down.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Savannah

  I walk through the clubhouse doors and go straight to the bar. Raze and I would have kissed had our friends not come outside. I shouldn’t be letting my guard down so soon, but with Raze, I find myself feeling safe. I’m so in my head, I don’t see Lo walk up until she talks.

  “You look like you could use this,” she states as she places a drink in front of me. Resting her elbows on the bar, she looks at me, trying to read my face. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  I take a deep breath. “We almost kissed.”

  “I knew it!” she squeals. “Wait, you said almost. What happened?”

  “Rivet, Tink, and some of the guys walked outside,” I tell her. “As soon as I heard the door open and music pouring out, I moved away from him.” She actually looks disappointed.

  “So what happened next?” she pushes for more. I laugh at her. Of course she wants to know more. I tell her about what Hollywood said.

  “I’m mean, he’s not lying,” she tells me and shrugs. “I could feel it when y’all were in here talking.”

  When I don’t respond, she pats my hand and walks away to check on other people at the bar. I take a sip of my drink. There’s so much on my mind, and I really don’t want to think ab
out any of it. My brother in the hospital. The anonymous text message. My attraction to Raze.

  “What are you over-thinking about?” Buster asks as he sits down next to me.

  “Why do you think I was over-thinking about something?” I shoot back. I was over-thinking but I won’t admit that to him.

  “You seem off. I just wanted to check on you. It’s just me here. You know you can talk to me, right?” he asks, looking concerned. I sigh.

  “I got an anonymous text when I was napping earlier,” I whisper to him. His eyes almost bug out.

  “What did it say?” he asks and I tell him.

  “There was also a picture of me standing in front of the clubhouse attached,” I say.

  “Have you told anyone else about it yet?” he questions, and I look away from him. And he knows. “You haven’t.”

  “Not yet . . .” I start.

  “Savannah.” I glare at him for using my full name as he places a hand on my shoulder. He has a seriousness to his tone. “If that jackass is after you again, you need to tell your Pops. You of all people should know that he has more resources to help you.”

  “I didn’t want to tell him yet. He’s already dealing with the Iron Lords and Jager being in the hospital,” I explain to Buster. “I’ll tell him, just not yet.”

  “Okay, so how about we talk about Raze,” he suggests and I roll my eyes.

  “There’s nothing to talk about, B,” I tell him and he laughs.

  “Alright, if you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine. But here he comes,” he says, motioning to where Raze and Saint are walking inside. They’re walking right toward us. I face the bar and take a hefty sip of my drink. I feel Raze walk up behind me.

  “Are you doing alright, Kitty?” he whispers in my ear. I nod. He lightly kisses the spot below my ear, causing me to bite my bottom lip. “I’ll be back for that kiss we didn’t get.” Before I can respond, he walks away.