“Then get your ass up and go lay in both of your beds.” Damn sassy tonight.
“No, you can have the bed. I’m staying here.”
I looked up at Nickel. “Your woman is damn looney, brother.”
“She’s Karmen.”
Karmen raised her head and leveled her gaze on Nickel. “I’m not sure what you mean by that answer. I’m torn between being offended and kissing you.”
“Kiss me and don’t think about it.”
“No, I think I’m going with offended.” She laid her head back down and pointed at the door. “You and Pipe can be bed buddies. I’m staying here with Nikki and Alice. We’re gonna have a slumber party and talk about boys.”
“Hell yes,” Alice shouted as she shot up from the floor. “Once these two leave, we can make a blanket cave on the couch, bring out more snacks, and watch more Vin.”
Karmen moved her hand to point at Alice. “What she said. Although, we’re also going to talk about your somewhat unhealthy obsession with Vin. You do know he’s real, but not real, right?”
Alice tilted her head to the side. “I don’t think I like the way you are talking right now. Next, you are going to tell me book boyfriends aren’t real. And if that’s the truth, I don’t think I want to live in that world.”
Nickel scooted away from Karmen and moved to the door. “I don’t know what the hell is going on right now. I’m going to the hotel. You coming with me or not, woman?”
“No. Take Pipe. You two can snuggle. Come back over in the morning for breakfast. Actually, make it brunch. I need my sleep.”
“Don’t you think maybe you should run this impromptu sleepover by Nikki before you plan it?”
“She can stay,” Nikki piped up. “I really don’t mind.”
Nickel growled but knew he was outnumbered and there was no way he was going to be able to talk Karmen into going back to the hotel with him. It was three against one, and I had no plans on joining Nickel’s side because I didn’t want these three against me.
“I’m not leaving you with the car.”
Karmen laughed and sat up.
I stood up and grabbed my empty can from the side table.
“I just pictured you on the back of Pipe’s bike.” Karmen cackled and howled, hitting the couch.
Nickel tossed his arms up in the air. “I’m done with you tonight,” he growled. “I love you, baby girl, but I think Pipe might be right about you being a little looney.”
Karmen tossed one of the throw pillows at Nickel’s retreating back before he ducked out the front door.
“I love you too, ass,” she called.
“I know you love my ass, baby girl.” The door slammed shut behind him, and Karmen turned her glare on me.
“Behave.”
Whatever the hell that meant. What did she think Nickel and I were going to do? The only plan I had was to grab one of the cases of beer from the fridge, toss it in Nickel’s car before he left, then drink back at the hotel. “That’s all I do, darlin’.”
Karmen rolled her eyes and tossed the other throw pillow at me. “You don’t even know the definition of behaving.”
“Pfft, now that’s the truth,” Nikki mumbled.
She had barely said a word during the movie, and now the first thing she says is she agrees I don’t know how to behave.
I grabbed a case of beer from the fridge, gave a two-finger salute to the ladies, and made my way out the door. No matter what I tried to do tonight, I knew it wasn’t going to be enough.
“Make sure you lock the door,” Nickel called before I slammed it shut.
I handed him the beer and pulled a cigarette from my pocket. “I’m not sure what the hell that was, but I know me leaving was the best decision.”
Nickel tossed the beer on the passenger seat and slipped into the driver’s seat. “Damn woman. It’s a good thing I love her sass and she’s carrying my kid.”
“Pretty sure you love everything about her, brother. Otherwise you wouldn’t put up with any of that shit.”
“Now that’s the truth,” Nickel mumbled. “I’m gonna head to the hotel. You coming back right away?”
I lit the end of my cigarette and inhaled deeply. “I’ll be right behind you,” I exhaled.
Nickel cranked up the car, backed out of the driveway, and headed down the road.
I leaned against my bike, looking up at Nikki’s duplex.
It was pretty nice.
Nicer than any place I had lived before.
Hell, more than half of my life I had lived in one of the rooms at the club.
I spotted a “for rent” sign on the other half of the duplex, and an idea formed in my head faster than I could finish my cigarette.
I still had no idea what the hell was going on with Nikki and me, but I was damn determined to figure it out.
Tomorrow was going to be the first day of my harebrained scheme and it was hopefully going to settle whatever the hell was going on with us.
At least, that was what I hoped was going to happen.
*
Chapter 7
Nikki
“I thought you were tired?”
Karmen glanced over her shoulder at me and opened the fridge. “I was. Then I took a nap. Now I’m good to go for at least another hour.”
“You’re going to give Nickel gray hair.” I grabbed the remote from the end table and put on the local news.
“Hey, I thought we were going to watch another movie,” Alice protested. She had a bag of chips sitting next to her and a container of dip in her hand. After the guys left, Alice raided the fridge and had taken claim of half of the couch.
“I can’t do it, Alice. I can’t watch those damn movies anymore. I’m starting to go crazy and have dreams of Vin taking me away in his fast car.”
Karmen closed the fridge and pointed her bottle of water at Alice. “You know, there’s something not right in your head with all this Vin talk.” Hell, leave it to Karmen to get right to the point. “Like, honey, you had two living, breathing hunks of men with you tonight, and you only had eyes for a guy on the TV you will never meet.”
Alice rolled her eyes and loaded a chip up with dip. “Those two guys are very much taken by you guys. I’m not going to drool over them when they have zero interest in me.”
Karmen cracked open her water and shook her head. “So, Vin is a much better option for you?” She took a sip then slammed her bottle down on the counter. “We should go back to the bar. We can find you a guy.”
Alice cackled uncontrollably, and I couldn’t help but smile at Karmen. She really had no clue.
When Alice had first told me the dating pool was nonexistent in Kales Corners, I hadn’t believed her. After spending a week in town, I fully understood what she meant.
If you weren’t hooked up and dating someone by freshman year, you were the odd man out. Well, there were people still single, but Alice had no interest in them. I had first thought she was just picky, but after meeting the four men in Kales that were available, I had to agree with her, they weren’t the right guy.
“You know when we went to the bar, and Nikki and I were the only ones there when you guys walked in?” Karmen nodded her head. “Well, I can guarantee you The Bar is now closed because there is no way in hell they were going to keep the lights on for no one but the bartender.”
Karmen rolled her eyes and grabbed the half-eaten bag of licorice off the counter. “I don’t believe you.”
I had sounded just like Karmen a month ago.
Alice grinned and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She swiped left and right a couple of times then held her phone out to Karmen. “They’re closed. They posted on their Facebook page.”
Karmen grabbed the phone from her hand. “Well, I’m a monkey's uncle. You’re right.” Karmen flipped the phone around so I could see.
I nodded and turned back to the TV. “I believed her. Even though that was my first visit to The Bar, I know there aren’t enough people in this town
to keep it open.”
Karmen handed the phone back to Alice and plopped down on the couch next to her. “Sorry. I totally get this is a small town, but I figured with it being a small town everyone would be at The Bar drinking because there wasn’t anything else to do.”
“There normally are about four guys who shut the bar down every night, but Alice’s mom made lasagna or some bullshit, so they all left.”
Karmen popped a chip into her mouth and crunched down on it. “Well, since there isn’t anywhere else to go, and all the movies you have you guys watched fifty times, I guess the only thing left to do is talk about Nikki and Pipe.”
Alice high-fived Karmen. “Best idea I have heard all night,” she sang. She rubbed her hands together and dug another chip out of the bag. “I feel that there is more than what she told us before.”
Karmen scoffed. “Please, I doubt she even scraped the surface on all the sexual tension between them.”
I sat down in the recliner and kicked my feet up. “There isn’t anything else to tell. We had flirted, had sex, flirted some more, and then it was over.”
“You see, the way I look at it, if all he wanted was sex, then why did he flirt with you after you guys had sex? That don’t make sense,” Karmen insisted.
I looked over and shook my head. “It makes sense because he is a man, and they don’t make sense.”
Alice stopped mid-chew and tilted her head. “I don’t know if what either of you just said makes sense.”
It made sense. At least what I said. I knew the score when I had hooked up with Pipe, but like every dumb woman who sets their sights on an unattainable man, they think they can change them. I was the latest dumb woman in a long line. “It makes sense, because Pipe got exactly what he wanted from me, and then he was on to the next woman.”
“I don’t think that’s entirely true. I think you confused the hell out of Pipe, and he had no clue what to do, so he just did what he always used to do.”
“Be a man,” Alice and I sang out in unison.
Karmen sat back and rubbed her belly. “I still don’t entirely understand why you ran away, though. I know you always talked about leaving Weston, but girl, you just left like a thief in the night. You were there, and then you were gone.” Her tone was sad and hurt, and I was the reason for that.
I sighed and closed my eyes. “I’m sorry I took off so quickly. I just needed to get gone.”
“But why couldn’t you have talked to me? I would have understood.”
“You would have understood that a man I had no connection to other than one night and some flirting with hurt me to the point where I didn’t even want to be in the same town as him?” I squeezed my eyes shut tight, fighting off the tears that were threatening to fall.
“Oh hell, Nikki. Don’t make me cry. Nickel says I’m a blubbering mess, and I’m starting to believe him. This baby has me all out of whack.” I heard Karmen sniffle, and I cracked open one eye to see her wipe her nose with the back of her hand. “You should have talked to me, woman. We would have figured out how to get Pipe together.”
“That’s the thing, Kar, I didn’t want to have to convince him to be with me. You can’t force someone to feel the same way you do. He didn’t want me again, so he found something he did want. Too bad for me, I wasn’t what he wanted.” I hated having to say that out loud. Pipe had cut me deep. The way I felt when I was even in the same room with him was something I had never experienced before. After Pipe and I had slept together, everything changed for me. I had never felt a pull to a man like I did with Pipe. For a bit, I thought he had felt the same way. We flirted, brushed up against each other to feel each other again, and I thought I saw a promise of something more whenever he looked at me.
I guess I read everything wrong, because by the time I worked up enough courage to go to him, he had moved on, and I was left with a broken heart and felt like a complete fool. Who reads a man that wrong? In my head we were basically married, and in his, I was just another notch on his bedpost.
Fool.
“Pipe is such an idiot,” Karmen sobbed.
Alice had a look of terror on her face as she watched Karmen grab a handful of chips and shove them into her mouth while she sobbed.
“Did Pipe break up with you or Nikki?” she asked.
“I am Nikki,” Karmen babbled. “When she hurts, so do I. She’s like my sister.”
Alice slowly turned her head to look at me and grimaced. “I’m not sure what to do,” she whispered. “I feel like she can flip on me at any minute.”
“She can hear you,” I whispered back, laughing.
She turned back to Karmen and plastered a smile on her face. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Karmen stopped crying, and now it was her turn to look at me. “Huh?” she asked, confused.
Alice shrugged her shoulders. “I felt that was a safe thing to say. Can you really attack someone who says sorry?”
Her reasoning was good. “True. Plus, you confused the hell out of her too. Apologize and blind her with confusion.”
Karmen shot up and grabbed a paper towel off of the counter. “I’m not attacking anyone,” she sniffled. “I’m just a little emotional, and I know Nikki is hurting even though she plays it off.”
“I’m fine, Karmen. And soon, I’ll be good. I just needed to get out of Weston.” Everything about that damn town seemed to remind me of Pipe. Even things that had nothing to do with him reminded me of him because I would think of going to places with him or doing things with him. I was a mess when it came to the man, and the only way to get over Pipe was to completely get away.
“But why do you have to go so far away from me? We’ve been together since we were kids, and now you’re just gone.” She was on the verge of tears again.
Sweet heavens. Talking to her really was like walking through a minefield. One wrong word, and kablooey, she was crying and losing it.
She looked down at her belly and glared at it. “How is it possible to love and hate this kid all at the same time? What in the hell is going on with me?”
“At least she knows she’s unstable,” Alice mumbled.
Jesus. “Not helping, Alice,” I hissed. I snapped down the footrest, rocked out of my chair, and wrapped my arms around Karmen. “You need to breathe, Karmen.”
“I am breathing,” she insisted. “Although I’m apparently unstable.” She pulled out of my arms and leveled her glare on Alice.
Alice held up her hands. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Karmen dropped her arms to her side. “I don’t even know what to say to that.” She turned to look at me. “This is my replacement?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Well…”
Karmen stomped her foot. “Seriously? You were replacing me?”
She looked outraged and ready to flip the switch and go crazy on me.
I laughed. There wasn’t anything else to do. This baby really was causing havoc to her hormones. “She’s not your replacement, Kar. I could never replace your crazy ass.”
“Yeah. I mean, you totally have the market cornered on being the pregnant, crazy, dating a biker, friend. That is all you, sister.” Alice pointed her finger at Karmen and winked. “No one can pull that off like you do.”
“You know, I thought she was super sweet when I first met her, but it’s like the more comfortable she gets, the more sarcastic she gets.” Karmen flopped back down on the couch and grabbed the bag of chips from Alice.
“See, that’s my niche. The quiet, shy, yet terribly sarcastic one.” She wiped her hands on her legs and nodded at the TV. “So, you think we can watch something other than the news? I’m more informed on what’s going on around here than they are.”
“Only if I get to pick the movie,” I insisted.
Alice rolled her eyes but agreed.
“Hold on. We never finished our conversation.”Karmen rubbed her belly and leveled her gaze on me. “Are you ever going to move back to Weston, and am I still your best
friend?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “This is home for now, and I can’t even imagine ever replacing you.”
Karmen sighed and shoved a chip into her mouth. “I guess I’ll accept those answers for now. I at least know where you live now so I can just visit you whenever I want. Maybe I could ask Nickel to move the club here.”
“Wow, he’s the president?” Alice asked.
Karmen laughed and shook her head. “No, he’s the Sergeant at Arms. I just like to think he could talk Wrecker and Pipe into moving,” she giggled.
“I think that is one idea you just need to give up on.” I grabbed a movie from the pile in the cabinet under the TV and slipped it into the Blu Ray player. “I think Kales Corners is a bit behind the times for the Fallen Lords.”
“This is true,” Karmen laughed. “I don’t think they could handle one bar and limited, well, everything.”
I sat back down and pointed the remote at the TV. “Okay, so are we all done talking about me?”
“For now,” Karmen and Alice said in unison.
I hit play and kicked up the footrest of the recliner. “Good. Now we can watch my favorite movie ever. Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. in the freakin’ hilarious New in Town. Prepare to laugh your ass off, ladies.”
“Oh geez. I’ve seen this five times with you, woman,” Karmen laughed.
“But you know you’re going to laugh still.”
“Again, this is true,” she agreed.
“Hmm, I’ve never seen this before,” Alice hummed.
“Probably because it doesn’t have Vin in it,” Karmen snickered.
“Hey, I’m the snarky friend in this relationship,” Alice grabbed the bag of chips back from Karmen and tucked it next to her side. “We all have our roles. Stick to ‘em.”
“Is she for real?” Karmen asked.
Unfortunately, she was. Karmen was right when she said Alice started out shy and quiet then once she got comfortable enough, she cranked up the sarcasm and lost any filter she had before. “She most definitely is.”
Karmen settled back into the couch, kicked her feet up between her and Alice, and ignored the glared Alice gave her. “I’m the needy, crazy, pregnant one. Don’t mess with me,” Karmen reminded her.
Fallen Lords MC: Books 1-3 Page 23