“She won’t.”
“You’ve got to call it off.Not just for the club.Trina’s gonna take you for everything you have if she gets proof you’ve been cheating.”
“I don’t care.I won’t stop seeing Carol.”
Lil’ Nick crosses his arms.“Do I have to order you?”
“You wouldn’t.”
“The hell, I wouldn’t?For your own damn good… Girl’s too young for you.”
“What do you know about her?Why do you care?”
He doesn’t answer that.“You’re on probation.Thirty days, no rides, no colors, no woman.Orders.Or you’ll be out bad.”
Damn.
Shaking my head, I take off my cut, fold it once, set it on the table.“Then I guess you’ll need a new sergeant.”
Nick stares at the leather like it’s a wound he can’t look at too long.“Thirty days is nothin’.A slap on the wrist.And you know it.”He huffs.“That girl’s not cut out for club life no how.If she can’t wait a month for you, she’s no better than the Wild Child.”He used Trina’s old bunny name.
When I step back into the main room, the eyes follow me again.I punch the damn wall.Almost break my hand.Some smirk.Some pity.I let ’em.I’ve lived with worse looks.
I head straight for the door.
Outside, the world is blinding.Snow, sun, glare, white noise made solid.I light a cigarette, watch the smoke twist into it.I should feel angry.All I feel is empty and alive at the same time.
Her face flashes behind my eyes, laughing in that tiny office, humming off-key, wearing my damn hoodie, making it sexy.I take another drag and hate how it steadies me.
The phone buzzes in my pocket.I recognize the number but no name.I’ve not saved Carol’s name for a reason.
Is there something going on?
I stare at the text long enough to melt a hole through the snow with my smoke.Then I type back.
Yeah.Bike’s trashed.Prez ain’t happy.
Dots appear, vanish, reappear.
Was it her?
Yeah.
I’m sorry.
Don’t be.
I should stop there.Instead, I write:Meet me.Same spot.
Her reply comes fast:On my break.
When I pull into the alley behind Sno-Globes, in my truck, she’s already there.She looks tired but fierce, like someone who’s been holding her own heart hostage too long.
“You shouldn’t have come,” she says.
“You keep sayin’ that,” I answer.“You never mean it.”
She sighs, steps closer.“The whole town’s talking, you know that?My boss said the MC’s trouble.That they’re behind the robbery.”
