Strangely enough, Claire seemed to recognize the intensity behind Moves’ expression. The sunny smile did not fade from her face, but I felt her spine stiffen next to me.
“Best not to ask questions if you don’t want the answers,” Moves said.
“Oh, I always want the answers,” Claire shot back, quick as a whip.
Moves leaned back and raised his brows. I stifled a smile. Claire wasn’t going to be teased by Moves, and I liked that.
“Don’t let him scare you,” Kim interjected. “Moves is a big softie who only throws punches when it’s for a good cause.”
“Come on, Kimmy, don’t ruin my rep,” Moves said.
Claire laughed and turned to me.
“It’s true,” I said. “We all have rules that we follow, that’s why our club is so strong.”
“What kind of rules?” Claire asked.
“It’s like this,” Kim said. “When you’re wearing the patch, you’re not representing yourself anymore, you’re representing the Outlaw Souls – so anything you do or say, that’s on the brothers. That means you can’t just go rogue and do whatever. You have to respect your brothers enough to stay in line.”
“As opposed to illegal stuff?” Claire asked.
“We don’t fuck with that.”
We all turned to see Raul behind us. He was only a little bit older, in his thirties, but since he was the road captain, we all gave him the same respect we gave the old guard.
Claire picked up on that right away and nodded. “I didn’t mean to offend.”
“I know,” he said. “And you have a right to wonder, seeing as you just got involved with Pin. So I thought I’d come out and say it, we’re not that kind of club.”
Claire nodded and leaned closer to me. “Good.”
Raul sat down and we chatted about the gigs we did and other club news. It felt natural. Claire had questions, admitting to her ignorance of biker culture, but even so, she fit in. No one minded explaining things to her. And between Kim and Raul, she did not lack for teachers.
After Raul gave Claire an entire breakdown of Outlaw Souls’ territory, I decided to save her. I grabbed her hand and pulled her around the party, introducing her to everyone else.
I kept getting the same look from my brothers. A knowing nod and maybe a wink as they smiled at Claire. It would have been embarrassing if I hadn’t known that they meant well. They liked her, and they liked her with me.
It was a big deal to bring a girl to a barbecue. We didn’t just bring anyone. Introducing someone you were dating to the brothers meant something.
I hadn’t thought too much about it when Moves suggested I invite Claire. Instead, I had acted on instinct. If I had thought too much about the implications, then I wouldn’t have asked her. It would have freaked me out that after I took this step, there was no taking it back.
I wasn’t freaked. In fact, I was feeling pretty great about all my decisions.
As the sun set, we all gathered around a small fire pit and continued to chat and throw back beers. Claire sat close to me on the bench, so that I could feel her warmth through my jeans.
I couldn’t help but glance down at her every few seconds, just to confirm again and again that she was real and there with me. Every time I looked at her, I noticed something else. How her cheeks flushed red after her second drink. Or how she had an extra piercing in the cartilage of her left ear. Or how she did this sharp intake of breath right before she laughed at something really funny.
As the night wore on, I tried to remember if things had ever felt so right between me and a lady. I couldn’t recall. Sara had been so long ago, and all the early memories were tainted with what had happened later. I couldn’t think of her without recalling her betrayal.
But even so, I didn’t think our connection had been as strong as mine with Claire. We had been teenagers, filled with hormones and lust, but that was all just physical. Not to say there was no physical aspect with Claire, there certainly was. But there was something deeper. Something I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in a long time. Something I hadn’t really believed existed.
I slipped away to grab another round of drinks and ran into Raul by the cooler. He gave me a head nod. As I grabbed a drink out of the ice, he opened his mouth. “Claire’s a keeper.”
I tried to stay nonchalant since I had been attempting to not show all my brothers how head-over-heels I was, but I was finding that act to be more and more difficult. So I smiled and nodded instead. “I get that feeling too.”
“Be careful,” Raul said. “She’s tough as nails, but I’m guessing that’s why you like her.”
I stiffened at Raul’s warning. Claire was tough, but she wasn’t cruel. I didn’t think so anyway.
