She glares at the TV, and if she were a dragon, smoke would be coming out of her nostrils. “A grand. Dad only got onto it when I slipped up and made the mistake of saying too much when I applied for a job and some asshole called him.”
Fuck. I missed it. Not sure why the boss didn’t tell me, but that only means I’m getting lax in my duties. I might not like the job or the person, but it’s a job. I’ve got to give it my all if I expect to get what I want out of it in the end.
I’ve been giving this the bare minimum. Just enough to keep her breathing. But if I want to keep her breathingandprevent me from taking these day trips more often, I’ve got to dive in deeper and watch closer. Might add more time in my day, but in the end, it’ll save me hours on the road. Not that riding my bike ain’t awesome. I just wish it were on a road I wanted to be on and not one that leads me back to her.
“I’ll get you your money back.”
She turns toward me. I know she sees the shotgun in my hand, but like the club kid she is, she doesn’t even blink as to why I have it.
“Thought you’d want me to learn from my mistakes.” She tilts her head just a smidge, allowing some of her hair to fall off her shoulder.
I shrug. “Did you learn something?”
She snorts as she goes back to flipping through the channels. “Yeah, not to trust a man.”
“There you go. No need to be out of cash while you’re at it.”
Her head whirls toward me at my words, her face laced with confusion. Can I be a dick? Yes. Have I been one to her? Yes. But money doesn’t seem like a reason to be one.
Before she can question me on it, I turn and open the door just as the pizza guy raises his hand to knock. A pimply-faced kid with glasses gives me wide eyes as he takes in my vest and then the shotgun still in my hands.
“$16.50,” he squeaks out.
I pull a twenty from my wallet and put it on the box before walking away. I need to get back to Gerry. He owes me a grand twenty now. If he’s lucky, he’ll get it before I grow impatient and blow out his other kneecap.
Chapter 6—Ruby
“You want to talk about it?” I give Natalie the side-eye as I pull out of the parking lot of the coffee shop we just left.
Today was meant to just be a chill day. Just take out the new girl, Jules, for a coffee with a few of the others involved with the club since she’s in and yet still on the outside till Flint claims her ass. It’s coming; I don’t need to see it to know it. Also helps that the boys don’t really keep their mouths shut about gossip at the club. Maybe about club business, but not about who’s making out with who. And the fact that the amnesia chick had her tongue down Flint’s throat before he left on some uber-secret mission is just juicy enough to get the brothers talking. Even heard a few were taking bets on how long it would take him to put the old lady title on her.
I’ve got to admit, there are worse options out there for a guy like Flint. I like him. Always have. He can fuck up like the rest of us, but at least he’s good at groveling. Or, in club standards, dealing with bitch duty till he’s in the clear to go back to the way things were.
Nat continues to ignore my question. She ignored it in the shop when the old ladies asked about why she went crazy on some Asian woman who came in for a snack. She played it off well, though. Had me almost questioning if I had hallucinated her chasing the woman off and yelling at her from the door.
I kept my mouth shut then. I don’t want to scare her off. She might not know it, but I cherish our friendship. She’s the only person I know who became my friend because of who I am and not who my dad is or because I’m part of the club.
Nat’s never been inside. She might have come to town for a meal here or a bachelorette party there, but never to the clubhouse. That’s people’s homes, and I would never invade a person’s home like that by inviting guests to it. Now, if brothers do it, it’s whatever, but I’ve still got kid access. Which is no access to anything other than getting myself through the gate, unless something’s going down. Either I’m kicked out to keep it closed-door or brought in for my own protection. It’s the president’s call, and I’m just the president’s kid. Fewer rights than a tourist on a visa some days.
“I’m just going to keep asking. Might as well tell me,” I say in a sweet voice. Well, the sweetest I can manage. Some might say it’s cringy, but I’m not really known for being sweet.
“It was nothing. Can we just drop it?”
I feel my face pull back at her words. Natalie’s the quiet, shy one between the two of us. Well, frankly, everyone is shy next to my loud-ass attitude. But the sass she just threw at me is so out of character for her.
“Sure, we can drop it.” I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. “If it really is nothing.” My words are hard, letting her know I’m not about to drop shit.
Taking a deep breath, she shakes her head, then rests it against the side window and watches the trees as we pass.
“Just someone from my past who I thought I was free of.”
I keep glancing at her, but also keep my eyes on the road. Neither of us wants to be in a car accident ever again. The bruising lasted way longer for both of us than we were told by the doctors after our last visit.
“Want me to get the club involved? They can take this problem out if you want that. Just got to ask.”
She’s shaking her head even before I finish talking. “No, it’s not their fight.” She looks over at me and reaches out to grab my hand on the steering wheel. With a small smile, she says, “Thanks, though.” She pulls away but continues. “This is something I have to deal with alone. I didn’t expect to see them again, and that’s on me. But now I know they might be around, and I’ll have my guard up.”
“Is this someone I should be worried might be of the ‘shoot first’ type?”
