I turned to see Grease launching himself at Rocket, and the two of them crashed to the ground, throwing punches, andcalling each other things I never wanted my woman to have to hear from them.
Caroline gasped, and tried to run from them, from me, from all of us, and that’s when she became surrounded by old ladies. I saw them leaning close to talk to her, and then they all started moving toward the office building, and Jamie turned to flash me a thumbs up as they disappeared inside. Fuck. She ran from me too.Me.
I turned to help break up the fight, and then I was the one punching Grease.
“What the fuck! He spilled my fucking beer, dammit. He deserved it!”
I shoved him back again. “Maybe he did, but did my old lady? Because right now she’s cloistered in the fucking office with the other women, while they try to calm her down. You know how she struggles, man, you fucking know!”
He paled, dragging a hand down his face. “Jesus. I mean, it’s mostly Rocket’s fault, but I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare her.”
“I’m going to break your fucking smug face, you jumped up piece of shit!” Rocket came at him next, and I just backed up. Let them fucking kill each other. Let them beat each other to hell, because what was the fucking point anyway? Their behaviour could be what loses me the woman I love. And worse than my anger at them, was the sense of betrayal. Because they, out of everyone here, understood that this was exactly what she was afraid of. This thuggery was exactly what would drive her away. I thought they had my back, but maybe this club would always be full of men too fucking dumb to care about women.
“Fuckers!” I backed up, ready to head for the office, and Reacher caught up with me, slowing me down.
“Just breathe, brother. She’s okay. The old ladies have her, and she needs a minute. So take a deep breath, drink this, and wait with me.” He offered me a beer, and I cursed.
“I can’t drink when I have to take her home! I mean, assuming she’ll even go with me now.”
“It’s one of Ice’s alcohol-free ones. Trust me, they taste like shit, but it’ll keep you sober.”
Well, damn. He’d thought of everything, right?
Caroline
OLD LADIES THEY WERE called, but they were anything but. They were beautiful, dynamic women. They were strong enough to handle men like those animals out there, and right now they were my last line of defence against them.
“That’s it, babe, just sit there and take a deep breath. You’re safe in here.”
“She’s safe out there too, Cammy, but they were being dicks,” a woman with dark hair and an almost dangerous aura said, sitting across from me on one of the worn leather sofas.
“Tor, it’s overwhelming, and you know it,” a pretty redhead said next, sitting beside her. She had a gentleness about her that made the other woman seem even more intimidating.
“I’m Lissa, and I promise you that you’re safe here to take some time to gather your strength again. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. They can be rowdy as hell.”
There was one woman who looked a little older than them, and they all seemed to defer to her as she moved over to join them on that sofa. She had a slight hitch to her step as she moved, but she looked glamorous, and at the same time, friendly and kind.
“I’m Ally. I’m Reacher’s old lady… uh, he’s the President of the original club. We’re all here because we joined the toy drive.”
“I didn’t, but that’s because I was here with the little one, but you know that, since we met earlier while the rest of them were out.”
I remembered her, and even her name.Cammy. She’d made me feel safer here once I realised a woman with a baby would willingly stick around.
“I don’t know many of the men in the club,” I whispered, embarrassingly shakily, as I wrung my hands together.
“Who do you know?” The strong dark haired woman spoke again.
The others were sitting around or standing around, and not really interrupting. A young blonde woman, and a slightly older one who seemed to be very conservatively dressed to be with a biker.
“Harley, obviously.” They all giggled a little, and that gave me a tiny boost of confidence. “Rocket, Grease, and Micro. I only met Micro once before today. I know he’s the President here, and I liked him. He seems kind.”
“Harley is the gentlest man I know from this club,” Ally said, and then she grimaced as Sophie glared at her, “I’m not saying anything bad about him, Sophie. I’m just saying, Harley is like Has-Been, softer spoken, and the biker most likely to step up to help a stranger. He’s different from most of the others.”
“Even your man?” I asked warily, and a few of them snorted or laughed. Ally herself smiled and shrugged.
“He’s a grumpy fucker, but he’s my old man and I love him.”
“Is that what they are? If we… if you’re ‘old ladies’, does that make them ‘old men’?” It sounded a little creepy, but from their laughter, I was probably wrong. It wasn’t laughter in a mean way, like they were laughing at me, but more like I’d made a joke and they appreciated it.
