Donovan loves her, he might even be in love with her, but I know that she doesn’t feel that way. She barely interacts with him; they’ve been dating for at least six months, but you wouldn’t think it from how she is around him. They never kiss, they never hold hands—all that shit couples do, they don’t. He deserves better.
“Ouch!” Donovan laughs as he gently pushes her. “I’d better go get my brother some aloe vera for that burn.”
They walk towards the table, and she follows Donovan to some empty chairs that Tank has pulled up. I sit next to Slim who’s lost in his cigarette.
“Thanks, Tank,” she says, sitting next to him.
“No worries, how was college you two?”
“It was good,” Donovan says, “classes are winding down and everything is ready for my semester exchange, I can’t believe I go this weekend.”
It’s great to hear him so excited; I hate the thought of not seeing my little brother regularly, but I want him to have the opportunities I never had. Shit, I barely made it through school, let alone college, and the only reason I’ve ever left Tynerston was for club business, but now we’re legit that happens even less.
“It’s gonna be weird not seeing you around here,” Pretty Boy says, in his southern drawl which girls seem to fall over themselves for. He winks at Elizabeth, “You too, darlin’.”
“She can still come and hang out with us, can’t you?” Tank says, as he puts his arm around her shoulders.
I don’t like it, it’s not cool for him to be touching Donovan’s girl like that, and the fact that my brother just sits there and lets it fucking happen.
“Please,” I scoff, “like the princess would lower herself to see any of us if it wasn’t for Donovan. She’ll probably spend the next three months crying in her castle until he comes home.”
The others laugh, and Tank removes his arm from her shoulders; but I can’t read the expression on her face.
Donovan replaces Tank’s arm with his own and pulls her to him with a smile. “Beth probably won’t even notice I’m gone.” He looks at her. “Think how much reading and writing you’ll be able to get done without me disturbing you all the time.”
She laughs. “It’s true, this will probably be the most productive three months of my life.”
I don’t understand how they’re both so casual about him going away. I don’t date and don’t do relationships, but if I did, there’s no way in hell I’d be away from my girl for three months. And if I had no choice, it would break me to hear her being so casual and laughing about it. I must be channeling these thoughts into my glare as when we make eye contact, she quickly looks away and shrugs out of Donovan’s arm.
We’re interrupted by the clubhouse doors opening and some of the girls walking out with beers. They’re all dressed similarly, tight denim shorts and low-cut crop tops, leaving very little to the imagination. Not that it matters, we’ve all fucked each of them and seen everything; it makes it so much easier not wanting to date having all these willing women around. And they just want to fuck a biker, not caring who it is or when, so it’s a win-win for all of us.
Imogen looks at me flirtatiously and I figure she’ll do for tonight; I pull her to sit on my lap, thanking her as she hands me one of the beers. A couple of the other guys have done the same, but where they haven’t, the girls squeeze themselves onto the bench next to them, so they’re practically on top of each other anyway. The only people left with any personal space are the couple, and people question why I think Elizabeth’s stringing him along.
“Sorry,” Imogen says to Donovan, “I didn’t know you were here, so I didn’t bring you a drink.”
She completely ignores Elizabeth which annoys me; she’s meant to be a hostess, it’s her job to serve drinks, not ignore people.
“That’s okay, I’ll grab us drinks,” Donovan says, heading into the clubhouse.
Before anyone has a chance to say anything, Elizabeth speaks, and it’s directed at me.
“While he’s gone, I need to ask you a favor.”
“And what exactly do you think I could help you with, princess?” I ask.
She ignores my jab at her and continues. “I was wondering if we could throw a leaving party for Donovan here on Friday night. A lot of our college friends want to arrange something at the dorms, but I know he also wants to spend his last night with you, so I was hoping we could have the party here and do both.”
I take my time, pretending to think about it, finding it amusing to see her get more stressed as she glances between me and the door, scared Donovan will return before I answer. I decide to have some fun.
“Hmm… I’m not sure that’s something I can answer,” I say, “you’ll need to take that shit to table, get El Jefe to lead a vote.”
I sense some of the others smirking, they know I’m fucking with her, but they’ll let me have my fun.
“Are you serious?” she asks, “For a party?”
“Well, we don’t just let anyone into our clubhouse, we’ve gotta think about security and shit.”
“Oh… I guess that makes sense. So how do I do that? Please, I really want to do this for Donovan.”
