“Walrus, it’s Donovan, open up!”
The corrugated metal gate inches open, until there’s just enough room for us to fit through.
“These are my friends, Jamie and Max,” I say, “and this is Walrus.”
He doesn’t even look fazed by the fact that Jamie is wearing platform heels and a silk dress under a leather motorcycle jacket; after insisting we went by their place so he could get appropriate clothes for meeting hot bikers. Max is dressed in his usual jeans and a plaid shirt, so he’ll fit right in.
Walrus grunts and disappears into the office again.
“Never mind him,” I say, heading into the yard, “he’s a man of few words.”
The place is full of bikes so everyone must be here, and I can’t wait to see them all. I lead us to the main door of theclubhouse, as soon as I walk in I’m met with a scream and a mass of wild red hair in my face as Beth leaps into my arms.
“It hasn’t been that long,” I laugh, swinging her around.
“It’s still been too long,” she says.
“Beth, this is Jamie and Max.” I introduce them, but Beth and Jamie are already hugging as she says hi to Max.
“I’ve heard so much about you both, I feel like I already know you,” Beth says.
“You too,” Jamie chuckles.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you.” She grabs Jamie’s hand and pulls him further into the bar.
“I guess that’s them for the night,” Max says.
“Yeah, I figured they’d hit it off immediately. Come on, let’s get a drink.”
I go by the bar and grab us both a beer before heading to the table where everyone is sitting, Beth is already making introductions.
“Everyone, these are Donovan’s friends, Jamie and Max.”
The guys all lift their drinks in a greeting.
“Right,” Beth says, “are you ready for this? Here we go, around the table we have Diablo—my boyfriend—and we’ve also got Pretty Boy, Slim, Tank, El Jefe, and Tipo.”
She points them all out as she introduces them and the guys each nod and say hi.
“Well hi everyone,” Jamie says, “Donovan wasn’t lying when he said I’d get to meet some hot bikers tonight.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Max groans. “For the record, he’s my boyfriend so please just ignore him, you’re all safe, I promise. Unless any of you want to take him off my hands of course; though I warn you, he’s very high maintenance.”
Everyone laughs but Jamie is giving Max daggers and mouthing, “Fuck you!” at him.
“Get in here, sit down,” Tank says, his deep voice rising above everyone else’s as they shuffle their chairs around to make space.
“Why don’t you have a seat here, darlin’,” Pretty Boy says in his southern drawl as he winks at Jamie.
Who in turn smirks over his shoulder at Max and says, “Don’t mind if I do!”
“Oh my god,” Max laughs, shaking his head as he sits next to El Jefe.
I sit next to my brother who has his arm wrapped tightly around Beth, clearly loving the fact that they can be together in the open.
“It’s good to have you back, Donovan,” Tank says, “we’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, we were worried you were gonna ditch us for Winbrook permanently,” Pretty Boy says.
