Me:You guys busy?
The reply is almost immediate.
Piston:What do you need, beautiful?
Me:Pick me up?
Beast:Any plan in mind?
Me:I just need to get out. Distract me for a bit?
Zero:Be there in ten.
I meet them outside, and they take me back to the club. It’s a short ride, barely enough time to really enjoy the feeling of sitting behind Beast with my arms around his broad chest, the one I’ve seen bare multiple times now.
Their clubhouse is the central point of a whole walled-in complex. It’s visible over the top of the walls from a long ways away. On the front, at least a story tall, is the Screaming Eagles logo, lit up by floodlights so even at night it’s impossible not to know whose territory you’re in. Guards wave us through the gates when they see who’s coming.
I’ve been to their bar, the Eagles’ Roost, a few times, both before going away to school and once since I’ve been back, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been inside the walls. There’s a courtyard right inside the gate, with the clubhouse straight ahead, and a hangar sized garage to the right with doors wide open to let air through on hot summer days. Music spills out from inside where I can see bikers hanging out and working on their motorcycles. There’s a single black van up on lifts that someone is working on from below.
Along the side of the clubhouse, a row of houses that would fit into any old, city neighborhood starts and carries on into the back. No pre-fab mansions in sight. A couple of them have swings and toys scattered on the front lawns, along with discarded kids' bikes. Natalie lives above her bakery, but from what I remember, several of the old ladies live here with their families. I’m not sure who, though. Faith I know pretty well sinceshe lives next door and runs the bookshop next to Nat’s bakery, but most of the others I’ve only met in passing. I could spot Emily, Alessa and Summer, but not enough to know where they live.
Their day-to-day lives were never something I thought too much about, but if I stick around, could that be me someday?
Thanks to my sister, the idea of settling down with more than one man isn’t as strange to me as it would be to most people. I’ve seen it work and know how happy Nat is, but relationships in general are something I don’t do a lot of. It’s hard to let people get close, so a date or two is usually my limit.
But this thing with Zero and the others isn’t dating, is it? It’s just… us, and somewhere between them showing up at my job with a dog and moonlight swims in the ocean, these guys have started making me wonder if it’s time to see what all the fuss is about.
If people are already talking, I might as well give them some real gossip.
15
SANDRA
Piston takesmy hand and leads me up the metal stairs into the clubhouse. I look around curiously as we head through the large common room. The Screaming Eagles logo is up on the wall, flanked by two American flags. We get a few looks, but we don’t stick around, heading instead down a hallway off the main room and up a flight of stairs.
“It’s like a dorm,” I say as we pass doors marked with different names. The hallway is mostly clean, but there are boxes of bike parts, muddy boots outside doors and other miscellaneous things strewn about to show that people actually live here.
“Same idea,” Zero says with a nod. “Probably a bit more room than most students get, but that depends on where you end up. The older rooms are small and kind of shitty. They mostly get used temporarily, or by the guys who live off compound and just need a place to crash sometimes.”
Beast points slightly farther down the hall. “This is me.”
His room is like a studio apartment. Zero’s right, it’s roomier and nicer than any dorm I’ve seen. It’s also neater than Iwould’ve expected from a guy. There’s a large bed, a black sofa facing a TV with some sort of game console hooked up, some shelves, and a small table with a few chairs.
I look around. He doesn’t have a lot of clutter, but I spot some framed photos that make me curious. You can learn a lot about a person from what they choose to surround themselves with. One is a picture that’s clearly of a younger Beast with two other kids. “Siblings?”
He nods. “My father kicked me out of the house when they were in middle school and we didn’t see each other for years, but we tracked each other down when they got a bit older. Can’t say we’re close, but hey, it’s a work in progress.”
“I know that feeling,” I say with a frustrated huff.
“Need to talk about it?”
I consider it for exactly ten milliseconds, then shake my head. “No. Talking is what I needed a break from.”
"Yeah? We could take you to the zoo." With a low chuckle, Piston steps closer, right up against my back.
“Um…” Stay safe and keep playing this flirting game with them? Or actually take a chance? "I think I’d rather stay a little more private."
"I like the sound of that," Zero says in a predatory tone. He steps in close, sandwiching me between him and Piston. "You going to be a good girl for us? Or are you in the mood to bebad?" The way he says it makes goosebumps rise on my skin.
