Outside, the morning sun has burned off the last of the fog rolling in from the Gulf.I swing onto the bike and start the engine.The rumble echoes down the street.
Across the road a couple teenagers stop talking and stare.Kings of Anarchy draw attention.Always have and always will.I ride slowly down Main Street toward the ship yard.But halfway there I realize something.I don’t know much about Lucy Coe.As a man, as a club, even, we don’t dig into women who roll into town until something happens drawing our attention to them.Maybe that needs to change.Not because I’m certainly intrigued by the woman, but because women pose a threat all their own to men like me.
With Lucy, I feel the caveman inside me need to know everything because the little I do know bothers me.
Single mom.A past that has her locked in a flight or fight mode.She lives with a fear that freezes her instead of pushing back.That combination rarely ends well.
I don’t like unknowns and loose ends.By the time I pull into the yard, Gainz is under the fork life with both legs sticking out from beneath the popped up frame.
“Get the part?”he asks.
I toss the small box onto the workbench.“Yep.”
He rolls out on the creeper and sits up.“How was breakfast?”
“Fine.”
“See Lucy?”
I glare.“Why are you on my dick?”
He laughs, “I’m not on your dick, brother.I got a feelin’ that is reserved for Lucy Coe.”
“Do you enjoy being annoying?”
“Very much,” Gainz responds confidently.He stands and grabs the box.“She okay?”
“Roger showed up.Guess he’s been barking up that tree.”
Gainz’s expression darkens immediately.“He can be trouble.”
“Yeah.”I reply knowing Roger has a history of fixation.He was the high school quarterback.That small pond, big fish popularity.The kind that leave some men thinking they have balls when the reality is they are fucking peons.
“And?”
“He left.”
Gainz studies me carefully.“You threaten him?”
“No.”
He studies me.“You sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
He chuckles.“That’s usually enough.”
I lean against the workbench.“You know how he gets when he’s set his sights on a female.”
“Yeah.”Gainz huffs.“Unfortunately.That dickhead is worse than bad news.He’s the kind of guy who thinks consequences only happen to other people.”
“That usually ends well.”
“Not for him if he’s landed on your radar.”Gainz responds and he’s not wrong.“Lucy’s good people though.Lindsey calls her the answered prayer to Scoops.”
“So everyone keeps saying.”
“She works harder than anyone in this town.”Gainz continues like he’s trying to sell me on her and like fucker, I can see it.“Nitro even covered a bonus for her because she covered for Lindsey to have time off when their mother died.Don’t know where Lucy Coe came from but Lindsey doesn’t want her to ever leave.”
