I liked not thinking.
It stopped me from remembering.
Stone had gone off to get laid an hour or so before and hadn’t come back since. Not that I cared. I preferred my own company, and he was high on something so no good to me if anything did happen. Which I seriously doubted anyway. Besides, he talked way too much for my liking.
A shadow to my right stumbled, dropping to the ground near the bikes before slowly getting back up. I pulled the gun from the back of my jeans and made my way over as quietly as possible, ready to do what needed to be done.
Mumbling came from whoever it was, though it was too dark to see exactly who. The only thing I did know was that whoever they were, they were female and drunk out of their faces. I slid the gun back into my belt and dropped my stealth act as I approached.
“Who’s there?”
“Katie?” the female voice slurred from the ground where they had fallen again.
“Do I sound like Katie?” I bit out gruffly. I was still trying to seek them out in the darkness as I moved between bikes. I needed to speak to Bull about getting some lights out there because this was ridiculous.
The woman laughed. “Not really.” Her laughter faded and I was pretty sure she’d started crying.
Great, just what I needed.
“You hurt?” I asked, finally seeing her on the ground and leaning down to her. Nearly stepped on her too. I slipped my arm around her tiny waist and pulled her back up to her feet. There could be snakes and all sorts out there in that long grass. Certainly wasn’t the sort of place to go crawling around in the dark.
“Does my pride count?” She laughed again, though once again her laughter quickly disintegrated into tears. “This is a new low, even for me,” she sobbed against my sweaty tee, her hands clinging to me like I was all she had in the world.
“Who you here with?” I asked as I pulled her face away from my chest and tried to lead her back to the party. My hands slid over the smooth bare skin on her back, feeling her warmth in my fingertips. “We need to get you back to your man. It ain’t safe for you.”
She laughed again. “My man?” she laughed—a dark bitter laugh that died on her lips. “I’ve got no man.”
I sighed. Drunk women were the fucking worst. Only good for crying and being sick. And I had no need to be around either of those things.
“Well then you need to get back to the party and do what you came here to do,” I bit out.
“And what do you think I’m here for?” She tried to sound forceful and angry but she just sounded fucking sad.
“Couldn’t give a shit, if I’m being honest, but you can’t hang around the bikes, so let’s get you back to the party.”
She tried to pull away from me, but I held on tight and continued to half-drag her back toward the clubhouse.
“Get the fuck off of me! I can’t go back there.” She kicked me, her sharp heel connecting with my shin, and I let her go abruptly. She fell to the ground again and let out a sob.
“Listen, I’ll fucking throw you over my shoulder and carry you back there if I have to. It ain’t a choice!” I yelled, fucking done with this crying bitch.
“You don’t get it,” she sobbed. “I just made a fool of myself! I’m not going back there to be handed around to those animals like a hooker!” She let out an angry sob and tried to get back to her feet. “I’m not a hooker, okay. I’m just an idiot who thought I was worth something, but I got shown my place today real quick.” She sniffled and wiped at her face, and I held out a hand to her. “Yeah, I got shown I was a nobody.”
I saw her tilt her head up to look at me. Shiny tears trailed down her face, her eyes looking dark and wide, like they could see every part of a man’s soul with just one look. Her tongue darted out and swept across her bottom lip and she swiped at her cheeks again. Damn if she wasn’t beautiful. At least from what I could see.
The moon was barely a slit that night, and the lights from the clubhouse and the fires that were burning in metal barrels around the clubhouse yard were too far away to give much illumination. But what I could see was good. More than good.
“You ain’t a nobody,” I said. Because I couldn’t imagine this woman ever being a nobody.
She took a shuddering breath and continued to look at me sadly. “I’m not?”
“Hell nah,” I said with a shake of my head. “What’s your name?”
“Hope,” she replied.
And I’ll be damned if I didn’t need a little Hope in my life.
“Damn, that’s a pretty name,” I said, more to myself than anything else, but she heard it all the same.
