“You know you can always come to me, don’t you?” Silvie asked, looking down into my face. “If something’s bothering you, or you need something.”
“I’m fine, I just needed some space.”
“Okay, well, in that case I’ll leave you to it.” She turned and grabbed one of the trays of buns and then backed away. “Unless you want to grab a tray of steaks from the refrigerator and come help out? You’re not supposed to be here, so I can’t promise you can stay for long, but it has to be better than sitting in here alone.”
“Sure, I can help,” I replied quickly with a smile. I grabbed the tray of steaks but Silvie swapped with me and then I followed Silvie out of the kitchen, hoping I could avoid Gauge and stay a little longer. Either way, I was out of beer and couldn’t stay in the kitchen all night.
We left the kitchen and headed through the clubhouse and out to the large yard, where the barbeque was. People were everywhere, the party in full swing by then. Women were wearing practically nothing, men were drinking beer and talking, or fucking. Fires had been lit for atmosphere as much as warmth, and it gave the whole party a dirty, seedy look.
“Stick close to me,” Silvie said when she noticed I was dragging behind a little, so I hurried to catch up.
I had heard about biker parties, so I knew what to expect—at least in theory—but hearing about them and being at them were two very different things, and I found myself staring at everything as we walked. For an almost-eighteen-year-old whose mother was a prostitute, I suddenly felt a little intimidated by so much naked flesh on display.
I blushed, and when I looked up Silvie was grinning. “You’ll get used to it,” she said. “Trust me, this is nothing compared to what happens when the women go home.”
“Does it not bother you?” I asked, watching a woman in the corner drop to her knees and start unzipping Skinny’s jeans. I looked away as he smiled at me, because yeah, I remembered the way he had looked at me the first time we’d met. He was bare-chested, and full of muscles, and I watched them move as he grabbed the woman’s head and shove it against his crotch, his eyes never leaving mine the entire time. I looked away, my cheeks flushing hot.
“No, Hardy is the president of the club and he’s my old man, pretty much. He has a lot of pressure on him, and I understand that, and he’d never do anything with someone else while I was here, and what I don’t know can’t hurt me.”
I shook my head. “I would want my man to be faithful to me,” I replied matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t care who he was.”
Silvie stopped and turned to me, her expression suddenly serious. “I know it’s hard for you, it always is for newcomers, but I trust Hardy not to do anything stupid, and it’s me that he comes home to every night. I’m happy with that.”
I looked down, embarrassed—not just because I had spoken out disrespectfully to her, but because I was embarrassed for Silvie as well. Because I meant what I’d said: my man would be with me and me only. I knew my worth, and it was more than what she gave herself credit for.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said, though I wasn’t really sorry at all.
“That’s all right,” she replied and we kept on walking.
We placed the food on a large table that had been set up, and I watched Pops flip a couple of steaks like an old pro.
“This the last?” he asked Silvie, his gaze sliding to me briefly before he frowned. “Should she still be here?”
Silvie looked at me with a concerned look, and I felt instant guilt in case I’d gotten her into trouble.
“Yeah, she’s with me, helping out,” Silvie replied, covering for me, even though she knew damn well that Gauge wouldn’t want me there. She winked at me and turned back to Pops, and I decided that I liked her even more.
I had started opening up the burger buns, ready to put the burgers on, when a large hand reached out and grabbed my ass, before squeezing it harshly. I yelped and looked up as shock covered Silvie’s face.
“All right, sweet thing! That ass is tight!” someone whistled from behind me, and I turned around to punch whoever it was in the face as they grabbed another handful. “Why don’t you bend over for me, pretty thing?”
But when I turned around, it wasn’t some greasy no-named biker that I didn’t know, it was Gauge—my dad—and we both looked horrified and disgusted as the other. I backed up a step as he wiped his hand down his jeans as if he could wipe away the feel of my ass from his palm.
“Laney! What the fuck are you still doing here?” he bellowed, suddenly sober as a judge.
“Having fun, asshole. Or I was until you turned up!” I yelled back at him. “God, you’re such a pervert!”
“I didn’t fucking know it was you!” he yelled, throwing his hands up in the air and almost spilling the beer in his other hand.
Gauge was standing with two other bikers that I couldn’t remember the names of, but both of them were laughing hysterically as if this was the funniest thing they’d ever seen.
I cocked an eyebrow at him and glared at the other two. “As if that makes a difference, Gauge!”
“Of course it makes a fucking difference, Laney. I can grab any ass I want, except yours. So yeah, big fucking difference!” He looked like he was about to blow a gasket.
“It shouldn’t matter, because you shouldn’t be such a fucking pervert and be grabbing women’s asses all the time. Ever heard of consent?”
“Ever heard of shut the fuck up because you’re a kid who doesn’t know what you’re talking about?” he retorted angrily, throwing his beer to the ground.
