“Where are you?”
“Why?” I asked, unsure as to why I felt so uneasy about the whole conversation.
“Because I fucking asked, that’s motherfucking why! I’ll be back at the clubhouse around noon and I want you in the Chapel, Jesse. Tell your brothers that, okay?” he said. He cleared his throat. “So, where the fuck are you?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll meet you at the clubhouse at noon,” I said, hanging up quickly before he could ask me again where I was.
I slipped the cell into my pocket and walked over to the sink before running the taps and filling it. When it was full of ice-cold water, I leaned over and took a deep breath before dunking my head under. My heart sped up as the cold water shocked me, but I stayed under for as long as I could, waking my brain up and straightening up all my thoughts. Shit was fucked up, but out of everything that had happened, Hardy’s reaction bothered me the most.
When I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, I pulled the plug on the sink and stood upright, letting the cold water trail its icy tendrils down my chest and back. I rubbed at my face, my cheeks feeling numb from the cold, but my mind was awake and alert. And I had a feeling that today I would need that.
I stepped out of the small bathroom and into the hallway and headed back to the main clubhouse. Dom had finally shown back up and he was standing at the bar talking to the redhead with the huge tits and drinking a coffee. He draped a jacket over her shoulders and she picked up a mug of coffee and took a tentative sip of it before laughing at something he’d said.
I raised an eyebrow as I got closer, and he raised his chin to me.
“Mornin’. Any more of that coffee going?”
“I’ll go get you one,” the redhead said, sliding off her stool on unsteady feet.
“I got it.” Dom put down his mug, and with one swift movement he’d hoisted her back up on the stool. She blushed profusely and looked down into her coffee, her red hair framing her face. Looked like Dom had staked some sort of claim on her, which could be added to the list of crazy shit going on right now.
Dom wandered off to what I presumed was the kitchen and I stared down at the redhead. She looked young—not jailbait, but close enough—and she was beautiful, too. Plump mouth, little upturned nose, and high cheekbones. She looked up at me through her lashes, obviously feeling uncomfortable but also feeling too much like shit to do anything about it. Her makeup was smudged under her eyes, like she’d been rubbing them and forgot she was wearing makeup, and even though Dom had covered her up with a jacket, her huge breasts were still on display for anyone to look at through her low-cut top.
Dom came back and handed me the mug of steaming coffee. There was no milk, but I didn’t care too much.
“Where’s Pipes and Max?” Dom asked, sitting down opposite the girl.
She looked over at me and I jerked my head to one side, making it clear she needed to go so we could talk. Dom grabbed my arm and started guiding me away instead, which was even more fucked up than anything else.
We headed across the room and I shrugged out of his grip and glared across at him. “What the fuck is that about?”
“Nothin’, bitch just looks like she needs the seat more than you,” he grumbled out.
“You sweet on her?” I laughed.
Dom raised an eyebrow and shook his head, a coy smile on his face. “I miss your brother even more when you come out with stupid shit like that, Jesse,” he said, and I frowned, wondering what the hell he was talking about.
As we pushed open the clubhouse door, Casa groaned from one of the sofas and stood up, one hand grabbing at his head.
“Gotta stop drinking whisky,” he grumbled, and stood up before following us.
He grabbed my coffee as we sat down at a small table outside, and after a long gulp he put his head in his hands and groaned again. I looked at Dom and we both laughed.
“You seen Pipes or Max yet?” I said, banging the table right next to his head.
“Fuckkkk,” Casa yelled without looking up. “Not since last night. Saw them outside talking to the Bangers prospects. Pussies probably complaining to each other about not being patched in yet,” he said with a chuckle which morphed into another groan.
I looked over at Dom and he took a swig of his coffee and shrugged. “Probably. I know Pipes is ready for it. Not sure Max is yet, though.”
“I’ll speak to Hardy,” I replied. “Speaking of Hardy, I got a call from him this morning.”
“Yeah?” Dom asked, pulling out his cigarettes and lighting one. “How’d that work out?”
“Same as usual,” I replied, thinking back to the conversation. I dragged a hand down my beard thoughtfully. I trusted both Dom and Casa, but I also didn’t want them getting into any shit with Hardy because of me. I didn’t know what was off with the conversation with Hardy yet, but I knew something wasn’t right. And until I knew what, it wasn’t fair to put that on my brothers.
“You tell him about the note from the Razorbacks?” Casa asked, raising his head to look at me. His eyes were red-rimmed and his skin was pale and sweaty—not to mention that he stunk to high heaven. His skin was almost leaking out last night’s alcohol consumption, yet I had no doubt that he could stand up right then and pick the prettiest girl around and get her on his bike. Man was pussy magnet, that was for sure.
“Nah, didn’t get into it. He wanted to know where I was and said he would be back around noon. Sounded real pissed that I had you all with me last night.” I looked over to my bike longingly, ready to ride out of there, but also not knowing where to go. I trusted my instincts, and my instincts were telling me not to go to the clubhouse just yet.
