As I sucked my teeth, the moonshine making me a little rageful, another patron smiled at me from the bar stools.
They were cute. Their hair was mostly shaved except for a bundle of locs that were gathered into a ponytail.
With a charming smile, they held out their hand. “Hey, I’m Sage.”
My eyes flashed back to my three bikers. Leo and Spencer were back to dancing, but Dom hadn’t looked away.
There was nothing wrong with a friendly conversation. “Hi, I’m Kiera.”
We shook hands as Sage moved closer. “First time?”
“Second.”
“Very good. You’re with the Violence, right?” Sage nodded toward Leo, Spencer and…
Where did Dom go?
I rolled my eyes. It was so typical of her to run when things got tricky.
Before I could answer them, my eyes widened as Dom appeared behind my new friend.
“She’s not interested.” Dom growled in Sage’s ear.
Unfazed by Dom’s hulking figure, Sage smiled up at her. “Not interested in being friends?”
“Fuck off, Dom.” I shook my head as I tried to ignore her. But I knew the words came out more slurred than I’d wanted. At this point I wasn’t sure if it was the exhaustion or the moonshine.
“Look, she’s in no position to make new pals right now. She’s ours.” Dom eyes Sage, enough to scare her off. It was clear Dom had a reputation here, something that was rarely tested.
Clearing her throat, Sage waved goodbye. “It was nice to meet you, Kiera.”
“You too.” I smiled back, but as soon as I turned back to the bar, I let the mask fall. “Is it impossible for you to have fun?”
“You’re drunk, Kiera.” Dom stepped closer. “Letting them touch you like that was an exception. Someone outside of my domain is not happening.”
She could pretend all she wanted that this was about how much I’d had to drink. But looking into her cold eyes, I knew it was more than that.
In reality, I wasn’t going to do anything with Sage. They were gorgeous, obviously. But Leo and Spencer were more than enough for me. They’d found their way into my heart, delicate with all my broken bits.
And then there was still the puzzle of Dom.
Jealous Dom.
“Don’t tell me what to do.” I chugged the rest of my water and moved back toward the crowd.
But a sharp sting came to my wrist as Dom grabbed the flesh, pulling me back into the wall of her body. “So long as I have you, Viper, you’ll be under my command and protection. Don’t forget that.”
Scoffing in her face, all I could do was roll my eyes as I ripped myself away from her. She had no right to tell me what todo, not after all the shit she’d pulled. Because under all of that aggressive bullshit was some modicum of real affection for me.
And her desire to hide it was exactly why we’d ended up here in the first place.
My skin burned where her hand was as I stormed back to Leo and Spencer, ready to dance all of this bullshit away.
Dom’s betrayal was going to take a long time to heal. Sure, she’d started to do some real groveling, but the well of disappointment in all of us hadn’t gone away.
Pressing myself between Spencer and Leo, our bodies grinding together, I tried to forget Dom’s face — how undeniably hot she was telling my new friend to fuck off.
It was gross and possessive. And I hated it.
