Harley
Ilie in bed for a short while, staring up at the ceiling, before I crawl out of bed. I don’t have anything to wear, so I keep Edge’s t-shirt on and find a pair of his boxers. They’re miles too big, but I roll up the waistband to keep them from falling off.
I raid the fridge, finding little more than stale bread, but it’s good enough for toast and there’s jam, so I smear a healthy amount on to hide the taste of what may or may not be mold. I take my toast and turn the TV on in the living room, trying to distract myself from everything that’s happening.
It doesn’t work.
I’m barely paying attention to the images flashing across the screen, but I still jump when the front door opens and it’s not Edge standing there.
I leap off the couch, my plate crashing thankfully to the seat that I’d just vacated and not the floor, my heart in my throat, before I realize it’s just Leah, Ginger, and Christine. Leah looks like a ray of sunshine, even though it’s seven in the morning and she’s probably spent the roughest night of her life worrying about everything.
Her golden hair is neatly braided and is thrown over one shoulder. Her eyes are clear, not red rimmed, and there are no dark smudges beneath. Ginger is twice Leah’s age. She’s Brick’s old lady and she’s obviously lived a hard life. She dyes her hair this flaming orange color, which is where she got her name.Though her face is lined and she has a smoker’s rasp to her voice, she’s the sweetest lady when it comes right down to it. Christine’s in her early thirties. She’s been with Snake for a few years, has two kids that aren’t his, and one with him. She’s a tiny little brunette who barely tops five feet. She’s kick-ass though, could out-swear any biker, and generally takes no shit from anyone.
These women are my closest sisters out of all the old ladies and I love them.
“Sorry. I knocked but… well…” Leah twists her hands in front of her, but I grin, waving her discomfort away. In her hand is a duffel bag and I nearly start crying just to see it. I know what’s inside. My clothes.
“It’s okay.” I blink hard. I don’t want to cry. I’d rather laugh instead. “We all know I’m deaf as a doornail.” We share a laugh, the four of us, and god, it feels good. “I’d offer you something, but it’s too early for beer and the fridge is suffering from a serious lack of having anything in it. Water?”
“We’re okay,” Leah says slowly. “We came because… well… that meeting.”
“Snake came home and told me what happened,” Christine admits. It’s pretty obvious that Snake tells her everything, even when he shouldn’t, but as her sisters, we would never tell any of our men that she let his secrets out. “Steel put it to a vote. Tried to kick Edge out of the club. The men voted it down. Steel took off out of there. Snake came home to tell me where he was going. Sent me over here to let you know that Edge might be back late. They rode out, him and Shadow and Brick and Wraith, of course Tracker too, to try and find him before he does something stupid in the mood he’s in.”
“Sounds like my dad,” I mutter. “He wouldn’t do anything really stupid though, I mean…” I trail off, because it’s clear that there’s a lot that even I don’t know about my dad. I didn’t realize how much he shielded me from and I sure as hell never saw this side of him before last night. “He just needs to blow off steam,” I amend, to try and comfort Leah, who has gone so pale that it scares the shit out of me. I swallow hard. “You know, I think I know what we need. If our men aren’t back by tonight, we should go to The Canteen. Play some pool, listen to some music, have a drink. I could sure use it.”
Ginger’s face breaks into a grin. “That sounds like a great idea.”
I love these women fiercely. The club is a hard life, and even though my father won’t let his brothers treat their women with anything but respect—part of the vows the men take when they patch in is to not harm women, the ones that hang around the club or otherwise—it’s still hard for some of them. They’re not with the easiest of men to love. Some of those men have literally been to hell and back. Some are ex-cons, ex-military. You name it, if they’re serious about patching in, my father and Edge would never turn them away. Every man needs a place to call home. Some of the old ladies have kids, some with their men, some from before. They get tired. They get tired just like every other girlfriend and wife and woman out there. Most have jobs. Most are doing their best to raise a family.
Together, we all share a bond. The men have their brothers, and us women, we’re like sisters. Even the girls who aren’t old ladies yet, who hang around The Canteen hoping to catch the eye of one of the brothers who doesn’t yet have himself anyone at home, they’re a part of us. We’re not catty and meanlike some women are to each other. We don’t hate on each other and we have each other’s backs.
“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. Starting with something to wear.” Leah breaks the silence. She looks me up and down and grins before she looks pointedly at the duffel she brought.
“Oh no…” I start, my face heating up when I finally realize I’m still wearing Edge’s t-shirt and even though it goes to my knees, covering everything, it’s still his t-shirt and I’m still naked below it. “This is not what it looks like.”
“No?” Ginger raises a brow. “It looks to me like you’re Edge’s old lady and no one has done a damn thing to celebrate with you. You missed out on your party last night, so if we don’t take you out tonight, we’ll plan something for you. Trust us.”
That hot burn is back, and I have to blink hard to clear it away. “This is where I’m staying now. You’ll all hear it soon enough, so you might as well know it now. I love Edge. Have for a long time. Always will. He always acted like a gentleman. Wanted my father’s blessing, fucked up as that sounds. I know we’ll probably never get it, but this is where I’m staying.”
“Things will work out,” Christine assures me. “Men are stupid like that. They like to figure things out with their bikes and their fists or drink themselves stupid. They’ll come around, though.”
“I hope so,” I mutter.
Even though Leah’s heart must be breaking, filled up with worry and probably outrage at my dad’s behavior, theway he’s acting like a child, completely disregarding her, not even coming home, she takes my hand in hers. “I’ll pack the rest of your things and bring them over if you want. We all will.”
I can’t stem the tears this time. They fall down my cheeks in huge drops, burning my tender skin they’re so hot. “Thank you. Seriously. I love you guys.”
Christine and Ginger grin back at me while Leah pulls me in for a tight hug. She might only be two years older than me, but in that moment, she feels a lot like the mother I never had. I let her wrap me up in that hug and I hold on for dear life.
I know this is going to work out. Everything will go back to normal. I have to hang onto that shred of hope, because if it doesn’t, I’m going to blame myself for the fallout for a very long time.
Chapter Nine
Harley
Although I’ve been to The Canteen often, other than my graduation party which turned into a shitshow, I hadn’t actually been allowed to stay. My father didn’t like it, and even though the owner of the place didn’t give a shit about underage blah, blah, blah, what my father thought did matter, so I was usually relegated to waiting outside. I’m twenty-one now so no one has any problem with me being here.
I’m not drinking though, since I drove and I’m going to be driving us home at the end of the night, I’m holding a cranberry juice. It feels strange to take everything in, the guys playing at the pool table over in the corner, Gage, one of the younger men in The Riders, pressed up against a corner with a woman I don’t know well. I’m guessing she’s trying to work her way into the ranks of old ladies, judging by the way she grinds her hips against him, and he pulls her further into the shadows.
