“Shut your mouth. Greg is a great guy, he just wasn’t right for me.”
“Agree to disagree on that point.” James leaned forward and nipped my bottom lip before he kissed me stupid. Yeah, there was no comparison. Just the light, playful touch when he nipped at me before going in for a real kiss left me feeling breathless and floaty in the best way possible. It was nothing like the empty feel of Greg’s kiss at that restaurant.
If there were signs from the universe about who I was supposed to end up with, I’d say that one was pretty damn solid.
23.THE STARS
CASSIDY
“Doyou think he left because I was too tired to do anything? What if he went back to the clubhouse to get some action?”
“Don’t be daft, Cass.” Amberlee slid a slice of triple chocolate cake toward me. “That man hasn’t seen action since you were shot. I can’t vouch for what he was up to before that, but probably not since your hot make out sesh in the back of the work truck. Do you think he’d blow it all now to get a quick fuck in with a club girl when you finally agreed to be with him?” My friend rolled her eyes as if the idea was ridiculous. Maybe it was and James wasn’t the only one of us with a little emotional baggage from our past.
The morning was spent with my friends as we did the prep work for dinner at the clubhouse. It was on the regularly scheduled catering days that they had all been keeping up with in my absence.
“Honestly, this was easier when we were under lockdown at the clubhouse. There was nothing to transport, though their kitchen needs some serious upgrades to handle the amount of people they have.”
“You’re not wrong,” Amberlee agreed with Collette. “I missed my bed, though and the quiet. That place is a loud time in the evenings.”
“I’m going to prospect for the club,” Finch announced. “If that’s okay with all of you.”
“Of course, it is,” I insisted. The girls bobbed their heads in agreement.
“It will mean less time I have to work on the catering gigs,” he informed me.
“Will it make you happy?” I asked.
“I think so.”
“Then do it and don’t let us hold you back. We’ll be here if you need us.”
Finch leaned down and gave me hug before the other girls joined in. It was a good thing I was already sitting at the counter or I may have been knocked to the floor in the hug fest.
We finishedprep at the clubhouse kitchen, and still I hadn’t seen or heard from James. Everyone else fussed over me and refused to allow me to lift a hand. Crutch, the former president, literally took a salt shaker out of my hands and said, “No, go sit.”
“I’m recovering, not an invalid.” I pouted and he simply laughed at me.
“Get used to it. When your doctor says you’re good to go for full duties again, then we’ll discuss you picking up salt shakers.” He walked off before I could say another word, but I didn’t miss the way he high fived his wife along the way to wherever he was going.
“They care. That’s a good thing, even if it is probably frustrating as hell,” Collette whispered in my ear.
“Thanks for at least letting me get some of this done before we made it here. I would have felt like a slug if I had to watch you guys do everything and not be able to help.”
“One day, I might have a bad period, and we’ll swap places,” she teased and then was off to finish setting up. They apparently made a makeshift dining hall out of their bar area on catering days because it was the only space in the clubhouse that could seat everyone. “Come on, you can at least wander out with me, but for heaven’s sake, don’t let them catch you carrying anything.”
I rolled my eyes and followed along behind Collette. Just as she set the final tray down on the table furthest from the front door, it opened and a ray of light from a motorcycle’s headlamp streamed in. Two men made their way inside and I recognized them immediately. James and Grunt. It felt weird calling one of them by their road name and the other by what I’d known when we were growing up, still that was the way they wanted it.
“Knuckles!” The same bottle-blonde who had been on his lap that time I came to explain that I didn’t own the property that was for sale, rushed over to greet them. I noticed she didn’t call out to Grunt the same way. She wrapped her arms around James and beamed up at him. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen you.”
We shouldn’t have been able to hear her from across the room, but everyone stopped talking and the room had grown dead silent except for the radio that was playing at a tolerable level for once. I watched from the shadows of the corner I stood in as James removed the woman’s hands from his body.
“Don’t ever touch me or any of the other brothers in this clubhouse without permission again. That isn’t something I’ve ever allowed, so I don’t know why you just tried that shit anyway.”
“Sorry, you were gone so long. I haven’t seen you in over a month,” she said. I could imagine her bottom lip poked out as her shoulders sagged, but I couldn’t see if that was true from my vantage point, especially since her back was turned to me.
“I don’t give a fuck if I’ve been gone for a year. You’re not my girlfriend and my woman wouldn’t appreciate you pulling that shit either. We’re going to set a boundary right now where the club can witness. Your attention is unwanted by me. Don’t come around, don’t think we’re friends, or that you have some sort of permission to touch me freely because you do not. This is your notice. If you try that shit again, I will bring it before the club and see you gone.”
“But I…” she started to defend herself and he shook his head.
