He couldn’t be sorry that this situation had brought her home, though. He was glad about it.
Toking slowly again, he blew the smoke into the night sky. Finally, the slurping noises had stopped, and now he heard giggling from across the other side of the bonfire.
His mind automatically took him to the place he didn’t want to revisit.
But it had been the same environment that night, too. A raging bonfire in the same spot. And a giggling girl.
With a resounding sigh, Seb let the memory filter into his mind. And went back to when it got fucked up.
* * *
A YEAR AGO
Seb was down four hundred bucks as he met Dax’s smirk from across the poker table. That slick-fingered fucker was cheating. He just hadn’t figured out how yet.
“Put your money where your mouth is, Priest, I’m in the mood to get rich.” Smirking, he taunted Seb, who threw his chips in the middle. Hero dropped out, cursing that it was too rich for his blood. The poor kid was probably still on allowance money.
“I’ll put my fist where your mouth is. How about that?”
“You only wish you could.”
The poker game went on.
Seb won two. Crew won two. Dax won three more.
Damn, he’d lose a grand if he kept going, but he was enjoying himself after a long trip to Utah for some business with the Diablos. After a quick shower and a beer around the bonfire, he’d parked his ass at Dax’s poker table. He was kicking himself for that decision.
“Drinks for my favorite boys,” a husky voice announced, and then a curvy body brushed up against Seb’s shoulder as Sinner carried the tray in one hand and distributed it around the table with the other. From day one of working behind the clubhouse bar, Sinner had made several not-so-subtle plays for Seb’s attention. “I got more of that when you need it,” she winked at him. Seb grunted his thanks. He lacked interest.
Like the club groupies who turned up looking for fun, most sticking around almost nightly, Sinner was a smoke show in every aspect, and if hearsay was anything to go by, she was always up for a good time.
But Seb wasn’t interested in her warming his bed, so her flirting was instantly forgotten as he glanced at his new cards.
That’s when two arms came around his shoulders from behind, and he got the waft of a vanilla sugar scent that warmed his chest, knowing who it was. Sunny put her head to his cheek, peering at his cards.
“Are we rich yet, Seb?”
Pasha snickered. “He’s about to be homeless. Come and sit with a real winner, Sunny.”
“Not yet,” Seb answered, feeling Sunny’s arms tighten with her laughter in his ear. She’d been gone all day, somewhere with Tanner and Clover, and he hadn’t liked it.
“Can you look at my tablet, Seb? I think an app is making it freeze.”
Then he heard. “Run along, kid. Let the boys play without you whining,” Sinner tried to hip check Sunny out of the way. Seb snapped his head up, his eyes meeting the woman’s dirty look aimed at Sunny.
“Focus on your own business and stick to your mediocre talents of serving drinks and showing off your chest,” Sunny snapped back, and Seb’s boys chuckled.
Sinner’s face reddened with anger. “At least I have something to flaunt. These are real tits men want to play with, not flat-chested fried eggs. Isn’t that right, Seb?”
The fuck did she just say?
He could see the groupie’s words had devastated Sunny because she grabbed the tablet from him and hurried out of the back room.
He pushed up out of his chair and rounded on Sinner. His rare temper erupted. His instinct was always to protect Sunny.
“You fucking talk with anything less than respect to Sunny again, and I’ll personally drop your ass at the bus station, and you’ll be banned from every MC east to west.” To Dax, he said, “Keep your mitts off my cards. I’ll be back.” He stalked off, finding Sunny sandwiched between Tanner and Clover on a couch. His eyes narrowed, seeing how little space was between them.
“Let me see your tablet.” He said too harshly, and she whipped her eyes up and then dismissed him with a scowl. “Tanner is looking at it for me.” Didn’t that sting?
