“Perfect,” Jax says, his taunting grin widening. “This should be fun.”
I roll my eyes.
“We can’t all fit on my bike though,” he adds. “Hold on.”
He disappears and comes back minutes later with his friend, the bartender.
“You don’t mind if Sisk rides with me, right, Lucas?” Jax asks, already swinging a leg over his bike. “Promise I won’t steal your girl.”
Lucas hesitates, his gaze darting between the two menacing motorcycles.
“I don’t bite,” Matt tells him.
Lucas exhales, a sound of pure resignation. “Fine.”
I stare at all of them.Unbelievable.
“I know what you’re doing,” I say before climbing on behind Jax, my movements stiff with defiance.
“What?” Jax calls over the rumble of the engine. “I’m just being nice.”
He revs the bike. “Watch your hands, Miss.”
“Fuck you,” I reply.
He chuckles.
* * *
By the time the engines stop, I’ve already put space between my body and the memory of my arms around Jax’s.
Jax kicks the stand down. “Home sweet home,” he says.
Lucas steps in, meticulously straightening his coat before removing it carefully, folding it neatly over his arm like we’re entering a restaurant instead of whatever this is.
Inside, the place is half-gutted. The floors are dusted with plaster. There are wires hanging from the ceiling like vines, and a long slab of unfinished wood rests on barrels where the bar will be.
“So when you said bar, you meant…” Lucas gestures to the place, his voice tight with forced politeness.
“Vision,” Matt answers from the side, kicking one of the crates into place. “Tables here. Tap wall there. Stage in the back.”
“No stage,” Jax says. “Give it a few months,” he adds, his gaze sweeping over the room. “You won’t recognize it.”
Lucas lowers himself carefully onto one of the crates like he’s worried about splinters. I sit without thinking.
Jax disappears behind a door and comes back with three dark bottles of Ashbrew. He pops the caps off with the edge of his hand and hands them out.
“First round’s always on me,” Jax says.
“I told you, that’s not how business works,” Matt adds jokingly.
We all take a sip and Lucas immediately pulls the bottle away and coughs. “What the hell is this?”
“Beer,” we all say at the same time.
He stares at the label. “This is not beer.”
“It’s the best,” Matt says casually.
