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Coordination, it wasn’t her strong suit.
Then again, she had a concussion, bruised ribs, a bum ankle, and cuts on her hands, so I guess it was all likely playing a part.
When I’d stopped at the clubhouse to trade my bike for the club SUV, the party had still been raging from the sounds of things.
I’d expected it to be well over by now.
But the sounds coming from inside said that Layna and Vi were as nocturnal as ever. As were, I imagined, a bunch of the guys. The single ones without women and kids at home, at least.
It took a second after the door opened and we moved inside for gazes to move in our direction.
Conversation stopped immediately as everyone eyed up the battered stranger.
“The fuck?” Callow asked, stiffening in his chair.
“Long story,” I said, giving them a nod that said I would explain later.
“You alright?” Vi asked, gaze landing on the woman.
“I’ve had better nights,” Sylvie said, managing a weak smile.
“She needs somewhere to crash,” I explained, then started walking toward the hall.
Sylvie paused for a second, likely feeling awkward about not engaging everyone, but she followed me down the hall toward my room.
“Forgot to ask if you’re cool with dogs,” I said as I pushed the door open to find Nitro taking up the whole bed, rolled over on his back, legs straight up.
At the sound of my voice, his ears perked, then he was rolling over to look at us, his tail wagging hard.
“I love dogs,” she said. “Hey, buddy. Mind sharing a third of that bed?” she asked, leaning forward on her crutches to offer her hand to the dog who sniffed and licked.
For a former junkyard dog, he was as sweet as they came. I guess maybe all those years of neglect had made him hungry for kindness, and thrilled to accept it wherever it was offered.
In a way, I got that too.
“If there’s a couch, though…” she said, glancing around.
“There’s not. Get in the bed,” I said, then, wincing, realizing how gruff I was sounding, tried to make my voice softer. Which… didn’t work. It just made it lower. “He doesn’t mind sharing. And there’s plenty of places for me to crash,” I told her. “No one will come in here. And there’s a bathroom through there,” I told her, waving toward the halfway open door.
Then, with that, not wanting to linger and make her feel weird, I made my way to the door.
“Hey, Voss?” she called, making me turn back to find her sitting off the edge of the bed, Nitro already scooting closer to her.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For… everything,” she said, waving a hand around.
“It’s nothing,” I told her, then moved out into the hall and closed the door.
I had just stopped there for a second, taking a deep breath, when another door opened, and Sutton was emerging in a pair of low-slung black pants and no shirt, showing off all that ink he had on his chest and torso.
Unlike the others, he was greeting morning from the right side. He was an early riser, usually heading out for a run or to hit the gym before anyone else was up.
“Yo,” he said, nodding his chin at me.
“See Sully is still here,” I said, jerking my chin toward the main room where the sound of voices had started up again. Sully was one of them.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding.
“Didn’t tell Fallon to kick ‘em out?” I asked.
“Pissin’ in his yard ain’t gonna make mine greener,” Sutton said, shrugging. “Just ‘cause we haven’t gotten along doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be a good brother.”
He didn’t say the silent part out loud.
And I am probably not staying.
“Big of you,” I said, shrugging. “Gotta tell everyone out there something,” I said, waving toward the common room.
“Something important?” he asked, brows drawing low.
“Something everyone needs to know, I guess,” I said. I was new at this shit. My life and decisions never directly impacted the club.
“Alright,” he said, waving a hand out, then following behind me.
“Who was she?” Violet asked as soon as her gaze landed on me.
“And what the fuck happened to her?” Layna asked.
“Was on a ride earlier and came across a woman walking in a bad area alone. Offered her a ride. She turned me down. I left. But shit felt weird,” I said.
“So you went back,” Callow concluded.
“And found her beat all to fuck,” I said, nodding. “She doesn’t know who did it. Figured she might want a safe place to sleep since she’s got nobody.”
“The cops don’t have anything?” Vi asked, then at my brow raise, she snorted. “Yeah, I guess not. What’s her name?”
“Sylvie,” I told them. “I don’t know how long she’s gonna want to stay. I’m gonna wait up for Brooks. Or Fallon if he’s still here.”
“He headed out after telling our new friend here that he can prospect,” Layna declared, wrapping an arm around Sully’s Hawaiian shirt clad shoulders.
