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Sighing, I think back to how little Sunshine nibbled on her food today. “Too much sugar gives her migraines, so that’s why she’d never eat the sweets you ladies would bring back to the table. Besides, she said she’s used to eating only once a day and she had, in her words, a good-sized breakfast at the diner she used to work at this morning. Sometimes she’d have a small snack later in the day, but that’s rare.” I growl, pissed again at what that fucker put her through for his own fucking greed. Seeing Dragon and Reaper’s confused faces makes me scowl at Dragon again.
“It’s her story to tell, but yeah, her asshole stepdad really did a number on her, and her own fucking mother didn’t even stand up for her. Until you hear Mae’s story, maybe you should stop judging her and give her the benefit of the fucking doubt in the meantime. And you better not fucking spew any of the bullshit you just said to her or we will be throwing down because of it,” I hiss out at him. At least he has the decency to look sort of guilty.
Sasha clears her throat, and it takes a lot of fucking willpower to turn my attention from Dragon to her.
“I was just telling Levi this, but I wanted to let you know as well, Timber. Might as well let the asshole know too, even though he was probably there based on what he just said,” she says as she sneers at Dragon. When she turns toward me, her face instantly switches to one of worry.
“When Mae went to the bathroom just a few minutes ago, I followed her in case anyone messed with her. Like Levi, my gut says we can trust her, but I was worried about her because of the looks Smoke’s been giving her all afternoon. I don’t think she knows it was me in there with her. I was about to step out from my stall when I heard her give a startled squeak after opening the door to the hallway. I couldn’t see much between the gaps in the stall, but it was enough of a gap to see Smoke standing there looming over her. The things he said to her,” she pauses as she winces.
“The things he said to her were pretty bad, Timber. Like really fucked up, especially since he’s her dad. I don’t know how much of what he said is from how he really feels or how much is from the beer he’s been practically chugging since finding out about her. She stood up to him, but I could tell every word hit her hard. She’s rattled and she’s probably gonna need you later, but I don’t know if she’ll tell you what he said right away or not. The only reason why I’m not going to tell you the rest of what he said is because if the roles were reversed, I’d want to tell Colt myself rather than have him find out from someone else. I didn’t even tell Levi what Smoke said.”
A groan escapes as I tilt my head up to the sky and close my eyes. I hate that she wouldn’t tell me what he said earlier, but I get it. Sunshine’s had enough choices taken from her, and unless her safety’s in question, I don’t want to take any more from her. Shaking my head, I look over at Sasha but she’s looking over her shoulder again at Mae, who is thankfully being preoccupied by Susie who’s sitting next to her.
“Thanks for keeping an eye on her, Sasha. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime, Timber. She’s a sweet girl. Has to be if she won’t even swear because she wants to run a daycare someday when she’s certified.”
I chuckle and nod at that because that is some next level dedication in my opinion. Dragon’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and I hope like fuck he’s gonna start changing his tune when it comes to Sunshine. And for that matter, anyone a brother brings back here.
“Well, how about we get started so you can get back to your woman? My guys and I have been practicing, so who knows, you might get to go sit with her before long,” Reaper says as he winks at me and claps my shoulder again. At least it isn’t as hard as last time.
The others walk off, but it doesn’t escape my notice that Levi’s keeping her space from Dragon, choosing to walk on the other side of Sasha so that she’s in between them.
Reaper squeezes my shoulder as he leans in close, so only I can hear him. “If you need any help with anything regarding Mae, you call me. You hear? Brothers help brothers out, but I can understand if she doesn’t want to stay here because of this shit with Smoke and Dragon. Especially if either of them gets worse about that shit. I doubt Thor would turn her away if she really does need help, but it could get awkward around here really quick. You hear me?”
A weight that was sitting on my shoulders lessens when I read between the lines. If my brothers won’t help or if Smoke puts up enough of a fight, the Junction Creek chapter will have our backs.
“Thanks, Reaper. I appreciate it and will keep you posted.”
To start us off, Levi steps up in front of the targets on our mini stage that I built for us to use. The guys had tried to go simple in the beginning when we were planning this. That is, until Roy brought in a few tapes he had from when Levi competed when she was younger. After watching them, everyone decided to do things like they did in the league.
I’ve seen most of hers and Gray Miller’s competitions throughout the years. They became friends while they were competing and now, he’s the guy who makes her blades. I stumbled across one of their competitions on television when I was a kid and was instantly hooked. Not that I could afford my own set of blades though, with my worthless, good-for-nothing parents. So, I settled on watching the competitions whenever I could and practiced throwing sticks in my spare time.
Levi’s voice pulls me back to the present and out of my memories.
“Okay, everyone! For the sake of those who aren’t participating and may not be familiar with knife throwing competitions, I’ll give a brief overview of the rules. We are playing to the WKTL rules, which stands for the World Knife Throwing League. You’ll see that these are not your normal targets as we have three bullseyes in a vertical row instead of just one bullseye in the center. That’s right, there is a chance that the participant can score three bullseyes in a turn, or two depending on the round.” She pauses as she gestures to the targets.
They are different from normal targets in that instead of just one bullseye in the center, there’s two more, all in a vertical line and evenly spaced out. In the very outer ring, there are two blue dots, known as the killshots, that are the same size as the red of the bullseye. They are positioned a little higher than the top bullseye. Kind of like a wide ‘v’.
Levi clears her throat and continues. “Points will be scored only if the knife tip or edge is inside the black scoring lines. From the outer circle in, they are worth one point, two, three and then four points. If the knife lands in the white area surrounding one of the bullseyes, it’s five points. If the red of the bullseye is hit, it’s six points. And those two blue dots up at the top, which are called the killshots, those are eight points.
“Two people, one from each club, will compete at a time and take turns throwing. They will throw three single rotation throws from ten feet and then scoring will take place before the blades are retrieved. If a blade drops because of another throw or it doesn’t stick, tough shit. You don’t get points for that throw.
“After the blades are retrieved, the competitors will throw two more single rotation throws. Once again, scoring will take place before the blades are retrieved. Then the competitors will switch sides and we’ll do it all over again, but this time from the fifteen-foot line. The person who wins the best two out of three will proceed to the next round.
“We’ll continue until there’s one person left who will win a specially made knife by Gray Miller as well as a trophy. The winner will get to keep the knife, but the trophy will be passed onto to the next winner when we have another competition. The winner’s knife may look similar to the blade that’s won at a WKTL competition, except ours isn’t gold. Also, the winner’s knife has other specifications that are unique to us. The Steel Archangel’s club logo is etched onto it as well as today’s date. Now, I’ll turn it over to Thor, who will be deciding who is pitted against who.”
Levi steps down from the stage, but before she can get far, Thor’s at her side talking quietly with her. And I’d bet it has nothing to do with the competition but about how tense she was on stage and that she wouldn’t look at Dragon at all while she was talking. I’m sure he’s noticed how on edge Dragon and I are, but I don’t know if he was close enough to hear any of our little ‘talk’. Or if Reaper talked to him already.
Thor’s body goes rigid and the look he gives Dragon would make a weaker man piss his pants in fear. His gaze finds mine and when he inclines his head toward me, the knot in my chest loosens a little at his support. He kisses Levi’s temple and steps up on stage. Smithy and Patch step up to the side of the stage as well.
“All right. As Wildcat said, I’ll be drawing to see who is pitted against who for the first round. Patch and I will be judging the scores. Smithy will keep a tally as we go. So, let’s see which of you fuckers and ladies will be going first!”
Cheers erupt as Thor makes a show of dumping all the popsicle sticks into the bowls, one for each club, and mixing them up.
“All right, settle down,” Thor shouts as he raises a hand. One by one, he pulls out names as he pairs us up and Smithy arranges the magnets with our names on them on a nearby board so we can all see the order if need be.
