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“Yeah… I’d like that.”
Alpha smiles and gestures toward the bar. “Drink?”
“Fuck yeah.”
CHAPTER TEN
Haven
Alpha showed me around the main room of the clubhouse and introduced me to most of the guys. From what I can tell, they all seem like a fun bunch of people. However, I can’t help but notice the women of the club watching my every move. So I turn to Alpha as he chats with Swift and lean in against his ear. “I’m gonna go to the bar and chat with the ladies. Introduce myself.”
He turns to face me, raising his brow. “Need me to come with you?”
Snorting out a laugh, I shove him playfully. “Do I look like I need a damn babysitter?”
He smirks before I stand and walk over to the bar where all the women are sitting around in a group. They watch me approach, and I feel their judgment washing over me. I get it. They’ve had these guys all to themselves, and here I am, coming in and taking all their attention in a flash of time. I know how catty girls can be, but I am not about that. I come from The Nest—a place solely based on women. Where if you’re not the best, you’re out. We build each other up so we don’t see our friends fail. I don’t know how long I will be here, so I want to try to have that kind of kinship with these women if I can.
I slide in, taking a seat next to the youngest girl here. She looks at me with a bright smile as the older woman behind the bar slides a drink my way.
The young girl turns to me. “Hey! I’m Clover. I just moved here a little while back with my brother, Mav, from New Orleans, but it’s so great meeting new people. Are you staying at the club long?” the young one asks, full of enthusiasm.
She reminds me of me when I was younger.
Before The Nest.
Before I became a bird.
Can I even remember back to a time…before?
“Clover, give her some room to breathe…” A woman, maybe in her fifties with shoulder-length blonde hair and a cheerful look on her face pauses before she continues, “Hi, baby girl, I’m Ellie. I’ve been at the club longer than you’ve been alive. Anything you need, you just come to me. I’ll help youanyway I can.”
“Thanks, Ellie and Clover. As for staying at the club long… I don’t think so. Just getting Mav to fix my ride. But I certainly like the vibe of this place. I’m hoping I can visit a little more often.”
Clover snickers, nudging into my side. “I saw the way you and the pres were eyeing each other. He’s moody and sad a lot of the time. It would be nice having you around to cheer him up.”
“Clo, stop,” another younger girl urges.
I turn to her. She seems shyer than Clover, though she’s older, but not by much. “How do you fit into the club?” I ask her.
“I’m Rhyan, Ellie’s daughter. Dutch is my dad. He’s the Wise One of the club.”
I jerk my head back in confusion. “The Wise One? What’s that? Like some Yoda-type thing?”
“Basically…” Ellie snorts out a laugh, nodding. “Dutch has been here the longest. He knows the most about club life. How things work. How things don’t work. He’s the guru. The brother the guys go to for advice.”
“Like a priest in the confessional?” I joke.
But Ellie tilts her head. “Well, actually, kind of, yeah. The Wise One is there for the brothers to turn to. Shit can be discussed with him in confidence, and as long as it isn’t going to affect the club or a brother in the club, then it stays between him and that brother.”
I let out a snort. “I bet that comes in handy, though that’s a lot of weight for one man to carry on his shoulders.”
Ellie smiles. “That’s why being a Wise One is only given to long-standing club members. Brothers who can handle the load and pressure. But Dutch has seen a lot in his years. He’s a keeper.”
Smiling to myself, I’m beginning to see a real theme to this club. This brotherhood is more of a family than anything else. And I have been sent in here to rip it all to shreds.
My stomach churns as I glance at the other girls behind the bar. Their clothes are slightly more revealing than Clover’s, Rhyan’s, and Ellie’s. “And the three of you, are you girlfriends of other brothers?” I ask.
The three of them chuckle, continuing to work behind the bar. But it is the tall brunette who speaks for them. “Definitely not girlfriends. We work for the club. But we also live here at the clubhouse with the other guys full-time. In exchange for taking care of the clubhouse and the brothers, they give us a salary and help us with our education fees or whatever we need to further ourselves in the outside world.”
