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CHAPTER FOUR
Gabriel
“Guardian!” Styx shouts from where he sits on the overstuffed leather chair. He lifts his beer in salute. I don’t recognize the half-dressed girl on his lap but, then again, this is my first time in the club in two years so that isn’t particularly surprising, I guess.
When he shouts, it makes everyone else turn around and everyone greets me. A beer flies through the air and, thankfully, I catch it instead of looking like an idiot. They’re all happy to see me. They won’t be as happy when they figure out Shotgun intends for me to take over the club. Oh, half of them will be okay with it. Another three or four will go along with it because Shotgun says to.
There may be trouble with the rest of them. The trouble has nothing to do with how they feel about me. It has everything to do with me being absent for two years. Although as far as they know my absence is Ridge Devils’ business, they don’t have any specifics. They likely won’t understand me going out of state to get my MBA so I have the skills to take the club into the Twenty-First Century.
I won’t have to deal with that for a few months, though, so I just enjoy the camaraderie and meet the two new prospects and catch up with Charlie Charlie, who is actually named Charlie. He’s patched in now, so he’s not a prospect anymore. The guys introduce me to the new sweetbutts. There are three of them. That makes about a dozen here at the club. You can think of them sort of like groupies for a band. Essentially, anyone in the club who wants to get laid doesn’t have to work for it. Any sweetbutt is available to any member of the club.
If things get serious between a biker and a girl, he’ll make her his old lady, and there are two things to keep in mind. First, when you pronounce that, you better say, “Ol’ lady,” or you might get a slap from the girl and a punch from the guy. Second, fuck all the sweetbutts you want, but don’t even think about getting with one of the old ladies. In a club like the Ridge Devils, there are a number of rules. You can earn your way back into the club’s good graces after you break them, for the most part, but don’t even think about another man’s old lady. That’s unforgivable. I mean, I’ll get some leeway over the next week or two for any social gaffes just because I don’t necessarily know if anybody’s serious with any of the girls, but that leeway won’t last.
Styx says, “Shotgun’ll be here in a few hours. He’ll want to know you just got in.”
“I got in yesterday,” I say.
“Then why the hell weren’t you here?”
I laugh. “I was at Shotgun’s place.”
He laughs and says, “Did Mary tan your hide for taking time away from her man?”
It’s my turn to laugh. “Mary cooked me dinner. You need to learn how to pour on the charm.”
“I would, but your goofy ass might fall in love,” he counters.
“I’m already in love,” I say, “You know I can’t resist a man in leather.”
“Get out of here with that shit,” Styx says, shoving me playfully.
“We need to get this man laid,” Charlie Charlie says. “Where’s Tiny Tina?”
“Tina!” Styx bellows. “Get your sweetbutt over here!”
I open my mouth to refuse but close it. This isn’t the kind of thing that club members get to say no to, no matter the reason. Even if having a girlfriend meant I could get away with it, if they found out I took up with a civilian girl, it could cause problems for me and more importantly for Cayla, so though I really don’t want to, I end up in one of the back rooms with Tiny Tina, who, as her name suggests, is very petite. I use that as an excuse to limit our contact to a blowjob and only manage to finish by thinking of Cayla.
I leave the room quickly, only staying long enough to make Tina feel like I’m not blowing her off, another thing that could get around and make me look bad.
Like I said, status and appearances are important in an organization like mine.
For that reason, I don’t leave right away, but hang out and have a few more beers while I catch up. When it gets dark, I manage to avoid going to Styx’s house for drinks and instead head to my sister’s house, where I know Cayla is babysitting the kids.
When I arrive, her eyes lit up and she hugs me tightly and for long enough that if my sister was home, it would be obvious to them that there was something between us. Fortunately, the kids are still too young to know about that, so they take it at face value when I explain that Cayla and I are friends from when I lived here before.
Cayla orders pizza and I play with the kids for a little while. They’re just as energetic and mischievous as I remember them, just a little taller now.
I don’t realize how much I miss them until now. When I was away, I was focused on my degree and the way my degree will help me secure the club’s future. I called home often and always made sure to make time for family, so I’m not a stranger to them, but there’s nothing that can replace physical contact.
So, although they’re old enough to want to be treated like big kids now, Joey and Helen get a lot of hugs and kisses from Uncle Gabe. They endure the affection with good grace and when the pizza arrives, they scramble to sit on either side of me, forcing Cayla to take the loveseat.
She smiles at us, and I am once more struck by her beauty. We put on a children’s cartoon and the kids are immediately sucked in, of course, but I couldn’t honestly tell you anything about the movie or even the name of the movie we watched.
All of my attention is captured by Cayla.
