7. Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Lilli
By Tuesday, I’m feeling better but a little restless. I finished all the homework doled out before the break in addition to Mama’s chores.
With a sigh, I glance at Miriam’s bed. It’s not the same without her here as though pieces of the heart that beat within us are gone.
Not only that but being here alone creates all kinds of ideas that I should be pushing away. With my parents gone, all I can think about is doing something foolish…like going out.
I rationalize that this is a good chance to see Miriam, but I know, deep down, that I’m hoping to see Wolf too. The problem is, I don’t have a car, and the money Mama left me was for groceries, which she will no doubt inventory when she returns.
So, how do I get myself to the track without a ride?
Despite partying with Darcy before, I haven’t spoken to her since she left me the note from Miriam. However, if she was the messenger, this must mean that she knows how to find my sister.
Everyone knows that Darcy works at the diner in town. It’s whispered through the halls along with her mama’s indiscretions as though Darcy’s mainstream job is just a cover for other misdeeds. I know my daddy’s involvement didn’t help with her reputation, but it burns to know that these fools spend so much time spreading horrible rumors.
Even though my parents are gone, I still feel a thrill of fear as I walk down the street toward another slice of freedom. My neighbors don’t know that I’m heading for the diner, but I still glance around as though, at any moment, someone is going to expose me.
Luckily, the diner is only a mile away and as each minute passes, my shoulders slowly loosen until I feel less like I’m walking into my doom, that is until I spy Darcy with her head buried in her phone, outside the front door.
She glances up from her phone and back down before her head shoots up again and she smirks. “Lilli Anne.”
Now that I’m here, I don’t know what to say and fumble over my words before mumbling, “Darcy, I need your help.”
“Oookay, and why should I help you?” She raises a brow, and I pause because I really didn’t expect that answer. Huh.
Licking my lips, I mutter, “Please.”
“I already helped you once and look where that got me,” she says sourly.
“What?”
She shakes her head and looks away, but I see the tic in her jaw when she says, “Wolf won’t even talk to me.”
“Wolf…” Just his name creates a weird tingle in my belly and momentarily derailed, I ask before I can stop myself, “Are you with him?”
She pins her narrow-eyed gaze on me and snorts. “Wolf isn’t with anyone, but he messes around.”
“Oh.”
My chest burns at the thought, but I push it away, too late apparently because Darcy tips her head back and laughs. “Please. You’re not his type.”
“Really?” I slam my hand on my hip and bob my head.
What am I doing?
“Yes, really. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to have to dig just to find out if you have tits.”
Glancing at my button-down shirt, I frown. Okay, so I’m not an exhibitionist. So?
Besides, technically he’s already seen my…
Shaking my head, I suck in a breath because this is not why I’m here, even if I’m dying to know just what “messing around” means. Instead, I say, “Look, I don’t have anyone else to ask.”
She cocks her head, eyeing me before finally she says with a grimace, “I know I’m going to regret this, but what?”
With a thrill, I look around and step forward, ignoring her dubious expression, as I say, “I want to see my sister.”
“And you think I can make that happen—how?”
“You hang out with them,” I say, waving my hand.
She shakes her head, raising a dark brow. “Lilli, we’re not buddies . I’ve only seen her a couple of times and it wasn’t planned.”
“Can’t you reach out to her?” I ask, my spirits plummeting.
“No, I can’t. And I already said, Wolf isn’t talking to me.”
“Sorry,” I say, but in this, I’m lying. Still, I was so close to another adventure and bowing my head, I fight the sting of tears as I turn away.
“Look,” Darcy says, after a moment, “we can try but I don’t guarantee anything.”
“Really?” I grab her hand, and she rolls her eyes but says as she pulls away, “Later.”
The bag with Miriam’s change of clothes is gone so I’m forced to go as I am. I don’t have an alternate though, so it’s hardly my focus though as I walk through the woods in the dark by myself. I should have picked a different place for Darcy to pick me up but it’s the only spot that came to mind.
Now, icy cold sweat drips down my spine as I approach the road because for all I know someone is waiting in the bushes to attack me. Thankfully, all I see is Darcy’s car and relieved, I slide inside.
Darcy eyes my outfit like it might bite her before dropping a bag in my lap. “Here.”
While she pulls away, I root around before pulling out a pair of jeans and a stretchy material that I hold up with a frown. A belt?
“It’s a tube top,” Darcy says, rolling her eyes.
Tube…top? Huh.
Despite my unease, I quickly pull the pants up and then squirm like a jerk when I get to my hips. Heaving and huffing, I finally get them into position but suddenly I can’t breathe.
I’m still considering the top and how the hell it’s supposed to work when Darcy pulls down another road.
“Hurry up,” she hisses, and I jump before pulling the top into place.
With no little horror, I stare at my chest and reconsider this whole damn thing. My boobs feel like they might pop out at any second and I haven’t taken a deep breath since I struggled into the form-fitting denim.
“Look at me,” Darcy says and before I can protest, she’s painting my face.
When she’s done, she hands me the purple lipstick and I pull down the mirror.
My dark eyes pop, accentuated by deep brown shadow and with a little thrill I swipe on the lipstick. I have no time to admire myself any further though because she throws a pair of heels my way and opens her door.
Since I was expecting us to go back to the track, I’m appropriately confused as I stare at the open field. Where are we?
“You coming or what?” Darcy asks and I slide the heels on with a wince before wobbling behind her as she leads me through the crowd. When we stop by a log situated next to a fire, she points and says, “Sit before you hurt yourself.”
Dutifully, I drop to the log and glance around but there are so many people here it’s impossible to see if Miriam or Wolf is among them. However, what I do notice as I search through the crowd, is that these people seem a bit older than what I was expecting.
I don’t see any of my peers, which should be a good thing but who are these guys milling around?
When I stop on a man standing beyond the fire, I find the patch that adorns the same vest Wolf wears, and I sit up with a little thrill. Beyond the man, a group of women converse, and I eye the woman at the front, waving her hands in the air. Her long dark hair sways around her hips and squinting, I confirm, it's the same woman who had her hands all over Wolf at the track that first night.
When Darcy returns with a drink, I sip on it absently, continuing my quest to find either Miriam or Wolf. Stopping on group after group, I gaze over men wearing the same vest as Wolf, others without the patch and women in between but I don’t see anyone that I recognize.
Across the way, two guys rush each other before another one tries to intervene. I’m sure my jaw drops when they trade blows, but I’ve never seen a fistfight before, and I glance around cautiously.
No one else seems all that concerned, so I try to relax. The bigger guy, sporting a short ponytail and with a tattoo on his bicep that says “Sheila” punches the smaller, wirier guy who I notice, is also wearing the Saints patch on his vest.
Two more Saints push through the crowd, but I’m disappointed to find that neither are Wolf. One of them, raises a meaty finger and shouts, “Fuck him up, Bran.”
I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t cheering the two brawlers on as they stumble through the grass, still trading punches.
The smaller guy, Bran I assume, slams his fist into his opponent, who spins and drops to his knees. Wincing, I touch my chest, where my heart thumps rapidly as I watch rigidly from my perch on the log.
“Fuck yeah,” his cheerleader from the sidelines says.
Thankfully after a few more blows, Bran emerges the winner and the crowd dissolves back into the smaller groups as though nothing happened.
The man who lost, lays on the ground staring at the stars until his friend offers him a hand before pulling him to his feet.
“Shit. I’ll be right back,” Darcy says, breaking me from my observation. She’s gone before I can comment, and I look around warily. Should I wait here or at the car?
I’m seriously out of my element and strangely, the thought burns my lungs. I mean, I don’t want to be in my element in a situation like this, but it speaks to my world that I’m caught out and unaware of just what I’m supposed to do.
Turning, I watch Darcy as she approaches a guy across the way. When he pulls her behind a truck, I silently sigh. I don’t know what she plans to do behind that vehicle, but I hope it's quick.
After finishing my drink, I set it on the ground and look up when a shadow forms at my feet and a husky voice says, “Hey there, sweetness. What’s your name?”
“Um, Lilli,” I say, mustering an uneasy smile as he rounds the fire and sits next to me.
His blue eyes twinkle and dip to my top. Resisting the urge to cover my chest, I ease back a bit as he says, “I’m Tom. Ain’t seen you around before. Man, those fuckers are lucky. Sweet butt, like you…”
Sweet…what? If I thought I was uncomfortable before this supersedes that by a mile. Still, I’m here to step out of my comfort zone, to experience something I can remember when I’m back in my proverbial cage.
“Are you—“ I start to say only to flinch when Tom flies backward and Wolf appears before me, his fist still in the air.
While Tom scrambles to his feet and backs away, Wolf crosses his arms and pins his angry eyes on me, growling, “I thought I told you to stay the fuck away?”
My tummy swirls with a thousand butterflies which drop to stones at his words and I mumble, “This isn’t the track.”
That was the wrong response because his brows drop over his eyes before he grabs my arm and pulls me up. Stumbling in the heels, I fall into his chest with a gasp and his gaze drops to my tube top or whatever, his nostrils flaring.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” he roars before picking me up by the waist and stalking toward the cars.
Despite his displeasure, my skin tingles at the contact and I lean back, my eyes going wide when my butt brushes against him.
Is that? Oh my…!
With a grunt, Wolf drops me to the ground, and I stumble before swinging around.
As soon as I do, he leans in until our mouths are almost touching and says, “Didn’t you learn from your sister?”
Miriam…? Oh!
The reminder sends me back a step, but I shake my head because that’s exactly why I’m here. I don’t want to be the little, spineless Abernathy girl who’s afraid to live. I’m more than that and if it means a whipping, I’m willing to take it to feel something other than the icy chill that presses at my soul on any given day.
Thoughts I’ve never had before but feel right.
Of course, Wolf doesn’t understand, which is why he runs his hands through his hair, eyeing me like a problem to be solved before he takes another step away.
“Look, you…this ain’t my problem but it will be if Reverend Abernathy gets a wild hair and sends his buddy in to make trouble.”
When I only stare at him blankly, he snorts and says, “The sheriff, Lilli. We don’t need him all up in our business.”
Right. Sheriff Montrose. Why didn’t I think of that? Maybe because I’ve been ignoring the fact that Wolf isn’t some normal guy. He’s part of a motorcycle club. He dabbles in stuff outside the law.
When he pinches the bridge of his nose, I bow my head.
My mind swirls with questions but I’m sure he wouldn’t be inclined to give me the answers in his present mood and absently I wonder if he’s ever anything but grumpy or grumpier.
“How did you get here?” he asks, and I point to Darcy’s vehicle.
Wolf drags me along and I follow, simultaneously relieved to be moving away from the crowd but annoyed that Wolf ruined what I was hoping would be something I could relive when my parents come home, and I’m trapped in their expectations once more.
Wolf ignores my silent pouting until I stumble over a rock in these darn shoes, and he catches me before I fall, pulling me back against his chest.
Closing my eyes, I consider what’s pressing against my butt. The wild girl crying to be free wants to lean back and feel. But it’s warring with the real me, who’s brooding over Wolf’s lecture and strangely ashamed to have disappointed him.
“Lilli,” he groans, turning toward the car next to us and setting me down. His body presses against mine and I have no choice but to lean against the vehicle.
When the cool window meets my chest, I shiver at the sensation while his warm breath puffs against my neck. Turning my head, I meet his gaze over my shoulder and a low hum of pleasure dances across my skin.
His fingers clench around my hips before he splays them on top of the car.
He’s so close, if I stepped back, I’d feel his body against mine, but Mama’s words hold me back. A man may drink of the nectar offered but once he’s drunk his fill, who’s to say he'll buy the honeycomb?
Although I don’t always agree with her, I also know what Darcy said. Wolf “messes around” and this aligns all too closely with Mama’s decree.
While I have my internal battle, Wolf stands behind me, the warmth of his body embracing mine. He doesn’t speak or move until I spin around.
That’s when his mouth drops to mine. For a moment so brief, it’s like it almost never happened, I forget about everything but the sensation of his soft heavenly lips. When I sigh, his tongue slips inside and brushes mine.
My heart thumps as I clutch his shoulder but before I can truly experience the moment, he pulls back and rasps, “It’s not safe for you here, baby girl. You gotta listen to me. Stay the fuck away.”
Still processing my disappointment, I look up as he backs up, meeting his glittering gaze. Not safe how? Is he referring to the possible punishment waiting for me if Daddy ever finds out? Or maybe it’s him and the scorching stare that sends a tingle down my spine.
I guess it doesn’t matter because Darcy breaks the spell when she appears behind Wolf and he spins away, dismissing me as he barks, “Take her home. Neither of you belong here.”
Her brows slam over her eyes but he walks away before she can comment. Watching him go, I silently sigh because once again, what promised to be something I would no doubt remember forever, ended before it even started.
“I knew I should have told you to fuck off,” Darcy grumbles and my heart sinks to my toes.
Once we’re in the car, she proceeds to ignore me and uncomfortable in the tense silence, I turn to the window and watch the trees recede in the distance.
Every time Wolf tells me to stay away, I feel a little piece of my soul break apart. I know he’s dangerous. I’m not that naive but I guess when I’m around him, everything drummed into me by Daddy fades away. Although gruff and grumpy, he’s just a man.
I wish he would see me as a woman, though. Because for all our interactions, the only thing he wants to do is keep me away from the fun, while I crave the adventure, I know is waiting for me if I just grab it.
“You know the sheriff’s all over his ass, right?” Darcy says, breaking me from my thoughts.
“Oh?” It’s all I can say because Wolf just gave me the same warning. Except… “How do you know?”
Snorting, she turns on her blinker and looks both ways before saying, “He dates my mom.”
Dates…is that a euphemism for what her mama really does? Wisely, I don’t ask, as she continues, “The skeevy fucker has a hard on for the Saints, sorta like your daddy…”
Shuddering, I turn my face to the window. I’m not my daddy and other than seeing the sheriff once a week on Sunday, I don’t have anything to do with him either.
What I do shouldn’t be anyone’s business but mine. Still, I know the risk when it comes to my parents. Would Daddy tell the sheriff if he caught me going out?
“Look,” Darcy says, and I glance at her sideways.
What now? I get it. I messed up her plans, but I was only trying to have a little fun. Sue me.
“You don’t wanna mess with the sheriff. He ain’t a nice guy.”
I can’t say that I have an opinion either way beyond the fact that Wolf is worried about him and turning in my seat, I ask, “What do you mean?”
With a grimace, she says as we accelerate onto the freeway, “Let’s just say that he gets what he wants, don’t matter what the law says.”
Wolf
Once I’m beyond the cars, I adjust my aching dick with a groan. Lilli’s sweet taste still lingers on my tongue and even though I knew it would be a mistake, I took it anyway.
Fuck me but my blood ran cold when I found her sitting on that log with a hang around, one of the fuckers who likes to party but doesn’t want to patch in.
They know the rules which should have made me feel better, but Lilli isn’t a fucking sweet butt, and that asshole thought she was. Don’t matter if he wasn’t supposed to touch her, just the thought burns.
Ain’t nothing wrong with the sweet butts but it still don’t sit right for someone to think she is. This is why she shouldn’t be here, Darcy either. I know what that girl wants but escaping into the club ain’t gonna change her home life.
At least I got Darcy to agree not to come back until she’s eighteen, but wouldn’t you know it, that happened all too quickly. Now, she’s barely legal and sniffing for dick.
I’m disappointed that the fucker who dared to speak to Lilli is long gone when I approach the crowd, I need to punch something, and he’d have done nicely.
Instead, I nod to Bran who follows me through the crowd and out the other side. I got business here tonight and it don’t involve sweet little, Lilli Abernathy. She’s too young and virgin or not, sweet for the likes of me…even if her daddy weren’t in the mix.
Between him and the sheriff though, it’s a goddamn tragedy waiting to happen. Ain’t she worried about what that man will do if he catches her out partying with MC?
She should be and I guess it’s my job to make sure she does, except when her wide dark eyes pass over my vision, I mentally groan.
Enough. Let it the fuck go.