Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LEXI
NOW
I t may have been five years since I sat on the back of a bike, but nothing felt more natural than sitting behind Ryan and having the wind blow in my face as we rode through town. Ryan parked the bike outside a bar called The Ox and the first thing I noticed was the line of black bikes that Ryan’s blended into.
“So now that I’m here, are you planning on telling me what we are about to walk into?” I looked at Ryan as he was hanging our helmets on the bike just as a man walked out of the bar and lit up a cigarette before nodding in our direction.
“It’s Haz’s birthday tomorrow and I forgot to get him a present, so you, Lexi, are his present.” Ryan smirked at me as he put his hand on my lower back and led me inside the bar.
The second the door opened I was overwhelmed by the noise, there were pool tables and karaoke machines and all of the tables were full. Most of the bar was full of men wearing Viper cuts and Ryan stood up slightly taller to try and spot Haz in the crowd. He must have found him because he reached out and pointed to a table just in front of the bar where Haz and another younger boy that I remembered seeing at my house the other day were standing surrounded by a group of girls, all of whom are showing more skin than clothing and I suddenly felt really out of place.
“Let’s grab a drink.” Ryan leaned down and spoke closely to my ear so I could hear him over the noise. I nodded in return and we both headed over towards the bar. On the way, Ryan greeted all the other Vipers we passed with a handshake before we found two empty bar stools and we both took a seat.
There were two bartenders working behind the bar. One was a larger man with a long dark beard and the other was a young woman who looked around my age. She had her red hair pulled into a tight ponytail and was wearing black shorts with a black singlet. They both looked run off their feet with the amount of people in the bar. Ryan waved his hand in the air as he got the attention of the red head. She smiled at him as she finished pouring the beer and then walking down to where we were sitting.
“Ryan Blake, I’ve been waiting for you to show up.” She crossed her arms on the bar and lent forward. I couldn’t help but notice the connection she and Ryan seemed to have and I could feel the jealousy creeping into my chest, although I had no reason to be jealous.
“Skye, this is Lexi. Lexi, this is Skye. She manages the bar.”
She looked over at me and smiled, her smile took over her whole face and her blue eyes shined under the bar lights. “Nice to meet you Lexi. You look too innocent to be out with this lot. Everyone’s first drink at The Ox is on the house, as a welcome.”
“Wait, what? I never got a free drink when I first came here,” Ryan said from beside me. Skye stood up and rolled her eyes before reaching down to pull out a beer bottle from the fridge, because of course she already knew what Ryan ordered.
“Maybe because the first time you came here, you and him,” she pointed towards Haz, “ended up getting into a fight with two other men and I had to close down the bar early. I was stuck cleaning up broken glass for hours.” Skye passed the beer to Ryan and they both laughed. She began mixing spirits into a metal cocktail shaker before pouring its contents into a glass and passing it over to me. It was a light blue drink and the glass had a coconut rim and it looked delicious.
“Am I the only person in the bar drinking something other than beer?” I laughed as I looked around at all the other drinks on the bar and all of them were either a beer bottle or a glass of beer.
“Yeah you just might be, but you don’t strike me as a beer kind of girl.” Skye winked at me before walking away to serve someone else.
Ryan and I walked over to the table where Haz was sitting. When we reached him, he looked up and saw me standing with Ryan and jumped up to pull me into a tight hug. He lifted me up and spun us around before I hit his shoulder telling him to put me down.
“You actually came. I’ve missed you, baby Davis,” Haz slurred his words and I watched as the girls at the table all began to whisper and look at me, probably wondering who I was and how the boys knew me.
“This is Ty.” Ryan pointed to the younger boy who was sitting on the other side of the table.
He waved his hand to me and pulled one of the girls onto his lap. “Nice to officially meet you, Lexi Davis.” The patch on his cut that said ‘prospect’. I remembered the last time I saw that patch was when it was sewn onto Jay’s cut and I could still remember how excited he was to finally have it removed.
We joined the boys at the table and most of the girls left to find another Viper to hang off, besides the young one who was glued to Ty’s lap.
Skye came over to the table with a round of shots for the birthday boy. After a few drinks, the boys decided to play pool. Haz of course jumped up and drunkenly started singing karaoke, which sounded horrible, so Ryan quickly pulled him towards the pool table.
We split into two teams: one was Haz and Ty and the other was Ryan and I. After my first turn, Ryan realized how bad I was at playing pool so on my next turn he came to stand behind me. He leaned over me and put one hand firmly on top of mine and the other hand on my hip as he helped me line up the pool stick with the white ball before pulling it back and sending the white ball flying into the colored balls and we had sunk three balls. I cheered and jumped up and Ryan pulled me into a hug. He let me go but kept both his hands on my hips and we both looked at each other. I felt my chest pounding.
“I’m just going to get another drink,” I said to him. He looked down at me and nodded before removing one hand from my hips and the other grazed along my waist as I walked towards the bar.
“You look like you need a glass of water,” Skye laughed as she stood in front of me, and oh how she was right. I drank the glass so fast and put it back down on the bar mat.
“So how do you know Ryan and Haz?” I took advantage of the quiet bar and wanted to learn more about her relationship with Ryan.
“Those boys are my biggest customers, between them and old John down there.” She pointed to the end of the bar where an older man with a very large belly was slumped over the wooden bar. “They keep us in business, when they aren’t causing trouble, that is. How do you know them? Don’t take this the wrong way but you don’t look like the usual type of girl that hangs around them.” She poured two shots and passed one to me before drinking her own in one sip.
“That’s a really long story that needs to be told over many more shots.” I laughed before drinking my own shot.
“I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new to Haven Cove or just visiting?”
“Returning, I guess. I used to live here but I moved away. I guess I’m back, for now at least.”
“I’ve only been here about six months myself. It would be nice to have a friend to talk to outside of the bar. If you ever need some girl time with cheap wine and cheesy movies, I’m here.” Skye smiled before she passed me one more shot. “Or if you want to tell me that story over many more shots, I’m down for that too,” she said as she walked back down the other end of the bar to serve another customer.
I turned my bar stool slightly and watched Ryan and Haz on the other side of the bar. I could see the smile spread across Ryan’s face as Haz put his arm around his shoulders and started talking. Knowing Haz, he would be telling him something that sounds like a great idea but was actually a really terrible one. I couldn’t help but think about the time I’d spent with Ryan since I’d been back, and how much he had grown and changed as a person. But also being around him takes me straight back to the time in my life when I had no fear; but now, all I had is fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of the life that these boys live; but mostly, the fear of losing anyone else I loved. I loved Ryan, I had always loved Ryan, and I probably always would, but if I opened my heart to him again, how could he guarantee he’d stay?
As I traced my finger around the rim of the full shot glass in front of me, I heard someone sit down beside me and I was overwhelmed by the smell of their strong cologne invading my senses. I looked at the man who was dressed in a black button-down shirt and he smiled at me. I returned a polite smile before looking at my glass again.
“Are you going to drink that or just play with it?” he asked with a joking tone to his voice.
“Undecided right now.” I didn’t bother looking up to him because I wasn’t interested in small talk at a bar with a stranger when I could still feel Ryan’s hands on my hips.
“I think you should drink it and then I can buy you another drink.” He waved at Skye down the other end of the bar and she held up one finger to let him know she was coming soon.
“I’m actually here with someone, but thank you anyway.” I picked up the shot glass and swallowed it in one sip. The alcohol burned my throat on the way down.
“I don’t see anyone around,” he replied. His tone had changed to slightly annoyed.
“Turn around and you will,” I heard a deep voice say from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ryan and Haz standing behind the man. Haz had his arms crossed over his chest and I could see Ryan’s jaw clenching as he stepped closer to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
The man at the bar turned to see them at the same time and his eyes widened when he took in the two large men standing behind him. Everyone in Haven Cove knew not to mess with the Vipers, so the second he saw the leather cut, he backed off.
“Sorry boys, didn’t realize she had a boyfriend.” He nodded at them before going to stand, but Ryan blocked him, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
“Next time you should probably listen when a girl tells you they’re not interested,” Haz said from next to us, at the same time Ryan also answered, “Yeah, well she does”
I looked up to him but his eyes were still on the man as he apologized again. Boyfriend? Ryan hadn’t been my boyfriend in a long time, but then I figured maybe he just said that for effect. I watched as the two boys led him all the way out of the bar and when they all walked out the front door I was still sitting at the bar in shock.
“This all makes so much more sense now,” Skye said as she approached my seat. She had a huge grin on her face. “You’re the girl who left Ryan five years ago, aren’t you?”
My face dropped. “Ryan told you about that?” Ryan’s told people about me?
“God, no. Haz did. They would always come in here and have so many girls after them, but Ryan never engaged in any conversations and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen him with a girl until tonight. I asked Haz about it one day and he told me that he still wasn’t over someone. Seeing how jealous he just got over you talking to another guy, well, safe to say Haz was right. That man is still very much in love with you.”