Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Legs
“Hey, Legs?” I turn at the sound of Blade’s voice and see him heading my way.
“Hey, Blade. Everything okay?”
“Everything’s good. You mentioned you were ready to get your tattoo?”
I nod, feeling my palms get sweaty. It’s been two months and I’m settled here. It’s the next logical step. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Good, sit your ass down there next to Kiki for a sec.”
I move to the table near the bar, where Kiki is sitting. She frowns when she sees me approach. I ignore it and pull out a chair, facing away from the bar and the man who’s been avoiding me for weeks.
“So you’re getting your tattoo today too?” I try small talk even though I’m not Kiki’s biggest fan. Though to be fair, Kiki’s biggest fan is Kiki herself.
“Obviously,” She sniffs and rolls her eyes at me. Well, okay then.
“Yo, Midas, you working today?” I pause when I hear Blade as he walks past.
“I’m heading in this afternoon,” Midas replies, his voice making me shiver.
“Good. That works. A couple of the new girls are getting their club tattoo; I need you to take one. Kruger can take the other.”
“Which one?” I tense at Midas’ question, knowing I’m the last person he’d want on the back of his bike.
“Either. I don’t fucking care.”
“I don’t have long to wait around. I’ve gotta relieve the prospect at Au. He was on the gate most of the night.”
“Better get a fucking move on, then, huh?” Blade says, squeezing me on the shoulder as he walks past me again.
“Here you go, Midas.” I turn at the sound of Lil’s voice and see her hand a bottle of water to him.
“Thanks, Lil.”
Kiki jumps from her chair. Today she’s in a pair of shorts so tiny I’m pretty sure they’re panties and a stars-and-stripes bikini top, that her nipples are almost poking out of.
Her hair is teased to within an inch of its life, making me wonder how she’ll even get a helmet on her head. She hurries over to Midas.
“Hey, Midas. Blade told me you’d take me for my new ink.”
He’s quiet for a second before he grunts. “He said there were two of you.”
I peek a glance behind me and see her nod and cock her hip. “Me—I’m Kiki, by the way—and Legs. She offered to go with Kruger, but has to wait for him to do something. I don’t know what. Anyway, are you ready to go? I can’t wait to get my tattoo. They weren’t a thing at Chaos.”
“You aren’t getting on my bike dressed like that.
Find Legs, send her to me. You can change while you wait for Kruger.
” I swallow, my mouth going dry. Fuck. I’m not sure I’m ready for this.
The last couple of months have felt like going cold turkey, but I know one touch will be all it takes to turn me to putty again.
“It’s okay. I can change really quick.” She giggles, though I have no idea what’s funny.
I look over my shoulder, a little less discreetly, this time, and watch as Kiki bends over so her tits are in his face.
She slides her hand up my arm as she leans in to whisper in my ear, “Between you and me, Kruger freaks me out a little. I’d much rather show you just how grateful I am to be here. ”
He shrugs her off and stands up, leaning down over her.
“Let’s get one thing straight, bitch. Kruger’s my fucking brother.
He’s worth ten of you. You’d be fucking lucky if he spent even a second with you.
You’d better keep that in mind while you’re waiting for that ride, because you sure as shit aren’t getting on the back of my bike. Now find Legs and fuck off.”
I turn my back on her as she snuffles and runs off.
“I’d be surprised if she lasts long.” Lil chuckles.
“She’s a bitch.”
“And you’re not?”
I can’t help but crack a smile at their banter.
“I swear, Midas, sometimes your grumpy ass makes Hannibal look like a teddy bear.”
“Hey, I resent that.”
“Would you rather I lie?”
“Yes. Yes, I would.”
My lips twitch as I stand up and make my way over, like I wasn’t just listening to their conversation.
“Hey Lil, Midas. I hear you’re my ride.”
He takes me in—his eyes moving over my tight jeans, boots, and plum-colored Henley beneath a black leather jacket. “You ready to go. Just need my helmet, I left it behind the bar yesterday.”
Lil grabs it for me and hands it over.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. I’ll catch you later.” Lil smiles at me. Something about that smile comes off as sad, but it’s not my place to say anything.
“Are you ready to go? I’ve got to be at the shop later.” Midas asks. I swallow and nod. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
I follow him to the door, watching him wince when he steps out into the sun. He pulls his shades from the collar of his T-shirt and slides them over his eyes.
“Rough night?” I joke, feeling awkward as heck.
He looks down at me, and I have to resist the urge to squirm. As I walk quietly beside him down the dirt road, I try to think of something to say. There’s this awkward tension between us that seems worse than ever now.
“Fuck. Look, I don’t want shit to be weird between us.”
I bite my lip, surprised he’s bringing it up. “Okay.” I turn my head and keep walking.
He grabs my arm and stops me, tugging me until we’re chest to chest.
“I’m a dick.”
I let out a startled laugh, but he just shakes his head.
“I’m serious. I treated you like shit. It’s like a switch flipped in my head, and I couldn’t help it.”
“I’m not sure what to say. I’m too new here to know when I’m overstepping.”
“Just be you.”
“Alright. Honestly, you didn’t do anything wrong.
I think if we hadn’t met that day at your shop, everything would’ve been fine.
But that threw us a little. Maybe because for one tiny moment, you weren’t a biker, and I wasn’t a whore.
We were just Midas and Legs, two people attracted to each other. ”
He nods because he knows I’m not wrong.
“We can still be Midas and Legs,” I offer with a small smile.
“We can; it’ll just be in a different way now. If you cut me some slack for being an asshole, I promise to rein in my possessive streak and not act like a jealous prick.” Even though his words taste like ash on my tongue, I nod.
“Okay, deal.” I hold out my hand for him to shake.
His hand wraps around mine before he shakes it. “Friends?”
Something inside me breaks and heals at the same time. “You really wanna be my friend?”
“Yeah, Legs, I really do.”
I look around at the designs plastered across the walls of the tattoo parlor as Midas hugs the guy who greeted us. Clearly, they know each other. He’s not wearing a cut, so I’m guessing he’s not a club brother. But then again, Midas wasn’t wearing one when I met him either, so who knows?
“Legs,” Midas calls, pulling my eyes away from the image I’d been staring at. I turn to see him and the other guy walking toward me. “Legs, this is Dean. He’s gonna do your ink.”
“Nice to meet you, Dean.”
“You too. So... what were you staring at so hard over here?”
I point at the sketch of two crossed arrows.
“If you’ve got time, I can do that one too.”
I grin and brush my hair back, tilting my head just enough to reveal the inked version behind my ear. One of the arrows is black and twisted, its tip dipped in blood. The other is made to resemble solid steel, with a white angel feather at the top of the shaft.
“Nice. Edge did this, right?”
I nod. “He did both of my tattoos.”
“Oh yeah, what else do you have?”
“Can we hurry this shit up?” Midas snaps.
Dean looks at me and rolls his eyes before showing me over to his chair. “Take a seat. I’ll grab the stencil I use for all the girls.”
I nod and do as he says.
“How well do you know Edge?” Midas asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
I sigh. “He’s a Chaos Demon. How well do you think I know him?” I say gently, watching as his jaw clenches and his arms drop, his hands fisting at his sides like he wants to hit something.
“Midas?”
His eyes snap to mine before he shakes his head and curses. “Fuck.”
He runs his fingers through his hair. “You want me to leave? I can get a prospect to pick you up when you’re done.”
“No. I want you to stay, but let’s maybe stick to neutral topics for now.”
He huffs out a laugh and sits in the empty chair behind him. “Alright, I’m game. What do you consider a neutral topic?”
Just then, Dean walks back in with the stencil.
“Tell me about Au. That’s a cool name, by the way,” I say as Dean lifts my arm, turning it so my palm faces up, and starts cleaning and prepping the area for the stencil.
“Thanks. I’ve always been a lucky fucker when it comes to making money, which is why I ended up with the name Midas.”
“And since Midas is famous for his ability to turn things to gold, you used the chemical symbol for it,” I finish as Dean looks up.
“Huh, I wondered what that meant. Guess I should’ve paid more attention in something other than art class,” he says as he takes a seat and wheels over, positioning the stencil on my wrist.
I laugh. Not that I have room to talk. I only attended high school for a year, and even then, with my mom being sick, I spent more days at home than in the classroom.
It took me almost two years to earn my GED, which I completed between sets at Euphoria, a strip club owned by The Chaos Demons.
I had to wait until I was old enough that my name didn’t set off any red flags in the system.
After all, I was still a minor when I disappeared.
Dean clears his throat, snapping me out of my thoughts. He peels the paper away, showing me the design. I nod, happy with the placement, and take a deep breath.