Chapter 1
Chloe – Past – Age 15
“Okay, now where is the party at again?” My mama asked.
“It’s at Stella’s house,” I told her as I packed my bag.
Stella wanted a slumber party at her house instead of doing it at the clubhouse.
A clubhouse I had been way too many times to count.
I loved it there.
It was awesome.
None of the kids at school could say they had seen the inside of it.
But Stella and I could.
Stella because her daddy was the president of Zagan MC.
I learned during a crash course when we were nine years old what all the patches on their kuttes were called and what they meant.
And that black patch with the 1% logo on it in white thread meant they didn’t obey the law. They had their own.
And I also learned that Zagan MC’s only laws were these.
Never betray a brother.
Never hurt family.
Never hurt women or kids.
And no drugs. Except for pot because it didn’t make a lick of sense why it was illegal.
And that was it.
Those were the rules in Zagan MC.
Mr. Hendrix, Stella’s dad, had started the MC when he was eighteen years old.
I still didn’t know why he had created the club, but maybe one day I would find out about it.
I also learned that things on the show Sons of Anarchy didn’t portray an actual club all that well. But some of the actors were nice to look at.
But I was able to compare the officers of the club.
See, you had Mr. Hendrix; Asher was the president.
Whit was the vice president. I swore I often wonder why his road name isn’t something like Viking. Because he looks like a Norse god. Right down to the long braid, his hair was always in, and the blonde hair and blue eyes.
Rome was the sergeant at arms. He was almost considered a mute. He only talked when he wanted to. And when he did talk, you freaking listened to him.
Irish was the road captain, and it was funny as all get out when we sometimes battled with our tempers.
The secretary position was open, but they hadn’t found anyone to fill it. I also learned that they were waiting for a brother who had been a nomad for the longest time to come back. And they were keeping the position open for him.
Trigger was the treasurer and a crack shot. It was awesome watching him use his skills at the target practice area the MC had set up.
Ox was just a member. But he had been with Asher when he started the club. I didn’t know much about him.
Stoney didn’t have an official title or anything.
He had just been a man who had gone through life and was tired of the bureaucratic BS, his words.
Coal was the icer for the club. I knew that Wrath MC, Soulless Outlaws, Pagans Soldiers, and Immoral Saints all had that term. But no other clubs did.
I didn’t know what the Icer did, and neither did Stella and the time we brought it up to her dad, he simply told us that he would explain that term when we were both eighteen.
Priest was the enforcer for the club, and he was a beast.
But he was nothing compared to Creature.
And Creature. You had to take Beast from Beauty and the Beast and have him make a kid with the most scarred-up individual you’ve ever met.
That was Creature. If Rome was almost considered a mute, then Creature was a mute. He didn’t speak to anyone. That perhaps had something to do with the damage he received to his vocal cords. But I didn’t know about his story.
I was taken out of my thoughts when my mama asked me, “Who all is going to be there?”
Before I could answer my mama, my daddy came up the stairs and asked, “Is she ready?”
I smiled at him when I saw him and then answered my mama.
“Our friends, Casey, Nora, Poppy, Lizzie, and Maria, are going to be there. And the brothers of Zagan MC.”
“And what about a female figure?” Mama asked.
“Priest’s wife is going to be there,” I told her.
Since she had met all of them, she nodded, “Okay. If you need anything, I want you to call us. Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay, Mama.”
And with that, I finished packing my little duffle bag for the hamburgers and hotdogs and the slumber party, and then I grabbed Stella’s present.
We all went down the stairs when there was a knock on the door.
My mama looked at my daddy and asked, “Are you expecting anyone?”
My daddy shook his head, “No. You?”
And when my mama shook her head, my daddy moved to open the door.
Laughing when he saw who it was.
It was one of my daddy’s oldest friends, Marco Rubina.
That man creeped me out.
I couldn’t put a finger on it.
But it was something.
I watched as my daddy shook his hand and gestured for him into the house.
My mama placed her hand on my shoulder.
Could she feel the creepiness rolling off him in waves like I could?
And he further proved the creepiness when his eyes swept over my body, and I swore I saw something flicker in his eyes before it was gone.
Thankfully, my mama squeezed my shoulder and led me out to her car.
As we were headed to Stella’s house, I asked, “Does Marco feel weird to you?”
She looked at me from the corner of her eye and shrugged, “That’s just Marco. He’s a good man.”
I nodded, then tried to remove him from my thoughts.
In twenty minutes, we were pulling up in front of Stella’s house.
Her house sat on ten acres of land, and it was one of those old Victorian-style houses, and sometimes I envisioned that I lived there.
I really wanted to turn the nook that overlooked the driveway into a reading corner.
It would be awesome.
And it needed a bright purple wingback chair to read it.
The front door opened, and Stella ran out, “You’re here. You’re here.”
I giggled, then leaned over and kissed my mama’s cheek, “Love you, Mama.”
She smiled, “Love you too, Mija. Have a fun time.”
Once I was out of the car, my bag and Stella’s gift in my hand, we walked arm-in-arm up to her house.
Her dad, Mr. Hendrix, stood in the open doorway, then he took my bag and her gift and said, “Y’all go have fun.”
I smiled, “Thanks, Mr. Hendrix.”
He groaned. “You’re making me feel old, Chloe. Why can’t you call me Asher?”
I giggled up at him, “Because it’s disrespectful, and my mama would wash my mouth out with soap.”
He chuckled and then closed the door as we walked into the house.
***
The party was in full swing.
The girls and I sat in a circle, making crowns out of daisy chains while rock music played in the background.
And since AC/DC was her favorite band, they played nothing but that music.
Which was why I was singing along to the lyrics, way out of tune, but that was okay.
So, look at me now, I'm just makin' my play. Don't try to push your luck, just get out of my way.
Stella grinned at me, and together we sang the lyrics.
After we all had all the crowns on, Poppy said, “Do y’all want to play a game my older sister plays with her friends?”
We all shrugged and then nodded.
Poppy said, “Okay, so it goes like this. You must name someone you would kiss, date, and then marry. And it must be actors or actresses.”
“Since Stella is the birthday girl, she gets to go first.” Maria giggled.
We all looked at Stella as she tilted her head and thought for a moment, and then she said, “Kiss, it would have to be Jensen. Date, it would be Jared. Something about those Supernatural boys. Marry, it would totally have to be Jason Momoa.”
We all giggled.
“It’s that long hair?” Casey asked.
“You are too right,” Stella said as she laughed.
Maria went next, “Kiss, it would have to be Charlie Hunnam. To date, it would have to be Freddie Prince Jr. And to marry, hmm, I guess I will have to go with David Beckham.”
“You are all over the place,” Casey snickered.
Maria shrugged, “I like the variety. Sue me.”
Casey chuckled, “Okay, I’ll go next. To kiss, I will go with Josh Hartnett. To date, definitely Ben Affleck. And to marry, I gotta go with Ewen Bremner.”
I snickered; Casey had a thing for the movie Pearl Harbor.
Nora giggled, “Okay, I have to go with Glen Powell to kiss. To date, I have to pick Josh Duhamel. And to marry, I definitely have to go with Scott Eastwood.”
Poppy laughed, “Dang. Those are my choices, too. But to kiss, it has to be Jason Momoa . ”
Lizzie chuckled, “What is it about Jason Momoa, I just don’t get it.”
Stella and Poppy chimed in then, “The tattoos. The Muscles. The hair.” And then they both fist-bumped each other.
And then it was my turn. I had been thinking about this and knew my answer.
They all looked at me, and I sighed, “I guess I’m going to be different. I pick Jensen Ackles for all three.”
They laughed while Maria giggled, “You gotta pick three different men.”
I shrugged, “I can’t. I don’t know. I guess I’m a one-man kind of girl.”
Stella grinned at me, “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Lizzie smiled, “Stella’s right. You just do you, girl. It’s working.”
“What are y’all over here giggling about?” Mr. Hendrix asked.
Maria giggled, “Nothing, Mr. Hendrix.”
Poppy nodded, “Yeah, you know, just girl talk.”
Stella smiled up at her dad, “Just girl talk, Daddy.”
Then he looked at me, and me being me, I said, “No comment.”
That caused everything to snicker and then burst out with laughter.
It was after we ate burgers and hot dogs, had a dance party, and had cake that I was at the kitchen sink when I caught Mr. Hendrix walking into the kitchen.
“Wanna tell me what y’all were talking about?” Mr. Hendrix asked as I finished washing my hands.
I looked up at him and smiled, “No comment.”
He groaned, “Damn. Okay, well, do I have anything to worry about when it comes to my girl?”
I giggled, “No. But even if you did, as long as it wouldn’t put her in danger, I still wouldn’t tell you.”
That was when he gestured to the kutte that hung over his body, “You realize you're telling the president of an outlaw club, no. Right?”
I giggled again, I couldn’t help it, “Yes, I realize that. But to me, you're not in an outlaw club. Nor are you a president. You're Stella’s dad.”
The moment the last word fell from my mouth, Stella called out, “Chloe, did we do Transformers last year?”
I smiled, then called out, “Yeah. And if you will wait to open your gift, you’ll know what you’re getting.”
I looked up at Mr. Hendrix and said, “Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”
And just like that, she came racing into the kitchen, skidding on her socks, gasping, “You didn’t?”
I mockingly gasped, “I didn’t do what?”
Stella jerked her head up to her dad, “Can we open presents now?”
He chuckled, then ruffled her hair, “Yeah, Princess. Yeah.”
Once everyone gathered in the living room, presents were exchanged.
This was my favorite part about giving gifts to people, seeing their smiles.
Stella’s gasp and then the dreamy look at her new present from me had me giggling.
She would be able to get her something about those Supernatural boys fix anytime she wanted to.
I felt eyes on the side of my face, but I didn’t dare turn it.
It didn’t hit me until I closed my eyes that night in the living room that Stella’s dad hadn’t asked any of our friends to call him Asher but me. That was weird.