Chapter 5
BOONE CHESTER
My life had been on the right path since day one. I had a solid family. My dad was a biker who terrified the world but adored his family. My mom was crazy in a million little ways, but she loved me unconditionally. My older sister watched over me and became one of my best friends.
We lived in a small townhome complex with other women like my mom. They rode with an all-women club called the Everything Nice Crew. My uncles were members of the Rawlins Heretics Motorcycle Club. Walking outside the law was in my blood.
I still managed to stay out of trouble until a mild brawl in a Missouri honkytonk left me locked up for months in a local jail. The asshole sheriff saw a chance to make an example of an outsider. “Biker filth” was what he called me.
I was riding with the Crimson Guard by then. My president, Clint Reed, did what he could to get the charges dropped. Our clubmate and lawyer, Lula, was a beast, but we were outside our Arkansas territory.
I never found peace during those months locked up. I left jail holding a grudge. My family clung to me after my release. My friends threw several parties in my honor. But the world had changed while I was gone.
My best friend, Clint, was now hooked up with a sweet woman named Ivy. They started living together immediately. I’d never seen Clint behave so rashly before, but I couldn’t deny they seemed happy.
His cousin Lula had found herself a man named Dan “Exile” Shaw. He was the VP of a Baton Rouge club called the Black Rainbow. The alliance between the two clubs happened while I was gone.
The changes weren’t all good. My two childhood friends and fellow Crimson Guard members, Cher and Stevie Swanson, had been nearly killed during an attack on the club. I came home to find them still struggling with their injuries.
On the one hand, good shit had happened. On the other hand, bad shit had gone down. There, stuck in the middle, was Nova Shaw.
Exile’s younger sister moved to Little Memphis when he did. Nova brought along her girls, five-year-old Skylar and four-year-old Lyric. They lived at Lula’s house. One big happy family.
As soon as I laid eyes on the gorgeous brunette, I’d been hooked. Nova had the most expressive blue eyes, a shy smile, and curves for days.
But she was off-limits. Or maybe not. I couldn’t really tell what was happening between Exile and Nova. Her brother definitely seemed overly protective.
My family could also prove to be a problem. Goldie swore the last thing I needed was a damaged woman to love.
“You can’t save everyone,” my sister insisted. “Find a nice, normal, boring bitch to wash your undies and burp your babies. No drama.”
Goldie wasn’t necessarily wrong about what would be best. However, I did enjoy drama.
My mom, Yarrow Jones, was sometimes batshit crazy, but I wouldn’t want her any other way.
I tended to hook up with the wildest, most unhinged club sluts.
But I knew I wasn’t keeping those deranged broads.
A quickie with crazy was all I could handle.
With Nova, I wanted far more than a one-night stand. She was always in my thoughts. I couldn’t really dodge her, either, since she had been wrapped into the Crimson Guard’s inner circle. Goldie and the rest of the club’s foxes swore a wild child lived inside Nova, and they planned to lure it out.
Though I should have ignored my feelings and returned to a life of quickies with crazies, I chose instead to walk around with a lonely boner and a sad heart stuck on a particular woman.
Nova was on my mind again when the guys stopped at my condo before we planned to ride to our clubhouse, The Fire Hooch.
The first guy through the door was Clint’s cousin, Roy “Rowdy” Reed.
He was a tall, lean asshole with long, dark hair and icy blue eyes.
He strutted rather than walked. Most of what he said was bullshit, but few people were more loyal.
The second guy through the door was my club VP. Rock Savo and I grew up in Rawlins at the townhome complex. His mom was the top bitch in the Everything Nice Crew. I wouldn’t exist if Ginger Jones hadn’t saved my mom from a hellish existence.
Rock got most of his looks from his dad, Oz Savo, who was the Rawlins Heretics’ president.
Pushing six-five, he was built wide and thick.
He kept his hair shaved short, better to show off his pretty green eyes.
Rock was a no-nonsense guy with an intimidating presence, but I still remembered when he used to cry for his mama.
The men settled onto separate couches in my living room as we waited for the other guys to arrive. Rowdy stretched out along one while Rock glared at him from the other.
“Are you going to get nasty with anyone tonight?” Rowdy asked me.
“Probably not.”
“What’s this about?” Rock asked, refusing to pick up on people’s romantic drama.
Rowdy answered for me, “He’s got the hots for someone, and none of those club sluts will do.”
“Who is she?” Rock asked.
Shrugging, I muttered, “It’ll never happen between her and me, so I don’t want to gossip.”
Rowdy threw a pillow at me. “If you’ve got a woman making you wild inside, why not just take the fucking leap? No one ever won a prize without taking their shot.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No, it isn’t, ya dum-dum.”
“Don’t start that shit with me,” I said when Rowdy used his “dum-dum” crap to goad me into an argument. “And it is complicated. I’m not a man interested in settling down. And the lady I have a thing for isn’t an easy fuck. If I ask her out, she’s bound to think something special is happening.”
“Is it special?” Rowdy mocked. “Does your heart race when you see this chick?”
Turning the attention toward him, I asked, “Have you ever liked anyone?”
“Yeah. I’m currently horny for an amazing chick. She rode my dick in an especially romantic way in the back seat of her car.”
“So, when do we meet her?”
“Turns out she’s nuts,” Rowdy said, wearing a confused frown. “We hooked up a few times before she flipped out and ran off. You can’t even know how bummed I felt.”
“I feel like you’re fucking with me.”
“No, man, if Katie had left a slipper behind, I would have gone Prince Charming on the situation and tried to track her down. Instead, she remembered her shoes, and I never saw her again. I cry about it from time to time, but like in a totally masculine way.”
Rock sneered, “You’re a fucking bitch.”
“You’ll never know love because your heart only has space for your mommy, daddy, siblings, and me. Oh, and your grandma.”
“What about Boa?”
Rowdy waved off Rock’s question. “You don’t give a shit about that dog.”
“He’s my boy.”
“You hate him, dum-dum. It’s so obvious.”
“Don’t project your hate for Goblin on my relationship with my much finer dog.”
As they bitched about who owned the better Chihuahua, I wondered about Nova. She had a mixed spaniel named Ramen. My Chihuahua was named Beef Jerky. Was it a coincidence that we both named our pets after food?
Rock and Rowdy continued to mock each other for another five minutes, each one insisting the other ought to marry his dog.
“No woman will marry you,” Rowdy insisted. “Unless she was after your money. But even then, what kind of suffering would she have to endure to get a little cha-ching?”
Rock pulled a quarter from his pocket and flicked it at Rowdy. Suddenly, my VP frowned at me. “I forgot you were here.”
“I didn’t want to interrupt this love affair,” I said and shrugged. “Maybe that’s the real reason you two haven’t found your soul mates. Is there something going on here beyond friendship?”
Rowdy sized up Rock and shrugged. “I’m not against going gay with the right guy, but I sense Rock isn’t good in bed. I’d need a tender lover to get my engine revving.”
Rock threw his head back and laughed until he was red in the face. “I would rip your ass apart.”
“See?” Rowdy hollered while chuckling. “A good lover would buy me the best lube and wrap it up in a pretty box. Maybe stick a fucking bow on top. Not you, though. What a big dum-dum you are.”
A knock at the door had me out of my chair.
I was chuckling at their bullshit when I let inside Alon “Nine” Tooker and Farley Jones.
The two men were fellow Rawlins kids. Nine’s brown hair was tied up in a messy bun.
Farley’s light brown hair hung in his face.
They strutted over to the seating area where Rowdy was hanging half off the couch.
“What is this?” Nine asked Rowdy.
“I’m tired.”
Rock mocked, “Pretending to have feelings has worn out the little guy.”
Rowdy sat up and made room for Farley. “I’m unlucky in love.”
Exhaling hard, Farley nodded. “Love hasn’t worked out for me, either.”
“I’m completely disinterested in romance,” Rock said.
Nine took the open spot across from me and muttered, “Dating feels like a hassle.”
The four men stared in my direction and waited for me to speak up. I considered remaining silent and seeing how long they would wait. Rock glared when I said nothing.
“He likes someone,” Rock announced.
“It’s Nova,” Nine replied. “Who else would it be?”
“I thought it was that nerdy chick from Nessa’s auto shop,” Rowdy suggested.
“Naw, she’s into chicks,” Nine said. “Ben was hitting her up, and she said she’s getting over a breakup with someone named Jenny.”
The men looked at me and waited. After a long minute of staring at them, I nodded at their unasked question.
“Nova’s really pretty,” Farley said. “I considered asking her out, but Exile is hostile.”
Grunting, I snarled, “I’m surprised he hasn’t pissed a protective circle around Nova.”
“Are you scared of Exile?” Rowdy asked me as he fought a grin. “Did he scare you off?”
“I’ve got plenty of reasons not to get involved with her.”
Rowdy insisted, “Name twenty-two reasons.”
An annoyed Rock snarled, “We should let this thing drop.”
“Shut up, dum-dum. Boone’s got feelings.”
“Her daughters are funny,” Farley said and grinned. “They yell at Zodiac all the time.”