Chapter 4
My assholery hurt Effie. I didn’t mean to fucking snap at her, but it was bad enough she knew some of what I actually did for a living. Not all of it. Just that I was a 1%. I left it at that, which was still too much.
Given her mother’s romanticized view of my life, I couldn’t imagine Effie fully understanding the implications. Most people never figured it out. Fuck, some of our members weren’t clued in until it was pointed out.
They were in it to party and fuck. Not bad aspirations, but boring as fuck if that was the fucking sum of your existence. Most members didn’t join Red Rum to maim, murder, trade drugs, and pimp chicks.
Our chapter oversaw strip clubs. If the girls whored themselves to clients, Dad took ten percent for the protection he provided. He didn’t agree with that and tried to offer enough money for the women to survive without selling pussy. He expected honesty, and if he discovered a woman lied about prostitution, he let them go. Johns could be brutal motherfuckers. Yeah, Dad would deal with any man who fucked up one of our broads, but he preferred preemptive measures. If they fucked for pay, one of our boys served as their bodyguard until the deed was done.
Other chapters, like Austin, shied away from the darker aspects of the life.
I could’ve spoken to Effie gentler, but that wasn’t me. Moreover, I was stewing in lust with a painfully hard cock. I was also trying to do the right fucking thing and keep the date away from my bed.
She wanted to fuck me, and I wanted to oblige her. Simple.
But so fucking complicated.
I’d fucked three or four virgins in my life. Virgins were a rare breed nowadays and, yet, they came to the club and offered themselves to me like sacrificial lambs. They understood it was nothing but a fuck.
Effie was different.
Her laughter floated to me, and something tugged at my heart.
Or, maybe, I saw her differently. That was why I let her stew in awkward misery. I was doing her a favor. Letting her feel as if we had nothing in common.
Video calls and DMs were different from face-to-face dates. We were in each other’s space, inhaling each other’s scents, watching each other’s every move, and picking up on cues. Conversation between us always came easily. I could’ve filled in the blank spots until she relaxed and joined in.
The waitress who took our orders set my plate in front of me, then placed Effie’s in her spot.
“Another beer, babe,” I told her.
She nodded. “Coming up.”
“Where’s Donnie?” She was my favorite waitress. I’d gotten pussy from her on occasion and took her to the club to party several times. “Or has she switched to a day shift?”
“She quit about a month ago,” the chick answered and scampered off.
Two months before I earned my patch, I rode to Austin with my father and met Donnie when we stopped in for burgers and sat in her sections. We’d been fuck buddies ever since. Whenever I rode in, I hit her up.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. Or I had. When I came to town six months ago, I hadn’t contacted Donnie. Couldn’t bring myself to, wrapped in my friendship with Effie and our DM’ing multiple times a day.
Hopefully, Dad had the scoop on why Donnie quit. Pushing her out of my mind and stealing a French fry, I turned and searched for Effie.
I didn’t see her. Panic hit me and I roared to my feet. After all, I still had a target on my back and a one hundred grand bounty on my head. Logically, chances were slim to none they’d hunt me here. They wouldn’t expect me to show up in Austin for any reason, but especially for a book signing for romance writers. As a model to boot. More importantly, Riker, Dad, and Drifter were headed to Jackson for mediation. Though Satan’s Sinners were bigger, they didn’t have chapters in Texas.
Another minute passed with no sign of Effie. I was about to leave our food when I saw her emerge from the short hallway that led to the bathrooms. Even from across the room, she was the prettiest little thing in the place.
I waved her over. She reached me just as the waitress returned with my beer, allowing Effie the chance to snap me snatching the bottle. She followed up with a few snaps of our burgers.
“Anything else?” the waitress asked. She wasn’t wearing a name tag and hadn’t introduced herself.
I should get her fucking name, but Effie’s sweet voice intruded on my intentions.
“I’d like a margarita.” Effie reached for her backpack and pulled out her ID, then held it up to the waitress. “In case you need it since you didn’t ask before. By the way, if my drink adds too much to the bill, open a new tab.”
While I appreciated her modern woman mindset, I still side-eyed Effie. “A margarita won’t break the bank, babe.”
The waitress winked at her. “It’s on the house, love.” She turned and sashayed away.
Effie’s shock followed by a gulp was so comical, I burst out laughing.
“She has good taste,” I said.
Effie looked at me and snapped her mouth shut, then giggled. “Not if she can overlook you. You’re hot.”
“Keep those compliments coming, babe. They’re good for my ego.”
“As if you need them.” She dipped a fry into ketchup, then stuck it in her mouth. “You know you’re the epitome of male beauty.”
“You have quite a silver tongue.”
Instead of taking that praise and running with it, she lowered her gaze, her shyness returning. The waitress brought Effie’s margarita and sat it next to her plate, then dug in the valley of her tits. She laid a slip of paper next to the drink.
“I get off at eleven. Call me if you’d like to go dancing.”
The waitress walked away, and Effie stared at the phone number, blinking rapidly, at a loss for words.
It reminded me of Daria’s request that I call her other daughter. I picked up my burger and bit into it, then chased it with a gulp of beer.
“Tell me about Cass.”
Effie raised her stunning gaze to me. Gold, blue, and green flecked hazel eyes, with a startling amber within their depths. I could lose myself in their beauty.
“Cass? My sister?”
Nodding, I took another big bite of my burger, pleased that she wasn’t dainty or shy about eating in front of me.
“Why?” she demanded, once she swallowed, then she scowled. “My mother told you about her.”
“She gave me her number. She wants me to call her and ask her out.”
Straightening, she set her burger on the plate, folded her arms, and sniffed. “I hope you told her that’s impossible.”
Jealousy wove through the statement. It was so cute that I hid a smile. “What reason would I give?”
“What do you mean?” she gasped. “How about you live in Oklahoma City and Cass lives in Corpus Christi? Distance dooms relationships.”
I was happy to hear her speak those words. It meant she understood we’d only ever be friends with benefits whenever we ran across each other. I was no longer an advocate for relationships. One old lady cheated on me. Another one threatened to shoot me and one of the club girls if she caught us talking again.
Fuck commitment and exclusivity. A woman fucked me up. When I fell, I fell fucking hard, and I liked how clearheaded I’d been once I got through my grief when my relationships ended.
I allowed us to finish most of our food before picking up the conversation again.
“Would Cassie appreciate a call from me?” I asked, pushing my plate aside and tasting my beer.
Effie hadn’t touched her margarita yet. She stuffed the last of her fries into her mouth, swiped the napkin across her lips, and threw it aside.
“Cassie doesn’t appreciate anything that isn’t about Chad, her boyfriend,” she snapped, her fire dousing her awkwardness. “He’s a fucking asshole, which she refuses to see. He’s a cheater, a manipulator, and a grifter.” She folded her arms again, her defenses back up. “Is Mom paying you to call her?”
“I’m not a goddamn gigolo, Effie,” I barked, offended. “I expected you to have a better opinion of me. If I call her, it’s because I want to.”
“Right.” She snatched her drink, wrapped her lips around the straw, and sucked. Hard.
My cock sprung back to life and my nuts throbbed. Images of her pouty mouth wrapped around Big Boy rose in my head and I forgot Cassie, Daria, and every other woman. I wondered if Effie had ever sucked dick. Generally, I didn’t allow a virgin mouth anywhere near him.
She sucked again and a little noise escaped her. I adjusted my cock, dug in my cut, and got my cigarettes and a lighter. Something to calm me and take the edge off.
“God, this is delicious,” she groaned, setting her drink aside. Color swept into her cheeks and she grinned. “I better slow down. I don’t want to end up sloshed.”
“You said two drinks were your limit on a full stomach.” She hadn’t even had one. Just a few fucking swallows. “I would’ve suggested wine for you.”
“There’s a lot of tequila in this drink.”
Yeah, a lot of cheap tequila. Fuck. I hadn’t considered that.
I drew on my cigarette and released the smoke through my mouth and nostrils, then flicked ashes on the floor. Some of Effie’s light had dimmed. I wanted to blame the alcohol but I knew it was because I brought up her sister. Low diversionary tactics. Leaning back in my chair, I dug in my pocket for the piece of paper Daria handed me earlier. I dangled it in front of Effie.
“If you don’t want me to call her, take it and tear it up.”
Relief flooded her face and she snatched it from me, tearing it into minuscule pieces. Even if I had the idea to glue it back together, it would be impossible.
My erection eased, so I stood. I refused to have that waitress return to the table and flirt with Effie again, so I walked to the bar and had Claude ring up my tab. I left that chick a two-dollar tip on a sixty-dollar check. Fuck her. She needed to be taught a lesson.
I returned to the table, where Effie was gathering her belongings. I wondered about the photos she’d taken and regretted not asking for a peek. Hopefully, she’d allow me to see the raw images before she tweaked them. Even the risqué photos she’d sent always had a filter slapped over them.
She lifted her gaze to me.
A sweet tenderness unfurled inside my chest. I gave her a half smile. “Do you still enjoy dancing?”
“Always.”
“I…” If I took her to the club…fuck, I’d give her the wrong idea, but until I got the call from Riker, Dad, or Drifter that I was off the hook and the bounty on my life was canceled, I wouldn’t be comfortable straying too far from where I was known.
The hotel was the exception.
“We can go to the clubhouse. It isn’t far from here.”
Her eyes lit up.
“But you must follow my lead, Effie. This isn’t one of your mother’s novels. This is fucking real.”
“I’ll follow your lead,” she agreed, without asking for details.
“When I tell them you’re mine and with me, don’t ask questions and don’t dispute that.”
She got to her feet, gazing at me like I’d hung the fucking moon.
I liked it more than I should have. Once we got back to the hotel, I’d correct her. For now, her vigorous nod and soft, “Okay,” sufficed.
She trusted me, even though I wasn’t worthy of it.