Chapter 12
Payton
“Oh my God, this place is—”
“Not safe.” Meg cuts Chassie off, looking like she’s about to freak out.
As soon as we pulled up to the gate and the huge biker dude approached asking us our names, Meg wanted to turn the car around and go home.
She’s flipping her shit. But of course, she had to come because she didn’t want me putting Kota in harm’s way.
I’m sure Meg is armed with pepper spray and maybe even a knife.
“You ladies lost?” asks a deep voice from our right. I shut my door and turn. It’s another huge man. They make them big around here. Every single one of them is massive. It must be a requirement to join the club. They don’t want any weak links.
“I’m looking for Cage,” I tell him. “He invited us out.”
The man looks me over slowly, nodding as if he approves.
Then his eyes shift to Meg and narrow in.
I feel her tense at my side, her entire body turning rigid.
She doesn’t want to be under his scrutiny.
Not sure if he senses her disgust or what, but the look he’s giving her is even making me uncomfortable.
“Do you know where we can find him?” I ask, drawing his attention back to me.
“I’ll take you to him.”
His eyes dart back to Meg again before he turns and starts leading us inside. As we walk behind him, a bunch of catcalls and whistles come at us from every angle. But every time someone makes a sound, the scary man before us glares them down, shaking his head. I wonder if he’s the boss around here.
“Yo, Cage! Found these strays outside looking for you.” Strays?
Cage tips back the contents of his glass before he slowly turns.
“Didn’t think you were coming.” He looks at me, sounding measurably pissed. I know it’s a little after nine, but it took everyone a million years to get ready. And it took me forever to convince Meg to come with us rather than run home and tell Dad where we were going.
“Sorry, us girls needed some extra time to get ready.”
He looks behind me seeing the three girls with me, but he doesn’t give them a smile or greet them in any form or fashion.
In fact, the look on his face is almost rude.
Like he’s annoyed we’re here. It’s so different from how he was earlier.
He was so flirtatious in the texts with me and insistent that I be here, but now it’s like he’s mad I showed.
I wonder if this has anything to do with my branding comment. As soon as I said it, his entire tone changed. He was quick to write back, “I’m not into branding.” In other words, he’s not into relationships. I don’t know why I was fooling myself into thinking otherwise.
I look to the empty glass in front of him and ask, “How many of those have you had?”
“Why? You got a problem with me drinking?”
No, I don’t have a problem with him drinking. But I do have a problem with the way he’s acting.
I turn to the bartender and ask, “Can he have another?” She tips her head, looking at me curiously, then fills up his glass. I reach for it and toss it back, then I leave the empty glass right in front of him.
“Don’t have a problem with drinking, but I do have a problem with assholes. I’ll see ya around, Outlaw.”
I turn and grab the girls, heading right back outside. It was stupid for us to come. Chass warned me that these guys don’t do relationships, and here I let myself think that she was wrong. Clearly, Cage is trying to send the message that he’s not interested, and I’ve received it loud and clear.
“What the hell was wrong with him?” Chassie asks. Even she noticed what a jerk he was being. This morning, he offered her a friendly smile and invited her up here to hang out tonight, and back there, he looked at us like we were intruders.
My body is suddenly jerked back as an arm snakes around my waist, stopping me in place. I let out a little yelp thinking one of the guys has grabbed me.
“Don’t go, baby. I’m sorry.” It’s Cage.
I glance back and see it. The regretful look on his face. It almost looks like he’s in tears.
“Cage, what’s wrong?” I turn to face him.
“Had a shit fucking day, babe, and I thought you were going to be here earlier. When you didn’t show I assumed you’d stood me up. I’m sorry for the way I behaved back there. I was a dick.”
I’m speechless. Don’t know if I’ve ever heard a man apologize in my lifetime. Not my father. Not Callum. Not a single male I’ve ever been around. This is definitely a first.
“You want to tell me what happened today?”
“Will you come on back inside and let me get you girls a drink first?” He looks over my shoulder to the other three. “I’m sorry I was rude back there. Just got caught in a rough moment. Would you ladies like to come in and have a drink?”
I turn and see the look on their three faces. They’re just as shocked as I am that a man of his size and dominance is apologizing.
“I think we should go,” Meg says. She’s still not keen on being here.
And after the attitude he just gave us inside, I’m sure she’s officially written him off.
I agree that he shouldn’t have treated us that way, regardless of his mood.
But the difference between me and Meg is that I know when someone’s hurting.
And I can see it in his eyes. My wolf is in pain.
“I think your ass better get a drink and loosen up,” says another deep voice. It’s the same man from earlier. The one who glared at my sister up and down.
“Excuse me?” Meg turns, crossing her arms. “Who do you think you’re talking to, mister?”
Jesus, is she really going toe-to-toe with that beast of a man? He’s a Savage Knight. And she’s a half-pint next to him.
He steps right into her space, locking her under his glare. “I know exactly who I’m talking to, Meghan Ellicort. But I gather you don’t remember me. I’m not surprised. You and your little priss friends never paid any attention to us ‘gutter rats.’”
Meg jerks back, eyeing him carefully. Her eyes flickering over his face slowly. She suddenly stiffens.
“Wesley? Wesley Moore?”
“Go by Dozer now.”
“You two know each other?” Cage asks.
“Went to school together.” Dozer narrows his eyes in further on Meg. “But this one didn’t know me. She would never dream of hanging with our kind. Isn’t that right, doll? You and those little friends of yours wouldn’t dare being seen with the likes of us roughnecks.”
“That’s not true,” my sister hisses. But it is true.
I love my sister dearly, but she has always been one to turn her nose up at anything that doesn’t fit in her good-girl bubble.
She’s my father’s daughter. Perfect grades.
Perfect etiquette. Afraid of everything that doesn’t fit within their perfect world.
“Really? So, why didn’t you let me take you out?”
Meg swallows hard, stepping back to put more distance between them.
What I’m shocked over is the fact that he asked her out.
I can’t imagine my priss of a sister going out with a guy like that.
He’s tatted from head to toe and has an eyebrow piercing.
My dad would lose his shit if she had dated a guy like that.
Though personally, I think he’s way sexier than any of her boyfriends.
And the guy she’s into now, Clark, doesn’t even hold a candle in the looks department.
Plus, he’s an ass, which scores him double points on my disapproval scale.
“No offense, but you’re not my type.”
He steps in closer to her, crowding her space, and then he whispers something in her ear that has my sister’s eyes growing round and her cheeks turning an even brighter shade of embarrassed.
“Are you ready to go, Payton?”
Dozer smirks, chuckling under his breath, and Cage locks me in tighter to his side.
“You all can head out if you want, but she’s staying with me.”
“I don’t want to go,” Chassie chimes in. “We just got here. And Cage offered us a drink.”
Meg huffs looking to Kota to back her up, but my youngest sister isn’t even paying attention to us.
Her eyes are locked on something out in the distance.
I follow her stare and see a huge man lurking in the shadows of the night, barely visible under the light of the moon.
From this distance, it almost looks like he has a huge scar running down his face.
I’m not sure, but I am positive that he is staring intensely at my baby sis.
“Dakota!” Meg snaps. “Tell them you want to leave.”
Kota finally turns, and she shakes her head slowly. She wants to stay.
“There you have it,” Chassie states. “Three against one. Now, come on.” She wraps her arm around my frustrated sister’s shoulders. “Let’s go get you that drink, and loosen that stick you have up your ass.”
Meg’s reaction is almost comical, but she has to admit it’s true.
She’s wound too tight. Always trying to be so perfect.
Always trying to live up to everyone’s expectations.
She reminds me of me. The old me. Now, I know that happiness doesn’t come from shiny crowns, good grades, or fancy clothes.
Happiness comes from doing the things you love, and spending time with people that make you feel good. People who don’t judge.
I turn toward Cage and lean up onto my toes, placing a soft kiss against his lips. “You have some making up to do, mister.”
He licks his lips, tipping his head. “Doze, need you to see these ladies into the clubhouse and get them drinks. And do me a favor and keep an eye on them for me.”
Next thing I know, I’m over his shoulder and being hauled off like a sack of potatoes.