Chapter 5
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Coty
Jack slaps a hand on my back, moving me forward. Kayla’s eyes widen a little more with each step I take. She sits on the stool with her back against the bar. I stand less than a foot in front of her. This is dangerous territory. It’s hard not to reach out and touch her. Emily’s on her left, and the lady who helped earlier is sitting on her right. She can’t flee like she usually does. She has nowhere to run from my presence tonight.
My eyes drop to her arm. “What happened?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. You can leave.” She tries to turn her back on me.
I risk losing my arm and lay my palm against her right shoulder. “No, ma’am. Not this time. Now, what happened?”
“I don’t want or need your help,” she bites out. She glances over my shoulder and smiles. “Bankz and Hendrix took care of it.”
Yeah, the little vixen knows just where to hit. It won’t work like she hopes, though. I spin around to face my friends, my club brothers. I’m not a fool by any means. Hendrix is a big man. He’ll ground me to sawdust on the floor if I pop something smart off to him. I take a deep breath and remind myself that these are my friends, my family. They’ve done nothing wrong. They actually did what a brother would expect of them.
“What happened?” She won’t tell me, but they will.
“Kayla shot his buddy down tonight. Apparently, Landon had a problem with her crawling in bed with dirty bikers . His words, not mine,” Bankz explains.
I twist my head to one side, then the other, popping my neck. Rich kids with daddy’s money are scumbags. They believe no one can touch them. College guys just moved to number two on my bad list.
“Where’s Landon now?” At least they got a name for me. Nick can find him from the security footage.
Hendrix huffs. "He landed himself in the Emergency Room. "
“What?” Kayla gasps and covers her mouth with her hand.
Jack steps forward and switches to leader mode. “This coming back on us? Cops going to be looking for you?”
“Nope.” Bankz shakes his head. “Told ‘em we owned the cops around here.”
“You did what?” A muscle in Jack’s neck twitches.
I rub a hand across my forehead. These two are idiots sometimes. “We don’t own the cops.”
“They don’t know that.” Hendrix moves to the empty stool next to the new lady.
Jack points at Bankz. “Just in case they call the cops, what exactly did you two do?”
“It was sad, really.” Hendrix takes a bottle of water from Parker. He sounds extremely disappointed. “I punched him in the face one time, and down he went. His head hit the wall, and his buddies pulled him off the ground.”
“I suggested the ER. The way he staggered around, he probably has a concussion.” Bankz shrugs. “That’s when I told them not to bother calling the cops. We owned them.”
“Great.” Jack tosses his hands up and walks off, mumbling.
“You guys are insane,” the new lady says. She’s intrigued, not appalled.
“Who are you?” I demand.
“She’s my friend.” Kayla pushes against my chest. “Find your manners.”
I place my hand over the spot she just touched and gently rub it. Her eyes follow the movement before snapping up to mine. She blinks a few times and quickly looks away.
My lips turn up into a slow grin. Well, well, well. Somebody doesn’t hate me as much as she pretends. Good to know. I’ll pack that little bit of information away for another day. It’s the first sign of hope she’s given me since I’ve been back.
“I’m Eliza.” The woman holds her hand out.
I nod once. “Rodeo. Thanks for helping tonight.”
I don’t take her hand to be rude. It’s respect. My girl is sitting right here. I won’t willingly touch another woman even when she’s not around. It darn sure won’t happen in front of her. Yeah, I know Kayla isn’t officially mine yet. However, I’ve made a small dent in her tough girl armor tonight. I’m not messing it up.
Bankz, on the other hand, has no problem wrapping his hand around hers. “I’m Bankz. I own the Roadhouse. That’s Hendrix.” He points across the room. “That’s Jack.”
Our future President is on the phone. He turns to look up at the TV monitor connected to the Den. Lily’s on the phone, pointing at him. She keeps glancing at Kayla. We can’t hear what she’s saying, though. Jack needs to get back to the clubhouse. A phone call isn’t calming her ole’ lady down.
“You have things handled here?” I ask Bankz.
“Absolutely.” Bankz gives a firm nod.
“You fine being a bartender short?” I don’t care if he isn’t fine with it.
“What? No.” Kayla scrambles off the stool and pushes between Bankz and me. “I’m working. I’m not leaving.”
Jack narrows his eyes and takes a couple of steps forward. I press my hand against his chest and shake my head. He dips his chin once before looking down at Kayla.
“You will climb your little self into my truck, or I’ll toss you over my shoulder and put you there.” He points to the TV screen. “Lily’s trying to get a ride to town. She wants her friend. Thankfully, nobody at the Den is stupid enough to bring her here. Now, before my ole’ lady does something crazy, you’re going to her.”
Lily’s on the screen pleading with Kayla. Her hands are folded like someone praying. She’s saying please even though we still can’t hear her. She’s smart and resourceful. Surprisingly, she hasn’t stolen someone’s car to get here since everyone refused to bring her. Of course, even if she managed to steal one, Ross wouldn’t let her through the gate. Lily’s still healing from a collapsed lung from when she was shot a few weeks ago.
Kayla closes her eyes and takes a deep breath through her nose, lifting her shoulders. She and Emily are Lily’s closest friends. Kayla would do anything for Lily. She won’t risk her health. We all know Lily won’t give up trying to get to her friend. Kayla opens her eyes and looks up at Lily. The two ladies smile and blow each other a kiss.
Kayla looks between Jack and me. “Fine, but somebody is making up for my lost wages for the next two hours.”
“Don’t worry, short stuff. You’ll still get your holiday bonus.” Bankz pats her on the head and goes behind the bar.
“And my tips?” Kayla looks Jack in the eye, not backing down.
“How much do you make in an hour?” Jack asks.
“$200.”
“What?” Jack’s eyes almost pop out of his head. “That’s a lie.”
“Bankz?” Kayla doesn’t break eye contact with Jack.
“I’m not in it.” Bankz takes the smart way out.
Jack doesn’t look to me for approval. I get it. He’s our future President. He has to lead, even when I don’t like it. “Since it’s a holiday, you’ll get $100 for two hours of bartending at the Den.”
“I’ll lose money,” Kayla snaps.
Jack takes one step forward. “You’ll lose the hundred, too, if you don’t take the offer. Either way, you’re leaving here. Now,” he says the last word hard and with authority.
Emily rushes to her side. “Take it, Kayla. You can have half of my tips.”
“No.” Kayla rapidly shakes her head. “I’ll take Jack’s offer, but you’re keeping your tips.”
Emily fakes a smile with tears in her eyes before hurrying to a table along the front wall. Kayla glances at Hendrix. He dips his chin slightly. If I hadn’t been watching, I’d have missed it. What is that about?
Half of what’s going on tonight isn’t making any sense to me. The other half has my blood boiling. I don’t agree with how Jack is handling this. However, I have no authority to override him. If Kayla were my ole’ lady or if we were dating, things would be different.
Honestly, I believe Jack is going easy on her because he knows I care about her. His ole’ lady is also Kayla’s best friend. His offer isn’t hurting Kayla. It’s a compromise, and it actually helps her. We all know she won’t make $400 in tips in two hours. Makes me wonder what she needs the money for.
“Can I set up a tip jar?” she asks.
“Only if our club President says you can.” Jack motions for Kayla to walk ahead of us to the front door.
“Fine.” She huffs and storms toward the door.
Jack takes one last glance up at Lily. She says thank you . He winks and follows Kayla.
“Here, man.” Parker hands me Kayla’s jacket—no bag or purse. I rarely see her with one.
At Jack’s truck, I open the back passenger door for her and offer her my hand. She smacks it away.
“I don’t need your help.” She steps onto the running board and flops down on the seat.
Yeah, she’s mad, but I don’t care. I would have handled this differently if it were me. I can’t complain, though. She’ll be at the clubhouse for the rest of the night. Right where she belongs, under my watchful eye.