3 Grip
Grip
After being dismissed—or let off the hook, however you choose to look at it—I watched Ice head off without a care. Bones nearly his shadow as they left the room.
If I weren’t so used to it, I’d roll my eyes at the two of them. Seriously. Couldn’t be more goddamn obvious if they tried.
Well, alright, then. Back to the situation at hand.
“What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?” I muttered under my breath. The question had been a rhetorical one meant for myself, but she must have heard it because her shoulders pulled back as if she was about ready to strike. It only lasted a second, but I caught that shit.
Interesting.
And fuckin’ suspicious.
But for real, what the fuck had I gotten myself into? A damn virgin. Shit was not good, but I couldn’t back out now.
I turned my eyes on Viking, giving him a look. He damn well knew this was all his fault.
I saw the way he looked at her. I saw the flicker in his eyes and how he wanted to hold her gaze.
I saw the fuckin’ way he got hopeful for just a second when she locked eyes with him.
And then I saw the way he pulled himself back because he knew the monster he was.
He knew he couldn’t have her the way he wanted her.
When I first saw her, I had a gut feeling. The bad kind that told me I didn’t want to have anything to do with whatever kinda shit she was bringing in here.
And clearly, I didn’t listen to the few smart brain cells I had left.
To be fair, it was mostly for Vike. But… when she talked about Muffle, there was something that grabbed me and made me listen.
Damn shame about Muff. He didn’t deserve to go out the way he did.
Run down, captured, and tortured by one of the mother chapter’s rival clubs there.
When I heard about it, I was the first to head for my bike.
Only, they didn’t want us to come. Claimed they took care of the club and all that shit themselves, that retaliation couldn’t wait.
Eh, it was all so fucked that I didn’t know what to do.
Truth was, Muff was the only one outta that bunch I ever really trusted.
He was a good kid.
Rest in chaos, my brother, I thought as my gaze dropped to the floor. There was no way his ass was gettin’ sent upstairs.
Same as me, you know, whenever my time came. Hell, this kinda life, death was always right around the corner, and I fuckin’ lived for that shit.
So when she’d said his name, I stopped. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t my fuckin’ problem, but I couldn’t. Giving someone that necklace was the equivalent of saying you’d give up your colors to protect them. I’d never actually seen one used before.
I still had mine. So did Vike, and he actually wore his around his neck.
Hell, I didn’t know anyone who’d given their’s away, not that it was something we ran around tellin’.
Family had protection automatically, so they were taken care of.
Besides that, well… truth was, not a lot of us dealt with people on the outside, at least not enough to give two shits about them.
For damn sure not enough to give them club protection with no strings attached or knowledge of what we were up against.
My hand went to the patch over my heart, rubbing my fingers over the grim reaper skull that signified our club. I didn’t think I was even aware of what I was doing.
If Muff cared enough about this chick to give her the necklace and tell her where she should go, then we had to do right by him and take care of her. I was going to see to it that it happened.
I might not be nice about it. Oh, hell, who was I kiddin’? I wasn’t fuckin’ nice, so there was no might about it. Shit shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone around me.
Hell, even as that thought crossed my mind, I knew better.
I had her bent over the pool table, and I felt like all eyes were on me.
On us. I didn’t have a problem fuckin’ out in the open.
So why the hell had I hesitated? Felt weird to rip her virginity away from her in a room full of assholes, much like myself.
It was bad enough she had to deal with me and then Vike’s big dick and issues.
But that last part I’d have to worry about later. I had to take my turn first.
Well, it looked like I had my chance to take this to a more private location without it looking like it was my idea.
She let out a squeak as I hauled her ass up and tossed her over my shoulder without a single care that her goods were hanging out. I tried to catch Vike’s eye, but he was stuck in place with his gaze glued to the floor.
“Vike,” I barked. It was enough to get him moving, but I was less than thrilled about his slow pace.
The sooner we got this done, the sooner we could get back to what we were doing and drink the night away.
As I stalked out of the clubhouse bar and dumped into the back warehouse where our room was, I couldn’t let shit go.
Who the hell was this chick, and why would Muff just hand over his piece like that?
What the fuck kinda situation was she in? What the hell was she putting this club in the middle of?
Lookin’ at her, I couldn’t imagine it was so bad, at least not in the sense the club couldn’t handle it. But what if I was wrong? What if she could be the thing to destroy us?
As if he could read my mind, Vike let out one of his low grunts that told me to knock it off. Even though he had a nice view of my back, I still rolled my eyes.
For whatever reason, he needed this. Had no damn clue why.
I knew Vike better than I knew myself sometimes.
The shit we’d been through… all I could say was I had his back and he had mine.
And, maybe in a sad, pathetic way, I’d give him anything and everything if I could.
He kept my ass safe when we were in that shitty foster home.
He was there as we both got lost in the system.
Two unwanted kids just riding the wave, tryin’ to make it out alive.
And even after I aged out, he ran away and roamed the streets by my side, still lookin’ out for me.
The punches he took. The bones he’d broken, and I wasn’t talking about his own.
The situations he’d put himself in… ah, fuck. I couldn’t think about that shit now.
Our room was just up ahead.
Only a few more feet.
It wasn’t like I could turn around and take her back, but I sure as hell wished this day had turned out differently.
I had this sickening feeling in my gut that shit wasn’t about to get easier. And I learned long ago to always listen to my gut. It never steered me wrong, and I knew this wasn’t going to be the first time it would.
Again, what the fuck had I gotten myself into?