15 Grip
Grip
I pulled out my phone as I flicked the kickstand down.
I would have sworn my stomach grumbled the entire way back to the clubhouse, and sittin’ in the diner for the last fifteen minutes while I waited for my order to get done hadn’t helped.
Since I was trying my damnedest not to think about the shit Prez had filled me in on about Ivy’s situation, all I could do was focus on what was talkin’ the loudest, and that happened to be my stomach. I was fuckin’ hungry.
I shot Vike a text tellin’ him to meet me in the room.
The sun was going down, so I knew he’d be heading out with Whiplash soon to do some late-night snooping.
Knowing him, he probably hadn’t eaten all day.
He forgot about the most important things when he was in a tizzy, not that I could blame him for being pissed and distracted.
It was still hitting me what was really about to happen.
We might be goin’ to war with another club.
While I wasn’t worried about going after the Serpent Crowns, the thought of losing any of my brothers filled my gut with rocks.
I hesitated at the door to our room, greasy food bags dangling limply from my hand as I reached for the handle.
I knew Ivy was in there. Wasn’t hard to forget her now, not since…
not since she took care of Vike. I couldn’t believe that hadn’t been even twelve hours ago.
Truth was, this day had been so long it felt like it was nearly a week ago.
No matter, that shit was stickin’ with me.
Damn, I didn’t really know how else to say it.
I was still processing it, but also avoiding it because I didn’t want to figure out what it meant.
Somethin’ not good, that was for sure. I never thought about what our life would look like if either of us actually fell for someone.
I nearly snorted at the thought.
It wasn’t like we were fallin’ for her.
But… I’d be a stupid fucker if I didn’t admit that there was somethin’ with Ivy.
I shook it off. I already had too much going on with the Serpent Crowns shit. Whatever was up with us and her, it would either work itself out or it would go away. One way or another, it was somethin’ for another day.
“Hey,” Ivy said, lifting her eyes from the magazine she was flippin’ through on my bed.
A real-life magazine. The glossy pages were old and a little worn around the edges.
Where the hell had she gotten that thing?
“I was bored and asked the Prospect to get me something entertaining. Guess he thought I’d hate this and wouldn’t ask him to get me anything again. ”
I actually looked at what was on the pages this time. It was an old bike magazine. Looked like something from when I was a teen, it was that old.
“Some of these articles are pretty interesting,” she went on, flipping the page gingerly like she was afraid it would disintegrate in her fingers. “But you probably know most of this stuff anyway.”
Her looking interested in bike shit made my cock chub up. Didn’t know what to do with that. Sure, I could fuck her. I actually wouldn’t mind that at all. Only, I couldn’t do that now because I had to feed Vike… and her, I guessed, since I got her something too.
“Nah, that’s cool,” I replied. So fuckin’ lame, but I didn’t know how the hell to make conversation with… someone like her. I wasn’t saying that in a nasty way, I really did want to try. If she was gonna be in Vike’s life even a little bit, then I didn’t want tension between us to ruin it for him.
She blinked up at me, a slight smile on her lips. I got the feelin’ she was makin’ fun of me in her head. Not sure I liked that. I didn’t want to be some fuckin’ joke to her. I wanted to be… well, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be, but I knew the laughing stock of this situation was not it.
“I brought you dinner,” I went on, trying my best to ignore the frustration bubbling up inside of me. “Vike’s had a rough day—”
“You don’t say,” she cut in with an adorable teasing tone, and this time, her smile was a little softer. More understanding.
“Yeah, well, I imagine you’ve had a few of those lately.” Everything stuttered to a stop around me.
Shit, why hadn’t I thought of that before this moment?
Yeah, I was a dumb fuck. Even if I only found out today what she’d told Prez, I still had a feeling she’d gone through somethin’ bad.
She had to have to end up here, seeking a Prayer of Protection, right?
So yeah, her shit was probably worse than ours.
At least in our kind of life, we expected shit to go sideways every now and then.
And while she might have grown up in that horrible situation, she didn’t willingly put herself in it.
Fuck, maybe I understood the little lamb more than I wanted to admit. I understood what it was like to be her, to be in her position. She might have been an adult, but that didn’t make the decisions she had to make any easier.
“You okay?” she asked, sounding a little concerned.
“Oh, yeah. Just been a long day,” I told her as I shook myself out of my thoughts. I’d been doing too much of that lately.
I handed her the bag that held her burger and fries.
Since I didn’t know what she liked, I got all the toppings but had them put it on the side.
I flopped down on the couch, realizing maybe for the first time that there wasn’t a whole hellova lotta room in here.
If I wanted to reach out and pull her into my lap, I could. And I actually didn’t hate the idea.
Instead of doing something stupid, I ducked my head and watched as she picked up two packets of ketchup and one mayo. She wrung those things dry onto the bottom of her burger, then she put it together, flipped it, and removed the top bun. Mustard and the sad-looking pickles went on the top.
Interesting.
I nearly chuckled, it was so specific and strange. I wondered if there was a taste difference doin’ it that way.
Vike walked in, his expression a little off as he stopped and checked out the space on the bed and then the space beside me on the couch.
I held out his bag as Ivy scooted over to make room for him.
I nearly lost it at the way his brows pinched together when he noticed the bigger space, then the way the tips of his ears flamed when she blinked up at him with a look that prayed he wouldn’t reject her.
No damn clue why I found it kind of cute. Viking had never had anything like this, and truth be told, I never thought he needed it. But lookin’ at him now, it was clear I’d been wrong.
Silently, he sat beside her, tensing only slightly when her shoulder bumped into his.
“Sorry,” she mumbled around a mouthful of burger.
I felt like an outsider. Wasn’t sure if I was okay with that feeling or not.
There was something goin’ on inside of me, I just didn’t have a damn clue what it meant or how to sort it out.
I couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t be happy for Vike, he deserved somethin’ good, and I sure as hell wouldn’t stand in the way of it.
Vike cleared his throat, then choked out a rough, “It’s okay.” He leaned a little until his arm touched her shoulder again, and I’d be damned, he left it there.
Ivy beamed up at him, then she did the damnedest thing, she tilted her head and rested it on his big, meaty shoulder. And when he didn’t stiffen or pull away, I couldn’t stop myself from studying her face. There was no way a smile like that was something that coulda been faked.
I swallowed hard, trying to no end to convince myself that I’d gotten choked up by a bite of dry meat, but I was also not dumb enough to buy it.
“She did somethin’ weird to her burger,” I blurted out, confused at why I even talked.
Viking’s thick blonde brow rose.
“What?” she shrugged, sitting up and taking another bite.
“Mustard and pickles go together with the cheese, and ketchup and mayonnaise mix together on the bottom. You get a pop of sweet before you hit the salt of the burger, then you get the kick with the vinegar, which cuts through the fake plastic taste of the American cheese. It’s really the only way to do a burger. ”
She held it out to Vike when he continued to wordlessly stare at her as if she were a little on the crazy side.
Then he leaned over and took a bite. After a moment, he gave a short hum and a nod.
When she held it out to me, jealousy or something of the like spurred me forward, and I was taking a bite too before I was even fully aware of it.
Well shit. I’d be damned if she wasn’t right. There was something about the way the layers hit the tongue as you chewed.
Pretty genius, even if it was just a burger.
“Get mine like that from now on,” Vike ordered on a grunt as he watched me. Yeah, that wasn’t gonna be a problem since I was probably gonna be ordering the same thing.
“How’d you figure that one out?” I asked, sitting back on the couch and taking a bite of my own, less superior-tasting burger.
“Mu—” She seemed to choke and then swallowed hard.
“My best friend and I spent the entire summer one year experimenting with how to build the best-tasting burger.” Her smile said she was lost in a memory for a moment.
“Neither of us likes lettuce, probably on account that neither of us had been forced to eat a lot of greens growing up. So we skipped that and the tomato since it just got too mushy. After a bunch of experimenting,” she held up her burger, “this is what we ended up with.”
“And how long ago was this?” I asked, worried that this was something she had spent her time on recently. I mean, I wasn’t one to judge, but it did seem a bit childish and pointless. Then again, maybe not, since the taste of it still lingered pleasantly in my mouth.
She laughed, the sound bursting out of her without a care.