Chapter 18
JACK
We work as a team. I finish unloading all the groceries, and Jessi puts everything away. She doesn’t know where everything goes and asks constantly if the cupboard she’s opening is the right one, but she’s efficient and finishes the task in a matter of minutes.
All the while, I’m rehashing the levels of stupidity I’m ascending as the day passes. I can’t believe I called my barely legal nineteen-year-old neighbor, who is now living with me, “baby.” I never call anyone that. It just slipped out. But she deserves to be adored, and I can’t help myself.
Still, I’m in deep shit if I don’t get it together. She needs someone who puts her first. Me unable to quit thinking about how her lips would taste isn’t putting her needs first.
I repeat that silently several times as Jessi gathers food, plates, and knives to meal prep. Seriously, in what universe did I ever think I would find myself meal prepping? To be fair, Jessi is the chef, and I’m merely helping. Or hurting. Definitely hurting.
“Jessi, you have to lead the way,” I tell her. “I can make boiled eggs, some rice, and a mean grilled cheese on a good day, but I’m hopeless at anything fancy.”
“Can you chop veggies?” she asks.
“I think I can manage that,” I say confidently, thankful I won’t be completely helpless.
“You’re in charge of chopping veggies, playing music, and pouring drinks,” she says, bouncing around my kitchen with a dish towel flung over one shoulder. She radiates in here and gives this place some warmth.
I grab two beers out of the fridge. I pop the caps off and hold one out toward her.
She cocks a brow at me and smirks. “You’re a bad influence on me.
” I immediately retreat. She’s right, what the hell am I doing?
She captures my wrist and tugs my arm back toward her.
She pauses, biting her lip. She takes the beer with her other hand then releases me slowly, brushing her fingers along my palm and curling them around my fingers before dropping her hand.
She has a playful smile on her face, but her voice is breathy as she says, “I was kidding!”
The moment is gone as quickly as it came.
She challenges me as she takes her first sip.
Her nose scrunches up. “Hmm.” She takes another pull from the bottle, spins around, and continues cooking.
I turn on the Bluetooth speaker and play Mumford and Sons.
I assume she’ll want me to change it to something like Taylor Swift, but she shocks the hell out of me again when she sings along, swaying as she works around the kitchen.
It takes me all of five minutes to chop the veggies, so I move on to cleaning the dishes as Jessi finishes cooking.
She sips her beer slowly. I’m already on number two, but I decide against having a third.
I plan to go to the club after this. I need some space to wrap my mind around this cluster fuck.
She peers at me. “What are you thinking about?”
“Oh, nothing. I need to swing by the club after we finish here. I figure I’ll head out while you decorate your room. It’ll give you some time to get settled.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders slump. Is she disappointed? “When do you think you’ll be back?”
“No later than nine. I don’t like to stay out late when I need to get up early. I told someone I would help them work on their bike. Teach them a thing or two so they don’t always have to take it to the shop.”
“I was thinking we could watch a movie.” She shrugs. “Maybe another time. That’s really sweet of you.”
“I would love to too, but you still need to get settled, and I need to run some things by the club prez, Mike, before next week. Don’t worry.
We’ve got plenty of time to watch movies,” I say, unsure what I think about her wanting to watch a movie with me.
Maybe she doesn’t have anything better to do and figures since we’re roommates, it makes sense to do things together.
“Tell me about your club,” she says, bringing me out of my inner dialogue.
“I connected with the MC when I was eighteen. Some of the older members knew my Pops and what a piece of shit he was. I was trying to provide for my younger sister, who was twelve at the time. I was doing some shit I shouldn’t have been involved in and found myself in and out of jail a few times.
Then Mike came to me and offered to teach me how to work on bikes and paid me full time.
I ended up being pretty damn good at being a mechanic, and I loved it.
Now I work at the shop connected to the club.
“At first, Mike had strict rules to stay the hell out of trouble with petty shit. He didn’t want added heat on the club.
So I shaped up quick. I didn’t have a great childhood.
My sister, Becky, is the only blood relative that I speak to, so I’m very thankful for Mike, for the club.
For all of them. We’re like family more than anything these days—chosen family—and I’d do anything for them. ”
“I thought motorcycle clubs were trouble,” Jessi says. “All about drugs, guns, and things like that. However, besides you whipping that gun out on Austin like a psycho, you’ve been quite the gentleman, and you help people when you don’t have to or get anything in return.”
“I won’t lie to you. I never said there wasn’t some rough shit that goes down, but I also can only say so much to an outsider.
” I tuck a stand of her hair behind her ear.
She doesn’t shy away from me. “We try to stay as clean and straight as possible.
We help those who need it, not take advantage of them. But we have our faults too.
“Motorcycle clubs have been around forever. Some are just a bunch of people who ride together, and some are outlaws. There are quite a few chapters around here.”
Jessi’s eyebrows lift. “Chapters?”
“Yeah. They’re like offshoots of a main club. Each chapter has its own set of rules and guidelines, but all chapters have the same foundation as their mother club.
“There are also completely different clubs and gangs that operate around here and across the country. Most have no intention of going straight. We support and help our chapters with what they need. However, this is a small town, and our focus is helping the community. Rather than pocket all the money we make, we help those who need it most. We offer protection from other MCs and gangs that do business in and around Houston. We’ve gained loyalty from the community and the police.
You can say it gives them motivation to turn a blind eye. ”
She shifts her gaze from my face to the floor. “How does someone become an insider?”
I inhale deeply. “There are no hard or fast rules. Prospects and members know everything. Some wives and girlfriends do too. Some girlfriends have grown up in the club life because their parents were in one or other family members were. Others don’t want to know the details.
It all boils down to trust. If our trust is extended to the wrong person, it puts the entire club at risk.
Not only in terms of jail time, but frankly, people could end up dead.
” I shake my head. “I’ve told you too much already, so I’ll stop now.
The short answer is: If you want to be part of the MC, you have to have an in. ”
She chews her lip in concentration. “Jack, I would never say anything.”
“I know you wouldn’t. That’s why I’m explaining some of this to you. You deserve to have an idea of what you’re getting yourself into by being here. At any time, you can change your mind and we can call your dad.”
“I’m good.” She pauses. “Have any of your girlfriends been involved in any way? Like, not done anything, but known about what goes on or been a part of the club and . . . aware of everything?”
Jack shakes his head. “Nah. I’ve never been close enough to anyone to trust them that much.
Maybe my sister, Becky, but she kinda grew up in it, so it’s different, and she chose to leave.
If I were to end up getting close enough to someone to consider sharing everything, I would need to make sure they were all in.
I’m not the type of person to come home and hide who I am to someone I love, so full disclosure would be the only way. ”
She twirls her hair around a finger, drawing my attention to her neck. It looks so soft, so distracting. “Do you take an oath or something when you join?” she asks.
I huff. “You’re quite inquisitive, aren’t you? Interested?”
She stares at me like a deer in headlights.
“I’m kidding,” I say.
That’s the second time I have asked in a roundabout way if she wanted to be involved in the club, and both times I got a non-answer. Keep your mouth shut, Jack.
I move on. “Mike’s dad ran the club when I joined, but since then, Mike has stepped up. He’s my best friend, my brother.”
Jessi steadies her composure. “Sounds like a great family. I hope I find that one day. How does someone become a prospect or member?”
“Again, no hard or fast rule. They normally start out working in the shop, and if the prez and other members start to show some interest, we will test them on their loyalty and ability to run small errands. If they do well with that, they can be patched in as a prospect. This is where they get more involved with club business. They begin to be heavily tested, forced to cross the line and up the stakes, per se. One remains a prospect for typically a year or longer. Then a vote among the members happens. It must be unanimous to patch in a prospect. Once you are patched in as a full member, you agree that the club comes before all else—for life. If you betray the club . . . I’ll let you piece together what happens.
Some of the guys keep their loved ones in the dark about everything, and it works for them, but what do you have if you don’t have trust? ”
Jessi shrugs.
“Anyway, I would love for you to meet them sometime. They would love you, and you would like most of them. Some young ones are still asshats, but most are good people. Although most are affiliated with the MC, you don’t need to be to hang out at the club.
People will hang out at the bar when they drop their bike off to get worked on.
Members spend most of their time there unless we are out on a job or a run.
There are some wild parties there sometimes.
” I chuckle, just now registering what she said.
“What tipped you off that I was part of an MC in the first place?”
She twists her hair again. “I guessed. I’ve seen movies and have watched Sons of Anarchy. I’m sorry if I offended you. I wasn’t judging, I swear.”
I cage her in between my arms, pressing her back against the counter and forcing her to look up at me. “You weren’t scared of me? You didn’t consider the danger, or was that why you started to avoid me?”
She gapes at me, her green doe eyes wide, and I pull back, not wanting to scare her.
“Jack, I knew you weren’t dangerous, at least not to me.”
I fight the magnetic force drawing me toward her and glance away. If she only knew.
“For the record, I wasn’t avoiding you,” she goes on. “I was avoiding the embarrassment of having crashed your garage that night.”
“Jessi, that was the best night I’ve had in a long time. You didn’t crash anything. Let’s make a deal, yeah? Never. Ever. Make yourself scarce or hide from me again.”
Her cheeks flush, she bats her eyes, and she giggles. “You and your deals. What do I get in return for such a tall task?”
“What do you want?”
“Hmm, so many possibilities.” She taps a finger against her chin. “I need to think about it. Can I take an IOU?”
“You can have whatever you want, Jessi.” I’m unable to hold back the truth. I can’t get enough of seeing her sweet cheeks blush, so I flash her a wink and her beautiful face flushes.
I finish the dishes as she fills our meal-prep containers, giving me almost triple the serving size.
While she continues spooning out our portions, I approach a topic I’ve been nervous about mentioning.
“Jessi, I don’t think Austin or his friends will come back here, but if they do, call me.
” I hand her my phone. “Add your number. I’ll text you so you’ll have mine. ”
She taps the screen then hands the phone back. Her contact added. Jessi.
This girl is gonna be the death of me.
Me
Hey, it’s Jack. Keep my number saved in case of emergencies. Please.
She glances up at me. “Deal,” she says.
“Okay. I’m headed out,” I tell her. “I’ll be home around nine. If you need anything, call me.”
As soon as I step inside the garage, a text buzzes on my phone.
Jessi
Since you asked so nicely, you’ve been added.
Don’t ask me why her following a simple order makes my dick twitch, but it does. I type out a quick reply and slide the phone into my back pocket.
Me
Good girl.