Chapter 2
brETT CAMPANA
I took a sip of my beer before I relaxed in my seat and looked around, trying to match the surrounding faces to the names I’d learned so far.
There were so many people here tonight - including a live band that I’d been listening to on the radio for ages and had just watched in an interview a few days ago.
When Bella had described her family and friends to me, she had clustered them into different groups, and I had wrongly assumed that those people only interacted within those groups.
For instance, she talked about how close her family was and how many cousins she had living around her home. For some reason, I thought they hung out together in a sort of family compound where outsiders weren’t welcome.
Bella had talked endlessly about her motorcycle club sisters, something that I didn’t even know existed before I met her, and how often the women were together.
In a way, that group had lived up to my expectations, considering that’s where we were right now - in the wide expanse of yard that surrounded the home where many of them lived.
She’d also mentioned two other motorcycle clubs, the Knights and the Kings, and probably because of television and movies, I thought they would be warring factions who met up in the street to fight in a turf war when someone crossed an imaginary line.
Instead, they were all mingling and laughing right along with the female bikers.
As if those pairings weren’t shocking enough, when the police arrived earlier, I had assumed they would shut the party down, arrest the riffraff that argued with them, and then send us all on our merry way.
Instead, they’d joined the party, if only for a short time.
After filling their plates at the buffet, they dispersed throughout the crowd, greeting everyone like old friends before they sat down to eat.
I’d been to Texas before, although only to Tenillo, where Zach’s mom lived, so I’d been around bikers, but they were a different generation than the people here tonight.
Most of them were old enough to be my parents, and they were settled and calm.
Okay, that was a stretch, but they were more relaxed than this crew.
That was for sure. Although I would imagine they might have partied like these people and then some back in the day.
And this party was rocking. It was like a mixture of a frat party after a big game and a wild dive bar on a weekend night after a long work week. Between the music, dancing, and the themed decor and costumes, it was crazy out here.
And I absolutely loved it!
To welcome the New Yorkers, Bella’s club had gone all out and created a Wild West sort of situation with men and women dressed in boots and cowboy hats, saloon girls with dresses slit high up on their thighs and showing ample cleavage.
It was like a gunfight at the OK Corral meets whorehouse chic, and I thought it was just the best!
Long open barrels, which I’d found out were actually watering troughs for livestock, were filled with ice and stuffed with bottles and cans of beer.
As if that weren’t enough, a few of the tubs even had big silver kegs of beer on ice.
I was almost certain that I’d get to witness a keg stand at some point tonight, like I’d only seen in movies before.
At least I hoped I’d get to witness one.
Hell, if given the opportunity, I’d do one myself just for the memory and bragging rights.
I heard Zach laughing over the music and looked over at the wooden plank dance floor that was set up near the band to find him trying to spin the woman who was teaching him how to two-step.
It was almost jarring to see him dressed casually, like he and the guys tended to do when they didn’t want to be recognized, while dancing with an Old West saloon girl wearing a plume of feathers in her hair.
She was trying to give him instructions, motioning with her hands to explain what he needed to do, but he wouldn’t shut up long enough for her to talk.
Suddenly, she reached out and twisted his nipple, which I’m sure hurt like hell but probably shocked him more than anything.
She then pointed a finger in his face as she frowned and started talking again.
I laughed when he made a motion to zip his lips and then absentmindedly rubbed his tortured nipple while he listened to her explanation.
“Is that your old man that Lulu is torturing?”
I nodded as a man I’d already been introduced to sat down next to me. I winced before I admitted, “I’m sorry. There are so many new faces that if we’ve met before, I’ve already forgotten your name.”
He put the whiskey bottle he’d been carrying on the table before he said, “We just got here, but I’m Phoenix Forrester. Everyone calls me Nix.”
The man who had walked up with him pulled a chair out at my table and sat down before he thrust his hand out to shake mine and said, “We haven’t been introduced yet, but I’m another of Bella’s cousins, Duke Conner.”
“I’m Brett Campana, and yes, the man out there irritating the saloon girl is my old man.” I looked over at Nix before I asked, “How did you know?”
“We’ve got a private Facebook group where we all talk shit to each other, and Bella’s posted at least a million pictures of all of you together, giving us insight into her life up there in the great unknown.”
I burst out laughing and asked, “You think New York is the great unknown?”
Nix shrugged before he said, “That’s what we’ve taken to calling it because it’s so much different from any place we’ve ever lived.”
“Bella talks about eating Chinese at 3 a.m. and how the city never sleeps. I just don’t get it,” Duke said with a shake of his head. “Who wants fucking noodles when you can have Whataburger taquitos?”
“I’m not sure what that is,” I admitted.
“What beer are you on?” Nix asked.
Instead of answering, I said, “I’m not driving.”
“Good,” Nix said as he twisted off the top of the bottle. “Do you like whiskey?”
“I was raised in Tennessee.”
“I was raised in Texas. That doesn’t mean I drink Dr. Pepper,” Nix said with a frown.
He put the bottle up to his mouth and took a long swig before he slid it over to me.
“Let’s have some whiskey, and then we’ll send someone for taquitos and demonstrate how much better they are than 3 a.m. noodles. ”
I looked down at the bottle in front of me before I said, “I’ve lived in New York for years and never once gone out for noodles after I’ve been drinking. Now, some greasy fries with eggs and cheese on the side? I’m down for that.”
“Then you’re gonna love Whataburger.”
◆◆◆
TEAGUE CONNER
“You know there aren’t snipers in the trees or anything, right?”
Jersey smiled as he shook his head, and I caught a glimpse of the horrible scar that went all the way across his neck.
I ignored it because the thought of how he got it scared the hell out of me, so I continued with, “And it’s not like any of the people here were hired to complete a hit on Zach or any of the other guys for that matter. ”
“You never know,” Jersey replied with a shrug.
“What do you think of Rojo so far?”
“Well, you guys know how to party. I’ll grant you that.” We sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before Jersey asked, “Why are you over here talking to me when you could be out there having fun?”
“I like hanging out with you.”
“I like hanging out with you, too, Teague, although it’s a little different tonight since I’m not escorting you around the city.”
The first time I met Jersey was the day after I arrived in Manhattan to visit my sister for the first time after she’d moved away.
She had an important meeting with a client that she couldn’t reschedule, and since none of us were allowed to roam around without protection while we were there, she had to scramble to find someone to accompany me out of the hotel to explore New York City on my own.
Which, since I had to take a guard with me, meant I wasn’t doing anything on my own, but I didn’t point that out to her.
Instead, I walked through Central Park with Jersey, who was quiet unless I initiated a conversation.
After a few hours, he started opening up, and I found him to be more than just the muscle-bound meathead I had assumed he was at first glance.
Jersey’s acerbic wit kept me laughing, and I found myself searching him out for the rest of that visit and all the others I’d made in the last year.
Even though he didn’t officially work for my future brother-in-law, Jersey’s boss, Zach, was Matteo’s best friend, so it was easy for him to arrange for Jersey to hang out with me while I wasn’t with him or my sister.
As handsome as Jersey was, I didn’t see him as anything more than a long-distance friend who I talked to through comments and messages on social media and sought out during trips to New York.
But we weren’t in New York now, and Jersey was a stranger in an unknown land, just like I had been the first time we met.
Even though he was working and couldn’t go exploring with me today, I wanted to spend some time with him any way I could.
As I smoothed down the skirt of my costume, Jersey asked, “Why are some women dressed as gunslingers and some as saloon girls?”
I shrugged before I answered, “We got to choose the outfit we thought suited us best.” When Jersey raised an eyebrow and looked down at my dress again, I rolled my eyes and said, “I do not want to be a saloon girl, Jersey. I like to dress up, and I like pretty things. Besides, this is probably going to be the only opportunity in my life I get to wear a feather boa.”
Jersey laughed when I flipped the end of the boa over my shoulder and then reached out to catch a stray feather as it started to float away. He rubbed the soft feather between his fingers and said, “Tell me about the other women here. Are you one of them?”
“Well, I am a female.”
“You know what I mean. Are you one of the bikers?”
“No. I've never had the urge to own a motorcycle, although I do enjoy riding when I get the chance. My family isn’t exactly filled with the biker type like some of the families in Rojo.”
“How in the world did Bella become one?”
“Her besties are from the biker side of the population, and since the men in their family wouldn’t let them join their MCs, the women created their own. All the women who will be in the wedding belong to her club, except for me.”
“Do you get along with them, or is this like the movies where you’re the poor little sister that everyone picks on?”
I burst out laughing before I asked, “Can you really imagine me as the poor little sister or Bella as the kind of woman who would put up with that?”
Jersey was laughing, too, when he said, “Absolutely not.”
“I guess there will be even more bikers coming soon. I’ve never met any of them. Have you?”
Jersey chuckled before he said, “Yeah, I’ve met them. Zach’s mom is married to one of them.”
“What’s his name?”
“Hook.”
“Is that his last name or his road name?”
“Road name, I guess. I’ve never thought to ask.”
“So, the other ones are coming just because they know Matteo through Zach?”
“You’ve met Matteo’s father, Stamp, right?”
“Russo’s Road Trip. Yes. I’ve met him, and he’s great. So is his wife, Bernadette.”
“Stamp is a member of that MC, although he doesn’t ride when he’s in New York. He said it makes him feel like a bug who is about to hit a windshield.”
I cackled before I said, “I don’t know how. The traffic up there moves at a snail’s pace most of the time.” I thought about it for a second before I said, “Although, I have seen some crazy drivers there. The rage bubbles up in me, and I’m never even the one driving.”
“Another one of the bikers is called Santa. His wife is Frankie, Rico’s sister.”
“I’ve met Rico before, and I’ve also gotten to know his daughter Stan. She’s also going to be in the wedding.” Jersey nodded, and I asked, “Will you get at least one day off while you’re in town?”
“Probably. Why?”
“So I can show you around! There are a lot of activities planned before the wedding, and I know they’ll be a lot of fun, but if you have a chance to get away and hang out, I’d like to take you on a tour.”
“I’m sure I can figure something out. I want to try some of those restaurants you’ve talked about to see if you’re delusional or if the food really is better than what you had in the city.”
“I guarantee it is.”
“The food they served tonight was fantastic. I’ve never had anything like that at home.”
“My brother made everything. He owns one of the restaurants I want to take you to.”
“If that’s the case, then I’ll make sure I figure out how to get away.”
“Really? You only want to hang out with me for the food and not my charming personality and sharp wit?”
Jersey smiled before he said, “That dessert was magical, and you’re moderately funny, so I guess it’s really both.”
“You’re funnier on social media than you are in person,” I said flatly.
“I’m a fucking riot either way, and you know it.”
“The only thing funny about you is the way you talk.”
Jersey laughed so loud that a few people nearby heard him over the music and turned to look at us.
When he finally calmed down, he said, “I understand that I’m outgunned and outnumbered here, Teague, but I have to argue that you are the one who talks funny - just like everyone else I’ve met on this trip. ”
“Forget what I said earlier. I’m not taking you anywhere.”