Twenty-Seven
27
Salem
The curiosity had oozed from Pepper when Rome and I finally returned last night. She didn’t ask, though the look in her eyes told me she wanted me to tell her. I couldn’t because I wasn’t sure how to process it all just yet. It had been friendly. We’d laughed over our meal and talked about Vanna. It had felt so good to remember her.
Not one time had Rome brought up thinking of me when he was with other women. Other than the small outburst from me about the note that had gone unanswered, we kept the conversation from going to the us that had once been. I enjoyed myself. Riding on his bike again after all these years. Although this one was a newer, more expensive than the bike he’d had when he was twenty-one. The day had been one plucked from my imagination and perfected.
When I glanced over at Rome’s closed bedroom door, there was a lightness in my chest—until I thought about Eamon, and then it faded almost immediately. Eamon had loved me. He’d healed what Rome had broken. Yesterday had been the start to a friendship. Nothing more.
There was probably a woman—Nixie or whoever—in there with him. Naked, curled up against his side.
Doing my best to shove that thought away and convince myself that it did not matter to me, I made my way to the kitchen. I heard a voice about the same time I smelled the bacon.
“You were gone a long time yesterday.”
I spun around to see Lick standing down the long hallway that led to the backyard.
“Hey,” I replied. “I didn’t see you back there in the dark.”
He stepped forward until the light from the stairs illuminated him. “You doing okay after talking to the cops?”
I was, but I wondered if I would have been if Rome hadn’t come to get me and taken me away from here.
“It was…stressful,” I admitted, “but, yes, I’m fine.”
“You going into breakfast?” he asked me.
“Yes. Have you eaten?”
His gaze slowly glanced at the door, then back at me. “Not yet. Let’s go.”
Oh, so we were going in to eat together.
I didn’t know what to make of Lick. He was…odd. There was a dangerous, sexy thing he had going for him, but something was off with him. Like perhaps there were a few emotions that he hadn’t been given. A coldness that didn’t at all go with the man who had saved me, then scooped me up to carry me away from the nightmare.
I started toward the door, and when I got to it, his large, tattooed hand was already there, reaching over me and shoving it open. I thanked him before entering the bright area, where there were few bikers up since it was only nine.
Nina and Goldie were working behind the counter while Pepper sat at the bar with a cup of coffee in her hands, laughing at something one of the other two women had said.
All three pairs of eyes swung over to me—or I guessed us since they all shifted from Lick, who was behind me, then to me. Pepper’s eyes widened just a bit, and then she drank from her cup. The curiosity was so blatant on her face that she might as well ask me what it was she wanted to know so bad.
“You’re up early, Lick,” Nina said pointedly, as if accusing him of something.
I walked over and took the stool beside Pepper.
“Better biscuits in the first batch,” he replied as he pulled out the seat on the other side of me and sat in it.
Goldie cocked an eyebrow at him. “Or better scenery perhaps.”
He smirked as his eyes fell to meet mine.
I felt my cheeks warm, and I smiled before turning to Pepper. “I don’t think you ever sleep. You were awake when I went to sleep and gone when I woke up.”
She gave me a smug look. “Not all of us had a full day out, exploring.”
“Yes, please, tell us about that. Inquiring minds want to know,” Nina piped in.
Goldie took a plate of food over to Lick. “We need to gossip. Could you take this elsewhere to eat?” she asked him, smiling so brightly that I didn’t think anyone could tell her no.
“Maybe I want to hear the gossip,” he said, putting the plate down and picking up a slice of bacon. Clearly not going anywhere.
Goldie sighed dramatically. “It’s girl talk. You don’t wanna hear that.”
He chewed the bacon while holding her stare, then swallowed before saying, “You ever think she don’t want to tell the three of you her business?”
I sucked in a breath and dropped my eyes to my hands, which were clasped in my lap.
“Sure we did. But that’s not how we work. We want to ask, and she’s not gonna tell us shit with one of you sitting there. So, be nice and go somewhere else,” Pepper informed him.
I could feel Lick’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look up.
“You want to talk to them about shit?” he asked.
No, not particularly, but I also didn’t want to be rude to them. All three of them had started to feel like friends. And I desperately needed those.
“I don’t mind,” I said, giving him a quick smile before straightening my shoulders and trying not to appear awkward.
“All right,” he drawled, shoving his stool back and picking up his plate.
Why did that make me feel as if I’d let him down? Ugh. I didn’t like this.
“Thank you, Lick,” Goldie chirped.
He grunted in acknowledgment and headed for the door we’d only come in minutes ago.
Nina leaned her elbows on the counter, looking from that door to me. “Someone has warned you to be careful with that one, right? Because Lick is a crazy MFer.”
Goldie slapped Nina’s arm with a hand towel. “Don’t be mean. He’s just…unpredictable, and he makes poor choices.”
Nina glanced up at her. “He shipped a man’s balls to his wife.”
She winced and blew out a breath. “Okay, yeah, he did do that. But that’s one of the poor choices I was talking about.”
Nina rolled her eyes as I stared at both of them in horror. I was scared to ask for more of the story on that.
“Besides, I’ve never seen him act around a female like he does with this one. I’d say she’s safe,” Goldie told her.
“Eh,” Nina replied, cutting her eyes at me. “Depends on how much she cares about Tex’s health and safety.”
“He wouldn’t cut off Tex’s balls,” Goldie replied, rolling her eyes.
“Are we one hundred percent sure about that?” Nina asked.
“Y’all, please,” Pepper interrupted them. “She is almost as white as the flour you got all over the counter. Stop talking about shit like that. Besides, my buck would be on Tex. He ain’t crazy, but he is packing more muscle.”
Goldie and Nina looked at each other, and Nina shrugged as if maybe Pepper was right.
“Anyway, back to what we want to know. Where did you go yesterday? What happened?” Goldie asked me.
“Is his cock really pierced?” Nina added.
My eyes went wide as I stared at her.
“Wh-what?” I asked.
She looked let down. “So, you didn’t see his cock. Well, that’s okay. Plenty of time for that.”
“She’s not a club slut. Jesus, Nina,” Goldie scolded her.
“I know that, and that wouldn’t make her a slut. She said that he took her virginity twenty years ago. They aren’t strangers,” she shot back at her just as the door to the kitchen opened again.
I glanced back at the door and then froze in horror. Rome came strolling in, his eyes glancing over the others, then locking on me. I couldn’t read his expression to know if he’d heard any of that, but he didn’t say anything. Turning back around, I let out the breath I’d been holding.
The stool that Lick had just left was being moved once again as Rome came to sit beside me. The other women said nothing, and that made us all look guilty.
“What? Don’t let me stop you. So, you know I took Salem’s virginity. Please continue. I’m fascinated to know where this conversation was headed.”
My entire body flushed, and I closed my eyes tightly. He had heard her. Crap. Why had I told them anything? Now he would think I had gone around spewing out our past to everyone. Was he mad? He hadn’t sounded like it, but he had to be. Right?
“If I’d thought she was a slut, then I’d have had her straddling me on my bike yesterday, but, no, that didn’t happen. I know her too well. She’d never have done that.”
My eyes flew open, and I saw Goldie biting back a grin and Nina smirking at him before I turned to look at him. Had he really just said that?
He was watching me. Waiting for me to react. The teasing glint in his eyes sent a tiny shiver through me.
“You look surprised, Angel Face,” he said.
I blinked and said nothing. He’d called me Angel Face in front of the other women.
“Angel Face, huh? I take it, that’s not a new endearment?” Nina said.
Rome shook his head but kept holding my gaze. “No, it’s not new.”
This was…not what I had expected today. Or was this because we were friends? Adult friends who had a past. Was I the one making it awkward? God, I needed a handbook to navigate this.
“I thought you’d be headed back to Ocala by now,” Pepper said, saving me from having to speak.
“Not going back anytime soon. Things require me to stay here.”
“Things?” Nina asked with a chuckle.
A crooked grin touched his lips. “You’re being nosy, Nina.”
“There you are,” a female voice called out.
I glanced back to see it was Nixie strutting into the kitchen in what looked like a bra and panties.
Pepper muttered a curse beside me, and Goldie shot the new arrival an annoyed glare before she walked over to the stove.
“You weren’t in bed, and I didn’t know where you had gone,” Nixie said as she walked up behind Rome and put her arms around his chest, pressing her huge boobs against his back. “Morning,” she cooed in his ear.
That was the cold water of reality I’d needed to snap me out of thinking things were something that they weren’t. I wasn’t the something keeping Rome here. She was. I wanted to leave, seeing as my appetite was now gone.
If I made an excuse to leave, then I’d look as if I cared. No need to further my embarrassment. Might as well defuse it rather than feed it. Rome liked his women young and their bodies on display. I wasn’t young, and there was no way in hell I’d ever walk around like that.
I plastered on my best smile. “Here,” I said to her. “You can have this seat. I was just going to make myself a cup of coffee and see what I could do to help Nina and Goldie.”
I didn’t make eye contact with Rome, but stood up and gave her my stool. The cutoff blue jean shorts, which were Pepper’s, no longer felt as if they were too short, even if my butt was too big for them They might as well be pants compared to the way Nixie was dressed. As I walked around the counter, Goldie and Nina both fell into the act like champs.
“Once you get your coffee, I’ll show you how to roll out the dough,” Nina told me as she picked up a large bowl and went back to the space beside the oven that was covered in flour.
We had not once talked about me helping them. Not because I didn’t want to help, but because I had been following Pepper’s lead. I assumed they didn’t like extra hands in the kitchen, and I hadn’t wanted to invade their turf.
“I bought some new creamer. Try it. It is to die for. I’d offer it to Pepper, but she’d snarl her nose at it,” Goldie said.
“Because I drink coffee the way God intended. Black,” Pepper replied.
“Since when did you start caring about what God intended?” Goldie shot back, causing Pepper and Nina to laugh.
I should smile here, so I did, but I kept my back to Rome and his…whatever she was. Taking my time, I poured myself a cup and took a few slow and even breaths.
This was fine. I had been married. Rome and I were…were…maybe on the path to being friends. He was a beautiful, sexy, viral male with a pierced cock to go with his tongue, and he was going to have young women around who he used those things on. If I made it weird by acting uptight and awkward, it would make me look as if I cared.
Mentally preparing myself for this and acting as relaxed as I could, I turned back around and went to the refrigerator. “I’m not badass enough to drink coffee black,” I quipped, trying to go along with the conversation.
“Second shelf on the right. It is the purple bottle that says Love Is Blind and has a chocolate-covered strawberry on the front,” Goldie informed me.
I scanned the shelves, found it, then poured some into my coffee before facing the rest of them.
“Okay, let’s get back on track,” Nina said as she stirred a pot on the stove. “Since Tex insisted that we continue.”
My eyes shot to Rome then, and he was watching me, although Nixie was perched on one of his thighs rather than the stool I had supplied for her. I did not want to finish this conversation. Ever. Especially with those two in here.
“Get me some coffee,” he said to the girl.
She sprang up with a bright smile, happy to do his bidding.
Yuck. Ew. I rolled my eyes before turning my attention back to Nina. I had to stop her and fast. I was not going to talk about anything concerning Rome.
“So, tonight is your first bonfire, and we need to find you something to wear. Although the way Lick is following you around, I don’t think it’ll matter to him much what you have on.” Nina smiled back at me over her shoulder.
What was she doing?
“Oh, I…” What did I say? I didn’t want to lie about Lick liking me or there being some chance I would—or even wanted to—hook up with him. I did not. I was starting to understand Pepper’s refusal to date a biker.
“It’s fine,” Goldie said with a wave of her hand. “The guys all talk. I’m sure Tex has already heard. We aren’t gossiping.”
“No, Tex hasn’t heard.” His tone was clipped as he glared at them, then at me.
I might as well have been mute because I had no words. Nothing was coming out of my mouth.
“That Lick has a thing for Salem.” Nina said it like it was common knowledge and he had to have his head up his ass not to know it.
“We had to give him his food and force him out the door this morning so we could talk about it. He’d walked Salem to breakfast and intended to sit beside her while he ate it.”
I wanted to groan. They were making this sound as if Lick liked me in a way he did not.
“Here you go,” Nixie said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her set the cup down in front of him. I expected her to go climb back in his lap, but his command stopped her.
“Go clean my room.”
I tensed. Had he really just said that? Did he boss her around like that all the time? I frowned, then stared down at my cup.
“Why don’t you come with me and we can mess it up before I do?” she said in a sultry voice.
Yes, please go before I vomit.
“I don’t want to mess it up. I want it fucking cleaned.”
Ouch. Okay. That was harsh.
My eyes lifted to them before I could stop myself.
“Did Lick come to your room this morning?” he asked through clenched teeth.
I wasn’t Nixie. He had better watch it.
Narrowing my eyes, I glared at him. As if he had the right to ask me anything like that.
“No, he met me outside the kitchen door.”
Some of the tension seemed to leave him.
“Rainbow came back with Lick from Styx last night. He was busy with her all night,” Nixie said with a satisfied smile. As if she was debunking any idea that Lick would be interested in me.
That seemed to appease Rome, and he picked up his cup to take a sip.
“Everyone knows if Lick is gonna take an ole lady, it’ll be Rainbow,” Nixie added.
That was lovely for Rainbow, but I wasn’t in the market to become an ole lady. She could stop with the snarky looks my way.
“Didn’t he tell you to go clean his room?” Nina asked Nixie.
Oh my.
“I don’t take orders from you,” Nixie told her, placing a hand on her hip.
“Watch it, little girl,” she replied with a grin. “You’re just a stripper. I’m an ole lady. Don’t piss me off.”
“Jesus, Nixie, would you fucking go?” Rome growled at her.
“I second that,” Goldie said, holding up the spoon in her hand.
Nixie looked as if she was on the verge of pitching a fit, foot stomping and screaming included, like a child who hadn’t gotten her way. Then she spun and strutted from the room as if we were all watching her on a stage.
I did not have an ass like that. And although they had teamed up against her, it didn’t make my body anywhere near as perfect as hers. I could not compete, and I wasn’t going to try.
When the door closed behind her, I wished I, too, could leave.
“I hope you bleached your dick after you sank it in her overused twat,” Nina said, giving Rome a disapproving look.
He didn’t respond as he drank his coffee, then rested his elbows on the bar.
“You know, before she went to work yesterday, she was bent over the pool table while Fox fucked her from behind and Anson’s dick was shoved in her mouth.”
Oh dear God. It was very likely that Rome had STDs if that was the kind of women he slept with.
He didn’t seem to care.
“She’s not my property,” he finally drawled. “Haven’t put a claim on her, and I never intend to.”
Nina shook her head as if his behavior disgusted her.
Rome stood up then. “But she wasn’t in my bed last night. My guess is, she went to my room this morning, looking for me, and I wasn’t there.”
I felt his eyes on me, and of their own accord, mine lifted to meet his.
The corner of his lips quirked. “No one was in my bed last night but me.”
Why was he telling me this? I hadn’t accused him of anything. He needed to be looking at them.
I didn’t have a response to that. It wasn’t my business.
With a short, deep chuckle, he took his cup and left the kitchen. My eyes watched him go.