Chapter 3
Raeleen
Running a hand over my hair to smooth it down, I stared into the dirty mirror in the bathroom. I’d noticed the bikers as soon as they’d walked in the front door. Or rather, I’d noticed one biker. The one I couldn’t stop noticing.
Pyre was the epitome of a sexy man. He had this sort of surfer slash bad boy thing going on for him and I found it really attractive.
Anytime I was near him I was tempted to run my fingers through his thick light brown hair.
That was, I would be tempted if I hadn’t given up on men and dating so long ago.
I was also introverted and mostly kept to myself, so approaching him wasn’t going to happen.
None of that meant I didn’t find men attractive though. And that bad boy biker vibe looked good on him. I would’ve never guessed I liked long hair on a man, but it really suited him.
Apparently other women agreed because I’d glanced over and saw one doing exactly that.
I’d refused to look his way again after that.
A man like Pyre was probably taking a different woman home every night and that wasn’t really something I was interested in.
Even if he was the first man in some time who’d caught my attention.
I wouldn’t be part of some scorecard. Not that he was interested in me that way.
He was pretty to look at and that was all.
I stepped out of the bathroom and stopped abruptly when a man moved into my path.
“Hi, Sweetheart.”
Biting back a sigh, I gave him a smile that was probably more of a look of aggravation than anything. I didn’t catch most men’s eyes. So usually they were either trying to win a bet with their friends, or they thought I was so desperate for attention from a man that I’d do anything they wanted.
They were wrong. I may not be a beauty queen, but I didn’t have such low self-esteem that I’d give my body to just anyone.
And that was all they ever wanted. Sex. They had no interest in the same things as me, marriage and children.
Which was why I never bothered trying to find a man who would like the kind of woman I was.
My mom was adamant that there was someone out there for everyone.
I’d sort of given up on hoping he’d show up one day.
“Excuse me,” I told him, trying to step around him.
He shifted, and when I tried to avoid him, my back hit the wall.
He didn’t waste any time. His hand darted out and landed on my shoulder.
His other hand landed on the wall next to my head, effectively trapping me.
His breath was hot on my face. A sure indication that he was far too close to me.
He smelled like stale beer. “What’s the hurry? ” he slurred.
Movement caught my eye and I groaned as I watched Ainsley push her way through the crowd toward us.
But even worse, here came Pyre and his four brothers from the other side of the bar.
This was about to become a blood bath if the bikers got here first. Ains at least had some self-control.
She knew how to de-escalate a situation.
I doubted the Berserkers knew what that meant despite their military backgrounds.
They were the definition of a situation.
I didn’t want anyone to fight. Not over me.
I hated being the center of attention—it just gave everyone the excuse to stare—and already people in the bar were eyeing us as my predicament intensified.
“I’m not interested,” I told the man, trying to save him some pain.
Despite the fact that he was an obvious asshole, I had just the slightest bit of sympathy for his immediate future. Barely.
“You didn’t even give me a chance,” he said with a frown. “You’ll like me, I promise.”
Considering he couldn’t accept the polite rejection I was giving him, I highly doubted I’d enjoy his company. Still, I didn’t want to cause a scene. “My friends are waiting for me.”
“They can keep waiting, Sweetheart.” He lifted his hand off my shoulder to swipe my hair behind my ear.
I had two choices. Wait for Pyre and the others to get over here and deal with the scene they’d cause.
Or…handle this guy myself. Most people thought that because I was so quiet and meek that I was also too sweet to stand up for myself.
They didn’t know that I’d been raised with three older brothers. Or that meek did not equal weakness.
I took his hand in mine, his stupid unsuspecting smile told me he had no clue.
He just kept that stupid smile in place as I maneuvered my grip to where I needed it.
Grabbing firmly, I twisted until his bones threatened to pop out of the radiocarpal joint.
The wrist connected to a lot of different bones, the ulna, or the forearm bone, and the carpal bones, which are eight small bones that make up your wrist. He was at risk of nine different bones being broken if he continued to bother me.
His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. I kept twisting to the point where it was just past comfortable for him. “Listen to me.”
He nodded frantically, looking down at his hand.
“You’re going to go back to your friends and I’m going to go back to mine.” He nodded at me again. “And you’re going to leave me alone for the rest of the night. Understood?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”
“And none of you will be talking to any women in here, got it?”
He nodded hurriedly, face pale and looking like he was about to puke.
That would happen if I kept twisting and broke his wrist. I released his hand, then waved toward the group of men who’d stood up as soon as I grabbed their friend.
They looked undecided as to whether they should intervene or not.
Watching your friend get schooled and humiliated by a five-six goth girl tended to leave men confused and indecisive.
Since he’d agreed to my terms, I released him.
The man who’d been bothering me turned and froze as he almost slammed into Pyre.
I groaned because Pyre was standing so close to the guy that it was clear he wasn’t going to let this go. “Pyre,” I said, voice soft so that I didn’t accidentally set off the man. He looked like a dangerous predator, just waiting for his prey to make a move so he could pounce. “It’s okay.”
I’d only spoken to Pyre a couple of times before, but these men were protective.
It was well known around town that they helped anyone in need of it.
They’d kicked the shit out of Tansy’s—a local waitress—ex-boyfriend when he’d given her a black eye, and ran him out of town afterward.
Rumor has it he left so fast he didn’t get the chance to change his underwear.
I appreciated a man like that, but I still didn’t want to cause a fight in the bar.
Ainsley and the others made it to my side. “You okay?” she asked.
I nodded as Harlow wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I’m fine. Pyre,” I said again, eyes glued to his angry face. “I’m fine.”
“Didn’t know she had a boyfriend,” the guy said, his eyes narrowing.
“Do you know what no means, fucker?” Jury asked.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Demo answered. “We can arrange an English lesson.” He cracked his knuckles to punctuate the statement.
“Scythe,” I said, looking over at the vice president of their motorcycle club. If anyone had a hope of stopping this, it was him.
His furious gaze swept over me.
Nope. There wasn’t going to be any help from that corner.
He was just as pissed as the others that this guy had touched me.
I wasn’t sure why they really cared. Sure, they’d always been nice to me whenever I spoke to any of them, but we didn’t really know each other very well.
The guy hadn’t done more than touch my shoulder and my hair, but they were acting like he’d done far worse.
“Warrant,” Ainsley said, reading the beseeching look I gave her and trying to settle the situation without violence. “Maybe we should go outside-”
Too late.
The cowboy decided he couldn’t swallow his pride now that the other men were involved and he shoved Pyre backward. “Get the fuck out of my face.”
I groaned while Harlow pulled me out of the way as Pyre swung at the guy.
That was all it took and suddenly Pyre and the cowboy were on the ground, fists beating against each other as they fought.
Then the cowboy’s friends showed up. The other bikers grinned and took that as an opportunity to join in.
Scythe caught one of the guys by the back of the shirt as he rushed up to try to kick Pyre in the side. Pyre was on top of the cowboy, his fist ramming into the guy’s face over and over. Scythe pulled his victim in and then punched him in the face as soon as he turned to see who had a hold of him.
“Just let them go at it,” Ains said with a sigh as she watched her boyfriend take a blow to the jaw. “It was going to happen sooner or later.”
Things had been quiet for a few weeks, after the MC had helped find a couple of missing kids. Ainsley had told our friend group about it. I knew she was holding back, that we hadn’t heard the full story, but she told us enough to appease our curiosity about what’d happened.
Anytime it got too quiet, the Berserkers found a way to liven things up.
It used to drive the former sheriff nuts.
Now Owen, Warrant’s best friend since they were kids, was the new sheriff and he had to deal with The Berserker’s Rage.
He had a good relationship with the MC thanks to his friendship with Warrant.
But that didn’t mean he was just going to let the guys get into bar fights and let it slide.
“They’re going to get arrested,” I said, a frown on my face.
“Yeah. Probably,” Ains replied.
“They sure can fight,” Kaisa, our friend and one of the county commissioners said. She winced as Demo’s meaty fist caught one of the guys in the ribs.
I was pretty sure he’d just broken at least one of the bones, if not more. “Maybe I should-”