Cheyenne Chapter 14
I came out of Reaper’s house, or I guess our house now, with Alisse. We’d helped get things all arranged for the party and then had gone to get ready. Like Annie, I wanted to present my best to a woman he’d known all his life. I could tell by the way he talked about her, she meant something to him. I’d met Harper, and she seemed to be nice. Now to meet Annie. Alisse nudged my shoulder with hers.
“Stop worrying. All of them are going to love you. Just relax and try and enjoy yourself. I am. There’s gonna be biker eye candy all over the place.”
She chuckled as she wiggled her eyebrows and grinned. I shook my head.
“I don’t think you’re going to be doing much looking if Ink has his way. That man was laying a claim last night,”
I teased her. She frowned and looked down at her feet.
“He was just being an asshole. He wasn’t serious. Guys like him don’t settle down with one woman. And I don’t want a man I have to share and can’t trust out of my sight.”
“What makes you think he’d be that way?”
“Let’s just say, I knew Austin Kavanaugh before he was part of this club. He was a hound dog then, and he’s one now.”
I could tell she didn’t want to talk about him anymore, but it was interesting she knew his real name and had some kind of history with him. One that had her running in the opposite direction. I looked around and saw Ink staring at her. The stark hunger in his eyes was hot. It was like when Reaper looked at me. I had my doubts that he wasn’t a one-woman man, but time would tell. If it was meant to be, it would be.
I found Reaper standing with some of the Marauders and his guys. He smiled as I joined them and gave me a kiss. The guys all whistled. He smiled when he let me go. He introduced me and Alisse to the ones we didn’t know. Their names were King, Rage, Sinner, and Beast. I wondered how they got their road names, but I was hesitant to ask. Was that something you should or shouldn’t do with these clubs? There were a lot of biker rules I needed to ask him about when it came to his club. The Soldiers had bragged about how they got theirs. I didn’t want to mess up and offend anyone.
“Well, it looks like we’re going to have to spend more time here like we do with the Warriors. The scenery is much better now. Looking at your ugly mugs didn’t do a thing for me, but looking at these two, that’s a whole other thing,”
the one called Beast said as he smiled and gave both of us a wink. Alisse and I laughed. Reaper narrowed his eyes. As he did, I saw Ink step up to stand beside Alisse. She tried to edge closer to me, but he just shifted closer to her.
“Beast, I know that you don’t want me to kill you, right? Because if you don’t, you better stop flirting with my woman,”
Reaper told him.
“Okay, but that still leaves her beautiful friend,”
Beast remarked.
Ink let out a low growly rumble. Alisse looked at him in shock. I held in my laughter. The guys all look amused. I was right. Ink was trying to lay claim to Alisse. Hopefully, whatever past she had with him wouldn’t stand in the way, as long as it was more than for a hookup. If that was the case, he needed to find someone else.
“Damn, I guess that’s out. I hope you have plenty of alcohol so I can drown my sorrows.”
That had all of us laughing with the exception of Ink. He was still watching Beast. We stayed and talked to them for a while before we asked them to excuse us, so we could move to another group. We joined one that had Jinx, Styx, and Mad Dog in it. They were talking to Maniac and Mayhem.
They got to talking about what had happened with Serpent the first time. It made me uncomfortable to even talk about him. Reaper must have felt me squirm because he glanced down at me. “Baby, does this bother you? That we’re talking about him?”
“Sort of. I mean, I know it shouldn’t, but just hearing his name makes me want to vomit and run. Just ignore me. If it gets to be too much, I’ll go sit down or something,”
I told him with a smile. He shook his head.
“There’s no need for you to do that. If it makes you uncomfortable, we won’t discuss him in front of you.”
I went to protest but a car pulling up to the gate and honking grabbed my attention. I looked to see who it was. I didn’t recognize the car; however, Carter must have, because he hurried to let the car in. As it parked in front of the clubhouse, Reaper took off toward it with me in tow.
We’d almost made it to the car when the driver’s door swung open and out stepped an older woman. She looked like she might be in her forties. She was tall, curvy as hell and had the prettiest blond hair I’d ever seen. It came down to her shoulders. She was dressed in tight jeans and a pretty figure-skimming top. When she saw Reaper, she broke into a grin and raced over to throw herself in his arms. My stomach dropped to the ground. If she was one of his ex-lovers, then what in the hell did he see in me? I took a big step back and ran into a hard chest.
I looked over my shoulder to find Jinx standing behind me. He put his hands on my arms to steady me. He lowered his head. “Steady there, Cheyenne. Don’t let your imagination run wild.”
I was stunned to hear him say that. How did he know what I was thinking?
Reaper turned around and looked at me. He had a frown on his face. His eyes were on Jinx’s hands on my arms. He came over to me and tugged me into his arms. “What’s wrong, baby?”
I wasn’t going to tell him I was jealous of this unknown woman—a woman who was watching us with interest. “I just moved out of the way and bumped into Jinx.”
“Well, let me introduce you.”
He led me to her. She smiled and lowered her sunglasses so I could see her light green eyes. “Cheyenne, this is Annie, one of my oldest friends. Annie, this is my woman, Cheyenne.”
I held my hand out to her in shock. This was Annie?. She didn’t take it. Instead, she jerked me into her arms and gave me a big hug. “About damn time he got himself a decent woman. I thought I’d die before he gave me kids to spoil. He’s a hardheaded man. If he gets to be too much of a pain in the ass, just come see me and we can drink and plot his ass beating,”
she chirped as she gave him a teasing grin.
“Don’t give her ideas, Annie. I swear. I knew I shouldn’t have introduced her to you. Always causing trouble. Before you cause anymore, let me introduce you to the rest of our guests.”
He gestured behind me. I looked to find all the Marauders had wandered over and were waiting to meet her. Alisse was in the back with Ink standing there, whispering in her ear. She shot him a glare.
As Reaper got to Alisse, Annie held out her arms. “Come give me a hug, it’s been forever, Alisse. You’ve been busy at work I expect.”
Alisse went to her and gave her a hug as she nodded. I guess she knew Annie. That made sense since Alisse had grown up coming to Bristol to visit family. She’d moved here five years ago. They murmured for a minute or so before Annie got back on track.
“All you strong men, help me carry this food into the clubhouse. Once that’s done, I want a beer and a tour. I have to see what the hell you and the guys have been up to here for the last couple of years,”
she told Reaper. There was no shortage of guys who jumped to carry the food. After it was put away until we ate, we did the tour. The Marauders were showing their interest as they checked out the various things the Punishers had done and built. They really liked the safe room in the basement and asked a lot of questions about it.
As the afternoon wore on, they fired up the grills and cooked the meat. We all sat down to eat at six and it was delicious. I hadn’t had this much fun in forever, maybe never. When it got dark and the temperature dropped, we headed inside.
We were sitting at tables talking when Reaper excused himself for a minute. I wondered where he was going, but I was deep in conversation with Annie and Alisse. I vaguely registered Spawn and Ratchet leaving the room too. I found out why a couple of minutes later when they returned. Reaper and Ratchet were carrying guitar cases. Ratchet and Spawn went to a raised platform in the back of the common room. I’d seen it and wondered about the drum set that sat on it. I figured they had bands come once in a while to play or something. Reaper came over to me.
“Baby, I want you to come sit closer to the band.”
I stood up and followed him with Annie and Alisse not far behind. The others were all moving closer as well. He sat me right in the front of the stage and kissed me before he jumped up on it. He took out his guitar. I saw that he played an acoustic one while Ratchet had an electric one. Spawn sat down at the drums. I felt my mouth fall open in shock. I looked at Alisse. She seemed as stunned as I was. Annie was just smiling. I looked back at Reaper.
They started to play, and the tears formed in my eyes. He began to sing “Beautiful Crazy”
by Luke Combs. His eyes never left mine as he sang the words. It was like no one else was in the room with us. By the time he was done, I was ready to melt and bawl. I heard a chair scrape. I looked around and saw Ink get up. He went to the stage and sat down on one of the stools there.
The next song they did was “In Case You Didn’t Know”
by Brett Young. I noticed while Reaper sang to me, Ink was looking at Alisse the whole time as he sang too. She tried to look away, but she couldn’t. The tears flowed down my cheeks this time. As they ended the song, Alisse jumped up and raced out of the clubhouse. I stood to go after her, but Ink was running after her. I let them go. Maybe this would settle whatever was between them. No one could have seen the way he looked at her and those words he sang and not know that he was gone on her.
Big strong arms encircled me and hugged me back against a hard chest. Lips kissed my ear. “Just in case you don’t know how I feel about you, Banshee, I fucking love you. That was my public declaration.”
I turned in his arms and stood on my toes to pull his head down, so I could kiss him. It was the whistles and catcalls that finally broke us apart.
“That was amazing, Holden. I had no idea you played or could sing,”
I whispered to him. He gave me a smirk.
“I have a lot of talents you don’t know about yet. Both in and out of the bedroom.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. I laughed.
I sobered up. “Do you think I should go after Alisse? She seemed really upset.”
He shook his head no. “Let Ink talk to her. He’s been trying to get her to let him in and she’s resisting it. He has no idea why.”
“She said something about knowing him before and him being a hound dog. I have no idea how she knows him. She doesn’t think he’s a one-woman kind of guy.”
He sighed. “They need to figure it out for themselves. Just know, he wouldn’t be after her like he is if it was just to have sex and then walk. I’ve never seen him like this with a woman. If he feels a tenth of what I feel for you, then he’s head over heels for her, and he’s not a guy to give up.”
I thought about what he said. To hear him say those things made me only love him more. It was insane to think how fast we’d fallen for each other. A clap on the shoulder had him turning. Jinx was standing there grinning at us.
“Damn, I had no idea you fuckers could play or sing. That just stacks the deck even more in your favor with the ladies. Bastard,”
he joked. Reaper laughed. That broke up our serious discussion. We joined the others. Music was turned on and came out of the speakers. Some were now wandering over to the pool tables and a video game machine they had in the corner. Some war game, I think.
I sat down with Reaper and Annie leaned over. “Damn, he can be romantic after all. I never knew it.”
I chuckled and nodded. We talked a little, and I was starting to get worried about Alisse. That’s when the door opened and she came in. Ink was behind her. I could see she was still upset, and he looked pissed. She came over to me.
“I’m going to go to the house, Chey. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I protested, “No, stay. If you don’t want to talk to Ink, sit with me. I’ll have Reaper keep him away.”
She looked conflicted then she sat down.
“Don’t have Reaper do anything. I can handle Ink. He’s just being stubborn. I think he thinks I’m playing hard to get, and it intrigues him. If I give in, he’ll move on. But I’m not willing to do that. You know what, I feel like another drink.”
For the next hour, I watched her steadily drink. Ink was never far away and kept watching her. She ignored him. She was laughing and talking to the Marauders, which didn’t make him happy. Ink got up and stormed over to the bar. Reaper got up to go talk to him.
I got so into trying to talk to Alisse and get her to slow down on the alcohol, that I didn’t notice the door open. It wasn’t until I saw Annie’s face get dark and noticed she was looking over toward the bar that I looked around. There were three women. I knew immediately they were club bunnies. I’d seen enough of them growing up.
I hadn’t seen them yet, though I knew they existed. Every club had some. They usually came out at night. One was trying to press herself up against Reaper. Another one was smiling up at Ink. A shot of anger went through me. Surely, they had heard that Reaper was off the market. Ink, I wasn’t sure if he was still messing with them or not. If he was, that would seal his fate with Alisse. I looked at her and saw she looked upset again. She was watching them too.
Now, I try to always be nice and polite. It was what I wanted from people. But I knew that if I didn’t take care of it, the bunnies would try and eat me alive. I may hate almost everything about how I grew up, but I’d learned a thing or two. I stood up and marched over to the bar. Reaper saw me coming and his eyes got wide. He had been trying to put distance between him and the bunny, but she kept following him. I slid between them and faced her.
“Excuse me, but you’re touching my man. I’d appreciate it if you’d step off and leave him alone, or I can help you do it,”
I told her in a low growl. Things had gotten very quiet in the room. She scrunched up her face. She looked at Reaper.
“Reaper, what’s her problem? Tell her to go somewhere else.”
He shook his head. “I’m not doing that, Dora. This is Cheyenne. She’s my old lady. Don’t act like you haven’t heard.”
Her mouth hung open, and she gave me the once over. “She’s your old lady? Why? You don’t need someone like her,”
she protested. I didn’t let her say more. I knew how this would go. She’d insult me more, try to assert her claim on him and then get ugly. I skipped those stages. I stepped to the side and grabbed her arm. I then twisted it as I spun her around and jerked it up behind her in a half nelson. She cried out in pain. I wasn’t putting full torque on it, but I could and would.
“Let me be clearer. If I catch you bothering him or doing anything else, I’ll break not only your arm but your face. Don’t test me. I grew up in a much rougher club than this. I know the pecking order. You’re at the bottom. Stay in your lane.”
I looked at Reaper. He was watching me in shock. “And just so you know, if you let one of them rub up on you, touch you, or you ever fuck one of them again, I’ll be gone in a heartbeat and never come back. I don’t share.”
I figured he knew that, but it seemed like a good time to be clear about it. Cheating would end it no matter how much I loved him. I’d seen too much of that shit.
He came over and took my hand. “Let her go, Banshee. She knows now. I’ll never give you a reason to leave me. You have nothing to worry about.”
I released her arm. She rubbed it and glared at me, but she didn’t say or do anything. I glanced around to see Alisse was giving Ink a disgusted look. He was looking lost. Her eyes landed on the bunny next to him and Alisse turned away. He tried to disentangle himself from the bunny, but she was clingy. Alisse was out the door in a flash. Ink shouted at her to stop, but she kept going. Ink ran out after her. God, what a mess.
I looked at Reaper. “I need to go talk to her. She’s hurting and I don’t know why.”
He nodded and gave me a kiss.
“I’ll be at the house in a little bit. I’ll give you two some time to talk.”
“Thank you, babe.”
I gave Annie a hug and told her goodbye and then the others before I left to go find Alisse. Maybe she and Ink were talking. When I got close to the house, I saw him sitting on the steps. His head was in his hands. He looked up when he saw me. He looked miserable.
“She won’t open the door or talk to me, Cheyenne. What the hell am I going to do? She refuses to listen to me when I tell her I want to have a relationship with her. She says shit like a man like me can’t settle for one woman. She acts like I hurt her before or something.”
“Did you? She seems to know your real name, and she said she knew you from before.”
“No, I’d remember if I’d ever been with her. How in the hell could I not? But she’s running from me and I don’t know what to do to change her mind.”
“Start by not letting other women hang on you or around you. Then keep showing her that she’s the one for you. That song was a great start. Too bad that bunny showed up. You have to know, she’s not going to have a thing to do with you if you’re sleeping with them while you try to get with her,”
I warned him.
“I’m not! I swear I’m not. She’s the one I want. Goddamn, JoJo,”
he swore. I patted his arm.
“Why don’t you let it go tonight? She’s not going to talk calmly to you. Let me see if I can talk to her. But Ink, make sure you really want this. I’m not going to sit by and let my friend get hurt.”
“I know what I want, Chey. I want Alisse. Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He stood and gave me a kiss on the cheek before he slowly headed back to the clubhouse. I took a deep breath. Now, I had to go see if I could find out what my best friend had to say about all this and help her figure out what she wanted.