4. CHAPTER FOUR
Clubhouse
With my elbows planted on the worn wooden bar at the clubhouse, I took a swig from my fourth bottle of beer.
We patched in two of the Prospects and we were celebrating.
All the brothers were here, and the clubhouse was packed with women willing to do anything to get a brother’s attention.
I didn’t know how many times I turned down sex and blowjobs, tonight.
A few weeks ago, I’d gladly taken someone up on their offer but not now.
Cigarette and weed smoke mingled with the scent of sex, saturating the air.
Loud music thumped through the surround sound as the celebration of adding two more Sinners to the fold ratcheted up.
Tonight, was a rare one for me. I had a day off and I wanted to drown away my sorrows.
It had been three weeks since I’d seen or talked to Oya.
I hadn’t been able to find out anything about her.
“Why the hell do you look like you lost your best friend?” Reaper asked as he slid on the stool beside me, then picked up the bottle of beer the Prospect sat in front of him.
“Hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Raven,” he grumbled, “Smoke said she had been asking the whores about you. Fucking cunt,” he sneered.
Raven Moriarty used to be one of the club whores I’d taken an interest in.
Stupid, I know, but when I got out of prison, I was high on freedom, and she was willing.
Her attention turned into something it shouldn’t have.
She’d gotten clingy, wanting me to brand her, and call her my old lady.
Reaper and even King warned me that was all she wanted like most of the women who hung around the clubhouse.
But I didn’t listen. I was enjoying myself.
She wasn’t my old lady, and I didn’t want one.
Then one day Raven claimed she was pregnant with my kid.
Suck it up Saint and deal with your shit, I told myself.
And for seven months I took care of her.
Got her anything the baby or she said she needed.
Even put her ass up in an apartment across town, not too far from my home, so she’d have a nice place to stay once the baby came.
I wasn’t treating her like my old lady, but I was treating her like the mother of my kid.
Or so I thought. The day she went into labor, I wasn’t the only person at the hospital claiming to be the father.
Needless to say, I dodged a bullet despite all the cash I wasted to take care of a kid that wasn’t even mine and a bitch that knew it.
“Fuck you, bro.” I took another swig. “Trust me, I learned my fucking lesson with that one. Just got shit on my mind.”
“Want to talk about it?” He spun the stool towards me. The older he got the more he looked like our mother. King and me on the other hand had been cursed with our Da’s looks. “Gav, you know you can talk to me, man. I can see something’s bothering you.”
Anytime Reaper wanted to connect with me on a blood brother level and not like a club brother he always called me Gav. It was when I knew he wanted me to talk to him about what was happening in my life.
“I met someone.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “So, why is that such a bad thing?”
“She’s older. Doesn’t believe anything can develop between us.”
“Wait.” He leaned forward like he was about to hear a deep dark secret. “How much older?”
There was a time I told Reaper everything. We were close before I went to prison and were steadily getting back like we were. I’d changed in the time I was away and so had he. It was taking time, but at least we were trying to be like we were.
“She’s older than King.”
“Shut the fuck up!” His smile widened. “A cougar. I bet she chewed your ass up and spit you out, didn’t she? Older bitches got that good shit, bro. Seriously. They know what the hell they’re doing,” he said with a faraway look in his eyes.
“So, you know what I’m talking about?”
“Shit yeah, man. I’ve had some wild times with a few older women. She’s got you twisted, don’t she?”
He laughed and I punched him in the shoulder. “Man,” I sighed, “that was the best experience of my fucking life. There’s just something about her.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Reaper asked then took another sip of his beer. “If you’re into her and she’s into you, why not see where it goes?”
“I want to, but she just got divorced. The age gap’s an issue for her and she’s got a kid a few years younger than me.”
He whistled. “Now the kid could be a problem.”
That was the reason I froze. Despite the age difference, the kid may be a hurdle I can’t jump. And I wouldn’t expect any woman to choose me over their child despite how much I wanted her.
“That’s the thing, I think I’m willing to deal with it just to get to know more about her.”
“And that’s the problem right there, bro.”
He pointed to me, and my brows knitted together.
I was confused. I thought I could deal with her having a kid my age.
Although I was an ex-con, I’d made something of my life.
I owned my own business, my own house, car, and motorcycle.
For someone who lost everything, I thought I was doing good for myself.
I was in a position to have someone like Oya in my life.
“What?” I asked.
“You can’t think, Gavin. You have to know you’re willing to deal with her having a grown-ass kid. I’m sure this woman has her shit together, am I right?”
“She does.”
“Well, she’s not going to cause strife in her life just because you think you can deal with things.
” He shook his head and sighed. “You’re not dealing with someone your age.
Shit, you’re not dealing with someone my age.
This woman has life experience. Experience you could only dream of.
She knows what she wants out of life, out of a relationship whether intimate or friendly.
For you to have a chance with someone like that your ass better know too. ”
“Well, how does she know that I’m not ready?”
“She knows because she left your ass standing there.” He gulped down the rest of his beer and turned back towards the crowd. “If she’s what you want, you have to prove that shit to her.”
The buzzing of my cell phone in my pocket stopped my reply. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and read the text. Shock, then fucking relief hit my system.
“That her?” Reaper asked, leaning over, trying to read the message from Oya.
“Yeah, she wants to meet up, tonight,” I responded while typing out my reply. Once done, I stood and slid my phone back into my pocket.
Lila, one of the club’s whores, slid between Reaper’s legs as he took a swig of beer, smiling as she whispered something in his ear.
“You good enough to ride?” he asked, palming her ass while she kissed his neck.
“Of course.” I headed toward the door. “See you later,” I called out over my shoulder.
I couldn’t help the relief and joy moving through me. I thought I’d never hear from her. And tonight, I’d show her I was worth a chance.
Embers
In less than twenty minutes I pulled into the parking lot of Embers, one of Oakland’s newer bar and grills.
The music and laughter from the outside patio off to the left of the building filtered into the parking lot across the street.
I didn’t miss the stares from the patrons in the parking lot.
Or how the women clutched their purses closer to them and how their men wrapped their arms tighter around their girlfriends and wives.
I also didn’t miss the whispers. I’d gotten used to it especially now that I was covered in tattoos and a patched member of Sin City MC.
I ignored the gawkers as I jogged across the two-lane side street in front of Embers. The security stationed at the entrance, no doubt either former military or off-duty police officers, eyed me warily as I entered the bar, proudly wearing my cut.
Oakland was our territory. No other mc would dare step foot here.
Everyone knew the Sinners and it was something I needed to discuss with Oya.
I was a Sinner for life. I wanted her, but my club wasn’t up for debate much like her having a kid wasn’t.
My club and her kid were permanently a part of our lives no matter who else was in it.
Pushing my way through the small crowd gathered around a table of women throwing back shots in barely there clothing not too far from the entrance, I scanned the bar.
It had been three weeks since I’d seen her, and I couldn’t lie, I craved her.
Her smell. Her smile. Her taste. I craved it all.
She might have thought the words spoken to her while we fucked were just words of passion, but I was dead ass serious.
She was mine now, I just had to prove it to her.
I never chased women. For the seven years, I was locked up, King worked it out where I had a woman whenever I needed one and when I got out, it was no different. They were always around. I could choose who I wanted and how many I wanted.
Wanting Oya was something new for me and I was willing to do all the chasing no matter how long she ran.
On the ride here, I had time to think. How do I approach a woman like her? I rarely took advice from Reaper. He wasn’t exactly the poster boy for relationships, but I did believe he was right. Oya had her shit together. She wouldn’t be looking for something or someone who did things half-assed.
I spotted her on the other side of the circular bar sitting at the center of the room, and I stopped in my tracks.
She repeatedly dipped an olive in and out of a martini.
Nervousness was something I’d never felt around women, but it was different with her.
Everything was different with her. She contacted me.
Was she finally ready to see if this was something she wanted to pursue?