Chapter 5 Gunner
FIVE
GUNNER
I woke up with a gasp, springing up into a sitting position and realized that I was covered in a film of sweat and breathing hard. I’d been dreaming about Jenson again, and I had to blink severely to get my normal vision back.
Immediately, I got a whiff of a female scent in the room, and memories of the previous night came rushing back to me. I looked beside me and saw that Brooklyn wasn’t there. I fell back on to my futon with a sigh of relief. Glad that she wasn’t there to witness me having a nightmare.
Staring up at the wall, I tried to recall every moment of the night; how her body had smelled, how beautifully delicious her curves were, how she moaned when she came.
It brought a smile to my face. It had been a long time since I could forget about everything else…
my dad, Bryce, Jenson…everyone. In those few hours spent with Brooklyn, I had thought about nothing else except her body.
My phone beeped, and I got up to fish it out of my jeans.
It was a text message from Glock, telling me to go to Church again.
I ran a hand through my hair and flung my phone away before walking into the bathroom for a quick shower.
I’d made a commitment to the club now, and I had to come through on it.
At the Rusty Pelican again, I was one of the last to arrive. The place was teeming with people, some of whom I’d been introduced to the previous night and some of whom I knew only by face. The club had at least a hundred members as far as I knew.
Axel was sitting on a high bar stool again, and he acknowledged my presence with a tip of his head as I weaved through the crowd to find Glock.
Tank, Hunter and Sniper were with him, and we exchanged thumps on each other’s backs as the usual greeting.
The men looked serious and ready for a big announcement.
The other older members surrounded around Axel. Ethan and Larry were in their fifties as well, and I knew had been friends with dad when he was alive. Even though I knew of these men, I had never actually worked with any of them.
“Quiet,” Axel called out, and the din in the bar died out with everyone looking up at his authoritative face.
“Firstly, let’s welcome our newest member, Gunner,” he said, and a few of the men clapped; Glock thumped me on my back again.
“You’re getting the full celebrity treatment,” Glock said with a laugh as I grinned.
“We’re proud to have you here, Gunner, and now…getting down to business, I have an important announcement to make, so brace yourself,” Axel continued. Another round of silence fell down on the group.
“As you all know, we’ve been thinking of making some big changes around here. Namely, finding an alternate trade other than drugs,” Axel said, and some of the men around us whispered to each other.
“Over the past year, we’ve been building contacts in the weapons trade, and we think we might finally have something,” he continued as the whispering chatter grew in the bar.
“Doesn’t that involve more risks, Axel?” Tank spoke up.
“And the rewards are even higher,” Axel nodded his head with a laugh. “Now, it doesn’t mean that we’ll be stopping our drug trade completely; it just means that we’ll concentrate on weapons more,” he explained. The men around me nodded in agreement.
“And now that we have Gunner with us, who has no doubt become somewhat of an expert in the weapons field, I’m sure we’ll manage just fine,” he added. I smiled back at Axel as he spoke, aware that there were eyes on us.
I kept my hands stationed in the pockets of my jeans and tried to assimilate all this information. As far as I knew through my association with the club, they had always dealt with only drugs, so now we were going to push our boundaries even further.
“This is gonna be good,” Hunter turned to us and rubbed his hands together excitedly.
“Won’t that mean more storage space?” Sniper asked. The others laughed at him, and Glock patted his shoulder.
“So young, so naive,” he joked, and they laughed some more. If Sniper was embarrassed, he didn’t show it. He was probably already used to them pulling his leg for being the youngest member anyway.
“Quiet!” Axel called out again.
We all turned to him.
“And there is something else that I want looked into,” Axel said.
I squinted at him with my brows furrowed.
“This job is for Glock and Tank,” he added, and I felt Glock stand up in tighter attention. “I’ve been hearing rumors that the Dragon Knights are running a sex trafficking ring. I will not allow that on my territory or anywhere for that matter,” Axel said, his voice hardening.
I could tell that this subject was serious to him. He meant every word he was saying.
“I want you boys to find out everything you can and report back to me. This is going to stop if it’s true,” he said.
“Yes, Axel,” Tank said, and Glock chimed in.
In this regard, I knew this would be what Dad would have done as well. Dealing drugs and weapons was as far as our club would go; harming children and women was not and would never be allowed. Axel tipped his head at me again. I was glad we agreed.
I stayed at Church for a couple of hours longer, getting better acquainted with the members of the club.
I could see that Tank, Hunter, Sniper and Glock had become thick friends, and I felt like I could rely on them as well.
We were all in the same age group, the younger members of the club, and these guys seemed to like to joke around more than anything else.
At least their chatter kept me distracted from thinking about other things, namely Brooklyn.
When I left Church, I got on my bike and rode it directly to PJ’s. I knew it was probably too early for her to be on her shift, but I wanted to give it a shot anyway. I needed to see her again.
Cleaning up the counter was Sam, who I knew from before I left for Afghanistan. Sam had owned PJ’s for as long as I could remember.
“We’re not open for another hour,” Sam said when he heard the door open. When he looked up and saw me, a smile spread on his face.
“Gunner! You’re back. We’re always open for you, man,” he said and started pouring me a whisky before I even asked for it.
I approached the bar and took the shot glass from him and drank it all in one swig.
“Good to be back,” I said, feeling the burning sensation course down my throat.
“How come we haven’t seen you around here yet? Did you get back today?” Sam asked, genuinely pleased to see me again.
“I was here last night in fact,” I said to him.
“Oh yeah, it wasn’t my shift last night,” he said and gave the counter another wipe.
“Yeah, I know. I met your new recruit. Brooklyn,” I said, avoiding his eyes.
“Oh yeah, she’s something else, isn’t she?” Sam asked, and I looked up at him. “Something else” couldn’t even begin to explain her.
“Hey, I was wondering if you had her phone number,” I said, and Sam’s brows crossed. He looked surprised that I wanted her number. A slow smile spread across his face, and he nodded his head.
“Sure, man, whatever you want. You’ve served the country,” Sam said and found a scrap of paper to scribble down a phone number. I took it from him and folded it before popping into my front jacket pocket.
“Thanks, man,” I said and stood up from the chair.
“Hey, will we see you back here tonight? Brooklyn won’t be here, but maybe I’ll be good enough,” I heard him call out with a laugh in his voice.
“Only if you dress up for me, Sam,” I said, and as I walked out of the bar, I heard him break into another volley of laughter.
Outside, by my bike, I dialed the number on the scrap of paper, anxious to hear her voice again.
She sounded sleepy when she answered the phone on the fifth ring.
“Hello?” she said, and I felt a tremor run down my spine. I wasn’t expecting her voice to have that effect on me.
“It’s me,” I said and waited for a few seconds to see if she realized who it was.
“How did you get this number?” she sounded a little worried, and I was already imagining what she was wearing.
“Not important. What are you doing tonight?” I asked her. I heard her take in a deep breath before she spoke again.
“Working,” she replied.
“I know you don’t have a shift at PJ’s,” I said.
“Are you stalking me now?” she snapped at me over the phone. I didn’t even try to suppress the smile that formed on my face. She was feisty, and I liked that.
“I won’t have to if you agree to meet me tonight,” I said.
I could hear her breathing hard into the phone.
I’d met her only once, but I felt like I knew her face by heart.
I could picture her green eyes sparkling under heavy lids.
Her curly long brown hair falling over her face as she tried to not look at me.
Those curves. That ass. I gripped my phone tighter in my hands.
“I’m busy tonight, Gunner,” she said, but I wasn’t about to give up that easily.
“With what?” I asked, and I could hear her thinking.
“Things!” she snapped. I smiled again.
“Something tells me that whatever you were trying to escape last night has not gone away today. So, my suggestion is that we help each other forget for a little while longer,” I said, and Brooklyn’s silence was encouraging.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said in a less enraged voice, and I knew it would take only a few more minutes for her to agree to see me again.
“Oh, I think you do. Meet at eight at Temple Bar,” I said then hung up the call, because I didn’t want to give her an opportunity to refuse me.
Satisfied with myself, I hopped on my Harley and prepared to ride back to my apartment. I knew she was going to show up. Something electrical happened between our bodies the previous night, which I knew she couldn’t deny.
I knew this wasn’t the time in my life to get involved in anything with a woman.
I had a new life to concentrate on building, and it would be unfair to drag Brooklyn into my mess.
But I also knew that I had to see her again.
Maybe once more and then I’d be able to get over it.
One more night with her and I’d be able to move on with my duties.