Chapter 5
SAYLOR
The bar wasn’t too packed when they walked in, but nevertheless she immediately felt the stares as she followed Karissa, Razor, and Jax to an empty booth in the back. Razor and Jax gravitated toward the open pool table right next to it, while Karissa slid into the booth across from her and asked, “Overwhelmed?”
Saylor could admit that her head was spinning a bit with the day she’d had. “Not exactly how I pictured the day going,” she confided. “It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, I suppose, but staying on a biker compound because my car broke down isn’t what I hoped to be doing. I figured I’d be further along in my travels by now.”
“Are you heading anywhere specific?” Karissa asked curiously, then held up her hand before Saylor could answer. “No, actually, don’t tell me if you don’t want to. That came off as prying, and I hate when people do that.”
Saylor smiled. If there was one thing she liked about all the women she’d met so far, it was that they seemed aware of boundaries before they crossed them. No one asked her uncomfortable questions, and most were just about her job and what she liked to do. “It’s fine,” she assured her. Besides, she didn’t need to say anything about why she was actually on the run. “I’m travelling with no destination in mind. Since I can do my job from anywhere, I don’t have to worry about taking vacation time or being back on a certain date.”
“Sometimes I wish I could just get in a car and travel around the country,” Karissa agreed, a wistful tone in her voice. “But that’s more because I’m not used to being in one spot for too long. Now that Razor and I are a thing, though, staying put isn’t so bad.” Then she gave a wicked grin and a wink before adding, “The good sex certainly helps.”
Saylor chuckled. “Yeah, I can see how you wouldn’t want to give that up. Have you two been together long?”
“Depends on how you define ‘long’,” Razor announced, approaching the booth with pool cue in hand and a smug smile on his face. Karissa rolled her eyes. “She led me on a merry chase for months before she finally agreed to stop running.”
“I felt sorry for him. It was pathetic to see a man trying so hard and losing all the time,” Karissa drawled, but Saylor didn’t miss the mischief in her tone.
Razor narrowed his eyes at her. “Babe, you’re looking to get yourself in trouble,” he warned her calmly.
“Jax, baby,” a high-pitched voice cried out, making Saylor turn to see who she could only assume was one of the waitresses, due to her uniform top and small apron that was almost longer than the short, tight skirt she was wearing. Her bleached blonde hair looked like it had suffered every moment of becoming that color, and her boobs were as fake as they came, spilling almost completely out of her white crop top. But it was her huge fake lashes and heavy make-up that pushed her over the edge, making her look like a wannabe stripper. Saylor watched as the woman latched on to Jax by wrapping her hand around his bicep and pressing her giant boobs as tightly against him as she could get, batting her fake eyelashes at him. “I missed you,” she purred. “I thought you’d be back to see me.”
Jax looked annoyed and pulled away from her. “Tina,” he said with a curt nod. “We’ll take two beers. What do you ladies want?”
What Saylor wanted was to laugh at the way the woman, Tina, instantly turned hate-filled eyes toward the booth. When they saw Karissa, they cleared, but the moment they landed on her, the hate was back. Saylor held her gaze, arching a brow at her. She had no patience for the bullshit of jealous women, especially one that was clearly trying way too fucking hard to get the attention of a man who didn’t want to give it to her. “I’ll have a beer too,” Karissa said, her tone chilly as she stared at Tina.
“Same,” Saylor agreed. Tina’s lips pinched, but she at least had the smarts not to say anything as she nodded, turned on her spiked heel, and stalked away. Saylor looked back at Karissa. “Friendly, isn’t she?”
Karissa snorted. “The waitresses here are as bad as the club girls, if not worse. They don’t have the protection of the club like the club girls do, and they want a cut on their back to prove a point. I manage the bar, so I don’t pay much attention to them.” She arched a brow at Saylor. “But you being here with Jax is going to set them off, since he’s not taken.”
“I’m not here with him,” Saylor pointed out. “You invited me, so I’m here with you. He tagged along. If he wants to hook up with her, then it’s no skin off my nose.” She was glad her voice was calm and casual, because the idea that Jax would even be remotely attracted to Tina irritated her. An odd thing, considering Jax wasn’t her man, and never would be since she wasn’t going to be around much longer. She supposed she could put it down to enduring a long assed day and being so stressed out. And the fact that he intrigued her.
There was something about him that made her want to ask questions and get to know him. Kind of like how she felt with Leon, although Jax was nothing like the man. Or, at least she didn’t think he was. She didn’t quite trust her judgment much anymore after that disaster.
Karissa smiled at her. “So, you said you work on websites? That must be interesting.”
Saylor relaxed at the change of conversation. She much preferred to discuss her work and not think about men. They weren’t worth the headache that came with them. “It is,” she replied. “I like that it gives me the flexibility to come and go as I like, while also doing something fun and different with each person. Some jobs are standard or monotonous, but the majority of the time, each client wants something unique, and it’s fun to mix it up.”
“I’ve never been one to sit in front of a computer for longer than I have to,” Karissa told her ruefully. “If I need to do anything more complex than ordering something online or occasionally scrolling, I leave that to Glitch.”
“What she actually means is that she’s technologically challenged,” Razor snickered, drawing their attention as he leaned over the pool table to aim at one of his balls.
“Fuck off, I am not,” Karissa huffed.
“Babe, you definitely are. I still love you, but remember that time you offered to help Esme at the garage when she was feeling shitty with morning sickness, and Rogue about killed you for messing up the system so badly that he had to get Code to fix it?”
Karissa pouted and Saylor bit back a grin. “It’s not my fault you guys picked the hardest system out there for your shit.”
“Babe, it’s the easiest,” Razor told her as he straightened and moved over to kiss her head. “There’s no shame in not being good at everything. You’re a badass everywhere else.”
Jax moved around the table to lean over it as he lined up his shot. “She can kill you with a flick of her wrist. I think that makes up for her being shit with computers,” he drawled once he took his shot and straightened. Saylor admired the movement before she forced herself to look back at Karissa.
Karissa shrugged. “Yeah, true. Just like you can do amazing work with engines but you’re absolute shit at sparring.”
Saylor perked up at that, and watched him scowl at Karissa. “We’re not all trained for combat like you, or have people to train us,” he reminded her pointedly. “And I can kick your man’s ass just fine.”
“But you can’t take down Savage or Rogue,” Karissa argued. “Look, I’m not saying you’re not strong and you don’t have skills, but you need to work at it if you want to actually overpower someone bigger than you – or have a true spar with someone you think of as a friend and don’t want to accidentally injure.”
“I don’t do that,” Jax scowled, affronted.
“Yes, you do,” Razor chimed in. “You hold back, brother, and we all notice it.”
Jax fumed silently. “Just because I don’t go full on attack mode with you doesn’t mean I can’t take you down,” he returned tightly. “I’m not fighting with you to kill you. Anyone else, I’m just as deadly as the rest of you.”
Saylor could see the temper building in his eyes. She could understand it. His friends were picking at an obvious sore spot. Mater did the same when he was working with her, and had done it on purpose to try and get her past it. It had worked for her, but Jax was different. “Are you sparring in a ring or on mats?” she asked curiously.
Jax’s green eyes turned to her and some of the anger in them dimmed. “Both. We have a gym in the basement of the clubhouse that we use. Well, some of us use it for actual workouts and sparring, while others use it as their personal sexual playground.” He gave Razor and Karissa a pointed look.
Saylor blinked and looked back at them. The couple were sharing a conspiratorial look, and Saylor cocked her head. “How the hell do you manage that? I mean, I get the benches, floor, walls, but what else could you do in there?” she demanded, unable to help herself.
“No, don’t ask them that,” Jax groaned. “We’ll be here all night.”
“I’ll tell you later,” Karissa promised with a wink. “You like to go to the gym?”
“I spar a lot,” Saylor said with a shrug. She didn’t know why she was telling them so much about herself; maybe it was because she missed talking to people. A month on the road with only occasional conversation was lonely. Especially when she was used to going to the gym daily and talking to the guys.
Karissa perked up at that, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jax did too. “With other women or men?” Karissa asked.
“I’ve only ever sparred with men,” Saylor answered honestly. “The man who trained me also trains up and coming MMA fighters, and I convinced him to coach me. He’s been working with me ever since.”
“Wait, you train with MMA fighters?” Jax repeated. “Like, the big assed dudes that go in the octagon to beat the shit out of each other?”
Saylor arched a brow at him. “Yes. What, you don’t think I can handle them?”
“I mean, you’re still standing so obviously you can, but I’m surprised they spar with you,” Jax admitted. “I thought with that shit, they had to fight with people in their own weight classes.”
“They do. But when I want to spar, I need a partner, so my trainer picks one of them to spar with me. It teaches them patience, and when to hold back their hits. I’m not saying I haven’t left there hurting, but I can hit back just as hard.”
She couldn’t tell if Jax was impressed by that or pissed. Of course, that was the moment the waitress, Tina, showed back up with their bottles of beer. She slammed one down in front of Karissa, then Saylor, while gently handing one to Razor and then Jax. Jax’s, she gave to him with a flirtatious smile and purred, “If you want to leave a tip, I can collect out back.”
Saylor blinked at her and then looked at Karissa. “Did she just offer for him to give her his dick as a tip?” she asked aloud, unable to refrain.
Karissa let out a sharp laugh. “Yeah, she did. Though Jax doesn’t look all that tempted.”
Saylor looked at his face, and Jax did indeed look irritated at the suggestion. Not that Tina seemed to notice. If anything, she was trying to get closer to him, and her hand was heading south. Saylor arched a brow at that, but it wasn’t her place to step in. Jax was a big boy, and he could say no all on his own. But the moment that her hand hit the top of his belt, he gripped her wrist and shoved her hand away with a growled, “Stop it, Tina. You want someone to fuck you tonight, find someone else. I’m not interested.”
Tina stiffened and then stepped back, spitting mad that he was rejecting her. “You weren’t saying that before,” she reminded him with a sneer. “What, you think that bitch is going to please you?” She waved a dismissive hand at Saylor. “She’s probably doesn’t know how to suck a cock, let alone know how to fuck one.”
Saylor rolled her eyes. “How about you take the no and leave with what little dignity you have left? We’re here to relax, and as much as I’m sure you love to hear yourself talk, some of us don’t have the inclination to listen to you jabber on. And as for what I can do with a cock, I can have men begging me for more or pleading for mercy, so how about we not play this game?”
Tina’s face flushed at the insult. “Fuck you, bitch,” she seethed.
“Tina,” Jax barked angrily, drawing her attention back to him. “Get back to work and don’t come over here again. If we need something, we’ll get it ourselves or call Nina over. Cause any more problems and you’ll be out on your ass. You’ve already been warned multiple times, and if I have to get Savage down here, he’s going to be pissed.”
Tina looked like she wanted to rake her claws down his face and scream at him, but instead, she turned and stalked away, head held high and vibrating with fury.
Jax turned to look at her, still irritated. “Sorry about that,” he said after a moment. “Should have figured she was going to start shit.”
Saylor arched a brow at him and then lifted her beer to take a sip. Instead she started coughing at the awful taste that filled her mouth, not to mention it was warm as shit. “Fuck that’s gross,” she sputtered out, sliding the bottle back. “I don’t even want to know what she put in that bottle. Fuck.”
Jax looked shocked, and then furious. He stepped forward and Saylor quickly grabbed the bottle from his hand, taking a swig of his to wash the taste out of her mouth. “Brother,” Razor warned when Jax reached for her original bottle. “I’ll handle it. You’re liable to do something stupid.” He picked up the bottle, and Karissa slid out of the booth behind him, an expression on her face that Saylor couldn’t quite understand. Still, she was too busy taking another swig of Jax’s beer to try and clear her mouth.
Jax sighed and slid into the booth across from her after setting his cue against the table. “You alright?” he asked her once she finally set his bottle down and didn’t feel like she’d be sick all over the table.
“I will be,” she rasped out. “If that’s what she does to someone who’s just met you, I’d hate to see what she does to your girlfriend when you get one.”
Jax’s expression was dark and foreboding. “She won’t be pulling that shit again,” he assured her. “She and Nina have been pulling too many stunts lately and they’re on their last warning. I wouldn’t be surprised if Savage puts them out on their ass.”
“I don’t want to be responsible for them losing their jobs,” she argued.
“You aren’t. They are. They’ve been pulling shit like this for a long time, and we’ve let them get away with it for too long. Royal ran this place for a short time, and when she did, they would fuck off and leave her to do everything. They knew then that Savage wasn’t having it. None of the brothers want them, and the number of times they try to grab our dicks thinking we like it is starting to piss us off,” he added, shaking his head in disgust.
“Alright, so it’s not my fault,” she agreed. “But you can’t only blame them. Along the way, you’ve given them the okay somewhere, that they think it’s acceptable to grab at you or proposition you. You’re not blameless.”
Jax sighed. “Yeah, I know. I slept with Tina, once, years ago when I was a new prospect and only cared about getting my dick wet. I never did it again. She and Nina will do whatever they have to to get good tips, and more often than not they’re paid in sexual favors. They’ve probably been with most of the brothers at this point, so yeah, it’s our fault too for letting it happen.”
“Most guys would fight me on that, but nice to know you’re capable of recognizing when you need to take responsibility for something. Most men seem to have let that fall to the wayside,” she added with a bitter smile. Leon had definitely been one of those. She should have seen it from the beginning, but she didn’t, and that was on her.
“Men are assholes on a good day,” Jax agreed with a wry smile. Then he winked and added, “But we make up for it in other ways.”
“If you’re talking about your cock, that only works so much,” she joked. “Unless you’re hung like a horse and know what you’re doing without causing pain; then we might be more apt to forgive you.”
He chuckled. “So, you work out with MMA fighters, huh?” he asked, changing the subject.
She arched a brow but decided to answer him. “Yes. Sometimes, anyway. Other times I spar with my instructor or someone else he might be working with.”
He asked her a few more questions, and she relaxed and answered them as much as she could. They didn’t seem to be overly probing, but she was still careful in her responses. Finally, he asked, “So, these guys are just fine letting you beat up on them?”
She snorted. “You really think that they let me do anything? I earned quite the reputation from the start when I took one of the guys down with a knock-out punch. One of his friends took exception to that and attacked me. I took him down too. Wasn’t super easy, but I got it done and my trainer refused to let anyone interfere. He knew I needed to prove a point. And I made it. After that, no holds barred.”
Jax looked like he wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that someone let a grown man attack her, but she held his stare and waited. Finally, he sighed and said, “Savage is going to lose his mind when he hears that. We already deal with Karissa and Glitch doing that shit, and now adding you into the mix?”
Saylor smirked at him. “Well lucky for him I’m only here temporarily, isn’t it?” He just grinned at her, but something passed in his eyes that she didn’t quite understand, and it set off warning bells. She needed to change the subject and fast. “You know what else I’m good at?” she asked as she slid out of the booth. He watched her expectantly. “Kicking a guy’s ass at pool. So how about a game?” She grabbed the cue he’d left leaning against the booth, sauntered over to the pool table and started racking up the balls.
“Babe,” Jax said with a shake of his head. “You know I shoot pool every day, right? This shit is child’s play. But if you want a game, I’m happy to oblige.”
She nearly rolled her eyes, but managed to keep her gaze steady and her smile in place. “Well, then you won’t mind playing with me? Maybe you can show me a few tricks?” She didn’t bother telling him that Mater had also taught her a few tricks, seeing as he had been a master pool player at one point, before he went the MMA route. She wanted to take this cocky biker down a few pegs. First, though, she was going to do something that Mater always told her to do if she was expecting this to last a few rounds.
Slow and steady. Lull him into a false sense of security. Then she’d make him realize just how wrong he was.
Jax slid out of the booth, a cocky smile on his handsome face. “Sure thing, sugar,” he drawled, falling for it hook, line, and sinker.
Razor and Karissa made their way back just as Saylor broke and then rounded the table to let Jax line up his shot. They watched the show, Karissa groaning as Jax sunk ball after ball, while Saylor only managed to sink a few. Jax and Razor grinned, acting like they were damn proud of themselves. Jax, of course, won the first round, but Saylor just smiled. “Seems I’m a bit rusty,” she shrugged. “I’d like a rematch. Maybe you just got lucky.”
Jax’s smile was still cocky. “You sure about that, sugar?”
“I’m sure,” she reiterated.
He shrugged. “Alright, if you say so.” He racked the balls and motioned for her to break again.
Saylor allowed herself to play better this time, though she still let him win. Karissa was watching her carefully, but when Saylor caught her eye, Karissa grinned, clearly understanding what she was up to. She gave a subtle thumbs up, and Saylor gave her a sly wink in return. “Better, right?” Saylor said to Jax with a smile. “Let’s do one final round? Loser buys drinks.”
Jax chuckled. “Sugar, we already went over that we don’t pay for drinks. But I’m all for a wager, if you like.”
“What kind of wager?” she asked.
“You lose, you go for a ride on my bike with me. I lose, your choice,” he offered with a smug smile.
“A ride on your bike if I lose?” she repeated. “How is that a losing situation for me?”
His eyes darkened at her words before he replied, “Depends on where I take you. Trust me?”
“Said the big bad wolf,” Karissa snickered.
They ignored her. “I don’t know you,” Saylor reminded him calmly. Then she grinned. “But sure, for this, I think I can agree to that bet. Rack ‘em up, biker man, and let’s see what happens.”
Jax smirked but did as ordered. “Kick his ass,” Karissa murmured to her when she passed, and Saylor winked.
She let Jax break first, and when he rounded the table, he leaned in and whispered, “Gonna be interesting having you on the back of my bike, sugar. Haven’t had a woman on the back before, and I bet feeling you squeezing me tight with those thighs of yours is going to feel damn good. Wonder how you’re going to react to the vibrations.” Then he pulled away, and she couldn’t stop the shiver that worked down her spine at what he was implying.
Somehow, she managed to keep her composure and smiled at him serenely as he leaned over in front of her to line up his shot. She wasn’t sure what got into her, or why the little devil on her shoulder wanted to come out to play, but she leaned forward and whispered before he took the shot, “It’ll probably make me nice and wet, if experience is anything to go by.” Then she pulled away, a self-satisfied smile on her lips as he missed his shot.
He cursed but then looked at her with heated eyes as she moved around the table to take her own shot. “Been on bikes before, babe?” he asked her casually when she took her shot and sunk the ball.
“No,” she admitted as she moved, her next shot putting her right in front of him. She looked up at him coyly, and heat stirred in her belly. Why the hell was she letting this happen? She didn’t know this man, and she knew she was playing with fire. But she didn’t care. Maybe it was finally being able to relax for one night in so long, or maybe she had finally lost her mind. But she heard herself tell him softly, “But I love all kinds of other things that vibrate and hit just the right spot.” She turned away when she heard his sharp inhale.
She leaned over the table and lined up her shot, stilling when she felt his hand fall to her hip. She turned her head to look at him, and his face was full of desire. She forced herself to turn away, but she still missed her shot and cursed under her breath. If she wanted to win, she needed to get a grip and stop letting this man get to her.
Tell that to your wet panties.
She ignored that traitorous voice and watched as he moved to take his shot, sinking the ball easily. The two of them went back and forth in silence for another few minutes, but between the heated looks and the subtle touches and brushes, she was ready to say fuck the game and jump his bones here. The man was damn good, but she told herself to get a grip.
She took a deep breath as he stood after missing his shot and then gave him a smug smile. It was time to stop playing around and end this thing. “Did I happen to mention earlier that a national champion taught me how to play pool?” she asked carelessly as she moved to line up her shot.
Jax and Razor looked at her sharply, while Karissa grinned fiercely. “What?” Jax asked, clearly confused.
Saylor nodded as she took aim, sinking the difficult shot with ease. “Yeah, see, before he became an MMA trainer, he was damn good at pool, enough that he got national attention and joined a team. Went all the way to the national championship. He taught me a few things.” She moved around the table, sinking each of her balls until only the eight ball remained. She watched Jax as she lined up the shot, and didn’t look away as she took it. She knew it would go in. It was a shot she had made hundreds of times, and it sailed into the pocket with barely a sound but the clatter of it hitting the other balls inside. “And I’ve used those lessons to win games against cocky men like you,” she finished proudly.
Karissa laughed while Razor shook his head in disbelief. Jax’s eyes were wide, but not much else in his expression changed. Karissa held her hand up for a high-five. “Fucking right, girl,” she praised. “That’s how you do it.”
Saylor handed Karissa the cue and let her gaze hold Jax’s as she rounded the table to him. “Looks like I won,” she pointed out.
“You did,” he agreed, his eyes holding hers. “So, what’s your prize going to be, sugar? Fair’s fair, even if you did swindle me into thinking you weren’t a shark.”
The heat between them was thick, almost suffocating, and she couldn’t seem to pull her gaze away from him. Maybe she was crazy, but this man was drawing her in, and even if it was only going to be for one night, she wasn’t ready to walk away yet. She was lonely. Being on the road for so long, and this man was the first to make her feel this way in a long damn time. It would be a shame to waste it. So she replied, “I want a ride on your bike. Then we’ll see what happens from there.”
His eyes flashed with desire, and his arms came around her waist and pulled her into him. She didn’t fight him, just stared up at him. “You understand what you’re asking me, Saylor?” he asked her quietly so only she could hear. “Because I get you alone, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself.” It was a warning and a promise.
She reached up and pulled his head down so she could murmur in his ear. “Maybe it’s me that won’t be able to keep my hands to myself. Let’s see how your bike’s vibrations compare to anything else huh?”
He didn’t reply, he just took her hand and pulled her toward the exit. She heard Karissa laugh behind her, but she didn’t bother to look back. She was far too excited.