Chapter 10
brOOKE
“Brooke, it’s time to wake up,” Bear whispers in my ear, rubbing his hands up and down my back.
I snuggle into Bear more, not wanting to wake up. This nap was one of the best I have ever had.
“Come on. It’s time for breakfast,” Bear says.
I whip my head up and look at him with wide eyes. Breakfast? It was the afternoon when we fell asleep. Bear looks confused before he picks up his phone and hands it to me.
Breakfast? How long did we sleep for
“We slept for over twelve hours. It’s almost seven. I guess we both needed it,” he says, chuckling at the end.
I let out a sigh and put my head back on his chest. That’s when I realize that he isn’t wearing a shirt.
I scramble to the side of the bed to get away from him and blush.
My scarf isn’t on right, and I scramble to fix it.
How did I not notice before that he was shirtless?
I was snuggled up against him, felt his skin against mine.
Bear starts to laugh. His abs relax and contract with every laugh, and my face heats to an unholy degree. I lick my lips as my mind plays scenes of what I could do with those abs.
“Don’t be embarrassed about sleeping on top of me or seeing me shirtless,” Bear says, standing from the bed.
He stretches, and I can’t help but watch. He is covered in so many different tattoos. It’s amazing how many he has on his body. I wonder what his stories are for each of them, if there are any.
“I’m going to put on a shirt and then we can go get breakfast,” Bear says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see him walk into his closet. I quickly grab my pants and change into them, keeping his shirt on. I wish I could make my room back at the motel feel homey like his. It’s clear that he has lived in this room for years.
“You ready?” he asks.
I look over in his direction and nod. He holds his hand out, and I place mine in his. I’ve noticed that whenever I am close to Bear, he likes to be really close to me or have skin contact. He just wants to be touching some part of me.
Bear and I walk hand in hand into the kitchen and see Gears, Pres, Ink, a woman, and some others. I stop when all of them look at our hands.
They all smile at us, and I try to get my hand out of Bear’s, but he won’t have it. Bear walks over to the island and pulls out a chair for me. Before I can sit down, the woman squeals and wraps her arms around me.
“I am so excited that Bear has finally found someone. I’m also excited that there is another girl here that isn’t a whore,” she says cheerily.
She lets go of me and just gives me a great big smile. I smile back before turning to Bear. I don’t know if she knows I don’t talk.
“Goldie, this is Brooke. She is mute, so she will either write on a piece of paper or on her phone. Brooke, this is Goldie. She is Pres’s Old Lady,” Bear smoothly introduces us.
“Oh, call me Cindy. Goldie is my biker name. It is so nice to meet you. We are definitely going to see more of each other, and hopefully become great friends,” Cindy says with a smile.
Nodding, I sit in the chair Bear pulled out for me. Cindy sits back down, and Bear walks around back into the kitchen. Bear faces me and grabs my hand.
“What would you like for breakfast? We have bagels, cereal, eggs, and toast,” Bear offers.
I hold up my first finger. I haven’t had a bagel in a while, and it sounds so good, especially with cream cheese.
“Bagels?” he asks.
Nodding, Bear lets go of my hand and walks toward another kitchen counter.
“Do you want cream cheese?” he asks, pulling one out of the plastic bag.
I nod once again and begin to bubble with excitement as the thought of eating a bagel settles in.
“So, I heard there was a commotion outside the club yesterday involving you two. It was after you left. Heard Brooke slapped you, Bear, and then you dragged her into the clubhouse. Mind telling me what that was all about?” Pres asks conversationally.
I snap my head in his direction. He looks at me, and I quickly sink into my chair, feeling like a child in the principal’s office.
“Can we talk about this in your office?” Bear asks.
“All right, let’s go,” Pres says.
Pres gets up from his seat, and Bear motions for me to follow him. I slowly get up from my chair, dread seeping through me. If Bear weren’t holding my hand, I would run.
“Both of you take a seat,” Pres says as we walk into his office.
Bear and I sit, and Pres shuts the door. I look down at my hands, feeling uncomfortable already.
“Bear, start explaining,” Pres says.
I look over at Bear, who already has his eyes on me. He takes a breath in.
“I didn’t tell Brooke that I bought her phone, and she got mad. She slapped me while we were having a heated conversation, and some of the brothers saw. I couldn’t have her disrespecting me in front of them, so I brought her to my room and sternly told her that. We are okay now,” Bear says.
I am glad he didn’t mention that I cried after he talked to me in his room. That would have been even more embarrassing.
“Brooke, I told you to be calm about it, and you disobeyed me,” Pres says, sternly.
I shrink in my chair. Looking back on what I did, I regret it. It was in the heat of the moment, and my first thought was to slap him and run from my problems.
Now I feel the same way I did when Bear talked to me yesterday. I start playing with my hands, trying to distract myself.
“Pres, I didn’t want to mention this for Brooke’s sake. I believe it’s because of her past, but I’m not quite sure. After I spoke to her in the same tone you just did, she completely broke down. I’m just askin’ if you can talk to her without that tone of voice,” Bear explains gently.
I look up at Bear, my eyes watering slightly. No one has ever stood up for me the way he just did. All my emotions are a mess right now, and the slightest reaction could honestly leave me collapsing in tears.
I was emotional before the incident happened, but I had to toughen up when we went through the trial. I have tried to be strong for so long, but I am finally cracking and becoming weak.
Bear takes my hands, rubbing his thumb across the back of them.
“Fine, but I don’t want this happenin’ again. Keep it private. I don’t need drama going around the whole club,” Pres says.
“Sounds good. Can we go eat breakfast now?” Bear asks.
“Yeah.”
Bear stands and helps me up from my seat. He opens the door and lets me out first. We make our way back into the kitchen, where Cindy and Gears are still sitting.
“How did it go?” Gears asks.
“Good,” Bear responds.
Cindy gives me a small smile before getting up. She leaves the kitchen, and I look over to Bear, who grabs my bagel and starts to spread cream cheese on it.
“Ready for work today?” Gear asks.
With Gears sitting next to me, I shrug in response. I am ready to get my hands on some cars, but my body is still emotionally drained from yesterday.
“Today is a fairly light day. You just have to change tires on a couple of cars, and then work in the bar. Most of the stuff I pushed back since the customers were people from the club,” Gears explains.
I nod in appreciation. There are still tires to be changed, which is going to be physically tiring, but in comparison to the past week, I am happy with the lighter workday. A lot of civilians needed work over the past couple of weeks.
Bear slides my bagel in front of me, picks me up, sits in my chair, and places me on top of him. Immediately, my face heats up. This is so embarrassing to sit on his lap in front of Gears and all the other bikers.
I look at my food to try and hide my face. Gears starts to laugh, and I shrink further down. Bear wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him.
“Stop making her feel embarrassed,” Bear says.
Gears quiets, and I slowly look up. Big mistake. All the bikers in the living room and kitchen are currently looking at Bear and me. I try to get out of Bear’s lap, but he holds me tightly, not letting me go.
“Don’t you guys have better things to do than look at me and my girl?” Bear yells.
I duck when Bear yells and then freeze. His girl? When did I become his girl? We hung out once at the diner.
“Your girl?” Gears asks, breaking the silence. “When did this happen?”
I look up at Bear and point toward Gears.
“Brooke doesn’t even know when this happened. I would be careful with how you use those words, Bear,” Gears warns.
“Shut up. I just don’t want anyone messin’ with her. You hear me. If you see anyone messin’ with her, you stop them,” Bear threatens.
Shocked, I stare at Bear. Where did this come from? He has never acted like this before.
“You're gonna catch flies if you keep that mouth open,” Bear says.
I shut my mouth real quick by taking a bite and then relax into Bear’s lap.
“How are you liking it here so far? Gone out and done anything yet?” Gears takes a sip of his coffee.
I pull my phone out of my front pocket, turning it on.
I’ve only been to the motel, diner, phone shop, and here.
I look back down at my plate and pick up my last bite of my bagel. I haven’t done much in this town at all. With all the work I am doing, it is easy not to go out on my day off.
Gears places my phone down on the counter, and I grab it. His hand slams against the counter. I make eye contact with him, leaning away in case he decides to throw fists.
“Unacceptable. No one has shown you around the city? Bear hasn’t?” Gears shouts, throwing his hands up.
I shake my head, leaning further away from him. I don’t like the way he is talking and acting. Bear wraps his hands around my waist, bringing me closer to him.
“We’ll take you out this Sunday.” Bear starts rubbing my hips with his thumb.
I pick up my phone. I am not going to exhaust myself on Sunday and have to work a full week after. I need my day of rest.
No, Sundays are my day to sleep and relax.