CHAPTER 1
ROXY
“I can’t believe you dragged me all the way out to bum-fuck-ville USA. And what if a serial killer is out here somewhere,” I complained as I looked around at the woodsy area we were passing through.
When my cousin suggested that I come with her to some biker bar, I thought she was joking. Unfortunately for me, she wasn’t. Not only is she serious, but this bar is in the middle of nowhere.
Why any black person in their right mind would want to go to hang out with bikers in the middle of the woods is beyond my understanding.
“You’re being dramatic, Roxy.” My cousin, Deidra, chuckles. But I’m being absolutely serious.
“I’m for real, girl. How’d you even know about this place anyway? It seems like it would be a good place for the Klan to gather then bury your body if you ask me.” I huffed, still looking out the window at the dark shadows the trees cast.
“Girl, hush. My friend Luke is a member here. There will be black people here.” Deidra laughs like she’s in the front row of the Improv. I roll my eyes cause she knows I wasn’t playing with her ass.
“Another friend, Dee? How many friends do you have?” I give her the side-eye, but she continues laughing.
“A girl can never have too many friends, sis. You know that.”
I don’t say anything else as Deidra maneuvers her little Mazda down a dirt road. I’m starting to hallucinate the sounds of banjo’s when I finally see a sign of life deep in the woods of Texas.
“Thank you, God,” I breathe out, sort of relieved.
But, I mean, I haven’t seen any other black people yet, so I will hold judgment until I see this friend of my cousin’s.
“Chiiile if you don’t stop being so damned melodramatic. I swear you missed your calling as an actress.” Deidra rolls her big brown eyes, and I frown at her.
“Chiiile…” I mock, “I wouldn’t be so scared if you wouldn’t have me in the Dallas version of the hills have eyes. Are we even still in Texas? Looks a little swampy out there.”
Deidra busts out laughing again, and her loud belly laugh gets me to loosen up a little, and I let out a giggle. “I assure you, cousin, we are still in Texas. Just loosen up. These people love to have a good time, and they like to have it away from the law.”
Her statement gets my attention. I don’t play with police either; I don’t trust any of them. I’ve had my run-ins with them before, and I don’t play about my freedom. I look good in all colors, but I’m not trying to wear orange every day either.
“Whatcha mean away from the law? Are these people traffickers? Dammit! I can’t be in the next installment of Taken. Liam is too damned old to save me. Lawd!”
“Roxanne Michelle! If you don’t shut your theatrical ass up!” Deidra has tears falling down her cheeks she’s laughing so hard, and all I can do is stare at her.
“Listen, I have been here several times before. These people are cool as fuck. You need to chill and have a little white boy fun. They party different.”
“You aren’t convincing me to get out of this car. And what the hell is white boy fun anyway. I have black girl fun. I go out all the time.”
“You go out and stand around looking at people. I’ve been out with you and your little friends.
Y’all don’t let loose and just laugh and dance.
Too busy worried about how you look and what somebody got on.
Fuck all that. We are gonna go in here and drink beer and maybe smoke a little loud and fucking loosen the hell up. Now getcho black ass out my car!”
I didn’t get a chance to respond because Deidra was already out and slamming the door, I roll my eyes, but I get out of the car. I don’t move as I take in my surroundings.
The building looks completely out of place.
It’s like someone placed a gigantic warehouse in the middle of the woods.
There’s loud rock music coming from inside, and people are milling around outside, laughing and talking and smoking.
There are what looks like a million motorcycles lined up in front of the building and trucks and cars parked further away in a makeshift lot.
When I spot a black woman with a glorious afro, I smile and follow behind Deidra. Besides, it’s not the safest bet for me to stand here by myself, especially if there really are Klansman luring unsuspected black women into human trafficking out here somewhere.
“Hey, Dee! Glad you made it back. I thought the gunfire surely ran you off last time.” A big burly white guy with a long dark beard and a pompadour hairstyle says.
My eyes widen because I hope he’s joking, but by the look of these guys, I know that he isn’t.
“Guns… Dee, what the hell?” I whisper in her ear when I catch up to her.
“Stop acting like you’ve never seen a gun before,” Dee says, dismissing my concern.
I could be mad, but she’s right. My last boyfriend called himself a drug dealer. Of course, he had more guns and drugs on him than Tony Montana, but still.
“I’ve never seen bikers with guns before. So how am I supposed to relax around a bunch of gun-toting white dudes? I should’ve stayed my ass at home.”
“Roxy, you are stressing the fuck out. You can drop the bougie princess persona. There’s nobody here to judge you. You’re gonna relax because as soon as we find a place to sit, you’re gonna hit this blunt and chill. Now, come on. Let me find Luke.”
I sigh, but I give in and follow behind Deidra, holding on to her hand, so we don’t get separated. The music seems to get louder, and the crowd seems to part as we move toward a game area.
There are pool tables, darts, and an old-school pinball machine. People aren’t openly staring, but I can feel eyes watching us as we walk. I’m glad that Deidra told me to dress down because my usual party attire would’ve definitely had me standing out.
I must admit that there is an array of ethnicities here, which makes me feel a little better. However, I can tell these women are about this life. I most definitely am not. They all have on a different color of the same outfit. Short skirts or shorts, usually leather, with tiny tops.
For the first time, I notice that Deidra is dressed similarly. She has on a tiny pair of black shorts with a red tank top. When she tried to get me to change out of my jeans and into a pair of shorts, I declined. I didn’t realize she was trying to get me into the biker girl uniform.
However, I’m wearing a black tank top that makes my boobs look big, I have to thank Savage Fenty for the boost, so I don’t stand out too much.
When we finally make it to the pool tables, Deidra lets go of my hand as another big white dude greets her. He has a rugged look to him with bright blue eyes and a kind smile. As I give him the once over, I see why, or should I say who, my cousin has us in the backwoods of hillbilly country.
The man is standing at good six-five, and his muscles have muscles.
Damn! That’s a big man.
My thoughts must be written on my face because I hear a chuckle, and when my eyes finally meet his, those baby blues are twinkling with amusement.
I clear my throat and give the guy a nervous smile. “Hey.”
“Hey. You must be Roxy?” The guy responds, but I furrow my brow because I have no idea who he must be or why he knows me already.
I turn to Deidra and give her a dirty look because I know she’s up to no good. I knew she just didn’t want to hang out. She set me up.
“Uh, yeah. And you are?” I cut my eyes at my smirking cousin, but she just winks.
“I’m Stone.”
His voice is so deep that it reminds me of thunder reverberating around the atmosphere and sending vibrations to my core.
Just his two-word answer has me feeling some type of way, so I resort back to the sassiness that I know to keep from trying to hump this man’s leg like I’m in heat.
“Stone, huh?”
“The one and only sweet cheeks.” He smirks.
I place a hand on my hip in disbelief. “Stone, is what your mama named you?”
“Yeah. Because my daddy was a rolling one.” He smirks, and I can’t help but laugh.
“That’s clever. But is your name really Stone?” I ask again because I’m curious.
It could be a biker name or something, but there’s a twinge inside me that makes me want to know this man’s real name.
“It is. Are you askin’ so you can holler out the right name?”
He has a heavy country accent, but when he licks his thick pink lips as he gives a deliberate show of looking me up and down from head to toe, my mind blanks out for a second. I’m trying to reconcile in my brain that this big country white dude has a whole lot of swag.
“Excuse me?” I heard him, but I want to see if he’s bold enough to repeat that shit.
“You heard me loud and clear, darlin’. I don’t reckon ya hard of hearin’ since ya barely out of diapers.” He steps closer to me, and I just stand here frozen.
I’m not afraid, but I am turned the hell on. And I’m also shocked that I’m turned on. I can’t say that Stone is my type at all. But fine is fine. And this man is pictured as THE example in the dictionary.
As he stands leering at me with a twinkle in his blue eyes, I should feel offended.
I should slap his chiseled face because his lustful thoughts are written all over it.
I should do and say a lot of things, but I’m stuck staring at him.
I’m trying to figure out if he’s serious.
I’m trying to figure out why my body is on fire at the thought of me calling out his name in pure lust as he pumps into me.
Damn, I can’t be this horny.
I finally get my wits back and my mind out of the gutter enough to step back and put a semblance of space between us.
“You’re very presumptuous, Stone.”
He quirks a thick eyebrow at me, but the smirk never leaves his bearded face. I have no idea what his end game is, but I want to know for some reason.
“Nah. I’m not disrespectful at all. I just tell the truth. And I can tell by the way your sweet little face lit up when you saw me that you wouldn’t be opposed to hollerin’ my name. Now, if I’m wrong, which I’m not, then my apologies.”
I narrowed my eyes at him because although he said the word apology, it didn’t sound like one at all.
But, again, his response has me off-kilter.
We’ve been talking for two minutes, and already he’s accused me of wanting the dick.
I mean, he’s not lying, but damn he could pretend he didn’t see me drooling at the sight of him. Let a girl have a little dignity.
“I accept your apology.” I smile at him. Just because he doesn’t know how to pretend doesn’t mean I can’t.
“Roxy, I like your spunk. How about I get y’all a drink?” Stone chuckles as he walks toward the bar, and I shake my head at his arrogance. He didn’t even ask me what I wanted to drink.
“You ran him off quicker than I thought,” Deidra says from behind me, and I roll my eyes before I turn around to face the Judas.
“I know damned well, you didn’t drag me out here to the boonies to introduce me to that guy.” I cross my arms over my chest, waiting for her to explain.
“Actually, I didn’t. But Stone is a good guy. You just have to get to know him.”
“Seems like an asshole to me,” I respond, cutting my eyes, and Deidra laughs.
“Oh, I said he was a good guy. I didn’t say he wasn’t an asshole.” She cackles.
“Well, I’ve had my fill of assholes, thanks.”
“Roxy, let it go. Stone is cool, and if you don’t want to talk to him, then don’t. Nobody is forcing you to do anything. I just want you to live a little and relax. There’s nobody here that knows who you are or who you’re trying to be. Nobody here will judge you. They’re not those kind of people.”
I nod my head at my cousin. She’s right. At the bare minimum, I can have a beer or two and maybe puff on a blunt. It’s been a long time since I let my guard down, and maybe here I can actually do that.