Chapter 9
Grey
And by me talking about my woman, I was looking right at her.
She just didn’t know it.
But she would... soon.
She took me from my thoughts when she shared, “I told myself I wasn’t going to make a fool of myself in front of the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid my eyes on, but here I am. Doing just that.”
I chuckled, “And how is that?”
Then she frowned as she looked at me, and nothing but sadness was written clearly in her pale blue eyes.
Then she shared, “Because I’m in a cotton candy dress that was supposed to be a bridesmaid dress. A bridesmaid to the girl who was supposed to marry my brother. My brother, who stood with my parents and proved that my life so far has sucked.”
“Well... cotton candy is my favorite treat,” I teased.
She sighed, then shared, “It’s one of mine too, but I don’t want to wear it.”
Thinking that I needed to get her mind off of what was obviously a sad time, I asked, “So, what made you walk into a bar in a cotton candy dress?”
“I’ll take option A for five hundred dollars, Alex,” she quipped with that sadness still coating her words.
Merlin obviously read her tone too because he slid her empty glass of Jack away from her and slid a beer in front of her.
“Why is that?” I asked.
She tilted her head and stared at me with those baby blues of hers.
And at her next words, I knew that the whiskey she had been drinking was obviously working.
Because she steered our conversation in a different direction than the one we were on.
“Well, in order to get married, you have to have a fiancé ask you that important as all get out question, you know, the willingness to tie yourself to another person. In order for that to happen, you have to have that connection with someone else. That soul-shattering, earth-rocking connection. Then, for that to happen, you have to have a boyfriend. And then for all that to happen, you have to meet the perfect person. Not the perfect person in a sense, but the perfect person for you. Imperfectly perfect.” She said without ever breaking eye contact with me.
I wasn’t stupid.
I hadn’t gotten to where I was by being stupid.
I knew that every man and woman alike in the clubhouse was quiet as they listened to her explanation.
So, I asked, “Why can’t that happen?”
“Because people are fucking idiots.” She said with a no-bullshit straight face.
“I heard that,” I said as I tipped my beer to her and then took a pull.
Once I swallowed that down, I asked, “I know why people are idiots, but why are you saying people are idiots?”
I didn’t know that with her words, she was going to describe a dream I’d had ever since I realized what I was missing in my life.
“Because things aren’t like they used to be back in the old days.
People get together for money. They get together to hurt someone else.
Vindictive. It used to be you met someone, and you knew.
You just knew. You didn’t waste your time on someone who didn’t deserve you.
You knew. Back then, sure, people cheated, but it isn’t like it is now.
Also, people back then were what you saw.
They didn’t have a veil over their face, then once they got the one they wanted, they did a complete one-eighty, and then you're that person either lying in a hospital bed after you swore he would never lay his hands on you, or you're sitting in a jail cell for beating the fuck out of someone for being in your bed with your woman.”
She rambled on, but damn if she didn’t hit every single fucking thing I’ve ever thought about how shit should be.
“How pathetic is this? The most handsome man I have ever seen, and I’m fucking rambling, ranting, and raving. Did I just rhyme?” she said.
Fuck, but she was cuter than hell.
And what she said?
I had no doubt about my looks.
I knew how people saw me.
Was I flattered every time I got the looks from women and my fair share from men?
Yeah, I was.
But it was different.
This was different.
She wasn’t saying all of that for the hell of it and trying to get in my bed.
No, she was being completely honest.
So, in order not to make her feel worse about herself when she woke up from what I was sure would be a hangover from hell, I said, “Well, you’ve done something that no one has ever done before. So, cheers to that. You managed to pluck my thoughts from my head on what you want out of life.”
She nodded, then tipped her beer in my direction, and then, with a confused frown, she asked, “Are you supposed to mix whiskey with beer?”
“Only if you want to deal with the fallout. Did you eat before you headed here?” I asked her.
“Only if a granola bar during the getting ready for a wedding counts? A wedding that didn’t take place because of me. And it didn’t take place because the thought of letting something go like that made my skin crawl, ” she said.
“No, darlin’, that doesn’t count.” Looking at Agatha, I tipped my chin in her direction and knew she saw it because she was watching the play-by-play.
“Go make her a sandwich for me?” I asked.
Agatha snickered then nodded, “Yeah, VP.”
“That’s really kind, but you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to cause any trouble.” The woman at my right said.
And yes, that was how I was referring to her.
Because ever since I saw her when I walked in here, I’ve been sporting a semi-hard cock.
And the moment she told me her name, and I repeated it in my head... well... that semi-hard cock turned into a raging hard cock that only wanted one thing. And that was to slide into the fucking promised land that belonged to this woman.
So yeah, that’s why I wasn’t using her name.
Because this woman was going to cause nothing but trouble.
Hence... If only she knew the trouble she caused with all the single men in the club tonight with her earlier statement.
But... getting into trouble sometimes made life a hell of a lot of fun.
Circling back to her earlier statement, I asked, “And why didn’t the wedding happen because of you not letting something go?”
She obviously didn’t realize what she had said because she was back to her earlier statement.
Because she shared another statement, one that had earned everyone’s attention who hadn’t been clued in before, “And in order to get a boyfriend, then a fiancé, and then marry him, you have to have sex.”
I was thankful I hadn’t taken a sip of my beer at her words.
I no doubt would have sputtered it.
Just like a few brothers just did, from what I heard.
I shook my head, and then, knowing I needed to know, I asked, “Why haven’t you had sex?”
“It's so freaking stupid now that I’m sitting here, and yes, I’m only saying all of that because of the alcohol flowing through my veins right now.
But like it was in the old days. You didn’t sleep with a man unless you were married to him.
And then you stayed faithful to that one person because you trusted them not to fuck you over.
I mean, just the thought of giving yourself to one person and one person only?
Them knowing that you were theirs in every way imaginable? It just hits differently.”
The entire place was quiet. Too fucking quiet. I had half a mind to turn on my stool and glare at every single person in attendance.
I knew they were staring and listening. The conversation was that good with her.
But honestly, the real reason they were staring? Because a woman actually held my attention for more than ten minutes, and I wasn’t telling her to get the fuck out of my breathing space.
Then another thought occurred to me.
At her words, the way she looked, I had only one thought on my mind... I need to make it clear where I stand.
Therefore, while she was staring at the wall of bottles behind the bar, I pulled out my phone and texted.
Balls To The Wall Text Thread
Me – Think I just found mine.
Xander – Then you did.
Merlin – What Xander said.
Khal – Treasure it.
Kettle – What he said.
Nuke – Well, I lost my bet.
Wolf – So she’s claimed?
Me – So far.
Just then, Agatha came over with her sandwich.
A bacon, egg, and cheese on toast.
She pulled my attention away from my phone as she moaned.
Then she looked at Agatha and smiled, “Bless you.”
Agatha winked.
Yes, her moan caused me to put my phone down and give her my full attention.
She had me wishing it was because I made her moan, but seeing a woman who appreciated good food that was just placed in front of her? Well, that was my kind of woman.
Something told me she needed that sandwich more than I needed answers to the questions that were bouncing around in my head; therefore, I let her be.
Questions like the following.
Why didn’t the wedding take place?
Who hit her?
Where did she live?
Was she single?
Well... I had one answer to one of my questions.
I didn’t give a rat’s ass if she had a man or a woman in her life. She was going to be mine.
I didn’t care who I had to take out of her life in a permanent way to make that happen.
My murderous thoughts were cleared when she finished her sandwich and then looked around the bar.
And I knew the moment the question was about to come.
Her eyes landed on a few of the backs of my brothers.
The backs, like my own, were covered by a leather kutte with our club logo on the back. A skull top crisscrossed bones with our club’s name on the top rocker, and our location on the bottom rocker.
“Where am I anyway?” she asked.
I smirked, “Well, darlin’, you're at the SOMC clubhouse.”
She looked at me, then around her, then at my kutte, and then she muttered one word, “Fuck.”
“Kimber?” I heard screeched.
Then Kimber shocked the fuck out of me.
She looked around me, then her eyes narrowed, and I heard her groan, and then, for some strange reason, she looked down at the bar, plunked her head on it, and started banging her head up and down softly.
I looked at Kourt, who had just screeched the name, “Kimber!”
What the fuck?
Then I watched as Kourt stormed over to where we were sitting and poked at Kimber, who let out a groan.