Chapter 5
Reaper
Hearing that woman cry out and moan had my cock rock fucking hard. It had taken everything I had in me not to march down the hall, kick her door in and take over. I bet she’d taste like fucking heaven.
The fact my son knew only ground my gears all the more.
My fingers had dug so hard into my doorframe, stopping me from making a huge mistake, and they still ached now. After seeing the exchange between Rowan and Tee, I wondered what their history was, obviously it hadn’t been kind, but it wasn’t for me to get involved in the squabbles of women.
It was better this way if she thought I’d fucked the girl.
Goddamn Tee.
The woman didn’t take no for an answer. I could still feel her unwanted attention all over me. Sure, I could have shut my eyes, thought about Rowan, and let her suck me dry. It probably would have been a better choice than sitting here with a raging hard on for the one girl I couldn’t have.
If I didn’t think she needed our help, I would tell her to stay elsewhere…away from me. I wasn’t strong enough to resist her.
But I was already on a rocky path with Trey. Stealing his girl? Yeah, probably not going to go over too well and then I’d lose him completely.
Laying down in my bed, I fisted my cock for the second time in the space of an hour, and tried to think of anyone but Rowan.
It was useless.
She was all I could think about, even before she turned up here, I’d fantasised about her being mine. She was too young for me, way too young for me, and yet I couldn’t seem to care. I wanted her in every fucking way possible.
Tugging my cock a few more times, I came hard, all over my chest. This was going to be a problem. I needed to find my son, and get this cleared up, and her away from me as soon as possible, or I’d end up losing everything.
But you’d have her.
Cursing, I reminded myself just how bad of an influence my brain was.
I was a father to a man who barely came by, and barely spoke to me, and his mother was even worse.
She called too much, and definitely wasn’t the one I wanted to deal with.
The only other woman I had let into my heart had fucked me over and taken off with more than my life savings.
Rowan was different. I could sense her heart. There was a darkness underneath all of that, festering away behind her insecurities. I wanted to break them apart, make her see what a badass she could be. I wanted her to be free of that shit in her head, and just be…Rowan. But, that wasn’t my place.
Wiping my release off my chest with my shirt I’d left on the bed, I picked up my phone and shot off a text to my tech brother.
We need to find Trey immediately.
TROJAN
On it. I’ll step up my searches.
Good. Now, I just needed to avoid Rowan at all costs.
Rowan
Cherry took me through the entire set up behind the bar, warned me about the bikers to steer clear of, and the ones who were harmless. Most were, but there were a few that let the alcohol get to them, and they turned into self-righteous asshats.
But, there was Pope, who didn’t drink. Cherry explained that he was the club chaplain, and go to if you needed to talk. I liked that.
I wasn’t nervous. I knew how to tend bar, I knew how to handle asshole drunks, and I knew how to sweet talk my way out of creeps arms.
What I didn’t know how to do was ignore my childhood bullies–yes, bullies, plural. Tee Thompson and Tori Lee. Both of them were club girls, and they both hadn’t stopped staring at me, and talking under their breaths to the other club girls. It had me on edge.
But it wasn’t only them.
It was him.
Wyatt.
I had come downstairs early, not only to get an early start, but to avoid an awkward run in with him. He’d seen my reaction to Tee, and done nothing. Not that I expected him to know my history with her, but he could have at least asked me if I was okay.
Why did I even care?
“You okay, doll?” one of the bikers asked me as he came over. I checked his kutte to see the name “Maverick” over his left pec.
“Yeah, you need a drink?” I ask him, pasting a smile on my face.
“You don’t gotta fake a smile here. You can call us out on our bullshit if you need to. Most the girls do anyway.”
I liked this guy.
“Not many can figure out when I am faking it.”
“Because you’re so good at it?” he replied, with a deadly smirk. I could tell he was popular with the women. He was gorgeous, that was no doubt, but he wasn’t my type. If I even had a type at all, that was.
“You got it.”
“Maybe you need an older guy to show you what you’re missing.”
He didn’t give off creepy vibes, in fact, it was more of a piece of advice, than anything. I think I was going to like Maverick.
Movement to the right of me caught my attention and I turned to see Wyatt enter the room. Heat flooded between my thighs, and I fought to look away before he saw me.
Too late.
Fuck.
I turned back to Maverick, who seemed to have caught the awkwardness between us, and a slow smirk made its way onto his face. “Or maybe you’ve found one already.”
“What?”
Maverick chuckled and pointed at the coffee machine behind me. “Black.”
“Why do you have a fandangled fancy coffee machine if you just take it black?” I asked him, heading over to it to press the appropriate button.
“I like good coffee and not sludge,” he replied. “I also don’t want it to be watered down with dairy.”
Stifling a chuckle, I let the machine do its thing while I cleaned the bench around the machine.
“Prez,” I heard Maverick say from behind me and I stiffened. He’d joined us at the bar. It was like I could feel the heat of his stare behind me, making me almost fear what he had to say. “Catch up on any zzz’s.”
“No,” he grunted. “Rowan.”
I turned around, probably a little faster than I should have, and looked over at him. “Yes, Wy—Reaper?”
Maverick caught it. Did he catch everything?
“Have you heard from Trey…at all?”
My stomach fluttered. It shouldn’t. He was simply asking about his son, and I was—in his eyes—the girlfriend.
“Uh, no.”
He nodded, almost a little disappointed. “Have you tried to call him?”
“Not since…well…not for a few days. Do you want me to try again? Sometimes he goes on these bouts where he doesn’t answer. I usually just let him deal with whatever it is, and come back when he is ready.”
“You know Trey?” Maverick asked, looking between the two of us. The machine beeped to alert me to his coffee being ready. I grabbed the mug and handed it over to him, before pressing the clean function button, and turning back to them.
“This is Rowan,” Wyatt said. “Trey’s girl. She’s going to work with us for a little while.”
I offered a small smile, but with the way Maverick’s eyebrows rose, I knew he wasn’t going to be the one who I would get little white lies through.
“Interesting.”
He took a sip of his coffee, before Wyatt called out, “Church. Now.”
The men all got up and headed into a room off to the side, in between the bar and the pool tables at the back. Wyatt stayed behind, waiting for Maverick to move off.
“Can you try him again? I’m…worried.”
I could see the pain in his eyes, and it was doing me in. He was just a father, worried about his son. I wondered if he knew how bad it was with him.
Nodding, I offered him a brief smile, before he moved off toward the room everyone was in, leaving me in an almost empty clubhouse, with no one to serve, and one hell of a task he’d asked of me.
Oh, and the bitches, who were now making their way over to me, causing my stomach to flip violently. Thank god I hadn’t eaten yet.
Tee, Tori, and a couple of the other girls sat down on the stools at the bar, and I bit down my anxiety, and waited for it.
“Service please,” Tee announced, almost as if she wouldn’t believe I didn’t know her order via telepathy. “I mean…what do you think your job is here?”
“Well, it’s certainly not spreading my legs or lips every chance I get.”
That came out so quick, I didn’t mean it, and yet all the girls gasped, except for the girl at the end who laughed. One look from Tori and she silenced herself, and looked down at her hands on the bar.
“Jealous?” Tee spat.
“No, I don’t need to spread my legs to attract a man.”
“Are you going to get our drinks or not?” Tori asked. One thing she’d never quite mastered was shampoo and conditioner. Her hair was still oily as fuck, and looked like she hadn’t brushed it in days.
“Once you give me your order, I’ll be happy to.”
“Just give us a bottle of the Grey Goose,” Tori said, pointing to the top shelf behind me.
“They’ll have coffee,” Cherry’s voice said firmly as she came up behind the bar, a look of disapproval on her face. The girls all shut up immediately, but Tee rolled her eyes.
“Make mine with a side of whiskey," she said. “Can you handle that, Rolls?”
I felt my fingers dig into my palms, annoyed that she would bring that name into this place. Why couldn’t she just fall off a cliff and die?
“Rolls?” Cherry asked, looking from me to Tee, and back to me.
“Well, look at her,” Tee said. “Not much has changed since she was vomiting up her meals in school. Even bulimia couldn’t fix her.”
“Get the fuck out,” Cherry blasted. I knew she had fire in her, but the pure rage coming off her had a radius and I was in the direct path.
The other girls, who I had no idea the names of, all slid off their stools.
Tori , the coward, had even started to edge away but Tee sat there, dumbfounded. “I know you heard me, Tee.”
“Whatever.” She slid off her stool and moved out of the clubhouse. I could feel how hot my cheeks were, and how shaky my hands had become.
“Go take a breather, Ro,” Cherry said, putting her hand on my forearm, bringing my attention back to her. “Come back in five.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, almost apologetically. “She’s just a bully. Always has been, always will.”
“No one talks to staff like that,” Cherry told me.
“Don’t they work here, too?”
“Cammie, Nera and Alora do part time, but Tori and Tee work at Crossbones Diner,” she offered. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you up on everything. Go and take a breather. The boys will be in service for a while.”
I nodded and headed back upstairs to where I’d left my phone. It was my first day, I didn’t want to be caught on my phone.
As I got to my room, I located the phone, feeling tense at having to try and contact Trey. It wasn’t out of fear, it was more I hated the non-response. It made me uneasy. He’d never gone this long without speaking to me.
If something happened to him…would I truly be safe here?
Looking down at my phone, I saw the notification, and my heart plummeted.
TREY
I’m sorry. I just found out what happened to you. Call me.
Silent tears fell down my cheeks as I sat down on the edge of the bed, and tried to pull myself together. Who knew it would be so emotional this morning?
Taking a few deep breaths, I hit the green button and waited.