Chapter Four
“W hat about him?” Lidia asked.
Pat couldn’t believe he had been talked into going to the bar the following Friday night.
Lidia had insisted he owed her, and he didn’t want to sit around at the club with several of the pussy trying to throw themselves at him.
He was not interested in club pussy. There was a lot he was no longer interested in.
“For a good time. He’s looking for some sex, that is all.”
Lidia seemed to think he had a sixth sense when it came to men, and he didn’t. Some men were after a good time, a fight, or looking for that life partner. Admittedly, the former was a rarity at a bar, but it could happen.
Bull had found Maddie at the bar. Admittedly, she had been screwed over on a date, but that didn’t matter.
Pat didn’t find anyone at the bar. He came, had a drink, got bored, and often left. Lidia insisted he help her find Mister Right.
She scrunched up her nose and then sat at the bar and sighed. “If you didn’t want to help me, you could have just said so.”
“I did say so, and you nagged and kept nagging.”
“You were going to do nothing all night long. I know you, Pat.”
“You don’t know me.”
“So, you were happy to just watch a couple of women throw themselves at you, and then do the whole public sex porn thing?”
Pat frowned. “Public sex porn thing?”
“Yeah, and don’t think I haven’t seen it. I have.”
He wasn’t going to deny it. The club brothers and the girls that stayed at the club all knew the score.
They had to be loyal to club dick, but that was all.
They were not going to be old ladies. They were not going to get anything more than a good time.
They were taken care of. The club made sure their every need was catered to, and all they had to be was available.
Some women would have found it demeaning, but the women who stuck around loved it.
Pat didn’t mind. Women could do whatever the fuck they wanted to do. He took a drink of his beer.
It was getting cold out. There had been no repercussions from burning down the farm.
That was not all the club had done. Four more locations had gone up in flames.
All were empty, but it was a start. William had gone, leaving Carnage.
Pat didn’t trust him. He didn’t know if he would try and strike a deal with the cartel, or just run, leaving them high and dry.
Either way, the club no longer had a choice.
It was going to come to either the club or the cartel.
“Come on, Pat, you have got to give me something here,” Lidia said. “I don’t want to grow old and lonely and miserable, and you were the one that told me I would find a guy.”
Fuck! He had been the one to tell her that, after Grant and Aria had gotten married.
Lidia had been so emotional that day. She loved her best friend and was so happy for her, but it made her realize that she wanted to find a man like Grant, but not Grant.
It made sense at the time but Lidia was known for rambling.
He’d been saying the right thing—the kind things—and moments like this reminded him why he had to stay fucking quiet. That kind of shit always seemed to get him into trouble and bite him in the ass. Spinning around, he was pretty sure Lidia fist-pumped the air in victory.
Just as he looked around the room, the door opened and in walked Ava and her sister, Violet. The two each wore a pair of jeans. Where Violet wore a very skimpy top that seemed to push her tits up, Ava had on a slinky number that curved to her body as she walked. He couldn’t help but be distracted.
Pat knew the moment Ava spotted him. She seemed to pause for a second, and then take a step toward him.
He’d been to the coffee shop all week. They had talked for hours about Bernice. While she worked, Bernice stayed with her mom and sister. Throughout the day, she worked her ass off trying to train Bernice. Pat tried to keep his distance, but he couldn’t help checking her out.
She would walk Bernice for hours, but that was mainly because the dog didn’t seem to know what a walk was. Rarely did she get petted on the walk, unless Ava did so.
“Pat,” Ava said, and she quickly glanced toward Lidia.
“Hey, Ava,” Lidia said.
“Hi, Lidia.”
He didn’t want Ava getting the wrong impression. Not that it should matter who he was with at the bar.
“I’m not on a date. I’m here to help her find a lover,” Pat said. He stumbled over his words.
Lidia burst out laughing. “Wow, could he be any cooler?”
Ava chuckled. “Well, it is good to see you.”
“Where’s Bernice?”
“She’s with Mom. She insisted I come out with Violet, because she wanted to drink and dance, and well, I’m also the designated driver for the night.” Ava offered him a smile. “I’ll leave you to find her lover. It’s nice to see you again.”
He didn’t have a clue what else to say. Violet and Ava moved toward the end of the bar, where Elizabeth was serving.
“Okay, now you know you’re going to have to spill the details of what just happened,” Lidia said.
He had almost forgotten he had company.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, please, I feel like I need to mop up that little bit of drool you’ve got going on,” Lidia said.
He swatted at her hand as if she was about to clean away his chin.
She threw back her head and laughed. “You’re so funny.”
“Ava’s ... a waitress I know.”
“I know who Ava is. I know her sister Violet as well.” Lidia nudged his arm. “You know, I haven’t known you long, but from what I have seen and do know, you’re never interested in a woman.”
“Stop,” Pat said.
“Okay, you literally perked right up when you saw her. You spun around looking all bored and morose, and then the moment you saw her, it was like bam , you came to life. Now that means something.”
“It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Damn it, Pat. There is nothing wrong with you being interested in a woman. You know, you can have some fun and enjoy yourself, and it would not be a bad thing.”
He turned to look at her and she threw her hands up in the air.
“Fine. Fine. You know best, but you know what, we can just sit here and guess which of these guys are going to get her to dance.” Lidia looked across from him, and he was trying not to look.
“There is a guy approaching their table, and ... don’t worry.
False alarm. He has taken Violet to go and dance.
Hold on, it’s coming. There is another guy approaching the table. ”
Pat didn’t get to hear her running commentary as he made his way toward the table, stopping anyone from getting to Ava.
“Do you want to dance?” he asked.
Ava’s eyes went wide.
She held a drink in each hand. One of them was clearly her sister’s beer, and the other an orange juice.
“Yes, I’d love to.” She looked at the drinks.
“Leave them. I’ll buy you two fresh drinks.”
And with that, he held his hand out. He didn’t know why, but he expected her to ignore his hand, but she didn’t. She put her hand in his, and that was it. It felt right.
There was a current circulating between them, and he led her onto the dance floor.
Pat didn’t dance. He hadn’t taken a woman onto the dance floor in a long time.
Yet, pulling Ava into his arms, he ignored the upbeat rhythm that filled the air.
None of that mattered. All he cared about was the woman in his arms.
For several seconds neither of them spoke.
“You know, I didn’t think you were going to ask me to dance,” Ava said.
“I wasn’t.”
“Oh.” Her lips formed the perfect little O, and he saw that he’d upset her.
“But, I couldn’t stand the thought of another man asking you to dance.”
“You couldn’t?”
“No, there are a lot of assholes here, Ava. You deserve someone better.”
“So, you’re not dancing with me because you want to, but because you think there is no one here worthy of dancing with me?”
Pat frowned. “I’m not good at this,” he said.
“I don’t know, if you want to give the girl a message that you are not seeing her in any way other than a friend, the message is received.”
He had no idea what was happening here.
“I don’t consider you a friend,” he said.
“Thanks?” Ava asked.
“I think you’re beautiful, Ava. I look at you, and...” He stopped. Should he tell her? Would he scare her away? Would it be good to say this?
He stared into her eyes, and he didn’t know what it was about her, but he just went with it. Pat leaned in close. Two things could happen. One, she’d slap him, and that would be the end of that. Or, she’d be interested. He would never be rude to a woman.
“And I think about taking you home, stripping you naked, and showing you every little thing I could do to you.”
She let out a gasp.
“To put it short, Ava, I want to fuck you. That is why I keep coming to the coffee shop.”
She didn’t pull away. There was no slap. She didn’t scream at him, and when he pulled away, she didn’t look offended at what he had said to her. She looked ... happy.
There was so much more he wanted to say, but then he heard the scream, the sound of gunfire, and the ground shook as an explosion filled the air.
He grabbed Ava, pulling her behind him. “Stay here,” he said.
Without another word, he rushed outside and saw what happened. His bike was pulled away from all the other vehicles, had been shot at, and when a bullet hit the gas tank his bike exploded. In the distance, he saw the red lights.
His cell phone was already lighting up, and when he put the phone to his ear, he heard that the clubhouse parking lot had also been targeted.
****
“T hat was fucking crazy last night. I mean, wow,” Violet said.
Ava had already let Bernice out to do her morning business, and she had also fed her. She sat at the kitchen counter, nursing a strong coffee. Last night had happened, hadn’t it? Had it? She wasn’t sure what had happened and what hadn’t happened.
Pat had told her in blunt terms that he thought about having sex with her, and then an explosion had happened, and he pretty much ordered her and Violet to take Lidia home, and marched them to her car.