38. Rook
ROOK
We got back to the compound a couple of hours ago, and I’m lurking around the clubhouse.
A meeting was called shortly after we got back for everyone who is high up in the club to join Jack in his office.
I wasn’t invited, and honestly, I’m kind of pissed about it.
I’d thought that especially after this afternoon, with us all together, that they’d consider me as being one of them, but nope.
I think back to everything I did while Jack was in the hospital, how, even though I am technically still a prospect, I’d basically been at the helm of this ship. Wasn’t that enough to earn me the right to be a fully patched member?
I’m tempted to call them out on it, but I’m also aware it wasn’t that long ago that I defied Jack completely and went after Camile on my own.
I’d seriously fucked up then, and I suppose I should be grateful that he didn’t kick me out of the club completely.
I still need to tread carefully, but that doesn’t change how I feel.
“You okay, Rook, honey?”
My heart sinks a little as Charmaine crosses the bar.
She’s always had a thing for me, and she’s one of those women who doesn’t seem to take no for an answer.
I’d never be into someone like her. I don’t think there’s a single natural thing about her—fake tits, fake eyelashes, fake hair and nails.
That’s fine if it’s what makes her feel good, but it’s not for me.
“Yeah, I’m fine, Charmaine.”
She sidles up close to me, near enough that her breasts brush against my chest, and a waft of her cheap perfume threatens to make me sneeze. I want to back away, but the bar is directly behind me.
She reaches up and drags her thumb down my lower lip. “You don’t look fine. You look sad, and I don’t like to see you sad.”
“I’m fine, seriously.”
She reaches down to squeeze my cock through my jeans. “I know how to cheer you up. My mouth around your dick would make you smile again.”
I bat her hand away. “You know I’m with Camile now, right? You can’t do that shit anymore.”
She pouts. “Camile isn’t your ol’ lady. You’re technically still a free man.”
“No, I’m not. I love Camile.”
She frowns and her lips turn up into a sneer. “But she’s fucking the prez, right? And a couple of others, from what the word around the compound says. So if she gets to fuck around, then surely you do, too. It’s not fair otherwise.”
I shake my head. “It’s not about fairness. I don’t want anyone else.”
“Bullshit. You’ll get bored of her eventually.”
I lose my temper and push her away.
“Hey!” she protests. “You don’t need to be mean, Rook. I was only trying to be nice, and that’s a dick move.”
“I don’t know why you’re interested in me, anyway, Charmaine. I’m a nobody. I’ll probably never be a fully patched in member of the Riders, and so I’ll never be able to make you my ol’ lady—not that I would. Like I said, I’m in love with Camile.”
“You’ll get patched in one day. And when you do, you’ll realize that sharing sloppy seconds is no fun. You just think it makes you important to share the girl the higher-ups are passing around, but it doesn’t. One day, you’ll want an ol’ lady, mark my words, and I won’t be it.”
I snort. “I really won’t be asking.”
I ought to just shut the fuck up, as the last thing I want to do is get into things with Charmaine, but I’m saved by the door dividing the clubhouse from the corridor that leads to Jack’s office swinging open.
The higher-ranking club members pour out, including Ghost and Ace.
Ace gives me a wink, and Ghost pats me on the shoulder. I scowl at them both.
Charmaine has spotted one of the other club members she can flirt with, so at least I’m off the hook for now.
Most of the other guys have either left or are distracted by getting a drink, so when Jack walks out last, I can grab his attention.
I have to admit, the prez still intimidates the fuck out of me.
He’s like twenty years older, and has about fifty pounds of muscle on me, but I’ve also seen him at his most vulnerable.
I feel like we’re able to communicate in a way we couldn’t before, and I have something important to say.
It’s not even about me and my own woes. No, it’s about Camile.
“Jack,” I say as I approach him, “can I have a word?”
“Sure. What’s up, Rook?”
“We need to make it official,” I tell him. I don’t even care if he thinks I’m speaking out of turn. “The rest of the club needs to know what Camile means to us, that we’re serious about her. We can’t have everyone talking about her like she’s some kind of slut we’re just passing around.”
His stormy gray-blue eyes turn thunderous. “Who’s been saying she’s a slut?”
“No one, not directly.” I’m not that much of an asshole to drop Charmaine in it.
“But come on, I bet it’s what people are thinking.
Everyone needs to know that this is a relationship, unconventional, yes, but no different than anyone else’s.
” I soften my tone. “And maybe Cami needs to know that, too, for sure. There can’t be any doubts left in anyone’s heads that we’re not all one hundred percent serious about her. ”
Jack chews on the inside of his lip, and I wonder if he’s going to lose his shit at me for speaking to him like this, but instead he nods.
“Yeah, you’re right, on all counts.” He sighs and rakes his hand through his hair. “Let me talk to the others. We’ll come up with a plan.”
“Sure.”
“And Rook,” he says.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for bringing this to my attention. You’re right, it is important. I assume you’re going to be at the party later?”
I shrug. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
I’m not sure I’m really in the mood to party, but perhaps that’s what I need—to drink and chill out for a while. Also, Camile will be there, and I’m not going to give up an opportunity to hang out with her.