Chapter 3
Kit
"Iknew it!"
Jordan shouted so loud it echoed through The Bunker. Jumping, I glared at her while she and Gwen cackled like mad hens. "Knew what?"
"That you two had a thing for each other," Gwen told me with a wide smile.
"How did you-"
"Hang on," Keely said, interrupting me. "I want to hear more about this kiss." She gave me a narrow eyed look. "You, me, and Gwen are the only ones here not getting smooches. Or, it used to be just us. So now I must live vicariously through you."
"I’m sure Smokehouse would happily tell you all about his and Dani’s smooches," Daisha replied with a malicious smile.
Keely and I made the same face, one of horrified disgust. Neither of us wanted to hear about our siblings kissing. "I-"
"Well, I need to know about this slap," Seek said, cutting me off once again.
"Why did you slap him?" Sloane asked, eyes wide.
I pondered that, trying to figure out how to explain myself.
"I-" This time I broke off, eyeing them all with murderous intent in case they wanted to cut me off a third time.
They were all watching me with overly innocent expressions, eager to hear my answer.
"Smoke walked in and I sort of…panicked. "
Seek chuckled in evil glee. She was feeling a little violent in the last trimester of her pregnancy. "Are we talking a little tap?"
Guilt twisted through me. "I hauled off and hit him," I whispered, covering my mouth in horror at the memory.
The others laughed, even Sloane tried to smother a giggle. She gave me a sympathetic look. "He’s a big man. I doubt you hurt him."
"Well, not physically anyway," Jordan agreed with a laugh. "Might have wounded his pride."
"Eh," Seek said, sipping on her half-gallon-sized water cup she hauled around. It was purple with gold sparkles and a straw. "More like you threw a gauntlet down for a challenge. He’s going to be coming for you now."
That made me swallow hard. Not in fear. I was moments away from needing to squeeze my thighs together to quell the excitement the image of him chasing me down brought forth.
It was something I’ve wanted for a long time.
The feelings I had for Hellfire went so much deeper than a mere crush.
That’s how it started out, ten years ago.
An eighteen-year-old girl mooning over her brother’s best friend.
It didn’t matter that he was ten years older than me.
He hadn’t seen me as anything more than a kid.
I wasn’t sure I would ever graduate from kid sister in his eyes, but I’d done my damndest to flirt with him over the years.
Then this morning he’d shocked me by kissing me.
When had things changed between us? Or was he just experimenting?
Hell never brought women home. There’d been a short stint when I was nineteen that he’d gotten himself a girlfriend.
She’d lasted two short months and they’d fought like cats and dogs.
"Can you imagine some of these guys getting hit like that?" Keely asked, her blue eyes sparkling. "They’d lose their minds."
"Not these men," Jenny replied.
"She’s right," Susie said with the shake of her head. "It would shock them, but they wouldn’t fly off the handle the way a lot of men would in their positions."
"They have huge egos," Tori added, "but they still have boundaries."
"They’d just let any of us women hit them?" Keely asked, doubt ringing in her tone.
"They would," Seek acknowledged, "but whoever your old man is will pay for it."
"Seriously?" Keely looked interested.
"Yeah," I told her. "The men are the club. It’s theirs. And their woman is theirs. So when she misbehaves and affects the club, he takes the punishment."
Keely’s mouth was hanging open. "That’s-"
"How things are done here," I told her in a firm tone. Keely wasn’t dating a biker. That didn’t mean we didn’t consider her family.
She was Dani’s sister and already we were becoming fast friends, but no one had explained all these rules to her.
Who knew what Toxic and Butcher had told her the day Lock had made them speak with her.
"We really should go over it all with you," I said, meeting Susie’s eyes.
Susie, Daisha, and Tori nodded in agreement. The four of us had been here the longest. And even though I wasn’t an old lady, it still fell to me to help newcomers, the same as the other women. "We’ll do that soon," Susie confirmed.
The only one missing from the conversation was Dani.
She and Smoke were out shopping for some baby furniture.
They went out not long after they’d gotten back from an ultrasound appointment.
They were too excited to sit still. We warned her not to get too much.
The triple baby shower was next Friday. She’d promised they wouldn’t go overboard and would leave us some things on the registry that we could buy for them.
I already knew exactly what I was doing for all three women and their babies.
I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces.
"Back to this slap," Seek said, changing the subject back to the matter at hand.
"I still can’t believe I did that," I muttered.
"I still don’t get why you did," Keely echoed, a question in her voice.
Susie laughed. "You haven’t been around over the years to see the way Smoke has run off any man who was remotely interested in Kit."
"He’s done some damage," I admitted.
"Like…to your confidence?" Jenny asked.
"No, like broken noses, arms, even a femur."
They were all staring at me slack jawed. I nodded. Taking a breath, I took the plunge. "I’ve been wanting Hellfire to kiss me since I first met him."
"Awww," they all chorused.
I glared at them all in mock disapproval. "Not awww. He’s Smoke’s best friend."
"I thought Ricochet was Smoke’s best friend?" Gwen pointed out.
"The three of them are like the Three Stooges," Tori said, waving a hand as if that didn’t matter.
"The Three Musketeers," Susie added.
"The Three Little Pigs," Daisha said with a snort.
We all paused silently and looked from one to the other, considering the analogies. In unison we all agreed, "Stooges!" we shouted with a chorus of laughter.
I shook my head as the giggles died down. "They’re close. How can I make a move on Hell knowing what my brother is capable of? That he doesn’t want me dating bikers? It could ruin their friendship. Worse, it could cause issues for both of them with the club." I sighed and rested my chin on my palm.
"Oh my God."
I looked over at Seek, frowning at the growing smile on her face. "What?"
"You love him."
My eyes rounded in shock. "What? No. I mean… Of course, I love my brother." She wasn’t talking about Smoke and we both knew it.
The others gasped. Jordan bounced on her seat in excitement. "You owe me twenty bucks," she told Gwen, holding out her hand. Gwen grumbled before rummaging through her purse and slapping a bill into Jordan’s palm.
My mouth dropped open. "You were gambling on me and Hell?"
Jordan and Gwen let out twin snorts as though that was a stupid question. "Of course," Jordan said. "I had you saying the L word in the next three months. Gwen thought it would take longer."
"I didn’t say the L word!"
Jordan gave me a smug smile. "Seek’s right. There’s hearts in your eyes and little birdies floating over your head. You’re totally in love with him."
"Am not," I muttered. I wasn’t ready to admit something like that to myself, let alone anyone else. "I’m just…insanely attracted to him." It was the most I’d ever admitted, out loud, to anyone.
"Perfect," Keely said, taking over the conversation. "Then tell us about that kiss!"
Groaning, I dropped my head onto the bar. The thunk echoed through my skull. "It was…amazing. He’s so strong and can just kind of move you wherever he wants you. Had me smashed up against him before I even realized what was happening."
Keely sighed with longing. "I need to get a boyfriend."
"Better wait until all this crap with The Italians is over with," Seek advised.
"What? Why?" Keely asked.
"There’s no way the guys are letting anyone new on this compound right now," Jenny replied. "Priest is locking the compound down per Lockout’s orders. Canceled a sleepover with a few of the girls’ friends and everything. No one is going anywhere and no one is coming here."
Keely looked between us with desperation crawling over her features. "But that could take weeks to resolve," she said in horror.
"Probably months," Susie claimed.
"Yeah," Jordan added, "cause once The Italians are toast-"
"Bruschetta," Gwen quipped. That lightened the mood as we laughed at her joke.
"Then they still have to deal with Fremont," Jordan finished.
Keely’s face was a building storm cloud. "They can’t keep me from dating for months. I’m young. I have oats to sow."
"Do women sow oats?" Sloane asked the room.
"I’ll wither away and die an old woman. I have needs," she insisted. "Right now those needs don’t involve bikers."
Shaking my head, I laughed at her, though I understood her plight. It was how I felt a lot of the time, thanks to my overprotective brother. "Lock gave the order this morning," I said with a shrug. "If you thought they were bad after the event center debacle, you haven’t seen anything yet."
"Well, too bad for Lock," Keely said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have work."
"I thought you were on vacation?" Seek asked.
"Well, if I’m here I may as well work," she amended.
"He’s not going to like that," I pointed out.
She grumbled something under her breath, but didn’t repeat it when asked. "What are you planning to do about Hellfire?" she asked, changing the subject.
As much as I wanted to keep her in the hot seat and ask what she’d said, the others had focused on me again.
"I’m not exactly experienced with men," I started. "I didn’t even get my first kiss until I was a senior in high school. Smoke would probably shit himself if he found out I wasn’t a virgin.
" Giving them a desperate look, I shrugged. "I don’t know how to do this."
"Flirt?" Susie asked.
"Pursue a forbidden romance?" Daisha added.
"Seduce your brother’s best friend?" Jordan tacked on, catching onto the game.
I glowered at them. "All of that," I admitted. "Or how to figure out if Hell is actually into me."
"Girl," Gwen said with a laugh. "He kissed you."
That made all of the women experienced in the ways of bikers laugh. "He’s a biker," I clarified when the others looked confused.
"They’d kiss a brick wall if it stood still long enough," Tori replied.
"I’m pretty sure Butcher did that last night," Sloane said with a giggle. We all looked at her in shock until she blushed.
"We’ve got you making jokes now," I said in wonder. She was coming out of her shell so much and it made me happy to see.
"I’m not sure she was joking," Seek quipped.
"Okay, bikers aren’t exactly discerning," Keely said, getting back to the matter at hand. "Got it, but…" she gave me a probing look, "is Hellfire like that?"
I froze, trying to think back to the last time I’d heard any kind of gossip about him and another woman. My brows furrowed as I thought hard. "I…"
"No, he isn’t," Susie said. "He had a girlfriend for a few months while he was prospecting, but then she was just gone one day."
"We never did find out what happened to her," Tori mused.
"I think I know what happened to her," Jordan said, giving me a shrewd look.
“There were women over the years who tried to catch his eye,” Daisha told us. “And he’d flirt, but nothing ever stuck. Most likely because he was already interested in someone.” Now they were all staring at me.
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "There’s no way he’s been interested in me for that long. I was only nineteen at the time." None of them looked convinced. "He’s never made a move."
"He did this morning," Gwen pointed out.
I was at a loss for words. I wasn’t sure why he kissed me. What his game was. Or why thinking about the way his mouth had moved over mine was still tying my stomach into knots hours later.
The clearing of a throat had us all jumping like guilty children.
My relief was white-hot when I saw that it was Hush in the doorway of the club’s bar.
If it had been Hell I would have died of embarrassment.
It was one thing to admit to these women that I’d had a thing for him for years.
I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know that yet.
And if, by some miracle, he felt the same way about me, there was still the matter of my brother to deal with.
I refused to be the reason Hellfire torpedoed his place here in this club, or his friendship.
Smiling, I waved at Seek as Hush whisked her off for her afternoon nap.
It was so nice to see them so happy and excited about their new marriage and upcoming baby.
I was over the moon that so many of the men were finding these amazing women that they loved.
It had never crossed my mind to be jealous.
I always assumed one day I’d find the one meant for me.
In that deep-seated, secret part of my heart, I knew I’d already found him long ago.