Page 39 of Rest In Pieces
I frown, watching as she dials a number and puts the call on speaker.
“Legs? Everything okay?” Sunshine’s voice comes through the phone.
“Yeah. Can I ask you a few things?”
“Sure.”
“Have you ever crossed the street to escape a guy walking behind you?”
“Of course.”
“Do you take the long way home to avoid passing a bar or club?”
“Yeah, if I’m on my own, for sure.”
“You carry your keys between your fingers?—”
“In a parking lot or when I’m heading toward my car, yeah. We all do, don’t we?”
“I do. How about running? Do you do that at night?”
She laughs. “Are you nuts? I hate running as it is; I don’t need a guy chasing me to make me hate it more. No, I run in the morning. I stick to places where I know there will be other people and switch up my routes so that no one knows exactly where I’ll be unless I tell them.”
“Thanks, Sunshine. That’s all I needed.”
Legs hangs up and looks at me.
“And that’s all women?”
She nods.
“I don’t understand. I know there are some shifty men out there, but we’re not all like that.”
“I know. But can you tell which ones are the good ones?”
I open my mouth to answer before closing it again, getting her point. “I can’t.”
“Neither can we. So, we have to assume all men could be a threat. It sucks, but it is what it is. Now, this is just how I explained it—other women might see it differently. But I have a funny feeling you’re trying to get a better understanding of women because you like one. And if I had to put money on it, I’d say it’s the pretty feisty one from last night.”
“Maybe.”
“You guys already made a shitty impression. Not all of you, but some. As far as she’s concerned, this place isn’t safe for her, which means you’re not safe for her.”
“I just need a chance to prove her wrong.”
“But what if she’s right, G? MC life isn’t for everyone. It’s especially brutal for women who aren’t old ladies. She has no protection here. She’s a nobody. She faced off with a prospect who’d already had too many warnings. Blade won’t care about him, but what if it had been a full brother? What if that brother decided to make an example of her?” His cut makes him more important whether she’s right or not.”
“Nobody will mess with her again,” I say through gritted teeth.
“You can’t guarantee that, and as a civilian, she has no idea how an MC operates. She sure as hell won’t know what she can and can’t get away with. She’s not the type of woman to back down, and without knowing the rules, she’ll end up…” She trails off, letting me fill in the blanks.
“I’m not trying to scare you off. I’m just telling you to be sure because you’ll have to lay everything out for her—no holding back, no secrets. She won’t accept anything less.”
I get to my feet and start pacing. “Nothing’s ever fucking easy.”
“Nothing worth having ever is. But if you play your cards right, G, that woman, well, I can already tell she’d be your ride-or-die.”
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know if anything will come of this, but I like her. There’s just something about her that calls to me.”