Page 19 of Sold to the Bikers
She has long pink hair, and reminds me a little of the girls that hung out with the Unwanted, but more relaxed and less… desperate is the word that comes to mind. They let me stay in Animal’s room last night, and Jewel showed up this morning to give me a quick tour of where to find food, and the locker room the girls use.
“It’s a little much.” I pull up on the front of the black corset top but it just makes my boobs jiggle.
She throws her head back and laughs. “Damn, how drunk were you that you ended up coming home with Quickshot and those boys? Nothing personal, but you don’t seem the type.”
Our story was that I hooked up with Badass, Animal and Quickshot last night after we met at a bar, and then they invited me to a party at the club tonight, but I didn’t have any extra clothes with me. I’m a little sick of having to borrow from strangers, but at least these are freshly washed, and apparently needing underwear is a big enough problem around here that the bathroom Jewel showed me has a literal basket of individually wrapped thong panties
“I’m not, usually anyway. But they were very convincing.” My cheeks flush.
“Oh, I’ll bet. I’ve heard some stories. Me and Chef saw you come in last night and it looked seriously intense.”
There’s a knock on the door, and then a girl who looks to be a few years older than me comes in. She’s small and curvy, with long brown hair and a bit of a bump in her waistline that looks like she might be early on in a pregnancy. “Okay, who’s the new girl?” she says with a clear, high laugh, but she’s eyeing me suspiciously.
“N—Natalie,” I stammer, holding out my hand.
“So polite. I was like that once, but hang around here long enough and it’ll wear off. Nice, ta meet’cha, Natalie. Hey Jewel, people are starting to show up. Can you go help my mother get the kids upstairs so she can watch them tonight? I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Jewel nods. “Sure, Em.”
We both watch as Jewel leaves, and then the girl turns on me, looking much less friendly. “I know you’re new here, but I’m Emily, and just so you know, if you do anything to fuck with Quickshot or the others, I will personally kick your ass. Don’t think I can’t do it.”
A threat like that, coming from such a sweet looking woman scares the heck out of me. “Why would I fuck with them? I’m just here as their… date?” What a stupid little word for it, like they’re going to pick me up in a minute with a corsage or something.
Theyownme.
She narrows her big, brown eyes. “Because something’s going on and I might not know what it is, but my men told me to stick close to the clubhouse, and then suddenly you show up? It’s fishy.”
The door opens and a huge man with curly brown hair looks inside. “What’re you doing in Animal’s room, baby? I thought we were going to grab something to eat? I’m fucking starving, King’s on his bike already, and Wild Child’s threatening to order in if we don’t get out of here soon.”
She sighs. “I just wanted to say hello to the new girl.”
“Since when do you give a shit about who Animal fucks?”
“Since she showed up with him, Badass,andQuickshot. You know what that usually means around here.”
“Yeah, that someone’s about to have a really fucking good night. And I was hoping it would be us.” He walks over and sweeps her off the floor and into his arms.
Emily laughs and squirms. “Hero!”
“When there’s a fucking party in my room, usually I’m invited,” Animal grumbles, pushing his way past the couple and into his room. Quickshot and Badass are right behind.
“Is she giving you a hard time?” Quickshot asks me, then turns to Emily. “You’re not my fucking mother, you know.”
“Yeah Ifuckingknow,” Emily snaps back. “But excuuuuse me for feeling a little protective. I saved your life, remember?”
“Ignore her,” Quickshot grumbles. “The old ladies act like a bunch of motherfucking hens sometimes.”
There’s something so strangely domestic about all of this, that I actually start tearing up a little. I love Sandra like she’s my own heart, but she’s always been the baby, even before I had to step up and act like her mother, not just her sister. It’s been so long since someone looked out forme, and here are these rough, tattooed men, living outside the law but acting like a messed up kind of family. It makes me desperately wish our cover story was true, but right now I feel like a giant fraud.
Animal comes over and puts his arm around me, running a hand over my bare shoulder. I flinch and pull away out of reflex, but he pulls me even closer. Emily narrows her eyes again, but before she can ask more questions, Hero carries her out of the room, leaving us alone.
“You gotta stop fucking doing that,” Badass says.
“Doing what?”
He walks over and puts a hand on my face, tilting it up to kiss me. I try my best to find that feeling I had yesterday, when the lights were low and I craved their touch, but now that I’ve had time to sleep and I know I’m—sort of—safe, it’s hard. I’ve always found it difficult to relax around men, and these guys are still nearly strangers.
“This. You’re acting like a fucking virgin.”