Page 12 of Atlas (The Chaos Demons MC #6)

Atlas

I’m nervous.

I hate that I am, but it’s there, buzzing under my skin, making my leg bounce and my fingers drum impatiently against the bar top. I can’t stop glancing towards the gates like some lovesick idiot.

“Can you stop tapping?” Kasey snaps, clearly fed up with the soundtrack of my anxiety. “What’s gotten into you?”

“He’s nervous,” Grizz says before I can answer, his tone far too casual for the chaos in my chest. “Doesn’t want your sister to meet us all.”

“Why?” Kasey asks, turning to me with narrowed eyes.

“In case she decides one of us is better looking,” Kade throws in with a grin.

I don’t take the bait. My gaze is locked on the gate and then I see her.

I’m already halfway across the yard before I’ve registered moving. I hear Kasey calling something behind me, probably teasing, but I don’t care.

Because Rue’s here.

She spots me approaching and offers a shy little wave, the kind that barely lifts her hand, like she’s still not sure she belongs here.

She does. She always will, even if she doesn’t know it yet.

“Hey,” I say, trying to play it cool even though my heart’s beating like I’ve just come off a job. “You made it.”

“I did,” she says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I almost turned around twice.”

I smirk. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I pulled up outside and thought, ‘This is a bad idea’.”

“It’s not.”

She eyes the bikes, the noise, the general chaos of barbeques and beer and men in black leaning against railings like they’re in a gang recruitment poster. “I feel like I walked into Sons of Anarchy .”

“You kinda did, only we’re much scarier.”

That earns a smile. I let it settle between us for a second before I reach out and take the bag from her shoulder without asking. She stiffens for a beat but doesn’t stop me.

“Come on,” I say. “You’re meeting the family.”

“Oh god,” she mutters. “That sounds terrifying.”

“Yeah, well, they are.” She gives me a look. “Okay, fine, some of them are. Don’t let Kade offer you tequila and don’t, under any circumstances, believe a word Grizz says.”

We reach the others, and I can feel the way Rue pulls herself tighter, like she’s bracing for impact. I rest my hand lightly on the small of her back. Not possessive, just steadying.

“Everyone, this is Rue.”

Kade’s the first to react. Of course, he is. “So, you’re the mystery girl.”

Rue blinks. “I didn’t realise I was a mystery.”

“Hey, if you’re quieter than your sister, it’s good to meet you,” says Grizz, holding out a hand. “I’m Grizz.”

She takes it, shaking it. “Hi.”

“She’s real cute,” Kade says, and I shoot him a look that has him raising both hands. “What? I’m being supportive.”

Kasey hooks her arm through Rue’s. “Let’s grab some food before this lot eat it all. Seriously, they get through tonnes of meat every day.”

Rue glances up at me like she’s checking if that’s okay. “Go on,” I say, brushing my knuckles lightly against hers. “Make yourself at home.”

She heads off with Kasey, and I stay back, watching them.

“She’s sweet,” Grizz says beside me. “You like her.”

“I do,” I admit.

“She won’t last in this world,” says Kade.

I glance sideways. “You don’t think so?”

He shrugs. “Girls like that don’t usually stick around. But maybe she’s not like the rest.”

I look back at Rue, sitting with Kasey, laughing at something, completely out of place and somehow fitting in anyway.

“She’s not.”

Axel joins us. “Damn she’s grown since I last saw her.” he says, watching them too.

“Rue?” I ask.

“She was a kid when she crunched some numbers for the club. She’s a bloody genius.”

“Really? She teaches English now.”

He grins. “Yeah, figures. Accounting would have made her big money, but for some shady people.”

“Pres, what the fuck we gonna do with Kasey?”

“He’s got some mystery biker club on speed dial,” says Grizz. “He’s gonna ask around and find out who’s looking for her.”

“The same one we were checking that warehouse out for?” I ask.

Axel grins at Grizz. “Are you jealous?” he asks in a teasing tone. “Cos you’ll always be my favourite VP.”

“Shut up,” says Grizz, laughing. “I just don’t know why we haven’t met them yet?”

“There’s no big mystery,” he replies. “Once they’re up and running, I’ll make the introductions.”

“I just can’t settle,” Grizz admits. “This is the quietist we’ve been in months, and it doesn’t feel right.”

Axel slaps him on the back, “Brother, this is how it should be. Calm. Quiet. Easy.”

“The calm before the storm more like,” says Fletch.

“See, there you go again,” snaps Axel. “Negativity. Just enjoy it.”

“I plan to,” I say, pushing off the bar and heading towards Rue. We’ve been apart long enough.

Rue

This is a terrible idea.

I knew it when I turned into the car park and saw the row of gleaming bikes, all lined up like metal animals.

I knew it when I heard the bass of someone’s music vibrating the walls from the inside.

And I definitely knew it when Atlas walked towards me with that crooked smile that made my stomach twist like it didn’t know what side it was on.

Now, I’m sitting beside Kasey with a paper plate of barbequed chicken and trying very hard not to look like a lost child at someone else’s family reunion.

They’re not what I expected. They’re louder. Rougher. But there’s something easy about them, too. Like they’ve all known each other for decades and the world outside doesn’t matter unless it tries to get in.

Kasey’s mid-rant about someone named Kade and a truly horrifying tequila incident when I glance up and find he’s watching me.

Atlas.

Leaning against the bar, arms folded, talking to a few of the guys, but still looking like his attention’s stuck on me. When our eyes meet, something shifts in the air, in my chest, and I have to force myself to look away before I melt into the plastic chair.

“You okay?” Kasey asks.

“Huh? Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?”

She grins. “You’re so gone for him.”

I laugh, but it’s nervous. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to everyone.”

I take a sip of whatever’s in my cup, it’s sweet and fizzy and I don’t recognise it, but I’m too flustered to care. “He’s different,” I admit.

She snorts. “Yeah. He is. But he’s also steady. The kind of guy who fixes things instead of walking away.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It’s rare,” she says, eyes softening just a little.

I glance her way, seeing her eyes fixed on him. “You like him,” I gasp.

She scoffs. “Not in the same way you do,” she shrugs. “But yeah, he’s alright for a man.”

I nod, even though my insides feel tangled. “Yeah, he is.”

A shadow falls over us, and I look up to find Atlas standing there, plate in one hand, drink in the other. “Hope you’re hungry,” he says, offering the plate to me like he’s been watching how slowly I’ve been picking at mine.

I smile up at him, stupidly grateful. “Thanks.”

He shrugs like it’s nothing, then sits beside me, not across, not away, but close, thigh brushing mine like he needs the contact.

And suddenly, I don’t feel so out of place.

After another hour of loud laughter, dodging Kade’s flirtations, and watching someone try to shotgun a beer and fail spectacularly, I lean towards Atlas and murmur, “Is there somewhere quieter?”

He looks at me, and I know he gets it—the noise, the eyes, the unfamiliar terrain.

“Come on,” he says, pushing up from his chair and offering me his hand like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

I hesitate for half a second, then slide my hand into his. The contact sends a thrill through me, lighting up my insides.

He leads me around the back of the building, down a gravel path, and through a gate that opens to a side yard lit only by a single flickering bulb. It’s quieter here, just the faint hum of music and the occasional burst of laughter from the other side of the fence.

There’s a bench against the wall. He gestures to it.

“Did you bring me out here to murder me?” I tease, sitting.

He grins. “Not tonight.”

He lowers himself beside me, elbows on his knees, head tipped back to look at the stars barely visible through the glow of the club’s lights.

“It’s a lot,” I say quietly, picking at the edge of my sleeve. “All of it. The people. The noise. The way they look at me like I don’t belong.”

“You belong,” he says firmly.

I glance at him. “You sound so sure.”

He thinks for a minute. “It takes them time to accept someone that doesn’t know our world. But once they see what I see, they’ll accept you and you’ll find it hard to leave.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

He turns to face me, his voice lower now, almost gentle. “It’s not. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to fit into their world overnight. Or even at all. Just be in mine.”

Something tightens in my chest. “And what is your world, exactly?”

He’s quiet for a moment, then says, “Right now? It’s you.”

I blink, stunned. We went on one date, and we’ve text a few flirty texts back and forth, but he’s talking like we’re about to marry. As if he senses my panic, he gives me an easy smile. “I’m sorry. I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

I chew on my lower lip. “The all-in thing?” I ask, then nod. “Yeah, you are.”

We both laugh but it breaks the heaviness of the conversation, and I relax a little.

“I just don’t want you to see all this and run a mile,” he adds. “Because I know it’s a lot, but they’re my family. I won’t ever leave them, but I’d like you to stick around and give them a chance.”

I nod, rubbing my hands over my jeans. “I wasn’t planning on running anywhere.”

He reaches out and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His knuckles graze my skin, and I swear the world shifts slightly.

“Good.”

My heart’s hammering. The kind of beat I usually only feel when I finish a really good book. Or start a really dangerous one.