Page 15

Blue

Kiss sat behind the wheel of Jazzy’s car in the parking lot of the community center.

“Try again.” I had the hood popped. I’d checked the connections, but the car wouldn’t start.

She turned the ignition. Nothing. However, the headlights, the lights in the dashboard, and the stereo worked, but they were dim. The battery didn’t have enough of a charge to start the car.

“Can I help?”

I glanced to the left.

The guy from last night with the handlebar mustache peered at the engine. “Although, I don’t know much about cars.”

Kiss jumped out of the vehicle and stood next to me. “Ansel, this is my boyfriend, Blue.” She slipped her hands into the front pockets of her jeans and nervously shifted from one foot to the other.

I gave a slight nod as a greeting. “Do you have jumper cables?” I asked him because there weren’t any in Jazzy’s car. Something I’d rectify today.

“I do.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll pull my car around.”

I nodded and swallowed the sticky taste of jealousy coating my mouth as Kiss jogged to catch up with him. She used her hand as she talked, tucking her hair behind her ear, and then using it to gesture something I couldn’t hear. But the body language spoke enough. She was comfortable standing close to him, fucking smiling, and chatty.

The guy nodded at something she said, clasped her on the shoulder, and his gaze landed on me before quickly snatching his hand back and turning away. They couldn’t have spoken more than a few sentences. But Kiss must have liked what he said. She smiled, turned, and made her way to the hood of the car.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“I thanked him for last night.”

I wiped my hands on the thighs of my jeans. “Last night?”

“Yes, last night when you left, and I panicked. I didn’t have a car, no money for an Uber, and no way to get to you.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I didn’t know what was going on with you, but I knew it was no one’s business. Anyone from the MC would have questions. You scared me. All I could think to do was get to Cruz. I figured you trusted him because of what happened with Sam. I didn’t realize I could go to Bullet and Rogue.”

I curled my fingers around her nape, tugged her close, and pressed my lips to hers. “Good thinking.”

“Did you tell Rogue or Bullet anything else about what happened with Sam?”

“Rogue made sure I understood I was to include him and Bullet next time I need to take a guy out.”

“Sounds like something Rogue would say,” she mumbled. “I was desperate, Blue.” She angled her head back. “Ansel gave me a ride to the MC. He didn’t ask any questions, and I didn’t tell him anything. ”

Ansel drove his car over and parked the front end of his vehicle close to Jazzy’s. He handed me the jumper cables and checked his watch. “I really need to be inside.”

Several people entered the building.

“This should only take a couple of minutes,” I said.

“Do what you need to do.” Ansel handed his keys to Kiss. “The meeting starts in ten minutes.”

“She’ll be there,” I said and attached the cables.

Ansel went into the community center, and Kiss climbed behind the wheel of his car.

“Start it up,” I said to her. Ansel’s engine turned over and quietly hummed.

After two minutes of the engine running, I sat behind the wheel of Jazzy’s car and turned the key. The engine sputtered and rolled over.

Kiss smiled as she jumped out of Ansel’s vehicle. I stood between the hoods, disconnected the cables, coiled them into a tight circle, and stored them in his trunk.

Kiss got behind the wheel of his car and parked in the adjacent stall. “I need to go in.” She twirled the keys on her finger. “Do you want to stay for the meeting?”

“Do you want me to stay?” I’d do whatever she wanted.

“Yes. I need the meetings. I want you to feel comfortable with my sponsor, but she won’t be here today. And I want you to meet Georgia, Ryatt, and Brad.”

“I’ll come find you.”

With her lips stretched into a wide smile, she kissed me. “It means everything that you’re here with me.”

She took off for the door. Jeans rode low on her hips and molded to her ass. She no longer had the hollow eyes of a junkie. Staring into her eyes, I didn’t see judgment or disgust. Not from Kiss. Before she entered the building, she turned to me. The breeze caught her hair. She pulled the strands from her face, then waved at me before disappearing inside.

My chest tightened. After last night, I could almost believe my scars wouldn’t tear us apart. For the first time since I’d walked out of my parent’s house, I’d trusted someone with my secret. And for the first time, I had a glimmer of what it might have been like if I’d been believed when it mattered, before Carl had fucking poisoned my brain and pissed on my soul.

I gave Jazzy’s car a few minutes of run time to charge the battery, then killed the engine, locked the doors, and headed inside.

About a dozen people lingered in the open foyer area. I sidled around the room. Ansel stood behind a desk, deep in conversation with a guy in a suit. His mouth pulled into a hard line, and he folded his arms across his chest. We made eye contact, and he nodded toward a set of double doors.

Inside, there were folding chairs facing the front of the room. A banquet table stretched along the left side of the room. My girl stood next to a ginger, eating cookies, and sipping a cup of coffee.

As soon as she saw me heading toward her, she smiled and said something to the girl next to her who snapped her gaze over her shoulder and had a big smile on her face.

“I heard this is the snack table,” I said and grabbed a cookie.

“This is Georgia.” Kiss handed me her cup of coffee, and I took a couple of sips. “I don’t want to be up front,” she said, and pointed to a cluster of chairs .

“Where are Brad and Ryatt?” Georgia stacked four cookies on a napkin.

Kiss shrugged, filled another paper coffee cup, and led us to a couple of chairs. This was only her second meeting, and yet, she already seemed comfortable with the people.

Ansel spoke to the group. When we welcomed visitors, his gaze locked on me. He sat on a table at the head of the room and clasped his hands in his lap.

“I need to talk with you before we open the meeting to sharing.” For the next few minutes, he spoke about his experiences with addiction. Not his, but his brother who died of a drug overdose. He struggled with accepting the loss. “There is only so much a sober individual can do for an addict. I couldn’t be sober for him, and I couldn’t stop him from making the choice to use.”

He squinted his eyes, blinking rapidly, and his lower lip trembled.

“Last night, Janie overdosed.” A tear slipped onto his cheek.

The room grew quiet, too quiet.

“Is she going to make it?” Georgia’s whispered word echoed through the room with the force of a twelve-point earthquake, the question too impossible to believe.

Ansel gave a single shake of his head.

It was almost as if the entire room stopped breathing. I reached for Kiss’s hand. Her palm locked to mine. I stared at her profile. Her eyes closed as tears slipped down her cheeks.

They’d only just met, but they shared the same abusive relationship with black. Ansel called on people to share, most talked about their friendship with Janie .

When Ansel asked Kiss if she’d like to share, she squeezed my hand. She stood, and for a moment, she didn’t say anything.

“I could be Janie. I am Janie. My story is the same as hers.” Her voice trembled. “I’ve used and relapsed. I’ve died, but I was lucky to get another chance.” She wiped tears from her cheeks. “I only met Janie yesterday. Life changes in a moment. I hurt a lot of people with my addiction. But we hurt ourselves the most. Looking in the mirror is hard. Admitting my culpability is hard.” She took a breath. “Janie was my sponsor for a day. But I’m going to remember today when I feel weak because I can do hard shit. Rock bottom wasn’t my end. It’s my foundation.”

When the meeting ended, Kiss stayed close to my side as we walked out with Brad, Ryatt, and Georgia.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without her,” Georgia said.

Ryatt wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “We got you, red.”

“We still have each other.” Brad’s jaw clenched and moisture shimmered in his eyes. “Fuck.” He turned away, tipped his head back, and closed his eyes. “I just want to get fucked up and forget about this.”

Kiss stiffened. “And that’s why she’s dead. That’s why we all should be dead for the shit we’ve done. God knows I want to use, but I made a promise to myself.”

“You need to get high? You can without fucking up your sobriety.” I nodded toward their bikes. “Let’s ride.” I wrapped my arm around Kiss’s neck, tugged her flush against me, and pressed my lips to her forehead. “We’ll ride for Janie.”

She clung to my cut and nodded.

“Want to be my backpack?” Brad asked Georgia .

“Do you know how to ride pillion?” Kiss asked her.

Georgia slipped on her backpack, probably filled with cookies. “No.”

Brad and Ryatt sat on their bikes, and I slung a leg over my Harley. “Did Janie have a favorite place?” I asked.

“She did. The city cemetery.” Ryatt tugged on his gloves. “She liked to read death dates on the headstones.”

Brad started his bike. “I can almost hear her calling us morbid, then laughing because she’d love it.”

Kiss gave her a quick lesson on riding pillion and demonstrated how to climb onto the bike. She rested her hand on my shoulder, threw her leg over, and wrapped her arms around me.

“You can hold his shoulders, his waist, or rest your hands on the tank in front of him,” she said to Georgia.

Brad turned his head to talk to her. “We’ll go easy, just press in close so your body follows mine.”

She nodded and grabbed onto him.

Ryatt pulled out first, followed by Brad and Georgia.

Kiss leaned in. “Thank you.”

I ran my hand along her flank. “I got you, babe.”

And I’d be there for her friends because she needed them as much as they needed her.

Kiss

I’d only known Janie for a day, but I’d felt a connection with her. With a few words, she’d made me feel safe, and she’d made me want to stay for the meeting. But it was more than that. She’d represented everything I wanted for myself .

What went through her mind? What justification did she have to decide one more time? I guess that was the takeaway from the day. Staying clean didn’t mean the reasons I used were going to go away.

The day of reckoning was coming, and I’d have to deal with my past. While at the cemetery, Georgia had told us more about Janie and her family, specifically her father. She hadn’t wanted the gifts and money for her sobriety. She’d wanted his acceptance.

Something Georgia said kept running through my mind. Janie got high to punish her dad. It hit hard because I remembered days when I needed a shot, was dope sick to the point of wishing I was dead, and I’d curse my dad in my thoughts. If he didn’t want me to turn out like my mom, he shouldn’t have died.

I closed my eyes, and I could almost hear his voice whispering to me in the roar of the motorcycle.

“It was my choice,” I whispered back. “And never your fault.”

Blue pointed two fingers down as a goodbye to the other two riders, and we split off from Brad, Georgia, and Ryatt and rode toward the community center. He tapped my thigh, I held on tighter, and he rolled the throttle, hitting the RPMs hard.

He weaved between cars, and a rush of adrenaline flowed through me. Riding with Blue was the most exhilarating feeling in the world, better than being high, better than black—I smiled—almost as good as being naked and pressed against him.

Blue slowed the bike, rode through the community center parking lot, and stopped in the slot next to Jazzy’s car.

He killed the engine and dropped the kickstand as I slid off the bike. “I gotta be at church tonight,” he said .

Church was held every Friday night at the MC. The board would meet to discuss club business and vote on issues. Tonight was a major event for the club. Jazzy was the only female patched member of the club, and now she’d be on the board.

But I was on probation. “Do you think I can be there?”

This was his club, and I wanted everyone to know I was his girl.

He squinted into the fading sunset. “I don’t think that’s the issue. This is about you. You just lost a friend.” He slid off his bike, took my hand, and leaned against the driver’s side door. With a widespread stance, he pulled me to stand between his legs. He rested his hands on my hips. “The chapel is going to be full of drunk, high, rowdy Hellers. Romeo’s on the board. He’ll be there, and I can’t imagine Levi missing tonight.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Do you want to go?”

I nodded. “What if they don’t want me there?”

“I want you with me. I can’t miss church, but we don’t have to stay long.” He dipped his head and kissed me. “You’ll be next to me all night.”

I smiled against his mouth. “Okay.”

He stepped to the side, and I slid behind the wheel. Blue followed me to Sully’s. Once there, I found a backpack in the closet and stuffed it with a change of clothes for both of us. I didn’t know how it would go. Probation left a lot of gray area. I didn’t care if we decided to stay the night or come back here as long as we were together.

Ten minutes later, I’d changed into a hoodie, and we were back on the bike. This time, instead of adrenaline, apprehension slipped through my veins. And when we rode through the gates, I realized I’d gotten into a much bigger situation than I’d anticipated.

There were dozens of bikes lining the front of the church. Sparks snapped and flames rose from the oil drum. Boisterous laughter from at least a dozen guys filled the night air. Barrels, converted into barbecue smokers, grilled meat and vegetables.

Blue linked our hands as we walked toward the main doors to the church. I tried to tamp down the nervous energy firing through me.

With the doors propped open, music filtered out of the chapel. Inside, there were Hellers, prospects, and hang-arounds all drinking and laughing.

Blue paused just inside and scanned the crowd. I was overwhelmed, overdressed, and bumbling with the backpack. Sweat dampened my back because I felt everyone’s stare even though I couldn’t say anyone was really looking at me.

Blue weaved us through the tables, stepping up to the platform with the pool table. Pike and Brenna were in the corner with several other people. Kodiak sat on the couch with one of Bullet’s girls. His gaze tracked me across the room making insecurity knot in my stomach.

At some point my past was going to collide with my present. For now, all I could do was pretend that I belonged here as much as he did despite our history with the Crawlers.

Cruz bumped Blue’s fist. “Everything good?”

Blue gave a single nod. “We should get a table.”

Cruz tipped his beer to his lips. “Good luck with that.”

I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the far corner of the room. Willow cuddled a baby against her chest as she gently bounced and paced. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Bear. He sat next to Romeo. Jazzy and Rogue were at the table with Shannon, Romeo’s mom.

Blade checked his phone, stood, and made his way to the boardroom with Dozer, Romeo, and Torch. Rogue leaned into Jazzy and whispered something into her ear. Her brows furrowed as she slowly stood, and they followed Blade.

I tugged on Blue’s cut. “Rogue’s talking to Jazzy. Does that mean the board is going to vote?”

Blue glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “Right now, they’ll vote on whether they bring the vote to the members or if they’ll make the decision as a board.” Blue turned to Cruz and explained how the Hellers voted.

Prospects becoming full patched members was the only vote that required a hundred percent agreement by every patched member. Everything else, the board decided whether or not to get the full agreement of the club.

“Want to play?” McKelle asked and handed me a stick.

I laughed. “I’m better at axe throwing.” I hadn’t played pool in a long time, not since before I left for the wilderness rehab. Back when Romeo and I would get high and play.

I glanced over my shoulder at Levi. Even from here, I could hear her laugh. When they said not everything broken could be fixed, this was what they meant. With everyone important in my life, I’d burned bridges like an arsonist.

Blue’s grip on my hip tightened, and my tummy fluttered with butterflies. I took strength from his touch.

“I’ll play.” I curled my fingers around the smooth wood of the stick. I could hit a ball into a pocket. I just tended to hit any ball, not just the solids or stripes to get me the win.

McKelle flipped her hair, leaned over the table, and racked the balls. “We won’t play for points. Stripes are a dare. Solids are truth.”

“I think we should play doubles,” I said with a smirk.

McKelle popped a hip. “Are you trying to handicap my game? Cruz only knows how to play with one kind of balls.”

Cruz leapt off the rail, grabbed McKelle, and kissed her dirty. “I’ve been good. The only balls I’ve played with have been my own.”

Blue laughed, and McKelle snorted.

“Already telling lies,” she said to him. “You better hope for stripes.” She stepped to the side and arched a brow as she smiled at me. “Good girls break.”

Blue laughed and pulled me into his arms. “My good girl doesn’t break,” he whispered in my ear. “She’s strong as fuck and beautiful.”

“And she wants stripes,” I said about myself. Then I turned and spoke to Cruz. “Because I think you have some juicy truths.” I leaned over the table, lined up the shot, and hit the cue ball. Balls clanked, spun, and banked off the rails. But none went into the pockets.

A loud cheer erupted from the far side of the room.

Blade jumped onto a chair and called for everyone’s attention through the cacophony of voices and music.

Jazzy’s piercing whistle cut the chatter. The music stopped and the room quieted. “Blade needs your attention. And listen up, little Rosie is the only one allowed to cry.”

Blade smiled down at her. “Already taking your duties seriously, laying down the law and shit. ”

Jazzy stuffed a lollipop into her mouth. I smiled, remembering that was how she kept from falling into peer pressure to smoke cigarettes with the guys. She was always a tomboy.

“I’m nervous enough,” she said. “Get this over with before I puke.”

Blade smiled and picked up his beer from the table. “We have some club business that needs a unanimous vote.”

Cruz stiffened. Unanimous votes from the members usually involved prospects. Cruz was not so patiently waiting for his full patch membership.

“The board took a vote,” Blade said. “As you know, we need a sergeant at arms because Sully’s a pussy.”

Cruz tipped his beer to his lips and finished it. Tonight wasn’t about prospects.

“Retired pussy.” Sully raised his drink, and several guys laughed. “And my daughter has bigger balls than most of the men in this room.” He directed a contrite smile to Rogue. “Not bigger than yours.”

Another round of laughs followed, and Levi’s baby started to cry. Rogue leaned back in his chair, and Willow handed him the fussy baby. Once he put her on his chest, she settled.

“Sully, you raised a Heller,” Blade said. “Per her usual bitching, even though it was unanimous with the board, our resident ball breaker has conditions. Before she’ll sew on the sergeant at arms patch, she wants a general vote. I need a yes from every patched member.” Blade shoved his hands into his pockets. “Sergeant at arms. You all know what that entails. She’ll be chief law enforcement officer of the club. You gotta problem, you’ll go to Jazzy. I want you to know where I stand. I don’t want anyone else. She’s earned her place. She logs enough road miles. She’s fucking bled for this club. What do you say?”

Dozer was the first aye in the room and set the tone. Dozer wore the enforcer patch. If Jazzy determined someone broke club rules, it would be up to Dozer to enforce the punishment.

“Aye.” Sully smiled at Jazzy. The room erupted in ayes. And when Blade called for nays, the only sound in the room was the gurgle and soft whimpers of the baby. Levi took her from Rogue and headed toward the hall leading to the bedrooms.

“Drinks are on Jazzy.” A round of cheers went up, someone cranked up the music, and shots made their way around the room.

Jinx, one of Bullet’s girls, brought a tray of drinks to the pool area. She smiled and came straight toward us. “Where’ve you been?” She offered Blue a drink, but he declined with a shake of his head. “Bullet said you’re going to start working for him again.”

Blue took a step closer to me. “Nah. The guys have me working at the shop.”

“Hellers and their Harleys.”

Good thing she said Harleys and not whores. Because Blue was mine now. Pike snagged two shots off her tray and handed one to Brenna.

“Save me a shot,” Cruz said, lined up his stick against the cue, and scratched.

“This is going to be the worst game ever,” McKelle said. “Should we make a bet on how long it takes someone to sink a fucking ball?” She grabbed a shot and tossed it back. “Jazzy is going to have to take out a loan for tonight.”

I leaned into Blue. “Don’t not drink because of me. ”

“I’m not.” He slapped my ass and lined up to take the next shot. “Do you want truth or a dare?”

I laughed. “I’ll be happy if you just sink a ball.”

The cue cracked against a cluster. The fifteen ball dropped into the corner and the four followed it in.

“Truth and a dare,” McKelle said.

Blue leaned his ass against the edge of the table. “Truth,” he said to me, “and the dare are the same.” His gaze pierced into me, daring me to resist. “Truth, I know you want to see the baby. Dare, you’ll need to talk to her.”

Not this. I wasn’t ready.

“I do, but not tonight. It’s too soon. But I will.” I had to because I needed to apologize even though, if I were Levi, I’d tell me to fuck off. Some things couldn’t be forgiven.

“My turn.” McKelle lined up her shot, hit the cue ball perfectly, and dropped a stripe. She rubbed her hands together. “A dare for Cruz needs to be brutal.”

“Do you need a suggestion?” Blue asked. She nodded, and he leaned in and whispered in her ear.

She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Is that breaking MC rules?”

Blue laughed. “If it is, it’ll be up to our new sarge to handle.”

McKelle tilted her head, and a smile spread across her lips. “I dare you to send your mom a dick pic.”

Cruz furrowed his brow. “What the fuck? Even if I had her number, that’s fucked up.”

“Nah, bruh, your mom ,” Blue clarified.

Cruz snapped his head around, staring across the room to Dozer. “Are you fucking serious? No fucking way. I’m a prospect. He’ll either kick my ass, or I’ll never get the vote.” He pleaded to McKelle with his eyes. “Don’t listen to Blue. He’s a dick.”

“It’s a dare,” she said. “You have to do it.”

Cruz glanced down at his zipper and cradled his crotch. “It was nice knowing you.” He glanced around. “Right here?”

McKelle nodded with enthusiasm and tipped her beer to her lips.

“Fuck.” He glared at Blue. “You better hope I don’t sink a stripe.” He handed McKelle his phone, unzipped his jeans, parted the fly, and exposed his dick. I averted my gaze, but not before I’d seen his shaved groin. Tribal ink covered his lower abdomen and continued around to his back.

McKelle couldn’t stop laughing as she snapped a picture. Cruz jerked the fly up, snatched his phone, and sent the text. “I’m going to fuck the laugh out of you,” he said to McKelle, then jumped onto the table. “It was a fucking dare,” he hollered across the room to Dozer. “Delete the text. Don’t open it.”

Too late. Dozer glanced at his phone. “Is this your dick?”

Cruz groaned. “Dude, the dare was just to send it. You don’t have to look!”

Hana reached across for his phone. Oh my god. Jazzy had it next.

McKelle grabbed me, nearly dropping to her knees as she laughed. “I need to pee.”

“If there’s a line, use our room,” Brenna said.

I clutched McKelle’s arm, led her down the few steps, and weaved between tables to the restroom. There wasn’t a line.

“Come with me.” McKelle pulled me into the bathroom, closed, and locked the door. “What happened last night with Blue?” She shimmied her jeans down her thighs. “What was that truth or dare about with Blue? Is there something going on between you and Levi?” As she peed, she fired off a new game of twenty questions. “And did you have something going with Kodiak? He hasn’t stopped staring at you all night.”

I leaned against the door. “How long have you and Cruz been together?”

McKelle laughed. “Is that the nice way to say it’s none of my business?”

“It’s complicated, and I don’t handle complicated very well.” Now that I was in the bathroom, I had to pee. I changed places with her.

McKelle leaned into the mirror and wiped a smudge of makeup from beneath her eye. “Hanging out with Hellers when you’re trying to stay clean can’t be easy.” She glanced at me.

Nothing about staying away from black was easy. “I’m good,” I said as I washed my hands.

“Let’s get some food.” She swung open the door.

Levi stood in the hall, cradling the baby in her arms. “I just nursed her,” she said.

McKelle peeked at the baby, gently touching the tiny arm with her knuckles. “She’s so little.”

Levi stared at me. This hurt. I didn’t know how to be me with Levi. Not only were there years of mistrust built between us, but there were just as many moments I cherished. I couldn’t look at her and not regret all the shitty things I’d done to her.

She shifted the baby in her arms, showing her to me. My heart raced, and tears filled my eyes. “Levi, she’s beautiful. ”

She was petite with lots of dark hair. Her little hands curled into fists as she arched her back.

“I want to talk,” Levi said to me. “But it’s getting loud, so Romeo is taking us home.” Her voice softened, and she shifted the baby back onto her chest. “It’s good to see you happy.”

“I was just going to say the same thing to you.” I breathed in a deep inhale and slowly let go of my fear. There was a time when we shared everything. “I’m sorry, Levi. You were a much better friend to me than I ever was to you.” I glanced at her beautiful baby. “Some things are exactly as they were always supposed to be.”

Levi smiled. “I better go. Romeo is waiting.”

Back in the chapel, Blue and Cruz had found a table in the corner. They appeared deep in conversation, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Rogue and Bullet shifted their glare from Cruz and Blue back to me. I shrugged and gave them the I don’t-know-shit glare right back.

On my way back to the pool table, I was stopped by Murph and Sherry. Sully pulled me into a hug, then went back to his penny poker game. Everyone said the same thing. They were happy to see me at the MC again, I looked healthy, and when would I start wearing a property of Blue cut.

The unsettled and vulnerable prickle of trepidation curdled in my belly. I feared I wouldn’t meet expectations and that fake smiles covered platitudes. This was when Romeo’s weed would make me one of them. Then, in my mind, heroin made me better than them.

I wanted to be worthy of being part of the Hellers again, of wearing a property of Blue cut.

Brenna and Pike played pool .

Blue turned in his chair as we approached. I took the invitation, sat on his lap, and draped my arm around his shoulder.

“Truth and dare done,” I quietly said to Blue. “I talked to Levi and got to see the baby. She’s so little. She definitely has Levi’s mouth. But I think she looks more like Romeo. She’s really pretty.”

“McKelle, you’ve got a challenger,” Pike hollered.

McKelle perked up. “What’s the bet?” she teased.

“Nah, I already know McKelle can take my money.”

That wasn’t Pike. I turned at the deep voice from the table. Breath stalled in my lungs as my chest tightened.

Kodiak leaned against the pool stick, and his gaze narrowed on me. “I want to play with Kiss.”

Blue draped an arm across my lap. “She’s busy.”

Kodiak tossed the stick onto the table. “Not with Hellers.”

I slid from Blue’s lap as he stood, pulled me behind him, and stepped up to Kodiak. Cruz jumped to his feet. Everyone around us quieted.

“She’s with me,” Blue said. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Then you need to know you’re getting your dick wet in Crawler cunt.”

Blue lunged for Kodiak.

Cruz grabbed Blue. “Bruh, not here.” Cruz glared at Kodiak. “Rules, asshole. I’m a fucking prospect, and I know that if you got a problem with a patch, you take it to the sarge, or you take it to the basement.”

“I’m not fighting Blue,” Kodiak said. “I’ve got no problem with you, but I don’t trust your lay. Wrench kept you close,” he said to me. “The only people he let close were those he could fuck or fuck over to get to the Hellers. ”

“Which one were you?” I asked.

Rogue charged over, vaulting between them. “Are you fucking serious? You’re not going to spoil my ball breaker’s night by disrespecting club rules.”

Blade rushed over and stood next to Rogue. “What the fuck is the problem?”

“I’m making sure he knows who he has on his lap. She fucking sold out the Hellers to Wrench.”

Blade closed the space between them, glaring hard into Kodiak’s eyes. “I know exactly who she is. Like you, her path has crossed with Crawlers. But do you think I’d let a fucking traitor into my club?”

Bullet leaned against the pool table and lit a cigarette. “This isn’t the time or place, Kodiak.”

Resentment burned in my belly. It wasn’t Kodiak’s place to say anything. Bullet knew about my time with the Crawlers. Rogue knew. Blue knew. And because we’d drawn the attention of everyone in the club, they would all know.

Jazzy stepped in front of Rogue, crossed her arms over her chest, and spoke to Kodiak. “Your fingers are still bloody from sewing on those Heller colors. There is a lot of Heller history you don’t know shit about. She’s one of us. Don’t fucking disrespect her again.”

“We’re done for tonight.” Blue laced our fingers, but his gaze was on Cruz. His head tipped just enough to impart some secret information. What the fuck were they plotting?

I had to walk fast to keep up with him. He stormed down the hall, shoved open the door to his room, waited for me to come in, and then slammed the door closed.