Page 31 of Break Away (Riot MC Next Generation #2)

“Okay,” she said, exasperation lacing her tone.

“I’ll let it go, but I know your dad told you all the time, so—”

“He’s always going to say that, all right.”

I widened my eyes. “Maybe, but legit, baby, you are pure fire.”

She pressed her lips together. “Okay, I believe you, and I’ll work on it. Now, what are we doing about breakfast? We could go to First Watch if it’s not too late.”

I grinned. “Or I could make you breakfast. I have prospect shit I have to do pretty soon.”

She almost pouted. “Okay, but let’s eat outside. I’m feeling a little stir crazy. Probably because your room has no windows.”

“This is the most bizarre set-up,” Alexandra said, as her gaze wandered about the bar area of On a Lark.

“What do you mean?” I asked, using my hand at the small of her back to guide her to the far end of the bar.

I liked that corner of the barroom because I could keep an eye on the people near the stage, and also watch as people entered from the vestibule-slash-small room where merch was sold and cover charges were collected.

Alexandra settled on a stool and shot me a semi-incredulous look. “What I mean is that the small entry area reminds me of a tourist restaurant - when this area is anything but touristy - and it strikes me as being presumptuous, because this isn’t what I expected after going through all that.”

With my elbow on the bar, I rested my head on my upturned fist. “Going through what, Lex?”

She shook her head. “Maybe it’s living in a college town, but most bars and clubs, the bouncer is at the door, checks IDs, collects the cover, and you go inside. Ryan out there behind a counter is… pretentious.”

“What are you drinkin’?” Killian asked, standing behind the bar in front of us.

I looked at Lex. She appeared to be mulling it over.

I leaned toward her. “If you want a cocktail, you only get one. I can’t get you home safe if you’re sloshed on the back of the bike.”

She turned her head to me. “I thought we were gonna be here a while. Why can’t I have two drinks?”

I dipped my chin. “Shit can change. If we were in the truck, I’d be down with that. Order what you want, babe.”

Killian shook his head and sighed. “You’re takin’ too long. I’m making you a Lark’s Lemonade, and you’re gonna like it.”

“What’s that?” Alexandra asked.

Killian grinned and his blue eyes twinkled. “A Long Island Iced Tea without any tea.”

“Kill,” I muttered, irritation lacing my tone.

He shrugged. “You heard her. You’re gonna be here a while.”

A couple minutes later, Killian put a Blue Moon in front of me and a curvy cocktail glass in front of Alexandra. “Enjoy. I’ll be back. It’s time for me to check in on Ryan up front.”

Alexandra leaned to the side a touch. From her vantage point, she could see more through the open doorway to the entryway. “There’s nobody out there. I’m sure he’s got it handled.”

Killian glanced that way and chuckled. “Still gonna check in with him. Drink up.”

I didn’t have a decent angle to see that area of the bar. “Scoot down a seat or two, Lex.”

We shifted and from the new position I saw a very petite, very curvy woman walk inside, stop short and stare at Ryan. Then awkward discomfort took over her expression.

A woman staring at him was not unusual. Ryan was the more laid-back triplet, and much more chill than Killian could ever hope to be. He worked that to his favor with all the women. Yet, from his profile, I could see he had his jaw clenched while he scrutinized the woman standing at the counter.

Killian joined them and the woman’s eyes widened, her mouth opened, and her head turned ever so slightly.

It looked like she whispered something, and Killian stepped closer to Ryan.

She glanced toward the doorway and threw out a hand in the same direction before saying something.

I didn’t realize their sister, Mickayla, was in the building until the office door opened and she scurried out to the front.

“What do you make of that?” Alexandra asked.

“Nothing good.”

She sipped her drink and glanced at me. “Why do you say that?”

I shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. The way Killian insisted on checking on Ryan, and then watching Mick run out there, too.

They downplay it, now, but in the past they’ve joked about having that mental communication between twins and triplets.

I got a feeling Kill and Mick knew something had tweaked Ryan.

Seeing as how Ryan is the calmest one of the three, that can’t be good. ”

Alexandra shook her head. “I don’t get it. She’s really cute. What sort of problem could Ryan have with her coming in here?”

I leveled my eyes on her. “Ryan would have to tell us, but take a good look around, Lex. This may be a soft launch, but this is already a biker bar - even if Lark didn’t want it to become that. A woman like her isn’t likely to do well here.”

Alexandra was unimpressed, from the expression on her face. “You might be right, but she should be the one to determine that, don’t you think?”

“The problem with that is if she figures it out too late that she was wrong. Makes it risky for everyone all around.”

I glanced back to the doorway. Ryan and Mickayla were headed our way.

Mickayla beelined to Alexandra, opening her arms for a hug. “It is so good to see you, Lex!”

I watched them embrace, glanced toward Ryan, but he stormed past us.

“Where’s he going?” I asked.

“To move some kegs around. Said he’s edgy,” Mickayla said, letting go of Alexandra.

Alexandra perched on her barstool again. “Does that woman have something to do with it?”

“Seems that way. How long are you in town?” Mickayla asked.

I tuned out their small talk and finished my beer.

Ryan went behind the bar and came to me. “Another?”

“Sure.”

Mickayla watched him pull a bottle of beer from a cooler. “Are you over your snit?”

Ryan put my beer down in front of me. “Not a snit. Like I said, I don’t trust her.”

“How come?” Alexandra asked.

Ryan rested both hands on the bar at an angle and leaned forward. “Instinct. She’s my age, maybe a little younger. A woman like her shouldn’t be strolling in here, asking about Lark.”

“Why not?” Alexandra asked.

“Lex,” I warned.

Alexandra turned to me. “It’s a valid question. Why can’t anyone come in here and ask to talk to Lark?”

“Why couldn’t she tell me what she wanted with him?” Ryan asked.

Alexandra turned her hands up. “I’m just saying, it’s a daunting task to go anywhere looking for someone. It’s even worse when it’s a biker bar and you aren’t part of our culture. I didn’t hear what she said, but from the way she held herself - I don’t think she’s ever met a biker.”

Ryan leaned back and crossed his arms on his chest. “That might be true, but even if this were a mom-and-pop shop, and someone asked why she was looking for someone, saying it’s private isn’t going to cut it.”

Mickayla shook her head. “I don’t know about that, but where is Lark? Did you tell him about this?”

Ryan shook his head. “No. I went to the keg room to cool off. I don’t know why that woman made me mad, but she did. You can let Lark know that a woman who’s probably thirty years younger than him is looking for him.”

Mickayla narrowed her eyes at Ryan. “She’s not thirty years younger than him. She looks like she’s twenty-one, maybe twenty-two, and Lark is early forties, tops.”

Ryan wiped down the bar to the left of us, then locked eyes with his sister. “Nope, Lark will be forty-nine next week. That puts twenty-eight years between them.”

Mickayla stepped closer to the bar. “Okay, but why do you sound angrier?”

Ryan dipped his chin. “What he does in his free time is his business, but he loves attention from younger women. She said the reason she wanted to see him was ‘private’. What else am I supposed to make of that?”

I shook my head. “That seems like a stretch, Ry.”

Mickayla spoke before he could respond. “He doesn’t act on any attention he gets from younger women, Ryan. But you said it yourself, it’s ‘his business,’ so maybe you shouldn’t jump to conclusions here.”

He took a deep breath, then leaned toward his sister. “I’ll do that. But like you said to her, if she comes back she’s still gotta tell one of us what she wants before she’ll get to Lark.”

“Why are you three his keeper?” Alexandra asked.

Mickayla hustled behind the bar before she said, “Part of proving ourselves to him.”

Ryan shot me a dry look. “I thought it was bullshit until now.”

“Maybe she was a plant,” Alexandra suggested.

Mickayla laughed. “Honey, Lark doesn’t have the time to plan something like that.”

Ryan stared into space for a beat. “No, but I could see another brother doing that to fuck with us.”

Mickayla shrugged. “Whatever. Time will tell. If she even comes back.”

Alexandra’s head bobbed in a couple of short nods, then she looked at Ryan. “Yeah, and maybe you won’t be here when she does.”

“Fat chance. We get no days off here if we want part ownership,” Ryan said.

“Really?” Alexandra asked.

“As Lark pointed out, small business owners don’t get vacations in their first year,” Mickayla said.

Alexandra tilted her head. “But not even one day off?”

“His terms,” Ryan said, looking between the two of us. “I’ll see you when you leave. Have a good time.”

Alexandra and I sat at the bar, and between serving customers Mickayla gabbed with Alexandra about the things going on in Gainesville. We stayed through the first set of live music. During the break, the crowd had grown and it felt like they were going to get rowdy… or rowdier.

“You look like you’re ready to roll out of here,” Lark said, from behind the bar, strolling toward us.

He had his steel-wool colored hair pulled back into a low pony-tail and his octagonal shaped glasses perched on his nose, magnifying his sharp, blue eyes; a shade of blue that bordered on being violet, depending on the lighting.

I reached out to shake his hand. “You’re right. The crowd’s changing.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” he muttered.

“No, there isn’t, but I’ve got to be at the clubhouse early in the morning.”

He looked at Alexandra, who stared at him with an expression I hadn’t seen before. A blend of respect and reluctance in her eyes.

“Are you going to the clubhouse with him?” he asked Lex.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I doubt it. He was pretty busy while I was there today.”

He nodded. “You should find a way to get back here in the morning. Brunch is being served, but only to brothers and their families. I want honest feedback about whether the food’s good enough, and then I’ll look at whether it’ll make sense to offer that on Sundays to the after-church crowds.”

“All right,” Alexandra said.

Lark pointed at me. “I’m pretty sure his sister’s comin’, maybe catch a ride with her.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Alexandra said.

Lark nodded. “Y’all better go. The crew in the corner are wild cards, and the loudest assholes I’ve had to deal with in this town.”

“Are they from a rival MC?” I asked.

Lark blew out air through his nose. “No. Not sure they’d cut it with an MC. Hell, maybe that’s the problem. They need to prospect and have their asses kicked for a few weeks…or months. Take the piss and vinegar out of them.”

“Thanks for the heads up, man. I’ll see you at the clubhouse.”

“I need to use the bathroom,” Alexandra said.

I eyed the group of men. They were at a table near the hallway to the bathroom. “Be careful of those assholes.”

She grinned at me. “Always.”