Page 8

Pippa

The next morning, instead of being late, I was early. I’d had enough time to shower, straighten my hair, do my makeup, and scour my closet for something besides jeans and a T-shirt.

I wore a cute thigh-length plaid skirt and a furry crop top that showed my midriff. I stomped on calf-high boots, grabbed my bag, and headed to the MC to pick up Hana.

Traffic was light on my way over. I pulled up to the fence, but the gate was closed. I sent Hana a text.

Pippa: I’m here. Let me in :)

I did a quick check of my social media as I waited.

Shit. Another DM from Quinn. I hadn’t responded to the last direct messages he’d sent. Nor the emails. Or the text messages. I hadn’t made an appointment to meet with him. My grades were good, and I was on target for my degree.

The only thing he could want is a hook up, and that wasn’t happening.

The chain link gate slid open. I drove into the MC and parked opposite of the few motorcycles out front .

I’m not sure why Hana or Blade kept their apartments since they seemed to stay at the MC every night. I headed across the lot to the front door.

Dozer waited for me.

Our last words hadn’t been kind. I tried to smile but my lips didn’t seem to want to work. I stopped in front of him. He reached out and cupped my cheek sending a shiver over my flesh.

“You’re right. We’re not friends.” His fingers curled around the nape of my neck and tilted my head.

Warm breath, laced with cigarettes and coffee, teased me, and drew me closer. I clutched his shirt in my fist. Tears threatened, but I blinked, focusing on his eyes piercing my resistance.

Dozer was damaged, broken into jagged pieces. Every time I got close, I bled. Yet, I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to smother me.

His tongue slicked over my lip, tasting me, tempting me to open my mouth. I rose onto my tiptoes at the same time as he crashed his mouth onto mine. His lips parted as he devoured me, claimed my tongue, and pulled me into a dark swirling intoxication.

Heat unfurled within me, starting as a slow burn. He sucked my tongue. The warmth slid lower. I pressed my body against his. His cock, as hard as granite, nudged my belly. Hot coils of lust centered on my clit.

Dozer growled as he released me. His hand on my hip kept me from stumbling. My panties were getting wet, and my heart rumbled with the same powerful vibration as his bike between my legs.

“I’m sorry. Am I forgiven?” he asked .

I smiled. “Maybe. Do you plan to kiss me like that again?”

He grazed his thumb along the edge of my mouth. Then he bent and kissed me again. He fisted my hair and angled my head to plunder my mouth. He twisted right, then left. My knees weakened.

“We’re good,” I said against his lips.

His hand was on my ass as Hana burst from the building with Levi right behind her.

“We can’t be late,” she said.

Levi stilled next to us. Her gaze shifted between me and Dozer. “Can I catch a ride with you?”

“Absolutely. Let’s go.” I stepped away from Dozer, but he tugged me back into his arms.

He kissed my neck just below my ear. “I am sorry for being a dick yesterday. I’ll figure out a way to make it up to you.”

I chewed my lip. “What if I need a favor? I, ah, I need a boyfriend tomorrow.”

“Pip, let’s go.” Hana stood at the passenger door of my car with Levi.

“One minute.” I turned back to Dozer.

“Okay,” he said.

“Don’t you want to know the details?”

He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Will I be with you?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m good.”

“And my family. I’ll explain later.” I jogged toward my car. “Sorry,” I said to Hana and Levi. “We’re not going to be late.”

“Spill it,” Hana said once we were on our way.

I turned up the radio and started to sing .

“No way.” Hana spun around to peer at Levi in the backseat. “It’s time to clear the air between all of us.”

“The air is clear. I know I’ve been a jealous bitch. That’s not going to change.” Levi stared down at her hands clasped in her lap. “I’m not like you and Jazzy,” she said to Hana. “I’m like her.”

I glanced at Levi in the rearview mirror. “Me?”

“Yes. Dozer is my best friend,” she said to me in the mirror. “I’m not giving him up because Romeo isn’t enough for you.”

Hana rested a palm on Levi’s knee. “You might not think we understand, but we do. We don’t have to talk about the guys when we’re together.”

“You can talk about Dozer.”

The rest was left unsaid. Romeo wasn’t open for discussion.

Hana flipped back around to me. “Talk.”

“I don’t know. That was legit, and our first kiss. With his mood swings, who knows, it could be our last kiss.”

“Who’s a better kisser?”

Levi laughed. “According to Kiss’ kiss list, Romeo is the best kisser.”

“Kiss list?” Hana asked.

Levi glanced out the window. “Shae. We call her Kiss. She kissed all the guys and scored their efforts.”

“She kissed Blade?” Hana’s brow rose.

“Blade, Vance, Dozer, Romeo. Pretty sure she kissed most of the guys on the wrestling team in high school. I miss her. Now that she’s gone, I realize how much she was part of us. ”

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

“She’s not dead. Not this time. She and Romeo were together.”

My heartbeat hiccupped.

“It was before you. Actually, she left for rehab the night you hooked up with Romeo at Liquid Chrome. Maybe now that Razor’s dead, she can come back and stay clean.”

I pulled into the lot, parked, and we exited the car.

“Blade wasn’t sure if he’d be able to pick me up. Can we meet after classes in the Union Center?” Hana asked.

We agreed. Levi and I went to class as Hana took off in the opposite direction.

“Kiss was serious about Romeo, but he wasn’t serious about her,” Levi said as we walked. “In case you worried.”

“I was under the impression Romeo doesn’t do serious.”

She squinted against the morning sun. “He doesn’t. But what he has with you isn’t his typical either. I can’t wrap my head around what’s happening with the three of you.”

“Me, either.”

She laughed first. Then I did.

“You wouldn’t know it now,” I said, “but I was sheltered by my family before I met Hana. I mean, my brother and his friends would let me break a few rules. But my dad can be intimidating. My dates were usually sons of his friends.”

“Heller boys are testing your wild side? ”

Maybe, and I wasn’t sure if I was acing or failing the exam.

We walked into class. This time we chose seats next to each other. We opened our laptops and typed notes as the professor lectured.

“Don’t hurt him,” she said.

My fingers paused in typing.

“Dozer keeps his feelings deep inside. When he tells you he’s fine, don’t believe him. He’s never fine.”

I sat with my memories of Dozer. Feelings couldn’t always be explained. I’d glimpsed his dark thoughts. Like ice, beautiful and cold. I was drawn to him.

“Are you going to keep seeing them both?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s up to just me.” Because Dozer had let me in, let me taste his desires when he kissed me. And Romeo made me smile. He knew just how to touch me. I wanted them both.

Once classes were over, we made our way to the Union Center. I swear I was living the movie, Groundhog’s Day. Coop loitered with the Eminence Rooks football team. Hana was in the middle of the crush chatting him up.

When he saw us, he waved.

“Pipsqueak.” He said hello to me, but his gaze was locked on Levi like she was a large pepperoni pizza. In other words, he looked hungry. I’d seen him eat ten slices in ten minutes after a game. I’d have to warn him Levi was not on the menu.

“We’re having a party tomorrow night.”

“At the toolshed?” I cocked a brow, teasing him with the name any girl who wasn’t looking to sleep with someone on the team called Coop’s crib. He and a couple guys on the team had off campus housing. Rich daddies paying top dollar for their protégés to live wet and wild, aka pussy and booze.

“The playpen, baby.”

“We’ll pass.”

“We’re going to Liquid Chrome,” Levi said. “You should meet us there.”

“No way. He’ll spoil my good time,” I said and laughed. “Come on. We need to go.”

“See you tomorrow,” he said.

Levi glanced over her shoulder and smiled.

“Girl, he’s another Romeo. All player, and I’m not talking about his skills on the football field.”

“Is there anywhere on him that doesn’t have muscles? He’s huge,” Levi said.

Hana snorted. “Everywhere.”

We giggled as we left the Union Center and crossed the campus.

“Will you drop us off at the MC?” Hana asked when we approached my car.

My stomach rolled and my chest tightened. A paper was tucked under my windshield wiper. The edge of the university stationary fluttered in the wind.

I grabbed it, but before I could read it, Hana snatched it from my fingers.

“Your anatomy professor again? Is he fucking psycho?” Her brows pinched.

“Getting there. I hate that he’s seen me naked. Just put it with the others in the glovebox. You’d think he was a creative writing professor rather than accounting. ”

Hana read the note. “Oh, listen to this. He wants to pleasure you like a princess. He misses the way you quietly surrender to his passion.” She dropped her arm to her side. “Bitch, please. Quietly?”

“Lack of experience on my part.” Until Romeo, I dated…well accountant types, guys that could move into the upper echelon of my father’s businesses. I loved that no one other than Hana knew my family had money.

That would change when I took Dozer to the baby shower. Maybe I should go alone.

“I still think you should go to the school and report this.”

“I did, anonymously.” At least, I’d checked into what I’d need to do. Contacting my academic adviser was what I wanted to avoid. He’d become the department head. They told me I could drop his class and repeat it later. I wasn’t in his class. Circular useless information.

“You need to go to the police,” Hana said.

“Hellers don’t go to the cops,” Levi said. “If you want him to leave you alone, tell Blade. Let the club handle it.”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. Listen, I have it handled. I’m going to make sure he understands. He’s not dangerous, just desperate. The love notes didn’t start until after I stopped seeing him.” I grabbed the note, opened the passenger door, then the glovebox, and shoved it in with the others.

I wasn’t going to jeopardize my degree by getting into a legal spat with the professor I’d slept with for a few months. He didn’t have to know that. I’d learned something from the Hellers. Intimidation worked. Next time Quinn cornered me, I’d threaten him with exposure.

Rogue

The MC was quiet. Pike was out of bed but moving slowly. Brenna had coveted old lady status for a while. She might have found her place with Pike.

Blade was in Razor’s old office. Files scattered across the desk. I sat in the chair, stretched my legs out, and crossed my ankles.

“Still cleaning house?” I asked.

“I’ve figured out why Elvis resigned from the board. Last night,” he said before I could ask him when. “This office is a shit show.” Blade sat behind the desk. “If we have any chance of going legit, we need someone good with numbers as treasurer.”

“Romeo?”

He nodded. “At church tonight, I want to put it to a vote.”

“Romeo plays hard. You sure you want to saddle him with the money and the books?”

“You said I’d have your support.”

I tilted my head in agreement. “I’m a yes.”

“When Sully is ready to step down, I want Dozer for my enforcer.”

I stood, checked the hall, and closed the office door. My gut tightened, and a low hum clouded my thoughts. After the situation with the Crawlers, Blade proved to me I’d made the right call backing him as president.

Going legit didn’t mean hard decisions could be avoided .

“We need to talk about the Crawlers,” I said.

Bullet had disposed of the bodies. His property stretched into the foothills. They’d found their final resting spot among the scrub and oak.

“I want to set up a meeting with the cartel,” I said.

“What the fuck for?” Blade asked.

I returned to the chair and sat. “Because we have a common enemy.”

The three dead Crawlers had settled the score. Wrench wouldn’t see it that way. He and I still had our unresolved issues. I didn’t see those as Heller issues. They were personal.

The cartel hadn’t accepted the loss of their heroin. Knowing his club wasn’t going to save him, Stitch had given up the information I needed.

“We know where they’re milling the heroin, cutting it with fuck knows what. I think it’s time we make a deal with the cartel, let them know who has their product.”

“I’ve got my issues with the Crawlers,” Blade said. “But we’re a small time MC dealing in stolen car parts. Razor made the mistake of thinking he could get in bed with the guys supplying H up the eastern seaboard.”

I leaned forward. “Stitch wasn’t bullshitting when he said Wrench wanted to see the Hellers burn.”

“In a couple weeks, we talk to Wrench,” Blade said.

I drew in a deep inhale through my nose. “Your old man double-crossed the Crawlers. Promised the cartel he could mill and distribute. He was determined to kill Wrench and take over the Crawler’s network. He planned to patch over the Crawlers, make them Hellers. He needed Vance back in to modify the weapons for his new army of dealers.”

Blade leaned back in the chair and scrubbed his face with his palms. “He’s going to fuck me over from the grave.”

“Nah, Razor’s deals died with him. We need to make new deals.”

“Not without a vote.”

I shook my head. “You can’t mix the club in with this. It’s separate.”

“Fuck it is. Anywhere I go I represent this club. Rogue, I told you I’m not my old man.”

I growled. “Did you ask the club how they felt about new leadership before you stuck the needle in Razor?”

The color drained from Blade’s face. He sank into the chair. I leaned across the desk. “No. You made a decision that you’d carry alone because you love this club. Because at the end of the day, leaders make the hard fucking decisions. You don’t pussy out or table it for a vote.”

Fuck, I didn’t want this to become a rub between us. Just as he had in the barn, Blade needed to own his choice.

“It’s got to be a yes from you. I’m not running this club. I’m not making decisions on my own anymore.”

His head snapped up, and his gaze locked with mine. “ Anymore ? What decisions have you made on your own?”

My jaw clenched. I’d chased behind Razor attempting to clean up his wreckage. “I trusted Wrench. Now, Texas is dead, we’re in a war with the Crawlers, and the only way I see us getting out is letting the cartel get their hands bloody instead of Hellers.”

I growled and cracked my neck. “I’m done with this shit. I want to schedule a run down to Daytona or Sturgis. I want to get back to riding bikes and riding pussy.”

“We trust Toja Ortiz more than the Night Crawlers?”

“Fuck no. We fuck them both.”