Page 5

Akio

A PILLOW slapped him in the face, and he turned his head to glare at his best friend. Maggie was grinning right back at him. They had met on the first day of class. He’d been completely overwhelmed and unsure if he’d been heading the right way. Maggie, however? Despite it being her first day, too, she’d taken him under her wing and got him to class with time to spare. They’d been inseparable since then.

“Get your ass up,” Maggie said, a wicked smile on her lips. “We’re going out.”

Akio groaned. “I just got back.”

Maggie sat down on the bed next to him and tugged him into a seated position.

“Which is why I’ve been waiting two days for you to get back, so we could go out.”

He rolled his eyes and received another pillow to the face for his trouble.

“We’re just going to the bar,” Maggie said.

“Why do I have to come if you’re just going to get laid?”

Maggie gave him a pinched look and said, “That’s so not why we’re going to the bar. You feel safe going there and sure, I could have a quicky in the stock room, but I want to play pool with you. Talk. Drink. Like college students are supposed to.”

It was a biker bar and a lot of the guys who frequented it were friends of his brothers. They were always looking out for him, so yes, he felt safe going there. The few times he’d gone with Maggie to a club, he’d felt like his skin was too tight and he’d gotten a massive headache within the first five minutes, so he’d stopped trying to go.

Maggie went with a few of her other friends if she wanted to go clubbing but, most often, she preferred the bar, too. After all, she had at least three of the bikers under her spell. Which made sense considering how stunning she was. She was five foot six with all the right curves, beautiful freckles across her nose, and brown curly hair that could make anyone envious.

“Fuck. Fine,” he breathed with a shake of his head.

“Yay,” Maggie exclaimed and poked Akio with her elbow. “We might even get you laid this time.”

They both knew that wasn’t happening, though he didn’t bother telling her. Again.

The bar didn’t exactly scream gay hookup place. The bikers there weren’t homophobic, but they were all straight. It didn’t matter anyway. His heart wasn’t in it. There was only one man he wanted, and he couldn’t have him. There was no point.

He sat back and watched as Maggie pulled clothes out of his closet to pick something for him to wear. As if it mattered. Everyone there would be wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

He almost released a sigh of relief when Maggie dropped a pair of jeans and a black shirt into his lap.

“Get dressed,” Maggie said, clapping her hands together and giving a little jump in excitement.

He rolled his eyes and started laughing when she urged him to get going. He changed clothes, satisfied with the look she had chosen.

It was still quite cold outside, so he grabbed his jacket and pulled on his boots. They were black lace-up motorcycle boots Chris and Diesel had bought him for the few times he rode behind either of them on their bikes. They were extremely comfortable and also warm, so he’d started using them as everyday boots.

Once ready, he followed Maggie out the door and down the stairs to the street. They decided that walking to the bar would be fine. It was only a twenty-minute walk, and they spent the time talking about their weekend.

They turned down the street to the two-story brick building that sat between a gym and a parking garage. There were at least twenty motorcycles parked in front of the bar, and it made him breathe a little easier. A small group of men in leather cuts were standing just outside the bar talking and when they heard someone approach, they turned around.

“Akio,” one of them said and stepped closer, a smile on his face. “Good to see you.”

Ryder was easily over six foot tall with wide shoulders covered by the black leather of his cut, dark blond unruly hair, tattoos everywhere, and sparkling blue eyes that always put him at ease.

“You too, Ry,” he said and shook the man’s hand.

“I see you brought the trouble maker,” Ryder said, gaze on Maggie who rolled her eyes and walked past them toward the door.

Ryder was the vice president of the Savage Rebels Motorcycle Club. He’d had to pull his brothers off each other a few times because of Maggie. He understood why the guys liked her. She was drop-dead gorgeous, smart, and took no shit. Half of those MC guys liked it when a woman could hold her own against them. The other half tried to keep those guys from making fools of themselves.

“How’s your brother? You were home this weekend, right?”

Akio turned back to Ryder and smiled. “I was. He’s good. Addie’s driving him up the wall, but nothing new there.”

Ryder laughed and slapped Akio’s shoulder.

“Girls,” Ryder said, a gleam in his eye. “They’re good at making men lose their minds, huh?”

He shook his head with a low laugh and headed inside, looking around until he spotted Maggie at the pool table. She was racking the balls, one guy next to her being all chatty, while another was staring at them from the other side of the pool table with his arms crossed and an offended look on his face. Mr. Chatty had probably given up the table for Maggie much to the other man’s annoyance. He wasn’t surprised. She had that effect on most men and unlike some women, she was well aware.

He walked to the bar to get them drinks, saying hello to all the MC guys he passed on the way. When the bartender put their beer bottles on the bar, he grabbed them with a nod of thanks and headed toward the pool table.

“Here you go,” he said and handed Maggie her beer.

“Thanks, babe.”

Mr. Chatty was wearing a cut Akio didn’t recognize. The name of his club wasn’t on the front so unless he turned around so he could see the colors on the back of his cut, he wouldn’t know which club he was from.

“Don’t tell me you’re with that guy,” Mr. Chatty said, then motioned to himself, “When you can be with me.”

Akio snorted, which, unsurprisingly, didn’t appease Mr. Chatty.

“You got something to say, little man?”

Mr. Chatty stepped closer, puffing out his chest like some Cartoon character. It still sent Akio’s heart racing. He’d seen what people could do to each other when they lost their shit, and this guy wasn’t exactly small.

“Do we have a problem here?” Ryder asked, stepping up behind Akio and putting a hand on his shoulder. Akio squeezed the shit out of his beer bottle, sloshing the sticky liquid over his hand and probably his shoes, too.

“Yes, but I’m handling it,” Maggie said and placed her beer on the table next to her before facing Mr. Chatty.

“Oh, you’re handling it, sweetheart?” Mr. Chatty sneered, clearly over his attraction to her already.

“Yes. I am. Let me guess,” Maggie said and ran her gaze over Mr. Chatty. “You’re one of those transactional assholes who think because you decided to do something for me, it means I have to spread my legs for you. Newsflash asshole, I’m not your bitch, but I’ll make you mine.”

Despite Ryder’s hand on his shoulder, nerves were starting to hit him, his pulse spiking rapidly. He didn’t like the look in Mr. Chatty’s eyes. There was something dark and dangerous there.

Before Mr. Chatty could do or say anything, every single Savage Rebel in the bar stood and turned toward them, arms crossed or a hand on their sidearm.

“I think it’s time you left,” Ryder said, the menace in his voice making the hair at the back of Akio’s neck stand on end. He knew Ryder would never hurt him or Maggie, but he also knew what it took to be an outlaw biker. He’d seen plenty of that ruthlessness before.

Mr. Chatty was smart enough to walk away, though not without sneering something derogatory under his breath as he passed Akio. His friend hadn’t so much as made a face throughout the ordeal and simply followed Mr. Chatty out of the bar.

The hand on his shoulder squeezed once, then disappeared.

“I don’t need saving,” Maggie snapped at Ryder and pushed past him and Akio, heading for the bar.

The groan coming from Ryder had Akio fighting a smile. His girl was ferocious. No, she didn’t need saving. He couldn’t say the same about himself, though.

“Thank you.”

He turned, smiling tentatively up at Ryder. The annoyance cleared from Ryder’s face, and he returned the smile.

“Anytime. I promised your brother I would keep you safe while you’re here, but I mostly do it because I like you, Akio.”

Warmth spread through his chest, and he knew he was blushing. He rolled his eyes when Ryder ruffled his hair.

“Asshole,” he mumbled, chuckling when Ryder winked at him as he backed away.

Akio shook his head and turned to the pool table. He put his beer down and reached for the balls Maggie hadn’t racked yet and placed them inside the black rack the way Maggie had taught him. He’d never played before coming here and Maggie had been so excited to teach him. Excited because it meant that she would win every game. He didn’t mind losing. Not to her.

He looked toward the bar, brows scrunching when he didn’t see her there anymore. She had likely found someone to angry fuck out in the alley behind the bar or in the stock room. She claimed angry fucking was the best kind of sex. He had no frame of reference himself, so he didn’t bother arguing with her, though something told him sex with someone you loved was probably the better of the two.

He heard a bang which he later realized had to have been the door slamming open as cops entered. The bar was swarmed by uniformed cops within seconds, the uproar loud with cops and bikers yelling at each other.

“Hands up. Turn around,” one barked at Akio who was quick to do so, confused as the cop grabbed his right hand to twist it behind his back. He cried out at the pain it sparked in his shoulder, gasping for breath as his heart raced in his chest and then he was slammed over the pool table, cold handcuffs closing around his wrists.