Page 101 of Lost Lyrebird

Taz is leaning against the wall and flipping a knife end over end.He chuckles darkly under his breath.“That brunette is who he’ll be beddin’ tonight.She’s easy.He may look for a challenge, but he’ll settle for what he can have with the least amount of effort.”

Griz eyes Taz skeptically for a moment and then nods in agreement.“True that.”

“Shit,” Kendra grumbles, and begins to play with her lip ring as she watches the group at the bar.“Now that I think about it… you might be right, Taz.”

“Always am,” he deadpans.

“So what you’re sayin’ is, you’ve got nothin’ better to do than analyze Bodie’s love life.Just say the word, man, and if the tattoo shop’s that slow, we can all come get some new ink to keep you busy.”Dozer throws this out and shakes his head at Taz.

Taz catches his knife, sharp end in his hand.He squeezes his fist.His face shows nothing.He merely stares at Dozer.And their running rivalry continues.We thought it would die down with time, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon.

Septic arrives at the table and steps up to his wife.She wraps her arms around his neck before planting a peck on his lips when he leans in for a kiss.

Cap, our president, knocks his knuckles on the table.He delivers a harsh look to his son before giving the same to Taz, but it’s not until Mav, who’s lurking in the corner, says, “Knock it off, T,” that Taz lets it go.The two seem to somehow understand each other.Or maybe it’s that Taz is the only one who can stand to put up with Mav’s mood swings and vice versa.

Mav watches us all with disinterest as he lights up another smoke, not giving a fuck if he’s supposed to smoke indoors or not.Then he upends his beer bottle and finishes it.It dangles between his fingers as he takes a long pull on his cigarette.

“Oh shit!Did you see that?”Kendra goes up on her tippytoes.She moves her head around to peer through the crowd.“Raven just laid one on that chick sitting next to her.What’s her name… that new girl you hired?”She looks over at me with wonder and excitement.

“Lily?”

“Yeah.”

“Laid one on her?”Looking over, I have to wait for a few people to move out of the way before Lily comes back into view.

“Yep, on the lips.Did you know she swung that way?”she asks me as she retakes her seat.

I think of the way Lily reacted to my touch and the small glances we’ve shared.The way she plays people like fiddles and can read a room within minutes and adjust to fit in.That’s all it takes to reject any notion that she’s interested in Raven.Plus, Raven isn’t one to fuck around on her partner.Her goal above anything would be to get Bodie to back off.She’d kiss anyone to make that happen.Lily, or a frog.Wouldn’t matter as long as it got the brother to leave her the hell alone for the night.

“I don’t go around asking my employees who they like to fuck.”

My declaration pretty much shuts down the conversation on that matter, and thankfully, it moves on to Cap and Griz telling stories of the “old days,” which has Kendra and the honey on Stone’s lap enthralled.That is, until Dozer gets up and makes his way to the bar.

“Maybe he’ll have better luck with the new chick,” Kendra says.

“He’s got more interest in what’s behind the bar,” Taz mutters.

The balls on this one.I shake my head.The fact he says that shit out loud, his caustic mouth, and the careless way he airs the club’s dirty laundry is what puts him at odds with half the club.Not that he gives a rat’s ass about any of that, though.He couldn’t care less who he pisses off, as long as he has his say.

Changing the subject, Griz asks, “You ready for me, Spice?”Kendra smiles warmly and nods.Septic lets her go after he plants another kiss on her mouth.When they break apart, Kendra jumps up from her chair and latches onto Griz’s offered arm.

Swear to fuck, the man has more game than the rest of us combined because he spends most of his Monday nights spinning women around the dance floor.

After I finish my beer, I stand and drop some money on the table.“If the waitress comes by, order another round,” I mutter before heading to the men’s room.

Stone calls out, “What?You gettin’ in on the action?”

“Is it a crime to take a piss?”

He glares up at me from where he sits, but I couldn’t give a fuck.There’s something about him that rubs me the wrong way.Yes, part of it is the way he puts his hands on Lily and the way he talks to her.But there’s something else.His stance on club issues often differs from mine.It’s hard to trust a brother whose decisions seem swayed more by money than on what’s good for the club long-term.

Truth be told, I want nothing more than to buy Lily a drink and sit in her company.Maybe spend the entire night talking to her and putting my hands on her.But it’s a fucking fantasy—something that haunts me daily and no matter how much I want it otherwise.Guess I’ve made my fucking bed.

I may never know exactly what I’d said that set her off, and that’s the part that fucks with me.Because now my only choice is to live with the consequences.

It takes a lot of willpower to look away from Lily once I see her up close.It was just a glimpse of her laughing.That’s it.

Her fucking smile, her laugh… and it does shit to me that I have no words for.