Page 12 of Shadow’s Protection (Hurricane Heat MC #1)
“Fuck, please.” One of the women, whose name I think is Cammy, hands me a spatula. “I’m dying for a smoke. It’s all you, babe.”
She leaves me with a bowl that looks like it has a gallon of pancake batter in it.
I take my place in front of the stovetop, where three misshapen pancakes are burning on a massive griddle.
I gently scrape off the ruined ones and set them on a paper towel that I plan to discreetly throw away as soon as they’re cool.
I test the thickness of the batter, add a little more milk from the fridge to thin it, and then ladle out five perfectly round pancakes.
The women all chatter and laugh as I watch for bubbles to form, and even though I have no idea who they are talking about, I don’t feel excluded. I just sort of fit here.
I flip the pancakes when the bubbles on one side start to pop, and I turn back to make sure there is a baking sheet in the oven so I can keep the finished pancakes warm while I cook another batch.
One oven has sheet after sheet of bacon in it, but the other is set to a warming temp. I add what I’ve cooked to the lopsided stack, and before I know it, Stella has her arm around me and she’s chatting at me like she’s known me forever.
“So, was that your first time with a twelve-gauge?”
I look at her, confused. “Twelve-gauge?”
The women in the kitchen burst out laughing. Stella picks up a banana from a bowl of fruit on the counter, slides her index finger underneath it, and wiggles it suggestively. I immediately realize she’s referring to Shadow’s penis piercing.
I flush and shake my head. “I don’t know what that means…”
“The piercing.” Stella hooks an arm over my shoulder.
“Gauge is the size, babe. It’s how thick the jewelry is.
” She touches the tip of her index finger to her thumb to make a circle.
“Bigger hole in the body fits bigger jewelry. Shadow’s got a twelve-gauge in his pants.
I’m not saying I’ve seen it, but let’s just say, I’ve heard about it. ”
The whoops and laughter from the women take over the kitchen, but it feels…I don’t know…inclusive. Like they are laughing with me, not at me. I blush hard because they all seem to know—or at least assume—what happened with Shadow and me. “Okay, then I guess it is my first time with a twelve-gauge.”
I know I’ve just admitted the truth to a room full of strange women, but I don’t know. I’ve seen half of them naked and watched a couple of them actually being intimate with the guys in this club. Admitting I’ve seen Shadow’s piercing feels almost modest by comparison.
“Frenum…” Cammy practically purrs yet another word I don’t understand.
She shivers. “I dated a dude in college who—” she takes the banana from Stella and pretends to stab her finger right through the middle of the fruit “—who had his junk itself pierced straight through.” She shakes her head and makes a sour face.
“He had to sit to pee for months until he figured out how to not spray piss everywhere.”
“Prince Alberts freak me out.” Another woman whose name I don’t know sniffs and shakes her head. “Shadow’s is classy.”
I’ve never considered a piercing classy before, but then I also never considered that some of these women also went to college.
“Where did you go to school?” I ask, slipping another perfect stack of pancakes into the oven.
By the time I’ve cooked the entire bowl of batter, I’ve learned that three of the women have really great jobs.
Stella isn’t just the club’s bartender. She’s a bookkeeper who owns her own business.
Cammy is a paralegal at a law firm that specializes in divorces, and one of the other women is a therapist. A couple of the girls are waitresses, and one works at a car dealership.
These women are smart, interesting, and they have jobs and lives outside of the club. But they all share one thing in common.
“We like to party,” Stella says. “And there’s no place better than here.
The guys are generous, and there is a clear pecking order.
It’s like being part of the popular group in high school.
You know who’s who and what’s what. If the guys accept you, you drink and party for free.
There’s always somebody looking for a no-strings-attached good time, and if things get more serious…
” She shrugs. “Some of us want this life for the long run. I don’t think Shadow’s the settle-down type, but there’s nobody here who’ll show you a better time. ”
My stomach flips over when she says settle down. Why would I even think about such a thing? It’s obvious that we’re opposites—although, based on everything the club girls are saying, maybe Shadow and I aren’t that different after all.
“A book babe will be good for him,” Stella says, giving me a genuine smile. “Shadow’s into that shit. Reading, bettering himself. Unlike some of the other jokers who just wanna fight and play video games.”
“Feeding time.” She grabs a baking sheet covered with pancakes and motions for me to join her. “Let’s eat.”
I eat at the bar with Stella, Jackie, and Cammy, while Shadow is still talking to Phantom and now Savage.
I’ve learned a little about the structure of the club and what it means that Shadow is the vice president.
Stella refills my coffee and recruits a couple of the late risers to work cleanup duty.
The rest of the day goes by in a blur. After breakfast, Stella and Cammy ask for my help planning dinner.
All around the compound, people are chilling out, having fun, or finding ways to pass the time.
It’s all starting to feel not just normal, but fun.
I recognize more and more people as the day goes on, and I ask Stella anytime I have a question about who’s who.
“That’s a prospect,” she says, nodding to a guy who has his hand on the butt of a much older woman. “Watch this.” She tsks and shakes her head.
Not two seconds later, Savage, the guy who I believe is ex-military and who’s got the steely eyes and massive muscles to go with the reputation, crosses his arms over his chest and clears his throat.
The kid yanks his hand away like it’s on fire, and he practically falls over himself asking Savage what he should be doing.
I don’t hear what Savage says, but it’s clear he’s messing with the kid.
He cracks a huge grin then uses both hands to grab the butt of the same woman the young guy was messing around with.
Savage bursts out laughing, pulls the woman close and gives her a playful kiss on the lips, and then he hands her back to the younger guy.
“Prospect?” I ask, watching the exchange curiously.
“He’s not a member yet,” Stella explains. “Young guys or new guys hang around for a while, prove their worth, and then sometimes they get patched in—meaning they are officially members of the club.”
I have so many questions, but I’m a little embarrassed to ask. I know nothing about this world, but I want to learn. I take it all in but try not to be too nosey. “So, Savage is just messing with the younger guy?” I ask. “Or is that woman his girlfriend?”
Stella laughs. “No one says girlfriend. We’re bunnies until we’re locked down, and after that, we’re old ladies.”
I must make some kind of face because Stella leans forward and touches my arm.
“I’d rather be called a bunny or a piece of ass by someone who would kill anyone who dared to hurt me than be called baby by someone who enjoys hurting me. Maybe some women want that, but I’ll take crude honesty over pain and lies every day of the week.”
I look away from Stella and just nod. This bump on the path to my future is feeling more and more like destiny.