Page 25

Was It Something I Said?

M eredith

Grizz held my hand as we took the last step down into the main room.

There was so much activity, I couldn’t think, but the front door opened, revealing the newest prospect.

I was as bad as the brothers, never paying the prospects any attention.

I didn’t know their names beyond the assigned letters, nor had I cared to get to know them.

It had nothing to do with Pulse and everything to do with my instability.

They were four more people I didn’t have the energy to entertain.

The newest prospect, D, walked through the front door and kicked it closed with his boot.

His eyes bounced over the stack of pizza boxes he held, bags of wings dangling from his arms. I didn’t envy him.

If he dropped anything, he’d have to replace dinner.

He also wouldn’t outlive the teasing, and the brothers would give him a food-inspired road name.

Anytime it came up, they’d relive this moment.

Prospects wanted cool names, not “Pizza Boy”.

Grace saw him and took charge, ushering D to the banquet table. “Here,” she said, reaching for a stack of the boxes. The prospect slid the rest onto the table and emptied his arms. “Are you still on guard duty, Caleb?” she asked him.

“No, ma’am. We just had shift change.”

“Alright, when dinner is over, I’ll make a plate for Jacob, and you can take it out to him.”

The prospect saw the look on Sabre’s face and immediately scrambled. Sabre stood behind Grace, but she didn’t pay him any attention. Grace wasn’t concerned. She’d protected me, and if she’d shown any sign of discomfort, I would have stepped in to defend her.

“Mama,” he said to her, his tone not hiding his irritation. “They’re prospects. They don’t have names until they earn their patch, and I don’t want you to get attached.” He gripped the edge of the table, bracketing Grace between his arms.

“I don’t want to fight with you, but I refuse to dehumanize them like that.

” Grace ducked underneath his arm and headed towards the kitchen.

I squeezed Grizz’s hand before chasing after her.

Sabre wouldn’t start a fight in front of me, even though I understood his aggravation.

Everyone had to earn a place in the club, including me, but the prospects had it worse because of Pulse.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, surprising her.

I hadn’t helped the entire time I’d been living in the clubhouse.

At first, I couldn’t get out of bed long enough, and when I did, the snippets of conversation floating around were a highlight reel of my worst moments.

I wasn’t Grace, and they had openly mocked me for it.

I hadn’t felt the need to serve people who had continually looked down on me.

Things were getting better, but this wasn’t about them.

This was completely about being with my sister.

“It’s just pizza, so if you could grab the stack of paper plates and napkins, that’d be great. They’re in the pantry on the left-hand side.”

“This is kind of like a dinner party,” I sing-songed across the kitchen.

“I’m never making tacos again. Once was enough.” Grace shuddered.

I stopped right before I opened the pantry doors. “For my next birthday, I want you to make a taco bar. It’s not the tacos’ fault we ended up here.” Grabbing what I needed, I threw some trash bags into the mix and walked back out into the kitchen.

“You’re walking funny.”

“No, I’m not.” Grace and I had never discussed sex, and I wasn’t planning on starting now. It was bad enough Grizz and I had wet hair. I didn’t need to have an in-depth conversation about how he’d slammed into me against the shower wall, pounding so hard my vagina was on fire.

Emily looked up from the cooler she’d been filling with waters and sodas. “Yes, you are. The only cure for fire crotch is a eucalyptus bath bomb.”

My eyes widened as I stared at her. She was unassuming, and then she said something that made you do a double take. I leaned against the counter, breathing a sigh of relief. Walking hurt and waddling would give it away. “I’m fine,” I blurted, wanting the conversation to end.

Grace and Emily looked at each other and cackled like old gossiping women.

“I wish Bear was here to see this. She’d never let you live it down.” Grace was still smiling as the laughter died down. She stood in front of the open refrigerator, pulling out cheese and wing sauces.

“I’m fine. Nothing to see here,” I grumbled. They would have to torture me before I ever admitted to anything.

“Walking isn’t the problem. It’s when you stand for a second or try to sit. Bend your knees and lean back. It helps.” Emily dumped ice in the cooler.

“How the fuck do you know? I swear, it’s always the quiet ones that are freaks.” I repositioned myself against the counter. With my legs bent, it felt a little better.

“Tyler has a piercing, and sometimes it rubs me raw.” Emily shrugged, like it was no big deal.

“What the fuck!” How walked into the kitchen, made an about face. “Zook! Outside.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “If he torments Tyler, I’m sending his ass back to jail.”

“If you could take those out to the table, that would be great, and on your way back, grab the two closest brothers to carry the cooler into the main room,” Grace said to me.

“Why don’t they have soda in the bar guns?” It came flying out of my mouth before I even knew what I had said.

Grace laughed at the horrified expression on my face. “They would need to run a few extra lines, and Grizz is always busy with the club businesses. In a few years, only the single brothers will still be in the clubhouse, and it won’t matter then.”

“What do you mean?” I was confused.

“The club’s working on building a neighborhood out back, so eventually, I’ll have neighbors. They have to approve the community, and then, when it’s ready to develop, they’ll vote on who gets what, but Sabre said it was all a formality.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her we’d never have a home out there, and this time, it really was my fault. I’d put in the effort to change my image, but at some point, they were going to accept me, or I’d have to walk. Tonight wasn’t the time to fight for an unresolvable issue.

I walked into the main room to drop my supplies off, and I made sure two of the brothers went to grab the cooler. As soon as they brought it in here, we’d be ready to feed the herd.

Dinner was a loud affair. Everyone wanted to talk over everyone else, but where it would have bothered me before, I didn’t mind the white noise.

I had said little, preferring to watch the animated conversations as I sat as close to Grizz as I could humanly get.

He laid his arm across my chair, playing with the wispy strands of hair at the back of my neck.

“My life flashed before my eyes. I’m way too pretty for jail, and I had visions of being separated from the rest of the club. Some big dude would make me his bitch and call me Bubba. I could never survive that.” Pretty’s lips were quivering, and I wasn’t sure if the moisture in his eyes was real.

“You could have gotten some pointers.” Op picked up his slice of pizza, not paying attention to the murderous look on Wreck’s face.

“Why do you guys always assume I’m the bottom?” Pretty shook his head.

“You would have made friends. I was afraid they were actually going to keep me. I’ve done my time,” Slate chimed in.

“Emily,” Sabre called down the table.

She smiled, shifting in her seat. “It’s time, huh?”

Sabre nodded at her, smiling, and Zook wrapped his arm around the back of her chair. I liked that he gave her support when he thought she needed it without being overbearing.

Grizz does that for you. I turned my head in his direction, meeting his gaze. He had no clue why I was smiling, and I could see the apprehension in his eyes. I reached over and patted his leg, soothing him. Life was good.

Emily took a deep breath before she started. “When the women first went on lockdown, I asked Cyph to check on my license. It’s still not ready, but when I called, they said they have all the paperwork and that I passed the testing requirements. It’s just a matter of time before they issue it.”

“Who was the lumberjack?” How leaned forward, his elbows on the table.

“You thought that, too?” Grizz asked.

“How could you not?” Count had been quiet at dinner, but he crossed his arms over his chest now, sliding further down in his chair.

Emily smiled. “I’m specialized in contracts, and while I know a few things about criminal law, it’s not enough. I could never have gotten all of you released today. There wouldn’t have been enough time for me to learn on the fly.” She took a gulp of her soda.

“What did you do, Em?” Zook asked.

“I made a deal.” She shifted in her seat, clapping her hands together. “I still have my contacts from Nelson’s, so I reached out to some of the larger firms, asking if they had any recommendations here. Duncan Douglas came highly recommended. He’s on retainer for all of your criminal law needs.”

“What are we paying him?” Count spoke up, the wheels already turning as he figured out where the money would come from.

“You’re not,” Emily responded. “When my license comes through, I’ll take care of his contracts. He tried to hire me, but I said no. It’s cheaper for him to trade.”

“I hate to ask this, but is there a contract in all of this?” Sabre spoke up from the head of the table.

“I won’t take that personally,” Emily smirked. “We’re lawyers. Of course, there’s a contract, and it’s legal because I didn’t represent the club. It simply says that I can refer him work, and vice versa. In three years, if we don’t like his services, I can dissolve it.”

“So, how did he get us out?” Grizz asked from beside me.

“My turn,” Cyph popped up. “Once things started moving, I sent him what he needed.”

“I played it off when he asked who my IT guy was,” Emily said, leaning back against Zook’s arm.

They smirked at each other before Cyph continued, “I ended up sending him the street cam footage from when you guys stopped at the red light. It gave you an alibi, but the police said you’d robbed a liquor store.

I ended up finding a camera in the general vicinity of the ‘bikers.’ They were time-stamped within minutes of each other, so none of you could be in two places at once.

Before you ask, the state releases the data. All legal, if you know where to look.”

I wanted to lash out at Cyph. It was okay when Emily needed help.

He had sat in the main room with his laptop, immediately pulling whatever she needed.

However, he had refused to help me without a fight when I had done nothing to warrant it.

I didn’t want to take it personally, but I couldn’t release the resentment I harbored.

It only fueled my motivation to get a million dollar deal soon.

“This all happened too quickly, and we had to rely on Duncan. However, he offered to mentor me, in case he’s not available.” Emily noticed the tick in Zook’s jaw. “In the law.”

“It’s brilliant, Em, but how did you know we would need this?” How asked her.

“I didn’t. It wasn’t my idea, it was Meredith’s.”

I was used to being the team player that did everything while everyone else took the credit. This was a fresh feeling, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.

“My…Mer…smart.” My aunt had been quiet most of the night.

Everyone focused on me, and I curled further up into Grizz. I didn’t enjoy being the center of attention.

“Way to go, baby.” Grizz kissed my temple.

“Anyone else notice Miss Meredith isn’t walking straight?” Pretty beamed.

“I’m fine. You’re just a shit stirrer,” I quickly retorted. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I had a bad habit of instantly defending myself.

“Emily gave you terrible advice, which made it easier to see your predicament. You’re trying not to waddle, but you over-corrected. Bam! Swollen cooch.” Pretty wrapped his arm around an imaginary bowl, pretending to stir with a spoon.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I didn’t have to ask if my aunt was following along. She placed her hand over my leg and gave it a sympathy pat.

“Yeah, and we all ignore when Emily’s walking funny.” Pretty waited for How to focus on him, before he delivered the punch line. “Got a piercing, too.”

How got up from the table, said nothing as he disposed of his trash, and went upstairs.

“Was it something I said?” Pretty laughed, while most of the table shook their heads.

“I won,” Thunder boomed. “It took nineteen minutes, from bottom stair to bottom stair, and you didn’t disappoint, kid.”

Grizz closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his eyelids.

“What? I need to buy new games for my lady.”

Slate growled, and my aunt lowered her eyes. For a second, I forgot about my discomfort, dying to know what was going on with those three.