Page 11

As I open the door to Stormy’s, I wrinkle my nose in disgust as the smell of old beer, stale air, and sweaty body odor assaults my nose. I’ve not been in a long time, and now I remember why. Has it always been this bad? My eyes adjust to the dim lights, and I can make out the dirty, sticky carpet and unloved interior. Man, this place is going to the dogs. I’m ashamed to know it’s ours. The room is only partially filled with patrons as I walk to the bar. It’s Sunday, but I would have expected more customers. The beer is cheap, after all. Pen is waiting for me, beer in hand. Karen polishes glasses and greets me with a smile.

Taking in the rest of the patrons, I notice Dawg, his old lady, Dougal, Ally, and Sparks sitting at a table. As usual, Dawg is making an ass out of himself, much to the girls’ amusement. One arm around his old lady, one arm around Ally, he’s sniffing Ally’s ear. The women are howling with laughter while Dougal is sitting on Sparks, who is a second from jumping over the table to rip Dawg off his woman. Caroline is nearly falling off her chair, laughing her ass off. Looking at Pennywise, I shrug my shoulders and turn toward Karen.

“Beer, please.” I place my order and, within seconds, a cold long neck is in my hand. Karen knows not to give me the tap. “Who’s working with you tonight?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“No one. I’m on my own this afternoon since Flakey is flaking in his cozy bed,” she snips back. I don’t like the way she puts him down and seems to feel put out.

“Well, we pay you well enough to work, and it’s not as if it’s a full house,” Pen replies, shooting me a warning look. He knows me well enough to feel the tension radiating off me.

“Can’t rely on anyone nowadays. Not as though he’s breaking his back when he graces us with his presence. Slacker,” she mumbles as she turns and walks to the other end of the bar.

“What the fuck?” I hiss to Pen, my temper rising. If she wasn’t a woman, I’d have no qualms about beating her into shape. But as she is a woman, and an employee, so that’s not an option.

“Calm down, bro. I don’t like it any more than you do, but if we want to find out what the fuck is going on, we need to keep calm and not tip her off. Got me?” Pen shoots me a warning look.

“I’ll behave, but the way she talks about a brother, a sick one at that, pisses me the hell off,” I grate out.

“She’s getting too big for her heels, I’ll give you that,” Pen states before grabbing his beer and making his way over to Dawg, with me following. Distance is the safest for now. “Dawg, you old bastard, are you enjoying your wind-up games?” Pen chortles. Dawg looks at Pen with lolling tongue and panting like a dog in heat.

“Oh god, stop. I think I just peed a little.” Caroline is bent over laughing, coughing and spluttering. She slaps Dawg around the back of his head. “Stop it, you idiot. Sparks is literally sparking out over there.” That has all of us chuckling . . . well, apart from Sparks, who’s ready to go fire-spitting dragon on Dawg’s ass. Ally, evil as always, smiles sweetly at Sparks and shrugs her shoulders innocently.

“What can I say? I’m adorable. He’s an easy wind but loves my bacon pancakes too much to lose his shit.” She grins at Sparks. “Come on, big boy, let’s go home and you can show me just how much you want to spank me right now.” She giggles, but Sparks’s face promises retribution.

“You won’t be laughing when we get home, and don’t bank on being able to sit for a while,” he grates, a flare of heat and amusement in his eyes. Ally fans herself with her hand.

“Ladies and gents, see ya some other time. Places to be, the beast to tame, and all that—” She can’t finish her sentence, shrieking as Sparks picks her up and throws her over his shoulder, stomping outside.

“Man, what happened to this place?” Dawg raises an eyebrow in question. “I see the old hag is still here.” He looks in Karen’s direction, another one who sees right through her. We watch her failed attempts to flirt with a patron who looks angry and agitated. She looks at us, and we slowly make our way back to the bar, standing behind the guy who’s now shouting.

“If I wanted piss, I’d go and drink out the toilet. You call this watered-down shit beer?” he roars at her, and Pennywise taps him on the shoulder.

“Problem man, can I help you?” He looks the small, irritated suit up and down.

“Not talking to you, biker boy. I’m talking to the wench behind the bar who’s selling me shit beer for inflated prices,” he growls at Pen. Oh dear, wrong move. He turns around and sees biker boys surrounding him, proudly flying our cuts and colors.

“Calm down, man.” Pennywise looks him straight in the eye. “Wouldn’t want your cheap suit to get wrinkled and dirty in the parking lot now, would we?” He smiles a slightly evil grin at the suit. It looks as though he wants to get up and start something he won’t be able to finish but thinks better of it. He throws a ten on the bar, but Pen picks it up and stuffs it in the man’s top jacket pocket. “On the house, now get gone,” he orders. Dougal mock bows and shows him to the door.

“Is it always like this?” Pen asks Karen, and she smirks.

“Sure hasn’t gotten better since the last order to decrease the beer content on the taps.” We all look at each other, stunned. Where the hell is this coming from? It sure wasn’t a church decision. She answers our unasked question there and then. “Rusty passed orders from Raven, who never shows up now, by the way. Rusty is collecting the takings every Sunday night and banks them Monday mornings, so I don’t have to go out of my way and into town.”

Pennywise bites his tongue, nearly drawing blood. His jaw is set like stone. As Dougal returns from escorting the earlier gentleman outside, Karen pipes up.

“Is one of you able to relieve me for half an hour? I need my break and a visit to the ladies.” Dougal nods and gets behind the bar.

“Keep an eye on her, brother,” Pen quietly tells Dougal, who gives him a nod and chin lift.

“Best take my old lady home,” Dawg states and returns to the table, pulling Caroline out of her chair. Pen and I sit at the table they just vacated.

“Any idea what that was about?” I ask with my eyebrows raised to the hairline.

“No, but it can’t be good,” mutters Pen under his breath. I look Pen in the eye and know he shares my suspicion and dislike of our VP. We’re also very aware that we’re treading very dangerous territory, so steer the conversation into safer waters, discussing our bikes and watching the bar, where Karen is notably still absent. It’s getting busier now, and I spot Dougal having several conversations with the increasing stream of customers. I also note that he mainly serves bottled beer.

“That’s a hell of a long break,” grumbles Pen. We’ve been sitting here for over an hour and a half with no trace of Karen returning. Pen gets up and walks over to Dougal, chatting to him before he disappears through the ‘Staff Only’ door, likely looking for Karen and taking a closer look behind the scenes. I look around, bored out of my brain. The jukebox springs to life, “Ladies Love Country Boys” blaring out. Oh god, who the hell likes that? It’s torture! I want to pull my brain out through my ears.

The dark-haired chick leaning over the jukebox and tapping her foot makes me brighten up. What an ass she’s got in those painted-on jeans. They really show off her curves in just the right way. I smile to myself as my dick becomes alert, wanting to play with that ass.

Then the beauty turns around, looks me straight in the eye, and winks at me. My mouth drops open right before I splutter and cough my beer all over the place. Oh, hell to the no! What the hell is she doing here?

Ashley walks to the bar, sit on a stool, and flirt her ass off with Dougal, who gets Captain Morgan out and pours a generous helping into her glass before filling it with Coke. That must have been at least a triple. He winks at her, and I can feel my teeth setting on edge. What the ever-loving fuck is Ashley doing here? Alone, at that? I watch her from a distance as she finishes her first and then Dougal quickly refills her glass.

I watch her intently as she moves to the beat of “Heart-Shaped Box” roaring through the speakers. This is a bit more like my jam. She looks lost in the music and unaware of her surroundings, which becomes immediately evident as two guys nearly knock her off her stool, and one of them tries to grope her luscious ass. In less than a second, I’m up, chair falling over behind me, and stalking my way to the bar in long strides. I arrive just in time to hear Ashley say, “Hey, I said no. Take your hand off my ass or lose it.”

“You heard the lady,” I growl out behind her. Her eyes shoot to me in surprise.

“Meet my boyfriends, Dougal and Vegas. They don’t like sharing with anyone else, do you, boys?” Ashley winks first at Dougal and then beams a blinding smile at me.

“That’s right, princess,” I growl. “Who do I need to kill? Let me have your names for the stonemason, I beg you.” The two football player types turn around to face me, spot my Stormy Souls cut, and raise their hands apologetically.

“Sorry, man, we don’t want trouble. Didn’t realize she’s one of yours.” I take a long, hard look at these two.

“Once is an accident, twice is a beatdown. Don’t let me catch you doing it again.” I take Ashley’s hand and drag her over to the table, where I shove her in a chair.

“Thanks for the save, Vegas,” she says with a grateful look.

“So, now I’m your boyfriend? And joint with Dougal?” I can’t help the disbelieve in my voice. She throws her head back and laughs. Her laugh is music to my ears and makes me smile. Not sure why, but I wish I could keep that laughter coming from her.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I couldn’t think of anything else on the fly.” She giggles and my bad mood goes out of the window.

“What has you coming in here and drowning in rum?” Curiosity must clearly show on my face. She stares at her feet.

She sighs. “Would you believe me if I said it’s been a bad day?”

“Hmm, let’s see, after last night at the clubhouse, I might just make an exception for your little white lie there.” I wink at her, and her smile returns.

“Oh, biker boy, did you just wink at me?” She bats her eyelashes playfully at me, and I can’t help but smile.

“Sure, princess, why are you asking? Are you objecting or is there something wrong with your eyesight?” I tease her. She looks me up and down, her eyes lingering on my chest and waistband just a bit longer than appropriate, which has my cock stirring. Down boy!

“Nothing wrong with my eyes, cowboy, just making sure I’m sitting with misery guts Vegas and he’s cracking jokes.” Her eyes are alight with humor and something else. Is that want I can see staring back at me?

“Talking about eyes, princess,” I shoot back, “mine are up here.” I point to my eyes and watch as a pink flush creeps over her cheeks. Yes, girl, busted. “So, come on, flower, spill. What’s got you coming here and drinking trebles?” I tease her. A deep sigh leaves her, and her eyes cloud over. I sit up straighter.

“I messed up, Vegas. Really messed up.” She sighs and looks at her hands. “I did have a bad day. I went and talked to Ally, and then saw Carl.” She looks at me with bone-deep sadness in her eyes, and I want to kill who or what put it there. I wanna slay her dragons. Wait, where did that come from? She takes a deep breath and continues. “In the end, I took Sarah’s car back to her very late. Her mom was looking after her son, Leo. He’s autistic and needs a lot of extra care but is the most special person under the sun.” She smiles, lost in thought. “Now Sarah is seriously pissed at me. Her mom doesn’t enjoy looking after Leo overnight, never mind her not being able to drop him off and him being picked up an hour and a half late.” Guilt is written all over her face. I reach for her hand over the table.

“I’m sorry, princess. Sounds like a bad day indeed.” She looks at me and a small smile plays around her luscious lips.

“Thanks for listening. She’s my best friend, and I adore Leo. Having her understandably mad at me, I find upsetting. She won’t answer my calls or texts. I can only hope she calms down after sleeping on it.” I suddenly feel this need to pull her into me and comfort her. This is all kinds of wrong. I drop her hand as I see Dougal coming up from the bar with another beer for me and what I guess is rum and Coke for Ashley. Karen is behind the bar, looking extremely pissed, and Pennywise is looking as though he’s giving her a speech.

Dougal puts the Coke in front of Ashley and bats my hand away from the beer.

“Get your own,” he mutters. “Do I look like your slave? I heard your last one died through being overworked and underpaid,” he grumbles. Ashley giggles, and I roll my eyes, but I love that happy sound coming from her. She doesn’t laugh enough. Always serious, always with both feet firmly on the ground. She’s had a lot on her plate, raising Nathan and putting up with Stone’s shit. I know she struggles with the club and the scene and stays far away from it if she can. That’s why I’m so surprised to see her here. I watch Pennywise strutting over with a forced smile.

“Breaks are sorted now. You won’t need to cover again tonight, Doug,” Pen says it with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. The rest of the night passes with the four of us sitting, Ashley drinking, and the riders switching from beer to Coke. Ash sways as she gets up to go to the ladies’ room.

“Wow, she’s loaded,” mumbles Pen. “Sorry, guys, I’ll have to shoot now. I need to catch Raven tonight and let him know what a shitshow is going on here.” Pen gets up and fist bumps me and Dougal.

“I’m with you, man. I got some things to report from the punters too,” Dougal replies. “Are you coming?” They both look at me expectantly, but I shake my head.

“I’ll stay and make sure she gets home okay. Must have walked because her car is still in the shop. Can’t let her walk home loaded on her own,” I reply. My brothers nod and turn to leave.