LYDIA

 

I’ve been to plenty of bars and clubs in my lifetime. I was a young twenty-something, single, with no obligations. I had every reason to enjoy the weekend and be as carefree as I could be. I met the most interesting people in the world. From town and out of town, I never had a night out where I didn’t find someone who taught me something new.

But this… No, this was different.

“Is this for real?”

Gina winked at me.

“It sure is,” she responded.

I assumed Gina wanted to go out for a quiet night of drinks. Maybe we would be heading out to a club to do a little dancing and meet some cute locals.

I wasn’t prepared for this.

While Gina worked her way over to the bar, I paced behind her, observing the wild scene surrounding me.

The stench of leather, perfume and alcohol filled the air. The music playing in the background was overpowered by all of the rowdy conversations.

The bar looked like it had seen better days. The wood-paneling on the walls needed a good dusting. There was a tinge of smoke lingering near the ceiling like smog. The windows were cracked.

And then there were the people.

The place was packed. Men and women were all talking to one another in the friendliest of ways.

These weren’t just ordinary men. These were the kind of men I’d read about in magazines and seen on television. Tattoos from their wrists all the way up to their necks made their skin indistinguishable. Leather vests proudly displayed patches of their allegiances.

The women they flirted with were shy, playful, and slutty all at the same time. Just looking at a couple talking to one another was like watching foreplay.

I was so overwhelmed by my surroundings that I barely heard the voice shouting next to me.

“Lydia! Lydia!”

I turned and saw Gina motioning for me at the bar.

“First round is on me!”

Her enthusiasm put a smile on my face but I was still unsure of what to make of everything.

“What’s this?” I said as I looked down at the shot glasses on the counter.

“Just a little whiskey.”

“Um… I don’t drink whiskey.”

I winced at the thought of it, hoping I wouldn’t have to go through with it.

“You’re in Ivory now,” she said. “You can’t have any fun if you don’t drink a little whiskey. What do you usually drink?”

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “Can you get me a mixed drink?”

“Here…”

She grabbed a glass and poured the shot of whiskey into it. Then she poured the other shot into it.

“…Whiskey mixed with whiskey.”

She shoved the glass into my hand while she ordered another shot. I looked around the room and giggled softly to myself.

“When in Rome,” I sighed.

I gulped the glass of whiskey down. The stinging alcohol made me grimace but I managed to keep it all down.

“Hey! All right! That’s what I’m talking about!”

The liquor was already affecting me. I blinked to clear my vision and noticed the younger woman smiling next to me. She was gulping down a shot of whiskey of her own, hollering loudly as soon as she pounded it down. Her giddy scream was lost among the noise in the bar.

“What’s this place?” I asked.

“Finn’s Bar,” she said. “It’s an Ivory staple. You wanna come here if you’re looking for some action.”

“Action?”

Gina raised her eyebrows at me, her eyes wide and her grin big enough to reveal every single one of her perfect white teeth.

“You know what I mean…”

I felt my face beginning to blush when she said it.

“How long has it been?” she asked.

“W-what?”

She said it so bluntly I was caught off guard.

“You know,” she said. “I’m assuming you don’t have a boyfriend if you came to Ivory all by yourself. You don’t seem like the long-distance relationship kinda gal.”

“No,” I said with a laugh. “It’s just me. And it’s… It’s been awhile.”

“Don’t worry. You can change that tonight. Um, if you want. Don’t ever let these assholes tell you what to do. They can be a little forceful at times. Then again, some women are into that kind of thing.”

“They are an interesting bunch…”

I observed the crowd, trying to get a better look at all of them.

It seemed like every man was wearing a leather vest. I had trouble telling some of them apart.

“What’s with the vests?” I said. “Are they in sort of gang?”

“Motorcycle clubs. Hmm… I guess you don’t have that kind of thing up north.”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Ivory is a small town. These fucking guys get really bored, so they start their own clubs. Around here, you’re not a real man unless you’re patched in.”

“Okay,” I said, still trying to understand what I was looking at. “Motorcycle clubs. Bikers. I think I got it. Are you sure this was the best bar in the city to take me to? They seem a little… untamed.”

“This… This right here… This is Ivory.”

She took a step back from the bar and threw her hands in the air. Gina was a petite girl, so I wouldn’t have been surprised if she were already drunk. I couldn’t help but laugh as she pumped her arms up and down and squealed. It was like she was celebrating absolutely nothing at all.

“I feel like dancing!”

The music was faint but it was just enough for her. Gina danced in place, her head down as she lost herself to the rhythm. I felt like I was completely out of place. I had to stop myself from blushing with embarrassment.

My first night in Ivory and the one person I knew was already drunk off of her ass.

Gina started to get some attention. Some of the bikers near us were all focusing on her. I couldn’t blame them. The way she swayed her hips… The way her breasts bounced in her barely-there top… She was the picture of a girl who was just asking for it.

It wasn’t long before one of the leather-clad men walked up to her. He moved toward her, putting his arms around her waist so he could move to the music with her. I was concerned but only for a second. Gina put her head up and winked at me.

She’d done this before.

I shook my head in amazement at her then turned my attention back to the bar to order myself another drink.

“I’m already here,” I sighed. “I might as well make the most of it.”

The bartender poured me another shot of whiskey. Just the smell of the alcohol was enough to make me woozy. I started having second thoughts.

“Are you really gonna drink that?”

I turned to the side. I tilted my head up to look at the man suddenly standing next to me.

He was wearing a leather vest. The tattoos trailed along his arms and toward his chest and neck. Over six-feet tall, his body was hard and muscled. But his physique wasn’t what was distracting me.

He had these hazel brown eyes. They were hypnotizing in a way. It almost seemed like they were spinning.

I blinked my eyes to make sure I wasn’t drunk then got a better look at the blond standing next to me.

“I was thinking about it,” I said to him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “A girl like you shouldn’t be drinking whiskey like that. Not when you’ve already had two shots.”

“How do you know I’ve had two shots?”

“I’ve been watching you. Ever since you came in.”

“Is that right? Is that something you should be saying to a girl?”

“I don’t give a shit if it is. I’m just being honest.”

He gave me a cocky smirk. If I were in a different mood, I would have rolled my eyes at his arrogance. But I had to give him some credit. Maybe it was because I thought he was good-looking.

I couldn’t remember the last time a man like him hit on me. Clean-shaved but with a ruggedly handsome face, he’d earned the time he was clearly asking for.

“I already ordered the drink,” I said. “I can’t just dump it now.”

“Maybe I can drink it for you.”

“Is that right? You want me to buy you a drink. What makes you think—”

Before I could finish, he picked the shot of whiskey up and gulped it down.

My eyes widened. My mouth hung open. I was so stunned that I wasn’t even sure how to react.

He looked down at me with a grin on his face, revealing the pearly whites behind his lips.

“You asshole!” I said.

I spoke the first words that came to my mind. But rather than be offended, all he did was laugh at me.

“Hey, I was just doing you a favor,” he said.

“Were you? Please. Enlighten me.”

“You don’t wanna drink that shit. You look like the kind of girl who’s into mixed drinks. Some fruity-thing with an umbrella in it.”

“Making assumptions about me, are we?”

“It’s not an assumption. I know you’re not from around here.”

“How do you know?”

“Ivory is a small town. I would have recognized someone as beautiful as you before.”

A sudden rush of heat in my cheeks made my bite my bottom lip.

Dammit!

The way he smiled at me… It was working even though I didn’t want to admit it. And he knew it, too.

There was no point in fighting it. I figured I might as well play his game.

“You got a name?” I asked.

“I thought you’d never ask. Sean. My friend’s call me Brash.”

“Brash, huh? That doesn’t sound like the name of someone I want to get to know better.”

“What about you?”

I narrowed my eyes at him before giving him an answer.

“Lydia.”

“Lydia… I knew a girl named Lydia.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. Total bitch.”

He said it with a straight face. I was speechless, searching for a response, but I didn’t need one as he started laughing to himself.

“I’m only kidding,” he said.

“You’d better be… Dick…”

I slapped him on the arm and felt his muscled tricep.

Oh, my God…

I did my best to hide my reaction at how hard his body was.

“So, you’re from out of town,” he said. “Up north, I presume.”

“You presume correctly.”

“How long have you been in town, Lydia?”

“It’s my first night here.”

“Your first night? What brings you to Finn’s?”

“Actually, someone brought me here…”

I searched for any sign of Gina. It took me a few seconds to find her busy on the dance floor in the distance.

“…Gina,” I said. “She seems to be busy at the moment.”

“It looks like she’s gonna be busy for a long moment. She left you here all by yourself. Doesn’t seem like much of a friend.”

“Well, I just met her today. If I’d have known someone like you would come up to me, I would have begged her to stay by my side.”

I glared at him, trying my best to not smirk.

Two can play this game…

“There’s no need to be so harsh,” he said. “I’m part of the official Ivory welcoming committee.”

“The Ivory welcoming committee?”

“I’m the president and the founder. It’s part of my job to welcome new citizens to town. I have to make them feel… welcome… You know, shit like that.”

“You’ve got a way with words,” I said with a giggle.

“I’ve got a way with other things, too…”

I clenched my jaw but it was getting harder not to smile back at him. Two shots of whiskey and a handsome biker standing next to me was a bad combination.

I was desperately trying not to make a mistake.

Was this how I wanted to spend my first night in Ivory?

“I appreciate the company,” I said. “But I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.”

“I don’t. And I know you don’t either.”

“And you know this because?”

“Because it’s your first night in town and there ain’t shit to do in Ivory except drink.”

“Speaking of which, you still owe me a drink.”

“Will you take an IOU?”

“Cheapskate. Why am I not surprised?”

“I’ll tell you what…”

He moved in front of me, blocking my path to get away from him, even though I didn’t have any intention of it. I leaned up against the bar, my elbows resting on the counter as he stood before me.

“…I’ll keep you company,” he said. “Since I am part of the welcoming committee. And once you’re ready to go home, I can give you a ride. What do you think?”

I shifted my eyes toward the ceiling and tapped my index finger against my chin, pretending like I was thinking.

This is a mistake.

The decision had already been made.

“Okay,” I said. “You can keep me company here for a bit. And when I’m ready, we’ll go for a ride. Just one question.”

“What’s that?”

“I know you’re a biker. You got a helmet I can wear.”

He smirked at me then leaned in close. He was so close, his breath was on my cheek. I shuddered at the feeling as he whispered into my ear.

“Yeah, I’ve got protection for you.”

He pulled away and winked at me.

Damn…

Out of excuses, I knew there was no other answer I could give.

“Okay, Sean. Let’s see how welcoming you can be.”