The three ladies and their escorts rode for over an hour, up into the hills and close to the area where Kat had run into David at her cabin a few nights before. She didn’t let herself think about that, though; she was enjoying herself too much to dredge up painful memories. They didn’t stop until they were deep in the woods, when they found a nice spot to have lunch. While they were eating, the guys sat a discreet distance away so that they didn’t feel like they were being hovered over.

“You turned out to be one hell of a rider,” Harley said. “I remember watching you dump that little bike Dax was teaching you over and over and thinking that I couldn’t believe you got back up and on it every time.”

Kat smiled at the memories. There were days when she didn’t think she’d be able to get out of bed and she was sure she wouldn’t be able to get back on the bike. But, thankfully, determination was her strong suit. “I broke my collarbone once and never told Dax. Man, that was a bitch.”

Tammy laughed. “Yeah, my dad was pissed when I first started riding. He wanted me to be some kind of club princess and act like a lady and shit.” She laughed again and said, “I had a twin brother and I was surrounded by badass bikers and club girls most of my life. I used to tell him if I was going to go one way or the other, he should be happy I picked the Harley and not the push-up bra and bar stool.”

“Right?” Kat said. “I was raised in a bar, in a town filled with bikers. I even…” She caught herself. She was about to say something stupid, like how she’d envisioned herself as biker royalty one day when she was a kid. She was convinced Dax would want her sooner or later if she just kept trying. Her face heated once again at the memory of throwing herself at him.

“You even what?” Harley asked.

“Nothing. Are there any strawberries left?” Tammy and Harley exchanged a look, and Tammy picked up the Tupperware container with the strawberries in it and held it out toward Kat. When she tried to take one, Tammy pulled it back and said:

“You can have one when you finish your story.”

“It was nothing, really.”

The two girls had mischievous smiles on their faces. “Nothing that made Hurricane Katrina Brown blush,” Harley said. “I have to know what makes you blush.”

Kat felt her face go even hotter. “Nah, I’m already in enough deep shit with your queen.”

Tammy laughed. “I knew it had something to do with Dax. Come on, we’ve all had the thought.” She looked at Harley and said, “Right?”

“Damn straight. Jesus, you’d have to be made of stone not to.”

“It’s no big deal. I just had a really big crush on him when I was a kid.”

“Me too,” Harley said.

“No way. You and Cody were so tight. I was surprised when you told me how long it took the two of you to actually get together.”

“Cody thought I was one of the boys, and then of course there was that ten years he was in prison.”

“Oh, yeah.” Kat was still around when Cody’s brother was killed and Cody went to prison. She’d heard rumors before that about their father disappearing and Dax being responsible, but back then she hadn’t been able to imagine Dax doing anything like that…even if the piece of shit did deserve it. “Sorry, I forgot about that.”

“He turned out okay,” Harley said. Then she smiled and said, “Better than okay, but you’re changing the subject again. What was that blush about? Did you and Dax ever…?”

“No,” Kat said. “Never.” She blushed again and said, “Not because my stupid ass didn’t try.”

“Details,” Tammy said, popping a strawberry in her mouth.

“He was so nice to me, and that hardly ever happened,” Kat said. “Boys were always…weird…around me.”

“They were scared of you,” Harley said. “You used to even scare Cody a little.”

Kat laughed. “He was a skittish little thing anyways.”

“Still is when Harley gets on him,” Tammy said with a laugh.

“Oh, right, we’ve all seen how high Gunner jumps when you yell too.”

“Hell, yeah,” Tammy said with a wink. “Because he knows what kind of reward he’s going to get for it later.”

The girls laughed and Kat said, “Anyways, Dax was the only man or boy that showed any interest in me back then and I was all full of hormones and shit and I took it wrong. I propositioned him one day. I came right out and told him I wanted him to pop my cherry.”

Tammy was laughing so hard at that, she choked on her strawberry. After she spit it out she said, “You actually said that.”

Kat shrugged. “Part of my charm is my crassness.” Laughing herself she said, “Dillon never really taught me how to put things delicately, so yeah, I just straight up said, ‘I want you to be my first, Dax. I want to give you my cherry.’” Harley and Tammy were practically rolling on the ground laughing at that. When they finally caught their breath, and wiped the tears off their faces Tammy said:

“God, I would have loved to see Dax’s face when you said that. What did he say?”

“I don’t remember the exact words,” Kat lied. She remembered every word he said. He’d told her that she was beautiful and that someday, some man would be so lucky to have her. But then he’d told her she was too young, and that she wasn’t a club girl, and she didn’t want to end up with a reputation like they had and have men thinking she was only good for one thing. He’d been so sweet that she’d only wanted him more when he finished talking. “Something about him being too old for me and that someday I’d find someone, fall in love, and that should be the person I saved myself for.”

The girls giggled again. “So…were you glad he turned you down? I mean, after a while, anyways?” Harley asked.

“I was, eventually, after I got over the humiliation,” Kat said. “And now, since his old lady hates me anyways, at least he can honestly tell her she’s got nothing to worry about there.”

“What’s the deal with that?” Tammy asked. “Angel’s usually so easy to get along with. What happened between you two?”

Kat wasn’t ready to tell that story. She looked at Harley and could tell from the look on her face that Kyle must have told her most of it already. Harley saved her by saying, “Kat dated one of her brothers. Until you’ve dated within the Brady clan, you can’t understand it.”

Tammy smiled. “Did Angel hate you when you broke up with Kyle?”

“I cheated on Kyle,” Harley admitted. “I’m sure she would have tarred and feathered me, if not for Dax’s intervention. He was all team Cody, and that helped a hell of a lot.”

“Well, I hope you and Angel can work it out. You two are a lot alike.”

“That’s what I told her,” Harley said.

Kat was grateful that Tammy changed the subject after that. She started out by telling Kat she was sorry for being a bitch the first day they met. “I have this issue with jealousy. I guess it came from putting up with my ex, who used to love the shit out of watching people have sex, or women play with themselves. He acted like it was so normal and he could never understand why I’d get so pissed. He’d say something about how he was just looking and not touching…” She laughed. “And now he’s married and has a couple of kids, acting like a fucking choir boy. His old lady trusts the shit out of him. Weird.”

“I kind of think that’s when you know you’re meant to be with someone,” Harley said.

“You stop being jealous?” Tammy asked. “Because if that’s the case…”

Harley laughed. “No. I still get jealous as hell when a new club girl comes in and starts hitting on Cody. Makes me want to scratch her eyes out. I was thinking it’s when you stop doing stupid shit, like, say, watching other people have sex.” The girls laughed. Tammy shared a story about kicking a club girl’s ass over Gunner and it made Kat’s memory go to one night she was ready to kill another woman over David…well, the first time anyways.

It wasn’t long after the first time they’d had sex, maybe a month or so after. She had been upstairs and Dillon yelled at her that David was there. She yelled back down at Dillon to tell him to have a beer and she’d be down in a few. That was how she and Dillon did things…a lot of yelling. Of course, there was a lot of noise coming from the bar too; that was back when they still had rocking Saturday night crowds.

Kat vividly remembered the butterflies she had in her stomach getting ready that night, knowing she and David had plans to go to a movie and then up to the cabin. Every time they made love felt like the first time to her and she couldn’t get enough. She finished getting dressed and double-checked her make-up and hair before heading down to the bar. She was grinning, probably like an idiot, as she went down the stairs…but she stopped in her tracks when she came out of the stairwell and saw him.

There was a dartboard on the back wall of the bar, and throwing darts was one of David’s favorite things to do. She wasn’t surprised that was where she found him. What did surprise her was the woman who had her back pressed up against him. She was a club girl. Kat didn’t know her name, but she’d seen her at the ranch on quite a few occasions, usually with more make-up on her face than clothes covering her tits and ass. Her fingers held a dart and David’s hand was on hers like he was showing her how to throw it. All Kat saw was David touching another woman and that woman’s big ass, barely covered in a leather skirt, pressed into her man. With clenched fists and heat coursing through her veins, she forgot about everyone else in the bar and yelled out, “What the fuck is this?”

The club girl gave her a look that might have cost her life if David hadn’t been there. “Kat, calm, babe,” David said, letting go of the woman and stepping away. Kat didn’t look at his face, but she was sure he only just realized how it must have looked. It was the skank she was after.

“Fuck calm,” Kat said, pointing her finger at the other woman, “Listen, bitch, you need to find someone else’s man to rub your nasty ass all over…”

“Come on, Kat. You’re making a scene,” David said. That was when she turned her wrath on him.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I embarrassing you? Or, were you enjoying having this fat slut…” That was all she got out before the girl grabbed a handful of her hair. Kat was limber and her hair was long, so when she flipped underneath it and punched the bitch in the face, the look of surprise she got from her was almost comical. The little skank still had a hold on her hair, though, and they both went down to the floor. They wrestled around as David and Dillon tried to stop them. Everyone else in the bar had gathered around but they were all cheering them on. Kat got in a few punches, punching David in the chest once as he tried to stop her. She was finally able to stumble up to her feet and when she did, she reached down and pulled the now crying skank up by the front of her shirt. The girl tried to resist and they both ended up toppling into a table full of drinks. By the time David got a good, firm hold on her, Kat had whiskey and beer all over her carefully picked-out outfit and she was mad at him too. As he held her up off the floor, she kicked backwards and got him in the shin.

“Damn it, Katrina. Calm the fuck down!” David rarely cussed and never at her. It was his saying the “F” word that finally took the fight out of her…but she was still pissed.

“Let go of me!”

“Are you going to stop fighting?”

“I wouldn’t be fighting if you didn’t have your hands all over another woman,” she told him through gritted teeth. “Let go of me.” David set her down on her feet and started to say something. She ignored him and all the people in the room that would tell the story for years, and stormed up the stairs to her and Dillon’s apartment, slamming the door behind her and vowing to never trust David again.