Chapter 8
Pipe
“Who the hell were you on the phone with? It’s barely nine o’clock in the morning.”
“A realtor.”
Nickel raised his head from the pillow and cracked one eye open. “Say that again?”
I shook my head and walked into the tiny hotel bathroom. It was a good thing Karmen hadn’t slept at the hotel with us last night. This room barely squeezed in the two double beds leaving two feet between the TV and bed. Shit was fucking tight. “I was on the phone with a realtor,” I called. I turned on the water and splashed cold water on my face. I had woken up twenty minutes ago, immediately grabbed my phone, and headed outside to put my plan into motion.
“Okay, so I did hear you correctly,” Nickel mumbled.
I grabbed one of the dingy towels and wiped my face. “Yeah,” I mumbled.
“So, you buying a house in Weston?”
I leaned against the door frame and shook my head. “Nah. I’m renting a place.”
“Really? You’re done living at the club? I never thought I would see the day.”
I shrugged and tossed the towel over my shoulder. “Guess I’m finally growing up.”
“So what place are you renting? Please don’t say one of those shit ass apartments over in Clearview.”
“Nah, it’s a duplex.”
Nickel scratched his head and fell back on his pillow. “Where the hell is that?”
“About five minutes from here.”
Nickel shot up. “Hold the fuck up. You’re moving here? How the hell is that going to work with the club?”
“I already talked to Wrecker. I don’t plan on living here longer than six months. We’re only an hour from Weston, so it’s really not an issue for me to drive back and forth every day.”
“You’re fucking crazy, brother. You know that chick intentionally moved away from you, right? Now you’re going to chase her down and move in directly next door to her? Seems a bit drastic to me.”
“I think you mean crazy.” I still couldn’t believe myself that I was doing this. Seeing Nikki had fucked me.
When she was in Weston, living in the same town as me, I didn’t feel rushed. I knew she was different from any chick I had been with, but I figured I had time. Now with her gone and possibly moving on from whatever the hell happened to us, it lit a fire under my ass. I still didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew I wasn’t going to give her up that easily.
“So, what? You gonna move in next to her and just happen to fall into her bed every night? I have to tell you, brother, Nikki is nothing like the chicks in your past. Which, by the way, was exactly what you treated her like back in Weston.”
“What the hell do you mean?” There was no way Nickel knew what happened between Nikki and me.
“I mean the fact she walked in on you getting it on with some club whore.”
“You fucking spying on me, asshole?”
Nickel shook his head. “No. She told Karmen and Alice what happened between you two, and I happened to overhear.”
“What the hell did she say?”
Nickel shrugged and tossed his feet over the edge of the bed. “She came over to your room, planning on hooking up with you and you were there with some other chick.”
“That’s all she said?”
“Wasn’t what she said, more like how she said it. You should have known that although she said she knew the score with you, she wasn’t going to be able to be pushed away.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. I would need a fucking cigarette if I was going to have this conversation. “I didn’t push her away. I wasn’t fucking thinking when Toni said she could come to my room.”
“Obviously, since you decided Toni was a better choice than Nikki.”
Toni was far from better than Nikki. All Toni was good for was relieving the pressure a bit. “Look, I fucked up. A guy like me never gets a shot at a chick like Nikki. I live in a world of Toni’s who are a dime a dozen and disposable.”
“Well, you’re a fucking idiot for not realizing soon enough Nikki was better than your wham, bam, thank you ma’am bullshit.”
“Look, I don’t need you to go all fucking Dr. Phil on me. I fucked up, and I’m going to try to fix it.”
“Well, good luck brother, because from what I saw and heard from Nikki, you got a lot of fucking work in front of you for her to even start talking to you again, let alone letting you back into her bed.”
I walked back into the bathroom and tossed the towel on the floor.
I may have a lot of work to do, but I was hoping the reward at the end was going to be worth it.
Nikki was going to be my reward.
*
Nikki
“I’ll call you when we get back to the club. I have work all week, but Nickel said we can come back out next weekend to hang out.”
“You’re welcome to come whenever you want. Maybe next time you could bring Cora with you and leave the guys at home.”
Karmen glanced over her shoulder at Nickel who was standing next to Pipe and his bike. “I think I can make that happen. I’m pretty sure if Cora was with me, Nickel wouldn’t have a problem. She’s one tough chick who could take care of me,” she laughed.
“No plotting, woman,” Nickel called as he pointed his finger at us.
“That man has no idea what he signed up for,” I mumbled.
“Trust me, he had an idea, but there’s still more to come,” Karmen cackled.
She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. “No crying,” I warned.
“I’m not crying,” she mumbled into my neck. “I have something in my eye.”
“Is that what you’re going with?”
She pulled away and shrugged. “Just go with it. The only reason I’m not kidnapping you and tossing you in the truck is because I know I’ll see you a few days.”
“Well, thank you for that.” There was the crazy part coming out.
“Make sure you tell Alice bye for me. She’s really not that bad. Not a replacement for me, but she’ll keep an eye on you for me when I can’t be here.”
I laughed and leaned against the porch rail. “Well, I’m glad you can see a use for her. I’ve become rather fond of her. She’s one of the first people I met when I moved to town.”
Karmen wagged her finger in my face. “Just don’t replace me, woman.”
I held up my hand. “Not gonna happen, okay?”
“Baby girl, let's get a move on. I got shit to do. You being one of them.”
Karmen rolled her eyes and gave me another quick hug. “It’s probably a good thing you and Pipe didn’t work. You’d be putting up with stuff like that.”
I plastered a smile on my face and nodded my head. “Yeah, thank God.”
Karmen shook her head. “Nice try. Maybe next week, you’ll be better at faking being okay.”
“Give me a little credit. The man is standing right there looking like every girl’s wet dream.” Pipe was smoking again, and I wished I was his cigarette.
Damn. They needed to leave, like now.
“I’ll call you. Make sure you answer the damn phone,” Karmen called.
Nickel grabbed her hand and pulled her to the car. He tucked her into the passenger side and gave me a two-finger flick before he slid into the driver’s side.
Nickel backed out the driveway, and Pipe sat on his bike watching me.
What did he want? I wasn’t going to say bye to him.
I couldn’t put myself through that.
I stood my ground on the porch, gave him a little wave, then disappeared into the house. I slammed the door shut behind me, giving myself credit for not giving into my need to go to him.
I couldn’t control myself not to peek through the curtains and watch him, though.
God broke the mold when he made Pipe Marks. Tall, powerful build. Strong, broad shoulders. Dark hair, long enough to give him the wild, carefree look. Chiseled features that made my knees weak. Tattoos covering skin that screamed bad ass.
He was fucking hot, and there wasn’t any way I could deny it.
He cranked up his bike, gave one last look at my duplex, and took off down the street.
That was going to be the last time I saw Pipe.
I couldn’t go through this one more time. He broke my heart all over again.
Pipe was gone, and I was going to be okay.
Eventually.
*