Chapter 8

Tank

SEPTEMBER 19

“Mmmm.”

I was having the strangest dream. I was twenty-five and back at that hole-in-the- wall motel in Vegas with Abby. We were celebrating something—winning at the tables or the fact that I was home on leave—I couldn’t remember. But she was doing that thing with her mouth where she flickered her tongue until I saw stars. A part of me knew it couldn’t be real. Abby was a cheating bitch. But that didn’t matter at the moment. Right now all I cared about was the way she made my eyes roll back when she gripped me so tight and milked my dick with her fantastic mouth.

A thunderous pounding noise tore me out of the dream when I’d been inches from coming. I flinched, rolled over, and felt another body next to me. The last time Abby had been in my bed, she’d tried to stab me with my own knife. Without thinking, I pinned down the other person before I even opened my eyes. My chest heaving from the adrenaline rush, I blinked a few times, waiting for the room to come into focus.

“What the hell, Tank? What are you doing? Let me go.”

After a minute I realized I recognized that voice. I had a gorgeous, naked woman pinned under me. Not Abby. Nicole Walker, the very forbidden, old-lady-adjacent and therefore protected Nicole Walker.

Fuck me, I slept with her last night. I really needed to stop thinking with my little brain. Reb and Zag were gonna kill me.

With a grimace, I rolled off Nicole and covered my face with my hands while I mumbled, “Sorry.”

My ex would’ve been a more welcome sight this morning. Abby was a bitch, but that was fine since I was an asshole. It worked that way—an ass and a nice girl don’t mix.

Nicole sat up in bed and rubbed at her wrists. “Is that the way you wake up every morning, or am I just special?”

The sight of her rubbing at her wrists burned my gut like acid. There weren’t any marks on her, but there might as well have been. I’d touched her in anger. Christ, what was wrong with me? “Again, I’m sorry. I guess I forgot where I was for a second. It’s too fucking early.”

“Depends on your definition of early. I thought you military boys were used to getting out of bed before eight.”

“It’s eight?” I lowered my hands and looked for a clock.

“Eight-thirty.”

“Christ, I don’t think I’ve slept this late since—”

Just then the hammering in the distance started again.

Nicole pushed off the bed with a heavy sigh. Her tits swung with her motion as she grabbed a robe from the bottom of the bed. I groaned in disappointment when she covered her fantastic tits. I could look at them all day.

The thunderous knocking came again.

“What the fuck is going on? Are they doing construction on your building or something?”

“No, there’s someone at my front door.”

“And you’re gonna answer it in a robe and nothing else? No fucking way.” I tore out of the bed and into the front room before Nicole could stop me. I grabbed my pants and was pulling them on when Nic crossed the room toward the door. “Hey, do not open that door until I get there.”

“I’ve lived in this apartment longer than I’ve known you. I can open my own damn door.”

“Not dressed like that, dammit.” I left the fly unbuttoned and crossed to where Nicole was glaring at me next to the door.

“Yup, sometimes less.” She put her hand on the doorknob and attempted to shoulder me out of the way. “Move back.”

I took a half a step back and crossed my arms over my bare chest.

Nicole glared at me and opened the door wide. Then an expression of horror crossed her face. “Em. Reb. What are you doing here?”

My eyebrows rose as I looked past Nicole. Sure enough, the president of the True Brothers MC stood on Nicole’s front step and didn’t look too happy to see me inside Nicole’s apartment, judging by the glare he sent me. Christ.

“I, uh, saw that you’d left your car at Reb’s house.” Emily’s large blue eyes darted between me and Nicole. “And I thought you’d maybe need a ride today. To the wedding. You didn’t answer any of my texts this morning.” She paused and threw a wide-eyed look at Nicole before turning to me. “Hey, Tank. How are you this morning?”

“Good. Can’t complain,” I answered.

“He better fucking not,” Reb rumbled from behind Emily.

Nicole tossed a glare my way before she faced Emily again. “A ride would be great. I just need to get some clothes on and grab my bridesmaid dress. Do you guys want to come in and wait for a second in the living room while I get ready?”

“No need.” I stepped forward and put my hand above Nicole’s on the door. “I’m taking Nic up to Tahoe today. We’ll see you guys there.”

“No, you’re not.” Nicole attempted to elbow me in the stomach. “There’s no way I can ride on the back of your bike clutching a garment bag. I have to bring my bridesmaid dress and shoes and makeup. It’s not gonna work. I wasn’t thinking last night.”

“Clearly,” Reb muttered.

Emily bit her lip, but she didn’t say a thing.

“We’ll take my truck. Problem solved.” In a semblance of a smile, I bared my teeth at the couple still standing on the front step. “See you guys in Tahoe.”

Nicole glared at me. “What happened to one and done? Why are you trying to force us to spend more time together?”

Shit, that was a good question. I didn’t know the answer. Despite the way we’d woken up, a large part of me felt like I wasn’t done with her yet, but I didn’t want her to leave with Reb. Yes, he had his own woman, but the caveman side of me wasn’t interested in thinking logically at the moment. She’d spent the night fucking me. She was mine, dammit.

“Well, clearly you guys have a few things to discuss.” Emily’s eyes ping-ponged between our two hostile expressions. “We’re just gonna go. Nic? I’ll see you soon at the venue to set up?”

“I guess.” Nicole glared at me. “But if I’m not there in an hour, send the search parties out to find my corpse.”

“Christ,” Tank bit out. “What the fuck do you think I’m gonna do to you?”

“I don’t know. I just think it’s important people know where I am and who I’m with when I’m in the company of shady individuals.”

“Whoa-kay.” Emily took a step back into the shelter of Reb, who’d turned his glare toward Nicole. “I guess we’ll give you guys some space to get ready and see you up on the mountain. Bye!”

Emily darted around Reb and practically fled toward the parking lot while Reb stayed back a moment. His steady gaze moved between Nicole and me before he stepped forward and held out something to Nicole. “I think you’re missing this.”

Nicole accepted the remnants of her hide-a-key from Reb.

But he didn’t let go right away. He took a step closer and towered over Nicole. “You should know that you drive a wedge deeper between you and Em every time you say bullshit about bikers. She’s only gonna take so much, and I’m not keen to keep letting you hurt her like that. We’ve both had our fill of bullshit lately, so smarten the fuck up.”

The fake rock fragments fell to the ground as Nicole stepped away from the visible wrath boiling in Reb’s eyes. I lifted a hand toward her but she ducked me and took measured steps away, never letting me or Reb out of her sight.

“I’m just gonna go take a shower. The two of you can go to Tahoe or go to hell for all I care, but neither of you better be here when I get out.” Then she turned the corner and disappeared down the hall. A moment later a door slammed shut.

I had to admit I was impressed with the way she’d stood up to an MC prez like that. Not that I was gonna say as much to Reb. I turned back to face him with a blank expression. I already knew what he was gonna say before he opened his mouth.

Reb’s gaze was already narrowed on me. “You and Nicole? Really?”

I didn’t reply.

Reb raised his eyebrows. “You hurt her, and we’ll have a problem. It’ll cause drama for Emily and Jessica, which will piss off me and Zag. And we don’t need any more bullshit drama. So it’ll be a problem both me and Zag would be more than happy to set right.”

“Really?” I sneered. “You just got done threatening Nicole, now you’re gonna be her fucking savior?”

“Whatever beef I have with Nicole is between the two of us, but she’s under club protection. She’s like a sister to Jessica and Emily. That means she’s family to me and Zag. I don’t need to remind you that we protect our own, against our own if need be.”

I narrowed my eyes but still didn’t rise to Reb’s bait. Whether he was really threatening me or only baiting me to see where Nicole and I stood, I didn’t give a fuck. I was insulted he felt the need to say anything at all. Not that I let him know that. More than most, I knew the purpose of hierarchy and respecting my elders. Instead I stood there, expressionless, until Reb finally left.

I closed the door then crossed to my pile of clothes still on the coffee table. As I pulled my T-shirt over my head, I remembered the look on Nicole’s face when she backed away from Reb. That was the expression of someone who’d been burned by a man before. Violently. Maybe even literally. The fact that she hadn’t felt comfortable enough to turn her back on us made my blood run cold. Who had screwed with Nicole so bad that she didn’t feel safe in her own home?

After shrugging my vest on, I sat and laced up my boots. I looked around her living room for some clue to her background, but the only pictures on display were of her and Em and Jessica. No family. No boyfriends. No answers.

I settled in to wait. No way was I leaving her on her own to get to Tahoe. And no way was I gonna let her be the one to end our one night together on a note like that.

Five minutes later Nicole stomped down the hallway, her hair still wet from the shower, thumbing through her cell phone. I waited patiently for her to look up to notice me.

“…four, five texts. Oh, Christ, I hope she doesn’t tell Jessica. That’s all I need today,” Nicole muttered on her way to the minuscule kitchen.

Fuck, I could’ve been anyone waiting in her living room. She didn’t even know if I’d locked the front door when I supposedly left. Where were her survival instincts? I cleared my throat to get her attention.

She jumped three feet in the air. “You son of a bitch! What the hell are you still doing here?”

“Where are your survival instincts? I’ve been sitting here since you walked in and you didn’t fucking notice. I could’ve been a goddamn serial killer.”

“No, you’re just the mistake I made last night that won’t leave.”

“That’s not what you said last night, baby girl. And I didn’t feel like leaving since I knew you didn’t have a ride to the wedding.”

“Don’t call me that. I booked an Uber.”

“Well, fucking cancel it, baby girl. I’m taking you.”

“No, you’re not. We said one and done. And for those who are keeping track, today makes two.”

“So fucking what? One, two…What difference does it make?”

“I guess you didn’t do very well in math in school. Okay, I’m gonna break it down for you. This many is one.” A smart-ass grin curved her lips as she held up her right middle finger. Then the left middle finger came up. “And this many is two.”

I couldn’t hold back my laughter. I full on belly laughed until a tear ran down my cheek. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so hard or so long. It felt like I’d spent the last hour doing crunches. Christ, I had to be careful with this one—she could very easily make me forget that I wasn’t a forever kinda guy. The thought sobered me right up. “Thanks for that. I think I’m clear on my math now. You got all your shit together? You ready to go?”

“I told you already—I’m good; I called an Uber. So you can go on your merry way. On your bike. Alone.” She made a shooing motion with her hands.

I grinned back at her and settled deeper into the couch. Just then her phone chimed.

“See? My ride’s here. You can go now.” After another annoying shooing motion, she walked down the hall presumably to get the rest of her wedding crap together.

I seized the opportunity to go dismiss her Uber driver.

Her hired car was just leaving and I was returning to her apartment as she came out the front door.

“What did you do?”

“Looks like you need a ride to the wedding after all. Let’s go.”

“You son of a bitch! You know you just tanked my passenger rating, right? How the hell am I going to book rides now?”

“You don’t need to book a ride today. Get on.”

“Argh!” Tossing her garment bag over her arm, she walked over to my bike. “Well? Are you coming? You fucking engineered this whole thing after all. So let’s go.”

I smothered my grin behind a fake cough. “Yes, ma’am.”

It took a few minutes to get her garment bag strapped into my saddle bag and then we were on the road. I wasn’t the type to crow about winning, but I gotta say it felt pretty damn good to have her arms wrapped around me again as we rode toward my house. Her firm tits pressed into my back as I took a corner a little faster than she was comfortable with, judging by the way she gripped my waist. I silently wished for my erection to go away. It really made riding a motorcycle uncomfortable. Especially when she leaned into me like that. Fuck.

Fortunately, we made it to my house before I blew my load. Which I guess was a good thing. I was still adjusting myself when Nicole stomped around my driveway to where my truck was parked.

“Well?” She crossed her arms over her amazing rack while she glared at me. “What are you waiting for?”

“I need five minutes. I gotta grab my shit and feed Stella.”

“Five minutes? You didn’t say anything about that when you hijacked my ride. I’d be in my own car and halfway to Tahoe by now if you hadn’t kidnapped me,” Nicole bitched as we climbed the steps in front of my Craftsman house. Suddenly she froze on the second-to-last step. “Oh, shit. That’s your deal, isn’t it? You kidnap unsuspecting women and hold them hostage in your house. Do you keep Stella in a box under your bed like that one movie? People know I’m with you. Emily and Reb saw you at my place. Em will find me.”

“Christ, you’re nutty. Where was this paranoia when I was alone at your house?” I paused as I filtered through my key ring. “Stella is my dog. I don’t have a woman living in a box under my bed.”

“Oh.”

I unlocked the front door and gestured for her to enter before me. Just as she passed by me I whispered, “But the position is open if you’re interested.”

The expression on her face was priceless.

I slammed the door shut behind me and shook my head as I walked toward the kitchen. “You’re too fucking easy to bait.”

“Fuck you.”

“Rain check? I gotta be in Tahoe ASAP.” I was still chuckling as I portioned out the combination of wet and dry dog food guaranteed to kick-start Stella’s appetite. In the other room I could hear Nicole crooning to Stella.

“Oooooh, aren’t you a gorgeous puppy? You look much too nice to live with that s.o.b. in the other room.”

I ignored Nicole’s bait and whistled for Stella. “Breakfast! Come here, girl.”

A beat later Stella stepped surefooted around the corner and into the kitchen despite the two cataracts that had left her blind.

“Over here, girl.” I clicked my tongue to turn her toward me and placed the bowl of food on the floor. Once Stella dug into her food, I left the kitchen and walked down the hallway to my bedroom.

“You’ve got four minutes!”

Shaking my head at Nicole’s literal keeping of time, I tossed together a bag of clothes for the wedding and tomorrow and a few toiletries I couldn’t live without—mostly condoms. Then I returned to the front room and dropped the bag at Nicole’s feet. “I gotta give Stella her medication, then we’ll roll.”

“Medicine? What’s wrong with her?” Nicole dogged my heels as I walked into the kitchen again.

Fuck, where did I begin to answer that question? I kept it simple. “Diabetes. She needs insulin.”

“Wait, dogs can get diabetes?”

I grunted in reply as I drew the syringe to the prescribed amount of insulin.

“But she’s not fat.”

“Apparently German shepherds, especially females, can be prone to developing diabetes. She was diagnosed when she was six.”

“Huh, how old is she now?”

“Eleven.”

“So you’ve been giving her insulin every day for five years?”

“Twice a day.”

“Wow.” Nicole watched as I injected Stella’s dose of insulin. “Who’s taking care of her while you’re at the wedding?”

“A neighbor.”

“Oh.”

I tossed the needle into an empty two-liter bottle and gave Stella a good, deep rub. I’d had her for eight years, ever since that day my doctor made me go to Paws and Stripes. I’d been so paranoid that everyone was out to get me. When people whispered, it had to be about me. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t even let anyone touch me—let alone show any type of physical affection toward me. I’d driven everyone away with my shitty attitude—my ex, Abby, my mom, my sister. But Stella changed all that. She was the only woman who stood by me. She saved me. So I didn’t mind that it was my turn to save her. I could tell her hind legs were bothering her. For the past year, they trembled almost every time she stood up. Now they trembled even when she was lying down. I knew she didn’t have much more time left, but I couldn’t think about that right now—she was fine at the moment, and I had a bridesmaid to get to a wedding.

“Let’s go.” If my voice was a little husky, Nicole didn’t mention it.