5.
By the time it reached 8:00, Holly was all dressed and ready to go. She sat on her porch drinking a glass of wine for the first time in forever, and she clicked her heels together. She had chosen the little black dress and her sky-high heels. She wrapped a cropped leather jacket around her shoulders and plumped up her lips again with red lipstick. When Elle’s car came honking down the street, Holly smiled and stood up, lifting the bottle of wine with her.
“Started already!” Elle exclaimed as Holly bounced into the car beside her. “I like it!”
The girls drove through town, seeing the bikers’ presence at every turn. Harley Davidsons were lined up along pretty much the entire length of Main Street and the men were out in force. Some of them were older with long, graying beards and some were young, muscly, covered in tattoos and very, very attractive.
Elle clapped her hands together in delight as she watched them all walking around their quiet town. She turned to Holly and grinned.
“I am far too excited,” she beamed. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
They drove out of the other side of town and took a left down the long lake-side road. It went on for about two miles, but the lake was somewhere in the middle. Bikes growled past them, and Elle honked at them and waved. The riders looked in at them and winked. Some of them even cat-called, and Holly had never seen Elle so worked up and carefree. It was great to see, but her nerves were mounting… They really didn’t know what they were getting themselves into.
When Elle pulled off the road and into the tree-covered parking lot, Holly got out of the car and looked up at the sky. The trees were thick and like a canopy above them, but she could just make out the light from the moon. Other cars were arriving at the same time.
“Everyone wants to be here tonight,” Elle said. “It’s all people have been talking about in the diner all day.”
“I bet the old boys aren’t,” Holly said, feeling slightly guilty.
Elle stopped and took hold of her by the shoulders. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” she said. “I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do.”
Holly thought about what she had said for a moment. She knew that it would be easier to turn and climb back into the car and get the hell out of there, but she also knew that Elle had been right. She was a single girl and she wanted to meet someone. She had heard all about bikers, their loyalty and commitment to family, and now that was what Holly craved more than ever. She wanted a family of her own, and a man like that could give it to her.
“No,” she said defiantly. “I want to. Come on, let’s go and have a good time.” She linked her arm with Elle’s and pulled her forward into the forest. The sounds of bike engines, music and cheering was already pulling them in.
As the lake started to become visible through the trees, Holly could see the swarm of bodies down by the water’s edge. The majority of them were big, burly men, gorgeous looking and wild in nature. They swigged from whiskey bottles, chain-smoked cigarettes and arm wrestled each other on the big rocks dotted around the shore line.
As they made their way down to meet them, Holly’s heart was pounding. What if none of them were interested in her and she was going to make a fool of herself? She clasped Elle’s hand with nervousness and Elle squeezed back.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered.
As they approached the crowd, Holly recognized several people who came into the diner. They were there partying too, and some of the girls from town were already wrapped up in passionate embraces with the bikers. Elle pulled her towards a small group of men and some of them turned to look at them.
They were all so attractive and had that lustful bad boy edge that Holly didn’t know where to rest her eyes. She knew they were all weighing her and Elle up, taking them in, and in no time at all two of them stepped forward. They looked as if they were in their late twenties or early thirties, and they were tall, ripped with muscles and perfect jawlines, and their shaggy hair fell down around their eyes. They smiled at the girls with cigarettes clenched between their teeth.
“What do we have here?” one of them said cockily.
They began to circle Holly and Elle with the air of predators. The girls clung together, but Elle still smiled, swaying from leg to leg like a school girl.
“I’m Elle,” she purred, “and this is Holly.”
The two guys stopped and came closer. The other men in the crowd either watched with amusement or went back to arm wrestling and smoking. Holly noticed that one of them was getting tattooed with a big silver needle. The two bikers were so mean and sexy that Holly felt her sex begin to pulse in anticipation.
“Holly,” the guy in front of her said, his dark brown eyes glinting at her and making her go weak. “I’m Glider.”
He took hold of her hand and held it up to his lips. When he kissed her, the skin on her whole body began to prickle and she almost lost her breath.
Elle was being led away to the side of the crowd to talk to her man, and she turned to Holly and grinned as he wrapped an arm around her. Glider smiled at Holly and held up his bottle.
“Can I get you a drink?” he asked with more gentleness than she had expected. Even though he was intimidating, there was something about him that was pulling her in. How could this have even happened? They had just walked into the middle of their brotherhood and been chosen immediately by two of the hottest guys there… It was like a dream come true.
“Yes,” Holly smiled as she bit her bottom lip, “I would love one.”