14
I knock on Akeira’s door, but there’s no answer.
“She told you to come over and she’s not home?” Knuckles asked, knocking a few more times.
“I was supposed to call her on my way over, but I couldn’t necessarily do that on the back of your bike.” I look to her driveway. “Her car’s here. Knowing her . . .” I test the doorknob, and yeah it’s unlocked. “She does this sometimes.”
I walk inside with Knuckles moving from my back to my side.
“Akeira!” I call out. “Where are you?”
“Be down in a second!” she calls from upstairs. “Sorry, tonight is date night with Ben and I forgot to shave so I thought I’d rush in and do it before you got here, but now only one side of my vag is bare and the other side looks like I’m part werewolf.”
I wince and share a look with Knuckles, who looks on the verge of bursting into laughter.
“That’s nice, Akeira, but I’m kind of not alone here,” I call back up to her.
Silence, and then, “Fuck me dead. Who did you bring? You have no other friends.”
Knuckles clearly can’t contain himself any longer, and throws his head back and laughs loudly.
“You brought a man here and didn’t give me warning?” she calls out, sounding like she wants to kill me. “You remember what I opened the door in the last time you came over, right?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget that, babe,” I reply in a dry tone. She opened the door in some new bondage gear she’d bought and wanted to try on before wearing it for her husband. Except she’d put it on wrong, had gotten stuck, then answered the door with rope wrapped around her body, nipples out.
“A little help?” she’d said.
Shit.
She’s right, I should have warned her. “Just trying to keep things fresh and spontaneous between us, Akeira.”
I hear her gasp. If there’s one word to describe my best friend, I’d use dramatic. “Are you saying our relationship is getting boring? Here I am, leg on the bathtub, door open, shaving while having a conversation with you from the bottom of the staircase. How is that not wild?”
I look to Knuckles. “Is this what you meant when you said everyone has a wild side?”
“No,” he manages to reply with a straight face. “I’m afraid not.”
“Be down in a sec! Make yourself at home.”
“Want a drink or something?” I ask him, nodding toward the kitchen. “She usually has lemonade in her fridge.” And plenty of alcohol, although with the whole bike thing, that’s out, even for me.
“Sounds good,” he replies, taking in her spacious, brand-new home.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? They just bought it about two months ago,” I say, raiding her fridge and taking out a jug of freshly made pink lemonade and some strawberries.
“How do you two know each other?” he asks, studying me.
“We went to school together. I’ve known her for years; she’s basically family. I was the maid of honor at her wedding.”
Since neither of us has a sibling, Akeira and I have spent a lot of time together, and we always have the best time with each other. She’s been there through every milestone in my life, and vice versa. She knows me, she gets me, and sometimes we don’t even have to speak out loud to have a conversation.
I pour the drinks and slice up some strawberries to eat on the side.
“Aren’t we fancy,” I tease, picking up a piece of fruit and popping it into my mouth. “Are we doing anything after this, or do you have to be somewhere?”
“We have to be somewhere,” he murmurs, licking his lips and giving me a once-over. “I’m taking you back to my clubhouse, and I’m going to make you scream my name again. That was so fuckin’ hot, Celina. I loved hearing my name roll off your tongue as you were coming.”
“Well, that escalated,” I deadpan, feeling heat appear on my cheeks. “No damn filter.”
He takes a sip of the lemonade, puts the glass down, then pulls me onto his lap, fingers grabbing my ass. “Can’t decide if I like the pants or the skirt more.”
“You’re allowed to like both.”
He cups my face and smiles. “You’re loud when you come.”
My eyes widen. “Can you not?”
“Sorry, guys,” Akeira says as she wanders in, stopping when she sees Knuckles and me, his hand still possessively on my face. “Well, well, what do we have here? Is this the biker you messaged me about?”
She smiles widely, her pouty lips covered in gloss. “I’m Akeira.”
Knuckles lets go of me to give her his hand. “Knuckles, nice to meet you, Akeira. You have a beautiful home.”
“Thank you. Knuckles, that’s an interesting name,” she says, tucking her long, black, silky hair behind her ear. My best friend was born in Japan, but moved here when she was one. She’s as beautiful as she is kindhearted, and more than anything she loves a good laugh. She lets go of his hand and gives me a big, warm hug. “I’ve missed you.”
“Missed you too.”
“He’s handsome.”
“I know.”
“Is he the one who can cook?” she asks, turning back to Knuckles. “A sexy man like you knows his way around the kitchen, and the bedroom I’m assuming, or you probably wouldn’t have somehow gotten an invitation to my house.”
Why did I come here again?
Maybe I wanted to test him, I don’t know.
If Akeira likes him, it would mean a lot to me, because she tends to get to the bottom of things real quick. She’s prying to see if she approves or not. She didn’t with Robert, which proves she’s much more intuitive than I am.
“I’m an all-rounder,” he replies, lips kicking up at the corners. “And it wasn’t planned that I’m here, I kind of bullied Celina into it.”
“No one can bully Celina,” she responds, sending me an amused look. “She’s as stubborn as she is beautiful.”
“Truer words have never been spoken.”
“Hey,” I say, frowning. “I’ve been nothing but accommodating, so the two of you can back off. You’re not meant to gang up on me.”
“It was a compliment,” she points out, sharing a look with Knuckles like they’re longtime friends.
“Yeah, a backhanded one,” I say, crossing my arms, but a grin plays on my lips. “So tonight is date night, huh?”
“Yeah, same day every week, because once you get married spontaneity gets thrown out the door,” she complains, but her gentle eyes and soft smile give away how much she loves being married.
“Another reason why I’ve never been married.”
Of course Knuckles has to add in his two cents on that one.
“Really? I thought it was because no one would marry you,” I quip, smiling at my own quickness.
I’m returned a cocky smirk. “I could get any woman I wanted to marry me, sweetheart, and I think we both know that.”
Akeira’s eyebrows reach her hairline. “I’m glad you’re confident. Celina likes to pounce on any show of weakness.”
I throw my hands up in the air. “This is the last time I’m bringing a man here.”
“Damn straight it is,” Knuckles inserts, lips tightening.
Akeira fans herself, and I narrow my eyes at her. She stops the fanning, her hands landing on her hips. “I’m sorry, Celina, but I’m still a woman.”
More laughter.
“Do you guys want to go outside and sit on the deck? I’ll bring some snacks,” my best friend asks. We head outside, and she soon returns with a cheese platter she’s made up on the spot, her Bluetooth speaker, and a bottle of wine. “Lick” by Cardi B starts to play on full blast, and I wince until she lowers the volume.
“So,” she murmurs, leaning forward and glancing between us. “Tell me everything I’ve missed. How did the badass biker catch the eye of this sexy, emotionally unavailable journalist?”
I pull the bottle of wine closer.
Knuckles gets called back to the clubhouse. I don’t know what for, but I hope that everything is okay.
“He’s fucking hot,” Akeira says to me. “You’ve done well, my girl. I’m so proud of you.”
I smile from behind my glass, amused at her antics. I swallow my mouthful and admit, “There’s something about him.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this before. Look at you, you’re blushing,” she says, eyes bright. “Finally, my bestie has found a man worthy of her.”
“We don’t know that just yet,” I remind her. “It’s still early days. There’s also something I want to talk to you about.” I put down my glass. “I’ve been writing notes for a story on the MC, basically just showing them in a different light. No secrets, nothing shady or anything like that, just about how they’re a close-knit family and are all bonded by their love for riding.”
Her lips tighten. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, I could see readers eating that up, and I’m sure your boss would love it, but that’s kind of mixing business with pleasure, and it could backfire, don’t you think? What did Knuckles say about it?”
I go quiet and she frowns.
“You haven’t told him you’re writing an article based on his private life and family? Good information or not, that’s quite a personal thing to do, Celina. You need to be careful here. I wouldn’t publish anything without getting his approval.”
I pick up my glass and down the rest of my drink.
She’s right, of course.
If I haven’t even mentioned it to him, deep down I must know he’s going to hate the idea and get angry about it. This isn’t how I want my relationship to go.
“You’re right,” I tell her. “I needed to hear you say this.”
“You came to the right place,” she says, clinking her glass against mine. “I am wise beyond my years.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay, too far, buddy.”
We share a smile.
No to article on the MC.
“Never did I think I’d be back here,” I say as we enter the clubhouse. After an hour-long chat with Akeira, Knuckles picked me up, in a car this time. He insisted on bringing me back here for some reason, instead of the two of us going back to my place.
“I knew you would,” he says, ducking his head. Flashbacks hit me as we walk through their large living area, and I remember Rogue singing.
“What do we have here?” Erin’s dad, and Knuckles’s president, says as he walks into the hallway. Gage Parker is a good-looking man, especially for his age, and he’s also one who commands the room.
“You remember Celina, Prez?”
Gage nods. “Of course, Erin talks about her nonstop. Nice to see you again, Celina.”
“You too . . .”
I trail off when I realize I have no idea what to call him. He’s not my president, so I can’t call him that, yet calling him Gage sounds too personal. “I have no idea how you want me to address you.”
Blue eyes fill with humor. “Gage works fine.”
“Gage it is,” I say, feeling the heat rising up my neck. “Is Erin around?”
“She’s here somewhere,” he replies, smiling, then claps Knuckles on his back. “I hope you know what you’re doing, brother.”
He glances down at me. “I do.”
Gage nods and disappears, and we continue down the hallway until we stop at the last door. He pulls out a key and unlocks the door, then gestures for me to go in first. “Welcome to my home.”
Amused, I step inside and look around. He has a huge bed with a black headboard against the right wall, and on the other wall an epic gaming setup, everything mounted up high. “Now that is fancy.”
“The girls like to come here and game with me now and again,” he explains, removing his biker boots and placing them neatly in the corner.
“I’m sure it’s for the girls,” I tease, moving to sit down on his black-and-blue bedsheets. I notice that he seems to like skulls a lot, with real skulls used as decoration, and a skull picture on the wall. He also has a few framed pictures of him and his daughters, one with another woman in it, who I assume is Flora, his baby mama.
“So you’re into hunting, gaming, and photography,” I conclude, still taking in every detail of his room. “You like black, leather, and skulls. Meanwhile the thought of killing a living animal myself makes me want to cry, my favorite color is white, and I’ve never gamed in my life.”
“Opposites attract,” he murmurs, sitting down next to me on the bed.
I believe that opposites attract, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they stay together. . . .