EIGHT
Trust Me
Lucky
My boots thudded against the hardwood floor of Neptune’s. Hanna looked up as I passed, sending me a wink that I returned. I headed straight to the back room, ignoring the thumping music and the interested looks from the women to check out our stock of generators for Seven. If I didn’t, she’d probably cut off my balls with one of those sharp knives she had in the kitchen. And then where would I be with the ladies?
The good news was that the latest shipment of generators had come in last week. The bad news was that most the inventory had already been sold. Normally, this would be a reason to be happy. It meant that money was coming into the club and we could finally get the repairs that the dive bar needed to restore it to its former glory, but with the generators selling like lap dances at a titty bar, there was nothing left for Seven.
I pulled out a form, filling out the blank spaces with the specifics I wanted for the new generator. Within a few days, a new shipment would come in and I could pull one out and save it to take home later. That should get Seven off my back for a couple of days.
That done, I headed back to the bar and slid onto a stool. Hanna suddenly formed in front of me. “What’ll you have?”
I grinned. “Shouldn’t you already know by now?”
She shrugged, already turning to grab the bottle of Jack Daniels and pouring a shot for me. “It’s a habit to ask,” she said with a smile. “How’s your leg?”
I looked down, adjusting my injured leg on the rungs of the stool and frowned. “Hurts a little to be honest, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Yeah.” Hanna laughed. “Tough Lucky doesn’t show an ounce of pain, huh?”
“Where’d you hear that from?” Grinning, I tossed back the shot and felt its burn all the way down to my sternum.
“Seven seems to think you’re like stone. Nothing ever really fazes you.” She paused and shot me a cheerful grin. “Except for her, that is.”
“Did Seven also tell you that I’m an asshole? Because she reminds me of that every day.”
More laughter from the redhead. “I already knew that. Don’t need Seven’s big mouth to discover that fact.”
Another voice cut in then. “Are you two bad mouthing my best friend?” From the other corner of the bar, Indy stood with her arms on her hips. She sent me a look that told me she’d throttle my ass if I’d been talking shit.
“No, we were just discussing Seven’s accurate portrayal of me. She seems to believe she knows me better than myself.”
As Indy approached, her smile grew. “Well, Seven is quite insightful,” she said, no doubt referring to the time Seven knew about her mood disorder before she could tell her. “How do you like being her new roommate?”
I groaned, letting that say it all. Both ladies before me laughed. “We argue. A lot.”
“Do I even want to know what you two fight about?”
“Morning showers,” I rattled off. “Generators. Where I leave my guns. Sex hammocks.” The list was endless.
“Sex hammocks?” Hanna asked, puzzled.
“Never mind,” I muttered, as Indy laughed harder. I took another shot, letting my body ease itself of its tension.
“I hope you don’t drive her insane. Otherwise, she’ll come kick my ass for suggesting that you stay with her.”
“Drive her insane?” I thundered. “Indy, your girl nearly clocked me in the head with my own pistol this morning. At this rate, I’ll have a head that’s swollen to twice its size with the way she’s been threatening to beat me with it.”
“You don’t need me to help with that, sugar.” At the sound of that irritating voice, I turned to find Seven strutting towards us. She’d changed into a new top, matching it with a pair of sexy cowboy boots. “Your head grows with each passing look from a woman.”
I shot her a wolfish grin. “So does my dick.”
“Lucky!” Hanna scolded.
“I don’t see you beating at my penis,” I continued as a look of disgust crossed over Seven’s expression.
I busted out laughing. Kitt approached with his helmet tucked beneath one massive arm. When he settled on the stool beside me, I turned to him. “Finished baking cookies with Betty Crocker?”
“I see you’re in a slightly better mood,” he returned.
“I still can’t believe you didn’t take that exit I gave you. What’s she got that these other women don’t?” I spread my arms out to the pool of women who frequented Neptune’s. They would do anything just for a chance at a Glory member. Any one of these ladies would be a better pick than Seven.
Kitt smiled. “She’s got a damn good pair of legs and a nice rack on her. Don’t pretend like you haven’t noticed, bro. I see your leering eyes.”
I scoffed, taking another shot as I slid a glance at Seven. The girls were all happily chatting with one another, oblivious to our conversation just a foot away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Seven flashed a stunning beauty queen smile at something Hanna said and I stiffened. All right, so I could see what Kitt said about her being pretty, but that didn’t make up for her sparkling personality. My gaze panned from the women towards the rest of the crowd at Neptune’s. It was filled with other members of Glory MC, a few stragglers and the regulars who enjoyed a bar fight to go with their beer.
A lot of the men’s eyes were trained on Seven’s slender figure, shown off by the booty-hugging shorts she wore. Previously, the bar was merely interesting. Now, with her here, men sat up a little straighter and downed quick shots, hoping it would be enough liquid courage to give them the balls they needed to get up and talk to her.
The leering gazes of men had me tightening my fists at my sides. There was no question what was on their minds at the moment. It was there in the glassy eyes, the lopsided grins, and the licking of their lips. As if they couldn’t wait to find out if she tasted as sweet as she looked.
Kitt’s voice intervened in my thoughts. “I don’t know what your problem is with her. She’s letting you stay in her house, free of charge, I may add. Ease up on her.”
“Like you’ve been?”
Kitt elbowed me. Hard. “Fuck you, don’t be a jackass. She’s not that bad.”
“Christ, are you even listening to yourself? What did she feed you? You’re not thinking clearly.”
“So you are jealous.”
“What?”
“Listen, man. You’re not mad at me. Whatever shit is going on between you two, fix it. Otherwise, you’ll continue to claw at each other like rabid animals.”
I stared at him. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Whatever. I won’t be dealing with her wrath when she finds out there aren’t any generators to go around.” Shit. He had a point. I didn’t want to tell her and watch her go red and sprout horns like the devil. “And the stove is broken,” he added. “So good luck fixing that, too.”
“What? It was working when I left. What the hell did you two do to it?”
From beside me, Seven answered, her voice rising over the music in the dive bar. I transferred my annoyed gaze to her. “It wouldn’t have been a problem if you had the other one fixed. Now we’re without a generator and a stove.”
“I placed an order for the generator already. Just wait a few days.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know. A few days at most.”
“A couple of days we can handle. But if it’s weeks, Lucky, we’re looking at some serious problems.” I couldn’t exactly argue with her. Generators were integral in the post-flare world.
“Look, I’ll check the stove when I get home later. Trust me. I got this.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, giving me a seething look. “Somehow that doesn’t reassure me.” No more than a few minutes ago, I was loosening up. Now, with Seven here, I was finding myself getting angry all over again.
“Look at them,” Kitt observed out loud. “It’s like they fall into another argument without even trying.” Hanna and Indy nodded in agreement while Seven and I ignored them.
“I told you, I’ll fix it.”
Seven’s chin tipped up higher in challenge. “And when you can’t fix it, what are we going to do?”
Why did she always doubt my abilities? I reached out, grabbing onto her shoulders firmly. Yelling would achieve nothing but create more noise. “Seven, just trust me. Can you do that?”
Her cerulean blue eyes remained large as she looked down at my hands holding her. It was the first time I had touched her since I kissed her.
I released her when I realized I was still holding onto her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that. You just—” God, stop talking! I broke off and licked my lips.
Seven’s gaze followed the movement and her lips pursed together. “It’s okay,” she whispered. Hanna, Kitt, and Indy were oddly quiet as they watched on.
“I have a church meeting soon but I’ll check it out tonight. Don’t worry.”
“Right.” It came out as just a breath.
“Go on,” I said, tipping my head back to the bar. “Have a drink. I’ll find you later.”
The look in her eyes gave me a front row view of her desire. I watched as she turned away, the bodies of other men rotating like clockwork to catch of glimpse of her as she walked past them. She seemed so damn oblivious to the attentions she received.
Kitt cleared his throat from behind me. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” For the first time ever, I found it difficult to take my eyes off Seven and turn away.