“What are you doing?”
Hawk’s voice makes me jump. I glance back at him then back to Jenni and the girls. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I whisper.
“Um, I don’t know. Because this is my home and this is my club. Why the hell wouldn’t I be here?”
Turning back around, I meet the kid’s gaze. “That’s not what I meant. I thought–”
“Why are you whispering?”
I push him further back into the hallway, away from the girls. I don’t want Jenni or any of them to know that I’ve heard them. “I didn’t want to break up the girl’s pow wow. Now, what’s up?”
He looks down at his foot, scuffing his trademark Chucks along the floor. “It was time to come home.”
“Hey.” I grab his shoulder, causing him to lift his head to meet my gaze. “You good?”
“Not really, but too much drama and shit to get into.”
“Fuck the drama, man. Life’s too short.”
He nods. “I hear you’ve become quite familiar with the drama.”
He takes a step to the side, peering behind me to where I know the girls are drunk off their asses. When he steps back, he crosses his arms over his chest and cocks his own eyebrow.
I give him a straight answer. “My sister had a few kids. Lucky for two of them, she gave em up. Two of the younger ones weren’t so lucky. Now they’re in the system. At some group home or some shit.” I scratch my hand over my head, bringing my hand down I look up at the ceiling. “This lady wants me to take em in, be a guardian or whatever.”
“And you don’t want to?”
Tearing my eyes from the ceiling, I look at Hawk. “Not really.” His lips form a straight tight line.
“What are you guys doing back here?” Poppy’s slurred voice breaks the tension that I can feel building with Hawk.
I turn around, instantly seeing a puff of brown curls hiding behind her. “We were just discussing club business.”
Hawk coughs the word ‘bullshit’ from behind me, making Jenni giggle. I see her dainty fingers grip the fabric of Poppy’s sweat outfit.
“What are you two fine ladies doing?” Hawk asks.
“Getting drunk,” Poppy replies, causing Jenni to giggle again.
“Nice. Sounds like fun.” He turns his back towards me, winking before one arm pulls Poppy into his side, revealing Jenni. Her face is flushed. The little makeup she does wear is smeared at the corner of her eyes. “Whew-we,” Hawk whistles. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drunk, Miss Jenni.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not the first time. I’ve done it before.” Her body rocks, slightly.
“At least that can be said for some things. There’s a first time for everything.” Poppy makes a jab. Jenni pokes her in the side, shutting her up.
“How you feeling?” I ask Jenni.
“Great.” She points her finger up into the air like Tony the fucking Tiger.
I throw my head back and laugh, a pure and honest laugh. Taking a step closer, I reach out to grab her elbow. The pupils of her eyes dilate as her tongue peeks out and wets her bottom lip. She flutters her lashes, probably trying to clear her alcohol induced vision as she continues to look at me. Without taking my eyes from her, I can see Hawk and Poppy move away from us and back into the clubhouse with the other girls.
“How are you really feeling?”
“Numb,” she replies.
“What am I gonna do with you, Sweet Lips?”
Her mouth pulls to the side revealing a sexy as hell grin. “What do you wanna do with me?”
“That’s a loaded question.”
She takes a step closer to me, placing her hand on my chest and making my heart drop. She tilts her head back, giving me her full attention. “Do you wanna kiss me?” There’s a slight quiver to her voice. “Would you put your lips to mine? Use your tongue?” Her hand travels up my chest until I feel the sharpness of her nails dig into the flesh. With the feel of pressure against the back of my neck, I allow her to pull me closer. “Can I get a taste, Lick?”
I study her face. I can see the certainty of her words as they dance with the courage of the alcohol. I know I’m a dick. I’m confident I can get her to do the things I’m sure she’s never done. I can be one of those guys. But with Jenni, I will never be one of those guys. My heart won’t allow it, and that knowledge scares the ever-loving shit out of me.
“Sweet Tits, I’ll give you more than a taste.”
“You will?” she asks, pushing against my chest with a surprised look on her face. “Because–”
Then everything happens in slow motion.
Her eyes grow big…
She slaps her hand over her mouth…
Lurching…
And vomit sprays from her mouth, passing through her fingers and hitting the white of my shirt and the leather of my cut.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
Instinctively, I push her from my grasp, making her stumble back. Her back hits the wall before she bends over, continuing to empty her stomach onto the floor and my boots.
“Fuck me,” I grumble.
“What’s going on in here?” Scarlet is standing at the end of the hall. She looks panicked as she watches Jenni continue to heave.
“Get the fuck outta here,” I tell her just as Heather comes up behind her.
“Holy shit,” she whispers.
I move towards Jenni, pulling her hair back away from her face. “What the fuck have you been giving her?”
“Nothing bad, just some Kamikazes.”
“Like two pitchers full,” Scarlet says.
“Get this puke cleaned the fuck up.” I glare at Heather. She goes to open her mouth to contest when Jenni heaves again, spilling more liquid onto my boots. I sweep her up into my arms and turn towards my room.
She needs to get cleaned up, and I need to get the stench of her puke off my skin.