Chapter 12
Maniac
“You good?”
Wren looked up at me. “What happens if I’m not good?”
“I’ll find a way to make you good?”
She blushed, and her eyes wandered to over my shoulder. “I’m afraid to ask how you would make it good.”
I reached up and brushed my fingers against her cheek. “Gotta say, darlin’, your mind is in the gutter.”
“You’re the one who says things that have a double meaning.”
She was spunky.
She was breaking out of the shell she had barricaded herself in.
A new Wren was emerging.
“Pretty sure that’s your mind that flipped that shit around, not me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Are we going to actually go in the clubhouse, or are we just going to stand outside?”
So God damn spunky. “We’ll go in as soon as you kiss me.” I was pushing her. But I knew she could take it.
“Kiss you?” she scoffed. She looked at me like I was crazy, but she didn’t step away from me or seem turned off by it.
I was pushing her. I didn’t want to push her away, but I knew if we kept going on the way we were, I was never going to be able to see where things with Wren and I would go. “Afraid, darlin’?”
“Why would I want to kiss you?”
“Because I want to kiss you, but you’re in control here. I’m just telling you what I want. It’s up to you if you actually want to kiss me.”
“Says the controlling asshole alpha,” she mumbled.
“Did you just call me an asshole?” I laughed.
“You’re a sometimes asshole, but with a purpose,” she clarified like I would actually understand what the hell she was talking about.
“A sometimes asshole?” Wren was changing. There was no way in hell she would have been able to talk to me so freely when we first came to the cabin. Now she said whatever was on her mind and didn’t worry about my reaction.
She waved her hand. “You wouldn’t get it since you are the sometimes asshole. Can we go in now? I really wanna see Jez and Jake.”
“We just gonna act like I didn’t just tell you to kiss me?”
She leveled her glare on me. “You just told me the ball was in my court. Right now, I think I’ll just hold on to it and see about later.”
I rubbed a hand over my chest. “So this is what rejection feels like.”
A smug smile spread across her lips. “Sometimes it’s good for the ego to not always get what you want.”
I threaded my fingers through hers and tugged her toward the clubhouse. “I’ll accept that, for now. But you better believe your sweet ass, you won’t be able to hold me off for long.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something else to hold your attention.”
That wasn’t likely. At all. I had just spent two months holed up in a cabin with only Wren, and it felt like I didn’t have enough of her time. “I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that, darlin’.” I looked down at her and put my hand on the handle into the clubhouse. “You sure you’re good?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m good, Maniac. As long as there aren’t a bunch of Hell Captains in there, I’ll live.”
That was one thing Wren never had to worry about. She was never going to have to lay her eyes on another one of those assholes ever again. “We’re good on that front.” I pulled open the door and led her in.
My eyes adjusted to the dimmed lighting and over-darkened room.
“Is it like a code somewhere all of you MC clubs need to have next to zero lighting?”
I chuckled and led her over to the bar. Surprisingly, there wasn’t anyone in the common room hanging out. “You want a drink?” I asked.
She looked around and plopped down on the bar stool closest to me. “You going to ignore the whole lighting?”
“Not much I can do about it. Drink or not?” I asked again. I grabbed a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and set it in front of her.
“You don’t by chance have wine or like a wine cooler behind there, do you?”
I was speechless. We were in a motorcycle club. What in the hell did she expect. It was beer or whiskey. “Next thing, you’re going to ask if there is a blender back here.”
“I just figured with all of the girls coming and going you guys would try to accommodate them with drinks they prefer.”
“If by girls coming and going you mean Karmen, Nikki, Alice, and Cora, then I guess you are right.”
She rolled her eyes and stood up on the rung of the bar stool. She peered over the bar and pointed to the small fridge. “What’s in there?”
“Beer.”
“Open it.”
“Woman. What the hell do I need to open it for? It’s been filled with beer since the first day we walked in the door.”
“Do it,” she insisted.
I yanked open the door and heard the familiar sound of bottles clinking together. “See, what did—” My words die in my throat, as I looked down at two bottles of wine in the door and bottles filled with various shades of pink, blue, and orange. “What in the fuck is this?”
Wren giggled and sat back down. “That would be Karmen and Nikki’s fridge.”
I glanced up at Wren. “And how the fuck would you know that?”
“There’s that fuck word again,” she mumbled under her breath.
“It seems an appropriate use of it when you know what’s going on in my clubhouse, and I don’t.”
She shrugged. “Cora had mentioned it to me in passing before.”
I crouched down in front of the fridge and grimaced. What had the world come to, when a man had a separate fridge in his clubhouse filled with girly drinks. “Well, what did you want to drink? Wine, pink, blue, or orange?”
Her giggle drifted down to me, and I couldn’t help but smile. If having a fridge filled with shitty drinks made Wren happy, then I guess I was okay with it.
“Pink,” she called.
I grabbed one of the bottles and set it in front of her. “That shit would give me a gut ache.”
She grabbed the bottle and twisted the cap off. “And whatever the hell you’re drinking would drop me to the floor in two point five seconds.”
“Or put hair on your chest.” I lined up three shot glasses and filled them to the top with the whiskey.
“I thought you were coming to talk to me about some plan you had, not get drunk.” Wrecker waltzed over to the bar and sat down next to Wren. “What’s shakin’, babe?”
Wren set her drink on the bar and slightly scooted away from him. “I came to see Jez and Jake. I had no idea you guys were hiding them here.”
“Not really hiding as much as trying to keep them from getting dead,” Maniac growled.
She gulped and wrapped her hands around the bottle. “I suppose I can’t really be upset about that then, can I?”
Wrecker nodded at me and took one of the shot glasses I had just filled. He tossed it back and slammed the empty glass down. “You would think one of you assholes would fall for a chick who wasn’t all sass and back talk. I guess that isn’t going to happen for you, huh?”
Wrecker was such an asshole. “Maybe you’ll be the one to get the deaf and mute girl, Wrecker.”
“One can only hope,” he muttered.
“Um, can you tell me where Jez and Jake are? I’ll hang out with her while you guys get all alpha together.” Wren jumped off the stool and looked expectantly at Wrecker.
“Get all alpha?” he questioned.
“Ask Maniac. He can tell you all about it.”
“You really don’t want to know about it, brother,” I mumbled. I tossed back a shot and grabbed the other one.
“She went shopping with Cora and Slayer.” Wrecker stood up and motioned me down the hallway to church. “Karmen is in her room with Nickel.”
Wren’s face fell at the mention of Jezebel not being here. “Where is Nikki?”
“Not these chicks keepers, babe. I only knew where Cora, Karmen, and Jezebel were because I saw Karmen in her room, and Slayer checked in with me before he left. That’s all I know.” Wrecker walked back down the hallway, ending any other questions Wren might have.
“You know how I called you an alpha who’s a sometimes asshole?”
I nodded and tossed back the other shot. “That guy is an alpha and all the time asshole.”
I choked on the shot and almost spewed whiskey out of my nose. “You might want to keep that opinion to yourself, darlin’,” I sputtered. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and twisted the cover back on the whiskey. Taking shots when Wren was around was not the best idea.
“You think Karmen is going to want to hang out with me?” she asked.
“Better you than me,” Nickel called. “She is on a tear this morning about raising a baby in the clubhouse. I don’t know what to tell the woman other than he ain’t gonna be raised here.” Nickel sat down in the chair Wrecker had vacated and pointed at the whiskey bottle. “Double, brother.”
“That bad?” I asked. I refilled two of the shots and slid them toward him.
“All I gotta say is, I cannot wait for her to pop this kid out so she goes back to my sweet, quiet Karmen.”
Karmen was once quiet? I think if that were true, it was only when she was sleeping. “You got time to hang around while I talk to Wrecker?”
“He’s getting all the guys gathered to hear what you have to say.”
I hadn’t expected that. Once I had talked to him, I figured he would clue everyone else in, but apparently that wasn’t what Wrecker wanted. “You sure you’re okay to hang out with Karmen?” I asked Wren.
She shrugged. “Yeah, as long as she doesn’t go all pregnant lady on me.”
Nickel tossed back his two shots then stood up. “You’re in the clear. She only goes crazy on me. As soon as Nikki or Cora walk through the door, it’s like the demon possessing her leaves and my sweet Karmen comes back. I’m almost ready to ask Pipe if Nikki can sleep with us at night.”
“Yeah, ain’t gonna happen,” I laughed.
“I know,” Nickel whined. “I love the woman, but this baby has taken over her body, always wanting to eat and nag me.”
I walked around the bar and clapped him on the shoulder. “You know there is only one way to prevent this from happening again, right?”
Wren smothered her laugh with the back of her hand.
“No more sex, brother.”
Nickel’s jaw dropped, and his skin paled. “Get the fuck out of here. That shit ain’t never going to happen.”
“Nickel!”
Wren busted out laughing, while Nickel cringed.
“Your woman is callin’ you,” I taunted.
He grabbed Wren’s arm and tugged her behind him as he stalked down the hallway. “You’re my shield. Her crazy will stay firmly inside her if you are in the room with me.”
Wren looked over her shoulder at me while she stumbled to keep up with Nickel. “Help me,” she mouthed.
I grabbed the bottle of whiskey and followed them down the hallway. I didn’t think it was possible for me to help Wren right now. Nickel was a desperate man just looking for a few minutes where Karmen wasn’t on his ass.
“Baby,” he called. “Wren came to see you.”
Karmen squealed and rolled off the bed as we all piled into the room. And when I said rolled, I mean she rolled.
“Oh, thank God,” she wheezed. “I’m about to drive Nickel to start drinking.”
At least the chick knew she was being crazy. “We got church. You think Wren can hang out with you?”
Karmen wrapped Wren up in a hug. “Girl, you can hang out with me whenever you want. Too bad Jezebel and Jake aren’t here. Although I think they should be back anytime. She asked me to go to the store with her, but I really didn’t feel like waddling up and down the aisles. Nickel says I can’t drive the electric scooter because they are meant for people who actually need them. He doesn’t let me have any fun.”
Nickel rolled his eyes. “We are not going over this again, Karmen. You are not a cripple who can’t manage to walk around the store.”
She stomped her foot and pointed her finger at Nickel. “You know my feet swell like damn balloons if I‘m on my feet too much.”
“Is this really happening?” Wren whispered to me.
“I think it is, but I can’t believe it. You really think it’s that big of a deal to let her ride the scooter?” Nickel really needed to start choosing his battles. Let the damn woman drive the cart around the store, and he wouldn’t have another argument on his hands.
“Eight months pregnant, Nickel. I am eight months pregnant, and I want to drive the damn scooter around the store. If you don’t let me do it now, we’re gonna have to keep getting pregnant until you let me.”
And this was where the top of Nickel’s head blew off. “I…you can’t…WHAT THE FUCK?!”
I stepped forward and put my arm around Nickel’s shoulders. “I think we need to get to church, Karmen. You think you can keep an eye on Wren for me?”
Wren rolled her eyes, but she didn’t say anything. She must have figured I was just trying to distract these two.
Nickel threw his hands up in the air and stormed out of the room.
“He’s such a bonehead,” Karmen mumbled under her breath.
I turned to Wren. “You sure you are going to be okay?”
She tilted her head back and looked up at me. “Uh, I think so? I really don’t think she’s going to go crazy on me unless I tell her I agree with Nickel.”
“Do you?” I asked.
“No. I don’t see what the big deal it is to ride around on the scooter.”
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Holler if you need anything. Karmen knows how to get me if you need.” I had heard the story of how Karmen had gotten the whole clubhouse in her room two nights ago. That probably had something to do with the fact Nickel wasn’t very happy with her right now.
“I’m afraid to ask how she’s going to get you for me,” she whispered.
“It involved a cup of water. I can tell you that much,” Karmen put in.
“Just hang out here.”
“It’s not like she can meet the Captain or anything,” Karmen scoffed. “One more month before we’re reunited.”
Wren’s eyes bugged out, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ll be fine, darlin’.” I kissed her one more time on the forehead and ducked out the door.
Karmen was going to calm down, and they were going to be fine together. Besides, she had said Jezebel and Cora were going to be back soon.
And I’m sure if she wasn’t, I would hear about it.
I need to get this over with and get back to Wren.
Deal with the Hell Captains, and then I could be with Wren.
*