Ember
The one thing that I hadn’t thought about when it came to heading to San Diego to meet up with the other chapter of the Satan’s Sons was the fact that they were a chapter of the Satan’s Sons. The same wild, violent group of men that had caused the trouble that I was in in the first place.
As we were getting ready, I thought about that. It was the first time that I questioned whether or not I would actually be any safer there than I had been at Wheeler’s place—and whether or not they would actually help us without strings attached. I remembered how Leech had looked at me and insinuated just that.
I didn’t want to be a bargaining chip.
“Hey, Wheeler?” He was in the bathroom, finishing up his own morning routine. After a second, he poked his head out the door.
“Yeah?”
“What is the San Diego chapter like? Are they like um … Your chapter?”
Wheeler cocked his head to the side. There was a bit of an amused look on his face.
“You mean rowdy, rude, generally disgusting?”
Okay, I might have smiled at that one.
“Yeah. Like that.”
Wheeler laughed.
“Nah. They’re actually pretty calm, to be honest. It’s like this—they were the original chapter of the Satan’s Sons, technically.”
“Technically?”
“Yeah.” He nodded and came out, leaning against the wall beside the bathroom. “Their president is Satan’s older brother—”
“Really?”
“Really. They had a bit of a split back in the day. Satan went his way; his brother went the other. They both run their chapters, and there’s other chapters that have popped up over the years, but they don’t talk a lot unless it’s really necessary. Differences in opinion on a lot of things; I never really cared to or needed to pry into business that wasn’t mine.”
“That’s understandable.”
“Aye. Well. Satan’s brother is the only one that I think would help with something like this, and he’s the only one that I can explain … other issues with him as well.”
That made me curious.
“Other issues?”
Wheeler hesitated. That gave me a reason to be a bit concerned, but I shrugged it off. It probably wasn’t my business, anyway, and did I really want to get involved in the internal affairs that plagued a motorcycle club?
No. That was an easy answer to come up with.
I walked over to him, and put my hand on his arm.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t need to know about it. I just need to tag along while you rally troops and hope they’re willing to help, right?”
Wheeler laughed.
“You make it sound so easy.”
We left not too long after that. I was eager to get going and get out of there—paranoid about the news broadcast that we had seen that morning, and worried that someone from the motel would recognize me and inform the police of my whereabouts. It was largely unfounded, according to Wheeler, but with everything that had happened the last few days, I couldn’t help it.
We were in San Diego in a few hours. I had never been to the city, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off the sights around me. I had my arms wrapped tight around Wheeler out of necessity, but I craned my neck this way and that way to take everything in. A couple of times, I gasped and felt the urge to point—but I verbally expressed my interest to Wheeler. He took my enthusiasm in stride, laughing deeply from his belly at my enthusiastic remarks about the city.
“If we’re here for a while, remind me to take you around the place, if you love it so much. It’s pretty around here. It’s no wonder you’ll like it.”
I blushed at his comments. It was so easy to do so with him, I wanted to kick him, but I made a mental note of everywhere that I wanted to be taken while we were here if it was possible.
He was offering, after all.
We started to slow, and I knew that we were getting closer to the clubhouse. Despite Wheeler’s assurances, I felt nervous again about meeting these new people. I wasn’t usually so jittery, but I didn’t think anyone could blame me after the week I was having.
We pulled up to a building that wasn’t too different from the Ben Sur clubhouse. A large place—looked more like a huge family home than anything occupied by bikers. Of course, that was offset by the fact that the front lot was filled with motorcycles. There were men standing out front, too, joking around and laughing. They looked up when we pulled up. At first, they were cautious, but when their eyes fell to Wheeler, they lit up and waved over.
“Wheeler! What are you doing here?” one of the men asked. He came over as Wheeler got off the bike. I stayed seated, watching cautiously.
Wheeler greeted the man with a hug. They pulled back, clasping each other’s hands.
“I came hoping to see if I could talk to the boss man, actually,” he said casually. “He in?”
“Eh, not for a while. He went out on an early ride, but he’ll probably be around in a couple hours. You can come in, wait, catch up with us. You and—” The man turned his eyes on me and nodded his head in my direction. “That pretty lady. She can—”
The longer that the man looked at me, the more realization dawned on him. He recognized me, and his eyes widened a little.
“Oh. We’d been hearing about the trouble going on …”
“I know it’s short notice and I didn’t call—”
“Hell, boss man won’t care that you didn’t call, he’ll probably be more annoyed at you that you didn’t call sooner. Don’t worry about it. You and the girl can come in. Fill me in. I’m damn curious.”
The man walked off, heading up to the house. Wheeler turned to me. I had yet to get off his bike.
“Hey.” He came up to me. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “I told you, they’re good people, and nothing like the boys back home. Trust me; Smith is harmless.”
I nodded.
“Yeah … okay.”
I wasn’t wholly convinced, but I decided to trust Wheeler, and I followed him inside. There were more men inside, and I stuck close to Wheeler, apprehensive.
They stared at us as Smith, according to Wheeler, led us through. But unlike the stares of the men at Wheeler’s clubhouse, these ones were more curious and friendly than leering—it didn’t feel like they were trying to undress me just by having their eyes on me. It made me relax a little.
Okay. Maybe there was some truth to it. As long as there wasn’t some weirdo like Leech coming around corners trying to play a big boy …
We walked passed the bar area. One of the others called over to us.
“Hey, Wheeler! Long time no see, you want a drink?”
“Nah, not right now. I’ll catch you later on that one.”
I noticed that Wheeler was a lot more comfortable and relaxed here, too. He actually smiled. He wasn’t the serious, nearly surly man that tended to interact with his fellow Satan’s Sons.
Why wasn’t he with these people instead?
I couldn’t help but wonder that as they greeted him like friends, and he returned the gestures in kind. It was nice to see him relaxed, and in turn, it made me relax a little more as well.
Okay. This was going better than expected.
In the back, there was an office. Smith took us to it and knocked a couple times.
“Aye, boss man. You got a moment?”
There was some rustling on the other side and a gruff clearing of someone’s throat.
“Better be good.”
“Oh, you’ll just have to see.” Smith grinned at Wheeler and me before he pushed the door open.
It was a big office, with a thick, solid wood desk in the middle of it. It was put together—far from a corporate office, there were model bikes (even a real one, displayed off to the side,) the walls covered in pictures of what I could assume were the members of the club chapter, family, and friends.
My eyes roamed around the office and then fell on the man that was in it, sitting at the desk. He was older than Satan was, but somehow seemed healthier. His thick head of graying hair fell down over his shoulders and he wore a worn kutte with a lot of patches on it. He was scribbling away in a book and hadn’t looked up at us yet.
“What do you need, Smith? I told you I was going over these blasted numbers today.”
“I know, but we have visitors.”
“Well, tell them that I’m busy. I have important things to do.”
“You could tell them yourself.” Smith spoke playfully, and that obviously got on the man’s nerves. He huffed and was about to say something as he looked up before he paused, catching sight of Wheeler.
“Wheeler?” He seemed surprised. I wondered just how long it’d been since Wheeler had come this way.
“Hey, boss man. Long time no see.”
“You’re telling me, you bastard, come here.”
The man stood up and came around the desk even as Wheeler went to meet him halfway. They embraced, the man clapping Wheeler on the back.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” the man commented.
“Yeah … It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”
“Old and tired,” the man grumbled. “Busy. You?”
“Young and tired.” Wheeler grinned. “Busy.”
The man slapped Wheeler on the shoulder. “You little smart ass. You young ones are always like that. I oughta put you to work.”
While Wheeler and the man talked, Smith leaned down to me.
“I’m gonna interrupt this before they get going and going and going. Someone doesn’t stop them, they’ll be doing this all night.”
I couldn’t help it. I chuckled.
That brought the attention to me. The man stopped midsentence and looked over to me. His brows rose.
“Oh ho, what’s this?”
“Ah, this is Ember.” Wheeler stepped to the side. “Ember, this is—”
“Just call me Boss,” he said, giving me a smile. He held out his hand to shake, and I did. I was surprised by the firm grip, but it wasn’t too much. “You look awfully familiar.” He looked to Wheeler. “Lots been going on lately down your way.”
Wheeler nodded.
“Yeah. Can we talk?”
Boss nodded. He gave Smith a look, and Smith nudged at me.
“That’s our cue to go.”
I shot a look to Wheeler. Go? Why? Couldn’t I stay?
But I knew bikers had their own kind of codes and knew that that wasn’t very likely. Wheeler gave me a smile.
“It’s all right, I won’t be that long, and Smith can entertain you. Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite. And if he does, you’re free to punch him in the face.”
Smith pretended to look hurt.
“Don’t go giving the lady a bad impression of me!”
The exchange was playful, but I continued to stare at Wheeler. He nodded at me again, reassuring.
“Don’t worry. I won’t be long. The boys here aren’t rowdy like the ones back home.”
Smith nudged me again, gently, and this time I turned and followed him out of the office. On the plus side, if something funny happened, all I would need to do was throw a kick to someone’s groin and scream; I had no doubt that Wheeler would come running, considering the fact that he had had my back at every turn thus far.
The door snapped shut behind me and Smith, and I walked beside him down the hall.
“So, how do you and Wheeler know each other?” he asked. “He doesn’t usually have women around—or, well.” He laughed a little. “Well, he does, but, you know. He doesn’t bring them around here. You special or something?”
My face heated up.
“Not really. We ran into each on accident at this festival I was performing at.”
“Performing?”
“Yeah. I’m a fire dancer. Some things happened though, and I got into trouble. Wheeler’s been helping me through that.”
“Interesting.”
We came back around to the front of the clubhouse. A few more bikers were out and about, talking among themselves. There was some attention turned to me, but none of them bothered me and Smith. He leaned against the wall and I stood with him.
“So, for curiosity’s sake, is he just helping you or … You guys a little something more.” He wiggled his brows at me.
What a gossip.
I shrugged my shoulders, as if the question wasn’t a big deal. But my eyes averted a little. I couldn’t look him in the eye and answer straight.
“We’re just … friends. He’s helping me, I’m … around.”
Smith laughed. He reached over and pat me on the shoulder.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to answer to me. I’m just nosy and pulling your leg. Come on. I’ll get you something to eat while we wait, and if you want we can shoot some pool until boss man and Wheeler come on back out.”
Wheeler
Ember left with Smith, and I felt a little bad for throwing her to the wolves, so to speak, but I knew that the San Diego boys would treat her well. There wasn’t the threat of Leech or the others here, after all. I didn’t have a worry about her safety.
Here? It was like home.
Boss settled back behind his desk, and I sat opposite him. Our reunion was good and had had a good start, but it was time for business now, and there was a lot to address.
“So,” Boss started. “Lay it on me. What’s going on?”
I explained to him what happened at the festival, from the reason we had been there, to what had happened during—and then after, with Ember. I left no detail out. I knew that Boss was trustworthy of this information, even if Satan didn’t think he was worth the time of day.
“So Satan sent out Leech to do some message sending … and he sent one, all right. Just the wrong one.”
“Pretty much.”
“And now this girl is involved.”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Hm. That’s a tricky situation.”
“There’s more,” I said. “It’s about Leech.”
This pulled Boss from his pensive thoughts. A darkness seemed to shadow his face.
“What about Leech?”
“Satan sent us out to send a message about the drugs. But I’ve noticed that Leech has been acting … off.”
“He’s always off,” Boss quipped.
“Well, I can’t argue that with you, but more off. He’s got a druggy tick.”
“You think he’s been selling to the rich boys and taking a cut?”
“Perhaps? I know at the very least he’s skimming. Satan’s also getting … worse. It doesn’t make any sense. And you know Satan, he’s not about to go to the hospital for what he keeps insisting is just a bad, persistent cold.”
“You think Leech has something to do with that?”
“I think all of this—the problems with the rich boys, Ember’s issues, and Satan, are a part of the same big issue. Leech.” I frowned a little. “I know being here won’t look good for me, but I didn’t think anyone else would be able to help or give me some insight,” I said. “It’s fishy. I kind of just came down here on impulse—”
“I gathered that much.”
“I’m sorry.”
Boss gave a small huff and leaned back in his chair. He looked troubled and stroked his beard.
“I told Satan, back when we split,” he said. “That something like this would happen. He’d have too much fun entertaining the wild life, and too much fun dabbling in things he shouldn’t, and it would come around to bite him in the ass. He didn’t listen to me. He wanted to do whatever, because it was fun or exciting or being it made him tough.” He shook his head. “He hasn’t learned a thing.”
“He’s not a bad man.” I had to defend him. I couldn’t not defend him. “He’s—”
“I know that he’s not a bad man, but his choices certainly haven’t led to anything good.”
I couldn’t argue that one. Boss went on.
“You know, you’ve always been a good kid,” he commented. “Back when Satan first brought you on, you’ve always been on top of the game, always working hard, always trying to do the right thing by Satan and the club. I can’t help Satan. What he’s gotten into, what Leech has? That’s not something I’m going to entangle my boys in—”
“But—”
Boss held his hand up.
“Let me finish.”
I sat back and let him move on.
“Satan and Leech are wrapped up in things they’re going to have to deal with on their own. I’m not going to help them. I will, however, help you and that girl. You know you’re always welcome to stay here, and I’ll even let her lie up until things smooth over where you are. She’s gonna need to change the way she looks though. We might can get her some fake identification, maybe set her up an account or something—”
“I can get her a prepaid card and load up some money for her.”
Boss’ lip twitched. “You’re a good boy, Wheeler. You and the girl are welcome to stay as long or as little as you want.”
Boss wasn’t going to help with the big picture. I could … respect that. I wouldn’t press that. It meant that there would be help for Ember, and that’s what I wanted more than I wanted help for the Satan’s Sons. Realizing that made me pause for a minute.
I actually cared about her more than I did them.
I filed that away in my head and stood up.
“My room still available?” I asked.
Boss laughed.
“Of course it is. You and Ember can stay there. Now go on, get. I’ll call up my guy for ID for her; in the meantime, get yourself settled. We’re having barbeque tonight for dinner.”
Fuck. My favorite.
“Thanks, Boss.” I stood up and reached out to shake his hand, which he did in return, gripping firmly. “I owe you one.”
“You don’t owe me anything other than keeping that girl out of the trouble that you Big Sur boys have done got her into. You hear?”
“I hear.”
Boss sat back down and I left the office. I came out to the front of the clubhouse and paused at what I saw.
Ember was leaned over one of the pool tables, lining up a shot. She concentrated hard, her brow furrowed and her lip bitten. I leaned against the wall and watched her as she pulled the pool stick back, slid it forward, back again and then—
Crack!
She sent the balls skittering over the surface of the table, sinking a couple. She stood up grinning as Smith looked at her forlornly.
“Now, when I made a bet with you over who was gonna with this round, I did it with the assumption that I was gonna win …”
“Well, you know what they say about assumptions. When you assume—”
“You make an ass out of you and me. You two having fun?”
I walked over, sliding behind Ember. I was tall enough I could rest my head atop her chin. I wrapped my arms around her middle. She stiffened a little in surprise, but relaxed within my hold. I was beginning to really enjoy that—when she relaxed back for me as though she belonged nowhere but in my arms.
Smith grinned.
“Hey, hey. This girl—she plays a wicked game,” he said. “She beat me out of my wallet money!” He pulled out said wallet as he spoke, handing over some bills to Ember’s waiting hands. “That’s totally not fair.”
“That’s what you get for betting against me thinking that I wouldn’t hold a candle to you!” she said. She fanned idly through the money that Smith had given her. I whistled.
“Damn, Smith, how much did you have to fork over?”
“A solid two hundred,” he griped. “Anyway. How long the two of you staying? Maybe I’ll get the chance to win it back!”
Ember snorted.
“I doubt it.” She looked up to me. “How long are we staying?”
I mulled over how to answer that.
“A bit,” I finally answered. “I need to call Satan and tell him where I am, why I’m here. But Boss is extending the club for us to lie low in while things are blowing over.”
“But he’s not going to do anything directly?” Ember guessed. “With the club and other stuff, I guess?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
For some reason, the news seemed not to settle well with Ember. There was a small frown on her face, but she let it go.
“Well, at least there’s a place I can stay for now,” she said.
“Yeah. Oh—I’m also gonna get you set up with a fake ID. Or, Boss is. I’m gonna go in town and get you a wig so that we can hide a little of who you are, and then we can get you some clothes and other things since we’re staying here a little longer.”
“So much for Elise loaning me her clothes.”
I laughed.
“I’m sure she’ll be delighted to have them back and on her own body again. Don’t worry too hard about it. In the meantime, we’re going to get that done; I’m gonna put some money on a prepaid for you, get you a phone—”
“You don’t have to do that.” Ember interrupted. The idea, for some reason, seemed to be a little too much for her. “It’s really not that big of a deal. I can use a payphone—”
“Which would tether you to … here.” I shook my head. “It’s no big deal. We’ll get that done tomorrow. I’ll show you where we’re staying now, though.”
I took Ember’s hand, tugging her with me as I led her through the clubhouse. I pointed out a few things to her.
“There’s other rooms this way, kitchen that way. Bathrooms, too, and then there’s a rec room.”
“A rec room?” The notion seemed to amuse her, and I grinned.
“Yeah. What, you think that bikers don’t like a little rest and relaxation?”
“I just think it’s a little amusing imagining a bunch of bikers sitting around a Nintendo or something playing video games.”
“Hey now, Nintendo is a treasure.”
She laughed, and I squeezed her hand a little harder as I led her along. It was so much smaller than mine; it felt right as I held it.
Don’t go getting all romantic on her now. You’re just trying to help.
I took her upstairs, where there were more rooms. Some were used for business, but there was one that was mine.
“You just have a room in every chapter of the Satan’s Sons?” she asked me.
“Nah, just this one and the one back home. I think other people would start to get annoyed if I kept getting different places to squat every now and then. Go on.”
I opened the door and nudged her forward. She gave a little gasp.
“Wow … this looks more like a personal room than the other place.”
I stepped in behind her and looked around. My room with the Big Sur Satan’s Sons was sparse. I hadn’t always been that way, but over time I had just stopped trying. Here, though, there were pictures on the wall. Some of them were from before Satan and Boss’ split. A lot of them were from my childhood. Ember went up to them, taking in the smiling faces. She stopped on one that had Boss and Satan in it.
“They look happy.”
I walked up behind her. Boss and Satan were in the picture, smiling up at Ember and I from a time long gone. Boss had his arm tossed over Satan, keeping him in a brother’s embrace.
“That was a Fourth of July barbeque,” I explained. “A little after I originally joined the Sons. Satan and Boss always threw huge get togethers for the Sons and their families, friends, whoever wanted to swing by and get a little bite to eat.”
“That doesn’t sound anything like the Satan’s Sons back home.”
“Yeah, well. Times change and so do people.”
Ember looked up at me, her head tilted.
“But you seem to fit right in here. I’m …”
“Confused?” I finished for her. She nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Satan was the one that brought me in,” I explained. “Back when he wasn’t Satan. He was called Pops then, because he was always bringing in runaways and boys that didn’t have anywhere else to go but join up somewhere where they could have stability. I had just lost my mother and father in a fire … I had no family to speak of. I was hitchhiking through California and he told me to get on or get lost when he rode up on me. I owe him a lot. When he and Boss had their falling out, I went with Satan because I didn’t know where I would be without him. He had been a father to me where I had lost mine. I couldn’t turn my back on that.” I shrugged. “Back then, I thought a lot like Satan, and Leech, and the others.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Ember said. “You don’t seem anything like that. Not at all.”
“No … but I was young and dumb and wanted danger and adventure. Satan wanted to get involved in hard stuff. Guns, drugs, doing a little petty payback here and there for pay. I came up as an enforcer in that environment because it seemed like how you got to make a name for yourself. How you got out there and in the world and did something. Young me was dumb. Me now wishes that I had known what I was getting into before I got into it and made a better choice.”
“I see.”
I turned Ember around so she could look at me as I went on.
“Boss isn’t gonna help with what’s going on with the Sons. That … whole issue. I’m gonna need to figure out. But like I said. He’s willing to put his neck out for you. I’m willing to put my neck out for you. I know that this isn’t a very good image … Me running with them when there’s this here but—”
She surprised me. She leaned up, stopping my words with a kiss. My brain stopped and I groaned. Her mouth was soft against mine as she parted my lips and kissed me deeply. I slid my arms around her and tugged her close.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” she said. “I think I get … you a little more. And the situation. I’m grateful for the help that you and Boss are going to give me, and I think in return I can help you out by just being here and accepting things as they are. Being … a friend. It’s obvious you need one.”
She pulled away but I kept my hands on her hips. I laughed a little.
“You think I need a friend?”
“I know you need a friend. I’ll be that for you. It’s the least I can do.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wished that she would end up being more than just that.
Ember
The first night with the San Diego Satan’s Sons was vastly different from my first night with the Big Sur Satan’s Sons. For one, they acted more like a big family of a lot of rowdy, rambunctious brothers than leery, seedy men with ill intentions. I got along with all of them, conversed, and even got to shoot some more pool with Smith (I kicked his ass) and then with Boss (I lost, but put up a good fight.)
Sleeping with Wheeler felt less like an escape from the world and more like an embrace. The sex was great, and the sleep was peaceful. It was easy to forget where we had come from—a world where people thought that I’d had a hand in a massive arson, and where he was a part of a club that he had lost his passion for but still stayed for as a sense of duty.
The next morning, I woke up before him again. My body was wonderfully sore, thighs still wet from cum and satisfaction.
I needed a shower.
Wheeler’s room here had a bathroom in it just like the room at the Big Sur clubhouse. I made myself at home, helping myself to it. It was pretty big, and the water pressure on it was to die for. As I stood under the spray and lathered up, my thoughts drifted.
I’ll need to call Mom again at some point to update her. Wanda too. I can do that after I get a phone from Wheeler. Or maybe I should still contact them through a payphone? I don’t want someone trying to trace their calls and link them back to me. That would bring them a little too much trouble from my end …
I finished up my shower quickly, making up my mind. Wheeler was still sleeping when I came out. I pulled on my clothes from the day before and headed downstairs. The San Diego boys were up earlier than the Big Sur ones. They greeted me cheerily and I gave them good mornings back. Quickly, I found Smith.
“Hey, is Boss around?” I asked.
“He’s working on something right now. Whatcha need? Another round of pool?”
I laughed.
“No. I want to use a payphone. Call my mom and everything.”
“Oooh, gotcha. Here.”
He led me down the corridor where the bathrooms were and to a phone. He pulled out a few quarters and slid them my way. I raised a brow.
“I don’t keep a cell phone on me,” he explained with a grin. “Too much hassle.”
I laughed.
“That’s fair.”
He left me to call in private. I stood for a moment.
I should only call one of them. Just so there were fewer people that had the ability to get a hold of me.
I dialed my mom’s number.
It rang and rang. It was a few in before she answered—she might have been busy with something.
“Angela, hi,” she greeted breathlessly. A bemused look crossed my face.
“Hey, Mama.”
“Ember!” Something crashed in the background; it sounded like plates.
“Oh,dear.”
“Is everything okay, Mama?”
“Oh, yes, yes. Sorry. I’m just cleaning and I dropped a dish. I didn’t expect you to call me. Ember, on the news—”
“Yeah. They’re bringing in the heat pretty hard, apparently.”
“Honey, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything that I can do—”
“Don’t worry about it, Mama. I’m fine.”
I heard her huff a little more, and some more noise that sounded like plates being stacked one on top of the other. I let her do this without interruption; I didn’t want her to break more plates because I surprised her by accident.
She came back to the phone properly after a moment.
“All right. What’s going on, Ember? The news—”
“Kinda ratted me out, yeah. Wheeler and I are steering clear of the Big Sur Satan’s Sons right now.”
“Are you safe?” I could hear the worry tremble in her voice.
“I’m safe, Mama. We’re staying with … a more stable chapter that isn’t involved in all of this. I promise that I’m fine.”
“They keep putting out this story that you’re some horrible woman who colluded with the Sons to burn the festival down for fun. They’re going to be launching a full investigation and they’re going to be questioning the Sons this week.”
That wasn’t good news.
“Well. We’re nowhere near them. So it’s not like they’ll find me.”
“But they could try to pin most of the blame on you instead of them.”
Shit. She was right.
“Ember.” My mother’s voice pulled me back. “Ember, baby, come back home, okay? Everyone here knows you; they wouldn’t think to try and turn you in. You can lie low until they know the truth—”
“I can’t do that Mama.” My answer was immediate. “Mama, I don’t want you anymore entangled in this than you already are, okay? Please just let me and Wheeler figure this out. All right?”
She heaved a sigh on the other side, but she didn’t argue with me anymore. That was good. I couldn’t bear the thought of upsetting her further with everything that had happened.
“I promise that I’m doing okay, all right?”
“It’s what I’ll have to take.” She sighed again. “Honey … I’m so proud of you,” she said suddenly. My eyes widened.
“Why’s that, Mama? I haven’t done anything.”
“You’re handling this whole situation so well,” she said. “I would have broke by now. I don’t know what I would do in such a situation. It sounds so scary.”
“It is,” I said. I leaned against the wall. “It … it’s really scary. But Wheeler helps that. He’s doing what he can to help. He kept me safe at the club and he … put in a lot of miles to get me to a place where I would get help and be safe.” I avoided saying where I was. Just in case. “He’s made it a lot easier to deal with. Trust me, it’s not just me being amazing, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be half as calm if I was doing this on my own.” Something that I would normally hate to admit, being independent like I was, but I wasn’t so prideful to acknowledge that Wheeler wasn’t a damn godsend. I was lucky to have him in my corner when there wasn’t anyone else.
My mother gave a small chuckle on the other end of the line.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, darling. You just sound so smitten.”
My face got hot.
“I am not smitten. I’m just telling the truth. He’s not as bad as he could be.”
“Hmm. You sound very, very grateful to him.” I could just envision the smile that was on her face. Motherly. Knowing.
“He did help me.”
“Like a knight in shining armor?”
“Mama, stop it.” I laughed this time, rolling my eyes. “Honestly it’s not … it’s not like that …”
But wasn’t it?
The stray thought encroached on me and I couldn’t stop it. It made my stomach flutter.
“Hey, Mama,” I said suddenly. “I have to go, okay? I think they have breakfast ready.”
“Mmm.” My mom smacked her lips a bit. The vision of her face that that evoked was honestly? Priceless. “You know, a mother always knows,” she said enigmatically. “And I’m sure that that’s a likely story.”
“Mama.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go on and eat your breakfast, honey. Try and keep me informed, all right?”
“I will, Mama.”
We hung up.
I lingered in the corridor, not ready to head back up and see if Wheeler was up or not. My mother’s words played in my head.
Like a knight in shining armor.
That was such a silly notion. Wheeler definitely wasn’t a knight in shining armor. He was a biker. He was a hard man. But there was a soft pocket there that somehow, I’d managed to snuggle my way into. Just because helping me was the right thing to do.
I chuckled. We’d started out with the hots for each other, trying to get in a quick screw. Now we were hiding from the law and shady bikers and avoiding getting into even more trouble than we already were.
Somehow, it worked. If we made it out of this without landing in jail or something much worse, I might have to see if he’d let me stick around for a while.