It took Gunner several seconds to realize his mouth was hanging open. He’d heard the stories of the wild orgies they had in the clubhouses, but this was the first one he’d ever witnessed. And did that guy with his dick in the blonde’s mouth just say he’d love to fuck Tamara? Gunner looked at Billy. His tongue was hanging out as he watched a redhead riding one of the bikers like he was a wild stallion. Patty was lighting a cigarette and watching an old guy banging some girl from behind, and Tammy was looking at the big guy with the long brown hair and a tattoo of an alien on his neck with her arms folded across her chest. At least she wasn’t returning the guy’s lustful smile, or the blatant desire burning in his blue eyes.

“Are you part of my birthday surprise?” he asked Tammy. He still had his cock buried in the blonde’s throat. Gunner couldn’t help but think the whole scene was surreal. It was kind of hot, like live porn, but surreal all the same.

“Fuck you. You wish,” Tammy said. “We’ll wait in the kitchen for you to pry Big Ass off your dick.”

The big guy laughed. Tammy grabbed Gunner’s hand and led him toward the kitchen. Gunner looked over his shoulder at Billy and Patty, who hadn’t moved. The guy next to Billy handed him a joint. Billy shrugged at Gunner and took it. Patty just kept smoking and watching. They could all be characters in a pamphlet for mental illness, he thought, as Tammy pulled him through a set of swinging doors. The quiet that descended on them once the doors closed behind them was almost deafening. Gunner looked around at the state-of-the-art kitchen, trying to decide how to phrase the obvious question. Finally, he just said, “How well do you know this Zack guy?”

She sighed and sat down at the stainless-steel table. “He was my first boyfriend. He’s the reason I have no desire or inclination to date bikers.”

Gunner went over and sat down across from her. “Oh, he seems…” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. What he seemed was cocky and arrogant, and Gunner wanted to beat his ass for the way he looked at Tammy. He wasn’t sure he should say any of that out loud, though. She looked pissed and he wasn’t sure what she was pissed about.

“Like an asshole?” she said. “He is.”

“Oh,” Gunner said again. “So what are we doing here?”

“Lying low for a while,” she said. “Dad would never think of looking for me here. He knows I hate that S.O.B. out there.”

“He doesn’t seem to hate you.”

“He’s a narcissist. He thinks everyone loves him. He’s Swinger’s and Mona’s son.” The conversation he’d overheard, and Mona’s obvious dislike of Tamara, made a lot more sense to him then. They sat quietly for a few minutes until the doors swung open and a burst of loud voices, loud music, loud moans and groans…and the big narcissist…wafted in.

“Damn girl, you look hot.” Zack acted like he didn’t even see Gunner. He went straight for Tammy and reached out his arms like she was going to fold into them. She rolled her eyes instead and said:

“I need your help.”

He threw his head back and laughed as he ran a hand through his long hair. “You walk in here on my birthday, no less.” He looked at Gunner then and said, “With your pre-school boyfriend…” That brought Gunner to his feet. Tammy jumped up between them and said:

“Zack, this is Gunner. He’s my friend and we need your help.”

Zack still had his eyes on Gunner. Gunner could see up close that his eyes weren’t blue, they were a weird color gray, the same color as the alien tattoo on his neck. “What is it you need my help with?”

“If you’d sit down and quit acting like a cocky bastard, I’d tell you.”

He smiled then and looked down at Tammy. “You haven’t changed at all. I love it. I was sure that nursing school would turn you into a lady. I’m glad I was wrong.”

Gunner thought he had a pretty good handle on his impulsivity, right up until his fist connected with Zack’s mouth. “Damn it, Gunner!” he heard Tammy yell as he dodged the right hook Zack threw back in his direction. “Stop it!” Zack pushed her out of the way as he went after Gunner. That only pissed Gunner off more, and he hit him with a punch he usually saved in the ring for a knockout punch. It caught Zack underneath his chin and threw him back, hard. He hit the floor, flat on his back and he was out…cold. “Jesus. Gunner!”

Gunner was staring at the man on the floor in shock. He hadn’t meant to knock him out. “Shit, sorry. He just kept talking…”

“Jesus, why don’t you think? We need him. We need his help and his club’s help. You think he’s going to want to help us now?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Sorry doesn’t help. When he wakes up he’s probably going to shoot your stupid ass. Why can’t you big stupid men ever keep your mouth shut and let me handle anything?”

All Gunner had was that he was sorry, and obviously that wasn’t going to work, so he kept his mouth shut. Tamara walked over to the sink and filled a glass with water. She carried it over to where Zack lay and poured it over his face. He came to, spitting, sputtering, cussing, and looking like he wanted to tear Gunner a new asshole. As he struggled to his feet, Tammy was talking. “Please listen to me, Zack. He’s sorry. He has this impulse problem. He’s a fighter and…” Zack stopped trying to get up and looked at Gunner.

“You’re a fighter?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“Kind of? You are or you’re not.” Zack’s lip was bleeding and his eye was already starting to bruise.

“I knocked you out, didn’t I?”

Zack actually laughed at that and rubbed his jaw. Pushing himself up off the floor he said, “I guess you did, kid.”

“I’m not a kid.” Gunner was okay with Dax calling him kid, but not this guy. This guy did it with a condescending tone.

Zack laughed again. Gunner really didn’t like him. “Okay,” he said, theatrically holding up his hands. “I won’t call you kid. What’s your name?”

“Gunner.”

“Well, Gunner and Tammy, I’m getting that you need something from me. I’ve always believed that things happened for a reason and in this case, the reason is we need something from each other.” Zack pulled out a chair, turned it around backwards, and sat down. Gunner looked at Tammy and she shrugged and then, rolling her eyes in Zack’s direction, she sat down too. Gunner stayed on his feet. Zack looked up at him and said, “It just so happens I need a fighter.”

Fuck me were the first two words to come to Gunner’s mind. He dropped down in the chair he’d been sitting in before and said, “What do you need a fighter for?”

Chuckling, Zack said, “To fight, of course. See, I’m a nomad…you know what that is?”

“An asshole that can’t get along in one clubhouse so they send him out to annoy everyone else for most of the year?” Gunner said.

Zack laughed again. He did that a lot. “You’re funny, ki…Gunner.” He looked at Tammy and said, “Got yourself a funny one here.” Tammy just glared at him. Gunner wanted to tell her that in his defense, she wasn’t any better at kissing ass than he was. “I owe an associate a little bit of cash. I heard about the opportunity to enter my fighter into a tournament in a few weeks.”

“Your fighter?” Tammy said. “You had no idea a fighter was going to land on your door step tonight, Zack. Try again.”

“God loves me. I knew He would provide.”

“You’re a fucking liar,” Tammy said.

“What’s this tournament all about?”

“You’re not fighting for this asshole, Gunner. He probably owes money to a gangster and you’ll end up in a worse spot than you were in with Eddie.”

“Don’t think he can handle it, huh?” Zack asked Tammy.

“I didn’t say that…”

“Can I speak for myself?” Gunner asked.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Zack said, then chuckled.

“Do you two mind measuring your dicks later?”

Zack grinned. “Well, Tammy, since you’ve seen them both…”

“Fuck you. Forget this.” She stood up. “Let’s go, Gunner. This shit isn’t worth it.”

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that. Sit down and tell me your story. I promise I’ll be good.”

Zack was having way too much fun at their expense. Gunner was ready to walk out, but Tammy sat back down. Grudgingly, Gunner did too. “My dad has declared war on Eddie Martini.”

“About time,” Zack said. “How did he talk my old man into it?”

“Long story. Let me get through it without interrupting, okay?”

“I’ll give it a shot,” Zack said with a grin that just might get him knocked out by Tamara next. She began with Gunner’s fight. Zack kept shooting him amused glances that pissed him off, but for Tammy’s sake he kept it in check. She went on to the murder of the biker watching her and then her kidnapping. “That motherfucker…”

“Let me finish,” she said. Zack nodded but smoke was practically coming out of his ears. Gunner could at least identify with him on that one. She went on to tell him about Gunner saving her and then Tommy getting shot and Randall getting run down. She finished with 8Ball accusing Gunner of being a snitch and Swinger practically agreeing with him. “I think 8Ball was trying to set him up.”

“8Ball’s a douche,” Zack said. Another thing Gunner agreed with him about. Two things in five minutes—that was practically a relationship. “What’s my dad kissing that piece of shit’s ass about?”

Tamara shook her head. “I have no idea why your dad does anything. You know they don’t tell me shit. I don’t have a dick so according to them, I don’t have a brain either.”

“They’re fools if they haven’t figured out that pussy rules the world,” he told her with a wink. Gunner didn’t care for his agreeing with Tammy. He was racking his brains trying to come up with something he and Zack could agree on again to take the guy’s focus off Tammy. He was looking at her again like she was a big fat canary and he was the cat about to devour her.

“Get your mind off my pussy and focus,” Tammy told him. “We need a place to stay for a while and…I want to know who is talking to Eddie and why the fuck he’s targeting my family.”

Zack laughed again. “You don’t ask much,” he said.

“I really don’t, Zack, and you know it. I never ask for help, from anyone, especially not from you.”

“I’m going to need something in return, babe.” Gunner tightened his fist and Tammy gave him a pleading look. “Pussy, or a fighter with balls.” Gunner stood up again.

“Gunner, please. I’m not giving this asshole any pussy.”

“I’ll do it,” Gunner said.

“Wait a minute, Gunner,” Tammy said. “Not so fast. You don’t even know what you’re signing up for.”

“I can handle it.”

“Gunner, I’m not doubting you, I’m…”

“I can handle it,” he said, this time without looking at Tammy. He was looking at Zack. “So, do we have a deal?”

Zack grinned and put his hand out. “Deal.”

“Fuck me,” Tammy groaned.