Chapter 2-2
577 Words
“YOU LOOK GREAT,” Jessica said when she picked me up, ten minutes later. “I’ve never seen you with your hair down. It’s pretty.”
“Thanks,” I replied, touching it absently.
“I suppose I should probably warn you, my husband’s club brothers are great guys but, they can be a little abrasive.”
“Wait a second, when you say ‘club’... you mean like the Lion’s Club, right?” I asked, thinking back to our earlier conversation.
Jessica laughed. “The Lion’s Club? No, honey. Tank is the president of the Gold Vipers. I thought you knew?”
I groaned inwardly. Yes, I’d heard of the Gold Vipers. Hell, everyone in Jensen knew about the notorious biker club. They’d been in the news a few times, although it had been awhile. From what I’d gathered, there’d been a string of murders linked to the club, although there’d never been any convictions.
“No, I didn’t.”
“This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?” she asked, glancing over at me.
I forced a smile to my face. “No. Did you say your stepbrother is the president of the club?”
“Yes, and I know what you’re thinking, but there’s nothing to be worried about. The guys in the club are not the criminals everyone thinks they are, and they’ll be very respectful toward you. Especially because you’re with me.”
“Okay,” I replied, wishing I’d paid more attention to our earlier conversation. I could have feigned other plans or said I had a headache, at the very least. But now it would just be rude to bow out. And cowardly.
“Seriously,” she said, after a few seconds of awkward silence between us. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“I believe you.”
“You know, I totally get your reaction,” she said with a little smile. “In fact, I freaked out when I learned my mother had started dating Tank’s father. I thought she’d flipped her lid, but Slammer was a good guy and treated her like a queen. I really miss him.”
“Slammer?”
“That was his road name. Nickname, you know?”
“Yeah.” I noticed she kept saying “was.” “What happened to him?”
Jessica’s smile faded. “He was murdered.”
I was shocked and yet, the news reports were coming back to me. “That’s horrible. I’m so sorry for your loss. It must have been a terrible time for your mother and everyone else in his life.”
She nodded. “Yeah. It was. My mom still misses the hell out of him.”
“I can only imagine. Did they ever find out who did it?”
“Unfortunately, no. They figured it was probably retaliation from another club,” she said softly. “Anyway, that was five years ago. Since then, they’ve made amends with some of their enemies and things have been peaceful.”
“That’s good,” I replied.
“Yeah. Anyway, you’ll like the guys. They all look like tough bad-asses, but in reality, they’re like big teddy bears. And like I said, as long as they know you’re with me, they’ll be respectful.”
“Okay.”
Her face became serious. “Um, but just to be on the safe side, we should probably use the bathroom together—and don’t look any of them in the eyes. They really don’t like that.”
My eyes grew round. “Really?”
Jessica threw her head back and laughed. “Relax. I’m only kidding.”
Relaxing, I shook my head and smiled. “That was cruel.”
“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.”
Amused, I stared out the window as we headed toward the clubhouse. Although she was teasing, I’d heard about biker clubs and how many of the guys had caveman mentalities. I decided that after one or two drinks, I’d feign a headache and call a cab if needed.
- Writer
