2
1805 Words
2
Murphy’s
8:55 pm
Maddox
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“YOU CAN WRITE me a check now and I’ll ship ‘em to you as soon as they arrive in our warehouse,” Cody Renner said.
“I’m not buying anything sight-unseen,” Tank replied, looking frustrated. “Even at that price.”
“I understand. Again, I apologize for this mess. I know it’s an inconvenience. Hell, it is for us, too.”
Tank frowned. “Not as much as it is for the two of us. When are they supposed to be arriving?”
“Monday morning,” he replied.
Monday-f*****g-morning?
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I muttered, trying not to explode.
Tank glanced my way. “I know, Brother. I know.”
I reached for my missing cigarette packet, wishing I’d waited until New Years to try and quit smoking. It had been three weeks since my last drag and I thought I’d been doing pretty good, considering.
And now this s**t.
As the two men next to me went back-and-forth about the motorcycles we’d put deposits on, my thought returned to earlier. The morning had started off shitty and had only got worse. First, I received a call from my five-year-old daughter’s mother, Kathy, telling me that Aubrey needed to get her tonsils out and her insurance wasn’t covering it. That was followed by a flat tire on the Tahoe we’d rented for the trip to New York. Then, just a short time ago, some asshole had tried picking a fight with me after I offered to buy his girlfriend a drink. It wasn’t my fault she’d sat down next to me at the bar and flashed me her t**s. In my world, that was an invitation if I’d ever seen one. The least I could do was offer her a drink.
Anyway, maybe that part wasn’t all that bad, I thought, thinking back to when she’d approached me.
“I just got them,” she said, lowering her top quickly when the bartender gave her a warning look. “What did you think?”
They’d been the size of cantaloupes, and definitely looked fake. But, I was a red-blooded, horny bastard and already picturing them jiggling as she bounced around on my c**k.
I raised my beer. “Well worth it. Boner approved.”
Giggling, she glanced down at my bulge, which re-emphasized my point. “I guess so.”
“How long you have ‘em?” I asked, enjoying the conversation.
“About two months. They’re finally healing up.” She reached up and squeezed them. “Is it weird that I can’t stop touching my boobs?” she whispered.
I groaned inwardly. The chick was teasing the hell out of me. I wondered if she was a stripper. She definitely had the body for it, with or without the implants.
I smiled. “It would be less weird if you let me do it.”
She laughed and sat back in the stool. “At least buy me a drink before asking.”
“Bartender,” I called. “Get this little lady here whatever she wants. Put it on my tab.”
That’s when her yuppie boyfriend approached.
“The f**k if you’re buying her anything, asshole,” he said, looking wired.
I swiveled my stool around and faced him. With his slicked back hair and monkey-suit, he was obviously in the wrong bar. Not to mention that he looked like he was strung out on something, probably coke, causing him to make some poor choices.
“Excuse me?” I replied.
“You heard what I said.” He puffed out his chest, his poor attempt at looking intimidating.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. He was just being nice, Wendell,” the girl said, scowling at him.
I smiled coldly. “Yeah, Wendell.”
“Go to hell,” he snapped, glaring at me.
Instead of breaking his face, which I’d reluctantly talked myself out of, I stood up and gave him a better idea of who the f**k he was dealing with—an ornery sonofabitch who made this guy’s six-foot frame look dinkier than what I had tucked in my boxers. Curiously enough, the tension in the air only made my boner harder.
Yeah, I’m twisted like that.
Realizing his mistake, Wendell took a step back. “f**k it. It’s not worth getting kicked out of here.”
I stared him down until he backed away farther.
“Come on, Cindy,” he said, looking at her, his face red. “Let’s go somewhere else. This place is a dump.”
“But, I’m hungry and the burgers here are supposed to be amazing,” she protested.
“I wouldn’t eat at this shithole if you paid me,” he muttered. “I’ll meet you by the door.”
Cindy sighed. “Fine.”
“Bye, Wendell,” I said, smirking.
He ignored me.
Amused, Cindy got to her feet and looked up at me. “How tall are you, anyway?”
“Six-five,” I replied, sitting back down on the stool. I towered over most of the guys I knew, except for Tank—the president of the Gold Vipers. The club I was now a member of. I’d recently relocated to Iowa, where Aubrey’s mom was also now living. She was caring for her mother, who’d been diagnosed with cancer. Wanting to see my daughter as much as possible, I followed her. Fortunately, I’d known Tank since we were kids and the transition had gone pretty smoothly. My old man, Bastard, had actually founded the Gold Vipers, and so our families had some history together.
“Damn, you are one tall drink of water,” she murmured, eyeing me up and down.
I was about to offer her a taste when Wendell hollered for her from the doorway.
“See you around,” she said, pulling the strap of her purse over her shoulder.
“Take care.”
I watched her leave the bar, hips swaying. I knew that as pretty as she was, the chick had some heavy baggage. Especially if she was flashing her t**s around other men, even with a douchebag boyfriend like Wendell. Personally, I preferred traveling lightly, anyway.
“Monday isn’t going to work,” Tank was saying, bringing me back to the present. “We’ll be gone by then.” He nodded toward me. “Mad Dog’s starting his new job and I gotta get back to take care of some club business. I thought you said we could take a look at these Hogs tonight?”
“I thought so, too. They were supposed to arrive this afternoon. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with the delivery company,” he explained.
“This sounds like a whole lot of bullshit,” I griped, not liking the shifty salesman. Something wasn’t settling right with me. “I sold my f*****g ride. Not to mention all of the bullshit we went through with our rental. The only reason we were giving you our business was a friend recommended you and we thought the ride back would be fun. If we can’t get this done this weekend, I’m taking my money elsewhere.”
Cody started apologizing again.
“I’m not interested in excuses,” I said, cutting him off. I looked at Tank. “I’m sorry, brother, but I need a bike now. I don’t care what kind of deal he’s pushing.”
“Hold up,” Cody said. “Let me call my old man and see if we can come up with another solution.”
I looked at him. “You do that.”
Cody took out his phone and walked away.
“This guy is really pissing me off,” I said to Tank. “He knew how badly we needed the bikes and swore they’d be here.”
“I know. It’s bullshit. If he wasn’t giving us such a sweet deal, I’d walk out right now. Hopefully, he’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah. We’ll see.”
Tank chuckled.
“What?”
“You’ve toned it down, brother. Back in the day you’d have stormed out of here, not looking back.”
“Yeah, well, Aubrey’s taught me patience,” I replied, thinking about my daughter. She was the only thing that really mattered to me, besides the club.
“I hear you. Being a father tests your every limit. Even more than being a husband. Speaking of which, what’s going on with you and Kathy?”
“Nothing. We tried to make it work, but she refuses to tolerate club life. The woman used to nag me constantly about stepping away.”
“I’m surprised since she knows it’s part of who you are.”
“Which she tried to change. Anyway, I don’t think marriage is for me, anyway. I’m happy the way things are.”
“You sound like I used to.”
“Not everyone finds themselves the perfect woman like Raina,” I replied, although everyone knew she was a handful. But, Tank was happy and that’s all that mattered.
“True. Don’t give up hope, though. There’s a woman out there for you.”
“There’s a lot of women out there for me. Doesn’t mean I have to settle for just one,” I said, smiling.
“Spoken like many before you who are now dragging around the old ball-and-chain.”
“This talk is making me even thirstier.”
He chuckled.
I called for the bartender and ordered us a couple of shots. As we were finishing them up, Cody walked over with a smile on his face.
“Good news. My father called the shipping company and raised some hell. We’re getting them in by noon tomorrow.”
“So, we’re stuck here overnight,” I grumbled to Tank, although I was relieved. We’d planned on sticking around until Saturday evening, anyway. “Fuck.”
“Guess so,” Tank muttered.
“I’ll cover your overnight expenses,” Cody said, pulling out his wallet. He took out two hundred dollar bills and handed them to Tank.
“What about my expenses?” I said, scowling. “We’re not sharing a room. Hell, maybe something will finally go right today and I’ll actually end up with a piece of a*s to keep my mind off of this mess.”
“Lucky you,” Tank replied, rolling his gold wedding band around his ring finger and staring down at it. “I won’t be so lucky, unless Raina miraculously shows up.”
“I can find you some chicks,” Cody said, pulling out two more hundred-dollar bills. He handed me the money. “My treat.”
“I don’t need help in that department,” I said, looking around the bar. “Although, there’s not much to choose from here.”
“Too bad that chick with fake titties left,” Tank said with an amused grin.
“No shit.” I stuffed the money into my wallet. “So, what time tomorrow?”
“I’ll call you, but it should be before twelve,” Cody replied, pulling his phone out. “You guys like strippers? There’s a place up the road. Bambi’s. I’ll give you a ride, pay for some drinks, and drop you off at a hotel.”
“What about our Tahoe?” I asked.
“It’ll be safe here. I know the owner. I’ll let him know you’re going to keep it overnight,” he replied.
“Sounds good,” I said. “Tank?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it,” he replied, looking around. “A little eye-candy never hurt anyone.”
“Obviously you’ve never been slapped around by some Double Gs,” I replied, thinking back to my twenty-first birthday. My old man had bought me a lap dance and the chick had left me black-and-blue.
“I used to own a strip joint, remember?” Tank replied.
“Lucky you,” Cody said. “What happened to it?”
He held up his ring finger. “I got married. That’s what happened to it.”
“Another reason I’m not falling into that trap,” I said. I didn’t need anyone else influencing my life besides my daughter.
“Me neither,” Cody said. “I barely dodged the bullet myself.”
“You were engaged?” Tank asked.
He nodded.
“What happened?” replied Tank.
Cody scratched his head and smiled grimly. “More s**t than I can talk about. Anyway, you two ready?”
We finished our beers and followed him out.
- Writer
