The Quiet Before the Roar
2009 Words
Chapter 16: The Quiet Before the Roar
The bar is empty now. Not just closed — empty. Jesse went home — wherever home is for him. Tank is in the shop, sleeping on his couch. Ghost is out in the dark, doing whatever Ghost does when he's not being seen.
Just Knox. Just Maya. Just the hum of the ancient refrigerator and the creak of old wood settling.
Maya's hands are still wrapped in the wet towel. Her knuckles throb. Everything throbs — her arms, her shoulders, the base of her skull where tension has made a permanent home. But she feels something else too. Something that might be pride.
She threw fifty punches today. Landed three. Tomorrow, she might land four.
Knox is behind the bar, wiping down a surface that's already clean. He's been doing that for the last ten minutes — moving, staying busy, avoiding stillness. She recognizes the energy. It's the same energy she has when she's trying not to think.
"You should sit down," she says.
"I'm fine."
"You're pacing. Without actually pacing. It's weird."
He stops. Looks at her. His eyes are tired. Not sleepy-tired. Soul-tired. The kind of tired that comes from carrying too much for too long.
"I don't know how to do this," he admits.
"Do what?"
"Keep you safe. Keep any of you safe. Cole knows our routines. He knows our weaknesses. He used to be one of us." Knox sets down the rag. Leans on the bar. "I keep thinking about what I could have done differently. Back then. Maybe if I'd been smarter, he wouldn't have turned. Maybe if I'd been stronger, he wouldn't have taken half the club."
"You can't live in 'maybe.'"
"I know."
"Then stop." She unwraps the towel from her hands. Sets it aside. Walks around the bar to stand next to him. "You're here. Your family is here. I'm here. That's what matters."
Knox turns to face her. He's so close. The bar is behind her now, pressing into her lower back. He's in front of her, broad and warm and smelling like coffee and worry.
"You shouldn't be here," he says. "You should be somewhere safe. Far away from all of this."
"I don't want safe."
"Everyone wants safe."
"Safe is boring." She reaches up. Touches his face. Her fingers trace the line of his jaw, the scar above his eyebrow, the stubble that's grown in over the course of this long, terrible day. "Safe is Derek promising me pancakes every Sunday while slowly erasing who I am. I don't want safe. I want real."
Knox's breath catches. "I'm not sure I know how to be real."
"Then we'll figure it out together."
He covers her hand with his. Holds it against his cheek. His eyes close. Just for a second. Like he's memorizing the feel of her palm.
"Maya."
"Yeah?"
"If something happens tomorrow —"
"Nothing's going to happen tomorrow."
"If something happens," he insists, opening his eyes, "I need you to know that I don't regret this. Any of it. Even if it ends badly. Even if Cole wins. I don't regret bringing you here."
Her throat tightens. "Don't talk like that."
"Someone has to."
"No." She pulls her hand away. Steps back. The bar presses into her spine. "You don't get to do that. You don't get to say goodbye before you've even left. You're going to that meeting tomorrow, you're going to talk to Cole, and then you're coming back. That's the deal."
"There's no deal."
"Then I'm making one." She grabs the front of his shirt. Pulls him closer. "You come back. You hear me? You come back, or I will find you and bring you back myself. And I don't know how to ride a motorcycle, so it'll be embarrassing for both of us."
His mouth twitches. Almost a smile. "That's a threat."
"It's a promise."
He kisses her. Not like before — not hungry or desperate. This kiss is different. Slower. Sweeter. Like he's trying to tell her something he doesn't have words for.
She kisses him back. Her hands slide up his chest, over his shoulders, around his neck. He lifts her onto the bar without breaking the kiss. She wraps her legs around his waist. The world shrinks to the space between them.
When they finally pull apart, both breathing hard, his forehead rests against hers.
"You're terrifying," he says.
"Good."
"I mean it. You show up out of nowhere, you break all my rules, and now I can't imagine this place without you."
Maya's heart swells. Cracks. Heals itself in a new shape. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
"Your ex was an idiot."
"I know."
Knox pulls back. Looks at her — really looks. At her messy hair and her swollen knuckles and the tear tracks she didn't realize were on her cheeks. "You should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."
"I'm not tired."
"Liar."
"Okay, I'm a little tired." She unwinds her legs from his waist. Slides off the bar. Her feet hit the floor. "But I don't want to sleep alone."
Knox's eyebrows rise. "Maya."
"Not like that." She punches his arm. Lightly. "I just... I don't want to be in that room by myself. With the lock that doesn't work. And the window that doesn't close. And the thought that someone's been in there."
He understands. Doesn't make her explain further. Just takes her hand and leads her through the bar, out the back door, across the gravel lot to his room above the shop.
The stairs creak. The door opens. The deadbolt slides home.
"The bed is yours," he says.
"The floor is yours?"
"The floor is mine."
She lies down on his bed. The sheets smell like him. The pillow cradles her head. He lies down on the floor — same blanket as last night, same spot, same careful distance.
"Knox?"
"Yeah?"
"Come up here."
He's quiet for a long moment. "Maya."
"I'm not asking for anything. I just... I want to be close to someone. Is that okay?"
She hears him stand up. Feels the mattress dip as he lies down next to her. On top of the covers, fully dressed, careful not to touch.
She reaches for his hand under the blanket. Their fingers lace together.
"This is nice," she whispers.
"It's something."
She closes her eyes. His thumb traces circles on the back of her hand. The room is dark and warm and safe.
Tomorrow, there will be a meeting. Cole. Derek. Threats and violence and everything she's been running from.
But tonight, there's just this.
A girl. A biker. A hand held in the dark.
She sleeps.
End of Chapter 16
- Writer
