’Til I met Blue.
Curtains had this wholehearted belief that he’d never settle down with anyone but Elsa. No matter how hard I tried to convince him she wasn’t comin’ back.
So there he was, thinkin’ he’d probably live his life alone, but at least he had me, who didn’t give a shit about love and marriage and all that crap.
Then I did.
And I wanted it with a woman who was by no means a sure thing.
Which meant he was probably fuckin’ scared for me, that if things didn’t work out I’d end up like him. Married to a ghost, an idea I used to know.
Not to mention, Ihadbeen spendin’ less time with my buddy so I could sneak what time I could get with Blue. It wasn’t like we’d stopped hangin’ out. I still ended up on the third story’a our house every day shootin’ the shit with him, but we weren’t exactly inseparable anymore.
“Fuck.” I dug the heels’a my hands into my eyes. “I should go talk to him.”
“Probably,” Dane and Mei said simultaneously.
Bat and Axe-Man only sipped their beers, happy to stay outta my shit show.
“Alright.” I stood to get goin’ and say goodbye to Blue when the familiar growl’a motorcycles spiked outside and then settled into silence.
I hesitated, ’cause it was late and most’a the brothers were at home with their women or doin’ fuck all at the clubhouse. Uneasiness prickled the back’a my neck.
And a moment later, my premonition was proved right when a group’a bikers wearin’ cuts embossed with a skeleton ridin’ a motorbike swaggered into the bar in a cloud’a cigarette smoke and loud cussin’.
The White Raiders had arrived.
There were only four’a them to the five of us, six if you counted Mei who was a black belt badass in her own right, but the bar was filled with civilians, too, and there was no way we’d get away with a public fight without the cops comin’.
For one glimmerin’ moment, I thought about sittin’ down and resumin’ casual conversation with the brothers ’til it wasn’t so conspicuous’a me to leave.
But then one’a the Raiders spotted Blue, frozen like Bambi in the scope’a a hunter’s rifle, and I knew there was no peaceful way outta here.
“Hey bitch,” one’a them called out to her. “Hard to believe you’re still the same frail, ugly little thing Hazard used to own.”
“Still owns,” another muttered, clampin’ a hand on his shoulder. “He won’t like it if you try somethin’, Geyser.”
“Try?” Geyser snorted, strollin’ to Blue with his hand cuppin’ his junk through the denim. “I don’t gotta try for shit. Look at her all grown up and lookin’ like a true biker slut, now. She’ll beg for it. Won’t you, Faith?”
I was outta the booth and stompin’ toward them without any thought to the consequences when Blue firmed her slightly tremblin’ mouth and punched her chin into the air.
“I will not. And Bandit’s right, Hazard will eat your balls for breakfast if you lay a finger on me. So you want a brew? Sit down and I’ll bring it to you. Otherwise, get lost. I’m sure the clubhouse has the kind of entertainment you’re looking for.”
Pride surged through my chest, washing away some’a the red haze’a anger obscurin’ my vision.
Fuck, she was magnificent.
Eugene appeared behind her, mammoth and scowlin’ darkly.
Geyser, idiot though he was, stopped in his tracks and glared right back ’fore gesturin’ to his buddies to the right’a the room near the live band, grabbin’ a table at the back.
The tension in the room lowered instantly, but I still went to the bar, proppin’ my elbow on the counter as if I was askin’ Eugene for a beer and not checkin’ on my girl.
“You okay, Blue?” I murmured, keepin’ my eyes forward.
“That was nothing,” she said as if that was reassurin’ and not totally fucked.
“Please, don’t go back there,” I whispered, feelin’ like blades were slippin’ between every rib, each breath a struggle. “Can’t stand you bein’ in danger like that.”
