Page 44 of Viper

Shadow curses. Yep, that’s my thoughts too. We need to get over there before shit hits the fan, and as amusing as that would normally be, right now we can’t take the risk. Especially when we don’t know who might be watching.

SEVENTEEN

EDEN

I have a feeling that this group of women could show world leaders a thing or two if they put their minds to it.

I glare at my best friend, and it’s like deja vu from the other night. Only this time, instead we’re in a restaurant and not my apartment. So unless I want to get up and walk the hell away, then I’m stuck waiting for her to calm down. I tap my fingers impatiently on the top of the table as Sadie continues to laugh. “Would you fuck off?” I growl at her in annoyance.

Sadie snorts, laughs for a few more seconds, and then finally tries to get herself under control. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she gasps out. “But you have to admit that it’s funny considering that not even a couple of days ago you said that you weren’t going to have anything to do with the man and now, here you are telling me he showed up last night and you let him right back in. Though, with the way you look today, it must have been just as good as the first time,” she adds with a suggestive wiggle of her brows.

“That’s what you got out of that?” I huff. “You’re supposed to be talking me out of giving him a chance, not laughing at me.”

She rolls her eyes. “Damn, I thought good dick would make you less whiny, not more.”

I flip her off. “I need a new best friend.”

“Pfft, you love me and you know it. And as for talking you out of it, no way. And I know I’m repeating myself, but you need to give that big guy a chance. He’s hot as shit from what you said, he can actually satisfy you, and he’s clearly making you want something more. Or you wouldn’t be this upset about it?” I glare at her. Why does she have to be so logical about this stuff anyway? “So stop being a pussy and put the guy out of his misery,” she orders.

“It’s not that simple,” I try to argue again. “He’s?—”

“He scares you,” she interrupts, her face going from amused to serious instantly. It’s a rare look for her. “Because he’s not like anyone else, and he makes you feel things you’ve never felt before. Which of course, makes you want to run the other way because you’re worried he’s going to be like the other douchebags you’ve dated. And I get that, but you also picked guys you knew were safe and wouldn’t turn into anything truly serious. This Viper is not that, clearly, and just because you’re scared, you’re about to toss away something you know you want.”

I want to argue that she’s wrong. Dead wrong. But I also can’t seem to push those very same words out of my mouth. Is she right? Did I purposely pick guys that would never commit to me, or I wouldn’t end up committing to them because they were easy to handle? I’ve never been heartbroken by a break up so far, and I don’t really want to chance losing that streak.

I also haven’t told Sadie about the whole bribing the judge thing or that same someone is going after Viper and his MC. She’ll screech that shit all over the place, and that’s not a good idea. So I can’t tell her I’m also holding back because I don’t want to chance getting involved in it. But then again, I’m already involved and I’ll need Viper to protect me if shit hits the fan. So much for just having a clean break. Right now, it’s all a mess.

“Besides,” Sadie continues, her face transforming from serious to amused, “if you hook up with him, I don’t have to wait to hear you bragging about all the good dick you’re getting and how he’s got all the fancy hardware to help too.”

I roll my eyes, but then I hear a familiar laugh behind me, and I turn to see Rose standing there, grinning, along with Sage and some other women I haven’t seen before. A grin splits my face before I can stop it. “Honey, if you’re discussing that, then count me in,” Rose announces. Sadie looks at me in surprise, but then looks at the other women and smirks. She’s, of course, completely unsurprised that this random woman has arrived and is talking to us.

“She didn’t answer our question last night, so now’s the time to pressure her to get it,” Sage agrees, winking at me. “I’m still trying to convince King to get a second piercing. He has a Jacob’s Ladder right now and I’m definitely not complaining about that.”

“My God,” a woman gasps from a table near us, looking horrified and disgusted. “You think it’s alright to talk about this in public?”

“Karen, just because you don’t get good dick on the regular because of that terrible personality of yours, doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t,” I inform her crudely.

“Maybe if you opened up a bit you’d have a guy that wouldn’t shrivel up every time they saw that dusty pussy that hasn’t seen any action in decades,” Rose adds with a sneer.

The woman sputters in shock and fury, but I look away from her and see Sadie grinning like an idiot, and the other women trying not to laugh. “Yep, still thinking about leaving King for you,” Sage announces.

“Hell, I’ll fight you for her,” one of the women says, drawing my gaze. She’s about four inches shorter than me, a waif-like figure, dark brown eyes and black hair, and gives a bad girl vibe with the ink and piercings in her ears. She gives me a wicked grin and sly wink that makes me grin back.

“Sorry, but she’s my bitch, we already have a pact going,” Sadie jokes. “But I could probably rent her out.”

“Jesus, I’m not a hooker you can pimp,” I gripe, but I don’t lose my grin. I look back at Rose and ask, “What are you ladies doing here? Having your monthly meeting to keep the guys on their toes?”

“You have meetings for that?” Sadie demands, clearly intrigued. “What’s the rules on joining, because this is definitely something I need.”

“Normally I’d say you’d have to be in a relationship with one of our guys, but I think we can make an exception for you, darlin’,” Rose drawls.

“Ladies,” a prim voice says, drawing all of our attention to one of the waiters who looks like he’s feeling harassed. “While I understand you’re all greeting each other, you have tables you should be at right now. Could we move this along and continue this social hour later?”

The women all look at each other, and I can see that they want to argue, but instead, Rose looks at Sadie and says, “We’ve booked a back room and we have some extra space, so how about you guys come join us? We have a few more we’re waiting on so we can catch up?”

I look at Sadie, but she’s already standing, so I guess that’s what we’re doing. “We’d love to,” I say with a smile. Then I look over at the lady who is still looking like she swallowed a lemon and tell her, “There, now you and your empty cavern of dust won’t have to be jealous listening to us.” Then I stand and follow the group of women into the back room.

The room is quite spacious, and set for a good number of people, and I find myself sitting near the end with Sadie, Rose and Sage, but the other women are quick to introduce themselves. And there are a lot of them.

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