Page 38 of JoJo

She blushed a little, and suddenly I wondered if she had a crush on someone here. “One of the girls is watching Grant. I needed some adult time away from him for a little while, and pretty much everyone I know is here tonight,” she explained with a shrug of her shoulders before glancing around the room as if she were looking for something or someone.

I also glanced around and started to take inventory of everyone who was there. Granted, I was doing it because I wanted to know who MiMi cared about enough to trudge through a clubhouse full of men. She never showed it outwardly when the guys were around, but she was always on the edge and ready to rabbit out of the place when they were in crowds like this. Even though she knew the guys from Aces High were nothing like the men from Winter’s Renegades MC who had once taken her prisoner and done horrible things to her, the atmosphere would always be a reminder.

I saw MiMi’s face fall as her eyes finally tracked whoever it was she’d been looking for. I followed her line of sight before she looked away and found Dane standing in the corner with a beer tipped up to his lips. It hadn’t been the beer that caused MiMi to lose her smile though. If I had to guess, it had been the woman wrapping herself around Dane and whispering in his ear. Dane laughed at whatever the woman had said and then noticed me watching them. It only took a hot minute for him to realize MiMi was standing beside me even though she now had her back to the scene.

“I think I should go,” she muttered.

“You might want to do that quickly if you want to get out before he gets over here,” I informed her quietly.

“He’s coming here?” Her panicked voice asked, but I didn’t get a chance to respond because she fled the room and the building faster than I would have thought possible. By the time Dane made his way to me, he was glaring at the door and then turning that wicked look on me.

“Why did she just haul ass out of here?”

“I don’t know,” I told him honestly since she hadn’t specifically told me that he was the reason.

He glanced back to the corner he had just vacated where a pouty blond was beckoning him back with the crook of her finger and a promise in her smile. Dane blew out a breath. “What did she see, Jo?”

“She saw the blond plastered to you with her mouth practically chewing at your ear, I’m sure.” There was no use beating around the bush. He knew exactly what MiMi must have seen.

“Fucking hell.” The grimace on his face made the man look ferocious. “I can’t win with those two. Paul tells me she’s not ready, and here she is showing up to an MC party.”

“She showed up looking for someone specific,” I informed him.

That caught his attention. “Who the fuck was she looking for?” The words were spat out in an accusatory tone so I gave it right back to him.

“Well, considering she flew out of here in a big hurry after she found what she was looking for, I think we both know what - or who - brought her here.”

His fists were bunched in tight balls of tension by his side. “I don’t know what to do with her,” he admitted. “With her history, and Paul’s constant warnings, I just…”

“You just thought you’d come here and fuck around until she’s ready?” I asked, pissed off for my friend at this point.

“No. I wasn’t. Shit. Jenna is far too young for me. She was trying, but I had already turned her down twice before tonight.”

“Well, here’s a tip for you, Dane. When you turn a woman down, don’t let her hang all over you afterward. It gives her the wrong idea. It also gives anyone else watching the wrong impression too. I suggest you get going if you plan on fixing that situation. If you let her stew on what she saw, it will be too late. Paul’s right. She’s fragile, but not in the way he thinks.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that she has been through a lot, and I don’t think she feels she’s worthy of anyone anymore. Like a lot of rape victims, she feels unclean now.” I tipped my head towards the corner where the woman was still waiting with a hopeful look on her bright red lips. “Seeing you with skankalicious preteen barbie back there probably didn’t help her opinion of herself.”

Dane hefted out a sigh as he looked down at the floor. Honestly, even that simple gesture didn’t diminish his viking-like presence at all. “I didn’t,” he hesitated before speaking again. “If anyone in that scenario was unworthy, it sure as fuck wasn’t MiMi.” Then he grinned up at me. “Skankalicious preteen barbie?”

It was my turn to shrug. “If that girl is a day older than 18, it would be a miracle.”

“I did tell you I turned her down because she was too young.”

“Only that reason?”

“No,” he offered with a smirk. “I need to get going though. My other reason is already pissed enough with me.”

“She’s not pissed, Dane. She’s hurt, and that’s far worse.”

He nodded his head. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Jo.”

Steel found me again and handed me an apple juice while he drank his beer. “What was that about with Dane?” There was no judgment or jealousy in his tone. He was simply curious.

“Dane wants MiMi,” I told him, not thinking there was a reason to hide that since it seemed pretty obvious to me.

“So what’s the problem?”

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