Page 3 of Ruckus

“Well I’m tellin’ ya, you outstayed your welcome.” I kick the chair from under his leg and stare him down. His friends all look to him, waiting for him to respond, while I feel back up closing in around me. I don’t have to look behind me to see which of my brothers will be there.

Dev, Saul, Vike, and Sasquatch are all guaranteed to have my back. Sinner too, but that's only because he loves a brawl.

“You heard him.” Dev’s deep voice comes from behind me.

“Fine.” The guy stands up, showing his palms in surrender. “This place ain’t our style anyway.” He looks to his buddies and sniggers before leading them out the door while we watch him all the way out.

“Is that it?” Finn’s kid brother, Rocco, rushes out from behind the bar looking disappointed.

“What the fuck are you doing here again, kid?” I roll my eyes.

“Not getting in a fight, that's for sure. You just gonna let those guys walk out of here?”

I’ve tried telling this kid to stay away. I get that he just lost a father and his big brother’s in jail. From what I’ve pieced together, he didn’t know them all that well, his mama kept him straight. But ever since Davy’s funeral, he’s been popping up and trying to help out.

“It’s Sunday night, kid. None of us wanna be throwing fists.” Vike taps him on the head as he makes his way back toward the bar.

“Speak for yourself.” Sinner narrows those dark eyes on the exit and I follow them, debating if I should walk out and check that prick took my advice.

Freya may be our president's daughter, and my best friend's annoying little sister, but she deserves to have a life. I could turn a blind eye to the fact that asshole is probably climbing the stairs to her room right now, let her do what most other twenty year old girls are doing and have some fun. Or I could step out that door and catch him, I could beat his ass for the thoughts he’s had about her, I could break each finger he planned touching her with. I don’t care what night of the week it is, I will be throwing my fists if I catch him trying to go to her, and I don’t need to toss my fuckin’ coin to help me decide if I should check…

I barge out the door without saying goodbye, marching through the yard and passing the pool pit. I can hear the bike's rattly exhausts taking off from the other side of the gates, and I stand silent with my back against the wall by the arch and wait.

“I hear him whistling, sounding like a man who thinks he’s about to get his dick wet, and when he heads back through the arch, he gets greeted by my fist.

“Sending your friends home was a mistake.” I slam him into the wall and grip him round his throat. “No one touches thepresident's daughter.” He flinches before I slam my knuckles into his face, making his nose explode. “If I ever see you or your clowns here again, I swear to fuckin’ God, I will kill you.” I take him by his scruff and drag him back through the parking lot, through the open gates, then I toss him out onto the sidewalk.

The fucker proves he’s no good without his buddies and makes no attempt to fight back, he just shakes his head as he scrambles on his feet and fumbles to unlock the chain on his bike wheel. I fold my arms and watch him clamber on the saddle and take his bars, missing his first attempt to kick start the engine and cursing himself through panic. When he does eventually get it started, he screeches off down the street, looking back over his shoulder with fear.

I smile to myself as I dust off my hands and head back to the yard, and when I get back to the arch I make the mistake of looking up to the third floor of the motel. There’s a light on in one of the rooms and when I think about the fact it’ll be her waiting for him, it turns my blood green.

It also makes me wanna drag that little stunt boy back here and make him feel some real fuckin’ pain. Worst of all, it makes me wanna climb those stairs, grab hold of that girl, and rattle her bones until she tells me why she toys with me.

I’ve never liked Freya, she’s only two years younger than me, but acts so immature. She struts around this club thinking she's so superior to everyone else because of who her daddy is, and it feels as if winding me up the wrong way is her favorite game to play. As if that wasn’t enough, this past month she’s got worse. I’m sick of her putting herself in dangerous situations and hanging around the club when she knows she shouldn’t be. I know it’s so she can push my buttons, but I don’t know why.

Freya hates me as much as I hate her. I see it in her face every time I step into a room. She constantly acts like a brat, rolling her eyes, and never listening to the warnings I give her. Maybewhen Aaron left she was expecting me to slip into the role of big brother. The two of them used to butt heads but he had a lot of time for her. I guess since he’s been gone, she’s been lonely. But that ain’t my problem, I promised to watch out for her, not send myself fuckin’ crazy.

I should leave her upstairs waiting for him, I’m so angry at her for being reckless again. Just last week I had to drive out to San Diego and pick her up from some seedy bar because she lost her purse, and the friends she’d made earlier that day had abandoned her.

But I also wanna race up those stairs and scold her. Force her to give me answers and tell me why she’s acting so damn stupid.

I decide to leave it up to fate and take the coin, that my dad gave me before he died, outta my pocket. I pass it between my fingers as I look up to the room and see her shadow passing behind the curtain like she’s pacing. Knowing that she’s waiting for that stunt boy to go to her makes me burn with the kind of rage only she puts inside me.

Heads, I take the stairs, tails, I walk back into the clubhouse and get so drunk that I forget that her eyes are so crystal blue that they sparkle like the ocean at sunrise. Hell, I get so drunk that I forget my own name.

I flip the coin into the air and when I catch it on the back of my hand and cup my other hand over it, I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel nervous.

Slowly, I lift my hand and when I see the head of the coin shining back at me it hits me why I’m nervous.

Freya is all alone up there. She’s off limits, untouchable andalone. That feels dangerous.

I’ve never been one to walk away from danger, and so I take the stairs and slam my fist against her door.

“Ruckus.” Freya looks surprised when she opens the door and sees that I’m the one standing on the other side of it. Sheleans her head out and glances down the balcony like she’s expecting there to be someone else out here with me.

It’s rare that me and her are alone together. It’s something I always make sure of.

“I sent your friend back home, if that's who you're looking for,” I tell her, leaning back against the railing of the balcony and lighting a cigarette. Now that I’m up here I don’t really know what to say. This isn’t Aaron’s kid sister anymore, Freya is a woman, one who has the right to do what the hell she wants.

---