Page 12 of Havoc

Charlotte began looking down at her midsection. “Do I look like I’ve put on weight to you?”

“No, of course not.” God, sometimes I wished I could find a woman who understood my humor.

When she headed towards the bar, I led Riley out to the patio to grab some food.

Chapter 5

Riley

Ifollowed Havoc out through the back door. When I had first arrived, it was cool, and dew was still on the ground. The day was heating up now that the noonday sun was warming the concrete patio. It felt invigorating. The back parking lot was a mixture of motorcycles lined up neatly in the first row and, further back, cars and vans that had the name of the garage the club ran on the side.

I was slowly realizing that Zoe hadn’t been joking when she said Havoc was the most stubborn man alive. He was butt-hurt and embarrassed that Storm had leveraged him into working with me. I still didn’t get the feeling this man truly understood what a life coach was. It was my job to meet him where he was, instead of expecting him to be ready for all the things I had to offer.

We went to the grill, and the prospect we’d talked to in the kitchen was fixing our food. I could now see the patch on his vest—it said ‘Alvin’.He gave us our sandwiches and fries, gesturing to a small table with cookies. When we settled down, I tried to jumpstart the conversation with small talk, hoping it would go better than my last effort.

“Your club has a really nice setup. The building looks new. How did I never know this place was here?”

He sighed without looking up from his food. “How much of my time are you planning to waste today?”

“As much as it takes for us to get on the same page,” I shot back, careful to moderate my voice so it didn’t sound as exasperated as I felt.

“I’ll give you however long it takes us to eat. How about that?”

A short silence spun out between us as I thought of ways to get through to him. Sitting there, looking across the table at him, I had to admit that Havoc was attractive in his own way. He had shaggy brown hair, a beard, chocolate-brown eyes, and was covered in ink. His neck was tattooed with an intricate design of a motorcycle with wings that wrapped around each side of his neck, with the wordBornworked into the design on one side and the wordsTo Rideworked into the other. It was an interesting design.

When I’d seen them in the cuts at the bar last week, I’d noticed they were all jacked like bodybuilders. At the time, I’d thought it was a coincidence—or maybe they ran together and liked working out. But when I came in that morning, I saw that all the guys there were built.

He was trying his level best to ignore me. I took a sip of my drink. It went down smooth and tasted both fruity and salty at the same time. The condensation on the glass was making my fingers wet, but I managed to hang onto it as I watched him shovel food into his mouth like it was his job.

He’d enjoyed flirting with the girl in the bar. He had been at ease and in control of the conversation. That told me he enjoyed talking to people and had decent social skills.

I told him quietly, “You’re not allocating us much time today, Havoc.”

He made a grunting sound and took another bite of his steak sandwich. It was impossible to determine if he was agreeing or not. I decided to give him time because there was a good chance no one had ever asked him to introspect this way. I dug into my food, surprised at how delicious it was. These prospects knew how to cook a good steak. I didn’t make it halfway through my meal before I was stuffed.

Havoc barely noticed I’d finished. I watched him take a few more bites because those prospects had piled his plate with a lot more food than mine.

After a few moments, he stated, “I’m not Ali. You know that, right?”

My eyes narrowed at him as I tried to figure out what he was getting at.

Finally, he threw down the last bit of his sandwich onto his plate and explained, “I’m not a woman, not young, didn’t just have a baby, nor am I getting overwhelmed. Zoe seems to think talking to you can help me the same way it did for her sister. We have vastly fuckin’ different problems.”

Catching on to what he was saying, I responded professionally, “I get that. I’ve helped people with a wide variety of issues set and attain goals for themselves.”

“I’m living my life already. I don’t need someone rooting through my fuckin’ personal affairs.”

I reassured him, “I told you I’m not a therapist. I don’t plan to meddle in your personal life. Not unless you tell me you need help.”

Just then, Storm and Zoe walked out the back door. Zoe went to grab food, but Storm stood there staring at us for a brief moment. I watched him mull the situation over. The big biker radiated authority. Then he made an exasperated gesture in my direction.

I murmured, “Your club president and club brothers want you to work out your problems so you can be an asset to your club. I think that deep down inside, you want that as well.”

Havoc said through gritted teeth, “Don’t act like you know me, ‘cause you don’t.”

Refusing to give up, I told him, “I like to think that I can get the ball rolling with an educated guess.”

“If you knew me, maybe. But you don’t know shit about me, so don’t waste your time tryin’ to get inside my head.”

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