Page 15 of Havoc

“You okay, Havoc? You look a little down tonight.”

Barely glancing up at her, I downed the drink left in the bottom of my mug and then shoved it aside in favor of the ice-cold beer she’d just brought. “I’m fine.”

She reached out to touch my shoulder. “Want a blow job? It might cheer you up.”

Inconspicuously shrugging her hand from my shoulder, I told her, “Naw, thanks for the offer. I just wanna drink in peace.”

Her voice took on an edge of hurt. “You turned me down last night too. That’s two nights in a row. Are you avoiding me too?”

My head snapped up to look her in the eyes. “What do you mean by me avoiding you too? You having problems with your favorite brother?”

“Yeah, Chubs said he’s got a girl on the outside. He said that he doesn’t want me hanging around him anymore. Said he needed to make a clean break.”

I was happy for my club brother—but not for Charlotte. She’d had her heart set on Chubs. “I’m really sorry it didn’t work out between the two of you.”

“Me too. I was just looking for some company,” she told me morosely.

“Normally, I’d love to help you out with that, but I just want a few minutes to get my head together before Riley gets here. She’s gonna spend a couple of hours learning about club life.”

“That’s the woman I saw you with a few days ago, right?”

“Damn sure is. I’m sure you’ll find a brother to take your mind off all your problems.”

“If you change your mind, be sure to let me know, alright?”

“Will do, girl,” I said, fairly certain that I wouldn’t be getting with her anytime soon. Charlotte tended to latch onto brothers and was pretty high maintenance. I wasn’t wild about getting serious with a club girl, and if I were, it would not be this one. Charlotte was gone from my mind within seconds as I went back to worrying about my problems.

As the evening wore on, the clubhouse filled up with club brothers, old ladies, and more club girls. The music started, and suddenly everyone was in motion. Everyone but me, that was. The brothers were laughing, joking, shooting pool, and playing cards. About half my brothers had old ladies—the lucky half. The rest of us managed to get by somehow.

Once I started thinking about old ladies, my mind drifted back to that lunch I’d had with Riley. She’d make some lucky brother an outstanding old lady. She was smart, resourceful, and pretty as can be. She was probably real nice when she wasn’t poking and prodding into someone’s personal life. I decided that although she made my cock hard and had any number of good qualities, she wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t take her digging into my past—because I knew that’s where most of my problems had started.

As if thinking of her conjured her, she walked through the front door. I watched her look around for me and waved her back because I was too softhearted when it came to women. It was always my downfall. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she walked back to my table. She had all that red hair thrown up into a messy updo, and her clothing was more casual than before. Her black leather pants were classy and tailored. They looked like they’d been custom-made to cling to every curve. She’d paired them with a black sweater set and—goddamn—pearls. I rolled my eyes as she walked up.

“Can’t believe you wore pearls to a biker clubhouse.”

Her hand rose to touch the necklace. “It’s one of my favorites. Is there a rule about wearing pearls to the Dark Slayers’ clubhouse that I’m unaware of?”

“You know that there isn’t,” I acknowledged.

She sat down across from me and glanced down at the table. “You’re already two drinks in. That was a bold move. Are you going to be able to stay on task?”

I gave her a feral grin. “Are you kidding me? I can drink every man in this club under the table, wake up the next morning, and use power tools.” Yeah, I was bragging my ass off and didn’t even know why I cared what Riley thought of me.

She glanced around anxiously. “I didn’t realize the clubhouse held so many people. I somehow doubt the fire marshal would approve.”

I tried to focus on her worried expression. “Who gives a fuck what the fire marshal has to say?”

“Alright,” she told me in an exasperated voice. “We just got together a minute ago, and we’re already straying off course.”

I lifted my beer for her to see. “What you need is a drink. How about another of Rosie’s specials?”

She frowned and looked as though she was about to say no. So, I quickly reminded her, “You’re supposed to be learning about club life. What better way to learn than to join in with the socializing?”

Riley glanced around and nodded her head. “Alright. The Dark Slayers don’t seem like the kind of men to object to light drinking during a work meeting.”

“Attagirl,” I said as I motioned to get the bartender’s attention and gave him the sign for Rosie’s favorite mixed drink—not the one she liked drinking but the one she loved to make. He gave me a thumbs up and got to work on the drink.

“What’s with the hand signals?” Riley asked curiously. She shoved her purse to the side of the table and leaned forward on both arms.

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