Page 10 of Bound by Family
Buzz has a twin brother, Breaker, but his kids are still pretty little.
“Princess is askin’ for some help down at X. Anyone want the job?” Buzz asks on a chuckle.
Studio X is a strip club that Ravage owns and my mother runs. Tug’s ol’ lady, Blaze, used to dance there, but now she does the books. There’s tons of history between them, but it’s theirs to tell.
“Fuck yeah,” Green and Jacks say in unison.
“I’m down,” Ryker adds.
“Sure. I’m always down to see some tits and ass.”
X is a smorgasbord of anything a man could want or need. Blonde, brunette, redheads. Hell, we have one that has purple hair. You name it, X has it.
Working at X is a huge perk of our job. One that we take advantage of regularly. When I was a teen, I’d bust a nut to go to X. Now, coming and going is a wonderful pleasure.
“Boys,” Rhys says as we begin to walk out after packaging our last gun. “Try not to fuck them all. It only leads to bad shit.”
“We’ll try,” Ryker says, waving his hand in the air. I’m ready for the show.
CHAPTER FIVE
BRISTYL
The red polish sparkles on my toes as I finish my forced pedicure. Toes, feet in particular, are a thing with me. Women, men—it doesn’t matter. They have shitty looking feet, it grosses me out. It’s not like feet attacked me at some point in my life or anything. It’s just my thing, and why my little toes are pristine.
Leah, my best friend from high school, plops down on the bed, making me jump.
“You’re damn lucky I already closed the bottle.” The damage done by nail polish on my purple and black bedspread would be a mess. One I don’t feel like cleaning up or having to buy a new one.
“Whatever,” she grumbles with a smile. “So, is your dad going to let you go to the rally?”
Leah has been around for the past five years, and she’s stuck around because I can trust her. Between girls wanting to be my friend to have a shot at my brothers or the guys thinking I’m an easy lay, I lost a lot of faith in people. My dad always says, “You only trust your family.” I consider Leah my family.
Over the years, she’s had my back on more than one occasion. The best part, she never asks about my brothers or about going to the club. She’s my friend and wants nothing in return, other than friendship back.
“He’ll probably give me shit about it.” More than shit, actually. Even being twenty-one-years-old, my father treats me as if I’m sixteen. I love him, but it’s getting suffocating. There have been times on and off when I’ve had to be locked down at home because he said he had to keep me safe. I know it involves the club, but long ago, I learned not to ask questions. Club business isn’t my business.
I have my own place. Well, partially. The small house is right off the main house where I grew up and where my father lives. I have privacy, but I’m shrouded by my father’s protection. I know he’s being careful, but the older I get, the more it weighs on me like lead—that urge to be free and be my own person, not shielded and confined.
“We have to go. It’ll be so much fun.”
Leah went with me last year to Burnout Beach, and we did have fun. My brothers only found us a couple of times and scared two guys away, which was annoying. My father didn’t like it one bit. He had two prospects follow us from a distance, but they kept their cool and didn’t intervene much. The fight about having those two men follow me wasn’t pretty, but I had no choice except to suck it up.
These rallies are … crazy. I’m not even sure if that’s the right word for them. Lots of bikers from all over the country, but mostly southern states, come to Florida for it. It’s built on the premise that they all get together to connect. At least, that’s what my brothers told me. My perspective is that it’s so they can get drunk and screw.
What I love about them is the bands and dancing. I could spend the entire time just watching the different bands perform. This year, one of my favorites, Demon’s Wings, is going to be there. My plan is to enjoy their music to the fullest. If I happen to stare at Shane Stevenson with his blue-gray eyes and short, dark hair the entire time, so be it.
I’m not going to lie. There’s some great eye candy there as well. The women … I could go without seeing all the tits and ass flying around. But it is what it is.
“I’ll make it work.” I haven’t said a word about the rally to any of my family. My brothers have talked about, but I keep my mouth shut. I do this for one reason and one reason only: if my father doesn’t think I’m going, he can’t have guys watching the entire time. So, I will wait until he’s gone then head out.
Sneaky, yes. It’s easier that way. He doesn’t have to be the bad guy, and I don’t have to get pissed off at him. Win-win.
Leah eyes me, smiles, grabs my laptop, and fires it up.
I chuckle, falling back on the pillows, a puff of air exploding around me. “Let’s see what today brings.”
“This is funny shit. We couldn’t make it up if we tried.”
