Page 9 of Hard as Stone
He chuckles, low and deep. “Because from where I’m standing, looks like you might scratch if you’re not careful.”
“I think I know what I’m doing.”
I line up my cue, hyper-aware of Axel’s presence behind me. As I draw back to take the shot, I feel his hand brush lightly againstmy lower back. The touch is so unexpected, so electric, that I jerk slightly as I hit the cue ball.
The white ball rockets across the table, missing the eight ball entirely and bouncing off the far rail. My jaw drops as I watch it ricochet back, heading straight for the corner pocket. It drops in with a decisive thunk, and I can only stare in disbelief.
“Oops,” Axel murmurs, his breath hot against my ear. “Looks like you scratched after all.”
I whirl around to face him, my cheeks burning with a mix of embarrassment and anger. “You cheated!”
He holds up his hands, the picture of innocence. “I didn’t touch your cue. Not my fault if you got... distracted.”
“You...” I sputter, jabbing a finger into his chest. “That was a dirty trick.”
“Says the girl who had me detouring my detour this morning.” His hand captures mine where it’s pressed against him, and I swear I can feel his heartbeat through his shirt. “Turnabout’s fair play, sweetheart.”
I open my mouth to fire back a retort, but the words die on my tongue as I realize just how close we’re standing. His hand is still wrapped around mine, my hand still pressed against his chest.
“Poppy,” Hugo’s voice cuts through the tension. “We really should go.”
I blink, suddenly remembering we’re not alone. Felix appears at my elbow, physically inserting himself between us. “For fuck’s sake, Poppy. We’re leaving. Now.”
“But he’s a cheat!” I bluster, trying to step around Felix. He blocks my path. Behind Axel, his club brothers are openly laughing now, clearly enjoying the show. The sound makes my cheeks burn hotter. “Yeah, laugh it the fuck up. But what would I expect from a bunch of bikers who can’t even spell?”
Axel’s eyes narrow with incredulity. “What are you talking about?”
I look to the patch on his leather cut and let out a laugh when I realize he doesn’t know. “You’re all in a motorcycle club, and you can’t even spell ‘motorcycle’ properly.”
He looks down, brow furrowed. “What?”
“Poppy, leave it,” Felix warns, trying to steer me away, but I’m too busy wiping tears of mirth from my eyes.
“Your patch,” I let out a cackle over their obvious confusion. “It’s missing a ‘C’.”
“Huh?” The bikers start checking their cuts, twisting around like dogs chasing their tails as they try to read their own backs. Lee yanks his off entirely, holding it up while Cash cranes his neck to see his reflection in the bar mirror.
“No fucking way,” Lee mutters, then louder, “Holy shit!”
“Motorcyle Club,” Cash reads slowly, his face going through several expressions before landing on disbelief. “Son of a bitch.”
“I’m gonna throttle him,” Axel growls, realization dawning. “Duck and his ‘artistic vision’ that we weren’t allowed to fucking question.”
“How did we not notice this?” Lee adds. “I mean, it’s right there!”
The last thing I hear as my brothers drag me toward the door is a chorus of increasingly creative cursing and Cash’s voice rising above it all.
“We’ve been riding around like this for THREE MONTHS?”
My laughter carries me all the way to the truck. Serves them right for cheating at pool.
4
AXEL
“Where’s Duck?” I burst through the clubhouse doors with Lee and Cash on my heels, our cuts clutched in our hands like evidence at a murder scene.
A prospect points toward the back room. “He’s in storage. Said something about inventory before he heads back to the garage. Something about new parts coming in.”
