Page 24 of Mimic
Grace said bartenders were a lot like therapists. They kept the secrets people trusted them with. I wondered briefly if I could trust her with my secret, but quickly decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
No one could know who I was or where I had come from.
“I heard you laid into Gunner pretty good,” Johnny said.
“He’s an asshole who needs to learn to stay out of people’s lives.”
Loud laughter met my ears as both Johnny and Grace threw their heads back. Grace had tears slipping down her cheeks as she laughed.
“That will never happen. Why do you think he was made SAA?” Johnny said. “The man thinks everyone he meets is his responsibility.”
“It’s kind of sweet when you think about it,” Grace said, swiping an errant tear away. “Sometimes it’s nice to know there is someone out there looking out for you.”
Johnny cocked an eyebrow at Grace, and she muttered, “Shut up,” as she went to take orders.
“Grace is right, though. Those of us without any family need someone looking out for us.”
I didn’t respond to what Johnny said. Maybe he was right, but what Gunner did wasn’t just looking out for me. He was trying to control me. Just like every other man in my life.
Apollo didn’t try to control you. In fact, he let you go.
While it was true he didn’t come after me, he still made the decision for me to become a tattoo artist and piercer. Sure, it made a way for me to support myself, but it still wasn’t my decision.
That’s your stupid pride talking.
I drank my soda as I thought about everything that had happened over the last few days. Maybe it was my pride, but pride was the only thing I had that was truly mine. It was the one thing no one had ever been able to take away from me, and something I would hold on to until my dying breath.
“Any news about who the guy was?” I asked, changing the subject. I didn’t want to admit that Johnny might be right. That maybe having someone like Gunner looking out for me hit me somewhere in my chest.
“Couldn’t tell you even if I knew.”
Of course, I knew that. The MC didn’t share club business with their old ladies, let alone someone completely on the outside. And that was where I was.
On the outside.
Story of my life. I was always on the outside looking in. For the past five years, I had caught glimpses of what it might feel like to be a part of something. But every time I got close, I would run.
Which again begged the question: why was I still here? What kept me from running? I looked up as the door opened, and I took a deep inhale. My skin prickled as three men walked in, and I had a feeling one of them was the reason I hadn’t left yet. Thatsomehow I was drawn to him, an invisible tether that I couldn’t bring myself to cut.
I watched as Mimic looked around the bar, his eyes settling on me. He made his way toward me, a deep scowl on his face as he looked at Johnny beside me.
“Asshole,” Johnny muttered under his breath before taking a drink from the bottle in his hand.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
I cocked my head as I looked at Mimic. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m having a drink with a friend.”
“He’s not your fucking friend. He’s a prospect that has a job to do.”
The bottle in Johnny’s hand hit the bar top loudly, and he sneered, “He is sitting right here doing his fucking job.”
Grace hurried over and growled at both of them. “Take this shit outside or I’m throwing you both out.”
Mimic tore his gaze from Johnny and scowled at Grace. “You don’t have the balls to kick us out.”
“Wanna fucking bet? What the fuck do you think will happen if I call King and tell him the Silver Shadows are banned from the bar?”
Mimic narrowed his eyes at Grace, and Winchester grabbed his arm. “Come on, man, don’t start shit with her. You won’t fucking win.”
