Page 17 of Knight
CHAPTER SEVEN
Knight
I sat at my place at the table. I was on edge and irritated, but it wasn’t because of the club. I hadn’t slept well. I hated even being in my own apartment.
It wasn’t that I was completely disgusted by the idea of being around Gwen, it was the fact that I wanted to be around her all the time. I wanted to hear her laugh. Her voice. Hell, I was happy just breathing the same air as her. And at the same time, being near her was like a hard kick to the nuts every time. It was a reminder of what I’d had at one time in my life. It was also a constant warning label of what I could never have. The future that I had envisioned so many times, for so many years, that I would never be a part of.
Pushing my thoughts of Gwen to the side, I looked at my new prez and tried my best to focus on the meeting. Things had been going pretty smoothly for the club for a few months now, but I could sense a shift in the tides coming. Though, I couldn’t tell why.
Iron rattled off things that had been going on, how well the side businesses had been doing. He let us know the plan for the near future and we talked about the prospects, to which we had a good handful of.
This chapter was growing, and pretty quickly I would have said. It seemed like every day we had a new person sniffing around, whether it be someone curious about joining or someone wanting to be cool by association. And not to mention the women, there were so many that wanted the title of exclusive clubwhore.
So far, we hadn’t set up a place for them on the compound. The women usually flocked to the bar and tried their best to pick one of us up or get an invite to a party back at the clubhouse. I could tell that Prez was still trying to figure out what to do when it came to the women that pushed their way into the club.
While the other chapters had a place for them at the compound, usually a little area that they had to themselves, we hadn’t talked about that yet. Sure we had the room if we really wanted to, but I could tell most of the brothers were a little glad that they could send them packing at the end of the night. That wasn’t to say that they didn’t come back the next night to try their luck with the same brother or do their best to find another bed to warm for a while.
The hanger-ons weren’t really my thing, to be honest. I didn’t do the whole club life to get laid. Truth was, I’d only been with a few women. Okay, more than a few, but I could honestly say that my numbers were low compared to a lot of the other guys around me.
There had been a good number while I was in high school, because I was a dumb, horny teenage boy. Once I went away to college, I toned down the wild streak and the only sex I had was with girls I ended up in a relationship with. Though, there had only been two.
The last one ended because we both knew that once college was over we were going to go our separate ways. It was more or less something to pass the time for both of us. Which I realized was really shitty to say, but she felt it just as much as I did. We each always had one foot out the door. But it worked at the time. The whole year that we’d been together, that was. Looking back on it, I wondered how we had lasted that long anyway.
I thought back to how we’d even gotten together in the first place. Sam was in one of my classes and we ended up having a project together. She was fun and always smiled. That was what drew me in, the way she made everything light and playful. It only took two weeks of us working closely together before we fell into bed and then into a relationship. I knew, and I had a feeling that she did too, the moment we went for it and started stripping our clothes off that it wasn’t going to be a quick fuck. I felt comfortable around her and there was just something about her that made me forget about my past, about the world I had left behind. She saw me as Knight, the man that was trying to figure out his direction in life, not as the man who grew up in a motorcycle club.
I wouldn’t have said that the year we’d spent together was a waste, but I knew it was nothing more than a nice, prolonged escape. We seemed to be what each other needed at that time. Though I was never sure what it was that she was trying to distract herself from because we never talked beyond surface level.
Since then, there had been a handful of one-night stands to add the list. I wasn’t a saint and I had needs. The sad part was, I always knew I wouldn’t find what I was looking for with any of them.
“I want to make sure everyone’s happy,” Iron said, and I shifted my attention back to him. I knew he wasn’t talking about the club, but more the outside groups that surrounded us. “I talked to Cal the other day, and he didn’t have much to say in the negative about the port. I want to keep it that way. I’ve been hearing rumors, and while they may just be that—rumors—I want to make sure that things don’t get out of hand. We’ve come in here and shaken things up. We knew that would happen, but we need to be prepared for the backlash. We also need to come up with solutions to mend fences when they break. Got me?”
There were a few murmurs of agreement around the table as well as a few head nods. I had a small clue as to what he was hinting at, but the fact was, I’d been too in my head lately to pay attention to the outside chatter.
One of my main jobs was to secure the docks and make sure nothing came in or went out that we weren’t alright with. It also meant that I was in charge of most of the hand-offs and making sure the merchandise what exactly what it was supposed to be. I hadn’t run into any problems with the Russians or the Irish so far, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t trouble once they stepped beyond my gates. I could admit that I had been distracted for weeks now, but I did my best to keep my head level when I was on the job.
It looked like it was time to really start paying attention. Based on the prez’s words, I had no doubt that he wanted all ears to the ground and eyes wide the fuck open.
I had to get Gwen out of my head. But the only way to do that was to get her away from me and out of my apartment. And I knew that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I needed to figure out something, and fast, because I had no doubt that my distracted mind wouldn’t be able to stay hidden for much longer. While Iron was new to the president seat, he wasn’t a dumbass. In fact, he was sharp as a damn tack, and the thing was, you might night even know that he was on to you. He was cool and collected, just like a man in charge should be.
“Knight,” Prez said, catching my full attention. I raised a brow and waited for him to go on. “Docks good?” I gave a firm nod. “Any problems with the prospects?”
“Nope,” I said letting out a long breath as I took a moment to think. “The new kid seems to be doing the best out of all of them. He’s very perceptive and doesn’t slack off. I’m curious to see if that continues. He knows when to say something and when to keep quiet. He isn’t cocky but he isn’t timid and unsure either.”
Prez nodded as he took all the information in. He knew that if I had a problem on my end that I would immediately come to him.
The meeting ended and we all headed downstairs to the common area. I decided that it was probably a good idea that I hung around a bit. I had two beers and played three games of pool while I listened to my brothers chat about the one thing I was trying to avoid. I couldn’t tell if they were doing it just to get on my damn nerves or if they just had nothing more exciting to talk about.
“So, Gwen said she’s going to start having a movie night on Fridays,” Mouse said as he leaned over the table and took his shot. He got the intended ball in the intended pocket and I hated him just a little more. How he was able to talk—to think—about her and keep his focus was lost on me. “She wants to cook and all that shit. I told her I was down, but she said I had to get you on board.”
I grunted as I waited for him to take his next shot.
“You aren’t going to say no, right? Bro, come on, her cooking is the shit,” a very drunk B-ry said as he slung his arm over my shoulder. I knew he was living at the compound, so I wasn’t worried about how he’d get home.
“Whatever,” I replied like a pissed off teenager. “It’s her place too. She doesn’t have to run every little thing by me.” I leaned over and tried my best to line up a shot.
“Yeah, but I think she’s trying to be courteous and all that shit. Damn, Knight, who the hell soured your beer?” B-ry said with a slight slur. I brushed it off. I knew it wasn’t him, I was pissed off with myself.
“Hell, if she’s cooking, I’m fuckin’ in,” Ky added as he tossed back the rest of his beer.
