Page 84 of Exile & Lula
“Yeah!” Elle yelled from her spot on the ground. “I hope you’ve been working out, ginger boy. His head is screwed on pretty tight.”
“Shut up!”
“You shut up!” Sabrina said, erasing the space between Tricky and her. “Fucking candy-ass bitch. You wouldn’t bepulling this move if Cher were here to join the fight. Instead, she’ll only hear what a dickhead you are.”
Tricky and Sabrina had been butting heads since they were kids. My sister claimed Tricky bullied her, so she learned to bully him back.
However, I had always suspected the truth was that Tricky had bullied our brother. As the youngest child and only boy, Rowdy was rewarded with extra protection in our family. Sabrina tended to let things roll off her back if they were directed toward her. However, she showed zero mercy if someone messed with her siblings.
Right now, she challenged Tricky. He knew how she was, and that he wasn’t facing off with a normal chick. Sabrina would hurt him and feel zero guilt.
But his feelings were jumbled up over Cher, making him stupid and suicidal. The moment his large hand shoved Sabrina’s shoulder, the chance to de-escalate was over. Rowdy rushed at Tricky, and the brawl was on.
EXILE
Rowdy wasn’t as wide-shouldered as Tricky, but he took the larger man to the ground with little effort. All three clubs charged forward. Despite Sabrina’s threats, she ignored Tricky wrestling with Rowdy and went straight for the member of the Jokes with the punchable face.
I stepped back and acted as Lula’s armor. She kept trying to move around me, leaving me bouncing back and forth like when my nieces tried to escape the house.
Glancing over my shoulder, I felt a little guilty about staying out of the brawl. Clint and Rock were in the thick of things. So were my guys. Except for Zodiac, who seemed to be more interested in keeping the Crimson Guard women from getting hurt.
“I don’t need a dumbass man to save me!” Elle yelled and shoved him away. She backed into a member of the Jokers, who threw her to the ground. “Help! I need a dumbass man to save me!”
Zodiac punched the guy. Immediately, three Jokers charged at him. I nearly ran to his aid, but my head kept flashing with the memory of Lula tied up in that house. I had to keep her safe, even if my president got his ass kicked.
Zodiac punched one guy, ducked another’s attack, and kicked the leg out from under the third guy. He was one of the meanest, fastest fighters I’d ever seen. Even so, the two Jokers still standing tackled him. They weren’t as strong as Zodiac, but they used their weight to hold him down while punching him in the ribs.
A beer bottle shattered against the dark-haired Joker’s head. Elle threw a second one, hitting the other guy. The men startedto move toward her. Zodiac tackled them while Elle threw a bottle at the third guy.
Goldie ran over with more beer bottles, and they started throwing them at the Jokers.
“I feel like a girlfriend rather than a biker,” Lula complained when I kept her pinned behind me while Elle and Goldie ran away from the Jokers.
Cradling her jaw, I said with utter sincerity. “I nearly lost you before we even met. You have to understand why I can’t let you get in the middle of this fight.”
The brawl behind us had already basically died down. Jagger wasn’t even fighting. He just placed his hand on Xandy’s head to keep her at arm’s length while she threw punches. They were mostly laughing and goofing off.
Nearby, Rowdy had Tricky pinned on the ground while Vanessa sat on the Jokers’ president’s head.
Rock and Clint stood over several bloodied and humbled Jokers. Nine and Ben left three guys slumped half in the road. Zodiac and my Black Rainbow club brothers chased a group of Jokers down the street.
“Run, rabbit, run!” Jas screamed while jumping up and down with the other Crimson Guard women. “Shake your fine asses for us!”
“Aw, I missed my chance,” Lula whined while her hand slid into my back pocket. “Why must you love me so much?”
“It’s a sickness I have.”
Lula’s gaze was so filled with affection that I lost track of what was happening around us. I heard Tricky bitching at Clint. The Crimson Guard women were doing a cheer. But all I saw was Lula Reed smiling at me like I was the best damn thing in the world.
LULA
Tricky and his boys were battered and humiliated, except for Jagger, who had refused to play along with the spectacle. The pretty boy VP sat untouched on his motorcycle while the rest of his club joined him on their rides.
The foxes yelled at the fleeing bikers. That was the only part of the battle I was able to participate in since Exile refused to let me show off my skills with Goldie’s brass knuckles.
“I need an ice pack,” Sabrina announced, and her girlfriends ran over to blow on her busted knuckles.
Elle, Goldie, and Jas began dancing in circles around Rock, who shook his head and tried to walk away. They moved with him and began chanting.
