Page 14 of Zeke

I am close to a touchless orgasm from the idea of the encounter.

Then the door opens and a girl walks in with an angry look on her face. I recall her being here last time, when I stumbled upon a surprise wedding. I think she’s the groom’s sister, but I don’t remember her name. I do remember she was nice, even if right she seems borderline murderous now.

Until she catches sight of Bastard.

“Oh, my God!” she squeals, her face lighting up with a smile. “Is this your dog?” She steps forward and bends down to pet him.

“No, he’s not mine. Apparently, Eden found him while riding and brought him here to get cleaned and fixed up.”

Her face darkens at the mention of Eden, and I wonder what kind of bad blood could be between them. Does it have something to do with Eden being married to this girl’s brother?

She seems to shake it off and resumes petting the dog.

“Does he have a name yet?” she asks, rubbing him behind the ears.

“Eli named him Bastard,” I say, and she looks at me like I’m kidding. “Seriously. I couldn’t make that up if I wanted to.”

She laughs, and I reach out my hand. “I’m Kira.”

She accepts my offering and shakes my hand. “Julia.”

“Julia, that’s right. Savage’s sister?”

Her lips tighten and she looks down at the dog, but I see a twitch in her jaw where she’s trying to remain calm. “Yeah,” she says, but I hear the tension in her voice.

“Is… is everything okay?” I don’t want to intrude on personal business, but she seems so upset, and I want to help her.

“I guess.” She rubs along the ridge of Bastard’s nose. “No. It’s not. But you don’t need to worry about my bullshit.”

I shrug to indicate I’m unbothered. “I’m just offering to listen. You look like you could use someone to talk to.”

She looks me up and down and seems to decide I’m safe. “I… how much do you know about the people here?”

I look around like they’re all in the room with us, even though Julia and I are alone.

“I know Zeke and Eli because they come into the bakery a lot, and they’re always talking about you guys. I know as much as they tell me, except for the day I was here and I saw everyone for myself.”

Julia seems pensive as she sits silently for a moment. “I don’t want to be here anymore,” she says, her hand stalling on Bastard’s back.

“What do you mean? You want to quit the club?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. I could go nomad or find my way into another club, but it’ll be hard. Most clubs won’t take women, and I ain’t no cut slut. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna give up a cut so I can be some simpering ol’ lady sitting around while my ‘man’ goes out and does whatever he wants with whoever he wants.”

I understand half of what she says, but the general idea is pretty clear.

“What about leaving and doing something else?” I ask. “How old are you? You seem like you’re pretty close to me, and I’m twenty-four.”

Julia looks, if possible, even sadder. “Yeah, I’m twenty-five. But I don’t think I can leave. I’ve only ever known being in a club. I don’t have any other skills, and definitely no experience that could go on a résumé. I’m stuck here with people I can’t stand.”

“What about your brother?” I ask. “Isn’t Savage still here?”

She laughs humorlessly. “He’s at the top of my shit list, tied for first with his bitch of a wife.”

I am surprised she speaks about Eden that way. From what Zeke and Eli have told me, she is incredible as a president. Strong, unshakeable, and fair. I wonder what happened between them, but Julia doesn’t seem like she has more to say in the matter.

“I’m sorry you’re having a rough go of things,” I tell her. “I don’t know how much help I can offer, but I can give you my number if you ever need to talk.”

“Really?” she says, acting a bit surprised and suspicious. “Why would you do that?”

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