Page 2 of Savage

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Me finding an ol’ lady.” Torch shook his head. “It’s not gonna happen. At least not for me. Hell, Beauty and the Beast over there seem as happy as they can be, all cozied up, happy and fancy fucking free, and I can’t even find a date for Friday night.”

“Ah, you just gotta keep at it. Someone will come along,” Hayes answered, trying his best to be supportive.

“Nah, you’re not getting it. They have come along,” Torch shook his head. “I’ve gone out with the good girl, the bad girl, single women, married women, and every single time, things seem to be going good, and then, in a blink, it all goes to shit.”

“And when it goes, it goes fast.”

After a week that seemed like it would never end, we all gathered at the bar for a round of drinks. Like most nights, the air was thick with the scent of booze and cigarettes, and there was a low hum of music and idle conversations. It was the perfect setting to wind down.

Cotton, my father and the president of the club, was sitting at one of the front tables with Stitch, Maverick, and several of the older brothers while the younger crew sat at the bar. I was sitting sandwiched between Rooster and Torch, and we were shooting the shit about this and that when Torch started whining about his romantic woes.

“You’re not wrong there.” Rooster, with his disheveled hair and mischievous eyes, leaned in closer, and his voice tinged with humor as he told us, “I hooked up with a chick last week that had a snake for a pet, and I’m not talking about any snake. I’m talking about a fucking python, and this thing was a beast. Longer than my goddamn leg.”

“No shit?”

“Nooo shit.” Rooster’s face was animated as he told us, “I tried to be cool about it. Figured it wasn’t a big deal until we were going at it, and she noticed that the fucking thing had gotten out of his cage. She didn’t think nothing of it. Thought it was no big deal that the damn thing was just roaming around her apartment, but I wasn’t having it. No damn way I was gonna let that fucking thing slither into bed with us. I didn’t need that kind of competition, so I grabbed my shit and got the hell out of there.”

“You didn’t even get your nut off?”

“Fuck nah. I got the hell out of there and never looked back.”

“Can’t say I blame ya. If I had a chode like yours, I would’ve done the same fucking thing.”

“You must not know who you’re talking to. I’d blow the bottom out of the well.”

“Okay, buddy. You keep telling yourself that.”

Torch gave his perpetual five o'clock shadow a quick scratch, then reached over and grabbed a cold beer from the cooler as he said, “Kind of reminds me of that time Hayes convinced me to go out with that cute, little librarian. I thought I’d stumbled into something pretty good with her until I found out she had a thing for cats. And I’m not talking about one or two. This girl had a house full of them.”

“Ah, hell naw.”

“Yeah, it was pretty bad, but she was cute and pretty eager. I figured I’d still try and make a go of it. I hooked up with her and woke up the next morning with thirty beady cat eyes staring me down like I was a piece of fucking roast beef. Creepy as shit. I knew right then and there that it didn’t matter how good she was in the sack. It just wasn't going to work out.”

“Cat chicks are as crazy as those rock chicks.”

“Rock chicks?”

“You know, those bitches who make spells and shit and sleep with rocks. They’ll burn sage in your house and talk about your aurora and shit. That mess scares the hell out of me.”

“Says the man who’s killed a guy with his bare hands.”

“Dude, I’m telling ya, these chicks are next level. If a chick asks about your birth month or sign, run.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Rooster chuckled as he said, “What about that chick with the whip? You still see her?”

“Not since the night she cost me my manhood.” Torch reached down and adjusted his crotch. “I got a spot on my left nut that still ain’t right.”

Rooster immediately snickered, “Guess you could say she left a lasting impression.”

“No more than the redhead you went out with a couple of months back.” Torch exhaled a couple of smoke rings and cocked his brow as he said, “Way I remember it, you’re lucky your ass doesn’t whistle when you fart.”

“Touché.” Rooster shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I really need to start looking into the women before I take ‘em out.”

We continued to bare our souls, exchanging tales of heartbreak, missed connections, and the search for the woman who would set our world on fire. I listened for a while but eventually grew tired of the nonsense and tuned them out. My mind started to wander as I ran my hand over the wooden counter, the tips of my fingers trailing the worn grooves carved by my brothers, and it wasn’t long before my thoughts drifted to Londyn.

It had been just almost five years since the day I ended things with her, and I still hadn’t forgotten the pained expression on her face when she got in her car and drove away. It had haunted me, so much so that I feared I might never put it behind me.

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