Page 37 of Flint

Ruby slides her eyes to me, and I take that opportunity to get up and get a coffee. Yeah, we haven’t talked about what she thinks I might feel for a certain club brother. I’m pretty sure she has no idea about the kiss, but I know we weren’t alone when it happened. For all I know, everyone knows that too. I mean, they could have been told the story of me being amnesia chick—yeah, that nickname seems to be sticking around, much to my hatred for it—and sucking face with Flint at the bar. The guy who just happened to leave right after to never be seen or heard from again. Talk about an ego killer.

“What’d you get?” Lady asks when I come back to the table.

“Hot chocolate.” I smile at the echo at the end of the table from Ruby. Yeah, we’re back to besties, and she ain’t pissed I was late anymore. Girl knows I got a sweet tooth a mile long, and while I might end up liking coffee, I’ll never tire of it because, hello, chocolate!

“Okay, intros. The blonde you know. You ran over her old man’s ex-lover’s lover or something. Anyway, that’s Izzy, a.k.a. Lady. Her old man is Bulldog, also known as the VP. Next to her, and getting big enough not to fit through a door—”

“Hey! I’m only in my second trimester. I’m not even that big yet,” the woman counters.

“Well, damn, you’re going to get huge, bitch.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be nice to pregnant girls? Isn’t it like in the bylaws or some shit?”

“Nope. Now shut it and eat your pound cake.” Ruby turns back to me. “That’s Mama Bear, or Maddy, if you want to call her that. Her guy is Chains, the former VP, but still close brother. Across from me is Abigail. Her brother was in the club but got killed in Iraq in his last tour. He might be gone, but she’s still club.”

I take in the strawberry blonde girl who just smiles softly and nods at me, obviously used to Ruby’s antics.

“Next to you is also a newbie, my roommate, Natalie, or Nat to me. Girl has no one around here, and lucky her, she gets stuck with me now in our freshmen year. She hasn’t called me a slut or asked to fuck a brother, so she’s cool.” She points to a girl with midnight hair that trails down her back, and I have to wonder if she’s sitting on it because it’s so long.

“And ladies, this is Julianne, a.k.a. Jules, amnesia chick, or tits. Your pick. The girl’s got a ton of names, and she basically answers to anything,” Ruby finishes with a grin.

“Why ‘tits’?”

I shrug at Abigail. “No clue. She”—I make sure to point very clearly at Ruby. I’m not scared because we’re on opposite sides of the table; otherwise, I’m not so sure I would be so bold. Girl can put the hurt on anyone. I’ve seen it—“called me that the first day. Think she thought I was a vamp or something.”

“Nope. Knew you weren’t a vamp. You got class. Vamps literally never went to school to get one.”

“Then why call her that?” Maddy asks between bites.

“She wasn’t wearing a bra, and her tits were hanging out. What else you expect me to call her?”

I scoff. “My tits weren’t hanging out. I was wearing a sweater!”

Ruby rolls her eyes. “It was a zipped-up hoodie. A thin one, and those nipples were doing braille for the whole damn club. No wonder you caused two prospects to get kicked out that day.”

“That wasn’t my fault!”

She smiles, but we get interrupted as two other girls approach. One has headphones on, not even paying attention, and the other one is all smiles.

“Hey, Izzy, right?” the smiling one says. “I don’t know if you remember me, but my sister and I were there when you and your daughter were in that accident.”

“Oh, hi.”

The newcomers are to my back, so I have to turn to see them, but I don’t miss the three women on the other side of the table tensing before I do.

“I hope she’s doing okay.” The woman looks completely harmless, but if the daughter of an MC president and two old ladies are jittery, you bet your ass I’m not going to ignore it. I pull my purse close just in case I’m told to start running like Gator warned me about.

“Um, yeah, she’s doing fine. Great, really. We both are. I never had time to thank you. I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t show up when you did.”

I eye Izzy. She said that very calmly, so either she’s good at being under pressure or maybe I’m not going to be running soon.

“Oh, just thank Jesus. Right time and all that. You just never know who’s going to go all road rage on you, right? Anyway, we won’t keep you. I promised my sis I would take her to the zoo to see the flamingos.”

“Tiger. I want to see the tiger,” the other girl chimes in. Guess her music isn’t that loud if she can hear the conversation with headphones on.

“Right, sorry, the tiger. Anyhow, here’s my card. I would love for you and your girl to come by one day. I run the dog shelter off I-20. We do a lot of babysitting, and I’m sure they would love to get some little one’s attention if you’re ever interested in getting some of the energy out of her. If she’s anything like my sister, she’ll love to play with the puppies and then pass right out. I swear it’s the best parenting hack since they invented tablets. Anyway, see ya.”

“Oh, she was sweet,” I say offhandedly, mostly ’cause there’s just an awkward pause as we all watch her leave.

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