“Well, this is pretty bleak,” Raelyn giggled.
“I think bleak is a good word for all of the guys’ rooms. Bed, TV, dresser, and a bathroom.” Memphis nodded to the picture Monk had hanging on the wall. “Though Monk’s taste in 80s pin-up models is impeccable.”
I tipped my head to the side and studied the picture. “I mean, she is pretty hot.”
Memphis and Raelyn both laughed.
“So, I’m just going to hang out in here until what? I hear you guys say ‘surprise’ or something?”
Memphis tapped her finger on her chin. “Uh, well, I hadn’t really thought that far.”
“How about we text you, and then you can come strutting into the common room?” Memphis pulled out her phone. “You’re just gonna have to give me your number.” She looked up and smiled. “We are friends now after all, right?”
I grabbed her phone out of her hand. “You can keep that whole friend thing on the DL, yeah?” I punched my number into her phone, hit send, and my phone rang in my pocket. “You have your boss’ number; I better not have girls from the club calling me all the time now.”
Memphis rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone from my hand. “As if. I talk to maybe two of the girls, and the rest of them now think it’s a competition to see which one of them can get Six-Gun’s attention.” She ended the call and shoved her phone in her pocket. “Swear to God, it’s like a game to them.”
A game that I was going to fucking squash. That was some bullshit if the girls were trying to do that. What in the hell happened to the girl code these days? “Rain start that game?”
Memphis rolled her eyes. “No idea, but I’m just waiting for her to try and sink her claws into Six-Gun.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Six-Gun was hook, line, and sinker in love with Memphis. Rain on her best day wouldn’t be able to compare to Memphis when she was at her worst.
“Rain still giving you grief?” I got along with all of the girls, but that was because I was their boss. Take away my job, and I’m sure none of them would treat me the same. It was a perk of the job to have the mean girls of the world be nice to you.
Memphis shrugged. “I haven’t really seen her the past couple of days. She was there the night of your overdose, but she’s been off since.”
“She works tonight. Do you?”
Memphis nodded. “Yeah. I think Six-Gun is coming to work tonight with me, too. It should be interesting to see what she tries.”
And I hadn’t planned on going to work tonight. Shit. If I wanted to nip Rain being a bitch to Memphis in the butt, I needed to be there. “I’ll keep an eye on Rain and the rest of the girls. That type of behavior isn’t going to fly. Especially since you’re an ol’ lady.”
Memphis waved her hand in the air. “It’s not a big deal, and I don’t want special treatment at work just because of who I’m dating.”
“Well, you’re dating a Royal Bastard and who owns the club you’re working at; you’re gonna get special treatment.” That was just a fact. If Memphis didn’t like it, she would have to find a different job that wasn’t connected to the MC. Dating Six-Gun put her in a league that the other girls at Skinz would love to be in.
Raelyn’s eyes darted to the door. “I think I just heard the guys. We should probably get back in the common room if we want this to work.”
“Why are we doing this?” I asked. I mean, it was going to be funny, but I wished I would be able to see Monk’s face when they tell him I left.
Raelyn shrugged. “We’ll call it payback for how rude Monk was to us when Memphis and I just wanted to go for a ride.”
I looked between the two of them. “Something tells me you guys were doing to do more than go for a ride.”
Memphis shrugged. “Just getting coffee and donuts before we took a tour of the town.”
I tipped my head to the side. “You do know we’re in Sacramento, right? No one just tours the town on a whim.” Especially if you lived here.
Raelyn grabbed Memphis’s hand. “We’ll save that story for another day.”
“Remember,” Memphis called. “I’ll text you when it’s time to come out, yeah?”
I nodded and pasted a smile on my face. “Got it.”
Raelyn dragged Memphis from the room and shut the door behind them.
I turned in a slow circle and wondered how I had gotten here—standing in Monk’s room, waiting to scare him.
Well, I wasn’t sure scare was the right word, but whatever.
I sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the remote. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be in here, so I figured I might as well get comfortable. At least as comfortable as I could in this bleak room. Was it really so much to have a little bit of color and better art than a pinup from the 80s?
I turned on the TV and landed on a rerun of Law and Order. Nothing better than passing the time while watching a little Stabler action on the TV. I scooched up the bed and laid my head on Monk’s pillow. It smelled strongly of mint, balsam, and a hint of smoke. The same scent that invaded my breath every time I pressed myself against his back on his motorcycle. I wouldn’t be able to smell it without thinking of Monk.
Instead of watching the TV, I stared up at the ceiling.
Three days ago, I lived my life not a care in the world other than figuring out the work schedule and making sure the liquor order was delivered on time. I had my house on the outskirts of town that was my sanctuary to hide away from the world.
Now I had lived through an overdose, work was in the back of my mind, and Monk had taken residence up in my lonesome sanctuary. And I was lying in his bed in the Royal Bastards Clubhouse.
I was laying in Monk’s bed, and I liked it. I liked hanging out with Raelyn and Memphis.
Talk about a fucking one-eighty.
I hadn’t stepped foot in the clubhouse in years.
For a while, it held a weird memory of a life that felt like it was a million years past. I didn’t want to go back to that lifetime. When Barracuda had brought me here, I was not in a good place. I had stayed three weeks, holed up in Barracuda’s room, just trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do next.
I had done a lot of crying and thinking. And talking. Some nights, I would just talk with Barracuda not even saying a word. For two years, I hadn’t been able to say whatever I wanted, so I had taken the freedom to speak when I wanted and not have to worry about what I said.
Barracuda had probably found out some things about me that he didn’t want to know.
Allan had beat me for the last time, and I had finally run. Two years of first verbal abuse, then his fists pounding my face, and him taking my body whenever he wanted was too much one day. Something in me had finally snapped, and I ran. I ran straight to Barracuda and the Royal Bastards.
The only place I knew I would be safe from the horrible choices of my past.
Safe from Allan.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
It hadn’t had been as bad as I thought it would be walking back into the clubhouse. When I left the club the last time, I was a different person then when I had walked in battered and bruised. I was strong and knew what I was worth when I walked out. I knew, at the end of the day, I was the only one who mattered, and if I didn’t like what was going on, I just needed to raise my middle finger in the air and walk away.