Page 35 of Keys

“Oh, it’s fucking true all right. And since you’re having a difficult time wrapping your head around who is in charge of which people and when, you just threw your own VP under the fucking bus and crushed me. You fucked your girl over with enough disrespect you’ll be lucky if you ever hear from her again, and then there’s Keys. You pissed off the one woman who could bring us all to ruin with a few flicks of her fingers across a keyboard. Think about it, man. You would never have stepped in like that with someone from another club if they were men involved.”

“FUCK!” Sweet yelled as he launched another mug across the room. “How the hell am I going to fix this shit?”

“First, get a fucking prospect in here to clean that shit up. Then, I suggest you go grovel to your girl.”

“What about Keys?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you have to do about that. Talk to Jamie. You did some real damage with the shit you said. She has issues because of her family’s crap. Everything you said just fucking rubbed that wound raw.” Sweet stood there looking lost for a minute. “You had an ally with her before, but I think you just lost that.”

“Who? Angel Girl?”

“Nope. Keys. She was rooting for you, on your side, hoping for the best for her friend even though she doesn’t believe in the whole happily ever after bullshit that most women do. You just flushed that support straight down the drain.”

“It’s fucking hard thinking of Jamie as being in charge and they don’t even have to say anything to one another to know what to do. We have to give these guys a verbal command every time to make sure everyone is on the same page. How the hell do I work with a club that operates on a completely different level?”

“If you can’t figure that out, then you need to step aside and let someone else do it. Ghost will not tolerate you fucking up an already uneasy alliance with his daughter’s club. Hell, you have me ready to pack my fucking bags and head home. The woman I want hates me now more than ever thanks to you. My sister is pissed off at the lot of us, also thanks to you. And having those two women against our club will ensure that this chapter folds quickly under the pressure they’ll put on us.” I walked away from my president then.

“They’re not going to do anything,” Sweet huffed.

“Really? Remember when you asked me to dig for information about Keys? I tapped into her bank accounts to trace funds back to their source and she stole all my money and put it in a dummy account. It took her minutes to do that. You think she can’t sink this chapter, or the whole club, if she wanted to?”

“Fuck!”

“Fix it. And while you’re working out how to do that, you better dial Ghost in on your fuck up. Maybe he has some ideas. Just don’t be surprised if one of them is to rip that President patch off your chest and pull you back home instead.”

~*~

Aubrey: Wanna come over and watch a movie?

I stared at that text for more than twenty minutes, trying to decide if there was any point in heading over. Sweet still hadn’t been able to smooth things over with Jamie yet because she refused to take his calls or acknowledge his presence when he showed up to try to apologize in person. She had security take him away repeatedly.

Finally, I decided what the hell? Sweet already helped ruin any chance of me ever getting together with my girl again.

Quickshot: What time do you want me?

Aubrey: All the time. ??

Quickshot: What time are we watching a movie?

Aubrey: Someone’s cranky today. How about seven?

Quickshot: I’ll see you then.

I didn’t feel up to joking around with the woman. That alone should have made me pull the plug on the date, but I couldn’t. If there was ever a hope of getting over my infatuation – or whatever the hell it was – with Sarah Keys, then I had to try to live life normally. That meant dating women who weren’t her.

It was seven on the dot when I knocked on Aubrey’s door. When she opened, I almost turned around and left immediately. The woman stood there in nothing more than a skimpy towel that could probably pass as an overlarge hand towel normally. When I backed up, she bulked and offered an apology.

“Sorry, I was running late, and just hopped out of the shower.”

Sure. I believed that about as much as the promise Sweet made to fix what he’d fucked up. “Maybe this isn’t the best timing,” I told her while taking another step back away from the door even as she opened it wider for me to be able to walk through.

“Please,” she pleaded. “I didn’t mean to mess anything up. I really was running late. We had a study group going at five that should have ended at six but didn’t.”

I relented and made my way inside her apartment for the first time. It was obvious, right away, that the girl came from money. Every piece of furniture was high end stuff, not a bit of particle board construction in sight. I glanced around as she said, “Make yourself at home while I go get dressed.”

I did as told, and gave everything a cursory glance, checking for family photos, or something that would shed light on who this woman really was. There were no personal touches. No awards, family pictures, or even mail lying about. It made me curious about what the hell her real story was. Supposedly, she was here on her own and working her way through school.

When she made her way back into the living room, wearing a tiny little pair of denim shorts and a tank top that left nothing to the imagination, she noticed me glancing around. “What’s up?”

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