Page 49 of Pirate

Sophia didn’t see Pirate again that night. She was tempted to follow Jumper and Jasmine back to their place but knew both of them needed to get some rest before going to work the next day. Frankly, Pirate did too. All she knew was that Carlos had not pressed charges. Sophia was grateful for that.

She wasn’t sure who knew what or what rumors were flying about. The main topic of conversation was obviously the birth of Lucky and Harper’s daughter, Stephanie. Hopefully that would hold everyone’s attention for a while and the fight between Carlos and Pirate would not be brought up.

Some days, Enola stayed with her brothers at Jumper and Jazz’s apartment. Other days, Sophia kept her with her as she went around town or drove to the charity locations she sponsored. But sometimes, Sophia dropped her puppy off with her mom at the main house. Her mom liked the companionship Enola provided when her dad was out of town for the day or longer. Since her dad had left that morning on a business trip to Philadelphia, Sophia had dropped Enola off at her mom’s after leaving Jazz’s apartment that morning.

With how late it was, Sophia had texted her mom from the hospital asking if she could keep Enola overnight. Her mom had answered she would and even asked if Jazz needed her to go over to her apartment to feed and walk Pooch and Kidd. Jazz and Jumper had appreciated the offer and accepted. Aerial had been at the hospital with them and Jumper always kept an emergency food supply in his bike for her.

Entering the guesthouse, Sophia flipped on lights as she went through. She unzipped her boots, tossing them willy-nilly around. The guesthouse was her dad’s former garage. It was two stories. On the first floor, she had a large living space with a couch, television, and bookshelves. A glass sliding door led out the back and towards the pool house and pool. Her kitchen was far too big for her, since she didn’t cook. It wasn’t from laziness but a lack of skill. Jazz often joked that Sophia could burn water. The marble island in the center had seating for four as well as a double sink, dishwasher, and wine fridge. Against the wall was a long counter space, a massive four-door fridge and freezer combo, a range with a convection oven and stovetop, and a microwave.

Immediately across from the front door was the floating staircase that led up to the second story. The room used to be a bedroom for her dad’s driver and a maintenance shop. The bedroom and bathroom were the original design, just with new carpeting, paint job, and furniture. The area where the maintenance shop used to be was now an expansive walk-in closet.

Sophia journeyed into the bathroom. She’d lived in the guesthouse for nearly five years. It had been her home since the construction finished. When she and Jazz had moved back to Mount Grove after graduating college, the plan had been for them to move in together. But the only apartment in the building that had been in Jazz’s price range had been a one-bedroom. Additionally, Jazz had been so busy getting her vet clinic up and running that she would have barely been at the apartment anyway. Sophia had moved into her parents’ house and reclaimed her childhood bedroom. It was supposed to be temporary, and it had been, but only because of the guesthouse becoming available.

Since getting Enola, her place had started to feel a bit more like home, but Sophia still preferred Jazz’s place.Thatwas a home.

Well past midnight, along with all of the excitement of the day, Sophia was beat. She needed to shower and get to bed.

As Sophia made to undress, the hairs on the back of her neck started to stand on end. She turned. The bathroom door was open, giving her a clear view of her lit bedroom. Looking around, she didn’t see anyone or anything out of place. Just to be certain, she even walked across the room to look in her large closet.

Nothing.

For shits and giggles, she checked under the bed too.

Still nothing.

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t alone. The desire to call someone rose up in her. She wanted to call Pirate. But, regardless of what they weren’t to each other, he would drop everything to come to her. And he needed to work in the morning.

No longer in the mood for a shower, Sophia took one last look around the place. She wished Enola was there. If it wasn’t so late, she might have taken the excuse to join her mom at the big house and have a girls’ slumber party.

No one was in the place with her. Not unless it was a ghost who could walk through walls.

Still, Sophia pushed her dresser over just enough where it would stop the bedroom door from opening all the way. She tookthe chair from her small desk and put it under the closed closet door.

With the bathroom and bedroom lights still on, Sophia crawled into bed. Wishing with all her might that she was just being paranoid. She wanted to call Pirate so bad, but no one was in her bedroom besides her. She’d already confirmed that. What would be the point in calling him too? She was Sophia Groveton and she did not need a man to save her.

But damn it would feel nice if she had a man there to hold her.

Just because Carlosdid not press charges did not mean Pirate wasn’t in trouble for his actions at the hospital. Steel and Bulldog had ordered him back to the clubhouse after Bear had patched Carlos and Pirate up. Thankfully, neither had done more than bruise the other. Pirate’s ribs were not broken, but sore as hell. It was no less than he deserved.

He still couldn’t believe he’d struck Carlos. Even now acknowledging that jealousy had driven him to do so, it didn’t make him any less shocked at his actions. He would accept whatever punishment he had coming his way. And didn’t imagine it was going to be easy. Despite Carlos being the town’s sheriff, he was also Bulldog’s little brother.

Pirate was surprised to see the clubhouse lights on when they entered. Papaw was sitting at the bar nursing a long neck. He didn’t see anyone else around and wondered if Papaw had already sent Fletcher home for the day. Pirate didn’t think so, as Steel had made it sound like he wanted to see Fletcher before he left.

Papaw turned upon their entry. “Why the fuck did you send me a spoiled rich brat?” he groused at Steel. “What did I do to piss you off?”

“Where is the spoiled little brat?” Steel asked instead of answering Papaw’s question.

“Out in the garage,” Papaw told him. “After I had him scrub the kitchen with a toothbrush, I had him do the floor out here. Even had him up on the roof shining the shingles. Anything to keep him entertained while Pumpkin and Grumpy took that shiny piece of junk he called a bike to the garage. They took it apart piece by piece.” At Steel’s raised eyebrow, Papaw shrugged. “I told him you required all prospects to know every inch of their sleds. Some bullshit about needing to be able to take apart and put your own bike back together blindfolded. He thinks there’s going to be a test on it.” Chugging back the last bit of his beer, Papaw added, “If the little bitch finished throwing a tantrum, he should be in there trying to put his bike back together.”

Reaching into his cut, Papaw pulled out a metal chunk. Pirate had no idea what it was but it was shiny enough to make him believe it belonged to the Tomahawk. “Night, gents!”

With that, the older man walked out the front doors.

Bulldog walked over to the bar and picked up the piece of metal. “It’s the cylinder head. Cranky bastard made it so the bikecan’tbe put back together.”

Pirate really wanted to chuckle at that, but also didn’t want to draw attention to himself.

“Go see what’s going on in the garage,” Steel ordered Bulldog.

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