Page 25 of Pirate

Sophia snapped her fingers in front of his face. Pirate’s eyes snapped up to see a scowl on her lips while her eyes looked mischievously at him. She knewexactlywhat he’d been thinking.

“Here.” She handed Pirate her phone. “Don’t take the picture until I say so.” Then she dashed over to the side of Jumper’s bike. Kneeling down, she instructed Jasmine to get back into position. Looking over her shoulder at Pirate, she asked, “Can you see me?”

Pirate held up the phone and stepped slightly to the left. “Nope.”

Then Sophia lifted her hands up to cup the underside of Jasmine’s boobs, essentially lifting them to create more cleavage. Based on the amused look on Jasmine’s face, this was not the first time Sophia had done this. Jumper, however, blinked as if he was trying to figure out if he should be angry Sophia was cupping his woman’s boobs.

“What about now?” Sophia asked. When Pirate said nothing, she snapped, “Pirate! Camera!”

He shook his head and straightened his hold on the phone again. “Um, lower your right elbow slightly—other right, Sophia. Okay, hold that.”

Pirate quickly snapped the pictures.

After he was done, Sophia stood and wiped off her knees. As she approached, she had her hand out for her phone.

Pirate gave it to her. “Interesting tactic.”

Sophia shrugged while scrolling through the pictures he’d taken. “Gotta make my bestie look good.”

Pirate leaned down a little but tipped his head away so it wasn’t obvious he was talking to her. “You came today when I specifically told you not to. Your ass is going to be glowing red by the time I’m done with it.”

Sophia, still only looking at her phone, muttered back, “You say that as if it’s not incentive for me to be here.”

Pirate could only growl in response. He’d never wanted a club run to be over so badly before.

The club setout and picked up an extra along the way. Ivy Benson wasn’t a member of the club, but she hung around when needed. She was a nomad, traveling all around without a home base. Since helping the club out last August, she’d been here and there, occasionally crashing in one of the empty apartments in the clubhouse. Steel wasn’t really sure what to make of her, but also wasn’t going to turn a friend of the club away.

Pirate looked around after seeing Ivy’s bike join their line, but he didn’t see Scar’s bike anywhere. He saw Bulldog’s head turning too and knew he was also searching for his friend. Scar and Ivy had an odd partnership, but it was one forged by common enemies and allied goals. According to Ivy, she andScar worked together withoutworkingtogether. Pirate wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what that meant.

To Pirate’s knowledge, the club’s former enforcer hadn’t been seen since January when he’d appeared to help Demo defuse a bomb left on club property. Though the man who’d left it had been dealt with, club security had been raised yet again. No one wanted another middle of the night scare like that again.

Pumpkin’s infant son, Seth Jr. or SJ, was the only club kid who lived in the clubhouse, but still. If Bones hadn’t forgotten his phone in his cage and stumbled upon the bomb when he’d gone out to get it, who knew what would have happened.

Pirate had helped Keys set up motion sensors and infrared cameras in the weeks following the bomb scare.

Main Street was the prominent drag in Mount Grove. The small town had a lot of land, but little population. Amish farmland surrounded the town on three sides and also attributed to their summer tourism. The mountain that stood north of the town was not one that could be used for skiing or snowboarding during the winter months. However, it was a great trek for mountain climbers, avid hikers, and adventurists. More than once, the VDMC had been called up to act in a SARS capacity. Given their military experience, many of them were well trained in search and rescue procedures. And their response time was a hell of a lot faster than the state or private organizations that were located further away.

Pirate hadn’t been a part of the club when it had first been formed, but Jumper had been. His brother told him that the town had been extremely nervous about the club forming within their borders and had not been welcoming in the beginning. If it wasn’t for the fact that three of their officers were Mount Grove natives, Pirate wondered if the town would have completely rejected them. It also helped that Bulldog’s brother Carlos was a cop on the town’s police force. Eventually, though, the townwarmed up to the club’s presence and now even relied on them. With the club businesses bringing in revenue, they were now a staple in the small town. Years ago, before Pirate had joined up, the town started the tradition to gather on Main Street to watch the club’s first run.

As Road Captain, Bear led the procession. He was a big guy, having gotten his moniker in the military and could be best described by looking like a grizzly with the heart of a teddy bear. His ol’ lady, Tessa, was not riding with him as she was pregnant. His daughter, Maggie, had just celebrated her first birthday in January and was riding in the SUV with her mom. At Bear’s back was Scotty, Lucky’s son and Bear’s honorary nephew from before the club was formed.

Steel’s and Lucky’s bikes were behind Bear’s. As President and VP, the two always rode as a united front. Jenna, Steel’s wife and ol’ lady, was riding behind him. It was unspoken around the club, but everyone knew that something was going on with Jenna. She was always tired of late. At first, the club thought it was her not bouncing back from the holidays. Now in April, they knew something else was going on, but no one was saying anything. Since Harper, Lucky’s pregnant ol’ lady, was riding in an SUV with their son, Conner, and Scotty was riding with his Uncle Bear, Lucky was riding with Ollie, Steel and Jenna’s foster son that they’d adopted.

Jumper and Demo rode behind Lucky and Steel. Both of them had their ol’ ladies wrapped around them and looked thrilled to be back on their bikes following their injuries.

Behind them were Bulldog and Ghost, the club’s Sergeant at Arms and Enforcer. Abby, Bulldog’s much better half, rode behind her husband with their seven-year-old daughter, Lila, riding behind Ghost. While Lila was prone to mischievous behavior any other time, she was extremely well behaved when it came to riding on a motorcycle. She was taking her daddy’sthreat of “one mistake and you’re riding in a cage for a year!” very seriously. Lila had behaved well all last year, and the hope was that she would continue to do so this year.

The rule also was that Lila had to ride with someone watching her, which was why Ranger, Ghost’s best friend and co-manager of the club’s barDemon on the Rocks, was riding directly behind Ghost. It was his job to keep an eye on the little girl. Next to Ranger was Keys.

Angel and Cage rode next to each other, which was different than the order of previous club runs. Now that they were together, though, it only made sense. Angel rode her trike with her daughter, Bree, strapped to her with a special harness. Bree was a paraplegic and could only ride if she was hooked to the driver in front of her. Having the trike also helped so she wasn’t so reliant on whomever was driving her for balance, but she had driven with her club uncles on other bikes and could if she needed to. Cage rode with his newly found teenage son, Aaron, who was a younger, spitting image of the former womanizing Adonis. Aaron also had his motorcycle permit but was not practiced enough to drive in a procession like this.

Pumpkin and Grumpy were next in line. Pumpkin’s infant son was riding with Tessa, Harper, Maggie, Conner, and Abby and Bulldog’s youngest children, Caleb and Georgie. It was probably a squeeze in the eight seater SUV with all those infant car seats. Pirate saw Viktor and Darrin play rock-paper-scissors to see who was driving which cage. The loser got the women and kids, the winner got to drive Angel’s sleekChevyTraverse that was accessible and held Bree’s wheelchair, along with all the strollers and baby supplies. Angel wanted the cage along for the ride in case Bree needed different transportation for some reason.

Pirate and Starbucks, or Star, were towards the back of the procession. The two had gotten close as prospects. Both formerMarines, Star was also a Raider. He was like the badass of badasses as far as Marines go and Pirate respected him for his service. Unfortunate circumstances had bonded the two when they’d lost Conner, the third man who’d been prospecting with them during their first year with the club. Conner, or Lionheart as he’d been buried with full colors, had been killed saving Harper’s life when she, Lucky, and Bear had been taken captive. Unknown to anyone, including Harper, she’d been pregnant at the time of the assault. Conner giving up his life had saved not only hers, but her unborn baby’s life. Lucky and Harper chose to honor Conner by naming their son after him.

It was a loss that all of those who knew Conner still felt, but it hit Star and Pirate the hardest to lose their friend.

Pirate rode with Sophia at his back. When she’d ridden with him in the past, it hadn’t meant anything. It didn’t now either. But itfeltdifferent. Sophia’s grip on him was slightly tighter, her position at his back closer. Maybe it was his imagination, but he could swear she was breathing purposefully on the back of his neck too. Her presence was making it very difficult for him to concentrate.

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