Page 15 of Locke

Chapter Six

Emm

Icame back from the bar with my social-meter deflated. The people there were certainly different than I anticipated.

A typical biker bar: they had the tattoos and the cuts-vests-they wore; they had a code, rules and regulations and they had their old ladies, who in this case they called their mates-as in soulmates. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to think it was sweet or make me gag.

The longing to have something like that was there, but I’ve been through enough relationships to know soulmates do not exist. At thirty-seven years old and not finding anyone remotely close to what I want doesn’t give me much hope that there is some sort of magical soulmate.

Good for them, though, they all looked happy in the bar with their partners.

The men were rough around the edges and appeared to have gone through some shit. They had their tattoos and scars, and some had obviously gone through emotional trauma. If the ladies have gone through something, they never showed it. They smiled at their men like lovesick teenagers while their men kept a possessive hold on them.

Red flags waved around all these bikers, but the women looked too enthralled with them to care.

On the outside, everything looked okay. I’d be sure to keep an eye out for the women, though, just to be safe. Journey was a kind soul, and she had pain behind those eyes, like most of the town, but her strength and resolve shone through. She wasn’t afraid of her partner. Grim, I’d come to find out was the head of the club, was the roughest one of all. And, thank God he wasn’t the man I was looking for.

He would put up a good fight, though.

The woman holding the baby was Delilah. Her partner, Hawke, was part of security. His eye was constantly searching but kept most of his gaze on me. Figuring me out like I was doing with them.

The women of the bar, especially those two particular ladies, made me feel guilty. I’d lied all about my life, and they sat there like I’d hung the moon for them. I told them all about my fake life of being in the corporate world and sold stationery. Wedding and party invitations, dealing with printers and ordering the right card stock. It was easy, the same lie I’ve told a hundred times and shouldn’t have an issue letting it roll off my tongue.

This time my tongue swelled, with regret seeping through my pores as I told them.

I felt like I was betraying all of them, and the men especially eyed me a few times, but would just drink their beers and say nothing. The women didn’t care too much about the job, but asked about my hobbies. At first, I was reluctant to tell them, noone has ever really asked what my hobbies were. Besides, what was I going to say? I enjoyed going to the shooting range on the weekends? I enjoy martial arts, kickboxing, sparring and eating my weight in tacos while downing bottles of tequila when I’m alone?

That didn’t make me sound great at all. It made me sound ‘rough and unladylike’, my father used to tell me. As the drinks kept coming I let the truth slip by several times—especially about the tacos and tequila. That perked a lot of them up, especially when I told the truth. Was it possible they knew when I was lying? How could they possibly know I was?

A large guy, with a thick beard and such muscles that he could knock me over with just a finger, tapped my shoulder and told me I was welcome into his gym anytime. I was even welcome to spar with any of the guys, and he wouldn’t be surprised if I kicked some ass while I was there!

Shock must have been written on my face because the girls all giggled, and pushed another glass of whisky in front of me. I shot it back quickly and hid my flushed face because I knew I was messing up far more than I should have with this trip.

But, I just… have never felt so comfortable.

I didn’t get to spend much more time with them because dusk came quickly and to keep up with the pleasantries, and the curfew that was imposed on the town, I made promises to meet with the women much earlier the next day, and for the first time I felt excited about meeting up with them.

And I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t.

I needed to remember I had a mission to accomplish, and that was to find Locke. None of the men met the brief description given. This Locke was supposedly dangerous, which was why I took the job. Every single biker in there was talking loudly, arm wrestling, curious of the newcomer and too damn friendly.

Would Locke be hiding in a bar like that? Or was he psycho enough to pretend he was some innocent guy and playing a game? I’d have to continue to become friends, get in deep and find out more.

I ate a burger, on the house from Anaki, to help sober me up enough to go home. I tried to pay, but he glared at me with a twinkle in his eye and told me I could pay him back in some other way.

I didn’t like owing anyone anything. “It better not be anything sexual,” I said with a smirk.

Anaki’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “But what if it is?”

I shrugged my shoulders and rolled my fingertips on the bar. “Then, you better be ready to go on an adventure, because I have a cave you can explore.” I fluttered my lashes and blew him a kiss.

Anaki pretended to grab the air kiss and instead of putting it in his pocket, he put it into his pants. “Oh, my sweet Emmie, you do not know what you have just done to me.” He bit his lip.

My heart caught in my throat when he said Emmie, but I smiled and gave him a wave as I walked out the door.

I must have had too much to drink, because these bikers—who I believed were just putting on an act in the beginning—were now wiggling their way on my I-don’t-need-to-fuck-them-up list? They were making me forget the reason I was there.

When I arrived home, I expected to see an empty campsite with just my RV and the small campfire, with fresh wood and stones placed meticulously around it, but instead the enormous wolf was there, still waiting. I groaned, pushed Marlow into park and switched off the engine right when the sun dipped behind the horizon.

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