Page 32 of Fang
He pulls out his phone and calls someone.
“Hey, yeah, get me a tow truck out to the location I’m about to pin drop you. Take it to the tire shop. Yep. Thanks.” Then he hangs up and calls someone else. “Hey Antonio, I need a favor. I have a car coming in. The tire is flat and the spare is dry-rotted. Can you take care of it? Yeah, whatever the car needs. Got it. Thanks.”
He turns to me and smiles, “All taken care of.”
I shake my head. “So easy for you. I can’t afford all of that, you know.”
“Don’t worry about it. Where were you headed? I can give you a ride.” He puts his hands in his pocket as he leans against the car.
I don’t want to admit I was headed home to take a nap. I don’t want him to see any cracks in me.
“I just finished class. Was headed home.”
He pushes off the car. “Great. It’ll take a couple of hours for your car to be done, so let’s go get some food.”
“What about my car? I don’t want to leave it here. What if someone steals it?” I ask him.
I don’t add that it’s all I have.
He heads to his bike, rummaging through his saddlebag before coming back. He peels what looks like a sticker as he places it on the back window in the bottom corner. When hepulls away the back, I see the same Lotus MC logo on his jacket now reflected on my car.
“Why did you do that?” I whisper.
“You were worried about your car. Now anyone that messes with it would be risking the wrath of the club. It’s safety for the car and, by extension, for you as well.”
“I…” I trail off.
I have no idea what to say to that. It’s actually kind of comforting to know that I have the protection of the club even if it’s something small like this. I like even more that he didn’t even hesitate to give it to me.
Safety.
I feel safe.
It’s an illusion. I know that sticker isn’t going to actually stop someone from hurting me if that is their intention, but it gives me peace of mind.
“You can say thank you. I know you have had to live life by yourself up to this point, but you aren’t alone anymore. Stripping might not be your end goal, but you have family there,” he tells me.
He’s wrong. Everyone there hates me. Well, at least the girls. The men seem to love me. Him and Happy are the only two who seem to actually enjoy my company. I don’t correct him, though.
Instead, I bow my head a little. “Thank you.”
The words are hard for me to say. I’m not used to being able to say them.
“You’re welcome. Let’s go.”
He leads me over to his bike. That’s when I realize what he is saying.
He wants to get me on the back of his bike.
Oh, fuck.
I couldn’t believe it when I saw Cami on the side of the road. At first, I was upset with her because this isn’t the safest part of town. Then I stopped and saw the look on her face and realized that she was more upset than I could ever be.
Immediately, I wanted to make it all better for her. Solve all of her problems and see her smile again. Especially when I could tell she was barely holding her tears back.
So I took control and used my connections to get her taken care of. She is worried about money, but both businesses are club-owned, which means it won’t cost her a dime because it won’t cost me a dime. Not that I would have let her pay even if it did cost me money.
“Isn’t there like rules about girls on bikes and stuff?” she whispers, looking uneasy as she stands at my bike.
