Page 5 of Crow
“Keep tellin’ yourself that, sweetie.”
The sound of raised voices coming from inside the house reached us almost before we had reached the driveway. It was a crappy little place on the outskirts of town, but rent was cheap and the neighbors minded their own business. I didn’t ask them about the yelling I heard at night, and they didn’t ask me about all the motorcycles parked on my front lawn.
As I pulled my keys out of my purse, I could hear the muffled sounds of a sports announcer beneath drunken laughter and a few shouts of abuse at the referee on the TV screen. I let us in as quietly as I could, slipping my heels off my aching feet before going inside and carefully shutting the door behind us. I had hoped to avoid being noticed until after I’d showered the remnants of the strip club off me, but I wasn’t that lucky.
“There’s my Jade!” Ray’s booming voice stopped me in my tracks just as I was passing the door leading from the living room to the kitchen. “Why don’t you grab us some more beers, huh, baby?”
Jess looked at me with pity before hurrying over to throw herself in Breaker’s lap and doing her best to suck his face off. I cast a longing look at the stairs leading up to where the shower was. The water pressure was shit, but it would be hot, and I’d be able to wash away the sweat and glitter and sour stench of old alcohol.
“Can I shower first?” I asked without much hope. “I’ll be quick, I promise.”
Ray’s face hardened, a warning look filling his eyes as he sat forward. “Jade,” he said, voice low and dark. “I told you to go get us some more beers.”
I went and got him the beers.
When I passed them to him, his hand shot out faster than I thought possible with his focus on the football game on the TV. Ray grabbed my wrist, huge hand completely encircling it as he yanked me down into his lap. I yelped in surprise at the sudden change in position as his gang wolf-whistled, then Ray’s other hand was grabbing the back of my neck and pulling my face down so he could smash his mouth against mine. It was rough, teeth and tongue and the taste of stale beer, and my mouth ached as he released me to grin at his hooting cronies. All I could think was that being in his lap at least meant my feet got a bit of a rest.
“Get her to put on a show for us!” someone hollered. When I looked up, I saw Lab Rat leering at me. A shudder ran through my body, raising goosebumps all over my skin. Lab Rat was small and greasy, with a pockmarked face and a grin that was just a snaggle-toothed slash across his face. I always caught him looking at me, his dark beady little eyes lit with a hunger that made me feel like even if I showered in water so hot it boiled off a layer of my skin, I still wouldn’t be clean.
Breaker detached his mouth from Jess’s for just long enough to say that she would dance too, smiling down at her with adoration in his eyes. “Right, babe?” he said.
“Anythin’ you say,” Jess nodded. Breaker grinned, and then they were kissing again. It was sickening. I was glad Jess was happy; I just wished I didn’t always have to be so close to her being happy.
“Ray, I just got in,” I protested, turning away from the entwined couple to look up at him with pleading eyes. He frowned at me, mouth twisting meanly.
“Now, Jade,” he admonished. “If you’re gonna whore yourself out for strangers all night, the least you can do is be pretty for my friends and I, right?”
I shrank into myself a little, biting at my lip. “But—”
“Especiallyif you want to sample the new stuff we got in,” he added firmly, fishing a plastic baggie out of the breast pocket of his denim cuts, right under the crookedly sewn-on patch that marked him as president, with a little crown next to it. My eyes followed the little bag as he held it up, wiggling it back and forth. “Premium shit,” Ray said with a grin. “Takes you on a trip like nothin’ else you can imagine.”
My fingers twitched. The line I had done at Tease had long worn off, and my head was getting too loud again.
“Okay,” I said quietly, shoulders slumping as I slid out of his lap. Ray grinned, slapping my ass approvingly.
“Attagirl! Someone put some music on, this’ll be the best show she’s ever put on, if she knows what’s good for her.”
My muscles ached as I walked to the center of the room, Jess sliding off Breaker’s lap to join me. The entire gang had their attention on us, and I could feel their gaze like a physical weight on my skin. The music started, the familiar beat washing over my body. Next to me, Jess was already dancing, seeming completely at ease, so maybe I was making a bigger deal of this than I should. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting my exhausted mind tune out the world and my body go through the motions of the dance.
Chapter Three
Crow
A couple of days after Archer’s bachelor party at Tease, I was driving my bike through Mascid to check how her suspension was after giving her a tune up. Wrench had taught all of us the basics, just in case he wasn’t available at any point. The bike now handled curves like a dream, but I couldn’t fully appreciate them without thinking of another set of curves. Ever since the night at Tease, I had not been able to get the stripper out of my head. She had caught my eye because of similarities to Jeannie, but what was sticking in my mind was the sass. She was so bold, so real, and it was interesting. But I didn’t want to be interested. I hadn’t beeninterestedin anyone other than Jeannie in over a decade. It felt like cheating.
Hoping he’d be a good distraction, I messaged Ripper asking if he wanted to go for a ride. I revved my engine as I pulled over outside his place, letting him know I was there. When he didn’t immediately appear, I revved it again and shouted: “Hurry the fuck up, would you? I’m running out of gas out here!”
“Fuck you!” Ripper called back, grin in place as he finally wrenched his door open.
“Only in your dreams, Rip,” I called back, and he barked a laugh as he flipped me off. He swung his leg over his bike and kick-started it, peeling out of his driveway and racing off. “Oh, come on!” I yelled at his retreating back, speeding after him. I caught up to him a couple of blocks later.
“What took you so long?” He grinned.
“Bastard,” I replied good-naturedly. We drove through Mascid until we reached the long stretch of empty road where we and the other Rebels liked to race. We pulled up next to each other, letting the engines idle, and gestured toward my bike.
“How’s she feeling now you’ve had a fiddle?” He waggled his eyebrows.
“You’re fucking disgusting, you know that?” I scowled at him, and he laughed again.
