The wood floors had that sort of honey tone to them, and the walls were stark white and tall. Almost windowless, but there were a couple tiny ones way at the top that were barred, letting a small amount of natural light into the space.
Along the longest back wall was the sleeping situation, a row of black bunk beds with white bedding.
Room for six people in total.
Along the shorter wall were four storage cabinets.
Not enough for all the beds, so if we filled up, we’d need to share.
Beside that was a door to what looked like a bathroom.
And, finally, completing the very sparse, almost militarian space, was an old dining table and mismatched chairs.
On top of the table was a deck of cards and what looked like chips.
No TV.
Not even a radio.
But, I imagined, there wouldn’t be a whole hell of a lot of downtime. I knew enough about the prospecting process to know they liked to run the new guys ragged doing menial tasks around the clubhouse, or even running errands.
“Do you even have a bike?” Valen asked, making me jerk back to the present, finding his gaze on my profile.
“Of course I have a bike.”
Granted, I’d just bought the damn thing when I came up with my plan, but that wasn’t the point. I knew how to ride it. I’d been riding and driving all sorts of different vehicles over the past several years.
“Then why the fuck would you drive your Mustang here?” he asked.
It was a valid question.
Even if I thought the reason was pretty obvious.
“Where else was I going to put my shit?” I asked.
To that, Voss nodded and shrugged, walking over toward his bunk, and dropping down on the lower one.
“That’s Voss. I’m on the other end,” Valen said, though it was clear it was his since there looked to be a few personal items on it. A book, a notebook, and a set of headphones.
So I was in the middle then.
At least I got to choose the top.
Both of them went for lower beds.
Moving forward, I went to the center bunk and tossed my phone up onto the top mattress.
Again, when Valen spoke, he clearly meant it just for himself. And, again, I was too tuned in to him not to hear it.
“Always making shit difficult.”
I chose to let that go because a small part of me felt a little pang at his words. At the familiarity they stood for. And some part of him that made it sound like he didn’t like that aspect of my personality.
You’d think it would be impossible for him to be able to hurt me after the whole situation went down so long ago. I wasn’t exactly pleased to learn he did still have that power.
I guess the difference was, where those same knife-to-the-back words would have had me down on my knees back then, now, they just made me stiffen. I yanked that knife out and let that sting only bolster up my resolve.
“Seth mentioned that some guy named Brooks is in charge of us,” I said instead, turning back to look at him.
“Yep.”
That was it. Yep.
“Do we go to him to ask for assignments?” I asked.
“No.”
Gritting my teeth to keep from snapping at him, knowing he would win more points if he knew he got a rise out of me, I lifted my chin a bit. “Should I ask Fallon instead of you?” I asked, watching as he exhaled hard, knowing he would get in trouble if he didn’t show me the ropes the way our president clearly wanted him to.
“You don’t report to anyone. You wait for someone to bark an order at you, then you do it. There. You’ve gotten your tour and your information. Voss, let’s go for a ride,” he said, and the other man rolled off his bed and followed behind, leaving me alone in the room.
I felt like it was the first deep breath I took in hours after they were gone.
But it got caught in my chest when the door opened again.
And there was Seth, giving me a knowing smile.
“I knew you’d show up to stick it to him, being all beautiful and shit, showing him what he missed out on,” Seth said as he walked over toward the prospect table, slipping a few chips back into their rightful places in the holder. “Didn’t see you prospecting.”
“You pissed about it?”
“About you coming in and starting shit?” Seth asked, chuckling. “Have we met? I live for that shit. Maybe wondering if you thought it through.”
“I have. Believe it or not. What?” I asked when his head shook.
“Nothing. It’s your life.”
Damn right it was. And I wasn’t going to entertain anyone else’s opinions on it.
“How long have you been here?”
“Pretty much since finishing school,” he said, shrugging.
“So you got the hazing from all the dads and uncles.”
“Yeah, fun shit,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s all worth it, though.”
“Adrenaline junkie?” I asked, figuring that was the main reason the guys wanted to do it, other than the good money and bragging rights.
“Not really. Some of the guys thrive on it. I just really loved growing up in the club. Always wanted to be a part of it. And Fallon is diversifying a lot. He’s having me open my own range.”
“Range. As in shooting range?” I clarified.
“Yep.”
“Right. Because your dad is like a sharpshooter and shit, right?”
“Right.”
“What?” I asked.
“Depends. What are your feelings on being humble?” he asked, shooting me a smirk.
“It for chumps. If you’re good, you’re good. No reason to say play it down.”
“Alright. Then I have been showing up my old man since I was fifteen.”
“No shit. Good for you. Are you excited about being, you know, a business owner?” I asked, feeling a bit like a little girl around a big, mature grown-up. One with plans for the future and all sorts of responsibilities. While I’d been avoiding both for so long.
“Yeah. So what have you been doing since high school?” he asked.
“Traveling,” I told him.
“Just traveling?” he asked, eyes a little more keen than I expected from him.
“And doing some odd jobs,” I told him.
“Odd jobs,” he repeated. “The kind of jobs your old man is known for?”
“My old man is retired,” I told him.
“Sure sure,” Seth said, nodding. “You ever think how long the nights are gonna be in here?” Seth asked, looking back toward the beds.
“Why does that sound like you are going to make it your mission to make sure we don’t have anything at night to occupy our time?” I asked as he made his way to the door.
“Because you know me pretty well, it seems,” he said, shooting me a smirk over his shoulder before heading out.
I took another minute to calm my heart before exploring the storage cabinets that looked like they would have plenty of room. I didn’t have much. I was accustomed to living out of duffle bags or large backpacks. But it would be nice to have room to add a couple more items to my wardrobe.
The bathroom was nothing to write home about.
You walked in to a double vanity with a huge mirror. And off to each side were small rooms with toilets and stall showers.
So at least there was some semblance of privacy.