“That’s nice. You’ll have to bring her in one day so we can all meet her,” Jamie replies, smiling at me.
“I will,” I promise. “You want to take these out to them?”
She nods, taking the tray. I watch her strut over and bend over the table in her short-shorts, laughing at something one of them has said. I notice the blond one looking over at me, our eyes meeting over the back of Jamie’s shapely ass.
Looking away, I start drying the glasses and keeping myself busy. I need to figure out what I want to do with my life. I don’t want to work here forever. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a waitress—a job is a job—but I know this isn’t where I want to be forever. I want to be able to work toward something, at least. I need something positive in my life.
“What are you thinking about?” Jamie asks as she’s coming back from the table, breaking me out from my trance.
“Just contemplating my life,” I admit.
“Here,” she says, handing me the plates of food for the biker men. “You take these out to the hot bikers and then have your break. The hot one was asking about you, and you look like you need a sneaky shot of tequila.”
He was asking about me? Why?
She heads off to serve the new customers who walk in, and I bring the food over to the bikers. “Your ribs,” I say, as I place the plate down in front of the blond. “And the nachos,” to his friend. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No, thank you,” the blond replies, studying me. “Except maybe your number.”
My eyebrows raise. “Not on the menu, unfortunately. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
I flash him a smile, and then head back to the kitchen, hearing his deep laugh behind me. I have enough problems in my life right now; I don’t need any more. And he has trouble written all over him. Delicious, orgasm-attached trouble, but trouble nonetheless.
I take Jamie’s advice, down a shot of tequila, and then eat some garlic bread for my dinner. Because why the fuck not.
Jamie pokes her head in. “Hot biker left this for you.” She hands me a piece of paper with his number on it. “You going to text him? You should. He’s sexy.”
I shake my head, scrunch up the paper and throw it across the room into the trash like it’s a basketball hoop. “Nope.”
She frowns, resting her hand on her hip. “No harm in getting some di—”
“Jamie, get out here!” Max calls, and she rolls her eyes and heads back to work.
I dust the crumbs off my black pants and mentally prepare myself for another four hours of work. I don’t need to be thinking about the sexy biker, I need to be thinking about how I’m going to get out of this rut that I’m in.
I get a text message from Cara.
Cara: You said you wanted to find a new job, right?
When we went out the other night, I told her that I wasn’t loving it here anymore, and that I’d started to look for something new. She must have really listened to what I was saying.
Con: Yes? Why?
Cara: You open to anything? Like working in a custom motorcycle garage?
My fingers pause over the keyboard. I don’t know anything about custom motorcycles, but I’m a fast learner, and I can’t afford to be picky. Any change is a good change right now, I know that my mental health needs it, and this could be a good opportunity for me, the one that I’ve been wanting.
Con: Yes please. Just at work now, I’ll text you later.
I put my phone away and head out to serve more customers, smiling to myself that Cara is looking out for me. It feels so damn good to finally have someone on my side, on my team.
I always wanted a big sister, and although we met late, it looks like I was blessed with a good one.
Chapter Two
Rhett
About a year ago, I had a choice to make. An impossible choice.
Arrow, the Wind Dragons president; Sin, the former president; and Talon, my stepdad, all sat me down to let me know they wanted me to become the next Wind Dragons president when Arrow was ready to retire. While this is something that had been talked about in passing, I never really thought it was real until I heard the words out of Arrow’s mouth.
“You’re next up.”
And I fucking wanted it. The idea that I would become the leader of the fiercest motorcycle club was a dream come true. You know how when you’re little and people ask you what you want to be when you grow up? Truth is I never had an answer other than “provide for my mother.” But once the Wind Dragons came into my life when I was a kid, it was all I ever saw for myself. Wearing a cut, riding a motorcycle. That was the dream.
And having Cara by my side and on the back of my bike. I don’t think either of us saw anything different for ourselves.
Until our best friend, Clover, was threatened and Cara and I had to go hide out or risk being killed.
That changed a lot of things for Cara.
“What does that entail exactly?” I had asked. I mean, I know we see Arrow leading, making decisions and generally handling shit, but what exactly comes with being a president?
“You will lead the MC, you will be responsible for all of the members and the various businesses and you will uphold the legacy of the Wind Dragons,” Arrow had replied. “You will still have us to guide you, but being president will consume you. Your MC will be your life.”
“The MC is my life now,” I’d said.
Sin had shaken his head. “It’s a heavy burden, being responsible for everything. Making all decisions and dealing with the consequences that come with them. You’ll also be responsible for making sure we’re making money with the businesses. Being the president and not just a member is a whole different ball game. People will target you. You need to watch your back at all times. It’s a war out there, Rhett. Do you think you can handle all of that?”
I had nodded, but the conversation with them had me concerned. Why did they sound like they were warning me? They both did it, so I could too, right?
Clover, Cara and I had grown up seeing everything Clover’s mother, Faye, went through as Sin’s old lady, and then watched Anna and Arrow navigate it as well. They each had been put through hell and back, and now that was going to be Cara’s life. That was the life I was giving her.
That was when I knew I loved her too much to ask that of her.
So I made a choice.
And that choice brought me to here, to right now.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?” Sin asks, breaking me from my thoughts. He sits down next to me on the couch, beer in hand. The clubhouse is all of our homes, and it always has been my happy place.