Freak (Fallen Lords MC Book 7) Winter Travers

Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26

Coming Soon

About the Author

Chapter of Drop a Gear and Disappear

Dedication

As always, this is all for my boys and family. Through the crazy
karate schedules, never ending travel, and lessons upon lessons, we
still have each other at the end of the day. It’s crazy, but I like it.
LOL

N. I. K. K. I. All caps, and each letter as important as the last. She
helps keep me sane and keeps my eye on the big picture. Thank you
isn’t enough, but it’s all I got.

Chapter One

Carnie

“You want a beer or something?”
I looked over at the woman I had never met

before. “Uh.”

She smirked. “I’m Alice, by the way.” Her hair

was a deep purple, and she was wearing cutoff
shorts and a shirt that had a purple spotted cow on
it. It was weird, but it seemed to work for her. She
also looked pregnant, but I wasn’t exactly sure.
“Cora is making bloodies in the clubhouse if you
want one.”

The girl to my right snickered. “Alice’s goal is

to get everyone drunk now that she can’t drink.”
She tipped her head to me. “I’m Nikki, by the
way.”

“I’m only twenty.” I was lame. I cringed and

closed my eyes. My brain was fried trying to have
normal conversation.

Alice’s jaw dropped. “Get the hell out of here.

How in the hell are you twenty?” She looked at
Mayra. “She’s a baby.”

Thankfully, my awkwardness was ignored, but

in return, I tried to fight back my annoyance. It
wasn’t the first time I had heard that. When did
being twenty make me a baby? It wasn’t like I had
said I was sixteen or something. “I’ll be twenty-one
in two months.”

Why did I open my mouth? I sounded like a

baby trying to prove they weren’t a baby. Ugh.

Alice turned back to me. “So, you want a

virgin bloody or a Coke?”

“Uh, Coke.” This situation called for

something much stronger than a Coke, but
obviously, that wasn’t going to happen. At least for
another two months.

“I’ll take a real bloody.” Wendy smirked and

rested her elbows on the picnic table. “I’m twenty-
two.”

Alice stood up and held her hand out to

Wendy. “I’m gonna need to see some ID.”

Wendy laughed.
Alice wiggled her fingers. “Nah, dude. I’m

serious. ID or no booze. You could be the fuzz.”

Mayra dropped her chin to her chest. “Sweet

Jesus,” she whispered. “Is this you testing out being
the parent?”

Alice held her hand outstretched while Wendy

frantically looked at Mayra. “Damn straight.
Wrecker may think he’s going to be the badass bad
cop, but he’s got another thing coming.”

“I feel like I’m back in high school watching

my friend get a stranger to buy them booze.”
Karmen knocked Alice’s hand down. “Get her a
bloody, woman.”

Alice folded her arms over her chest. “I am

not going to contribute to the fall of today’s youth.”

Wren blinked slowly and shook her head.

“Are you drinking the same thing I am?” She lifted
up her half empty glass and swirled it around. “Did
yours get roofied somehow?”

Nikki kicked her feet out in front of her. She

was sitting in a camping chair by what I assumed
was a fire pit, though it looked like little more than
a large hole in the ground. “Perhaps we should wait
to get these two drunk until after Wrecker and the
guys come back.”

After Wendy and I had jumped out of the car,

there was quite the commotion trying to figure out
what the hell was going on.

Two days ago, I had walked past the sliding

door that went out to the backyard of my rental
when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up
and I got an eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach. I
couldn’t see anything outside, but something was
not right.

One day ago, my neighbor, Mrs. Lemon,

brought over a package she had found by my
mailbox near the road. It was harmless-looking, and
I had opened it thinking it must have been
something Wendy had ordered.

I was wrong.
The small stuffed bear Bobby had bought me

at the fair a couple of months ago sat there with his
head ripped off. The thing that sent a chill down my
spine was the fact that, the last I knew, the stuffed
bear was in my closet, buried under a pile of
clothes.

“I still don’t understand why I’m not part of

that meeting.” Once I had gone over the story
about Bobby and the teddy bear, the guys had
disappeared, and Wendy and I were left with the
women to hangout.

Alice grabbed her boobs. “‘Cause you got a

pair of these.” She then grabbed her crotch. “And
not a set down here.”

Mayra snickered. “You look so motherly when

you do that.”

Alice flipped her off. “I’m trying, dammit. It’s

gonna take a second for the old Alice to mellow
out.”

Wren hooked her arm through Alice’s. She

also looked like she was pregnant. There must be
something in the water around here. “Six months is
not long enough for you to get your shit straight. I’ll
head in with you to get drinks.”

Alice looked over at her. “Gotta pee?”
Wren nodded. “Yeah. I’m only four months

along, but I feel it every freakin’ time this little
apricot moves.”

“Could you not equate your baby to fruit all of

the time?” Cora rolled her eyes. “Swear to God,
you’re going to give me a complex about eating
food. I’m gonna picture a baby instead of an
apricot.”

“You’ll get it when you have a baby.”
Cora shook her head. “Hell no, girl. Ain’t no

baby taking up room and board here. You guys can
repopulate the Fallen Lords.”

“Who’s populating the Fallen Lords?” Raven

strolled over from her car and sat down opposite
from me. At least, I assumed she was Raven.
Mayra had introduced us to everyone but said
Raven had run home to show Clash’s parents their
house.

“Done trying to impress the in-laws?” Alice

asked.

“Yup. They love me. Resting bitch face and

all.” Raven reached down in the cooler next to the
table. She pulled out a glass bottle and cringed.
“Are we really drinking girly drinks?”

“I’m grabbing bloodies. You want one?” Alice

asked. “Virgin or regular?”

Raven sat back. “Uh, are you saying I don’t

need to drink or something? Since when did we
start making a virgin bloody?”

“Well, Wren and I are pregnant, Raven, and,”

Alice hitched her thumb toward me, “Carnie is
illegal.”

Raven wrinkled her nose. “Like, you jumped

the border? Not sure what the hell that has to do
with getting a bloody with vodka.”

Karmen chuckled. “She’s not legal to drink

because she’s only twenty,” she clarified.

“Leave for twenty minutes and I miss all the

details.” Raven finally looked at me. “I’m Raven.”

I nodded and shook her outstretched hand.

“Carnie. Twenty, not illegal in the hopping the
border sense, and also, being chased by a psycho.”

She blew out a raspberry. “You came to the

right place, girl. The Fallen Lords seem to collect
women with psychos chasing after them.”

Mayra patted my arm. “For the record, the

guys take care of all of the psychos.”

What I was worried about was, the guys had

no idea who the hell Wendy and I were, so why
would they help me? I had half expected to be told
to get the hell out of there before my feet even
touched the ground. I knew nothing about MCs
other than what I had seen in Sons of Anarchy. Yes,
I was that naïve.

“Carnie! Wendy!”
Everyone’s heads snapped in the direction of

the clubhouse to see Boink leaning out the front
door.

“Dun, dun, dun,” Alice sang. “You have been

called.”

Mayra jumped up and slipped her arm through

mine. “I’ll come with you.”

Raven scoffed. “You sure they’re going to let

you in there?”

Wendy’s face paled, and she looked up at me.

“Maybe we should just take off on our own and
figure this out, Carn.”

Mayra squeezed my arm. “This is the best

place for you guys.” She reached for Wendy’s
hand. “Trust me.”

We walked to the front door of the clubhouse,

with Wendy and me flanking Mayra, and Boink
shook his head. “Just the girls, babe.”

Mayra tightened her hold on my arm. “I’m not

sending these two in to be fed to the lions.”

Boink rolled his eyes. “You really don’t have a

clue right now, babe. I promise nothing is going to
happen to them. This is club business right now, and
you know Wrecker isn’t going to like you sitting in
on it.”

Mayra scoffed “You know you are just going

to tell me what happened when we fall into bed
tonight.”

Oh. Even I knew club business stayed club

business. I wanted Mayra to stay with us, but I also
didn’t want her to get in trouble on my behalf.
“We’ll be fine, Mayra.”

I already felt bad for bringing this drama to

her and Boink. I didn’t need more guilt on my plate
if she and Boink argued.

“I promise nothing bad is going to happen,

Mayra. Wrecker and the guys just want to ask them
a few questions before we get the ball rolling.”

Mayra squinted at him but released the hold

she had on Wendy and me. “Be nice to them,
Boink.”

Boink pushed open the door and motioned for

Wendy and me to come in. “No reason to be mean
to them, babe.”

Mayra stepped back. “If I hear they shed one

tear, I’m going to…”

“You’re gonna what?” Boink laughed. “Don’t

worry. They’ll be back out here before you know it,
getting drunk with the Captain.”

I stepped through the door before I could ask

who Captain was, and the door swung shut behind
me. I instantly regretted not having Mayra come
with us as we walked past a pool table, lounge area,
and bar.

Wendy moved next to me and threaded her

arm through mine. “We’ll be fine, Carnie,” she
whispered.

God, I hoped she was right.

Chapter Two

Freak

“I thought we were done with the Banachi

bullshit.”

Wrecker glared at Pipe. “I thought so too, but

my fucking crystal ball is busted so I can’t really
tell the future.”

“Why didn’t Leo kill this fucker when he went

off the rails?” Brinks asked.

I had the same fucking question. “Or why

didn’t we kill him?”

If Leo wouldn’t take care of it, we should

have been the ones to.

Wrecker leveled his glare on me. “Because

Bobby was not our problem to deal with at the
time.”

“Yeah, and now our time has come to deal

with him. If he’s watching those two chicks like
they claim he is, then you know they led him
straight to the clubhouse.” Clash kicked his feet out
in front of him. “Thank fuck I’ve got Raven now.
I’ll just sit back and watch one of you other fuckers
take care of this shit.”

“You think having an ol’ lady means you don’t

have to do shit for the club anymore?” Wrecker
thundered.

Clash quickly sat up and shook his head. “I

just meant I know I’m not going to be assigned to
keep an eye on these chicks. Anything else, you
know we’re all ready to do, Wrecker.”

As much as I hated to admit it, Clash was

right. It was going to be down to me, Brinks, and
Slayer. “Tag team.”

Everyone turned to look at me.
“Uh, what kind of kinky shit do you have

going on inside that head of yours, Freak?” Nickel
chuckled.

Slayer rested his elbows on the table and

leaned in. “I’d like to hear more.”

“I’m not into swordplay,” Brinks added.
“You’re all three fucking idiots.” Wrecker

shook his head. “Swear to Christ, it’s a miracle the
clubhouse still stands with you morons hanging
around.”

“I didn’t mean tag team that way.” I pinched

the bridge of my nose. “I just mean that between
the three of us, we keep watch of the chicks.”

Maniac cleared his throat. “They have

names.”

“We take shifts watching them. That way,

we’re not constantly stuck with them.”

“Carnie and Wendy,” Maniac interrupted.

“Names. They have them.”

Wrecker growled. “You’re mighty stuck on

their names.”

Boink walked back into the room before

Maniac could reply.

The two girls were right behind him, each

clinging to the other.

Here we go.

Carnie

Boink pointed to the two chairs next to a guy

covered in tattoos. “Sit there.” He turned to the guy
with a bushy beard and who was sitting at the head
of the table. This must be Wrecker. “You owe me if
Mayra gives me the cold shoulder later for not
letting her in here.”

Wrecker flicked his hand at Maniac,

dismissing him. “You’ll be fine. Though I am
surprised you didn’t have the whole Girl Gang walk
in here with you.” He turned his gaze on Wendy
and me after we sat down. “Ladies.” He nodded,
and I swear to God, there was a smirk hidden
behind his shaggy beard. He must be the one who
belonged to Alice.

“Uh, hi,” I squeaked.
Wendy gave a lame little wave, and that about

summed up Wendy and me.

Awkward and shy in front of any guys. Now

we were sitting at a table with nine hot men, and I
felt my cheeks heat and knew they were bright red.
Whew, doggies. It was amazing I was able to get the
word hi out.

“You gave us a quick rundown of what

happened before. Was there anything else you
needed to add?” Wrecker asked.

I glanced over at Wendy. I bugged my eyes out

and tipped my head slightly toward Wrecker. “Uh,
Wendy?”

Wendy curled her lip. “Bobby was yours,” she

hissed.

“But I didn’t know he was psycho,” I hissed

back.

“I told you he was psycho. Bad juju vibes

from him the second I met him. You didn’t want to
listen to me. It took Mayra being kidnapped for you
to finally get it. This is all your fault.”

I glared at her. “I was a pawn. If he wouldn’t

have used me to get Mayra, then he would have
found someone else to use.”

We had both obviously found our voices and

were now entertaining the nine men around us.

I glanced over at the guy sitting next to me

and quickly zipped my lips. I perched on the edge
of my seat and rested my hands on the table.
“Sorry,” I whispered. Wendy and I looked like two
bickering teenagers.

Wrecker cleared his throat and looked from

Wendy to me. “Shit that went down before doesn’t
matter.”

While he may say that, I knew all of these

guys thought I was a dumb girl who had fallen for

any guy who paid any attention to me. The guy
next to me adjusted himself in his chair and kicked
my foot.

“Sorry.”

The low timber of his voice made me glance

over at him again. His hair was a sandy blond, and
he had a boy next door face, but his arms and
hands were covered in tattoos. From the neck up,
he could have been any guy walking down the
street back home, but the tattoos pushed him into
the sexy biker category somehow.

“All good,” I croaked.

“Hey, don’t damage the girls. If Mayra sees

one hair out of place or the slightest hint of a tear
on either of them, she is going to wring my ass.”
Boink pointed his finger at the guy sitting next to
me. “Do not manhandle the merchandise, Freak.”

“Merchandise?” he chuckled.
I was slightly offended by the fact they were

talking about us like we weren’t here, but Boink
was right about Mayra going ham on him.

“We’re good, Boink.” Wendy held up her

hands. “No scratches, dings, or dents.”

I rolled my eyes. “Talking like we’re a washer

and dryer set.”

Freak scoffed, and a rather attractive smile

spread across his lips.

Well, that just knocked Freak up a couple of

notches. He got my jokes, and he had a killer smile.

“You guys are staying here ‘til we get a handle

on exactly what is going on.”

I ripped my eyes off Freak and looked at

Wrecker. Focus, Carnie.

“You know Leo is going to be pissed that this

shit is happening.” The guy next to Wrecker had a
cigarette hanging from his lips and was leaning
back in his chair. “He wasn’t exactly happy to have
to deal with us with the whole Mayra thing.”

“I’ll take care of Leo.” Wrecker sat forward.

“While you’re here, Freak, Slayer, and Brinks will
take turns keeping an eye on you two. If you want
to leave or do anything, you’re going to need at
least one of them with you.”

Wendy leaned forward and looked over at

Freak. “So, you’re Freak, but who are the other
two?”

The guy next to Wendy cleared his throat.

“I’m Brinks.” He nodded to the guy directly across
from him. “That’s Slayer.”

“Try not to give the guys too much trouble,

ladies. I know from past experiences that it’s not
fun for you ladies to have a guy constantly
watching you but remember that they are only with
you to make sure nothing bad happens.”

“Bobby isn’t after me. This really has nothing

to do with me.” Wendy pointed her finger at me.
“She’s the one who wrecked his life.”

My jaw dropped. “How exactly did I ruin his

life?” I had been stupid and dated the guy, but he
was the one foolish enough to mess with the Fallen
Lords and whoever Leo was.

“Stop,” Wrecker thundered. “You both need

protection right now. You may not have been the
one to date the guy, but he knows you are close to
Carnie. He’ll use that and whatever else he needs
to.”

Wendy huffed, but she didn’t protest anymore.
“That it?” Boink asked.
Wrecker turned his gaze on Boink. “Are you

really that terrified of your woman? She’s half a
foot shorter than you, and you could lift her over
your head with one arm.”

“Are you terrified of Alice?” Boink countered.
Wrecker waved his hand at Wendy and me.

“Take them back to the girls.”

Boink looked relieved and stood. “Let’s go.”
“You mean we don’t need a babysitter when

we’re at the clubhouse?” Wendy asked.

Wrecker shook his head. “Tell the girls they

have to come inside until one of us can be outside
with them.”

Dammit, Wendy. She had to open her mouth.
Boink ushered us out of the room and shut the

door behind him. “Is that it?” I asked him.

“The Lords will take it from here. You don’t

have anything to worry about.” Boink nodded to
the couch in front of a large TV. “Hangout here and

I’ll send the girls in.”

Wendy and I plopped down on the couch, and

I looked over at her. “We totally came in here and
messed up everything, huh?”

A sad smile spread across Wendy’s lips.

“Yeah, but I don’t think we really had any other
choice. We don’t know anyone that can help with
Bobby.”

I sighed and laid my head back on the couch.

She was right, but it still sucked I had to lay my
problems on a bunch of guys I didn’t even know.

If only Bobby had stayed in the hole he had

crawled in, but he hadn’t.

He was back, and he seemed determined to

make my life hell.

*

Chapter Three

Freak

“How much is it going to take for you two to

take care of these chicks without me?”

Wrecker glared at Brinks. “You trying to get

out of the shit I told you to do?”

Brinks held up his hands. “Look, brother. You

and I both know that I am not cut out to sit around
and watch two chicks. I need to be doing something
else other than basically watching paint dry.”

“You can go back to River Valley.”
“What?” Brinks scoffed. “There isn’t anything

going on there. Jenkins disappeared into thin air,
and the club is no more.”

“And we thought Bobby disappeared, too, but

here we are trying to figure out where the asshole is
before he causes an even bigger shitstorm.”
Wrecker sat back in his chair. “You got two
options. Stay here and keep an eye on the two girls
or head back to River Valley.”

“Both of those options suck ass because

they’re both boring as hell.”

Wrecker shrugged. “You think I care that you

think they are boring?”

Clash clucked his tongue. “You think

whatever chick you got hidden away in your room

is going to like you heading to River Valley?”

Brinks leveled his glare on Clash. “You think

that’s any of your fucking business?”

“Damn,” Pipe chuckled. “There is an awful lot

of thinking going on, and why the hell did I not
know that Brinks had a chick hiding in his room?”

“Because there fucking isn’t a chick hiding in

my room,” he spat.

Maniac sat next to me, and we both silently

listened to the bickering.

“Wendy and Carnie are in the common room

with the other girls.” Boink walked back into the
room and closed the door behind him.

“Meeting’s over until I talk to Leo. Not

much to fucking go on when we didn’t even know
this shit was going to be an issue.” Wrecker stood
up and stared at Brinks. “Decide where the hell you
are going to be.”

Brinks always had a zero-fucks-given

attitude, but he had never blatantly told Wrecker he
didn’t want to do the shit assigned to him.

Brinks sighed. “I’ll head to River Valley in

the morning. You want me to actually find Jenkins
or just sit at the bar and keep a stool warm?”

“Try to stop shit from happening before it

becomes an issue.”

“Kind of hard to do when I don’t even

know what is going to become an issue.”

Wrecker pulled a cigarette out of his pocket

and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. “Welcome
to my fucking life. Trying to figure out who is going
to be the next fucking idiot to fuck with the Fallen
Lords.” Wrecker looked at me and Slayer. “You
two are on Carnie and Wendy duty. I don’t care
how the fuck you do it, but I want both of those
girls safe while we figure out the Bobby situation.”
Wrecker stalked out of the room and left the door
wide open.

“I am so over this shit.” Slayer laid his head

back and sighed. “I’ll take the one with the curly
hair. She doesn’t seem like she’ll be too much
trouble.”

I didn’t know where Slayer was getting that

idea from. We had spent a fast five minutes with
them, and all I knew about Carnie was, she was
cute and a bit spunky. That description fit all of the
guys’ ol’ ladies, and they were all a handful and
then some. I had no clue if Carnie and Wendy were
going to fit right in with them or not. “I’ll take
Carnie, then.”

“That the one with curly hair?” Slayer

asked.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“The fact you don’t even know their names is

worrisome.” Pipe stood and pointed at the empty
chair next to me. “The one that was sitting next to
Freak was Carnie. You say you want the one with
curly hair so you better start remembering the name

Wendy.”

“Why do those names seem familiar?” Brinks

asked.

“Familiar?” Nickel asked.
Brinks shrugged. “Just seems like I should

know why those names go together.”

“Maybe going to River Valley will be good for

your head,” Slayer laughed.

Brinks flipped him off and stood. “You two

have fun babysitting. I’m gonna go to River Valley,
drink some beers, and just relax.” He strolled out of
the room, and I couldn’t help but feel Slayer and I
had somehow gotten the short end of the stick.

“So,” Slayer drawled. “You think these chicks

are going to be a problem for us?”

I leaned back in my chair and slowly cracked

my knuckles. “Not really sure, but I do know there
are about a million different things that could
happen.”

“Well, falling in love with these chicks is not

going to be one of them.”

That wasn’t something I was too sure of. I

didn’t know much about Carnie, but I had already
decided I wouldn’t mind waking up next to her
every morning. Her angelic face, long auburn hair,
and lips that begged to be kissed.

“Hell no!” Slayer shot up, and his chair

skidded backward. “I see that fucking look on your
face. You are not falling in love with that chick.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I don’t think it

would be that bad if I did happen to hook up with
Carnie.”

Slayer ran his fingers through his hair. “Well,

you can do that, but you can bet your ass that is not
going to happen with me and Willow.”

“Wendy,” I corrected him.
“Whatever,” he mumbled. “Let’s go see what

the chicks are up to. I’m assuming we’re gonna
watch them get drunk tonight and become part of
the Girl Gang.”

“Lead the way.” That was a pretty good guess

of what was going to happen. Even Cora and
Raven had become part of the Girl Gang, and they
were some of the bitchiest chicks I had
encountered.

Slayer looked over his shoulder toward me and

smirked. “Think we can lock them in their room
until this whole Bobby business gets squared
away?”

While that seemed like a pretty good solution,

I knew it wasn’t going to happen. All we could do
is make sure they stayed safe and pray no crazy shit
went down.

Yeah, right.

Carnie

The Girl Gang rocked.
I could understand why Mayra loved each of

these women so much. They had welcomed Wendy
and me like we were old friends, then proceeded to
get Wendy rip-roaring drunk and made sure I had a
good time, sans drinking.

“Not up for drinking?”
I glanced over at Freak. “Uh, not really.”

Wendy had drank enough for the two of us, and
after all, there wasn’t a chance any of the Girl
Gang were going to give me a drink since I was
illegal.

“There’s always tomorrow.” He moved two

steps in front of me and turned down the hallway to
the right. “There are only two rooms open in the
clubhouse, and they’re on opposite ends.”

I glanced over my shoulder in the opposite

direction. “Uh, so Wendy will be down there?” I
didn’t really think about sleeping arrangements, but
I had thought that Wendy and I would be in the
same room.

“Yeah.” Freak stopped in front of the third

door down. “You good with that?”

My eyes took in Freak’s tattooed fingers

that were wrapped around the door knob. The
words Live Free were written on each knuckle and
there was a skull on each thumb.

He was covered in tattoos. He even had one

on his neck, covering his Adams apple. I watched
him swallow and the tattoo moved up and down.

“Carnie.”
My head snapped up, and my eyes connected

with his. “Yeah?”

A smirk spread across his lips. “You okay with

Wendy and you not being in the same room?”

I shook my head and tried to snap myself back

into reality. “Uh, yeah. I guess that will be fine.”

Did I really have any options when it came

to where I would sleep or really anything that was
about to happen? I had come to the Fallen Lords
for help and, until the Bobby thing was figured out,
I was at the Fallen Lords’ mercy.

“If you wanna be with Wendy, I can try to

figure something out.”

“I’m good,” I snapped. My words were

harsher than I wanted them to be. I didn’t want to
be any more of an inconvenience than I already
was. If this was where they wanted me to sleep,
then this was where I would sleep. “I mean, I’m
sure this will be good.”

Having a little break from Wendy would

actually be welcomed. She hadn’t said it to my
face, but I knew she was more than pissed off at me
for everything happening.

Freak’s gaze traveled over me. I shifted

uncomfortably and averted my gaze.

He pushed open the door and motioned for me

to enter.

The room was pitch dark, and I only took one

step inside before I froze. My breath caught, and
my chest tightened.

“You’re fine, Carnie.”
I felt the heat of Freak against my back, and

then, the lights turned on. “Sorry.” I moved into the
room and stepped off to the side.

“Afraid of the dark?” he chuckled.
More like I was afraid of Bobby showing up

out of thin air. “You could say so.”

Freak closed the door. “Well, you’re safe here.

Even in the dark.”

My eyes traveled around the room. “Uh, this

is…sparse.” A bed, leather couch, and a TV on the
wall. It was like a bachelor’s dream come true.

“Two hours ago, there was only a TV hanging

on the wall. Be thankful we had an extra bed and
couch.” Freak moved to the couch and plopped
down on it. He kicked off his boots and snagged the
remote that was resting on one of the cushions. He
pointed it at the TV, flipped a couple of channels,
then pulled his feet up and swung his body to lay on
the couch.

My eyes darted from the couch to the bed and

back again. “Uh.”

Freak glanced at me. “You putting one and

one together and coming up with two, or am I going
to have to break this down for you?”

The way the addition was working out in my

head, it appeared I was sleeping on the bed and
Freak was camping out on the couch. Not exactly
what I had expected, but again, at least I was in a
safe place where Bobby couldn’t get to me. If that
meant I had to deal with Freak sleeping on the
couch, then I guess that I was okay with it. “I’ve
got the math down.”

“And you good?”
I nodded. “Good.” I hitched my thumb toward

a door next to the bed. “Bathroom?”

He laid his head back. “Yeah. I put your bag in

there.”

Wrecker had asked Wendy and me to grab our

bags earlier, but once Freak had taken it from me, I
hadn’t thought about it. “Thanks.”

“Been a long day, doll. Get changed and try to

get some sleep.”

I moved to the bathroom but spun back

around to face Freak. “You’re sleeping on the
couch.”

He nodded.
“And I’m on the bed.”
He again nodded.
“Do you need a blanket or pillow?” Freak was

lying there with no blanket or pillow, and I had a
queen bed with two pillows and blankets.

“Not what I was expecting you to say.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I’m not as predictable as

you thought.”

He fully expected me to argue and demand

he leave the room. That wasn’t going to happen. As
strange as it was, I felt safer when he was around. I
may have messed up before with Bobby, thinking
he was someone worthy to date, but looking back,
even then, I knew he wasn’t someone who was
going to be around for a while. Bobby never made
me feel safe. He was a kind of danger that intrigued
me, but I knew he wasn’t the good kind of bad boy.

Still dating him was dumb on my part, but live

and learn.

“Planned on stealing a blanket and pillow

while you changed.”

I nodded. “Then I’ll just get my butt in the

bathroom so you can continue with your plan.” I
scurried into the bathroom and closed the door
behind me.

The bathroom was as sparse as the bedroom,

but when it came down to it, did you need more
than a toilet, sink, and shower? There was a stack
of worn towels sitting on the tank of the toilet, and
my bag was resting on the floor next to the base of
the sink.

Wendy and I had left in a hurry, but at least we

had enough sense to pack a bag for each of us.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I saw it

was my mom.

Did you make it?

Shit. I had forgotten to message her when we

got here. Yup. Got here a few hours ago. Caught
up with Mayra and Boink. Sorry I didn’t text
you right away. Our parents knew we were here,
but they didn’t know we were here because Bobby
was trying to hurt me.

I figured you were busy visiting. Give my

love to Mayra and try not to fall in love with a
biker.

I rolled my eyes and tapped out a quick reply.

Highly unlikely, mom. I’m off the market for a
while. She wasn’t going to like that response.

You can’t let one bad guy ruin the whole

lot, Carnie. Get back on the saddle and all that.
Heading to bed. Just wanted to make sure you
were okay.

All good in the hood.
She sent an emoji of a smiley face rolling its

eyes. Hood????

Everything is good, mom. Lordy. Easy slang

was lost on her sometimes.

Love you, sweetie. I’ll call tomorrow.
I texted her back goodnight and dropped my

phone on the counter next to the sink.

I didn’t want to lie to my parents, but I was

afraid the more they knew, the more trouble they
could possibly be in.

“You good in there?”
I shoved my phone in my back pocket and

grabbed my bag off the floor. “All good,” I called
back.

Freak didn’t need to know I was texting my

mom. Not really something a motorcycle badass
would be doing.

After I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair

up into a messy bun on the top of my head, I
changed into my pajamas and walked back into the
bedroom. “Bathroom is all yours.”

Freak shook his head and rested it back

against his arms. “I’m all good.”

“You’re not going to change?”
“Into pajamas?” he scoffed.
I looked down at my teal shorts that had fluffy

sheep all over them and white tank top. “I’m sure
you can’t pull off cute pajamas like these, but I
figured you would want to get out of your jeans.”

“Pulling off cute pajamas like those is easy,

doll.” Freak wiggled his eyebrows, and I finally
understood the double meaning of my words.

I gasped and pressed a hand to my chest. “Not

what I meant.”

“You sure about that?”
I nodded and took a step back. “Sure.”

I wasn’t going to deny Freak was a good-

looking guy, but I really wasn’t up for a roll in the
hay with a man I just met while there was some
psycho out there trying to possibly kill me.

Freak raised an eyebrow. I could tell he

doubted me, but I wasn’t lying. While I was almost
twenty-one and still a virgin, I didn’t want to rectify
that situation tonight.

“Hit the lights and go to bed, doll. Been a long

day.”

I scurried over to the light switch and flipped it

down. “Night, Freak,” I mumbled while I burrowed
under the covers.

“Night, doll.”
I closed my eyes and tried not to think about

the man lying on the couch six feet away. My world
was tipped upside down right now, and adding a
man to the equation was not what I needed. Even if
he was as handsome and kind as Freak.

Freak

Yup.
I was doomed.
Sweet yet sassy.
Carnie was exactly what I wasn’t looking for,

but I knew I wanted.

Chapter Four

Carnie

“Nemn plinv muck by tien.”
I grabbed the pillow off Wendy’s face and

tossed it on the floor. “Wanna try that again?”

“Never, ever drinking again.” She held up her

hand and closed her eyes. “Swear to God and
anyone listening. Those biker chicks do not play.”
She pulled the blanket over her head and moaned
loudly.

“Well, seeing as you’ve drank a handful of

times before last night, then yeah, you can’t really
hang with them.” I plopped down on the end of her
bed and patted her feet. “You need to work up to
that.”

“Like you actually know what you are talking

about,” she grumbled.

She was right, but it’s what I had heard, and it

made sense. “Are you going to get up or just stay in
bed all day?”

“I’m not moving from this bed for at least four

hours. You’re on your own today, Carnie.”

I rolled my eyes and stood. “Take some

Tylenol and try to pull yourself together, Wendy.”

“Hey,” she called.
My hand was on the door handle, and I turned

around to see her head peeking out from under the
blanket. “What?”

“Do you have a hottie assigned to you?” she

whispered.

“Freak.”
“What?” she hissed. “I had some hot guy take

me to bed, help me get undressed, and then he slept
next to me all night. On top of the covers.”

I shook my head. “Freak is the name of the

guy watching me. Not sure who yours is.”

“Smoke?” She squinted one eye shut. “Or was

it Slinger?”

“You should probably get that figured out.”
She waved her hand. “Whatever. I just need to

know if you have a hottie sleeping in your bed or if
I just got lucky?”

I bit my lip and tipped my head to the side.

“Covered in tattoos, ocean blue eyes, and nice as
pie. Though he slept on the couch, not on the bed
with me.”

The fact he didn’t even try to sleep in the

bed with me knocked Freak up a notch in my book.

Wendy scoffed. “That doesn’t exist.”
I pictured Freak and smiled. It did. I know I

had only spent a scant few minutes awake with
him, but contrary to popular belief, I was a good
judge of character. Bobby had been a horrible
fluke. “I’m gonna grab something to eat and try to
find Mayra. Try to haul your cookies out of bed

today, sister.” I slipped out the door as she snorted
and ran smack dab into Freak.

He grabbed me by the shoulders to keep me

from going ass over tea kettle. “All good?”

I tipped my head back and looked up at him.

“She’s hungover and slightly grumpy, but other
than that, she’s good.”

The warmth of his hands seeped through my

shirt and butterflies rose in my stomach.

“Slayer in there with her?” he asked.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “But it’s good to

know what his name is. Wendy tried to tell me, but
what she said was not Slayer.”

Freak chuckled. “He couldn’t remember her

name last night so I guess it’s only fair game she not
remember his.” His blue eyes sparkled with
amusement, and I leaned into him. “You doing
okay?”

When I had woken up, Freak has been sitting

upright on the couch watching the news. I had
scurried off to the bathroom to answer the call of
my bladder and came out dressed and ready for the
day. He asked if I was hungry, and while I was
actually starving, I had asked to see where Wendy
was.

Now, after I had seen that she was good

except for being hungover, my stomach was
demanding to be fed. “Hungry.”

“‘Bout time.” He dropped his hands and

turned on his heel. “I was wondering if you were
one of those chicks that never ate.” He walked
down the hallway and turned toward the common
room.

“Girls like that actually exist?” I was not a

wilting flower who didn’t eat. I was the exact
opposite.

Freak glanced over his shoulder. “They do,

and they are not my favorite.”

I looked away and wondered just who were

his favorite. None of my business. I had to remind
myself I was here to stay safe, not snag myself a
biker. I followed Freak into the large common room
and was surprised to see everyone crowded around
two tables and a mountain of food on each.

“About time!” Mayra called. “Boink and I

were wondering if you and Wendy were going to
sleep all day.”

I sat down next to Mayra. “I’m up, but I’m

pretty sure Wendy is back to sleep.”

A plate appeared in front of me, and I

followed the tattooed arm and saw it was Freak
holding it. “What do you want to drink?” he asked.

“Uh.”
“Coffee? Orange juice?”
I shook my head. “Soda?” I didn’t have an

acquired taste for coffee. It was no different than
dirt to me. Coke was my drink of choice in the
morning. And the rest of the day too. “Coke, if you

have it.”

Freak set the plate down in front of me and

disappeared.

“We’re going shopping today. You want to

come with?” Alice asked.

Mayra scooped eggs onto my plate and

dropped two sausages next to them. “Eat.”

“Yes, mother,” I laughed.
“Since your mom and aunt aren’t here, I get to

take their place.” Mayra looked up from her plate.
“How in the hell aren’t your mom and aunt here?”

A soda appeared in front of me, and Freak sat

in the chair next to me. He filled his plate without a
word and tucked into eating.

“Uh, Wendy and I just told them we were

coming here for a visit.” Out of the corner of my
eye, I watched Freak shovel food into his mouth.

“An out of the blue visit,” Mayra chuckled.
I shook my head. “Not really. We had talked

about it before and well, it’s you. They weren’t
really going to say no to me coming here.”

Alice tapped her fork on the table. “Don’t

ignore the pregnant one.”

Mayra and I looked at Alice. “Say what?”

Mayra laughed.

Alice pointed her fork at me. “I asked her if

she wanted to come shopping, and she didn’t
answer.”

Mayra quirked her eyebrows. “Did you not get

enough sleep last night? You’re a little cranky.”

Alice sat back in her chair and rubbed her

stomach. “This little terror woke me up at four and
at four ten, I proceeded to empty the contents of
my stomach into the toilet.”

“Damn,” Wren whistled.
“What are you damning?” Alice demanded.

“You are having the easiest pregnancy known to
man while I’m over here absolutely miserable half
the time.”

Wren put her arm over Alice’s shoulders. “I’m

sure once you pop that baby out, he’ll be a
complete angel.”

Alice wrinkled her nose. “Then that means

yours is going to be hell on wheels and I’ll have a
bearded angel and not a bearded demon.”

“Don’t put that bad juju on me,” Wren gasped.
“Woman.”
I twisted around in my chair to see Wrecker

walk into the clubhouse.

“Yes, bearded wonder,” Alice giggled.
“What’d I tell you about that?” he grumbled.
“Only call you that in the bedroom,” Alice

droned.

Wrecker folded his arms over his chest. “Not

what I said. And I’m talking about you calling our
baby a bearded demon.”

Alice shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”
“It don’t fit,” he growled.

“Don’t look so shocked,” Mayra whispered to

me.

“There must be something in the water here.

All of you girls are gorgeous, and the guys are like
they stepped out of a romance novel.” I eyed my
can of Coke and wondered if I should start drinking
the water.

Mayra burst out laughing and patted me on the

shoulder. “You’re too funny, Carnie.”

“Then you’re in the right place,” Freak said

quietly.

Mayra’s eyes bugged out, and she sat back.
I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that.

Was he implying I was just as gorgeous as the rest
of the girls? I didn’t agree with that at all. I always
felt I acted older than I actually was, but my looks
were what always gave me away as being so young.

“Are you coming shopping?” Alice shouted.
Everyone snapped to attention and looked at

Alice.

Wrecker moved behind Alice and brushed her

hair off her neck. “I think you need to take a nap,
woman, not go shopping.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I need to run to the

Walmart. I have a coupon for diapers, and it expires
today.”

“We have six months to buy diapers, mama.”

Wrecker brushed his hand over her cheek.

Alice leaned into his touch and closed her

eyes. “But the coupon, Wrecker,” she whined.

“Freak needs to do the grocery shopping

today. Give him the coupon and he can pick them
up.”

Freak grunted and dropped his fork on the

plate. “Really? Can’t you have one of the other
guys do it?”

“Why?” Wrecker demanded. “Last I knew,

grocery shopping was your responsibility.”

“Yeah, but I normally didn’t have a someone I

had to keep an eye on.”

Wrecker glanced over at me. “Take her with

you.”

“Sounds easy to the guy that doesn’t have to

do it.”

Wrecker pulled Alice out of her chair and put

an arm over her shoulder. “You’re right. Because
the guy who suggested it is trying to find the guy
trying to kill her. That sound easier to you?”

“Get two packs of newborn, then three packs

each of sizes one and two.” Alice reached into her
back pocket and handed Freak a stack of coupons.
“You should have enough coupons. You might have
to do a couple of transactions since there is a limit
of two per order.”

Freak grabbed the coupons and grumbled

under his breath.

“I can do that,” I volunteered.
“You’re not leaving my sight while we are at

the store. We’ll do it together.” Freak shoveled two
more bites of food into his mouth and finished the
rest of his juice. “Finish eating. We’ll leave in ten
minutes.” He shoved his chair back and stormed
out of the room.

“That should be an interesting shopping trip,”

Mayra laughed.

My appetite was gone, and now, my happy

outlook for having a quiet day was too.

I already felt like a burden to Freak, and now,

it was even worse.

Freak

“How the hell is one little baby going to use

this many diapers?”

Carnie dropped one last package into the cart

and laughed. “Well, newborns probably use six to
eight diapers a day so that means this one hundred
twenty pack is only going to last around two
weeks.”

I pushed the cart toward the self-checkout and

shook my head. “Freaking crazy.”

“It is, but that’s why Alice probably wanted to

use up these coupons to save a little money.”
Carnie fanned out the coupons and laughed. “This
was definitely not something I thought I would be

doing when I pulled up to the clubhouse yesterday.”

“You and me both,” I mumbled.
After doing four separate transactions for the

damn diapers, Carnie and I were back in the store
with an empty cart and a long list of food needed
for the clubhouse.

“How often do you have to grocery shop?”
I grabbed a large jar of pickles and one of

mayo and set them in the cart. “Twice a month.” I
pulled out a list from my pocket and read it over.

“Holy crap. We’re going to buy all of that?”

Carnie leaned into me with her jaw dropped and
her eyes bugged out.

“It’s not as big of a list as it looks. I’ve read

paper plates three times already.” The grocery list
notepad hung on the fridge during the week and
everyone added to it as the days passed. Of course,
they never looked to see if someone had already
written down what they wanted. “Let’s hit it, doll.”

Carnie pushed the cart while we walked up

and down the aisles filling it to the brim.

“Uh, do you want me to get another cart?” she

asked.

I nodded. “I do, but you’re not going by

yourself.” I pushed the cart out to the main aisle
and pointed to the floor. “I’m going to stand here. I
can see directly to the carts. You’ve got thirty
seconds.”

“Wait, what?” she gasped. “There’s no way I

can make it there and back that fast.”

“Thirty, twenty-nine.”
Carnie took off toward the carts, and I

couldn’t help but laugh. She dodged two grandmas
who were taking up the whole aisle; a man in a
motorized wheelchair pulled out in front of her; and
then, she somehow managed to trip on thin air right
before she made it to the carts.

On the way back to me, she grabbed three

bags of chips and threw a box of Poptarts into the
cart. “Did I make it back in time?” she panted.

I shook my head and turned the cart toward

the aisles we hadn’t gone down yet. “I don’t know.
I was too busy watching you run the Walmart
obstacle course to the carts.”

Carnie scoffed and followed me down the

cereal aisle. “You’re a butthead.”

I glanced over my shoulder at her.

“Butthead?”

“Yeah,” she insisted.
“Been called a hell of a lot worse than that,

doll. I’ll take that as a compliment.” I grabbed three
boxes of Cheerios and four boxes of some fruity
cereal all the guys devoured.

“You know, if someone were to look in these

carts, they would think you were grocery shopping
for a daycare, not a motorcycle club.”

“Ask Wrecker and he would tell you they are

the same thing.” Wrecker was always complaining

about the fact that he should be paid for babysitting
us. It was fitting we ate like a bunch of ten-year-
old’s.

After going down the chip aisle and making a

huge dent in it, we breezed through the dairy
section and grabbed a few gallons of milk and
butter. “That’s it.”

Carnie stood next to me and looked at the

overflowing carts. “This is insane.”

“This is a motorcycle club, doll. Let’s get the

hell out of here.”

We dropped over five hundred dollars at the

Carnie finally opened her mouth after we

loaded all of the groceries into the back of one of
the club trucks. “So who does all of the cooking if
you have to do the shopping?”

She pulled the seat belt over her shoulder
and clicked it into place.

“Depends. Some days, everyone just fends for

themselves, and then, there are days one of the girls
feels like cooking.”

“Like this morning?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“So, if I feel like cooking or baking, I can?”
I nodded and pulled out of the parking lot. “As

long as it’s edible, it will get eaten.”

“Are you insinuating that I might not know

how to cook?” she laughed.

I held up my hands. “Never said that.”
She rested her head on the headrest. “I’m a

pretty good cook and an even better baker.”

“That so?” I was mediocre, at best, when it

came to cooking so if someone else wanted to
cook, I was all for it.

“I was thinking of going to school for it until

this whole Bobby thing happened.”

“College?” I asked. It was a miracle I had

graduated high school, let alone thought of going to
college.

“I don’t really know if it’s considered college.

It’s like a program. Back home, there was a
culinary program at the local tech college I was
thinking about.”

“This Bobby shit isn’t going to be going on

forever.”

She rolled her head toward me. “I know that,

Freak. I just don’t know if cooking for a living is
something I want to do. I love doing it, but would I
love doing it for eight hours every single day of my
life?”

“In my head, if you did something you loved,

it would never feel like work. Guess you’ll never
know unless you try.”

“Are those biker words of wisdom?” she

chuckled.

I glanced over at her. “Don’t know how much

wisdom I have but take it for what it is.”

“You wouldn’t, by chance, have a handbook

on motorcycle clubs for beginners with all your
wisdom, would you?”

“Sassy,” I mumbled.
Her cheeks blushed pink, but she smiled

wide. “Slightly.”

I shook my head and turned into the

driveway of the clubhouse. “You’ll fit in just fine
with the rest of the girls, then. Lord knows they all
have their own brand of sass.” I backed the truck
up to the front door of the clubhouse and killed the
engine. “Cook as good as you say, and you’ll fit in
just fine with the guys, too.”

“I guess that’s all I really want while this

whole Bobby thing gets sorted out.” She rested her
hand on the door handle and glanced over her
shoulder at me. “At least, for now.” She hopped out
of the truck, and I didn’t move.

Lord have mercy. I felt it happening. Those

four words spoke so much, and I knew exactly
what it was saying.

Maybe I was going to be the next Fallen

Lord to fall, and to be honest, I wasn’t even mad
about it.

Carnie

“Doll.”
I turned my head to look at Freak. “Yeah?”
“You’re not telling the truth when you say

you can cook.”

The blood drained from my face, and my

hands got clammy. “Oh, uh, really?”

I shouldn’t have been so cocky when I told

Freak I could cook. All of the tacos had been eaten,
but no one had outright said they liked it.

“That was some of the best food I’ve ever

had. Way more than cooking you did.”

Relief washed over me, and I plopped down

on the bed. “You just gave me a heart attack,
Freak. I thought I just served craptastic food to
everyone.”

Freak moved to stand in front of me.
He reached down and brushed my hair from

my face. I tipped my head back and leaned into his
touch.

I felt safe with Freak. I had only known him

for less than a day, but I felt a connection to him
that I had never experienced before. Most people
would think I was crazy, and honestly, I wondered
if I was too, but Freak seemed to calm all of the
crazy in my world. This man covered in tattoos and
who I knew basically nothing about calmed my
mind and helped me breathe.

“Best food I’ve ever had, doll. Hell, you

managed to silence everyone out there as soon as

they took a bite.”

“I totally thought they didn’t say anything

because it sucked.”

He shook his head. “They didn’t say

anything because they were speechless.”

“That’s definitely reassuring,” I laughed.
His hand lingered while his eyes connected

with mine. “Nothing to worry about here, Carnie.”

I believed him. Don’t ask me why, but I

knew that Freak would always be there to protect
me. “Okay,” I whispered.

He dropped his hand and nodded to the

bathroom. “Bathroom is all yours. I’m beat and
ready for bed.”

“Me, too.”
A soft smile crossed his lips. “Then get your

sheep pajamas on and crawl into bed.” He moved
to the couch and grabbed the TV remote. “I’m
gonna put a movie on. Anything you want to
watch?”

I shook my head. “Not really. I watch

anything, and I’m pretty sure tonight that I’ll be
asleep before the movie is even half over.”

“Same,” he mumbled.
I watched him lie on the couch, and the

words were on the tip of my tongue to tell him he
could sleep in the bed with me.

The thing that stopped me? I didn’t know

what to do if he did come in bed with me. Would

we just sleep, or would he think I wanted something
more?

I wasn’t exactly experienced on more,

seeing as Bobby was my first real boyfriend and all
we had basically done was kiss.

Yes, I was a twenty-year-old virgin.
I once saw a book Wendy was reading

called The Biker and the Virgin.

Something told me I was about to bring the

book to life if Freak didn’t run for the hills when he
found out I had no experience.

I quickly changed into my pajamas, brushed

my teeth and hair, then slipped into the cool sheets.
“Freak?”

“Yeah?” he called.
This was my chance to ask him if he wanted

to sleep in the bed.

This was where I chickened out and said the

first thing that came to mind. “You think I can
make breakfast tomorrow?”

His chuckle rolled around the room. “I

don’t think anyone will stop you.”

I sighed and relaxed into the pillows.

“Okay.” I had totally chickened out, but I had
plenty of time to see where things were going with
Freak.

Plenty of time, for sure.

Chapter Five

Carnie

“What are you cooking?”
I dropped the pasta into the pot and put the lid

on. “Spaghetti and meatballs.”

Alice rubbed her stomach and licked her lips.

“Now you are speaking my language.”

Laughter bubbled from the bar. “I think if she

was boiling eggs, you would be happy,” Nikki
called.

“Could you do those, too?” Alice whispered.
Even I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not sure

how well hard boiled eggs and spaghetti go
together.”

“I’m still saying we need to do one of those

mukbang shows with Alice and Wren while they
are pregnant.”

Alice spun on her heel and pointed her finger

at Cora. “I am not going to do fetish porn.”

Cora sputtered on her drink and gasped. “It’s

not porn,” she wheezed.

Alice rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. I was not

born yesterday, Cora. Anything that has bang in the
name has to be porn.”

Cora pulled out her phone and held it out to

Alice. “It’s eating, Alice. Not porn. Though I’m
sure there are people out there who get turned on
by it.”

Alice and I stepped toward the outstretched

phone. Loud lip smacking and chewing noises
sounded while there was a pile of various seafood
in front of a woman. A woman who was chowing
down like it was her last meal.

Alice licked her lips and stepped closer. “Oh,

wow, that food looks amazing.”

“I could do without the loud eating noises.” I

cringed and turned back to the stove. “I’m all for
watching cooking shows, but I don’t need to watch
people eat it.”

Cora laughed when Alice grabbed the phone

from her and walked to the couch like she was in a
trance. “I knew she would love that shit.”

“She is into banging dressed like a mascot,”

Nikki called.

“I am not into that!” Alice hollered. “Wrecker

is.”

“What the hell am I into?” Wrecker walked

through the front door and shut it behind him.

“Mascots,” Alice replied.
Wrecker shook his head. “Here I thought

being pregnant would chill you out.”

Nikki held up her hand. “Now she’s into

mukbangs, Wrecker,” she interjected. “She’s
watching one right now.”

“You’re watching porn in the middle of the

clubhouse with your friends?” Wrecker moved to
the couch and looked down at the phone. “That’s
food.”

Alice nodded. “Sure is. And this chick is

eating a shit-ton of it.”

“When does the banging start?” he asked.
Cora burst out laughing, and Nikki spewed her

drink all over the table.

“It’s not porn,” Cora wheezed. She was

doubled over with her hands on her knees and her
face beet red. “It’s just eating.”

“Right,” Wrecker drawled. “You all know

there is some freaky-deaky people somewhere
getting off on this.”

He was more than right.
“To each their own,” Nikki laughed.
Wrecker grabbed the phone from Alice and

put it in his back pocket. He walked into the
kitchen with loud smacking sounds coming from his
backside.

“Oh, my God,” Cora wheezed. She was on her

knees, tears streaming down her face and shaking
her head. “That’s…mine.”

Wrecker pulled the phone out of his pocket

and held it out to her. “So, you’re the freaky person
in the corner watching people eat.”

Cora managed to pull herself together and

grab the phone from him. “Actually no. I just

happened to get on the wrong side of YouTube the
other night and stumbled across it.”

“Lies,” Nikki called.
Cora crawled up off her knees and paused the

video. “How the hell can you guys be so
entertaining? Honestly, I was five seconds away
from pissing myself because I was laughing so
hard.”

Freak walked into the kitchen and looked

Cora up and down. “We’re already at the stage of
pissing ourselves tonight? I was only gone for
fifteen minutes to shower.”

Cora clapped him on the shoulder. “You can

never leave, Freak, because God knows what you
are going to miss. Have Carnie tell you about
mukbangs when you go to bed tonight.”

Freak wrinkled his nose. “Porn?”
My cheeks heated even though I knew it

wasn’t porn.

“They tell me it’s not porn, but I don’t really

believe it.” Wrecker moved to the stove and looked
into the pan I was stirring. “You’re cooking?”

I stepped back and rested the spoon on the

counter. “Yes.”

He sniffed the air and dipped his finger into

the sauce. “It tastes good.” He sounded surprised
and went to dip his finger again, but I slapped it
away.

“Oh boy,” Cora laughed. “Carnie has got the

sass and just slapped Wrecker’s hand.”

I gasped and took a step back. My hand flew

over my mouth, and I knew that I might have just
made a grave mistake.

“Wrecker,” Freak called.
Wrecker held up his hand to Freak.
It appeared that I was on my own. “I’m sorry.

I just…” Was a slight germaphobe and didn’t
appreciate Wrecker dipping is finger in the pot for
the first time, so the second time, my instincts
kicked in.

“You really know how to cook?” he growled.
I nodded. “I, uh, learned from my mom and

aunt. I didn’t mean to hit you.”

He quirked his eyebrow at me.
“Well, I did mean to hit you, but I didn’t…” I

couldn’t talk my way out of this. I had meant to hit
him because he shouldn’t be sticking his fingers in
my food while I was cooking. Lord knows where
his hands had been.

“I’ll use a spoon next time.” He turned on his

heel and headed to the couch where Alice was
peeking at us over the top.

Cora sucked in a deep breath and signed the

cross over her chest. “Holy shit, woman. You just
about died.”

Freak hung his head, and his shoulders shook

slightly. “I take back what I said about you having
some sass.” He lifted his head, and there was a

huge smile on his lips. “You’re all sass.”

Alice crowed with laughter from the couch,

and Nikki joined her.

“I’m not messing with you when you’re

cooking.” Cora walked out of the kitchen shaking
her head.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Freak.
He shook his head and leaned against the

fridge. He crossed his arms over his chest and just
watched me.

“Are you going to stand there the whole time I

cook?”

He nodded. “Sure as shit am. I leave you to

take a shower and when I come back, you’re hitting
the prez of the club. You might be more trouble
than I had you pegged for.”

I grabbed the spoon and pointed it at Freak.

“Just keep your fingers out of my sauce and we
won’t have problems.”

“She did not just say that.” Nikki and Cora

peeled off into another fit of laughter as soon as the
words left my mouth.

Dammit. I was on a high having just beat

death, and then, I had to say that.

Freak held up his hands. “I’ll always ask

before I try to get in your sauce, doll.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the stove.
It was my second full day in the clubhouse,

and I had already hit the prez and told Freak to

keep his fingers out of my sauce. Lord knows what
other ridiculous stuff was going to happen.

I could only go up from here.

Chapter Six

Freak

Wrecker dropped into his chair and looked

around the table. “Leo will be here in three hours.”

I rested my elbows on the table and sighed.
“Is that a good or bad thing?” Pipe asked.
Wrecker ran his fingers through his beard. “A

little bit of both? I don’t think he’s got a clue where
Bobby is, but he wants to find him.”

“And coming here is going to help him find

him?” I asked.

It had been five days since Carnie and Wendy

had rolled into the clubhouse. They both fit in
perfectly with the other women, and even though
Carnie was a bit sassy, she wasn’t a hassle at all to
look after. If anything, this was the easiest thing I
had ever done for the club. She had taken it upon
herself to cook breakfast and dinner every day, and
she was damn good at it. If Carnie was actually
serious about going to cooking school, I thought she
had one hell of a shot to be fucking amazing at it.

“He felt like making the drive to shoot the shit

with us.” Wrecker rolled his eyes. “I don’t fucking
know why he’s coming, but I’m not really going to
tell the most powerful mob boss in the Midwest to
hang back and stay where he is. He wants to come

here, he’s going to fucking come here.”

“Seems like a good enough reason to me,”

Pipe snickered.

“We really don’t have anything on Bobby?”

How the hell had this idiot managed to disappear
into thin air? He had shot at Leo Banachi, lived,
and somehow was now back like a fucking
mosquito.

“We have eyes on the five miles around the

clubhouse. There hasn’t been one person that
matched the description of Bobby in four days.”

Clash leaned forward. “By the way,

surveillance fucking sucks.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Boink shrugged.

“That would be because you took Mayra with

you. It sucked, but not in the way Clash is talking.”
Maniac elbowed Slayer. “I pulled up next to the
truck they were sitting in, and Mayra’s head
popped up like a jack in the box when I honked the
horn.”

“Jealous?” Boink sneered.
Maniac flipped him off. “Hardly, asshole.”
“Knock it off,” Wrecker thundered. “Take the

fucking surveillance seriously and not as a time to
get your dick wet.”

Maniac stuck his tongue out at Boink, and I

saw firsthand why Wrecker said he was a
babysitter.

Wrecker ignored Maniac and Boink.

Sometimes, that was the best thing to do. “Stick
close. I don’t know what is going to happen once
Leo gets here, but if he wants to meet with all of us,
I don’t want to have to look too hard to find you
assholes.”

Pipe raised his hand and waited ‘til Wrecker

turned his head to look at him. “I fucking hate
when you raise your hand like you’re back in
fucking school.”

Pipe shrugged and lowered his hand. “Just

waiting for permission to speak.” He cleared his
throat and tried not to smile because we all knew
what a load of shit that was. “You want Nickel
here?”

“Yeah. Sal, Gage, and Jimbo are going to

take over.”

Pipe nodded. “For good?” Even Pipe wasn’t

a fan of the surveillance.

Wrecker shook his head. “For now.”
Sal, Gage, and Jimbo were a few of the guys

from the smokehouse Oakley was running.

“You think Leo is going to like the fact that

Oakley’s men are helping?” I asked. To say there
was bad blood between Leo and Oakley was an
understatement.

Wrecker shrugged. “Doesn’t really have a say

in the matter when he’s not here. It’s not like
Oakley knows anything that is happening with Leo

and Bobby.” Wrecker slammed his fist on the table.
“What we really fucking need is for all of this
bullshit to go away and we go back to the way
things were.”

Pipe snickered. “Like that is going to happen

anytime fucking soon.”

Carnie

“Who is Cora hugging?” I whispered.
Raven leaned close. “Leo Banachi.”
“The guy who wanted to kill me, then my

brother who wanted nothing to do with me paid off
a huge chunk of money, and then Leo got over
wanting to kill me,” Mayra replied matter-of-factly.

“So, this is the guy who Bobby works for?” I

asked.

“Used to work for,” Raven clarified. “Once

Bobby shot wildly into a crowded room, it was like
a letter of resignation.”

“So, he is here to help find Bobby?”
Mayra rested her hand on my arm. We were

sitting on the large couch in front of the huge TV in
the common room. Raven was trying to convince
me to make enchiladas for dinner when Leo and
three men in suits walked into the clubhouse as if
they owned the place.

I had grown up in Pines Peak and had never

seen men the likes of Leo. “Is he with the mob?”

“Shh,” Raven hissed. “Girl, you need to keep

your voice low when we’re talking.”

Leo glanced over at us. Cora was now hugging

the guys with Leo, and I was wondering even more
how Cora knew these guys.

Mayra should be a mind reader, because she

rambled off all of the information I was craving to
know. “Cora’s brother is Jenkins. Jenkins used to
run the mother chapter of the Fallen Lords in River
Valley. Everyone hates Jenkins because he’s a
psycho who did whatever the hell he wanted and
didn’t care what anyone else in the club thought.
Jenkins got involved with Oakley Mykel, but he
was sloppy. Wrecker stepped in and made a deal
with Oakley behind Jenkins’ back. Oakley
essentially then ruined Jenkins. During that whole
thing, Cora came to stay with the Lords. I’m
assuming Cora knows Leo through her brother. Leo
came into the picture when my dad messed up
years ago, then my mom died, and suddenly, I had a
huge chunk of change that I owed Leo.” Mayra
glanced at Raven. “Is that all?”

Raven shrugged. “More or less. There were a

couple of kidnappings in there, but honestly, that’s
the gist of it.”

I gulped and rubbed my clammy hands on my

jeans. This was all becoming way more than I
thought it would be. Sons of Anarchy did not

prepare me for being in an actual MC. “So, Leo is
here because…”

“Because having Wrecker and Leo working

together is the best thing that can happen right now.
They’re both smart as hell, and if anyone is going to
find Bobby, it’s going to be those two.” Raven sat
back in the couch. “Honestly, I won’t be surprised
if they have Bobby by dinner time.”

“Carnie.”
I craned my neck around and looked at Freak.

“Uh, yeah?”

I was still a bit off my game when it came to

talking to Freak. Yesterday morning, I had woken
up before him, and I got the magnificent view of his
muscled and tattooed chest.

It was mighty nice.
It also made me see Freak in a whole new

light.

I had always thought he was a good-looking

guy but seeing firsthand and up close and personal
just how good-looking turned me into a bumbling
idiot.

He motioned for me to follow him.
I watched his backside as we walked down the

hallway and to our room.

“Something wrong?” I asked once he shut the

door behind me.

“You doing okay?”
I tipped my head to the side. “Uh, yeah?”

Though I still had a million questions even after
Mayra’s quick rundown of Leo. “Is everything
okay?”

Freak nodded. “Hopefully, it’s about to get

better, but I honestly don’t know.”

I nodded. I awkwardly shifted from foot to

foot, not knowing what to say next. “Raven wants
enchiladas for dinner.”

A huge smile spread across his lips.
“Why are you smiling at me like that?” I was

trying to make this less awkward.

“‘Cause one of the biggest mob bosses just

walked into the clubhouse and you’re talking about
making enchiladas for dinner.”

Oh, well. I guess he had a point. “Internally,

I’m freaking a bit, but I have to remember you guys
know what you’re doing. Cooking helps take my
mind off of everything.”

He nodded and reached up to brush my hair

back from my face. “And that right there is what
makes it so easy to be around you.”

My cheeks heated. “Uh, thank you.”
Freak chuckled, and he shook his head.

“You’re a nut, doll.”

I leaned into his hand holding my hair back. “I

like to cook.” These past few days have definitely
shown that. There was also something else I was
seeing.

I liked Freak, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he

liked me, too.

“I know you do, but you don’t have to cook

all of the time. You’re gonna get these guys spoiled
thinking there is a chef working around the clock
here.”

I scoffed and shook my head. “I’m hardly

cooking food worthy of a chef.” Most everything I
had been making were things my mom and aunt
had shown me. Simple, yet delicious.

“What if—”
“Yo, Freak!” Someone pounded on the door,

cutting off Freak’s words.

“What?” Freak hollered back.
“Church, asshole. You can’t pull a Brinks and

try to lock yourself in your room with a chick.”

“Have I mentioned I hate Slayer?” Freak

shook his head and dropped his hand. “Stick with
the rest of the girls and no leaving the clubhouse,
yeah?”

I nodded and took a step back. “I’ll just hang

in the kitchen.”

Freak chuckled. “Only if that’s where you

want to be, doll.”

He slipped out the door, and I flopped back

onto the bed.

“What the hell are you so sigh-y about?”
I clutched my hand to my chest, and my eyes

snapped to the door. “Jesus, Wendy. Why the hell
are you sneaking up on me like that?”

“It’s hardly sneaking when your door is open.

Now, if I had been hiding behind the couch trying
to listen to you and Freak, then that would be
sneaking.”

I dropped my head back to the bed. “You

finally decided to join the land of the living?”

Wendy flung herself onto the bed next to me

and laid on her side with her head in her hand.
“You know I hate mornings, Carn. You think
staying here was going to change that?”

I hadn’t, but I had hoped maybe she would

wake up a little bit earlier than sleeping ‘til almost
noon every day. “You missed another amazing
breakfast today.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure there are

leftovers in the fridge. I’ll have it for lunch just like
I did the past three days.”

“You been out there?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nope. I saw Freaky

Deaky walk out of your room and decided to stop
here before foraging for breakfast.”

“You know it’s just Freak, right?”
She waved her hand. “Freaky Deaky sounds

better.”

She may think it sounded better, but I really

doubt Freak would have appreciated it. “While you
were sleeping, a new mystery man showed up.
Well, a mystery man with three other men
protecting him.”

Wendy’s eyes lit up. “Some excitement. It’s

about damn time. I thought we were just going to
hang out ‘til Bobby wound up buried in the woods
and we got sent home.”

I rolled my eyes. That wasn’t at all what I

thought was going to happen. “Leo Banachi is here.
Bobby’s old boss. Mob boss.”

Wendy sucked in a quick breath. “Hot damn.

He hot mobby or was he old, crusty mobby?”

“I tell you the mob is here and you wonder if

they are hot or not?”

Wendy fell onto her back and stared up at the

ceiling. “Come on, Carnie. You have to know I’m
picturing dark blue or black suits with white pin
striping and shoes polished so bright I can see my
face in them.”

“You’re crazy, Wendy.”
“Don’t be mad at me because I’m making the

most of the Bobby situation.”

I sighed. “A situation that is all my fault.”
“It is, but it’s not. How were you supposed to

know that he was a complete psycho? Live and
learn.”

I slapped my hand on her forehead “Are you

feeling all right? I could have sworn you just said
this really wasn’t my fault.”

She pushed my arm away. “Feeling great and

you know I just like to give you shit. Bobby could
have turned his creepy gaze on me, and you know I

would have fallen for it, too. The dating pool in
Pines Peak is nonexistent.”

“Unless you want to fight over the same guy

as four other girls,” I laughed. There had even been
a point in high school where Wendy and I had a
crush on the same guy.

In the end, he had chosen Betsy Frank, but it

had been a valuable lesson for Wendy and me.
Liking the same guy was something that did not
work.

“So, how are you and Freak?”
“I didn’t know there was a me and Freak to

talk about?”

She bumped my arm. “Girl, please. I can tell

you and Freak have the hots for each other. The
only thing I wonder is what is taking you so long
ask him to sleep in the bed with you and not on the
couch.”

“The fact some crazy guy is stalking me kind

of puts the kibosh on a new romance.”

Freak was super nice to me, and him

brushing my hair back from my face sent my heart
into overdrive, but maybe that was just him being
nice again.

“Pfft,” she scoffed. “You should be thanking

Bobby for helping to put that handsome guy in your
path.”

“And for your hot biker.”
She curled her lip. “As hot as Slick is, I don’t

think I’m his type. I try to talk to the guy and he
gives me one-word answers and is always ten feet
away from me unless it’s time to sleep.”

“Slayer.”
“Huh?”
I rolled my eyes. “His name is Slayer, Wendy.”
She waved her hand at me. “Whatever. That

doesn’t change the fact I could probably walk
around naked in front of this guy and he wouldn’t
bat an eye.”

“These bikers sure are blowing all of the

preconceived notions we have about them out of
the water.”

“Yours is nice and mine is possibly into guys.”

She held up her hand. “Which I’m okay with, but if
I could have gotten a biker that liked my girly bits
and not boy junk, that would have been much
better for my nonexistent dating life.”

I think Wendy was way off when it came to

Slayer. “Maybe if you actually learned his name, he
might be friendlier.”

“That goes both ways. Once he starts calling

me the right name, I’ll do the same.”

It seemed Wendy and Slayer were on different

wave-lengths and neither wanted to stop and hear
the other out. “You want to have lunch and see if
we can sneak some looks of the mobsters?”

Wendy shot up off the bed. “Hells to the yeah.

Seeing as I can’t get me a biker, I might as well

move onto my next favorite reading genre.” She
pulled me off the bed and hauled me down the
hallway.

“But they are in Church.”
We skidded to a stop in the common room,

and Wendy’s face fell. “Well, hell. How am I
supposed to become a mobster princess if I can’t
even see them?”

“Did she just say mobster princess?” Cora

laughed.

I wandered into the kitchen, and Wendy

plopped down on the couch next to Cora.

“I missed the hot mobster,” she whined.
Cora patted her on the head. “That mobster is

off-limits. He’s been in love with the same woman
for ten years.”

Wendy threw her hands up in the air. “Of

course. I can’t catch a damn break. Gay or married
seems to be my type.”

“I don’t know about the gay, but Leo isn’t

married. He’s just been hung up on the same girl
since I’ve known him. She dodges him no matter
what.”

“Maybe we should try to find you a cowboy,”

I hollered to Wendy. I grabbed a loaf of bread and
set it on the cutting board. “If that doesn’t work, I
think we might have to go back in time to find you
an actual knight in shining armor.”

“You going through all the romance book

genres?” Cora laughed.

I grabbed the mayo and cheese. “She’s trying

to,” I chuckled.

Wendy was an avid reader and was always

looking for her prince charming. She learned
quickly that Pines Peak was lacking in the man
department, so she got her romance from her e-
reader and hundreds of paperbacks.

Cora rattled off four names.
Wendy didn’t say anything, and I turned

around to see her jaw dropped and her eyes were
bugged out.

“Uh, do those names mean something?”
Cora held up her hand. “I work for all of

them.”

“Oh, my God,” Wendy gasped. “You work for

them?”

I was still missing something. How did Wendy

know who Cora worked for. “Can I get another
clue?”

“I’m a freelance editor.”
Everything clicked into place, and I smiled.

“So you help make all of those fantasies Wendy has
come true.”

Cora nodded. “Sure do. I just finished

working on Brenda’s latest.”

Wendy scooted closer to Cora and

demanded to know everything.

Karmen walked into the clubhouse and

beelined straight to the fridge. She grabbed a
container of yogurt and ripped the lid off. She
nodded toward Wendy and Cora. “What are those
two going on about?”

“Books.” I started slathering the bread with

mayo and grabbed the griddle.

“I’ve never seen someone talk excitedly about

books.”

Wendy was talking animatedly, and I hadn’t

seen her that excited about something since we
walked into the clubhouse.

She had always been a lover of books, and it

was good that she found someone as excited. I
would read some of her books when the mood
struck me, but I wasn’t into them as much as she
was.

“Whatcha cooking?” Karmen grabbed a spoon

and leaned against the counter.

“Grilled cheese. You want one?”
She nodded. “Hell to the yeah. If there is

anything I have learned, it’s if you’re cooking, then
I’m eating.”

That seemed to be the consensus of the rest of

the clubhouse, too. “Tomato soup?”

Karmen’s mouth opened, and she nodded.

“The Captain approves.”

“What does the Captain approve?” Alice

walked into the kitchen rubbing her stomach. That
was what she always seemed to be doing.

“Grilled cheese and tomato soup,” Karmen

answered.

Alice looked over my shoulder. “I’ll take two

and a huge bowl of soup. Do you know how to
make hot chocolate? From scratch. Not the stuff
from a can or envelope.”

Karmen laughed. “Is this the Carnie Diner

now?”

Alice rested her head on my shoulder. “My

baby likes your food. I don’t throw up after I eat
it,” she whined.

“Laying it on pretty thick there, aren’t you

Alice?” Karmen stood on the other side of me. “Is
that mayo?”

I nodded. “Yup.”
“Well, I’ll also have what Alice is having. I

can’t not eat grilled cheese made with mayo. I’ve
never seen it made that way.” Karmen grabbed the
new loaf of bread that was sitting on the
microwave. “You might as well make a shit-ton
‘cause you know everyone else is going to want in
on that.”

“Wrecker will have at least three.”
“Same for Nickel and probably all of the other

guys,” Karmen laughed.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure I’m going to need the

frozen loaf of bread in the freezer.” I didn’t expect
grilled cheese and soup to be so popular. I figured
Wendy and I were going to be the only ones eating.

“Got it,” Karmen chirped.
Alice wandered over to the couch and plopped

down next to Cora.

“You do know you don’t need to make hot

chocolate, right?” Karmen whispered when she set
the frozen loaf of bread next to me.

I laughed and nodded.
“You don’t have to do any of this if you don’t

want to.”

I grabbed the next slice of bread and slathered

it with mayo. “I know. I do actually like doing this.”

Maybe this would be the test I needed to

see if cooking for a living was something I wanted
to do.

“Well, in that case, cook on, girl. We’re all

here for the feast.” She wandered over by the other
girls, and I was left to make a mountain of grilled
cheese and a vat of soup.

Not how I expected my day to go, but I came

to find out that staying with the Fallen Lords was
anything but normal.

I liked it.

Chapter Seven

Freak

Leo tapped his fingers on the table. “Nothing.”
“How can there be nothing?” Wrecker asked.
Leo shrugged. “Because that is what it is. I

have my guys tracing every lead that could point to
Bobby, and all of them are coming up empty.”

This was not the news I wanted to hear. The

guy who had sent Carnie a threatening letter and
broken into her house had somehow disappeared
into thin air. “So, what is the plan now?” I asked.

“We wait. Bobby may have disappeared now,

but I know he will be back. He doesn’t have
patience and believes people who wrong him
deserve to die.” Leo leaned back in his chair and
rested his hand on the table. “He’ll mess up, and
we’ll be there when he does.”

I knew that was the only thing we could do,

but it pissed me off we couldn’t find him.

“Four of my guys will be staying ‘til we get

this thing put to bed. I know you’re worried about
the woman he is after, but I’m worried about the
fact that Bobby is making me look like a fool after
years of dealing with his dumbass.” Leo nodded to
the guys sitting behind me. “You can have your
men off of surveillance. My guys can take that

over.”

Wrecker cleared his throat. “Uh, we’ve only

been using one of my guys at a time. Oakley has
been helping with the rest.”

Leo’s eyes darkened, and he clenched his fists.

“You don’t think that was something you should
have mentioned to me before?” he growled.

Oakley Mykel and Leo Banachi were two

guys who did not get along. At all.

“We’re a small club, and I needed the help,

Leo.”

“Then recruit some new guys and don’t use

Oakley,” Leo reasoned.

“Easier said than done.” Wrecker pointed at

me. “Freak was our last prospect that was actually
worth a damn.”

Pipe cleared his throat. “I might know a

couple of guys who would be interested in
prospecting. Not saying that they’ll actually make
the cut, but at least we could try. Maybe just get the
word out on the street and see what happens.”

“I’ll see what I can do, too,” Nickel added.
“I get that you are in business with Oakley, but

I thought I made it clear during the Miss Zinker
situation that keeping Oakley out of things that had
to deal with the Banachis was appreciated.” Leo
nodded to the guy standing behind him. “Get out
there. Tell Oakley’s men they can go back to
cooking and leave the real shit to the

professionals.”

The man nodded and walked out of the room

with the rest of Leo’s guys following him.

Wrecker pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“I’ll send word to Oakley that his help is no longer
needed.”

“Wise,” Leo said quietly. “Once we take care

of this Bobby bullshit, I hope to never have to
come to your clubhouse again, Wrecker.”

“This one?” The door flung open and an older

woman stood there. “This isn’t the bathroom.”

Everyone stared at the woman. She had white

hair and was wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and
white shorts that hung past her knees. “Looking for
the bathroom, boys. It was a long ride from Pines
Peak, and the tank is full right now.”

“What the fuck is this?” Leo growled.
“Mother!” Carnie came skidding into view

behind the woman.

Oh, shit.
“I told you to wait until I flipped that last

batch of sandwiches,” Carnie scolded the older
woman.

“Elle was talking your ear off, and I didn’t

have time to wait.”

“Carnie,” Wrecker called. “What the hell is

going on?”

Carnie stepped around her mom and tried to

push her out of the room. “Uh, well, you see, my

mom and aunt came for a visit.” She cleared her
throat. “And my dad. No big deal.”

“Oh, hell!” Wendy called from the hallway.

“What the heck are you doing, Mom?”

“She was just trying to find the bathroom.

Sorry she barged in on you.” Carnie walked
backward, bumped into her mom, and managed to
push her out of the room. “Carry on with your
churchy, uh, stuff.”

“Church?” Carnie’s mom hollered. “That ain’t

no kind of Church I’ve been to before. Hotties all
over and not a smile in the room. Who are they
praying to? Lord Zeppelin?”

“It’s Led Zeppelin,” Wendy hissed.
Carnie plastered a smile on her face and pulled

the door shut.

The room was quiet, and honestly, I think we

were all just shocked.

“I feel like I’m in the Devil’s Knights’

clubhouse. You never know what the hell is going
to happen there.” Leo stood up. “I’ll be in town for
a couple of days.”

“You need a place to stay?” Wrecker asked.
Leo laughed. “We’re good. Besides, it seems

you have a full clubhouse with the three new
surprise additions. Maybe they can be your new
prospects.”

He walked out of the room with a scowl on

his lips.

Slayer and I shifted uncomfortably in our

chairs. We both knew that whatever hell Wrecker
was about to rain down, that it was going to be
directed at us since we were the ones in charge of
Carnie and Wendy.

“You two know about this?” Wrecker

thundered.

We both shook our heads.
I had no damn clue that Carnie’s family was

coming. It seemed she didn’t even know. “No
clue.”

Slayer splayed his hands out. “I don’t even

talk to my chick so I couldn’t tell you.”

“How the hell do you not talk to her?” Pipe

asked.

Slayer rolled his eyes. “I’m not all about

that falling in love with the chick I’m protecting
bullshit. I make sure she is safe and that’s it.”

“He also can’t remember her name. I’m

sure it’s self-preservation on his part because I’m
sure if he called her hey you that it would not end
well for him,” Maniac chuckled.

“I know her name,” Slayer insisted.

“Then what is it?” Nickel asked.
“Winnie.”
I blinked slowly, and Wrecker hung his head.
“It’s not Winnie, you dumbass,” Maniac

laughed.

“Yeah, it is,” Slayer insisted.

Boink clapped Slayer on the shoulder. “Hung

out with the chick during the first Bobby situation
and I know her name is not Winnie.”

“Then what the hell is it?” Slayer demanded.
I had told him her name numerous times, and

he still couldn’t remember what it was. “Not telling
you again, man.”

“No one is telling you because if you can’t

even remember the name of the chick you’re
staying in the same room with, then maybe you
need to get your shit together and figure it out on
your own.” Wrecker stood and pointed at Slayer
and me. “Take care of that whole situation that
walked into this room. I have enough shit to deal
with between Bobby and Jenkins in River Valley.
The Golden Girls walking into my clubhouse is shit
you two are dealing with.”

Wrecker stalked out of the room with Pipe

and Nickel following behind him.

“You think we can stay here and they’ll just

disappear?” Slayer asked.

I glanced over at Slayer. “I’d love to do that

but I’m sure they would come find us.”

Boink and Maniac chuckled.

Boink shook his head and couldn’t wipe the

smile off his face. “You two assholes have fun with
Agnes and Elle. They’re a definite handful.”

I glanced over at Slayer, and I knew he

wasn’t going to be any help.

This was something I didn’t see coming, and I

had no idea how to deal with it.

Chapter Eight

Carnie

“Mom.”
“Carnie.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. “You can’t

wander around the clubhouse like you live here.”

“Says who?” she demanded.
I hung my head and wondered how I could

time travel back two hours and change everything.
“I don’t even understand why you are here.”

“Mother’s intuition.”
“What?” Wendy asked. “What the hell is that

supposed to mean?”

Wendy, my mom Agnes, my aunt Elle, and I

were all sitting at one of the tables in the clubhouse.
My dad was sitting on the couch watching HGTV
with Alice and Cora.

After I had caught my mom barging into the

guys’ meeting, Wendy and I decided we needed to
sit them down and figure out what the hell was
going on. They had walked into the clubhouse in a
whirlwind of casserole dishes and luggage which
Cora and Alice thought was hilarious.

Mom clucked her tongue. “It means, I knew

something was wrong when you told me you were
coming to visit Mayra.” She took a sip of her

lemonade and cringed. “Is that the way I taught
you to make lemonade, Carnie?”

I rolled my eyes. “Not enough diabetes in it

for you?”

My mother had a heavy hand when it came

to adding sugar to well, anything.

“Sass, Carnie,” she scolded.
To most, this wouldn’t make sense, but my

mother had a way of scolding me with using as few
words as possible.

“Sorry,” I grumbled. I grabbed the pitcher

of lemonade and walked into the kitchen. “I just
don’t get why you are here.”

“Because you are here because something is

wrong, and you aren’t telling me what it is.”

I rolled my eyes and added three heaping

tablespoons of sugar to the lemonade. “There isn’t
anything to tell.”

“There isn’t anything you can do about it,”

Wendy said at the same time.

I dropped my chin to my chest. Now my mom

was going to know there was something wrong.

“I knew it,” Elle clucked. “We were right to

come here.”

I grabbed the pitcher and headed back to the

table. “No, you weren’t right to come here. Wendy
and I have everything under control.”

Mom refilled her glass and pointed to the chair

I was sitting in. “Ass in the chair, girl.”

I plopped down in the chair and folded my

arms over my chest.

“Elle! Agnes!” Mayra shouted. She pushed

through the front door and sprinted over to our
table. “I thought that was your car outside but I
thought I was hallucinating.”

“Mayra,” Mom said fondly as she wrapped

her up in a hug.

Elle hugged her, too, and I glanced at Wendy.
“They weren’t that excited to see us,” she

complained.

I nodded. “That’s because they think we did

something wrong. Mayra is a saint in their eyes.”

“Where is that handsome man of yours?” Elle

asked.

“He was in the meeting you barged in on,”

Wendy grumbled.

“You walked into Church?” Mayra gasped.
Elle hitched her thumb toward Mom. “She did.

I stayed here because I was smart and went to the
bathroom the last time we stopped for gas.”

Mom glared at Elle. “Not everyone can be as

perfect as you.”

“Well, you probably shouldn’t do that again,”

Mayra laughed. “What are you guys doing here?”

Mom and Elle sat back down. “Something is

up, and we’re here to figure out what it is.”

Mayra eyed me knowingly. “Oh, you thought

something was up?” Mayra had said that Mom and

Elle weren’t stupid, but I didn’t think they would
pack up and come to the clubhouse.

“There sure as hell is, and we’re not leaving

until someone tells us what the hell is going on.”
Mom folded her arms over her chest and looked
between Wendy and me.

Elle elbowed Wendy. “Spill the beans, girl.”
Wendy clamped her lips shut and shook her

head. “Nope.”

She squinted at me. She knew that I was the

weak link. I couldn’t lie to my mom, and I
definitely wouldn't lie to Mom and Elle when they
were both staring me down.

“Fine!” I shouted.
“Don’t you do it,” Wendy warned.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Bobby

is mad at me, and he was stalking me back in Pines
Peak.”

“God dammit,” Wendy muttered. “You have

completely opened a can of worms.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Mom

demanded.

I opened my eyes. “Because I didn’t want you

to get involved with it. It’s bad enough he’s after
me, I didn’t want you to try to fix it and then have
him kill you.”

“Ain’t no one killing me. Especially not that

twerp Bobby.” Mom folded her arms over her
chest. “I made it through the drought of ‘89 and

that forest fire that ripped through Pines Peak
fifteen years ago. Bobby is nothing.”

“The drought and fire didn’t have a gun,

Mom,” Wendy reasoned. Or were likely chemically
imbalanced with a whole lot of rage.

“Hogwash,” Elle hushed. “You should have

come to us.”

“Mom, you don’t get it. What were you and

Elle going to do?” I asked.

Mayra held up her hand and butted in.

“They’re right, Elle.”

Mom’s mouth snapped shut, and Elle tutted.

Perhaps Mayra wasn’t going to be their favorite
anymore.

“Handling Bobby is something for the Fallen

Lords to take care of.”

“We would have gone to the police.” Elle

rolled her eyes.

“Which is exactly what I hope you guys are

doing,” Mom advised.

Wendy shifted uncomfortably, and Mayra’s

eyes darted to me.

Dad glanced over his shoulder at us. “We’re

sitting in the clubhouse of a motorcycle club,
Agnes. You really think they called the cops?”

“Did we ask you, Jim?” Elle sassed. “I think

all we asked was for you to drive.”

“And we’ll see if I drive your old butt home.”

Dad turned around and sunk back into the couch.

“Who the hell are you calling old? Last I

remember, you’re three years older than me, boy.”
Dad and Elle always bickered back and forth with
each other. Now it felt like I was back in Pines
Peak and not sitting in a MC clubhouse.

Cora and Alice were surprisingly quiet sitting

next to Dad.

Dad lifted his hand up in the air and raised his

middle finger.

“Jim,” Mom scolded. “What has come over

you?”

Dad lowered his hand but didn’t say anything.
“Look,” I rested my hand on the table and got

everyone's attention. “Wendy and I came here
because it was the only thing that made sense. I
didn’t want to have to run to anyone to help me,
but I knew from what happened with Mayra that
the Fallen Lords were the ones that were going to
be able to help.”

“And we are safe here. I mean,” Wendy

looked around, “you may not see it right now, but
there are at least nine guys here who make sure we
are safe, no matter what. Back home, the only thing
that was keeping someone from coming in was a
weak deadbolt, and Bobby proved he could get
through that no problem.”

“I know this seems completely odd to you,

Agnes, but Bobby isn’t the type of guy who is going
to let the police just arrest him and be sent to jail.”

Mayra patted her hand. “Everything is going to be
okay.”

Mom and Elle looked at each other knowingly.

“We’re not leaving until we know our girls are
safe.”

“You mean our girls,” Dad called. “Last I

checked, you and I did the nasty to have these
two.”

Alice snorted and burst into laughter.
“Right on, Jim.” Cora high-fived him, and it

seemed my dad had somehow gotten on the good
side of the Girl Gang and he didn’t even know it.

“So, where are we sleeping?” Elle asked. “I

know it’s only two in the afternoon, but I could use
a little bit of beauty rest.”

“A little?” Dad scoffed.
“Shut it, Jim,” Elle hollered.
“I’m pretty sure all of the rooms are full right

now.” Cora stood and pulled her phone out of her
pocket. “I’ll check to see if the local motel has any
rooms.”

“Uh, don’t you think you should run this by

Wrecker?” Mayra asked.

Alice raised her hand. “I have control of that

man and his nether regions. I can vouch for the fact
that he will say do whatever the hell you want as
long as they don’t stay in the clubhouse.”

“She’s right on all accounts.” Wrecker walked

into the common room with Nickel and Pipe behind

him. “You guys see Leo walk out?”

We all shook our heads.
“Christ. He’s probably in the back.” Wrecker,

Pipe, and Nickel turned on their heels and went
back the way they had just come from.

Elle fanned her face, and Mom had gone

noticeably silent.

“You sure we’re at a motorcycle club, or is

this where the Chippendale dancers stay?” Elle
grabbed Mom’s hand and squeezed. “Did you see
the one with the beard? I’m pretty sure I can
bounce a quarter off his butt.”

“Mom!” Wendy and I said in unison.
Alice raised her hand and laughed even

harder. “That one is mine, and I can attest to the
fact that you can bounce a quarter off that ass.”

“Why am I not surprised that you have tried

that?” Cora shook her head. “I have some work to
do, but I’ll totally help you guys find a place to
stay. Just yell if you need me.” Cora headed off to
her room with a wave to Mom and Elle.

“She was a huge bitch when she first got

here,” Alice told my dad.

“Really? She seemed nice.”
Alice nodded. “I think having to hang out with

the Girl Gang has totally mellowed her out.”

“Carnie,” Freak called.
I bit my lip and closed my eyes.
“Now, who do we have here?” Mom asked

quietly.

Elle leaned toward Mom, and they both

looked Freak up and down. “I don’t know, but he
seems to know our girl.”

“Not your girl,” Dad called.
“Jim, would you stop. I mean, come on,” Elle

whined. “You are totally ruining the mood.”

“Carnie,” Freak called again.
“You better go, girl. I’ll deal with your mom

and aunt.” Mayra bumped my shoulder. “It’ll all be
okay.”

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
“You get Winnie, too?”
Slayer. He still couldn’t remember Wendy’s

name.

Wendy stood and brushed her hands down her

jeans. She obviously didn’t care that he couldn’t
remember her name.

“Does that one belong to Wendy?” Elle asked

Mayra.

“Why did he call her Winnie, though?” Mom

added.

“I’ll explain later.” Mayra patted Elle’s arm.
“If I’m going to get yelled at, you’re coming

with me, too.” Wendy hauled me out of the chair,
and we turned around to see Freak standing next to
Slayer. “It’s a total bummer that Sweat isn’t into
me.”

“Maybe call him the right name and he would

be,” I whispered. “I’m sure if I called Freak
anything but Freak, he wouldn’t be very receptive
to it.”

Wendy looked at me. “The man can’t

remember my name, so why the hell should I
remember his?”

“So you purposely forget his name?”
“Carnie,” Freak interrupted again.
I was trying to get to the bottom of whatever

the hell was going on with Wendy and Slayer but
now was not the time.

Freak nodded toward the bar.
“Why does it feel like we’re headed to the

principal’s office?” Wendy whispered.

We moved to the bar on the other side of the

large room, and Wendy and I sat on the barstools,
while Freak and Slayer moved behind the counter.

“Is it too early to start drinking?” Wendy

asked.

“It’s three o’clock, Wendy.” I rolled my eyes.
“Have you never heard of day drinking?” she

laughed.

“Heard of it,” I mumbled.
Slayer laid his hands on the bar and leaned

forward. “Let’s cut to the chase, chickies.”

I tipped my head to the side and laughed.

“Chickies?”

“Chicks better?” he asked.
“I want to hear him say chickies again,”

Wendy laughed.

“For Christ’s sake,” Freak mumbled. “Why is

your family here, Carnie? You told us they didn’t
know anything was going on.”

“They didn’t.” My eyes darted to the side. “At

least, I didn’t think that they knew anything was
going on.”

Who knew my mom had some weird

intuition when it came to Wendy and me being in
trouble?

“So, tell them you’re fine and have them go

home.”

Oh, Freak. He made that sound so easy.
“You haven’t tried to tell Mom or Elle to do

something so I’ll ignore your ignorance on the
matter.” Wendy sat back and folded her arms over
her chest. “Mom and Elle aren’t going anywhere
until this whole Bobby thing gets sorted out.”

“We don’t have anywhere for them to sleep

here, and even if we did, there is no way in hell
Wrecker would let them stay here.” Freak looked
between Wendy and me. “Contrary to popular
belief, we are not a place for wayward chicks and
their families.”

“Rude,” Wendy muttered.
“Truth,” Slayer countered.
Freak looked directly at me. “We gotta figure

out something to do with your family, doll. Wrecker
about busted a blood vessel when your mom

walked in on Church.”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. It’s really hard to

keep a handle on Mom and Elle when they are
together. Totally like herding cats.”

When Elle and Mom had first arrived, Elle

dove straight into a story telling me about a large
camel they had seen on the side of the road, and of
course, I thought she meant a real camel but should
have known she was talking about a fake one. By
the time we had gotten on the same page about the
camel, I noticed Mom had disappeared.

Wendy leaned forward. “I even got distracted

by the camel.”

“What?” Freak and Slayer said in unison.
I waved my hand. It was going to take too

much to explain about the camel and who my mom
and aunt were. “It won’t happen again. We just
need to get them in the local hotel or something.”

Sticking them in a hotel wasn’t exactly

ideal, but I didn’t know what else to do.

Freak grabbed a small glass and set it in front

of him. He grabbed a tall bottle filled with brown
liquid and filled his glass halfway. “How long
exactly are they staying for?”

Wendy and I looked at each other. “Just until

the whole Bobby thing gets dealt with.”

“We don’t know when the hell that is going to

happen. Right now, it’s like we are looking for a
ghost.” Freak tossed back the brown liquid and

cringed. He refilled his glass and held it out to me.
“You might wanna start drinking, doll. It seems to
be helping right now.”

“Carnie can—”
I elbowed Wendy in the side. “I’m not really a

drinker. Doesn’t sit well with my stomach.” I didn’t
need to broadcast the fact I was only twenty.
Wendy, on the other hand, loved to tell any and
every one.

Freak eyed me warily.
Something was telling me I shouldn’t tell

Freak how old I was. It wasn’t like he was well into
his fifties or anything that would make our age gap
huge, but I knew he was in his thirties.

Slayer grabbed a small glass and set it in front

of him. “So, we find a place for their family to stay
and then kick it into high gear to find Bobby?”

“Don’t see any other way to do this.” Freak

tossed back his second drink. “So we put them up
in the hotel and pray Bobby falls into our lap
overnight.”

We all knew that wasn’t going to happen, but

it sure would be nice.

“I’ll call the motel.” Wendy pulled her phone

out. “You do know we are going to need two rooms
because there is no way Elle and Dad are going to
willingly stay in the same room.”

I nodded. “You are completely right.”
“Who’s right about what?” Nikki asked. She

stood next to me and reached over the bar for a
glass. “Fill me up with ice and soda,” she ordered
Slayer.

“We need two rooms for Carnie and Wendy’s

family.” Slayer filled the glass with ice and soda.
“Double the expense no one saw coming.”

Nikki grabbed the glass and took a sip. “They

can stay at my place.”

“Pipe will love that,” Slayer laughed.
Nikki waved her hand. “He’s been staying

here since the whole Bobby thing blew up.”

Gah, I had really messed up everything by

coming to the Fallen Lords for help. Nikki wasn’t
even sleeping in the same bed as Pipe. “I’m sorry.”

Nikki tipped her head to the side. “Girl, for

what? I’m actually getting to bed at a decent hour,
and Pipe isn’t hogging the covers.” She bumped her
shoulder into me. “I should be thanking you for
stirring things up around here.”

“You’re really okay with her family staying

with you?” Freak asked.

Nikki nodded. “Yeah. And if they drive me

crazy, I can always come here and stay in Pipe’s
room. It’s really not a big deal. We have two extra
bedrooms and a bathroom that hardly ever gets
used.”

“That’s my shitting bathroom, woman.”
Nikki whirled around and plastered a smile on

her face. “I was trying to downplay the fact you

have a bathroom only for shitting.”

Pipe draped his arm across Nikki’s shoulders

and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “It’s only
when you’re home. If you’re gone, I use ours.”

“Please, just stop,” Nikki whispered.
“I will as soon as you tell me why you were

talking about our house.”

This was either going to go well, or Pipe was

not going to like the fact Nikki had just offered up
their house to my family.

“Well, you know how you’ve been staying at

the clubhouse the past few nights?”

Pipe nodded. “You know I got club business

going on right now, Nik.”

She patted his chest. “I totally know that, and

I’m completely fine with it.”

“So…”
“So, I told Carnie and Wendy that if they

wanted, their family could stay with me. At our
house.” Nikki beamed eagerly up at him. “If you
think about it, you could rest easier knowing I
wasn’t home by myself.”

“Nikki,” Pipe drawled.
Her hand snaked up his chest, and she patted

his cheek. “I’ll make it worth your while after they
head back home.”

“How much worth my while?”
She reached up on her tiptoes and whispered

in his ear.

Pipe listened closely, and a smirk spread

across his lips. “You make that happen, and they
can stay for however long they want.”

Nikki pressed a kiss to his cheek and turned to

Wendy and me. “That’s settled.” She gave us two
thumbs. “You want to tell them or should I? I don’t
want to interrupt whatever conversation you guys
are having.”

Wendy slipped off her stool and threaded her

arm through Nikki’s. “I’ll go with you. Come on,
Carnie.”

I glanced at Freak. “Uh.”
Freak rested his hand on my arm. “Let them

go. I need to talk to you for a second.”

Wendy and Nikki looked down at his tattooed

hand.

“Just, uh, come on over when he’s done

with you,” Nikki snickered.

Wendy and Nikki peeled off into a fit of

giggles and wandered over to where Mayra was
talking to Mom and Elle. Slayer shook his head and
followed behind them.

“So, uh,” I cleared my throat. “Is everything

all right?”

Freak threaded his fingers through mine and

leaned close. “You tell me.”

I pursed my lips and looked from side to side.

“Uh, well. My mom, dad, and aunt showed up out
of the blue, and as far as I know, Bobby is still

trying to kill me. I’m unsure on if that can be
defined as all right, but I think so?”

Freak shook his head. “Gotta say, you’re good

at going with the flow, doll.”

I shrugged. “Would you rather me be freaking

out and running around screaming because my
mom and dad showed up?” Because if he wanted
that, I could do it, no problem. I was trying to put
on my adult pants and not be shrinking violet.

He squeezed my hand. “I guess I’m good with

you being cool and calm. Just wanted to make sure
you weren’t on the verge of a breakdown.”

Verge? Hell, for all I knew, when this was all

over, I could go off the deep end and wind up in a
nunnery in the hills of Montana. “Cool as ice.” I bit
my lip, and my eyes connected with his. “I will say
you seemed a little annoyed with me before Nikki
walked in.”

Freak looked down at our hands. “Can’t really

deny that. Your parents showing up was not really
something I expected to happen. Wrecker was not
happy at all when your mom walked into Church.”

I could only imagine. Thankfully, I had only

been five seconds behind her, but I saw the look on
Wrecker’s face. He was not happy at all. “First, I
slap his hand, and then, my mom invites herself into
his meeting. I don’t think Wrecker is too enchanted
with the Wilkes women at the moment.”

“You never know with him, doll. He is having

a baby with Alice, after all. She’s the craziest out of
all of the Girl Gang.”

“That’s not nice,” I chided.

“Trust me, she’ll take it as a compliment.”
I glanced over my shoulder toward the

couch where Alice and my dad were. “I’m slightly
worried about what those two are talking about.”
The mukbang conversation from the other day
popped into my head. “She knows how to behave,
right?”

My dad was rather straight-laced and didn’t

tend to have conversations about videos found on
the odd side of YouTube. Freak didn’t answer. I
turned around to see a cringe on his face.

“Well, I think for the most part, Alice

knows when to let her freak flag fly, but she really
is a nutball.”

“I should probably get over there.”

Freak squeezed my hand. “You’re staying here

still, right?”

“Yes, unless you feel like moving into Nikki’s

house with me. I mean, Pipe does have his pooping
bathroom I’m sure he’ll let you use.” A grin spread
across my lips.

“I’m good here. Easier for me to keep an eye

on you when I know the lay of the land.”

I had sort of forgotten that Freak was keeping

an eye on me. I had fallen into an easy flow at the
clubhouse, that it didn’t feel like I was in any

danger at all. “Then I’ll stay here.”

I’m sure my mom would love for me and

Wendy to come stay with her at Nikki’s, but Freak
was right. I needed to stay here with him.

Chapter Nine

Freak

“How is you get the one that doesn’t like

drinking?” Nickel asked.

I watched Nikki and Karmen twirl each other

in a circle then fall onto the couch laughing
hysterically. “Lucky?”

Pipe snorted. “Like you got a damn horseshoe

up your ass. You find a girl that listens to you and
does what you ask her to do. Chick is cool as a
cucumber.”

Carnie was super chill. Being able to go with

the flow was a characteristic the rest of the Girl
Gang lacked. “I’m sure she’s got a crazy side to
her. I bet once this Bobby thing gets sorted out,
she’ll join in on the Girl Gang meetings.”

Meetings which always turned into a

hilarious drunk fest with Captain Karmen leading
the crew.

Pipe opened his mouth to talk, but Nickel cut

him off.

“Who bought her the damn hat?” Nickel

plopped down in the chair next to me and sighed.
“Swear to God, if it was one of you fuckers, I’m
gonna punch you in the nuts.”

“You don’t like the pirate hat?” Pipe chuckled.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Nickel growled.
Pipe held up his hands and shook his head.

“Not I, brother. I know how hard it is to keep up
with Nikki. Give her a damn prop and she would be
crazy as hell.”

“Oh, hell,” I laughed. “Carnie’s mom just stole

the hat.”

All eyes were on Agnes and Karmen.
“It’s a showdown,” Nickel whispered.

“Karmen is scrappy as hell.”

“I don’t know,” I countered. “Agnes seems

like she has seen some shit in her life.”

“They’re both mighty drunk. This could go

anyway right now.” Pipe pulled out a cigarette and
stuck it in the corner of his mouth. “We totally
should have invested in the inflatable wrestling
ring.”

“The one you fill with Jell-O?” I remembered

when I was a prospect, there had been talks of
wrestling Wednesdays, but then Nickel finally made
his move with Karmen and it was just one thing
after another.

Pipe nodded. “That’s the one I’m talking

about. Could you imagine these chicks getting mad
with each other and then climbing into a vat of Jell-
O to duke it out?”

I glanced at Pipe. “Sounds like you’ve thought

of the Jell-O pit more than once.”

“Whoa, shit.” Karmen grabbed the hat back

from Agnes and plopped it on her head.

“Telling ya, Jell-O wrestling would be a

perfect way to solve this right now.”

Nickel shushed him and leaned toward

Karmen and Agnes.

“The only way you get the hat is if you can

out-drink the Captain.” Karmen hiccupped and
smiled wide. “I pity the fool who goes up against
the Captain.”

“Jesus,” Nickel hissed. “That damn hat gives

her confidence that knows no bounds.”

“Let’s go, girlie. I was drinking before you

were even born.” Agnes propped her hands on her
hips and stared down Karmen.

“There is no way in hell that you are over the

age of fifty-five, so that means I totally was alive
when you started drinking.” Karmen held up her
fingers. She wiggled them then moved them up and
down as her lips mouthed what I assumed were
numbers.

“Lord. She does this all the time. She thinks

she is some math genius when she gets a couple of
drinks in her. She couldn’t even tell me what five
plus seven is right now.”

“Fifteen!” Karmen spun around and pointed

her finger at Nickel.

“How in the hell did she hear me?” Nickel

whispered.

Karmen smiled triumphantly and moved her

finger toward her mouth and blew on it. “Captain
Karmen at your service.”

“Yup,” Pipe laughed. “She is completely in the

bag.”

Nickel clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re a

lucky man, Freak. While we are trying to help our
women down the hallway to our rooms, you’re
going to be falling into bed with Carnie and
sleeping before we even make it to the bed.”

“Sleeping, right,” Pipe chuckled. “I’m sure

Freak is way past that with Carnie.”

I shifted in my chair and took a long pull off

my beer.

“Or not,” Nickel chuckled.
“Things with Carnie and I are exactly where

they need to be.”

Did I wish that I was sleeping in her bed and

not on the couch? Hell yeah, but I could tell she
wasn’t ready for that yet.

Pipe tipped his beer toward me. “Is it her

age?”

“Age?” Nickel and I asked in unison.

What did Carnie’s age have to do with

anything?

“Brother, she’s only twenty.”
My eyes blurred, and I felt heat crawl up my

neck. “Say what?”

“The reason she isn’t drinking is because she

legally can’t.” Pipe shook his head. “You’re

robbing the cradle with that one.”

Nickel took a swig of his beer then tipped it

toward me. “Hey, she’s at least legal. Now, if she
was seventeen, then I would be wondering what the
hell you are doing, Freak.”

She was legal, but she was only twenty.
Carnie was twenty, and I was thirty-one.
Eleven years apart.
“Nickel!” Karmen shouted. “Tell Agnes that I

can drink her under the table.”

“Oh, hell. I think I better start trying to get her

to our room before she gets anymore rowdy.”
Nickel drained the last of his beer and tossed it in
the trash.

Pipe shook his head. “I think she is living in

the land of rowdy right now.”

Nickel managed to get between Agnes and

Karmen, but all I could think about was the fact
Carnie was only twenty.

“Yo, earth to Freak.” Pipe waved his hand in

front of my face. “You look pale as shit, brother.”

I looked at Pipe and blinked. “She’s only

twenty.”

Pipe clapped me on the shoulder. “Yeah, but

does it really matter?”

My eyes found Carnie in the corner talking to

Cora and Raven.

Her dark auburn hair flowed down her back,

and the tight jeans she was wearing hugged her

curves perfectly.

“She’s only twenty, brother. When I was

twenty, I hadn’t done anything with my life and
wanted to see everything there was to see.”

“And?” Pipe asked.
“And my place is here. I know what I want in

life. The Fallen Lords are where I belong.”

Pipe tipped his head to the side. “What does

that have to do with Carnie?”

The conversation between Carnie and me

about going to culinary school flashed through my
mind. She had things she wanted to do. She had
dreams that she needed to follow.

How the hell was she supposed to do that with

me attached to her?

Nothing had happened between us besides a

few touches and brushes of my hand.

Nothing had happened between us, and that

was the way it was going to stay.

I wasn’t going to be the guy to hold Carnie

back from the future she dreamed of.

“I don’t like the way you look right now,

brother. Whatever the hell you are thinking, I gotta
think it’s way off base.”

I shook my head and finished my beer. “Nah,

what I’m thinking is right on.”

I just didn’t know how Carnie was going to

react to it, though.

Anything that could have been between us

was over before it even had a chance to start.

Chapter Ten

Carnie

“I never should have taken that hat from

Karmen.”

At least, that was what I thought Mom said.

Her face was buried in Dad’s shoulder, and she was
leaning heavily on him.

“Well, you’re not twenty-one, honey. You

need to add thirty years onto that.” Dad patted her
arm. “You sure you don’t want to come stay at
Nikki’s with us?”

I shook my head. “I need to stay here, Dad. At

least until they find out where Bobby is.”

Dad shook his head. “I didn’t like that guy

when you came home with him. I should have put
my foot down about not dating him.”

“This isn’t your fault, Dad.” I was dealing with

enough. I didn’t need to worry about my dad
feeling guilty.

“I know you girls are growing up, but I still

feel like I need to protect you two.”

“She’s got a biker, Jimmy.” She motioned

widely with her arm. “A whole barn full of them.”

“Barn?” I laughed.
Dad chuckled and shook his head. “I really

need to get her to bed. She’s going to have a raging

headache in the morning once she wakes up.”

“Then I just won’t sleep,” Mom slurred.

“Problem solved.”

“We ready to get Lushy Agnes home?” Elle

looked down at Mom and sighed. “You never could
handle your booze very well, Aggie.”

“Shh.” Mom reached to press her finger to

Elle’s lips, but pressed it into her neck instead. “I’m
trying not to sleep.”

“This is going to be interesting,” Elle laughed.

She turned to me and sighed. “I’ll let you know
what we’re up to tomorrow. I see Aggie spending
all day in bed, but she may surprise us.”

“Right,” Dad drawled. “I’m gonna load her in

the car. Nikki and Pipe are going to lead the way to
their house.”

Dad half-dragged and half-carried Mom out

of the clubhouse.

“You’re sure you’re okay here?” Elle rested a

hand on my shoulder. While my mom had tried to
keep up with the Girl Gang, Elle had kept her own
pace and managed to just get slightly tipsy.

“It seems crazy, but this is the safest place for

me right now, Elle. The Fallen Lords kind of
specialize in this kind of thing.” Knowing what they
had done to help Mayra and basically all of the
other girls, I knew being here was for the best.

Elle pursed her lips. “Well, you may be onto

something there. These guys all seem nice enough,

but there isn’t a one of them that I would want to
go up against.”

“Not even Wrecker?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “That

would be a big, fat nope.”

“Good. Because I whacked him with a spoon

the other day, and my life flashed before my eyes
after I did it.”

“Oh, girl.” Elle wrapped me up in a quick hug

and looked down at me. “I know you weren’t
drinking so I’m gonna need to know that story
sooner than later.”

I smiled and nodded. “I’ll tell you, but I’m

sure Cora would be more than willing to.”

“I’ll have to corner her tomorrow.” Elle kissed

me on the cheek and headed out the front door.

“You ready for bed?”
I glanced over at Freak who was sitting within

earshot. “Uh, yeah.” He hadn’t really talked to me
much since Mom decided to try to out-drink
Karmen. He kept close, but something felt off.
“Are you ready for bed?”

He nodded and made his way down the

hallway.

“Good luck with that one tonight,” Raven

tsked. “I asked him how his night was going and he
snapped my head off.”

Oh, boy. “I’m sure he is just tired.” At least

that’s what I hoped for. He didn’t seem too warm

and friendly when he had asked me if I was ready
for bed. “I’m making French toast for breakfast.”

Raven looked over at Karmen who was still

going strong with the pirate hat on her head. “I
would probably make that brunch. I don’t think
anyone is going to be up early tomorrow.”

I nodded and laughed. “I think you might be

right.”

I waved to Karmen and the rest of the girls

and made my way back to my room.

Freak was already lying on the couch with the

lights off and the TV on.

“Bathroom is all yours,” he grunted.
My steps faltered at his harsh tone. “Uh,

thanks.”

Something was wrong.
Something had changed, and I had no clue

what it was.

“Everything okay?” I asked quietly.
“As good as can be.”
He didn’t call me doll, and he didn’t look at

me.

My feet moved me into the bathroom when all

I wanted to do was stand there ‘til I figured out
what was going on.

I brushed my teeth and hair, pulled out a new

pair of pajamas—these dark blue with white and
yellow stars all over them—and quickly dressed.

The TV was off when I walked out of the

bathroom, but I could tell Freak was still awake.

“You could have left the TV on.” I slipped

under the covers and turned to face the couch.
“I’m not that tired yet.”

“Just go to sleep, Carnie.” His voice was a low

rumble, and even though I knew he was upset, the
low timber sent chills down my spine.

“Is something wrong, Freak?” My voice was a

whisper because I didn’t want to ask the question,
but I couldn’t act like everything was fine. “Is it my
family being here?”

When I talked to him about my family

staying at Nikki’s, he seemed okay with it, but
maybe after tonight, he realized it wasn’t the best
idea for them to be here.

“Everything is fine, Carnie. Go to sleep. I’m

tired,” he droned on.

I bit my lip and held back the words that

wanted to pour out of my mouth. He wasn’t open
to talk about anything, especially whatever it was
that was bothering him. Maybe tomorrow, he would
want to talk more.

Maybe tomorrow, I would figure out what I

had done to piss Freak off. I hoped I could because
if this was how he was going to be the rest of the
time I was here, it was not going to be fun.

I liked the Freak who was kind and funny to

me.

I wanted him back.

Chapter Eleven

Freak

“Holy fuck, this is some good shit.” Boink

pointed his fork at me. “You’re a lucky asshole for
landing a chick who can cook like a fucking chef.”

I finished my French toast and pushed my

plate back. “She’s not my chick.”

“Right,” Boink drawled. “You’re telling me

that there isn’t anything going on with you and
Carnie.”

I shook my head and grabbed my coffee cup.

“Nah, brother. She’s too young for me.”

There wasn’t any point in denying it. These

guys would all feel the same way if they were me.
Eleven years was too much of a gap for me to deal
with. Carnie had a life to live, and my life was right
here.

“Brother, she is not too young for you.”
I shook my head. “How would you feel if

Mayra was twenty? She couldn’t even go out to the
bars with you.”

“It’s not like she would be twenty for the rest

of her life,” Boink chuckled. “And besides,” he
pointed to the bar, “last I checked, we weren’t
checking IDs with every drink we pour.”

“It’s just not something that is going to

happen, Boink.”

“You’re being an idiot. Age is just a fucking

number, brother. Hell, I don’t even know the age of
half of us in the club.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but you’re not trying

to bang any of them either, so it doesn’t matter.”

“The way I see it, we were all twenty at some

point, and we all managed to make it past it. Putting
the kibosh on you and Carnie just because she is
young seems mighty dumb to me.”

“Yeah, well, that’s just the way it’s going to

be.”

“What are we talking about?” Mayra sat down

next to Boink. Her plate was filled with two large
pieces of French toast and sausage.

I glared at Boink and shook my head. I did not

need him telling Mayra what we were talking
about. “Weather. Boink was thinking about taking
you for a ride today.”

“Really?” Mayra gushed. “I am so down for

that. Where are we going to go?”

Boink’s jaw dropped. “Uh, well.” He looked at

me for help.

I shrugged. “Gonna go get another cup of

coffee.”

“I was thinking we could drive up to the falls,”

Boink thought quickly. “Get a group of us to go
together.”

Mayra clapped her hands excitedly. “That’s a

great idea! Freak, you and Carnie need to come
with. I don’t think she has ever been on a
motorcycle before. This would be awesome for
her.”

“Uh, not sure that’s a good idea.” I stood and

grabbed my plate. “Maybe when the Bobby thing
settles.”

“Nonsense.” Boink leaned forward. “If a

group of us are going, you know it’s going to be
safe for Carnie. You guys are coming.”

“Carnie!” Mayra jumped up from the table

and ran into the kitchen.

“You’re a fucking dick,” I growled to Boink.
He lifted his cup of coffee to his lips and

shrugged. “And you’re an idiot for thinking you
and Carnie can’t be together because of her age.”

“She’s too damn young, Boink.”
Boink shook his head. “She’s not.”
Mayra was talking loudly, and it sounded like

Carnie, Wendy, and Raven were all up for a ride to
the falls.

“This isn’t going to end well,” I said softly. I

could tell Carnie liked me, and before I found out
how young she was, I had liked her too. “You need
to let this go, Boink.”

“You got some crystal ball shoved up your ass

or something? How can you know things between
you and Carnie aren’t going to end well if you
haven’t even started?”

I glanced over my shoulder and caught a

glimpse of Carnie with a wide smile on her lips. She
was beautiful. There was no denying it. But that
didn’t matter.

Carnie and I weren’t ever going to happen,

and the sooner she figured that out, the better off
she was going to be.

Chapter Twelve

Carnie

The bike vibrated under me, and my arms

were wrapped tightly around Freak. Trees and the
road flew by in a blur as we climbed a steep incline.

Mayra had said we were headed to the falls,

but that didn’t mean anything to me. We had been
driving for almost an hour, and I figured we had to
be getting close to whatever the falls were.

When I woke up this morning, Freak was

gone. I had been hoping I could really talk to him
before breakfast, but he didn’t make that possible.

I had showered and dressed with the hope of

finding Freak.

I found him, but he was in the common room

with Boink and Mayra. I didn’t want to talk to
Freak with both of them there so I did what I
normally did when I was stressed or worried.

I cooked.
After Mayra had bounded into the kitchen and

told me we were going for a ride, I figured Freak
would have something to say to me.

Nothing.
We rolled to a stop next to Mayra, and Freak

and I looked around. We had pulled into a clearing
in the woods, but I didn’t see anything that could

be classified as the falls.

“Where are we?” I asked. I unwrapped my

arms from around Freak and slid off the bike. My
legs were like Jell-O, and my body vibrated like I
was still on the amazing piece of machinery.

Freak swung off the bike and grabbed my arm

to steady me. His eyes were emotionless and dark.
What was going on inside his head? What had I
done?

“Welcome to the falls.” Boink threw out an

arm and draped his other arm over Mayra’s
shoulders. “A little piece of paradise in the middle
of nowhere.”

“Well, I totally see how we’re in the middle of

nowhere.” Raven raised her hand to her forehead
and looked around. “How is this the falls?”

Thankfully, Wendy and I weren’t the only

ones who hadn’t been to the falls before.

“I’ve only been here once before with Boink,”

Mayra laughed, “and I said the same thing when we
first got here.” She smiled wide and looked over her
shoulder. “The falls are that way.”

Boink and Mayra led the way, walking hand in

hand with Raven and Clash following behind.
Wendy threaded her arm through mine and pulled
me along with her. “You’re with me, sister.”

I rolled my eyes and glanced behind to see

Freak and Slayer dawdling.

“Kind of wanted to walk with Freak, Wendy,”

I grumbled.

“Please,” she hissed. “You can talk to that

man anytime you want seeing as he is your shadow.
I need a break from Slinky.”

“Wendy,” I laughed. I could never stay mad at

her for too long because she always had something
funny or sarcastic to say. “That is not his name.” I
never knew what name she was going to come up
with next.

“Don’t care.”
I tripped over a branch on the ground and

almost went ass over tea kettle.

“Christ, woman,” Wendy huffed. “You almost

took me down with you.” She pulled me close to
her side and laughed.

“You good?”
I jumped and whirled around to see Freak right

on my tail. “I, uh, yeah. First day walking, I guess.”

He looked me up and down then nodded. He

dropped back to where Slayer was walking, and
Wendy squeezed my arm. “Let’s move it, sister.”

I wished I was walking next to Freak and not

Wendy.

After five minutes, we stepped into another

clearing, but this time, there was a huge lake in
front of us, and to the right was a large cliff that
had water rushing over it into the lake.

“You see why we call it the falls now?” Clash

hollered.

“Whoa,” Wendy gasped.
Whoa was completely right. It was like we

were transported to wooded paradise.

“Who’s jumping in first?” Mayra set her book

bag down and unzipped it.

“Going in?” Wendy and I asked in unison.
Neither of us had brought a swimsuit, and I

didn’t know about Wendy, but there was no way I
was going to skinny dip.

“Yup.” Mayra pulled out a rolled up towel and

smiled wide. “We’re going swimming.”

“I do—”
Mayra silenced me with her raised hand. “I

brought you both a swimming suit. You should be
lucky that I have a slight shopping problem.”

“Problem?” Boink snorted. “Whatever she is

about to give you, just keep it because I’m sure she
has three more of them at home.”

“Quiet,” Mayra hissed. She pulled two suits

out of her bag, and my heart soared they were both
one-pieces.

“I call the green one,” Wendy shouted. She

dove at the forest green suit and snatched it out of
Mayra’s hand. “I’m assuming there’s no changing
room out here so I’ll just find a big tree and hide
behind it.”

“Hold up, woman,” Slayer grumbled. “I gotta

come with you.”

Wendy waited two seconds before she headed

off into the woods with Slayer mumbling behind
her.

Mayra tossed me the teal bathing suit. “I was

hoping you would get that one.”

I held the bathing suit out in front of me, and

just as easily as my heart had soared when she first
pulled it out, my heart plummeted. On each side of
the bathing suit there were cutouts that basically
made the thing a two-piece. “You’re so thoughtful,”
I grumbled.

She smiled knowingly. “You’re very

welcome.”

I spotted a large tree closer to the falls and

looked over my shoulder at Freak. “I’m gonna go
over there to change.”

It wasn’t too far away, so there wasn’t a

reason for Freak to come with me. I didn’t wait for
his reply, just made my way over to the tree.

A twig snapped behind me, and I saw Freak

was following. “I’m fine, Freak.”

“Just let me keep an eye on you for my piece

of mind. I forgot how isolated this place is.”

I rolled my eyes but shrugged. “Whatever

floats your boat.”

There was no way Bobby would be able to

He followed me to the tree then turned his

back.

“Aren’t you going to change?” I looked

around to make sure no one else was around then
pulled my shirt over my head.

“I’ll change once you’re in the water with

everyone else.” His voice was low, and he was
slowly scanning the area.

After I unhooked my bra and took off my

pants, I pulled on the swimming suit and saw that I
was exactly right about how revealing it was.
“Shoot.”

“What’s wrong? Too big?” Freak asked.
“No. It fits perfectly. It’s just…” I was

showing way more than I was used to. I dropped
my arms to my sides and shrugged. “You can turn
around, if you want.”

Freak slowly turned, and I became even more

self-conscious as his eyes raked over my body.
“Oh.”

Yeah, that was all he said.
Oh.
I was ready to oh him over the head.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” He rubbed the back of his neck

and stared at my stomach. “I’ll walk you to the
falls.”

I grabbed my clothes and held them to my

chest. They covered my middle up, and I felt more
confident. “Are you still not talking to me?”

I managed to walk next to him and decided

I was going to try again to figure out what
happened between us.

“I’m talking.”
I rolled my eyes. “How about more than a few

words at a time?”

He glanced over at me. “Not much to say.”
“How come you don’t call me doll anymore?”

Yeah, I was going to get some answers.

He shrugged and turned his head forward.
“You don’t have anything to say? Nothing?”

How could Freak have been one of the

nicest guys I’ve met and now he was a royal jerk
who couldn’t spare more than a few words to me.

“Carnie.” That was it. My name.
“Freak,” I countered.
He pointed to the lake. “Jump in. I’ll be right

there.”

I glared and took a step closer to him. “What

happened?”

His right eye ticked, and he took a step back.

“Get in the water.”

He turned on his heel and headed back to

where we had parked the bikes. I kicked the ground
and frankly looked like a whiny child.

“Trouble in paradise?” Raven asked.
I whirled around and watched her swim to the

bank of the lake. “I don’t even know the answer to
that. I would say yes, but I don’t think we were

ever in paradise.”

“He’s a biker.”
I waited for her to elaborate more, but she just

stared at me. “Am I supposed to know what that
means?”

She laughed and pushed off the bank and

floated on her back. “He’s a biker, and biker’s
don’t do feelings real well.” She raised her hand in
the air. “I take that back. There are two kinds of
bikers. Ones that know what they feel and want,
and then there are the ones who don’t know what
to feel but know they want something but it takes a
long time for them to figure it out.”

“And which one of those was Clash?” Raven

had gone through a lot to snag her biker, so it was
easy for her to see what made each of them tick.

“He figured out he wanted me, and then, I was

the one who went ahead and screwed it up for a
bit.” She smiled proudly. “I like to complicate
things when I can.”

I dipped my toes into the water and waded in

until it was to my waist. “I thought Freak was the
cool, calm, and collected biker. Now he’s all moody
and cranky with me.”

“Odd,” Raven laughed. “That’s how they

normally start off, and then, they get all nice.”

“Great, I’m so glad to have the one that is the

complete opposite.”

“Cannon ball!”

Raven and I turned to look to the top of the

cliff just in time to see Clash raise his arms over his
head and then jump over the falls. He tucked his
legs underneath him and splashed into the water.

“What a bonehead,” Raven laughed.
Clash surfaced and swam over to Raven. “You

watch me?” He wrapped her in his arms and pulled
her to his chest.

“Kind of hard to miss you, warden.” She

draped her arms over his shoulders and dropped a
kiss to his lips.

“You gotta come jump with me.”
Raven shook her head. “I’m much more

inclined to just float around on my back.”

“I do like you when you’re on your back, but

you need to come jump, beautiful. At least once.”

Raven socked him on the shoulder. “I think

you could have just said the last part and not
anything about liking me on my back.”

“Coming down!”
We watched Mayra and Boink jump together

then Wendy jumped while Slayer stood on the edge
watching her.

“You gonna jump?” Boink hollered to Slayer.
Slayer flipped him off. “I am, but I’m gonna

do this shit in style.” Slayer moved to the edge of
the falls and turned his back to us.

“Fucker is such a showoff,” Clash chuckled.
“He’s crazy,” Wendy gasped.

Slayer glanced over his shoulder then raised

his arms over his head. He dove backward, flipped
three times and landed with his arms above his
head, slicing into the water.

“Well, damn,” I laughed. “Never thought

Slayer could do that.”

“Do what?” Freak asked.
I turned around to see Freak wading into the

water wearing black board shorts with white
stitching on them. His tattoos were on full display,
and even shirtless and in shorts, I still couldn’t see
them all. My eyes went into overdrive trying to
take in all of his ink at once.

Clash splashed Slayer as he swam closer.

“Slayer showing off like he always does.”

Freak got waist-deep in the water, and then, he

dove head first under.

“Hey, I was on the dive team in high school. I

needed to see if I still had it.” Slayer swam ‘til he
could stand and slicked his hair back with his
hands. “Still got it, by the way.”

Boink and Clash groaned.
“You gonna come in further?” Wendy asked.
The water was almost to my chest, and I was

slowly moving my arms around in it. “I think I’m
good here.”

I looked around for Freak and watched him

surface about twenty feet away. Though I wouldn’t
mind being over there with Freak.

“All of us girls should jump together,” Mayra

suggested.

“I’m in!” Wendy started swimming to the

bank with Raven following behind her.

“Hey,” I called. “I thought you were more of a

floater.”

Raven shrugged. “But it’s for the Girl Gang,

and I’m totally going to have Clash take a picture
of us jumping so I can show the other girls.”

“Is that really Wrecker’s cranky sister who

hated everyone?” Boink asked.

Mayra pressed a kiss to his cheek. “It’s

amazing how love can change a person.” She
grabbed my arm and pulled me behind her to the
shore. “Come on, girl. This is your initiation into
the Girl Gang.”

“But, but…” I didn’t have a good enough

reason why I didn’t want to jump.

When I made it to the bank, I saw Freak out in

the water, just watching me.

Mayra tugged on my arm again. “Come on,

girl. Let’s make him jealous.”

“Mayra,” I gasped.
“What?” she laughed. “Everyone can tell he

likes you, but he’s being a broody biker about it.”

“He’s not talking to me,” I said quietly.
Mayra squeezed my hand. “Hang in there.”
The problem was, I didn’t have anything to

hang onto.

Freak

“Five bucks says one of them loses their top.”
I glanced over at Slayer. “You’re an ass.”
He shrugged. “Just saying.”
Clash slapped him upside the head and held

Raven’s phone up with the other hand. “You ever
see Raven without a top on and you’ll be dead,
brother.”

“Same,” Boink muttered. “No one will find

you if you see Mayra’s tits.”

Slayer held his hand to his chest. “Whatever

happened to bros before hoes? Dicks before
chicks? Songs before thongs? Guys before thighs?”

“They started getting sex on the regular,” I

laughed.

Clash and Boink both nodded.
“Like you’re one to fucking talk. You and

Carnie were looking cozy.”

I watched the girls climb up to the top of the

falls. “Were.”

“Is that all you’re gonna say?” Slayer laughed.

“You’re talking in code, brother.”

The girls line up on the edge and held hands.

“Something was happening. Now, it’s not.”

“What did I miss?” Clash asked.
“You missed Freak being a dumbass.” Boink

shook his head. “He’s getting tripped up on

something that shouldn’t matter.”

“She got three nipples or something?” Slayer

folded his arms over his chest. “‘Cause if she does,
I can tell you right now, if you just block it out of
your mind, it doesn’t matter.”

The three of us turned our heads to look at

Slayer.

“I don’t even know if I want to know.” Boink

shook his head.

“Pretty sure I want to know,” Clash chimed in.
“She doesn’t have three nipples.” No need to

start a rumor about Carnie. “I also want to know
the story.”

“Clash!” Raven yelled.
“Oh, shit,” Clash mumbled. He positioned the

camera and gave a thumbs up. “Ready, beautiful,”
he shouted.

“Three, two, one,” the girls shouted in unison,

“GO!” They all jumped, hair flying, loud shrieking,
and a huge splash.

They surfaced laughing and splashing each

other.

“You actually get a picture?” Boink asked.
Clash scrolled through and started laughing.

“She is going to delete all of these. I better send
them to my phone before she does.” Clash quickly
sent the pictures to himself, then showed the
pictures to us.

“Oh, fuck,” Boink laughed. “Mayra has like

ten chins in that one.”

“But Raven and Wendy look good in it,”

Slayer pointed out.

Clash flipped to another one. “And now

Raven and Wendy’s mouths are open so wide, it
looks like they are trying to catch flies.”

The only person I was looking at in each

picture was Carnie. There were a couple of goofy
ones, but the one that I was stuck on was where her
hair was floating above her and she had a huge
smile on her face. She looked free and beautiful.

The girls swam over, and Raven grabbed the

camera. “How did they turn out?” With each swipe
of her finger, her face fell a little bit more. “Sweet
hell. Look at my chins.”

“Chins?” Mayra asked. She leaned in and

looked at the phone. “Don’t worry, my chins
decided to join for that one, too. I think that must
be a new record for me. Looks like I have six.”

Wendy leaned in on the other side of Raven.

“That’s only cause your boobs pushed up into your
throat.”

“Oh, Lord, I don’t even want to look,” Carnie

laughed. “Just delete them now, and we’ll pretend
that never happened.”

“But it was fun,” Raven whined. She scrolled

through the photos again. “I’ll look at them when
we get out.” She waded to the shore and tossed her
phone on a beach towel. “Who wants to jump with

me again?”

Wendy and Mayra swam to the shore and

followed Raven back up the falls.

“Anyone gonna remind her that she was the

one who just wanted to float on her back the whole
time?” Clash shook his head and dove under the
water.

“Can we go under the falls?” Carnie asked.

She was treading water and slowly making her way
over to the falls.

Boink nodded. “Yeah. Swim under the

cascading water, and there’s a little cave.”

Carnie didn’t need to hear anything more. She

dove under the water, and Slayer elbowed me.
“Better go follow her, brother. Don’t want anything
to happen to her.”

I rolled my eyes but knew he was right.
After I flipped him off, I dove under the water

and followed Carnie.

Chapter Thirteen

Carnie

This. Was. Amazing.
After I dove under the waterfall, I surfaced on

the other side and was surprised to see an actual
cave. I swam to the edge of the cave and was able
to stand without treading water.

The loud scream of Raven jumping from the

top echoed, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

I pulled myself onto the rocky edge and sat

with my feet dangling in the water.

Freak surfaced in the water in front of me. My

plan had worked. Except now, I had no idea what I
was going to do. I wanted to get Freak alone to talk,
but now came the hard part of actually talking.

He slicked his hair back and swam closer.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I drawled. I saw

that in a movie once. It seemed a smooth thing to
say, but once the words came out of my mouth, I
cringed.

“Didn’t feel like jumping with the girls again?”
I shook my head. “Once is enough for me.”

Once I was at the top of the falls, I remembered
why I didn’t want to jump. Heights terrified me
slightly. Okay, a lot.

“I think you were the only one who actually

looked good in the pictures Clash took.”

I tilted my head to the side. “I might beg to

differ. I saw the one where my nose looked like my
nostrils could swallow the space station.”

Freak scoffed. “Okay, so they all weren’t

good, but you definitely didn’t have fifty chins in
any of them.”

“Does this mean you’re actually talking to me

now?” The words were out of my mouth before I
could stop them. Freak was finally talking to me
again and I had to attack him like a viper.

“Didn’t stop talking to you, Carnie.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then what exactly was it?”
He shrugged. “Didn’t have anything to say.”
“What happened from yesterday morning

before my family showed up, to now?” I had gone
over the whole day fifty times, and I just couldn’t
figure out what had happened.

Freak kicked his feet up and floated on his

back. “We really need to do this, Carnie?”

“I thought we were doing something, and then,

suddenly, you act like I’m a huge pain in the ass.”

Freak floated around, his arms slowly moving

in the water.

“Freak.”
He ignored me and kept floating.
I watched him, the tattoos on his stomach

bright and vivid. He drifted close to where I was,
and I decided I wasn’t going to just sit here and let

him ignore me.

I dropped into the water. My feet hit the hard

rock of the bottom, and I pushed myself up. I
landed with a splash on top of Freak. He wrapped
his arms around me, startled. He pulled me to his
chest and planted his feet on the rock. We had
drifted out a bit, and I was able to touch bottom.

My arms wrapped around his neck, and my

face was inches away from his.

“Jesus, Carnie.”
I wiped the spray of water from his face.

“Sorry, but I didn’t know how else to get your
attention.”

“Jumping on me seemed like the best idea?”
It did. I wasn’t exactly great at the whole

being flirty and coy thing. “Yes. This is a problem
for you?” I tangled my legs with his and anchored
myself to him. “You’re like a buoy.” Another thing
I should have just kept in my head.

He sighed and wrapped his arms slightly

tighter around me. “We talk, and then, we go back
with everyone else.”

I didn’t really want to leave our little cave, but

if agreeing meant Freak would talk to me, then
that’s what I was willing to do. “Okay. I’m good
with that.”

“You think we can talk without you hanging

on me?”

I shook my head. “I’m good right here.”

“Carnie,” he said softly. I could see this was

affecting him, but he was fighting it.

“What happened, Freak? What did I do?” I

needed that question answered more than anything.

“I was talking to Pipe.”
“Okay,” I drawled. I didn’t see where this was

going.

“He told me how old you are.”
I blinked slowly. “Uh, go on.”
“That’s it, Carnie. I know you’re only twenty.”
That was his issue? He didn’t like how old I

was?

“Yeah. And I’ll be twenty-one next month. I

don’t see a problem here.”

“Doll, you’re twenty, and I’m thirty-one.”
I had figured he was in his thirties but I didn’t

really see it being a problem with him being thirty-
one. “You’re gonna have to spell this out for me
Freak, because I don’t see why that is holding you
up so much.”

“You’re twenty and have your whole life in

front of you to figure out. You don’t even know if
you want to be a chef or something else entirely.”

“So you’re mad that I’m undecided about

what career I want?”

I couldn’t see how what I wanted to do for

a living had to do with Freak. Of course, if we
actually went for the long haul, my job would
matter to him, but right now, before we even

started, I didn't get it.

“It’s more than that, Carnie.”
“Then tell me,” I demanded. “You and I were

just getting to know each other, and somehow, you
ended us before we even started.”

“We started, Carnie, but I didn’t want it to go

any further.”

“Why? What do you know that I don’t?” I

trailed my fingers up his neck and over his lips.
“Why can’t I have you?” I whispered.

“Carnie,” he growled. He wanted me. I was

inexperienced and honestly was just flying by the
seat of my pants with my feelings, but I knew he
wanted me just as much as I wanted him.

“Would it really be so bad if you and I

kissed?” His lips were soft under my fingertips.
“Just one kiss.”

His hands splayed across my waist squeezed

slightly. “Doll.”

My eyes darted from watching his lips to his

eyes. He hadn’t called me that since this weird
silent treatment started. “One kiss, Freak. That’s all
I want.”

His eyes flared with desire. “This isn’t good.”
I bit my bottom lip. “Maybe it’ll be great?”

My fingers dropped from his lips, and I held

my breath.

“Fuck it.” One arm stayed wrapped around

my waist, and his free hand trailed up my back. His

fingers delved into my hair. His lips descended onto
mine, and my eyes fluttered shut.

I melted into his touch, and the kiss was a

million times better than I could ever imagine. My
arms wrapped around his neck, and I pulled my
body close. A moan escaped my lips, and it felt like
the thing I was always missing was right in front of
me.

“Carnie,” he whispered against my lips.
“Yes?” My eyes were closed, and all I wanted

was for his lips to be against my skin.

He kissed me again. This kiss was filled with

need and desire. My mouth opened, and his tongue
glided against mine. I gasped at the touch and clung
to Freak. I didn’t want this to end. I didn’t want to
go back to two minutes ago when I was fighting for
this moment.

I wanted Freak, and I was going to have him.
“More,” I gasped when he pulled away.
His eyes were hooded, and I could tell it

physically hurt him to stop. “Carnie.”

“I like it better when you call me doll,” I

whispered.

He stared at my lips, and I felt the air change.
I felt Freak slipping from the cocoon we had

created in that cave. His mind was crashing back to
Earth, and he was remembering all the dumb
reasons he thought we couldn’t be together.

“Freak,” I whispered. I tried to tighten my

hold on him, but I knew it was too late.

“One kiss, Carnie.” He looked toward the

falling water. “One kiss is all we get.”

He pushed off the rocky bottom, drifting us

closer to the edge of the cave, and my feet touched
the hard rock. His hands released me, and he gave
me one last look before he dove under the water
and I was left all alone.

I got my kiss, and I wanted more.

Freak

I shouldn’t have done that.
We shouldn’t have kissed.
I pulled my shirt over my head and tugged it

over my damp body.

I kept trying to tell myself the reason I didn’t

want to start anything with Carnie was because I
didn’t want her to get hurt, but I knew I would get
hurt, too. Carnie wasn’t the type of girl you had
once or twice and you went on with your life.

Carnie was girl who would become your life.
“Yo,” Boink called. “The girls are all ready to

go.”

I finished lacing up my boots and grabbed my

cut.

After I had swam out from under the waterfall,

Carnie had followed, but nothing was the same.

The fun mood that had existed was gone, and I just
wanted to ask Carnie if that one kiss was worth
messing everything up.

I walked along the path back to the bikes, and

I heard a branch snap. The girls were about ten feet
in front of me with Carnie bringing up the rear.

Boink was behind me with Clash, and Slayer

was in front of the girls. I heard another branch
break, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a
branch that was about head height move.

“Gun!” I took two huge steps and dove

toward the girls. I managed to grab Carnie around
the waist and catch Mayra’s arm. I dragged them
down on the dirt path right before three gunshots
rang out. I covered both girls with my body and
saw Slayer had quickly turned to grab Wendy and
Raven.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Boink and

Clash had drawn their guns. They were both
pointed in the direction I had seen the branch
move.

Clash gave a quick nod to me, and then, he

and Boink took off in the direction the shooter had
run.

“You good, Freak?”
Carnie’s arm was wrapped around my waist,

and her face was buried in my chest. Mayra was
tucked to my side. “You girls good?” I rolled off to
the side, and I saw they were both okay but

definitely terrified. “All good. How about you
guys?” I asked Slayer and the other girls.

Slayer nodded. “Yeah. Pretty sure the shots hit

the trees.”

“Now what do we do?” Mayra asked.
Carnie sobbed, and I felt her tears soak

through my shirt. I rubbed my hand up and down
her back and nodded to Slayer. “Let’s get them to
the bikes. From what I was able to see, there was
only one guy, and Clash and Boink are on his ass
right now.”

Mayra scrambled to her feet, but Carnie clung

to my chest.

“Let’s go, doll.” I lifted her up in my arms,

and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I
nodded to Slayer, and we all quickly made our way
down the rest of the path.

“She hurt?” Slayer asked.
I shook my head. She wasn’t hurt, at least not

physically.

She was just terrified out of her mind, and I

couldn’t really blame her.

Bobby had just resurfaced, and he almost

killed her.
*

Chapter Fourteen

Freak

“She’s finally sleeping.” Wendy pulled the

door shut behind her. “Mom and Elle were in there
for a bit, but I convinced them they needed to let
her rest.”

I stared at the door. “We shouldn’t have gone

to the falls. I don’t know what the hell I was
thinking believing I could keep her safe out there.”

“This wasn’t just your fault, Freak. With

Bobby disappearing, we all kind of were lax.”

I looked down at Wendy. “It’s my job to

keep her safe, no one else’s.”

Nickel rounded the hallway and spotted me.

“Yo, Freak. Leo just got here.”

We had gotten back to the clubhouse over

an hour ago, and once Wrecker had heard we were
fired on, shit started moving. “Stay with her.”

Wendy nodded. “Don’t plan on leaving her.”
That was all I could ask for. At least I knew

Carnie was safe in the clubhouse.

I followed Nickel into Church and sat down

next to Slayer.

He looked over at me with an arched brow.

“She okay?”

She wasn’t, but there wasn’t anything Slayer

could do about it. “She’ll be fine.” At least, I hoped
she would be.

Leo was sitting next to Wrecker with two of

his goons behind him.

“Tell me what happened,” he demanded. All

Wrecker had told him on the phone was we had
been attacked and he needed to get his ass to the
clubhouse right now.

By the time Clash and Boink had caught up

with Bobby, they only caught a glimpse of him
climbing into a black van with someone they didn’t
know behind the wheel. Clash said he had managed
to get a couple of shots off, but they hadn’t done
more than cosmetic damage to the van.

Wrecker ran over everything that had

happened at the falls and everything leading up to
Leo sitting in the clubhouse again.

“Do we know if it was a man or woman with

Bobby?” Leo asked.

Clash leaned forward and rested his elbows on

the table. “We didn’t see a face or anything, but
from the silhouette we saw, it looked like a man.”

Wrecker glanced at Leo. “Bobby have any

friends you know of?”

“Bobby doesn’t have any ties to the Banachi’s

anymore, but that doesn’t mean in the few months
he’s been quiet that he didn’t manage to find
another dumbass to help him.” Leo leaned back in
his chair. “The thing is, we don’t know where he is

or who he has been talking to.”

“You think it was someone local?” I asked. “I

mean, where we had parked the bikes was the most
common parking spot to get to the falls. Where
Bobby had parked the van was an unknown
parking place to someone who isn’t local.”

Boink nodded. “That’s true. To get to that

parking spot, you’d have to pull off the main road
and follow back roads.”

“How local are we talking?” Leo asked. “They

would have to be from Weston?”

I shook my head. “They could be from here to

River Valley.”

“So a two fucking hour radius.” Leo shook his

head. “It’s a smaller area to search, but it’s still like
looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Clash sighed. “We, at least, know Bobby is in

a black van and he’s got someone working with
him.”

“I’ll get my men canvassing the area around

the falls. This might not seem like a big break, but it
could be the small clue we need. Bobby isn’t an
idiot, but I know the guy, and when he gets close to
something, he doesn’t have the patience it takes to
do something the right way.” Leo turned to his guy
standing behind him. “Head out. Take Rocks and
Johnson with you.” The guy nodded and stalked out
of the room.

“So you think he is going to strike again and

soon?” I asked.

Leo shrugged. “I can guarantee that Bobby is

not going to be able to wait as long as he did
before. He’s probably pissed off and jonesing to get
another shot off at Carnie.”

“Until we get this shit taken care of, no one

leaves the clubhouse on their own. The girls always
have two guys with them, which means you guys
travel in pairs. Freak with Slayer. Boink with Clash.
Nickel with Pipe. If I need to go anywhere, I'll have
Maniac with me.”

Leo nodded. “I have a few phone calls to

make. Let me know if anything else happens, but
I’m hoping we’ll catch Bobby before he has a
chance to pull his next move.”

He walked out of the club with his men

trailing behind him.

“We really thinking Bobby was able to find

some idiot from around here to help him?” Pipe
asked.

Wrecker shrugged. “It makes sense. There’s

no way someone from out of town would know to
park where Bobby did.”

“So, we let Leo try to find him, and we just

hunker down here?” Clash asked.

“For the time being. I know Leo thinks Bobby

isn’t going to wait long to strike again, but I don’t
think it’s going to be in the next couple of days.”
Wrecker stood and looked around the table at all of

us. “This asshole may have been aiming for Carnie,
but he put us all in danger. The Banachis like to
think they are handling this, but make no mistake,
the Fallen Lords are not going to take this sitting
down.”

Wrecker stormed out of the room, and I didn’t

hang around to shoot the shit with the rest of the
guys.

I knocked lightly on the door but didn’t wait

for Wendy to open it.

Carnie was still sleeping on the bed, and

Wendy stood in front of the couch.

“I figured your meeting would have been

longer than that.”

I shook my head. “We’ve got a plan in place.

Now, we put it in motion.”

My gaze fell on Carnie.
Wendy shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, I can stay

with her, if you want. I don’t want her to wake up
alone.”

Carnie wasn't going to wake up alone. I was

going to make sure of that. “You can go. I’m sure
you’re hungry.”

“I could stand to eat.” Wendy moved to the

door but turned around to look at me. “She may be
young on paper, Freak, but she’s more mature than
you know.”

I nodded.
Wendy snuck out of the room and pulled the

door shut behind her. I turned off the light and
moved to the side of the bed.

I sat down next to Carnie and brushed her hair

behind her ear. She sighed at my touch and rolled
toward me.

“Freak?” Her eyes fluttered open, and she

stared up at me.

“Shh, I just came to check on you, doll.”
She leaned into my touch and sighed. “I’m

sorry I freaked out.”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to

apologize, Carnie.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, and she sighed. “I

know you’re going to say no,” she whispered, “but
will you lay with me. Just ‘til I fall back asleep
again?”

The last word wasn’t even out of her mouth

before I was pulling back the blanket and sliding in
next to her. She instantly draped her arm across my
stomach and laid her head on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry for everything,” she whispered.
She didn’t need to be sorry. None of this was

her fault. The only thing she had done was trust the
wrong guy, and anyone who was human had made
that mistake in their life before.

“Sleep, Carnie, and don’t worry about

anything. I’m here to keep you safe, and I promise
nothing will happen to you.”

“Freak,” she sighed. Her body relaxed into

me, and she was fast asleep.

I closed my eyes and tried to erase the mental

picture I had of Carnie clinging to me and sobbing
uncontrollably.

Today had been too close of a call, and from

here on out, I vowed to never let that asshole get
that close to her again.

Bobby was going to die before he ever laid

eyes on Carnie again.

Chapter Fifteen

Carnie

“What do you want for breakfast?”
Freak leaned against the kitchen counter with

a mug of coffee in his hand. “I’m good with coffee
and toast, doll.”

I cracked open my can of Coke and sighed as

the fizziness traveled down my throat. “I think I
can make something better than that.”

He shrugged. “I’m an easy guy. Just make

whatever you feel like, and I can guarantee it will
get eaten.”

It had been almost two weeks since the

shooting at the falls, and things were starting to feel
like they had when Wendy and I had first gotten
here. Though I was much more aware of the fact
that there was a psycho out there who wanted me
dead.

There was also another thing that had

changed.

Freak didn’t sleep on the couch anymore.

Every night, he was in bed with me from the time I
closed my eyes to the time I opened them.

I had apologized up and down to Wendy,

Mayra, and Raven about the shooting, but they told
me over and over that it wasn’t my fault. I stopped

apologizing, but I still felt guilty I had put them in
danger.

One thing that hadn’t changed was that my

mom, dad, and Elle were still staying at Nikki’s.

“You could always wait until your mom gets

here and let her cook,” Freak suggested.

I shook my head and grabbed a dozen eggs. “I

think Mom and Elle were up late last night
watching Sons of Anarchy. When I woke up this
morning, I had a text from Elle asking me if Jax
was really a rat or not.”

Freak shook his head. “I still can’t believe

Alice got them hooked on that show.”

“I think it’s actually a blessing that she did. If

they didn’t have that show to watch, I think they
would be staying at the clubhouse more than they
already do.”

“Your dad was the only one who came over

yesterday,” Freak pointed out.

I laughed and grabbed a large glass bowl.

“That’s because he likes to work on the bikes.”

“I noticed,” he laughed. “He changed the oil

on my bike, and I didn’t even ask or want him to.”

“He always changed my oil back home. I’m

sure being here and not home, he’s going crazy not
having anything to do.” I started cracking eggs into
the bowl and throwing the shells into the garbage.

Alice shuffled into the kitchen and wiped her

eyes with the back of her hand. “Thank God,

you’re making breakfast. I woke up craving eggs
and bacon. I was afraid I was going to have to
make it myself.”

Freak chuckled. “God forbid.”
Alice glared at him. “You woke up feisty this

morning.”

“He’s only on his first cup of coffee,” I

laughed.

Alice turned her nose up at him. “I hate you

for the fact you can drink coffee.”

“You still drink coffee,” Freak pointed out.
“If you call bean water with no magical

powers coffee, then yeah, sure, I still drink coffee.”

Wrecker walked into the kitchen, right to the

coffee pot. “She complaining about decaf again?”

Alice folded her arms over her chest. “I’d like

to see you doing something for years and years then
give it up cold turkey.”

“It’s only coffee, and you only have to give it

up until the baby is born.” Wrecker grabbed an
empty cup and filled it to the brim.

“I’m giving up everything for this baby while

you sit with a giant cup of coffee and complete
control of your bladder.” Alice snatched his cup of
coffee from him and poured it down the drain. “I’d
sit on your bladder if I had any clue where it was.”

Alice stormed out of the kitchen, and

Wrecker stood there motionless.

“Is that what pregnancy is like?” Freak asked.

Wrecker shook his head and grabbed another

cup. “Sure as shit is. Mood swings every seven
minutes and crazy as hell cravings.”

“But at the end of it, you get a pretty amazing

gift.” Karmen walked into the kitchen with Cole on
her hip. “If you’re extra lucky, you get one just like
this guy.” Cole waved his hands and babbled
excitedly.

Wrecker filled his coffee cup and gave Cole a

cheek squeeze on his way to find Alice.

“How did he piss her off this time?” Karmen

asked.

I finished cracking eggs and grabbed the milk.

“He poured a cup of coffee.”

“What?” Karmen asked. “Who?”
“Wrecker,” Freak laughed. “He poured a cup

of coffee, and she complained that she can’t drink
real coffee so she poured his down the drain and
stormed back to their room.”

“Alice is fully embracing those mood swings,

isn’t she?” Karmen laughed.

Cole reached for Freak, and Freak easily

grabbed him from Karmen. “What’s new lil’ dude?”

Cole grabbed Freak’s nose and peeled off into

laughter when Freak gave a fake shout of pain. “Is
that funny?” Freak laughed. “You’re beating me up,
pal.”

Karmen grabbed a cup of coffee and watched

Freak and Cole play with each other.

Once I had the eggs, bacon, and toast done,

everyone was milling around the common room
waiting for breakfast and coffee.

Wrecker walked back into the kitchen with his

head lowered and grabbed another cup of coffee.

“You actually get to drink it this time, or did

she pour that one down the drain too?” Karmen
asked.

Wrecker dropped the cup in the sink and

shook his head. “No fucking comment. I don’t
know what to do to make that woman happy when
she’s on some weird fucking mood swing.”
Wrecker grabbed a plate and filled it with eggs,
bacon, and toast. “This might be a good place to
start.”

He wandered back down the hallway, and

Freak had a huge grin on his face.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Normally, Wrecker is the one with the mood

swings and not easy to please. It’s nice to see the
tables turned for a bit.” Freak handed Cole back to
Karmen after she made them a plate and sipped his
coffee while everyone filled their plates before he
grabbed one.

“I thought you just wanted toast?”
His plate had a huge spoonful of eggs, four

pieces of bacon, and two pieces of toast.

He shrugged and grabbed one more piece of

bacon. “You made it, so I can’t let it go to waste.”

“Right,” I drawled.
Wendy shuffled into the kitchen, and I was

surprised to see her before noon. She had purple
fuzzy slippers on her feet and a bright yellow robe
wrapped around her, tied at the waist.

“Whoa there, big bird.” Slayer stepped into

the kitchen but stopped in his tracks when he saw
Wendy standing there. “Is Oscar hiding in the
garbage can, or was I roofied in my sleep?”

Freak clapped him on the shoulder. “You

might not want to say that again. I can see the vein
in her neck pulsating.”

Slayer squinted and stared at Wendy’s neck.

“Holy shit. It really is pulsating.”

Wendy lifted up a coffee cup and moved to

throw it at him.

“Whoa there, cowgirl.” I grabbed the cup out

of her hand before she released it and set it next to
the coffeemaker. “How about you grab a cup of
coffee and try to relax?”

“This is why I don’t wake up early.” Wendy

grabbed a plate and piled it high while I filled a
coffee cup three quarters of the way.

“Uh, you forgot some of her coffee,” Slayer

pointed out.

I opened the fridge and grabbed the coffee

creamer.

“I like flavor in my bean water.” Wendy

dumped a good inch of cream into her coffee.

“Stop talking to me.” She grabbed her plate and
cup and headed out to the tables.

Slayer filled his own cup and followed behind

her.

“You know those two pretend to not know

each other’s name?” I whispered to Freak.

He nodded. “Though, I wonder if Slayer really

does know her name because I have never heard
him say it before.”

“No way,” I gasped. I sipped my Coke and

pursed my lips. “You know, come to think of it, I
don’t think I have ever heard Wendy say his name
either.”

Freak shrugged. “Could be some weird game

they like to play with each other.”

I rolled my eyes. “If that’s true, they’re both

weirdos.”

“Can’t argue with that when it comes to

Slayer.” Freak wandered out to the table that Slayer
was sitting at.

I grabbed my Coke and filled a plate. If

anyone woke up, there was plenty of breakfast for
them.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Slayer asked

after I sat down.

Wendy was sitting three tables away and was

huddled under her robe while she slowly ate her
food. “Can we go to the library?” she asked.

Slayer’s fork froze mid-air. “Library?’ he spat

like it was a bad word.

Freak had told me Wrecker had paired the

guys up which meant Wendy and I were always
doing things together.

I took a sip of my Coke. “Only if we get to

go to the store after.”

“We do need to grocery shop. It’s been three

weeks since the last time we went,” Freak pointed
out.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m reaching the bottom of

the freezer, and some of the things I’m finding are
kind of scary.”

“That settles it. We’re hitting up the library

and then the grocery store today.” Freak shoveled a
mound of egg into his mouth.

“Wow, what an exciting day,” Slayer

grumbled.

“Not sure that the hell you want to be doing.”
Slayer shrugged. “Walking out of the

clubhouse and going somewhere by myself sounds
kind of amazing right now.”

I sighed but didn’t say anything. I was the

reason why Slayer couldn’t do that. With Bobby
disappearing again with absolutely no sign of where
he went, everyone was on high alert.

“You can wander a good ten feet in front of

the cart if you want, Slayer. I won’t even make you
hold my hand.” Freak chuckled.

Slayer flipped him off. “Only if I get a

lollipop, asshole.”

“Do I even want to know what you two are

talking about?” Pipe shuffled into the clubhouse
with Nikki under his arm. She had been staying at
the clubhouse ever since Bobby had tried to kill
me. Pipe and the other guys were worried Bobby
would lose his cool and start going after any of the
girls.

“Just living the biker life. Library and grocery

store today,” Slayer chuckled. “I was trying to talk
Freak into buying me a lollipop at the store.”

“Only if you finish your breakfast,” Pipe

mumbled.

The guys were joking around, but underneath

their words, I knew they were serious about only
going out in pairs or more.

After breakfast and doing the dishes, I slipped

into the shower.

“Carnie,” Freak called.
I wiped the water from my face and peeked

my head out. “Uh, yeah?”

“You good with me coming in to shave while

you shower?”

This was new. Freak either got ready before

me or waited until I got out of the bathroom. I
know I had said Freak was sleeping in bed with me
and acting like himself again, but there wasn’t any
kissing or touching other than snuggling while we
slept.

“Go for it.” I stepped back into the shower

and realized, while there was a shower curtain, it
was somewhat see-through.

I could make out Freak walking into the

bathroom and standing in front of the sink, which
meant he could sort of see me.

“Damn, doll, how hot of water do you use?”

he chuckled.

Steam bellowed around me, and I grabbed my

washcloth. “Sorry. I’m kind of into scorching hot
showers.” I dumped a dollop of body wash onto the
cloth and started lathering up my body.

“I’d say so.”
I listened to Freak move around the bathroom,

and my breath caught when, out of the corner of
my eye, I saw him pull his shirt over his head.

“Good thing I showered last night, otherwise

I’d be making you scoot over so I got some hot
water.”

A vision of Freak pulling back the shower

curtain took over my mind, and I audibly moaned.

“You good?”
I clapped my hand over my mouth and shut

my eyes.

“Carnie?” He turned around, facing the

shower. “Whoa.” Freak realized that while he
couldn't see me clearly, all he had to do was use his
imagination to remove the blur from the shower
curtain.

“I wouldn’t kick you out of the shower,” I

whispered.

“Carnie.” His voice was a strangled moan.
“Plenty of room in here.” I grabbed the

curtain and peeked my head out. “And I still need
to wash my back.”

“We do this, and it’s going to complicate

things even more.”

“Or it might clear up a lot of things,” I

suggested.

Freak shook his head, and a pained smile

crossed his lips. “Nothing has really changed from
two weeks ago.”

He turned on his heel and walked out the

door.

“Dammit.” I quickly rinsed off and grabbed

my towel from the hook. “Freak,” I called. I
stepped into the bedroom with a towel wrapped
around me and my hair dripping wet.

“Carnie,” he growled. “What the hell are

you doing?” he demanded.

I didn’t exactly know, but I knew I wasn’t

going to let Freak run away from me anymore.
“You’re in my bed every night. You’re acting like
you used to, but I know it’s not the same.”

“Because it’s not the same, Carnie. Someone

tried to kill you.”

I took a step toward Freak. “But strangely, I’m

not worried about that. I’m worried that when you

guys find Bobby, and I know you will, that I’ll
never see you again. That I’ll only have a memory
of that kiss at the falls and the chance of it
happening again will be gone.”

He shook his head. “You don’t get it, Carnie.

You’re too young to know what you’re asking for.”

I pressed my hand to my chest. “I don’t know

what I’m asking for?” I shook my head. “I know
exactly what I’m asking for.”

“You don’t,” he insisted.
“That’s bullshit, Freak. What does my age

have anything to do with being with you?”

“Because you have your whole life in front of

you, and my life is here. My life is the Fallen
Lords.”

I scrunched up my nose. “I know that, Freak.

You think I’m going to make you leave the Fallen
Lords?” That was ridiculous.

He shook his head. “How are you going to go

to culinary school when you’re stuck here in
Weston with me?”

“What? Why are you talking about culinary

school?” I didn’t even know if that was something I
wanted to do, let alone had time to look into it.

“Because you’re amazing at cooking, Carnie.

You stay here in Weston, and you’ll be wasting
every ounce of potential you have.”

“The only way to use my potential is to go to

culinary school? And, if I do choose to go to

culinary school, there are so many places and ways
to do it.” Like I said, I hadn’t looked into culinary
school here, but there had to be a tech school that
would have a program I could do. “I love to cook,
but that doesn’t mean I have to do it for my job,
Freak. You’re saying I have my whole life in front
of me, but it sounds like you have my life planned
out for me. I’m almost twenty-one, not eleven. I do
have a mind and ideas of what I want to do with my
life.”

“But it’ll be harder to do those things here.”
Freak wasn’t listening to a word I was saying.

“Do you hear me?” I asked.

He nodded. “I hear you, but I don’t think you

hear me.”

I laughed cynically. “Oh, I hear you, Freak.

You’re trying to run me off even though you want
me to stay. You’re afraid if I stay and then we don’t
work out that I’ll resent you for making me stay in
Weston.” I stepped toward him and loosened the
towel. “But I’m going to clue you in on something,
Freak. I may be twenty and young, but no one
makes me do something I don’t want to do. I can
walk out that door right now, and you won’t be able
to stop me.”

His eyes widened at the thought of me leaving.
“See, you think you want me gone, but I know

that isn’t what you want.” The hand at my chest
opened, and the towel pooled at my feet. “You

want me right here, just like this is where I want to
be.”

“Carnie,” he choked out.
“I’m young, Freak, but I’m not going to be

twenty for the rest of my life.” I stepped over the
towel, and he didn’t move back. “I want you, and
I’m not going to take no for an answer anymore.”

I held my breath, knowing at any second

Freak could tell me to put some clothes on and
walk out the door.

I waited to see if I had gone too far, or just

far enough.

Freak

All I had to do was take one step and Carnie

would be in my arms.

One step and everything I had been craving

and needing would be mine.

I closed my eyes and swallowed. “I need you

to know what you’re asking for, Carnie.”

She huffed but didn’t say anything. I know she

said she may be young, but she knew what she
wanted, but I needed her to understand just exactly
what she was going to get with me.

“Once my lips touch your skin, my hands

know the feel of your body, and my ears hear the

sound of your moans, it’s gonna be hard for me to
let you go. I take you now, and you’re gonna be
etched into my life forever.”

“Yes,” Carnie breathed out.
I opened my eyes and reached for her hand.

“Forever is a long time when you’re only twenty.”

“Or, if you’re me, it doesn’t seem like long

enough.”

I shook my head. “This is where I know

you’re too young for me, but I’m too selfish to care
anymore. I’ve tried to warn you to stay away, but
you keep coming back to me.”

“Because this is exactly where I want to be

right now.”

She didn't need to say anything more. If this

was what she wanted, I wasn’t going to stop it from
happening anymore.

Age be damned.
I closed the distance between us with one step.

Her lush body was plastered against mine and our
hands moved over each other in a frenzy.

She moaned my name, and my hands delved

into her hair. She arched her head back, and I
pressed kisses over her breasts.

“Freak,” she gasped. “There is one thing I

need to tell you.”

I glanced up at her. “You’re a virgin?”
Her hands froze, and her eyes popped open.

“Well, yeah. How did you know?” she whispered.

“More like I hoped you were just because I

didn’t want Bobby to have had this.”

She shook her head. “It never felt like it was

right with him.”

“This is right.” It wasn’t a question. I was over

asking her if this was what she wanted. I brushed
her hair back from her face.

“I’m kind of a drippy mess,” she laughed.
“By the time I’m done with you, your hair will

be more than dry, doll.”

She let out a squeal when I wrapped my arms

around her and lifted her into my arms. “Freak!”

I tossed her on the bed and dropped my shorts

to the floor.

A knock sounded at the door. “Yo, you guys

ready to go?” Slayer called through the door.

Son of a bitch. I had forgot we actually had

plans today. “Go away,” I called.

Carnie covered her mouth with her hand and

giggled.

“Go away?’ Slayer called. “What the fuck,

brother?”

I stalked to the door and swung it open.
“Holy fuck!” Slayer covered his eyes and

turned his back to me.

“Ask one of the other guys to go with you.”

Now that I had accepted the fact Carnie and were
going to happen, nothing was going to stand in my
way from enjoying her all day.

“You know what Wrecker said.”
I did know what Wrecker had said, but I didn’t

fucking care. “Then we’ll go to the store later.” I
slammed the door and turned the lock.

“How much later?” Slayer asked through the

door.

“Come back in four hours.”
“Four hours?” Carnie gasped.
I heard Slayer’s chuckle through the door, and

he didn’t argue with waiting that long. He got what
was about to happen, and I wasn’t going to rush it.

“I can’t believe you just answered the door

naked,” Carnie laughed. “What if someone else
was with Slayer?”

I shrugged and climbed into bed next to her.

“Didn’t think about it, doll. Just wanted to get rid
of whoever was on the other side of the door.” My
hands glided over her body, taking in the soft feel
of her skin and the goosebumps that rose in the
wake of my touch.

“So, four hours?” she whispered.
My eyes connected with hers, and I nodded.

“If not longer.” I brushed my lips along her
collarbone, and a tremor rocked her body.

“Whoa,” she gasped.
“That’s just the beginning.”
Her hands traveled over my back, and I trailed

kissed up her neck and behind her ear. “Tell me if
I’m doing anything you don’t like,” I whispered in

her ear.

I wanted Carnie more than anything in this

world, but I also wanted to make her first time the
best it could be.

“Liking it all,” she wheezed.
I turned on my side and rested my hand on her

thigh. “Just say stop and I will, okay?”

She nodded and leaned up to press a kiss to

my lips. “I hear you, Freak, but I need you to keep
touching me.”

My lips followed hers, keeping the connection.
My hand glided up her thigh and rested on her

sweet pussy. “No one has ever touch you here
before?”

She shook her head. “Just me.” Her words

were barely a whisper, and her cheeks heated red.

“Not today, but I’m gonna have to see that

sometime.”

“Freak,” she gasped.
“Open your legs for me.”
She slowly spread her legs, and my fingers

opened the lips of her pussy. “Anything you don’t
like, just tell me to stop,” I reminded her.

“Got it,” she gasped.
I kissed her deep and hard, my fingers

exploring her but narrowly skating around her clit.

Her body writhed under my touch, and she

panted my name.

I hooked my leg over hers and spread her open

further.

“More,” she panted against my lips.
She didn’t know what she was asking for, but

she knew she needed something.

Even though I had been running from Carnie

and this, I knew it was right. Her body yielded to
me with one touch, and my body ached to be next
to her.

My finger grazed her clit, and if I hadn’t

draped my leg over her, Carnie would have
levitated off the bed.

“Holy guacamole,” she gasped.
I sputtered at her words and buried my face in

her neck.

“Don’t laugh,” she wheezed. “That was the

only thing that came to mind.” She bucked her hips
and moaned. “Don’t stop.”

My fingers stroked her clit, her body relaxing

while her orgasm built.

“Freak,” she gasped.
“It’s okay, baby,” I whispered in her ear.
Her tone was strained, and her hand gripped

my arm. “I’m so close.” She dug her heels into the
bed and cocked her legs wide. I slipped a finger
into her tight pussy while I stroked her clit. “Oh,
my God,” she gasped as my finger plunged back in.
“Don’t stop.”

Stopping was the last thing on my mind.
“Freak!” she shouted. Her orgasm washed

over her, and her nails dug into my arm as she rode
it out. Her hips shot off the bed, and a moan ripped
from her lips.

If I ever wanted to see Heaven, all I had to do

was watch Carnie. I brushed kisses over her breast
and sucked the nipple into my mouth.

She sighed lightly and reached up to run her

fingers through my hair. “I think I might need a
minute.”

I glanced up at her with her nipple still in my

mouth. She may think that was what she wanted,
but I knew she needed to keep riding the wave of
pleasure coursing through her body.

“Later,” I grunted. I moved over her, covering

her with my body, and kissed her lips. “You’re
ready for me,” I growled against her lips.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and

held me close. “Okay.”

She trusted me fully and gave herself to me

without question. What had I done to deserve
someone like Carnie?

My hand traveled back down her body and

slowly stroked her clit.

“What about you?” she asked.
“We’re getting there, doll.”
She bit her lip. “Can I touch you?” she

whispered.

Here I was worried about making Carnie’s first

time amazing, and I didn’t think that maybe she

wanted more.

I lifted up, and her hand drifted down my

body. “It’s so big,” she gasped. Her fingers wrapped
around the shaft, and she squeezed lightly.

My breath caught, and it felt like it was the

first time being touched. How in the hell did she
manage to do that? She stroked my dick slowly, and
I closed my eyes to calm my breathing.

Her hand stopped. “Is this okay?” Her tone

was concerned, and I opened my eyes.

“Doll, this is more than okay. This is me trying

not to come all over your hand and ruin your first
time.”

“Oh.”
I bucked my hips and encouraged her to keep

going. Carnie had a lot to learn, but she was damn
good for her first time.

It only took a few more strokes of her hand

before I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take
much more. I needed to be buried deep inside her.

I grabbed both of her hands and raised them

over her head. “Keep them there,” I ordered.

She nodded.
“You know this might hurt, doll, but I promise,

it’ll all be worth it in the end.” I had never taken a
virgin before, but I knew I needed to be gentle with
her. “Keep your legs cocked open.”

I kneeled between her legs and looked down

at her as I stroked my cock. Her arms above her

head, hair fanned out on the pillow beneath her,
and her body mine for the taking.

“Freak, please.” She bit her lip and bucked her

hips. “I need you.”

I reached into the nightstand, grabbed a

condom, and quickly rolled it on. I covered her
body with mine and slowly pushed inside her. Her
pussy was drenched with her wetness, and I easily
slid inside, but her breath caught when her body
resisted.

“Shh,” I whispered. This was the part that was

going to hurt. “Deep breath, doll.”

She breathed in deep, and I pushed in. I felt

her body accept me, and she let out a yelp.

My body froze, and I waited for her to breathe

again. “Doll?”

She finally took a breath and opened her eyes.

“Not what I expected.”

A smile spread across my lips. “No clue what

to say right now.”

“Don’t talk, just move.”
My eyes connected with hers, and she nodded.

“You’re sure?” I asked. I didn’t want her to be in
any more pain than she was.

“Move, Freak,” she insisted.
I slowly pulled back, and she closed her eyes.

“Slow,” she whispered.

I pushed back in, and a moan escaped her lips.
“Good?”

She bucked her hips up to me as I pulled out.

“Definitely.”

With each thrust, I became more confident.

She moaned, and she wrapped her arms around my
neck.

“Faster,” she panted.
I reached between us and pressed a finger to

her clit. I plunged into her, and my name ripped
from her lips.

Her tight pussy was like a vise on my dick, and

each time I pulled out and plunged back in, I knew
I was close to coming.

“Freak, Freak,” she panted. “This feels so

good.” Her hips rocked beneath me, and she arched
her back.

My fingers rolled her clit, and she shouted my

name. Her pussy clamped down on me, and I thrust
one last time ‘til I exploded. Her moans and gasping
surrounded me as she came for the second time.

“Carnie,” I groaned. Her pussy milked my

cock, and I collapsed on top of her.

Our breathing was the only sound in the room.

My body was like Jell-O, and I had never been
more satisfied.

I rolled off of her and gathered her in my

arms.

She draped her arm over me and rested her

head on my chest. “I now understand why people
like that so much.”

My body shook with laughter, and I tipped her

head back to look at her. “So the pain was worth
it?”

“What pain?” she asked coyly. She brushed

her fingers over my cheek. “It was only for a
second.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?”
She nodded. “Never better.” She snuggled into

me and sighed.

I ran my fingers through her hair, and her

breathing evened out as she fell asleep.

Why had I been resisting this?
No matter what happened in the future, you

could bet your ass that nothing was going to come
between Carnie and me.

Age. Jobs. Bobby.
All of that could be worked out in time.
Hopefully, everything would work out in the

end.

It had to.

Chapter Sixteen

Carnie

“What are you doing?”
I looked up from the picture I was taking. “Uh,

taking a picture?”

Alice leaned against the kitchen counter and

rubbed her stomach. “Of a piece of cake?” she
laughed.

I snapped one more photo from a different

angle. “Yeah.”

“You gonna tell me why and also, give me a

piece of cake?”

I grabbed the plate I had just taken a picture of

and handed it to her. “Here you go, and I thought I
might start a food blog.” I was constantly scrolling
through Pinterest and the internet looking at what
other people were making and thought why couldn’t
I show what I was making? “The only thing I’m
going to do different is not make people scroll all
the way to the bottom of my post to get the recipe
while I tell some funny stories about cake and the
Pope.”

Alice grabbed a fork and pointed it at me.

“You had me until you mentioned the Pope.”

I waved my hand and covered up the leftover

cake. I had only sliced one piece just so I could get

a picture of it. “That’s just an example. All of those
food blogs share recipes, but they also have some
funny or meaningful story before that.”

“Kind of like a hook,” Alice mumbled around

a mouthful.

I nodded. “Exactly.” I scrolled through the

photos on my phone. “So, now that I have my first
recipe I want to share, I kind of need a name for
my blog.”

“Is that cake?” Cora shouted from the couch.
“Yea, but you can only have some if you come

help name Carnie’s food blog.” Alice took a bite
and moaned. “It’s super good.”

Cora jumped up from the couch and skidded

into the kitchen. “Carnie Feeds the Clubhouse.
Carnie and the Bikers. Becoming a Chef Biker
Chick. Hold on for one more bite with Carnie.”

“What?” Alice laughed. “You were doing

good until that last one.”

Cora grabbed the fork from Alice and took a

huge bite. “It’s a play on the fact that Carnie and
Wendy are named after chicks in Wilson Phillips.”

I didn’t know how Cora knew that. Wendy

and I were embarrassed by the fact Mom had
named us after one of her favorite groups. “How
did you know that?”

“Your mom mentioned it the first night they

were here. Then she broke out into song. I have to
say, she does a pretty spot-on impersonation of

Carnie Wilson.” Cora took another bite and handed
Alice back her fork. “Your cake is the bomb, by the
way. You should totally talk to Raven about
branding for the blog once you settle on a name.”
Cora walked back to the couch and plopped down.

“I just want to cook and share recipes.”

Branding was something I had never

thought about.

“Your cooking is the shit and people are going

to catch on to it once your blog takes off.” Alice
agreed.

“But branding?” I didn’t even know where to

start when it came to that.

“I have a couple of contacts you could talk to.

Most of them are book blogs, but you might be able
to get a better feel of what kind of blog you want
from them.” Cora held up her phone. “I just sent
you a friend request on Facebook. I’ll shoot you a
message with the blog names you can talk to. I’ll let
them know about you, though.”

I blinked slowly. What in the world was

happening?

“Oh, girl. What if you get like sponsors and

shit?” Alice squealed. “If you get some huge
chocolate company to send you shit I am so raiding
that box before anyone else.”

“Excuse me,” Cora called. “I think I get dibs

on the box since I’m the one hooking her up.”

“Pregnant,” Alice replied simply.

“Fine,” Cora huffed, “but that only works

until you pop that baby out,” she warned.

Alice wandered over to the couch with her

cake and plopped down next to Cora.

I was sure whatever I did in life, it was going

to involve food, but maybe it wasn’t going to be a
conventional job like being a chef.

Cora might be onto something.

Chapter Seventeen

Freak

“Carnie Tested. Biker Approved.”
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped

the top. “For the blog?” I asked.

Carnie nodded. “Yeah. I mean, that’s basically

what all of these recipes are. I got a lot of the
recipes from my Mom and Elle, but lately, I have
been just making up recipes as I go.”

Two weeks ago, Carnie told me she was going

to start a food blog, and she had been so excited. I
didn’t care what she did as long as she loved it and
didn’t have to leave me to do it.

“I like the name. You gonna have Raven do

your branding and stuff now?”

She bit her lip and wrapped her arms around

my waist. “She’s already working on it.”

“So, you weren’t really asking my opinion on

the name.”

She shook her head. “Not really.”
I brushed a kiss against her lips. “As long as

you like it, doll, then I like it, too.”

“Carnie!”
Oh, hell. “In the kitchen, Mom,” Carnie

hollered.

Agnes walked into the kitchen and dropped

her purse on the counter. “I have two things we
need to discuss.” She held up one finger. “Your
birthday is in one week. I know your sister is
planning some wild girls night out, but I want to do
something else for you. Can we do dinner before
you go out and get white girl wasted?”

“Mom,” Carnie laughed. “I have no plans to

get wasted or white girl wasted. Whatever that
might be.”

Agnes waved her hand. “I’m not sure what it

means either, but it heard it on the internet.”

I took a swig of my beer and raised an

eyebrow. I didn’t even know that Carnie’s birthday
was in a week. Her age hadn’t crossed my mind
since we had fallen into bed together. Though I
knew I was going to have to do something special
for her.

Carnie laid a hand on my chest. “My birthday

is Friday, by the way,” she whispered.

I nodded. “Totally knew that.”
She eyed me warily. “Sure, you did.”
Agnes clapped her hands. “Focus over here.”
“Can you tell she used to teach kindergarten?”

Wendy laughed. She walked into the kitchen and
pressed a kiss to the side of Agnes’ head. “Good
morning, Mom”

Agnes patted Wendy’s cheek. “Hello, my

favorite oldest. I’m here to plan your sister’s
birthday dinner. Are you still planning a night of

debauchery?”

I choked on my beer, and Wendy laughed.
“More like just a night out at the bar, Ma. You

know, getting carded and acting like an adult for
her twenty-first.” Wendy glanced over at me. “I
was thinking of just making it a girl’s night, but I
know that Freaky Deaky over there isn’t going to
let that happen.”

“Me or Wrecker aren’t going to let that

happen,” I pointed out. We still had no idea where
the hell Bobby was, and with each day that passed,
I worried more and more. What was he planning
and when was he going to make a move again?

“So,” Wendy drawled. “I’ve already been

scoping out bars in the area and talking with Slipper
about which ones would be okay for us to go to.”

“Slipper,” Carnie scoffed. “She keeps getting

more and more ridiculous with these names.”

I pointed across the room. “There is a bar right

there. No need to go to one.”

Wendy shook her head. “There is, because

Carnie needs to be officially carded on her
birthday. It’s a rite of passage.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right.”
“It’s happening,” Wendy warned. “I'm talking

to Wrecker about it today.”

“Good luck with that.” I doubted Wrecker was

going to approve any of what she had planned.

“Back to the dinner,” Agnes called. “I don’t

need anyone's permission because I planned on
doing it here. I just need to know what you want to
eat.” She folded her arms over her chest. “And my
present to you is you don’t need to cook.”

“But I like to cook, Mom.”
Agnes wagged her finger at her. “No. You’re

always in here cooking. You cook more than me
and your aunt do.”

“I’m making stuff so I have a bunch of posts

stock-piled for my blog.” She beamed up at me
happily. “My first post is scheduled to go live
birthday.”

“That chocolate cake you made two weeks

ago?” That cake had been fucking Heaven. I had
only managed to get one piece before the whole
thing was devoured.

“Yup. Sort of like a happy birthday to me but

with the whole world knowing.” She tapped her
finger on her chin. “Or, whoever reads my blog.”

I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Everyone is

going to read it.” At least, I thought so. I knew it
was going to take a bit for the blog to take off, but I
knew with Carnie putting so much of herself into it,
it wouldn’t take long for people to catch on to it.

“What kind of food do you want?” Agnes

demanded. “I need to start shopping for
everything.”

“Cranberry and apple pie, whiteout cake,

garlic mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and bacon

wrapped filet,” Carnie rattled off. “I started with
dessert because that’s the best part of a birthday
dinner.”

My stomach growled, and I wished it was

already Friday.

Wren stood by the pool table with her jaw

dropped. “Is that what we’re having for dinner
tonight?” She rubbed her growing belly. “You better
make extras because Alice is over her morning
sickness, and you know I’m always up for food.”

“Not tonight,” Carnie laughed. “For my

birthday.”

“Yes, yes,” Agnes chanted. She grabbed her

purse and hitched it over her shoulder. “Make sure
everyone is here for it. All the girls and all of the
guys.”

“Where are you going?” Wendy laughed.
“To buy the food, of course. I left your father

outside in the car.” She waved to everyone and
flitted out the door.

“How much you want to bet your dad isn’t in

the car when she gets out there?” I chuckled. Jim
was becoming a regular around the clubhouse
helping out wherever he could.

Carnie shrugged. “If he’s not, you know if the

keys are in the car, she’ll just drive herself.”

“Alice wants to know what whiteout cake is,”

Wren called. She was looking at her phone with her
fingers poised to type. “Though she said she’ll eat it

because it’s cake.”

“White cake, vanilla custard, white Oreos, and

white icing. Then cover the whole thing in white
sprinkles.” Wendy held up a finger for each thing
she listed off. “It is the bomb dot com.”

“Two desserts for your birthday?” I laughed.
Carnie nodded. “Hell yeah. You only have a

birthday once a year. Why can’t you have two
desserts?”

Wrecker stuck his head though the front door.

“Church in fifteen minutes,” he hollered. “Leo is
here. Though your mom is inviting him to your
birthday dinner, Carnie.” Wrecker smiled behind
his bushy beard. “He said he’ll bring cannoli.”

Carnie buried her face in her hands. “Oh, my

God. Only my mom would invite the mob to my
party and think it was a good idea.”

“Wrecker,” Wendy called. She sprinted to the

door and swung it open. “I need to talk to you
about something.” She stepped outside and shut the
door behind her.

“You really think Wendy is going to talk

Wrecker into letting us go out for my birthday?”
Carnie asked.

I didn’t think he would, but I wouldn’t have

believed that Wrecker was amused by Carnie’s
mom asking Leo to dinner. “I really don’t know,
doll. I wouldn’t get my hopes up, though.”

She leaned into me and rested her head on my

chest. “I’m okay either way. Do we really need to
go out for my twenty-first and get rip-roaring
drunk?”

I shrugged. “It is a sort of rite of passage, but

if he says no, we can plan something here.”

She tipped her head back and smiled. “I guess

as long as you’re with me, I don’t care what we
do.”

“You’re gonna get drunk, doll, but I’ll be there

to hold your hair back when you puke.”

She clutched her hand to her heart. “My

Prince Charming,” she laughed.

I was anything but that, but if Carnie wanted

to think that I was, I wasn’t going to argue with her.

Last I checked, Prince Charming didn’t

fantasize about fucking his girl on the back of his
bike. I think Prince Coming was a better title for
me when it came to Carnie.

‘Cause God knew I lived to make her come

and scream my name.

Chapter Eighteen

Freak

“Oh, God. Yes!” Carnie shouted.
“Say my name,” I grunted. My fingers dug

into the soft skin of her waist, and I pulled her ass
tight against me.

“Freak, yes, Freak!” she screamed.
I thrust hard and shot my load deep into her

pussy. I collapsed on top of her and rolled to the
side with my dick still in her.

“We can check that one off the list,” she

panted. “And add it to the list of ones I want to do
again.”

“Knew you would like it doggie style.” I

brushed my hand over her tits and gave them a
squeeze. “Though I do like watching your tits when
I’m on top of you.”

“Is that why you reached around and grabbed

them?” She pressed a kiss to the underside of my
chin.

“Yeah. And I also wanted something to hang

onto.”

“You were hanging on pretty good to my

waist,” she laughed. “I’m going to have bruises
from your fingers.”

My hands traveled over her stomach and

caressed her waist. “Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No. It felt good.”
“I sometimes forget that this is all new to

you.”

She leaned back and smiled. “Yeah, but I like

when you forget. Then I know you’re enjoying it
just as much as I am.”

“Trust me, doll, I always enjoy it as much as

you do, if not more.” I glanced at the clock. “Fuck.
We need to get ready. Your mom is going to be
pounding on that door if I don’t get you to dinner
on time.”

Carnie pouted as I pulled out of her and rolled

off the bed. “No fair. It’s my birthday. I should be
able to do whatever I want.”

I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed.

“Come on.”

We walked into the bathroom, and I turned

on the water.

“I already showered this morning, Freak.”
I cranked the water to hot and grabbed Carnie

around the waist. “I know, doll. But I plan on
making you a little bit more dirty and checking off
another thing from your list.”

She perked up and rested her hand on my

shoulders. “Is that so? Is that my present?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Good, because for my birthday, I want you to

do whatever I ask you to do when we’re out at the

bar tonight.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“That sounds like it could be good and bad.” I

could tell that Carnie had something she wanted
from me tonight and the only way she thought she
was going to get was this way.

“I promise it is nothing that is dangerous.”
“So within reason?”
She nodded. “And if you really don’t want to

do it, then we won’t.” She held up her hand.
“Naked scout’s honor.”

“Is that supposed to be better than scout’s

honor?”

“Oh, yeah. Naked scout’s honor is way

better.”

I reached up and squeezed her tit. “Well,

naked scout’s honor is way more appealing.”

She grabbed my hand. “So, it’s a deal?”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her

close. “You got a deal. Now get in the shower so I
can fuck you again.”

“Best birthday ever,” she shouted as she

jumped into the shower.

I was hoping to make it the best ever.

Chapter Nineteen

Carnie

“Your mom just made plans to go over to Leo

Banachi’s hotel room tonight and play cards.”
Raven handed me a mysterious glass of alcoholic
deliciousness. “I’m pretty sure all of the Fallen
Lords are speechless right now.”

That was my mother. Making friends with

everyone even if they were with the mob. “She’ll
be okay, right?”

Raven nodded. “Should be. Your dad and Elle

are going with her.”

I drained the glass and handed it back to

Raven. “Is everyone done eating?”

I had laid a good foundation of all the

delicious food Mom made in my stomach and was
ready to head to the bar.

Freak was looking exceptionally handsome

tonight, and there was one thing I wanted for my
birthday from him.

“Load up!” Alice called. Even though Alice

and Wren were pregnant, they still wanted to come
to the bar to see me in my drunken glory. At least,
that was what Alice kept calling it.

After I kissed my mom and dad goodbye, I

made my way over to Leo with the courage of the

three drinks in me. I told him he better not do any
mobby stuff in front of my mom.

That was when I realized I was a tad tipsy.
Wrecker had overheard me, and Alice howled

with laughter after we were all squished into a party
bus and headed to the bar.

“You did not do that,” Wendy insisted.
I buried my face in Freak’s shoulder. I did. I so

did.

“You hit a president of a motorcycle club and

tell mob bosses what to do.” Cora patted me on the
shoulder. “You sure do have some spunk in you,
girl.”

“I need to drink more or go to sleep,” I

groaned.

“More drink!” Slayer and Maniac shouted.
We pulled up to a bar ten minutes from the

clubhouse and spilled out of the bus. “Did we really
need a bus for a ten-minute drive?” I asked.

Freak put his arm over my shoulders. “Keeps

us all together. I think that was the thing that
convinced Wrecker to do this.”

“Stealing your girl,” Wendy called. She

grabbed my hand and dragged me into the bar.

I gave a lame wave to Freak and had a huge

smile plastered on my face.

This really was turning into the best birthday

ever.

“Time to get you druuunk,” Wendy drawled.

We made our way to the bar where the

bartender lined up seven shots.

I grabbed one and examined the lime green

color. “What is this?”

“Apple pie shits!” Mayra yelled.
“I think you mean shots,” Raven laughed. “I

may be drinking, but I am not drinking shits
tonight.”

Mayra waved her hand. “You know what I

mean. My mouth autocorrected.”

Cora counted down from three, and we all

tossed back the shot.

“Wow,” I cringed. It was good but way too

sweet for me.

“Let’s have sex on the beach!” Wendy

shouted.

I shook my head and felt the shot I had just

taken go straight to my head. “Warm and fuzzy,” I
mumbled. If I kept going this way, there was no
way I was going to get my little gift from Freak I
wanted. “I’ll take a sex on the beach, but first, I
need to go to the bathroom.” I looked around for
Freak. He was a few people down from me
standing with the other guys, but his eyes were on
me. “Bathroom,” I mouthed.

He nodded and was next to me in three steps.
He guided me through the crowded bar and

down a dim hallway.

“You know how I said you had to do whatever

I wanted?” I stumbled slightly, and Freak wrapped
his arm around my waist.

“Yeah, doll,” he laughed. He pushed open the

bathroom door, and I wrapped my arms around his
neck.

“Come in with me,” I whispered. I leaned up

on my tiptoes and pressed a hot, wet kiss to the side
of his neck. “I need you.” I nipped his ear. “Right
now.”

“Doll,” he moaned. He wanted me, but I could

tell he was fighting it.

“It’s my birthday, and you promised.” Yes, I

was totally going to guilt him into coming into the
bathroom with me.

“Anyone could walk in on us.”
And that what was making me want this so

badly. The thought of being caught fucking Freak in
a bathroom stall soaked my panties. “I know.”

His eyes flared with desire, and he pushed me

into the bathroom. “It’s gonna be fast and hard,” he
growled.

A tremor coursed through my body. Freak

lifted me up, and I tightened my grip on his neck.

We stumbled into a stall, and he barely

managed to get the door locked before I was pulling
his shirt up and licking his chest.

“Fucking shit, Carnie,” he groaned. He

pressed me against the wall of the stall and pulled
his shirt over his head. He draped it over the door,

and I licked from his nipple all the way up to the
tattoo on his neck.

“I love this tattoo,” I whispered. There was

something about it that turned me on and made me
want to explore it with my tongue.

“I’m gonna have to get you drunk more often

if this is the way you get.”

I moved my mouth to his ear. “Did you

wonder why I chose to wear a skirt tonight?”

“I didn’t even think about it, but now I can see

you’ve been planning this all along.” He flipped up
the front of my skirt and moved my panties to the
side. He parted the lips of my pussy and pressed his
thumb against my clit.

“Holy shit,” I gasped. I was about to go off

like a rocket and Freak didn’t even have his dick
out of his pants yet. “Your pants,” I panted. “Open
them.”

Freak managed to unzip his pants and drop

them to the floor.

“Have I mentioned that I love the fact you

don’t wear boxers? You’re always ready to fuck
me, no matter what.” My fingers wrapped around
his long cock and stroked him. Freak took a slight
step back, creating a little space between us. I
guided his cock into my pussy, and I gasped when
he filled me all the way to base.

“Wall sex,” I panted. “Definitely my favorite

so far.”

Freak pressed me against the wall and slowly

pulled out. “Your pussy wrapped around my cock is
all I need. Don’t care how the fuck I get it, as long
as I get it.”

His harsh, dirty words turned me on even

more. Freak was my dirty biker who wanted me
and only me. “Fuck me,” I gasped. “Fuck me.”

Freak fucked me hard and quick. My pussy

milked his hard cock, his thumb strumming my clit,
and I came screaming his name. He unloaded inside
me, and with shaky legs, I stood.

He pressed his lips to my ear. “Every time you

move tonight, my cum is going to drip down your
leg. That’s me inside you. You’re mine.”

His words sent a shiver down my spine. “God,

yes.”

I leaned against the stall and watched Freak

pull his pants up and tuck his still-hard dick inside.

“Maybe we should go again so you’re not

walking around with a stiffie all night,” I suggested.

Freak reached under my skirt, parted the lips

of my pussy, and flicked my clit. “We’ll save that
for when we get back to the clubhouse, doll.” I
gasped at his touch and bucked my hips into his
hand. “I always have a stiffie when you’re around.”

He pulled my panties back into place and

grabbed my hand. He pulled me out of the stall and
out of the bathroom.

“We didn’t get caught,” I laughed.

He looked down at me. “Uh, yeah we did,

doll. The bathroom door opened four times.”

“What?” I gasped. I hadn’t even noticed.
Freak stopped in his tracks and pulled me into

his arms. His hand snaked around my back and
over my ass. “That’s how you know you’ve been
fucked good when the whole world disappears.”

He pressed a hot kiss to my lips, and I

melted into him.

“You fuck me good every time,” I whispered.
“Damn fucking straight.” He led me back to

the girls and left me with a tap on the butt.

“Damn, girl.” Raven looked me up and down.

“If your face doesn’t say just fucked, I don’t know
what does.”

“It was you!” Alice shouted. “I went into the

bathroom to pee and someone was in the stall
having sex. Wrecker had to take me into the men's
room and stand guard while I hovered above the
seat.”

I grabbed a shot from the bar and tossed it

back. “I’d tell you I’m sorry, but I’m really not.” I
grabbed another and clinked it against the glass
Karmen was holding. I tossed it back and cringed.

“I do believe that you might be in the running

for becoming a captain in training,” Karmen
laughed.

“Your hat,” Nikki shouted. “We totally should

have brought it tonight.”

Karmen nodded to the bartender. He reached

under the bar and pulled out Karmen’s pirate hat.

“No fucking way,” Alice laughed.
Karmen placed it on her head and tossed back

the rest of her drink. “The Captain has arrived,
girls,” she shouted. “Let the party begin!”

Chapter Twenty

Freak

“How much longer you think before one of

them passes out?”

I watched Carnie toss back another shot and

laughed. “I’m thinking Carnie has the stamina to go
all night if we let her.”

Wrecker shook his head. “I don’t even

remember being that young.” He drained his glass
of water and set it on the bar. “I say half an hour
more and then we start trying to corral them onto
the bus.” Alice doubled over with laughter and held
onto Raven. “And I think my ol’ lady is going to be
the hardest to get on the bus and she isn’t even
drinking.”

“You might be right about that one.” I set my

beer on the bar. “I’m gonna hit the head.”

Wrecker nodded.
I made my way over to Carnie and snaked my

arm around her waist. “You doing good?”

She tipped her head back and gave me a loopy

smile. “I am sooo good.”

“I’m heading to the bathroom. You need to

go?”

“Are we going to fuck?” she asked loudly.
The girls fell into a fit of laughter, and Carnie

plastered herself against me. Carnie was a horny
and loud drunk. I was going to have to remember
that for the future. “I think we’ll wait until we get
back to the clubhouse.”

“Yass,” she drawled. She turned to Alice and

Cora who were still laughing their asses off. “More
shots!”

I left Carnie at the bar and made my way to

the bathroom.

Two guys were about to walk out as I walked

in, and one held the door open for me.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. I brushed past him, and

an eerie feeling settled over me.

“You with the load of drunk girls?” he asked.
I turned to look at him, and by the time I

realized who was holding the door for me, the
world went dark.

Carnie

The hair on the back of my neck rose, and the

world stopped. “Something’s not right,” I
whispered.

I pulled my phone out to see if I had missed a

call but saw my blank home screen.

“Who you calling?” Alice asked me.
I looked up. “No one. I just felt like something

was wrong.”

“What?” She tipped her head to the side.

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe I just drank too much.” That had to

be what it was. I was in a bar surrounded by the
Fallen Lords. There was no way something bad
happened.

Wrecker walked up to Alice and gently

grabbed her arm. “Stay right here. Do not move,”
he growled.

Nickel and Pipe took off toward the bathroom

while Maniac, Boink, Slayer, and Clash surrounded
us.

“Something happened,” I whispered. I looked

around frantically. “Where is Freak?” I shrieked.
Everyone was there but Freak. “Where is he?” I
demanded.

Alice leaned toward Wrecker, and he

whispered something in her ear.

“What is going on!”
Wrecker nodded to Clash, and he took off

toward the bathroom.

I tried to muscle my way out of the group and

follow Wrecker, but Clash grabbed me around the
waist and held me in place. “Let me go!”

I beat at his arm and tried to wiggle loose.

“We’re moving,” Boink shouted.
Clashed lifted me up in his arms, and we

moved in the direction of the front door. “Where is

Freak!?” I gasped.

The girls went from a giggling and happy

group to sober and downright confused.

None of them were as confused as I was.
Clash lifted me onto the bus, and it was

moving before we were all sitting. I clamored out of
Clash’s hold and dove toward the doors of the bus.

Slayer grabbed me and pulled me to sit next to

him. “Let me go!” I shouted.

“Carnie, calm down.”
I punched him in the chest and screamed.

“Where the hell is Freak!”

“We don’t know!” he yelled
Wendy wrapped her arms around my

shoulders, but I shrugged her off. “What do you
mean you don’t know? We’re just going to leave
without him. Let me off the bus!”

“Carnie,” Alice called. “Wrecker, Nickel, and

Pipe are there. We didn’t leave him.”

“I did! I left him! Take me back!” The motion

of the bus and the large amount of alcohol in my
system wreaked havoc on me. The world spun, and
then it dropped out from underneath me.

I slammed on to the floor of the bus, and my

vision blurred.

“We need to calm her down,” someone yelled.
I tried to stand back up, but the world spun

again, and I landed back on the floor.

“Freak,” I wheezed.

My head throbbed, my stomach rolled, and

then the world went black.

Chapter Twenty-One

Freak

“You’re sure this is the one?”
“He was the one who was fucking her in the

bathroom.”

“Figures that tease would give it up for a

biker.”

The side of my head ached, and I was lying

face down on a cold floor.

“So now what the hell are we going to do?”

That was the voice of the guy who had held the
bathroom door open for me.

It was Jenkins.
I had realized who he was too late.
“Now we use him to get her and then we kill

them both.” That had to be Bobby.

All along, I had been worried about him

kidnapping Carnie, but instead, they were going to
use me to get to her.

The exact same thing Bobby had done to

Carnie. He had used her to get to Mayra.

“You left the phone in the bathroom?” Jenkins

asked.

“Yeah. Left it right on the sink. They’d have

to be blind to not find it.”

One of them kicked my foot, but I acted like I

was still knocked out. If they knew I was awake,
they might not be so open with what they were
doing.

“Leave him the fuck alone until the Lords

call.”

“We sure he’s not dead?” Bobby asked.
“You were the one to fucking hit him. How

hard did you do it?” Jenkins demanded.

“It was just a tap.”
Jenkins laughed. “Right, just a tap. His chest is

still moving so he isn’t dead. Lock the door behind
you, and we’ll wait for the call.”

Two sets of footsteps moved away, and the

room went dark. The sound of keys and a lock
flipping were the last noises I heard.

I cautiously opened my eyes and looked

around. It was pitch black all around except for a
small window to my left that was high up. I rolled
onto my back, arms tied up and pinned beneath me.
My legs were tied at my ankles, but I could tell they
weren’t that tight. My hands, on the other hand,
they had tied damn good. I was a little sore, but
nothing felt broken. Well, everything was good
except for my head.

Bobby’s definition of a tap and mine were

completely different.

I needed to figure out where the hell I was and

try to find a way out. I knew Wrecker wouldn’t
leave me here, but if I was able to get out without

having the Lords come here, the better it would be.
I managed to stand up and knew I could get out of
the ropes around my ankles, it was just going to
take some time.

I glanced up at the window and sighed. It was

about nine feet up, and the only thing I could see
was a tree and the moon.

I was in a basement, but I didn’t know where.

I shuffled forward, felt the cold cement walls
through my shirt and made my way slowly around
the perimeter of the room. There was nothing on
the floor, and the walls were bare.

How the fuck was I going to get out of this?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Carnie

“Where is he?”
It was half past eight in the morning, and I had

just woken up.

The whole night washed over me like a freight

train, with the last few minutes before I passed out
playing like a horror movie.

Slayer sat on the couch in my room, and he

didn’t look the least bit concerned. “We don’t
know.”

I tossed the covers back and jumped out of

bed. It would be nice to know who had undressed
me and put me there, but right now, it really wasn’t
a concern. “Where is Wrecker?”

I yanked open a drawer and pulled out a

pair of jeans. I dropped my pajama bottoms on the
floor and pulled on the jeans.

“Jesus, woman. Can’t you go change in the

bathroom?” Slayer turned his back to me.

“Where is Wrecker?” I asked again. I knew if

anyone was going to be able to help me, it was
going to be him.

“He’s in Church right now.”
I pulled my shirt over my head. I rifled

through the drawer but realized I was out of clean

shirts. “Shit.”

I spotted the gift bag Alice had given me

last night and grabbed it. I pulled the tissue paper
out and grabbed the black shirt underneath. I stuck
my head and arms through the holes and tugged it
on. I shoved my feet into flip flops and took off out
the door.

“Where the hell are you going?”
Slayer was about ten steps behind me, and I

knew I needed to speed it up if I wanted to get into
Church before he stopped me. I made like I was
about to turn to go to the kitchen but sprinted the
last few steps to the door to Church and tossed it
open.

“What the fuck?” Slayer yelled. “You can’t go

there.”

No, I shouldn’t go in there, but there wasn’t

anything that was going to stop me.

“Where is he?” I demanded.
Wrecker was sitting at the head of the table

with Leo Banachi right next to him. The rest of the
Fallen Lords were around the table with two guys
wearing suits behind Leo. They both had their
hands on their guns, but they hadn’t drawn them.

Leo motioned for them to relax, and they went

back to standing at attention.

“We were wondering when you would be

joining us, Miss Wilkes.” Leo motioned to the chair
next to him that was empty. “I know from my past

experience with any of the Fallen Lords women,
they don’t sit by idle when a Lord is in trouble.” He
nodded at my shirt. “It’s nice that you advertise it
to people so they know what they are getting into.”

I glanced down at my shirt and cringed. Now I

remembered why Alice had given me this shirt. It
was what Freak always told me.

The Sass is strong in this one was scrawled

across my chest in a font similar to the Star Wars
titles.

At least it wasn’t false advertising.
The guys around the table chuckled, and it just

pissed me off even more.

“Where the hell is Freak?” I demanded again.
“Carnie,” Wrecker growled. “Sit down, and

we’ll tell you what is going on.”

I clenched my fists. “The last thing I want to

do is sit down.” I glared at Wrecker, and I realized
he was the king of a stare down. I looked away not
even ten seconds in and made my way to the chair
next to Leo. “Spill the beans,” I demanded before
my butt even hit the chair.

Leo motioned to Wrecker to start.
“Last night, when Freak went to the bathroom

before we were going to leave, we believe Bobby
and some other guy attacked him and left this
phone.” Wrecker held up a small flip phone.

“Have we called it? Are we sure that has

anything to do with Freak? Maybe it was some

drunk guy who left his phone in there.” My mind
was going a mile a minute, and I couldn’t stop the
words from coming out.

Wrecker shook his head. “We thought the

same thing, too, but when we opened it, we saw
that the only contact in the phone was the name
Bobby.”

Son of a bitch. “How do you know someone

else was with him?”

We now had another guy who was trying to

help Bobby kill me? That was great.

“We’ve always been aware that Bobby was

working with someone else, but we haven’t been
able to figure out who.” Wrecker was so damn calm
about all of this that I was about ready to rip my
hair out.

“Have we called Bobby? Maybe invite him for

brunch or something?” I drawled.

Leo leaned back in his chair, a smile on his

lips. “You Fallen Lords women really are
something. Must be the water.”

I shouldn’t be having such an attitude with

Leo Banachi and the president of the Fallen Lords,
but it just felt like they weren’t doing anything.

“We were just about to call when you walked

in the room.”

Maniac patted my arm. “We’re taking care of

it, Carnie.”

I nodded and folded my arms over my chest.

“Well, let’s call up the psychopath and see what he
wants.”

Leo chuckled. “Such sass.”
Wrecker flipped open the phone, pressed a

couple of buttons, and laid it on the table.

Thank God, he had put it on speaker phone,

otherwise, I would have ripped the damn thing out
of his hands to hear what Bobby was saying.

Wrecker pointed his finger at me. “One word

out of you and you’ll be duct-taped. You feel me?”

I nodded. That was one thing I didn't want,

and I didn’t want to mess anything up to get Freak
back.

The phone rang four times before it

connected.

“If it isn’t my favorite president of the Fallen

Lords.”

Wrecker look at Leo. Leo shook his head and

mouthed “no.”

We were apparently going to play this as Leo

wasn’t here.

“Long time no talk, Bobby. Here I thought you

ghosted on us.”

Bobby chuckled. “I could never just disappear

without making sure you guys knew how much you
fucked up my life.”

We fucked up his life? He was the one who

had dated me only to try to kill Mayra. From where
I was sitting, he was the one messing with people’s

lives.

“So what have you been up to, Bobby?”
Wrecker was killing me with this nonchalant

bullshit. He needed to cut to the chase and demand
to know where Freak was.

“You know. I tried to become one with nature

a couple of weeks back, but it just didn’t work out.
I did go out for a drink last night with a buddy of
mine. You might know him.”

Leo leaned forward and whispered in

Wrecker’s ear.

“Nice that you’ve been making friends. Leo

was worried you wouldn’t have anyone after you
took off.”

“Fuck Leo and the Banachi’s,” Bobby spat.

“I’ve decided the mob life isn’t for me since Leo
became a pussy. Bikers are more my style.”

Was he talking about Freak?
“Gonna have to agree with you on that one,

Bobby.”

“You know what? You actually know my new

pal. Let me put you on speaker and you two can
say hi.” There was a beep and then static on the
other end.

“Hello, Wrecker.”
Wrecker clenched his fists, and he leaned

toward the phone. “Jenkins?” he asked.

“You know damn fucking well this is Jenkins.”

Jenkins sounded annoyed that Wrecker even had to

ask if it was him.

Wrecker’s gaze flicked to Pipe, and a smirk

spread across his lips. Wrecker knew exactly what
he was doing when he asked that. “Sorry, brother.
It’s been awhile since I heard your voice. Had to
make sure it was you.”

“It’s me, all right,” Jenkins drawled. “Back

from the dead after you tried to screw me over and
then kill me.”

“Kill is such a harsh word.” Wrecker cleared

his throat. “So you’re teaming up with Bobby
now?”

“It seemed logical. He had a beef with a chick

that turns out is connected to the Fallen Lords, so it
seemed like a natural partnership. Two birds, one
stone.”

“So what is the next move. You’ve got one of

our guys.”

Bobby came back on the line. “You give me

Carnie, and we’ll give you back this guy. That slut
was fucking him in the bathroom of the bar, so we
figured it was the logical decision to take him.”

They didn’t even know who they had taken.
“That sounds like you get what you want, but

I’m wondering what it is that Jenkins wants.”

“Territory. I want River Valley back. I want

you to pull back the asshole you have lurking
around and stay the fuck away.” Jenkins cleared his
throat. “And also fifty grand. It’s not exactly easy

to get back on your feet after someone trying to kill
you.”

“So we give you Carnie, fifty grand, and River

Valley and then you’ll had back over Freak?”

They better not be considering this bullshit. All

Bobby deserved was a bullet in his head and from
what I gathered, this Jenkins guy deserved the same
thing.

“That’s it,” Bobby drawled. He was such a

slime ball. I didn’t even know why I had been
attracted to him before. I was such an idiot.

“Seems like you guys are getting three things,

and we’re only getting one.” Wrecker glanced over
at Leo. “How about we give you River Valley and
the money, and we get Carnie and Freak.”

“That’s bullshit!” Bobby shouted through the

phone. “That bitch ruined my life!”

Again, I begged to differ.
“Well, you’re gonna have to discuss this with

Jenkins, Bobby, because you’re not going to get
three things and we’re only going to get one.”
Wrecker leaned back and sighed.

Bobby and Jenkins mumbled for a few

minutes.

I still didn’t like where this was going. We

were going to get Freak back, but it didn’t sound
like Bobby was going to be satisfied unless he got
me.

“We’ll take the bitch and River Valley,”

Jenkins stated clearly.

Wrecker’s eyes connected with mine. “Where

do you want to meet?”

“Seventeen West Haven drive. Four hours.

You try anything funny, and we’ll blow the fucking
building up.”

The line went dead, and I stared at the

phone.

Were the Fallen Lords about to hand me

over to Bobby?

“I’ll brief my men.” Leo stood up and

button the suit jacket. “We’ll meet up here in three
hours.” He walked out of the room with his two
goons following him.

“Are you…” I gulped and looked at

Wrecker. “Are you about to give me to Bobby?”

A smirk spread across Wrecker’s lips.
“That’s what he thinks.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Freak

“Get up.”
I raised my head off the concrete and blinked.

“Could have used a pillow.” I wiped the dirt off the
side of my face and realized my arms weren’t tied
anymore. I sat up and looked up at Boink. “Gotta
say, whenever these girls get kidnapped, they really
go through it.” I slowly moved my arms around
trying to gain feeling back.

“Make sure you tell Mayra that the next time

you see her.” Boink handed me a bottle of water.
“And you’re welcome for saving your ass.”

I nodded and drained the bottle of water. “You

guys kill Bobby and Jenkins yet?”

Boink shook his head. “Nah. We thought we’d

get you out of this hole before the fireworks
started.” He held out his hand and pulled me up.
“Dumbasses think we’re gonna give Carnie and
River Valley to them in exchange for you.”

They were dumbasses if they thought that.

“Carnie okay?”

Boink laughed. “Gotta tell you, brother. I have

never seen a woman more fired up. Barged into
Church and everything. The best part of it was the
shirt she was wearing.” Boink shook his head. “She

really does fit in perfectly with the Girl Gang.”

“Good to know seeing as I hope she sticks

around.” I brushed off my pants and combed my
fingers through my hair. “So what’s the plan now?”
I glanced at the window I had spotted before. It
was now kicked in, but it was still too far up for us
to reach.

Boink pointed to the stairs. “Figured we’d give

those a try when the time is right. It’s all part of the
plan, brother.” Boink reached into his waistband
and handed me a gun. “You might need this,
though. These guys are idiots, but that doesn’t
mean an idiot doesn’t know how to shoot a gun.”

I checked the chamber to make sure there was

plenty of bullets and clicked the safety off. “Is it
only the two of them?”

Boink nodded. “From what we can tell, it is.”

“Then this should be easy as fucking pie.” I

had been trying to figure out a way to get out of
here, but thankfully, the Lords had arrived before I
needed to take matters into my own hands.

“Ya dead, Freak?” Pipe stuck his head through

the window Boink had kicked in.

“Still kicking.”
“Good. I’d hate to be the one to tell Carnie ya

died. Pretty sure she would have gone fucking
bananas if something happened to you.” Pipe
chuckled. “And we’re getting shirts for all of the
girls.”

“Still don’t know what the shirt says.” I knew

Alice had given a shirt to Carnie for her birthday,
but I was clueless about what it said. I assumed it
was something about cows, but that wasn’t really
anything that all the girls would need.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Pipe

disappeared from the window, and Wrecker’s face
appeared.

“Know anything about what we’re about to

walk into?” he asked.

I shook my head. “They knocked me out, and

I woke up down here.”

Wrecker nodded. “Figures.” He looked over

his shoulder and held up a finger. “You know, for
being so damn young, your chick is might fucking
pushy.”

“She’s normally pretty chill.” The only time I

had really seen Carnie freak out was at the falls,
but I honestly didn’t think she overreacted.

“Right,” Wrecker drawled.
A hand curled over Wrecker’s shoulder and

pulled him out of the window. “Would you let me
talk to him?”

Carnie’s head popped through the window.

“I’m sorry.”

I looked at Boink, and he shrugged. “She

keeps telling everyone that.”

“What the hell are you sorry for?” I called.
“Because this is all my fault. Why couldn’t I

have met you before Bobby?” Even peering down
at me from a broken window, Carnie was the
prettiest thing I’d ever seen.

“Just the way shit happened, doll. You need to

stop telling everyone you’re sorry. You’re not the
first one to get kidnapped.”

“Probably won’t be the last either,” Boink

drawled.

Carnie turned around and whispered

something.

“Now who is she talking to?’ I asked Boink.
“The only other person out there with them

right now is Leo.”

Carnie turned back around. “I gotta go hide in

some car right now. Wrecker told Bobby he could
have me but he really can’t.”

“That’s good, doll.”
She smiled wide. “I also told Wrecker and Leo

if you come back to me with more than a scratch
on you, I’m killing them both.” She waved quickly
and ducked back out of the window.

“You don’t really think she told Leo and

Wrecker that, do you?”

Boink nodded. “She did because I was a

witness to it. I didn’t think it was possible, but that
woman has more sass than any of the girls.”

“Guess it’s better than having some meek and

mild woman.”

Boink rolled his eyes. “I just don’t know why

they can’t land somewhere in the middle of sass
and meek.”

Wrecker peeked his head in the window again.

“Wait for the signal. We’re going in.”

Boink gave him a thumbs up, and I was back

to waiting.

Carnie

I hated waiting.
I didn’t see why we couldn’t just get Freak out

of that basement and be on our way.

“Would you stop tapping your foot?”
I glared at the goons sitting in the front seat of

the car. “Sorry, but there's a bit of a stressful
situation about to play out.”

“If are doubting Leo, then you really don’t

know anything.”

These guys were loyal to Leo, through and

through. I leaned forward and stuck my hand out.
“We didn’t formally meet. I’m Carnie.”

He looked at my hand and scowled.

“Murphy.”

I retracted my hand and rested my elbows on

the back of the passenger seat. “You have a
girlfriend?”

He shook his head.

“Boyfriend?”
He shook his head again.
“Dog?”
He glanced at me. “Why does it matter?”
“Because.”
“Fine,” he huffed. “I have a dog. His name is

Winston.”

“So, how would you feel if Winston was

trapped in a room somewhere and you couldn’t get
to him, but someone else could so you have to rely
on them to take care of Winston until he’s back in
your bed. Arms, I mean arms.”

“He’s a dog. He’s fine.” Murphy shook his

head. “You Weston chicks really are crazy.”

I sat back and folded my arms over my chest. I

looked out the window in the direction of the house
Freak was in and sighed. Murphy had driven us a
few blocks over to wait out whatever it was that
Wrecker and Leo were about to do.

“You guys should really use walkie-talkies.

How are you supposed to know what everyone else
is doing?”

“I don’t need to know what everyone else is

doing. I worry about what I’m doing, and what I’m
supposed to be doing is keeping you safe.”

That may be what he was supposed to be

doing, but what I was doing was worrying about
Freak. I knew he was safe now, but once everything
started happening, would he stay that way?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Freak

A loud boom shook the house, and Boink

turned to the door.

“Was that the signal?”
He shook his head. “No, but it should be

coming soon.”

I pulled my gun from my waistband and

looked up the stairwell. I knew there was a plan,
but if anything happened that wasn’t supposed to, I
wanted to be prepared.

The door handle to the stairwell rattled, and

Boink and I both moved to the side and lifted our
guns.

There was shouting on the other side of the

door, but I couldn’t make out anything they were
saying.

A bullet blasted through the door, and Boink

and I both took cover.

“Honey, I’m home!”
A grin spread across Boink’s face, and he

lowered his gun. “That’s the signal.”

For Christ’s sake. I moved back to the bottom

of the stairs to see Pipe standing at the top of them.
“Sorry, but Bobby wouldn’t give up the keys to the
door so I had to get creative.” He motioned for us

to come up. “The show is about to start.”

Boink jogged up the stairs, and I followed

behind.

“Where the hell are we?” I asked.
We followed Pipe down a long hallway that

opened to a large, empty room. I stood next to
Boink and Nickel. “Feed mill over in the old side of
town. They had you in the basement of the
offices,” Nickel explained.

Bobby and Jenkins were standing along a wall

with two of Leo’s men on either side of them.
Wrecker and Leo stood ten feet in front of them
while Boink, Nickel, Pipe, and I were behind them.

“Trapped like a rat,” Pipe chuckled.
Nickel leaned forward and looked over at

Pipe. “You really get too much enjoyment out of
this, you know that, right?”

Pipe shrugged. “It’s good to get out and have

some excitement now and then.”

“Does Nikki know about this side of you?”

Boink asked.

Wrecker glared at us over his shoulder. “Shut

it.”

We all nodded except for Pipe who pretended

to zip his lips shut.

“I see the Lords women have rubbed off on

the men,” Leo chuckled.

“You’re on bathroom duty when we get back,”

Wrecker said to Pipe.

“What?” Pipe hissed. “I’m the vice

president.”

“More like the vice idiot,” Boink whispered.
“You got it after him, Boink.”
Boink glared at Pipe who stuck his tongue out

at him. “Ha, ha,” he taunted.

Wrecker turned back around with a shake of

his head. “They’re gonna be the death of me.”

Leo chuckled but didn’t say anything more.
“This isn’t what we agreed on,” Bobby spat.
Leo tipped his head to the side. “Because

you’re a man who keeps his word, aren’t you?”

It was Jenkins turn to open his mouth. “Just let

us go and we’ll actually disappear.”

If he thought we were going to buy that load

of crap, he was an even bigger idiot than we
thought.

“Just let you two run off only for you to pop

up later in our lives for some dumbass reason?” Leo
nodded to the guy on the right of Bobby. “I should
have taken care of you a longtime ago, Bobby, but
maybe that was me being a pussy.”

Recognition dawned on Bobby’s face. Leo

had heard every word Bobby has said about him.
“No reason to turn over a new leaf,” Bobby
stuttered.

Leo glanced at Wrecker. “Bet on which one of

these assholes pisses their pants first.”

“My money is on Bobby. He’s already starting

to prance around like he’s ready to go.”

Leo nodded. “Can’t argue with that.” Leo

turned to Jenkins. “But we can’t count him out just
yet.”

“You really thought we were going to just give

you money and your territory back?” Wrecker
asked Jenkins.

Jenkins shrugged. “Not like I really have much

to lose. You took everything from me, Wrecker,
including my sister.”

“You gave her to us, Jenkins. In your own

weird way, you were trying to save her.”

Jenkins tilted his head to the side. “And did it

work?” he asked.

“She’s better off in Weston than with you.”
“Then all of this was worth it.” He closed his

eyes and hung his head. “Please tell my sister I’ll
be seeing her soon.”

Bobby flung himself at the guy to his left, and

Jenkins managed to swing his leg backward and
kick the gun out of the guy’s hand behind him.

Jenkins scrambled for the gun and got his hand

on it just as we raised our guns and started
shooting. Jenkins dove, crashed through a window,
and landed outside.

Nickel, Pipe, and Boink ran toward the door

and barreled through it after Jenkins.

“Get him!” Wrecker shouted.
Leo’s man, the one whose gun got kicked out

of his hand, followed behind.

Leo was crouched down on the floor and

shook his head.

Bobby hadn’t fared so well when it came to

the grand escape Jenkins and he had planned. Leo’s
man had Bobby in a chokehold and his gun pressed
against his temple.

Wrecker offered his hand to Leo and helped

him up. “Why are these guys such idiots?” Leo
wiped his hands on his pants. “It’s so hard to find
good help these days.”

“Now you see why I tend to not bring

prospects in.” Wrecker pointed to me. “These
dumbasses need to take a lesson from Freak.”

“Something needs to happen.” Leo stepped

toward Bobby. “You are definitely onto something
when you say I’ve gone soft, Bobby.” Leo turned
to Wrecker. “I know we had previously discussed
you taking care of this, but for my piece of mind,
this is a situation I need to rectify.”

Wrecker glanced at me.
Bobby had been trying to kill Carnie. I had to

be the one to take Bobby down.

“You good with that?” Wrecker asked.
I thought about Carnie and the fact that she

was safe and I had the rest of my life to spend with
her. “As long as he gets what he deserves, I don’t
care who does it.”

Leo nodded to me. “Wrecker isn’t wrong

when he calls you one of the last few good
ones.”’

A compliment from Leo Banachi and Wrecker

all in the same day was a little too much to take.

Leo turned back to Bobby and unbuttoned his

jacket. He reached inside and pulled out a gun. “I'm
not much of a hands-on guy.” He looked at
Wrecker. “I really don’t need to be anymore, but
sometimes, doing things yourself is the best.” He
stepped toward Bobby and nodded at the guy
holding him. “Let him go, Princeton.”

“You sure?” he asked.
Leo nodded.
Princeton slowly released his arm from around

Bobby’s neck but kept his gun pointed at him head.

“Leo, please, I’m sorry. I made a mistake,”

Bobby pleaded. “I got restless.”

“Get him on his knees.”
Princeton kicked his legs out from under

Bobby, and he collapsed to the floor.

“I said on his knees, not in a pile on the floor.”
Princeton grabbed Bobby by the collar and

hauled him on his knees.

Leo moved forward, his gun pointed at Bobby,

and his thumb clicked the safety off. “You betrayed
my family, Bobby.” Leo took another step. “You
thought you knew better than me.” He took one last
step, and his gun was pressed against Bobby’s
forehead. “But most of all, you betrayed my trust.

And that is something you can never fix.” Leo
squeezed the trigger and blew a hole right through
Bobby’s head.

Blood spattered everywhere, including all over

Leo.

Leo dropped his arm to his side and looked

down at his suit. “I remember why I don’t do this
shit anymore. Not because I’m a pussy, but because
I hate ruining my suits.” He handed the gun to
Princeton, who, in return, held out a handkerchief
for Leo.

“Look,” Wrecker laughed. “He pissed

himself.”

A puddle of piss pooled around Bobby, and

Leo shook his head. “Who’s the pussy now,
Bobby?”

Wrecker’s phone rang, and he put it to his

ear. He listened silently, and his face grew hard. He
ended the call and pocketed the phone.

“They lost Jenkins. They had a blood trail but

it dried up when they got to the river. They think he
went down stream, but there really isn’t any way to
tell.”

Fuck. We had solved half of our problem, but

Jenkins was still out there.

Leo finished wiping his hands and dropped the

handkerchief on Bobby. “My men will clean this
up. We don’t have anything to do with the other
man, but we’re more than willing to help you since

you helped with Bobby.”

Wrecker nodded. “Appreciate that.” His

phone rang again, and he listened silently again.
“What do you mean?” he thundered.

Leo glanced at me and shrugged. “I’m

guessing this isn’t good.”

That was an understatement.
Wrecker chucked his phone across the room

and screamed. “The fucking cops picked up
Jenkins! Nickel and Pipe just saw a cop car drive
by with that weasel’s ass in the backseat!”

Leo snapped his fingers at Princeton. “We

need to get this taken care of now. We don’t know
what Jenkins will tell the police.”

Everyone moved, and Wrecker and I stepped

outside to get out of the way. Two black SUVs
pulled up with more of Leo’s men, and they
descended on the building.

Nickel, Pipe, and Boink came jogging

around the building and stopped at the foot of the
stairs Wrecker and I were at the top of.

“Tell me you are fucking joking.”
Pipe shook his head. “I wish the hell we

were, but it was him in the back of the car.”

Wrecker pointed at Nickel. “Get in touch

with your contact at the police station and find out
anything you can. For all we know, Jenkins could
have the whole fucking police force headed this
way.”

Leo walked outside. “You guys can get

going. We’re listening to the scanners, and as of
right now, it is business as usual, but we don’t know
if that will change. We’ll be out of here within the
hour and headed back home.”

Wrecker shook his head. “Sorry this got

messy at the end.”

“Nothing ever goes like you plan. I’ve

talked to Murphy, and he’s headed this way with
Miss Wilkes.” Leo nodded at me. “Good luck with
that one, Freak. She’s bound to be a handful for
sure.”

Leo walked back into the building, and I ran

my fingers through my hair.

“I’d like to say let’s get back to the clubhouse

and back to business as usual, but that shit isn't
going to happen with Jenkins in police custody.”
Wrecker pointed to the black car headed toward us.
“That’s Carnie. Your bike is parked around back
with ours. You up for riding?”

I nodded and watched the car pull up to the

steps.

“You’re alive!” Carnie shouted. She

bounded up the steps and threw herself in my arms.
“I don’t have to kill anyone today,” she laughed.

Wrecker shook his head and jogged down the

steps. “Everyone back to the clubhouse and try not
to get kidnapped.”

“Freak,” Carnie whispered. She ran her hands

over my face, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

“I’m okay, doll.”
“I know,” she sniffled. “I guess I didn’t realize

how terrified I was that you actually might not
make it back to me.”

The guys headed around the building, and I

followed slowly behind them. “I’ll always come
back to you. You gotta know that.”

“Well, you said you would always keep me

safe, but you never promised you would keep
yourself safe.” She laced her fingers through mine
and clung to my arm as we walked. She sighed
when my bike came into sight. Thank God the guys
brought it for me. “So, what happens now?”

She didn’t know about Jenkins. There was still

a threat out there that wanted to destroy the Fallen
Lords. “We head back to the clubhouse, eat some
food, and fall into bed.”

“Naked?” she whispered.
“That’s the only way to fall into bed with you,

doll.”

I swung my leg over my bike, and Carnie

climbed on behind me. She wrapped her arms
tightly around me and laid her head on my
shoulder. “Take me home, Freak,” she whispered.

“You mean the clubhouse?”
“Yeah, home,” she sighed.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Carnie

I traced circles over his bare chest with my

fingertips and tilted my head back to look at him.
“Why do they call you Freak?”

How weird was it that I never questioned

why he was called that?

“You’re really gonna ask me that after I just

fucked you in the shower, barely got you dried off
and then fucked you against the wall, and fell into
bed to fuck you again?”

“So, you’re saying you got the name Freak

because you’re freaky deaky in bed?”

He shrugged. “More or less.”
I slugged his shoulder. “So, when Wendy calls

you Freaky Deaky, that’s totally the truth.”

“Yeah.”
Well, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. It

made me wonder how the other guys got their
names. “So, you’re telling me Boink is Boink
because he likes to boink?”

Freak nodded.
That one was sort of a no-brainer, but at least

Freak verified it.

“What about Clash? Because he likes to hit

people?”

Freak chuckled. “Yeah.”
“You guys are pretty literal when it comes to

these names, aren’t you?”

It was well after dinner, and Freak and I were

tucked away in his room after having dinner with
the whole club and my parents, then we also
showed each other how much we missed each other
as soon as the bedroom door shut.

“If the name fits, we use it.”
“What would my name be if I had a club

name?”

“Sass,” he replied instantly.
I rolled my eyes and pinched his nipple. “I’m

not that sassy.”

“I beg to differ, doll. Your sass has been on

full display for the past couple of days.”

“Whatever,” I mumbled. “You like it.”
He wrapped me up in his arms and pulled me

on top of him. “You bet your ass I do. One of my
favorite things about you.”

I tangled my legs with his and rested my

elbows on his chest. “And what are some other
things you like about me?”

“Your blog.”
“My blog is something you like about me?” I

laughed. Oh boy, I was seriously lacking if that was
one of the top things he liked about me.

“What goes into your blog. You worked your

ass off on it and you actually did it. Not many

people can say they wanted to do something and
then they actually did it.”

“My blog has ten total views right now, Freak.

It’s not like I broke the internet or something.”

“And I’m sure the next one is going to have

double the views.”

“What else is on the list?” My possibly failing

blog was not something I wanted to talk about.

“The list is long, doll. It might take a while to

go over it all.” His hands rested on my butt, and he
gently squeezed.

“It’s a good thing I plan on sticking around for

a while.”

“A while?” he whispered.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Forever?”

“Now that's what I’m talking about. Forever

sounds just long enough to go over this list.” He
flipped me over on my back and covered me with
his body.

“Is it a hands-on list?” I giggled.
“Very.”
“Then let’s get to it, Freaky Deaky.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Slayer

“Just take this.”
I looked down at the crumbled hundred dollar bill in my hand.

“Uh, why?” I asked Freak.

“‘Cause I’m craving fucking pizza, and I don’t wanna hurt

Carnie’s feelings.” Freak looked over his shoulder nervously.

“Brother, you’re acting like a crack fiend trying to make a deal

for his next hit.”

“I mentioned I was craving pizza and Carnie said she would

make some, but brother, I am craving the greasy shit from Vin’s.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I just want some damn delivery
pizza.”

“Hundred bucks might be a bit too much for one pie.” I

pushed the money back in his hand.

“I ordered already. Ten pizzas and five orders of breadsticks.”
My jaw dropped. “Uh, maybe a hundred isn’t enough.” Jesus.

Freak must have really had a craving for pizza.

“It is. I got enough for everyone, and Carnie is going to think

you ordered it.” He pushed my hand away and stepped back. “It
should be here any time now.”

I rolled my eyes and shoved the money in my pocket. “I get

the fucking change.”

Freak nodded and smiled wide. “There isn’t going to be any.

You can have a couple of pieces, though.” He clapped me on the
shoulder and laughed.

I shrugged him off. “You’re pussy whipped like all of the

other guys now.”

Freak flipped me off. “That may be true, brother, but at least

I’m getting laid tonight.” He strolled over to the couch where Carnie
was sitting with some of the other girls.

“Yo, Slayer. Someone at the door for you.” Maniac was

standing in front of the open door and shouted over his shoulder.

Freak must have waited ‘til the last minute to come tell me he

ordered a shit-ton of pizza. I pulled the money out of my pocket and
stalked over to the door.

Maniac moved out of the way, and I pulled the door open

wider. “I’m gonna need to know how muc—” My words stalled in
my mouth.

A young girl, probably ten or eleven, stood in the doorway.

She had a backpack slung over her shoulder, and she was holding an
envelope in her hand. She held it out and looked up at me. “My
mom told me to give this to you. You’re my dad, and that envelope
will explain everything.”

Coming Soon

Lean Into It

Kings Of Vengeance MC

Book 2

September 29th

Slayer

Fallen Lords MC

Book 8

November 29

About the Author

Winter Travers is a devoted wife, mother, and aunt turned author
who was born and raised in Wisconsin. After a brief stint in South
Carolina following her heart to chase the man who is now her hubby,
they retreated back up North to the changing seasons, and to the
place they now call home.
Winter spends her days writing happily ever after’s, and her nights
with her hubby and son. She also has an addiction to anything MC
related, her dog Thunder, and Mexican food! (Tamales!)
Winter loves to stay connected with her readers. Don’t hesitate to
reach out and contact her.

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/wintertravers

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/wintertravers

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/wintertravers/

Website:

www.wintertravers.com

Mailing List:

http://eepurl.com/bYpIrD

Goodreads:

https://bit.ly/2vAJPm1

BookBub:

https://bit.ly/2HQtk7y

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/wintertravers/

Dive into the first chapter of Drop a Gear and

Disappear!

Drop a Gear and Disappear

Kings of Vengeance MC

Book 1

Chapter One

Quinn

A lady in the streets and a freak in the bed…

“Come with me, baby.”

Kimber rolled into my side. “I’ll pass.”

I looked down at her naked body and ran

my fingers over her smooth, flawless skin. “You’re

gonna have to come there one day.”

“But today is not that day, Quinn.”

“It’s Gear, baby.”

She snorted and tipped her head back to

look at me. “Okay, Quinn.”

I fucking hated my name, yet Kimber

insisted on calling me it even though I finally got

my road name from the Rolling Devils. “You gotta

learn to tolerate the club, baby. I know you don’t

like it, but you gotta not hate it.”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed under her breath

and laid her head back on my shoulder. Her hand

slid across the expanse of my chest, and her fingers

trailed over the tattoo of an eagle holding a skull.

“But you don’t need to leave just yet,” she

whispered.

“Soon.”

“Maybe I need to remind you what will be

waiting for you while you’re fetching beers for all

of your club buddies.”

“I do more than that.”

“Right,” she drawled.

At least on normal days, I did more than that.

On nights like tonight, I did basically just fetch beer

and booze the whole time. “So what exactly are

you going to do to make me not forget about you?”

She rolled onto her back and slowly raised her

hands over her head. “It’s more like what are you

going to do.”

I turned onto my side and slid my hand down

between her tits. “Daddy’s choice?” I whispered.

Her eyes flared with desire.

I was a lucky fucker to have Kimber in my

bed.

The saying “a lady in the streets and a freak in

the bed” was Kimber to a T.

During the day, she worked at a doctor’s

office where she answered phones and dealt with

bitchy ass people with a smile on her lips, and at

night, she was my naughty little minx who couldn’t

get enough of me.

I grabbed her by the waist and flipped her over

onto her stomach. “On your knees, ass in the air.”

She scampered up to her knees and wiggled

her ass at me. I moved behind her, my knees

between her legs, and slapped her ass. “Always

hungry for my cock,” I growled.

She looked over her shoulder at me with her

bottom lip between her teeth and nodded her head.

“Always,” she whispered.

My hand wrapped around my cock, and I

stroked up and down with my eyes never leaving

hers. “Greedy pussy.”

She reared back and bumped her ass against

my hand. “Stop talking and start doing.”

I gripped the globe of her ass and parted her

cheeks. Her pussy was dripping, and the bud of her

ass begged to be fucked. “Anything I want, baby?”

“I guess that all depends on what time you

need to leave,” she replied coyly.

I knew I didn’t have the time to fuck her

properly. She was trying to distract me from going

to the club, but I couldn’t miss the party. I pressed

my dick against the entrance to her pussy and

slowly pushed in. “Your ass is mine later tonight,” I

promised.

She reared back again, her ass grinding against

me. “Promises, promises,” she muttered.

Damn right, it was a fucking promise. It was

one I planned on keeping, too. I grabbed a handful

of her hair and pulled her head back. “I’m gonna

fuck you so hard, you aren’t going to be able to get

out of bed the whole time I’m gone.”

“Yes,” she hissed.

I put a hand on her hip and thrust deep. “Who

do you belong to, Kimber?” I demanded.

“You,” she breathed out.

“Say my name.”

A sultry laugh fell from her lips. “Does one

name get me a fucking and the other a spanking?”

“Damn straight, baby. Choose carefully.”

She rubbed her ass against me and flexed the

walls of her pussy around my dick. “As fun as a

spanking sounds, I need your dick.”

I slowly pulled out then slammed back into

her. “Like that? You want it hard?”

She groaned and shook her head. “Yes,

Daddy.”

I let go of her hair and grabbed her hips.

She dropped her head to the mattress and

braced her arms. “Please, Gear. Fuck me.”

She spoke the words she knew would drive

me crazy and give her exactly what she wanted.

With each thrust of my hips, she moaned

my name.

My fingers dug into her hips as I held her

still and drove into her. “Tell me again,” I grunted.

“I’m yours,” she gasped. “I’m yours, Gear.”

I felt her climax climbing and moved faster.

“Play with yourself, baby.” I was going to come

soon, and I wanted her pussy to milk every last

drop of cum from me.

Her hand snaked between her legs. “Gear,

please,” she pleaded. “Fuck me.”

While her fingers stroked her clit, my dick

pounded her pussy.

“I’m…I’m

coming,”

she

whimpered.

“Gear…please.”

Her pussy contracted around my dick as her

orgasm washed over her, and she ripped my release

from me. “Fuck yeah,” I grunted. “Take it all,

baby.”

She panted my name then buried her face in

the pillow.

The final tremors rocked through me, and I

fell onto the mattress next to her.

She dropped the rest of the way and partially

rolled into me.

I threw an arm over her and pulled her close.

“Sure you don’t want to come with me?” I asked

again. “We could find a room at the clubhouse and

find the time to do that all over again.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Or I could

just stay here, eat some pizza, and sleep until you

get home.”

“It’s gonna be late.” I didn’t expect to leave

the clubhouse ‘til well into the morning.

“Just wake me up when you get home.”

She wasn’t going to budge on this. I had been

a prospect for the club four months, and she

refused to even step foot at the clubhouse. “One

day, I’m going to get you to come to a party.”

She scoffed. “But that day is not today,” she

laughed.

I pressed a kiss to the side of her head and

rolled out of bed. She pulled the blanket over her

body and turned onto her back. “You didn’t need to

cover up.”

She rolled her eyes and fluffed the pillow

under her head. “Last I checked, if you’re not in

this bed, then you don’t have a say about what I’m

wearing or doing.”

I grabbed the blanket and tugged it down her

body ‘til I could see her tits. “Is that so?”

She grabbed the blanket to tug it up, but I

didn’t let it go. “You’re gonna be late, Quinn,” she

tried to reason.

“I’m already late, Kimber. My ass should have

been on my bike half an hour ago, but your greedy

pussy kept me in bed.”

She scooted down the bed and managed to get

under the covers enough to conceal her body from

me. “Well, this pussy is staying in bed cause I had a

long day at work and since you just fucked me

twice, I think a nap is needed before I order pizza.”

“A nap and pizza, huh?” That did seem like a

good night, but the club couldn’t be put off. I let go

of the blanket and bent to pick up my clothes.

“Save me a slice, and don’t put fucking olives on

it.”

She snuggled under the blanket and watched

me get dressed. “How many people are going to be

there tonight?”

This was the fourth large party the club had

since I had started prospecting, and each one kept

getting bigger than the last. “I think a shit-ton. I

don’t get to sit in on the meetings, but Mud had

mentioned another club was coming in for the

night.”

“Still can’t believe the guy who is your

sponsor goes by the name Mud.”

I shrugged on my shirt. “Baby, I told you road

names can be anything. You should be happy and

realize I was lucky to get a name like Gear and not

Mud or Bug.” I pulled on my socks and then my

pants.

She wrinkled her nose. “Doesn’t mean I have

to like it.”

I sat down on the edge of the mattress and

pulled on my shoes. “But you don’t have to bust

my balls about it all of the time,” I reminded her.

“I know,” she sighed. “I promise I’ll come to

the next party with you. I just don’t want to go to

one of these and then be left all alone because you

have some obligation to grab someone a beer every

five minutes.”

I stood up and turned to look down at her.

“You’re really going to go to the next one?” I

asked, surprised. I really didn’t think I was ever

going to be able to get her to come to the

clubhouse.

She nodded. “Only for you, though. I’m not

interested in making friends with the other chicks.”

“They’re called ol’ ladies, Kimber,” I

chuckled. “And I happen to know when the next

party is.”

“Oh God,” she laughed. “I have time to look

forward to dreading going.”

I shook my head. “You won’t have to wait

long. Tomorrow night is another party.”

Her

jaw

dropped.

“Wait…what?”

she

squawked. “I can’t…you didn’t…”

She knew there wasn’t a way in hell that I was

going to let her go back on her promise of coming

to the next party. I leaned down and pressed a kiss

to her lips. “Get some rest, baby. You’re going to

need it for the party tomorrow.”

I strutted out of the room and straight out of

our apartment.

Kimber may not like the club, but she was

going to start coming to these damn parties with

me.

She had said she would, and I wasn’t going to

let her go back on her word.

Grab your copy

here.

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