Bared:Dirty Cruisers MC(32)

       
           



       



The shrill ring of a cell phone cut through the air and Elle jumped in surprise, cursing as she sloshed hot tea over the side of the cup. Quickly, she glanced around the small kitchen, finally locating the source of the noise and grabbed her purse, digging through it until she pulled out the small, outdated phone. With a flick of her wrist she had it flipped open and was putting it to her ear, trying to calm her suddenly racing heart.



"H –  Hello?" She said quietly.



"Elle?" Carla's voice exploded from the other end of the line, "It's Carla."



"I know."



"No, listen, something's happened – ."



"Oh my god! The farm –  Is it okay? Are you okay? Did those jerks come back?"



"No! No, it's not that. It's just … we got word from Sparkplug. That son of a bitch Viper has been –  Listen, I don't want to talk about this over the phone. I hate to ask this of you after yesterday but do you think you can come here? To the farm? And Honey too. We need to figure out what to do next, what we can do … " Carla's words trailed off and Elle just shook her head in confusion.



"What we can do? What do you mean? I thought we already had a plan." Elle said, fighting to keep the trembling out of her voice. It had started up again as soon as Carla had mentioned going back to the farm.



"We did, but now with this new information … Listen, Elle, are you okay? You sound shaky." Elle cursed silently, her friend knew her too well.



"I'm fine, Carla."



"Well, it's okay, you know, if you want to sit this one out. You've already done a lot to help and with everything that has happened I can't … I can't ask any more of you."



"Carla, I gave you my word." Elle said softly.



"I know, but with everything that's happened. Believe me, if I had known how messed up this would get I never would have asked you – ."



"I gave you my word." Elle interrupted, repeating the words and she was proud that her voice was a little stronger this time, "I promised."



She could hear Carla give a little breathy laugh from over the line before she finally gave her the rest of the info about when to meet.



"And you'll tell Honey, too? He needs to know. He needs to be there."



"Yes, I'll tell Honey." Carla would never know how hard it was for her to say his name just then, but in the next instant her friend was bidding her goodbye and hanging up the phone. Elle slowly released the pent up breath she felt like she'd been holding for the entire conversation.



"You'll tell Honey what?"



Elle whirled around, the cell phone clutched to her chest as she turned around to face him, startled and surprised. But as soon as her gaze fell on him she knew she'd made a mistake. She should have stayed facing away. It would have made talking to him so much easier.



They stared at each other for a long moment, just looking, each taking inventory of the other and for the first time Elle noticed his haggard appearance, the dark shadows smudged underneath his usually gleaming eyes. Maybe she wasn't the only one who hadn't been able to find sleep the night before. For some reason, that thought didn't bring her the satisfaction she had thought it would.



"What is it, Elle?" He asked, finally breaking the tension wrought silence that had settle between them. She had to swallow hard a few times before she could force any words out, and when she did, they were breathier than she would have liked.



"That was Carla, on the phone. She said … she said something's happened – ."



"At the farm?" Honey interrupted, his mind immediately following the same paths hers had, "Are they okay? Is Carla okay?"



"Yes, yeah, she said that they are fine. It's nothing like that. Not like … Not like yesterday." Elle took a deep breath, the memory of Scorpion threatening her affecting her more than she realized. "Carla wants us to meet them at the farm in an hour. She said we need to talk through everything and figure out what we can do next."



Honey just nodded slowly, his eyes not quite meeting hers.



"I'll go get ready then." He said softly. Elle opened her mouth to reply, although even she wasn't sure what she'd been going to say, but she didn't the chance. He was already moving away.





Chapter 24





Honey took what felt like his first full breath as he leapt out of Elle's way too fucking tiny car. It was practically claustrophobic in there, nothing at all like the freedom and endless exhilaration of being on the back of a bike, roaring down a stretch of empty highway. What he wouldn't give to be able to just hop on his motorcycle and ride away. To feel the wind on his face and the smell of a whole world ahead of him.                       
       
           



       



But he hadn't want her to drive alone, knowing how terrified she must be to come back to the farm after what had went down just the day before. He gave her a sideways look, taking her paler than normal face and the way her breath came in rushed, shallow pants. Her fingers were still white knuckled on the steering wheel when he leaned down.



"You comin' Elle? Or are you just planning on sitting this meeting out? Maybe cowering in your car for the next hour or so while we decide what needs to be done." He said, knowing his words would rile her up enough to forget her fear for a moment. It was worth her look of eye rolling irritation that she glared at him if it took away one ounce of the panic that kept her immobile.



He still didn't know what to feel or how to react after what had happened between the night before, but he felt that look move all the way through him, even if it was dark with frustrated anger. He didn't care. As long as she looked at him, that was all that mattered. He couldn't stand to go another minute, another second without seeing her mysterious, sultry gaze. He wanted to be able to look inside her, to see what was going on in that convoluted brain of hers, but that look was enough. For now.



Because he hated seeing her afraid. Pissed off, angry at him, frustrated. Any of that was better than the gut wrenching terror that had shadowed her beautiful face since they'd first gotten in the car to leave her house.



Something had shifted between them last night, even though he couldn't put it in words he could feel it. Like Elle was trying to put a distance between them, to separate her from the words that he'd said to her. Well, Honey had no intention of letting that happen, no matter how hard she tried to pretend that it hadn't happened. He'd been there, right there, and he'd felt the pain after he'd declared his love and she'd just stared at him, shocked, lost. It had been like a knife stabbing straight into his chest and the feeling hadn't left. It was still there, a reminder that there was still a whole hell of a lot of unfinished business between the two of them.



Honey almost cursed to himself as he glanced around. But here wasn't the place to hash it out. Over the long, endless, sleepless night he'd decided to give her some room to think about what he'd said, to let it sink in. But by the tension that had settled around them like a shroud he wondered if maybe he should have chased after her the night before. Make her listen to him. To believe him.



He mentally shook his head. It was in the past now, and he didn't know what the fuck to do about it except keep moving forward, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Because there was one thing that he did know, with a certainty that rocked him to the core. He had meant every word he'd told her the night before. He'd told her nothing but the simple truth. He loved her. He'd loved her since the first moment he'd laid eyes on her. Now, he just had to figure out how to make her believe them, too.



"Come on, Elle. You can't hide in there forever," Honey finally said, prodding her again, knowing just what buttons to push. Even though Elle was one of the most foolishly, recklessly courageous people he'd ever met, and that was saying something considering he was a member of a motorcycle gang, she was terrified that she was a coward at heart. It couldn't be further from the truth.



"I am not hiding!" She said, in that prim and proper teacher's voice that always put him in mind of the first time he'd overheard one of her piano lessons. The first time he'd seen her play. Her fingers had flown across the keys like they had a mind of their own, weightless, magic. It had also been the first time he'd ever seen her completely relaxed, totally comfortable with herself.



He understood now that there was a lot more to her anxiety around other people, and stressful situations, than he first realized. She was complex. Like a puzzle he was trying to put together without having all the pieces. Lucky for her, he was willing to spend as much time as it took to figure her out. He didn't plan on going anywhere.



Honey waited breathlessly to see if his bait would work and sure enough a moment later he heard her door creak open and then slam shut with more force than strictly necessary before her shuffling footsteps brought her around the car and back into view.