“Hey, stranger,” Melissa starts, plopping down beside Nette—Phoebe’s friend she met on her tour around the world with the rich and famous. I like Nettie, a lot. She’s down to earth and has a fire in her. Also, she makes me laugh. I’ll always find time for people who can make me laugh.
“Wanna dance? I’ll let you do the running man?” Melissa continues, wiggling her eyebrows.
Phoebe chuckles. “Nope, I’m good.”
I hand her a bottle of beer. “Come on, Phoebe. Let’s drink a little.”
Phoebe opens her mouth, but snaps it shut when a roar of bikes begins to shake the atmosphere. The table shaking underneath me has my breath hitching. I’m used to it now, being surrounded by Phoebe’s family, but that sound still pulls at something deep inside. I’m not sure what, but something. That feeling where you’re in-between danger and excitement? I think that’s what it is.
She glances over her shoulder and whispers, “Beast is here.”
“Beast?” Melissa asks with a mischievous smirk. “I like the sound of that.”
Phoebe lets out an exasperated breath. “Melissa, no. Put your lady bits away. He’s special.”
That perked Melissa’s attention. I shake my head, taking another sip of my drink.
“Special, huh? Special as in huge dick special, or special as in chode little dick special?” A loud sound of laughter echoes around our table, me joining in with them. Melissa, she’s something else.
“Uh, nope, I’m not even going to justify that with an answer, but no. Not a chode. Not that I know, but he is… complicated,” Phoebe rushes out, not wanting to go further on the matter.
A crowd has formed around the new bikers that have pulled up when Phoebe places her head into her hands. “I need to pull it together. I have the circuit and Ryder. Who, by the way, has been amazing.”
I nod my head, taking her hand in mine. “You’ll get through it, Phoebe. For someone who’s biggest fear is to lose those closest to her, you’ve made great progress.”
She smiles an appreciative smile at me, so I return one back to her. On the corner of my eye, I can see the crowd has formed around our table. When I bring my eyes up to the large shadow standing at the head of our table, I’m met with the same empty dark eyes I remember from all those years ago.
Holy fuck.
My heart races harder, pulse thickening, with my body flushing out. I think I’m having a panic attack, but before I can answer, my lids close and my head flops onto the table in a crack.
Way to go, Meadow. Just faint in front of everyone. Now he probably thinks I’m no different to who I was all those years ago, but he would be wrong. The gripping on my upper arm pushes me out of my daze, and when I snap my eyes open again, I’m remembered why it all happened in the first place by the burning gaze of the black depths beaming into me.
Squirming, I push my chair out before Melissa and Nettie begin to escort me inside the bar. Pushing open the door, I shuffle out of their arms, placing my hand on my forehead. “It’s okay, I’m all right. Shit. Shit,” I whisper out. I’m still in shock, the buzzing coming through my ears confirming that.
“Are you okay? What was that about?” Melissa asks, pulling out a stool for me at the bar.
“That was a huge throwback right there in my face,” I answer, rubbing my temples with my fingers.
“Big he is. My God, he’s beautiful and large… I wonder if he’s that big every—”
“Melissa!” I snort, reaching for a bottle of vodka from behind the bar. The sound of the front bar door slamming shut shocks me back to my seat, with the vodka tucked away comfortable in my hands. Swallowing, I look to Melissa, nodding my head. “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you guys in a bit.”
“Are you sure?” Nettie asks.
I nod my head with a small smile. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, it’s just—”
“Get the fuck out. Now,” Beast growls from his position. That voice is still the same, seeping into my skin and wrapping me up in some sort of psychological blanket of comfort. What is with that? I barely know him.
Melissa narrows her eyes a little. I take a stand from my seat, rubbing her arm. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine. I know him, he won’t hurt me.”
Melissa and Nettie both nod their head, before they make their way to the doors. I don’t realize they’re out until I hear the door close again. I still haven’t looked up to him. I don’t think I’m ready to look at him again.
I need a drink.
Taking a seat back onto the stool, I twist the cap off the bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. Skipping the fact that this is some fancy vodka for a clubhouse, before wrapping my lips over the rim and letting the warm liquid burn the back of my throat, settling into a pool of fire in the pit of my stomach.