Roll Me Away: A Smokey's Roadhouse Novel (7 page)

S
o this was it
. I was doing it. My first felony, if I didn’t count working on the bikes in Carl’s shop that I didn’t know were stolen. Right up until this moment, I didn’t know if I could go through with it. I felt a buzz of excitement in my arms and legs.

Another first would be the race across to Rawlins, a longer trip than I’d ever made on a motorcycle before. It was surreal – a dream I never knew I dreamed – but I was pumped.

The smart thing to do would be to blend in with the crowds and try to ignore what I’d be doing in a few hours. I needed to be calm and smart about it. The crowds were noisier than they’d been before noon, so I knew the drinking had commenced.

When Sarge cut me loose, I took a minute to orient myself in the little town, and then headed toward Downshift. I expected to see some brothers there. I also wanted to hook up with Jake and his crew, and find out if they were working in tandem or every man for himself.

I found Gears and Snail outside on the patio munching on pretzels with a pitcher between them.

“Hey.”

“Hey, prospect. What’s your name again?” Gears asked.

I took a split second to decide whether this was a taunt that deserved a smart-ass answer, or whether he was just drunk already.

“Dunno. What’s yours?”

The two of them busted up. “Have a beer, man,” Gears answered. “There’s a bitch around here somewhere. Have her get you a mug.”

The bitch in question was right behind him, in fact. She sneered at the back of his head and then smiled at me when I winked.

“What can I get you, honey?”

“Just a mug. These losers offered to share,” I answered.

“I’ll bring you a cold one and fill it fresh,” she said. “This is piss-warm.”

As she walked off, I told Gears he hadn’t made a friend.

“Ah, fuck it. If I wanted her to, she’d be sucking my dick before nightfall,” he bragged. Yep, he was drunk.

“So, what’s the plan, you guys? We doing this in pairs, or on our own, or what?”

“Doing what?” they chorused.

That wasn’t going to catch me. I kept my mouth shut.

Snail glanced around, and seeing we weren’t in anyone’s range, leaned forward and stage-whispered. “Don’t wait for no one. You see something, go for it.”

Good news for me. These guys were going to be sloppy drunk by the time the easy pickings started. I didn’t want to be within three miles of them, much less in sight. I couldn’t figure why the five rebels were the cream of this club’s crop, or so they seemed to think. They were careless, and that wasn’t something I wanted to be around.

I nursed my beer and shot the shit with the guys who, despite being careless and not what I wanted for partners in crime, were pretty funny. Maybe an hour after I got there, Hoss showed up. Gears asked him about the others.

“Pug snagged one last night. He’s probably on his way back by now. Haven’t seen Jake.”

After we compared notes, it turned out I was the last to see Jake, when he dumped the girl on me. “I saw him, around midnight. As far as I know, he went back to his room. Wait, wasn’t he at church?”

We racked our brains. It was strange no one had remarked on his absence, but then, Pug had been absent, too. We knew where he’d been. We finally came to the conclusion that Jake had, in fact, not been at the meeting.

“What was he doing when you saw him, Zach?” This, from Gears, gave me a clue I was on the verge of being accepted. He’d called me by name.

“Uh, he asked me to escort a young lady home,” I finally answered. It seemed the safest thing to say.

The others broke out in guffaws. “Escort… ha, ha, didn’t want to keep her, huh?” They pressed me for details, but I just shook my head. Let Jake tell the story if he wanted it known. I knew when to keep my mouth shut.

In a coincidence I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t seen it, just then I spotted the young lady in question, approaching from the inner bar behind Gears. I looked at my watch. Three p.m., right on time. This girl had it bad. Unfortunately, Jake wasn’t here as I’d suggested, and now I needed to make her understand why he wasn’t, without knowing the truth of it myself. I sure couldn’t tell her he was on his way back to Wyoming on a stolen bike.

Excusing myself, I went to meet her.

“Hey, Cricket. Good to see you.” She craned her neck, trying to see around me to the group at the table I’d left. “He’s not there, sorry.”

“Where is he?”

“That seems to be a bit of a mystery. If you want, I’ll walk you over to the motel, see if he’s in his room. No guarantees.”

“That would be great, Zach.” She smiled at me and suddenly the sun was brighter. Fuck me. I had the hots for this girl, and all she could talk about was fucking Jake. But at least she knew my name. Maybe when she figured out he was a player, she’d need someone to pick up the pieces.

I’ll be there for you, sweetheart.

I could feel the eyes of the brothers on my back, so I turned and waved at them, then took Cricket’s elbow and turned her toward the exit. Catcalls and hoots followed us out. I cringed when I heard Gears’ voice yelling, “I’m next!”

I’d have pretended it wasn’t my friends yelling, if she hadn’t turned to me with a frown on her face. “What does he mean?”

“Never mind. He’s an asshole. Just trying to get to me. Don’t worry about it.”

She stayed silent, but a quick look at her face revealed she was still frowning.
Thanks a lot, buddy. You’ve just made it twice as hard for me.

E
ver since I
’d seen Zach outside the motel this morning, I’d been wondering whether to go to that bar or not. How lame was it to chase after someone like Jake? He was famous, and I was a nobody. But I felt I needed some closure. Even just to talk to him. Had it been as intense for him as it had for me? Probably not. I guess he hadn’t passed out. Jeez, what a stupid thing to do. I didn’t even know if he’d climaxed.

Or, what if he’d just kept fucking me, even though I was unconscious? That would have been creepy, right? Or maybe he didn’t notice? But yeah, he’d taken me to Zach so someone would take care… Wait. Why hadn’t he taken care of me himself?

I’d pretended to have a headache when the family came over and paraded through my shower one by one. Mom offered to stay with me while the others took in some of the races, but I told her I just wanted to sleep it off. From the corner of my eye, I saw Egghead mime taking a swig of beer, but I didn’t have the heart to fight with him about it. Dad herded the others out and then turned back to me.

“Cricket, honey. I know you’re an adult, but I want you to know your mom and I are here for you if you need us. It’s okay to overindulge once in a while, but please don’t do it every night. You won’t enjoy the rally that way, and it’s a bad example for your brother and sister. Okay?”

“Okay, Dad. Would you turn out the light?”

He came over and kissed my forehead. “Sure, honey. Trust me, I’ve had a hangover before, and I know it’s no fun. Let’s make this the last one, okay?”

“Yeah, Dad.”

At last, they were gone, and I could get back to thinking about what to do. Chase Jake to get closure? Or let it go, chalk it up to one crazy impulse, and go back to my tame family vacation? Or, dare I hope? Chase Jake and have a repeat performance, this time while fully conscious the whole time?

By early afternoon, I’d made my decision. One way or another, I had to see Jake. I’d hate myself if it were left up in the air like this. I had to know if he hated me for leaving him high and dry, or if there was another chance to make it right. Making it permanent was out of the question, for many reasons. I knew that, even if my emotions insisted on keeping the option open.

I got up and took another shower, with the intention of making myself as alluring as possible to a bad boy biker.

I
t was disappointing
to learn from Zach that Jake wasn’t at the bar after all. But then he offered to walk me over to the motel and see if Jake was in his room. My grandmother used to say ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’, and I knew it fit this situation. I’d made my decision and followed through. I might as well take it all the way.

On the way to the motel, I decided I liked Zach. He was sweet, though I was sure he wouldn’t like to be thought so. He couldn’t hide his interest in me, which was flattering. At the same time, he wasn’t a creep about it. And he seemed willing to help me with Jake, which I thought was pretty cool of him.

I made a mental note to think about that later. Jake was every girl’s dream – looks to die for, confidence bordering on arrogance, and a commanding air about him that compelled me to obey. Zach had most of that, too. But he was obviously suppressing the impulse to crowd me. That bore some thought.

It took only a few minutes to walk to the motel. Zach and I took the stairs together, but he stood back as I knocked on the door. We waited. After a few minutes, Zach stepped forward and knocked, or rather pounded on the door. We waited some more. Finally, it was beyond obvious that Jake wasn’t there. Or was, but was with someone, which I didn’t want to think about.

“Sorry, Cricket,” Zach said. “Want to go back to the bar and hang out? Maybe he’ll turn up.”

I thought about it for a minute. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t want to stalk him.”

Zach laughed. “I doubt he’d see it that way. More like you and every other girl in the world owe him your undying devotion.”

Stung, I lashed out. “What do you mean? He’s not like that.”

“Of course he is. Sorry, Cricket, but you don’t know him. I don’t either, really, but I know his type. I know he’s got magnetism, and I don’t mean to bust your bubble, but you need to know you’re not the only one.”

“How do you know that, if you don’t know him either? And I thought you guys belonged to the same club.”

“I just do. I’m a prospect to the club they left a few weeks ago, so I don’t know him well. But we live in the same small town. I’ve watched him and the others, and how they operate. You don’t want to get involved with a biker, sweetheart. You’re too innocent.”

I stared at him for a moment. Leave it at that, or reveal more of myself to this guy I’d just met? The disappointment pushed me to say more than I should have. “I’m not innocent. I know what I’m doing, and I know it’s not like I’m getting involved. It’s a fling, that’s all.”

I watched doubt creep into his eyes, but he nodded. “So, you coming or not?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe I’ll find my family and catch a race with them.”

“Want me to go with you? It’s getting rough out there.”

As he said it, I became aware of the noise level. The whole town sounded like one big roar, though I was sure it was just that half a million people were stuffed into an area that normally housed fewer than seven thousand.

Grateful for a buffer between me and those crowds, I accepted. Besides, it would be a good way to observe how my family behaved when I showed up with a big, tatted biker. Even if he was only a prospect.

N
o lie
, I was freaked out by what happened with the girl. I slept late after tossing and turning for hours, and discovered I’d missed church. So I slept some more.

Sometime around noon, my dad came knocking on my door, and we went out to lunch away from where the rest of the club would be circulating. I soon found out why. Fucking prospect opened his fucking mouth about the girl. When I saw him again, I’d have to straighten him out.

Dad jawed at me for the whole time we were eating. Finally, I figured out he and Sarge thought I’d given her something. That was when I spoke up.

“I fucking didn’t. She said she’d seen my videos, and she was hot to get a taste of Jack Malone. If she had anything in her system, she put it there herself. The only thing I gave her was this.” I grabbed my crotch.

“Save it, Jake. Okay, I believe you about the girl. And don’t go getting up Zach’s ass about this. Sarge forced him to tell him after they ran into the girl this morning. He didn’t want to.”

“Then he fucking should have kept his fucking mouth shut.”

“Just cool it. It’s over. Remember what you’re here for, and it isn’t to get your pecker serviced. Now go out and do what you came here for, so we can get this clusterfuck behind us and get you back in the club where you belong.”

Only my fucking father could make me feel like a little kid again, but that’s exactly what he did. I left the burger stand sulking and kept to myself. When I could regain my normal front I’d show where my crew could see me. They’d know in a hot second I’d been scolded like a dog if I rushed it, and like the dog pack they were, they’d tear me to shreds. If I wanted to stay the alpha, I’d have to fucking hide like a coward until I could act like it again.

I’d never be able to tell anyone, not even Dad, why I am the way I am. As one of the youngest in my generation, the sons of the original Devils, I’d always had something to prove. My best friend, Smokey’s only son, and I had been tight as thieves coming up. He’d had a quiet personality, the opposite of mine. But he was the instigator. We got into trouble together from the time we were old enough to run around the compound without supervision. He had the ideas, but I took the rap.

Then, a few years back, he got political. Long story short, he joined the military, and the next thing we knew he’d been deployed to fucking Afghanistan. I should have been with him, but I didn’t give a shit about the country that turned its back on my dad. So, he went alone and got himself killed, the fucker.

After that, I went bat-shit crazy. I knocked over a couple of liquor stores in Rock Springs. Took out my anger on the Bunnies and found out they loved it. So I auditioned for the video business, and a few of my friends followed my lead. We were good at it, but it was crappy work with crappy pay. We wanted more.

That’s when I got the idea to approach Sinaloa. I worked my way up from a dealer in Rawlins to pretty high in the local branch of the cartel, and it looked like we were in. Then it fell apart, and the rest was recent history.

So yeah, if I did something reckless, they could chalk it up to anger, because I didn’t think I’d ever not be angry again. It was nobody’s business who I chose to fuck, why I chose them, or how I fucking did it.

After psyching myself up for a while, I went out to prowl for a likely mark. I didn’t care if it was a girl to take back to my room, or a bike to take back to Rawlins. I was fucking pissed off and needed an outlet.

I
t was maybe
three-thirty when I spotted the perfect bike. A Street 750 stock-model stood in an alleyway behind a bar. The owner, who I watched parking the bike and getting off, was a fucking civilian, no cut. And the bike looked brand new. The owner must have been a waxer, someone who spent more time babying his bike than riding it.

When Carl was finished with it, no one would ever fucking recognize it. This idiot probably had all kinds of security devices on the bike, but he never set any of them. Too bad for the wannabe, his bike was about to become property of the Dust Devils.

I looked around, making sure no one was watching. What I was about to do would fuck up the ignition, but that was easily fixed. I’d ride it to the motel and check for a hidden lo-jack, then head out. Out of a pocket on the inside of my cut came a custom-made tool for getting past the ignition barrel, and in thirty seconds I was rolling the 750 down the street where I could fire it up without the notice of the clueless owner. One minute later, I was two blocks down the street, and no one was after me.

On my way out of town, I gave a thought to the girl I’d fucked last night. Would she be looking for me today for more of the same? I’d fucking rocked her world, so it wouldn’t surprise me.

Maybe the Boy Scout, Zach, would comfort her until I got back. Or one of the other guys. If she recognized me, she might recognize one of them, too. We all took part in the gang-bang scenes. Would she like to be in the middle of one of those?

Maybe when I got back, I’d find her and suggest she come to Wyoming and try out, or just recruit her as a Bunny. We could always use more of those, since they tended to drift away after no one picked them up for an old lady. A few actually lucked out and did get claimed, but our group was small enough that unless we started practicing polygamy like some of our neighbors, there weren’t enough men to go around.

When I rolled past the city limits and left the rally behind me, it was almost five. I figured I’d be in Rawlins by eleven, at the latest. I’d crash there for the night and start back in the morning, hanging my thumb out for a trucker.

Civilians tended to sweep past a hitchhiker, especially one carrying a helmet and wearing biker colors. Truckers were another breed. Almost like brothers. Some of them even belonged to clubs, although most of them weren’t outlaws. One of them would pick me up, and I’d be in Sturgis by tomorrow evening, latest.

I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. They knew what we were there for, and they’d figure it out. The girl wouldn’t, of course, but by the time I was an hour southwest of Sturgis, I didn’t care. Plenty more where she came from, even though she was the first I’d ever seen pass out from an orgasm. Damn, that was freaky. And kind of hot.

T
he last thing
I would have suspected was that Cricket would use me as a test for her family. I’d helped her locate them, since I knew what her brother looked like and I was taller than she was. I could see over most of the crowd.

But then, she’d insisted on introducing me. Without looking suspicious, I couldn’t avoid it when she dragged me by the hand to meet her parents, brother and sister. I probably looked like a deer in headlights as I said hello and shook hands with her mom and dad.

After that, it was a sweat-inducing half hour while they put me through the third degree. How old was I, where was I from, what did I do for a living, how did I know their daughter? I did my best to answer without being evasive, but when it came to the last question, I was stumped. I met her in a bar? I opened my mouth to tell the half-truth when she intervened.

“Dad, stop it. He was nice enough to get me through the crowds and help me find you. You’re embarrassing me.”

To my relief, Mr. Baxter immediately apologized. From the corner of my eye, I caught Mrs. Baxter about to say something, but she closed her mouth and pressed her lips together, as if to stop herself from saying whatever was on her mind.

Aaron, the brother, picked up the thread about my being a motorcycle mechanic, and peppered me with questions about how a bike was put together, what usually went wrong with them, and more. I was grateful to have something to talk about that wouldn’t have any pitfalls to trap me.

While I talked with him and Cricket spoke in low tones to her parents, the little sister stared at me with big eyes. It got uncomfortable after a while. I stopped talking and looked straight at her, to find her eyes tracing my tats.

“Did you have a question?” I asked her. Everyone else stopped talking and looked at her, too. I waited for someone to say something about the subjects I’d chosen to portray on my arms.

“Does that hurt?” she asked.

“No, they don’t hurt. They’re mostly pretty old.”

“I meant, when you got them. Did it hurt to get them?”

“Um.” I looked over at her mom. She looked just as interested, and I knew what I had to do. “Yeah, they did. A lot. I screamed a couple of times.”

Cricket put her hand over her mouth, but her eyes twinkled. She got it. Aaron tilted his head, and the mom nodded. The little girl, whose name I couldn’t remember, widened her eyes. “You did?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. It would be a while before this kid could get a tat without her parents’ permission, but maybe she wouldn’t bug them for it if she thought it was painful. “This one,” I said, pointing to a skull with a rose vine twining out of its eye sockets, “hurt like a sonofabitch. Sorry Mrs. B.”

Cricket lost it then. She snorted, trying not to laugh out loud, I suspected. “Come on, Zach. They’re going to be here for a while. Can I buy you a burger to thank you for your help?”

“Uh, sure, I guess.” I shook her dad’s hand and nodded at her mom, who was still looking at me like I’d crawled out from under a rock. Cricket grabbed my hand and dragged me away before I could do anything but wave at the kids.

As soon as we were out of hearing distance, she stopped and threw her arms around me. “I haven’t had that much fun in months,” she said.

I decided not to remind her she must have had quite a bit of fun the night before. Besides, I was enjoying the attention she was giving me, and didn’t want to bring fucking Jake into it.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Did you see my mom’s face? I thought she was going to have a kitten. Toooo funny! Did you really scream?”

“Nah. I just thought your mom wanted me to discourage your sister. She looked like she was ready to ask for a tat.”

“Oh, she totally was. She’s a little rebel, kind of like me. But that was sweet of you.”

Sweet. Not exactly the image I was going for. I raised one eyebrow.

“I mean, to do what you thought my mom wanted. You’re not like the others, you know.”

“What others?”

“Your friends. They’re… I don’t know.
Dangerous.
I feel safe with you.”

Oh, great. She felt safe. That was the nail in the coffin if I wanted to get anywhere with her. “Oh, yeah? And just how do you know any of us?”

Her mouth formed a small O, as she told me. “Didn’t Jake say? I’ve seen him and the ones you were with today in videos. But I don’t think I ever saw you.”

Her eyes dropped to my crotch for some reason. And then it hit me. Videos. Did she mean… ?

“What videos?”

A mischievous smile played on her lips. “You really don’t know? Maybe it’s a sideline or something. I guess I figured it was something the club did.”

“What. Videos?”

“Zach, don’t you ever watch porn? Those guys are all over the internet.”

Fuck me with a shotgun! Strangely, the first thought I had wasn’t about the action those assholes were getting, or putting together the hints I’d had and overlooked. I’d do that later.

The first thing was that she’d seen Jake in action in a fuck film and went with him to his motel room without so much as a face-saving excuse. She’d told me, and I hadn’t believed her. She wasn’t innocent. Not at all.

The next thing to happen was an instant boner. If she wasn’t the typical girl-next-door that got involved with something she didn’t understand, then there was only one other conclusion. She’d gone with Jake willingly, knowing exactly what would happen. That meant she’d maybe go with me.

I backed her up against the nearest wall. “No, I didn’t know. I told you, I’m new. To the club, I mean. But if it’s action you want, I’m sure I can handle it.”

She looked me in the eye, not intimidated by my show of dominance at all. “I don’t know, cowboy. Jake has a ten-inch cock. And lots of experience. Tell you what. When I’m done with him, maybe we can get together. You never know.”

Maybe she intended to make me feel inferior. If so, it didn’t work. I pressed my groin into her, watching to see the moment she registered my size. I kissed her, just roughly enough to let her know I meant business. When she started to melt into the kiss, I ended it.

“Well, if you want to settle for ten inches, I guess you’re not ready for me.”

I left her with her mouth hanging open, just lifting her hand to her lips. I couldn’t trust myself not to take her right there, but I was as pissed as I’d ever been before. Fucking Jake was a porn stud, was he? If he was their best, with only ten inches, my eleven would run rings around him. Why hadn’t I been told this? When were they going to trust me with all of their club secrets? Didn’t I deserve to know what I was getting into?

I went looking for Sarge.

B
y the time
I found him drinking with the others at Downshift, I’d calmed down. This wasn’t the time to confront the porn issue. I wasn’t even sure how I felt about it. I’d never had tender feelings for a special girl, but I always thought sex was a private affair, until that first night at the clubhouse.