“Glad you stopped following his lead. The world has too many fuckwits.”
“Lark gets full credit for that. I’d still be trying to make him value me if it wasn’t for her. I probably wouldn’t have met Winnie either.”
“Better watch yourself with Winnie. Well, not her, but Cooper. He’s looking to recruit guys he can trust into the club. Hooking up with Tad’s daughter puts you on Cooper’s radar. Hell, taking on the Devils when you were essentially unarmed put you on his radar. Now, the pinging must be deafening for him.”
“I doubt it. He’s never mentioned anything and I see him nearly every day.”
“Cooper paces himself. The club is transitioning over into his hands. He’s in no hurry to show his cards, but he’ll probably make a move with you before next year. Bailey talks a lot about family stuff and she says the guys from Memphis are pushing for Cooper to be fully in charge by sometime next year.”
Our food arrived and Nick smiled at his big bowl of spaghetti.
“I’m not telling you what your answer should be, but you said you crave the rough edges. Cooper and those guys live a life that doesn’t interest me. I don’t mind knowing what’s happening, but I can’t do what they need done. Whether you can or not is up to you, but I thought I’d give you a heads up.”
As Nick ate his lunch, I picked at mine. I felt uneasy about Cooper approaching me. Not so much about joining his lifestyle, but that I wouldn’t live up the standards they required. A privileged upbringing left me wanting more. Yet like Nick said, riding a Harley didn’t make me club material.
Chapter Thirteen ~ Winnie
Harlow wanted to buy a Harley with the money she won from fighting. Mom said no way and wished she would save the money for school or the future. Dad said spending so much money on a Harley when he had two in the garage made no sense. His solution was to have her drive the red one, hoping this satisfied her urge.
Harlow always drove nice and careful when we were on residential roads. Yet get her on a main strip and she drove as wildly as Bailey. All I could do was hold on and pray we didn’t die.
Fortunately, we arrived at the bowling alley without injury. I climbed off then steadied myself while Harlow fixed her hair.
“Speeding is fun,” she said, giving me a wink. “Learn to live a little, Winnie.”
Irritated at her for treating me like a dork when she was scared of a lot of stuff too, I said, “I might let Dylan see my boobs this weekend. I think that means I’m a bigger badass than you.”
Harlow frowned. “You should make him wait until you’re married to see your boobs. Why give it away for free?”
Sharing her frown, I glanced down at my chest then back at her. “What if I never get over my weird sex thing? He shouldn’t marry someone defective.”
“There’s more to marriage than sex. Besides, you’re not defective for thinking sex is gross.”
“True, but I want to look at Dylan’s boobs, so showing him mine is probably the fairest way to make that happen.”
Blank-faced, Harlow stared at me. Turning away, she shook her head. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Bailey Johansson had been a bad influence on you.”
Grinning, I followed her into the bowling alley where the bad influence sat on Nick’s lap.
“Hey, bitches, check my hickeys. My man marked me good.”
Harlow said nothing and kept on walking. I stopped though and checked out the hickeys on her neck. Nick just smirked while Bailey smiled like she’s won a prize.
“I have one too,” I said, showing off a new one near my ear.
“Slut,” Bailey cried. “I love it.”
“Who’s a slut?” Tawny asked, entering with a bored Judd.
“Winnie’s joined our slut club. Raven is still the ambassador though.”
Hearing her name as she entered, Raven played it safe and flipped us off. Tawny grinned while sizing up Raven and Vaughn’s matching bowling shirts.
Raven and Vaughn turned around to show off the back of the shirts which read “Big V” and “Better V.”
“You two are such dorks that I am embarrassed to be friends with you,” Bailey said, settling back on Nick’s lap. “Hey, should we get dork shirts too, now that we’re in love and everything?”
Nick gave her a great smile. “Our love transcends stupid shirts.”
“Watch it, Dragon,” Vaughn said, walking towards the lanes. “I’ve kicked asses for dumber reasons than mocking my shirts.”
Bailey flipped off Vaughn, but he was already focused on his designer bowling ball.
“I’m psyched to learn Dylan is a sexed crazed maniac,” Bailey announced. “Months ago, I stated Dylan was a horny toad. Nailed it again.”