“You can’t handle who I really am, Cherry.” She tenses on my lap, then sears me with angry eyes.
“Don’t fucking tell me what I can and can’t handle, Lip. I’m not a child. I’m not that scared broken girl you once knew.” My jaw ticks with her tone of voice. I’m angry but it’s pretty fucking sexy. She’s right. We’ve both grown over the years, ‘cause Cherry standing up to me isn’t something I’m used to.
“Lip?”
“Yeah,” I mutter, my eyes growing heavy.
“Why did you go to prison?” I exhale a long breath. I never told her why I went to prison. Even with her position as my ol’ lady, I don’t have to tell her, since ol’ ladies are not privy to club business.
“I think I at least deserve to know. I have done things for this club. I have accepted them as my family, and I waited for you for six fucking years without knowing the reason you were taken from me,” she continues.
I rub my forehead with the heel of my palm. I owe her at least an explanation; it’s the least I could do with the way I’ve been treating her lately.
“We got pulled over on a run. We had just left the drop, and it went bad. Bull ended up stabbing one of their men. I guess they called the police after we left,” I scoff. “Fucking pussies. Anyway, when they jumped out of their cars pulling weapons, I knew right away they were after us because of what Bull had done. I was next to Bull, so I reached over and grabbed his knife out of his pocket and stuck it in my back pocket.”
“I know why you did it, why you covered for him. I don’t blame you. I have come to love this club; they’re my family. I would do anything for them,” she replies.
I nod, because the bond we share is comparable.
I close my eyes and continue to rub her hair.
CHERRY
Something slides up my leg, waking me. My eyes slowly open, finding a man standing right in front of me. I jerk upward, and the man jumps back. It’s the same guy from the party. Boonie. He swooped in and put his hand around my waist, telling me he wanted his cock sucked. I laughed him off and tried to pull away. Horny men at the club are not an uncommon thing. That was when Lip showed up in a fit of rage I’ve never seen before. The look on Lip’s face, the fury in his eyes. I won’t lie, it was unsettling.
I look up and see Lip asleep.
“Psst.” I whip my head back to Boonie who is sliding his hand along his neck, imitating slicing his throat. My eyes widen and my mouth parts.
“Don’t you wake him,” he whispers. “Get off him and come here. Now,” he continues. I swallow hard and dig my fingers into Lip’s lap, praying it will wake him.
Lip groans, and pulls his head up from the back of the seat. Thank fuck. Lip scowls when his eyes find Boonie.
“You have to be the dumbest motherfucker.” Lip pushes me aside and stands. Boonie grins and walks backward, his body becoming one with the shadows of the garage before disappearing.
“That guy is fucking creepy,” Lip states. I scurry down to the floor and pull my shorts on. “Did he touch you?”
I bite my lip and look away. “No.” I don’t want to tell him, because after the way Lip reacted before, I’m not sure he won’t kill Boonie.
“Let’s go find an empty room to sleep in. The sun will be rising soon.” Lip holds his hand out, motioning for me to take it. I grab his palm and follow him. He takes us inside the club where everyone is asleep. The music is still playing, but softly. There is someone passed out on the couch, a woman hanging off the bar with no shirt on, and a man passed out in a pile of vomit on the floor.
“Jesus,” I whisper. Lip tugs me down the hall to the last room on the left. His room. He pulls out a key and unlocks it. I haven’t been in here in forever. There is a double bed in the middle of the room with a giant shelved headboard. A chair sits in the corner, and the walls are lined with naked chicks standing next to motorcycles.
“I’m going to jump in the shower,” Lip tells me, walking into the adjoined bathroom.
I cross my arms and sit on the bed. Sex tonight with Lip was different on so many levels. It was raw. I felt connected to him in a way I never realized I had been missing. It makes all the other times we had sex before seem fake, like he wasn’t really there. He never looked at me when we had sex before, now that I think about it. There are too many things running through my head, and things are not adding up. Has Lip always been this devious? Who was that chick in his arms when I showed up? Has he cheated on me?