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“See ya,” I called to Mitzy. I quickly changed my shoes and pulled on my coat over my uniform. I grabbed my purse from the locker and dropped my shoes inside. I didn’t even have to look to my left to know that Six-Gun was standing there, waiting for me, when I stepped out the back door.
Every night...he was there.
It never changed.
“Ready?” he asked, his voice low and gruff. Sometimes I wondered if he gargled gravel to get that sexy growl.
I nodded and pasted a smile on my face. “Yup.”
Six-Gun turned and led the way to his motorcycle parked on the side of the building.
He didn’t say much.
At least, not to me.
Most of the time I liked that. He didn’t put any pressure on me to talk.
He was always around, though. I had asked Raelyn if he had been tasked with keeping an eye on me, but she had told me she didn’t know. Raelyn may be an ol’ lady, but that didn’t mean she was privy to everything going on with the club.
God knew she demanded to know more, especially about Leona’s killer, but she didn’t get far with her endeavor.
“Can we stop at the gas station on the way?” I asked softly.
Six-Gun glanced over his shoulder at me. “Sure.” If he was surprised by my request, I couldn’t tell.
Thankfully, he didn’t ask why.
Aunt Flo had decided to visit in the middle of my shift, and I had luckily been able to borrow a tampon from one of the other waitresses at the club. That had been three hours ago, and Aunt Flo was in full swing already. I needed to get some more tampons, or things were going to get real awkward, real quick.
Six-Gun swung his leg over his bike, and then, I did the same. He cranked up the bike, and I placed my hands on his waist. I had tried to ride without having to hold onto him the first time, but that hadn’t lasted long because I almost fell off when he turned.
“Uh, can we go to the one on Tenth?” It was out of the way, but it was a much nicer gas station than what we passed on the way back to the clubhouse.
“Whatever you want.” His tone was even, and I couldn’t read anything into the words about what he was thinking.
I never could.
He always talked to me the same.
As much as I tried, I couldn’t read the man. He handled me gently, like I was going to break at any instant, but he wasn’t overbearing in any sense of the word.
We headed in the opposite direction of the clubhouse and toward the gas station that was more like a small grocery store that also sold gas.
There weren’t many places open at this time of night, but thankfully, that one was.
We pulled up to one of the pumps, and I jumped off.
“Just wait,” Six-Gun advised. “I need to fill up first.” He slipped off the bike and twisted off the gas cap.
“I’ll just run inside and get what I need.” I didn’t need Six-Gun following me down the tampon aisle. That was one embarrassment I’d pass on.
“You’re not going anywhere without me. You can wait until after I fill up.”
“Why can’t I go inside? By the time you finish filling up, I’ll be back out here.”
Six-Gun shook his head and pulled out his wallet. “No.” He stuck his card into the pump and then pulled it out. “No one goes anywhere alone.”
“You can see me from here.” I pointed to the gas station, where the large windows allowed a view of everything inside. “I’m going in.”
Six-Gun grabbed my hand.
I froze, and all air left my lungs. My eyes dropped to his hand on mine.
He was touching me.
No one had touched me in months.
“Let me go,” I wheezed.
He instantly dropped my hand and stepped back. “Sorry. I just don’t want you going anywhere without me, Memphis,” he explained softly.
I couldn’t shake the feeling of his hand on mine.
My brain knew that Six-Gun would never hurt me, but my body cried out in protest.
Too many times, I had been touched without my permission.
I had touched Six-Gun when we rode on his bike, but that was me deciding to do it.
“I, uh, I just don’t...” I let my words trail off because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say.
I don’t want to be touched without my permission.
Everyone felt that way. Why was it so hard for me to say it out loud without feeling guilty?
“Is this because of Leona?” I asked, changing the subject away from myself. I wasn’t looking to talk about why I was so messed up at the gas pump.
Six-Gun nodded his head.
This was the first time I had wanted to go somewhere that wasn’t the clubhouse or the strip club. Six-Gun had always been the one to drive me, but I figured that was just because I didn’t have a way to get around.
Duh, Memphis. Of course, Six-Gun was being so protective of me because of Leona.
I knew they still didn’t know who had killed her and tried to kill Raelyn.
“Yeah, and other things.” He turned back to the pump and grabbed the nozzle. “We just want everyone to be safe. You and Raelyn included.”
“So Raelyn can’t go anywhere without Playboy?” Again, duh, Memphis.
Six-Gun shrugged. “Or someone from the club.”
He quickly filled up his bike and put the nozzle back. “Let’s go.” He didn’t reach for my hand but nodded toward the gas station. “Let’s get what you need.”
I walked ahead of him and pulled open the door. “Uh, I’ll just be a minute.”
He nodded and did a scan of the store. “Take as long as you need.”
I headed straight for the shelf with the tampons and grabbed two big boxes. This would get me through hopefully this month and the next.
I turned to head to the counter but paused.
How the hell was I going to carry these on the bike?
Six-Gun had those bag things on the side of the bike, but I wasn’t sure I could fit both boxes in them.
“Got what you need?”
I jumped and dropped one of the boxes. “Sweet Jesus,” I grumbled.
I bent over to grab the box right when Six-Gun did. We bumped heads, and I stumbled back into the shelf behind me.
“Damn, Memphis,” he laughed. He grabbed the dropped box and rubbed his head as he stood. “You trying to give me a concussion?”
“I could say the same to you. That was all of your fault,” I grumbled. Damn the man for being chivalrous and picking up what I dropped. I wasn’t used to that at all.
“My fault?” he laughed. “I was just checking to see if you needed anything else, and you jumped like a bear was attacking you.”
He had startled me, that was it. I grabbed the tampons from his hand. “I’m good. Great.” Kill me now.
He shook his head. “Well, that’s good.”
I stepped to move around him, but he didn’t move. “Uh, can I get around you?” His massive shoulders and body were blocking any possible way for me to get around him.
He grabbed the two boxes from my hands. “I got this.”
My jaw dropped, and I frantically reached for the boxes. “I can pay for my own tampons,” I growled. What in the hell was he doing? I had a good job. He should know that. He was a part of the club that signed my paychecks. I didn’t need him to pay for my tampons. Sure, I had been working for Jester for extra cash, but it wasn’t like I needed the money. I did it more to get that extra money to just save and sit on for a rainy day. Now that I was living at the clubhouse, there weren’t any rainy days, so I was just sitting on a nice nest egg. “Give those back to me.”
He shook his head and turned on his heel. “I will after I pay for them,” he called.
I chased after him, mortified. What was he doing?
He blindly reached for things until his arms were full and he was at the register.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. If I wanted an answer, I guess I needed to ask it out loud.
He nodded to the cashier and unloaded his bounty onto the counter. “All of this and also two packs of Marlboro Reds, hard pack.”
“Stop.” I tried to bump him out of the way, but he didn’t budge. It was like the man was cemented to the floor. “And smoking is bad for you.” I knew he smoked, and while he looked pretty darn hot doing it, I wasn’t exactly a fan of it.
The cashier quickly rang up everything, Six-Gun paid, and then the cashier handed him two full bags.
He walked to the doors and held them open. “You coming, doll?” he called.
I growled at the cashier even though it wasn’t his fault Six-Gun was being annoying, and stomped out the door.
“You don’t have to pay for my things,” I insisted. If he wanted a bunch of junk food and cigarettes, then he could pay for that. Leave my tampons to me to pay for though.
Six-Gun led the way to the bike and dropped the bags. He crouched down and opened one of the bags on the bike. “I know I don’t. I wanted to.”
“Why?” I demanded. “Why are you doing this?” Was he crazy or something?
“Because I want to,” he repeated. He started loading all the crap he bought into the bags. He only managed to fit half of it inside in the first compartment. He strapped the bag closed and moved to the other side of the bike. He repeated the process and managed to fit everything in the bags.
“Let’s go.” He crumpled the plastic bags in his hand and shoved them in the pocket of his leather jacket.
“No.” I was paying for my damn tampons.
He tipped his head to the side. “You wanna tell me why not?”
“Because we’re not leaving until you let me pay for my tampons.” I cringed at the words. Demanding to pay for my tampons was not something I ever imagined doing in front of a gas station.
“You’re not paying me. Get on the bike.” He nodded to the bike and folded his arm over his chest. “I can stand here all night and have this standoff with you, doll.”
“No.” I was not getting on his bike until he took my money. I pulled two crumpled twenties from my pocket and held them out to him. “Take this,” I insisted.
I wasn’t even sure how much the tampons were, but I didn’t want to have to owe him any money. He could use the extra cash to fill his gas tank the next time. God knows I owed him that for driving me back and forth since I went back to work.
He shook his head. “Not taking it. Save it.”
“For what?” I snapped. “I work and hang out at the clubhouse. Hell, I don’t even know why the hell I’m working because I don’t need to spend money on anything anymore. Last week, I had tried to give Raelyn money for groceries, and it ended up back in my room that night.”
“I know,” he drawled.
“What do you mean, you know?” I demanded.
“I was the one who put the money there. You don’t need to be chipping in for food. All of the guys eat most of the food, not you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can still pay for my share,” I insisted.
“You can try.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? I had barely spoken a word to this man over the past couple months, and now, he was standing in front of me telling me what to do with my money. “If you don’t take this, I’m going to use it to rent a donkey and put it in your room.”
Not the greatest threat, but it was the best I could come up with on the fly.
“It’ll cost you more than forty dollars to rent a donkey unless you go to Mexico to do it.”
“I...uh...” I shook my head. “I don’t think I want to know how you know that.” Maybe renting goats was part of the biker life I didn’t know about.
He laughed and threw his leg over the bike. “Probably not, doll. Tank and Rebel might tell you about it though.” He tipped his head to me. “Hop on. It’s been a long day, and I want to get home.”
I pursed my lips. “I am not getting on that bike until you take my money.” I thrust it toward him.
He looked at me and cranked up the bike. His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear what he said. He grabbed the money and shoved it in the pocket of his jacket.
Ha! He took it.
I climbed on behind him and placed my hands on his waist.
He knocked up the kickstand and rocketed out of the parking lot. He wasn’t happy, but I didn’t care.
He wasn’t going to pay for my stuff.
He should be happy I gave him extra money to cover all of the junk he bought. Though I wouldn’t have been mad if he let me have a bag of chips when we got back to the clubhouse. Aunt Flo was visiting, and my junk food stash was non-existent at the moment.
We pulled into the clubhouse parking lot a few minutes later and parked right next to the door. I slid off the bike and instantly tried to unstrap the bag thingies. “How the heck do you do this?” I asked. It looked like it was just a simple snap, but I couldn’t get it undone.
Six-Gun bumped me out of the way and easily opened the bag. He pulled the plastic bags from his pocket and started filling them. I tried to tell him just to give me my tampons, but he ignored me completely.
He had a bag in each hand and headed to the front door without a glance toward me.
“Why can’t you just give me my stuff?” I demanded as I chased behind him.
He held the front door open, and waited for me to step inside. I glared at him, and moved past him.
Like usual, no one else was in the common room this time of night. Everyone seemed to be in bed by the time I got off work most nights.
The rumors you heard about MCs always having a party were not true. At least, not for the Royal Bastards. They did have their parties, but it wasn’t a constant party.
“Lock the door,” he ordered. He kicked it closed behind him and hitched his head to me. “My hands are full.”
I flipped the lock and turned to reach for the bags, but he was already headed down the hallway.
“Would you wait up,” I called. Jesus. The man had legs that were a mile long. I had to do a little jog to catch up to him.
He stopped in front of my door. “Open.”
I rolled my eyes and opened the door. “Last I checked it’s not voice activated.”
He stepped inside, dropped the bags next to the bed, and walked out.
“What are you doing?” I demanded. He left all of his shit.
I grabbed the two bags and chased him down the hallway.
“I’m going to bed. You should, too.” He opened his door and ducked inside. He closed the door in my face, and I heard the lock slide into place.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with all of this stuff?” I hissed.
Tampons. That was all I needed. Well, and one bag of his chips.
“It’s yours. You paid for it. I’ll see you in the morning,” he called through the door.
“Six-Gun,” I called. “I don’t want this stuff.”
I didn’t even know what half of it was. I hadn’t paid attention to it because I figured it was all his.
“Things you need. Go to bed,” he insisted.
I reached for the door handle, but it didn’t budge. “Are you high or something?”
Something had to be going on with him. He had never done anything like this before.
“No. I’m tired and going to bed. Good night.” The thin crack of light that shone under the door went out, and I heard his bed creak.
I stomped my foot. “Open this door.”
I waited, but he didn’t answer.
I stomped back to my room, dropped the bags on the floor, rummaged through them, and headed into the bathroom with the two boxes of tampons.
This was all I needed.
Not the packages of cookies and cakes he had grabbed. It was a miracle he was so fit and muscular if he ate like that. Now me? I would gladly eat all of this. Probably not all at one time, but I would eat it. Thankfully, I had the metabolism of a fifteen-year-old boy. I was sure one day all of my junk food would catch up with me, but so far, it hadn’t happened.
I got ready for bed and headed back to the overflowing bags.
“What the hell?” I mumbled. There at the bottom of the bag was my crumpled twenty dollar bills. “Why that jerk,” I seethed. I didn’t even know when he had managed to do that. It must have been when he refilled the bags. That was why he didn’t let me help and he didn’t want to be around when I went through the bags.
I dropped the money on the nightstand and sighed. I was going to have to sneak it to him. Maybe just shoved it under his door and play stupid when he asked me about it.
My stomach rumbled, and I stared at a pack of Nutter Butters.
My absolute favorite. How had he known?
Bastard.
I grabbed the package, turned off the lights, and flopped onto bed. I slipped under the covers and opened the package of cookies in the dark.
That man was infuriating.
Where did he get off thinking that he would buy me a bunch of junk food and tampons?
I chomped down on a cookie and groaned at the creamy peanut butter and crisp cookie. I didn’t know what he was up to, but you could bet your ass I was going to be on guard around him from now on.
If I had learned anything, it was a man never gave you something unless he expected something in return.
I finished the pack of cookies, dropped the wrapper on the nightstand, snuggled into bed, and sighed.
Six-Gun wanted something from me. I didn’t know what that was, but he wasn’t going to get it.
No man would ever get anything from me ever again.
Never.