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“Uh, I’m done.” Memphis looked down at her feet. “Did you still want to talk to me?”
“Yeah.” Hell fucking yeah.
“Here?” she asked.
I wanted to reach out and tip her head back so I could look into her pretty eyes. “Wherever you want to talk is fine with me.” There was no way I was going to push her. She needed to know she was in complete control. If she wanted to talk on the fucking moon, I would do everything I could to make it happen.
“I could stand to eat. Maybe the diner across town?” she suggested. Much easier than the moon.
I pulled my keys out of my pocket. “Let’s go, doll.”
She led the way out of the club and walked over to my bike. While I climbed on, she wrapped her arms around her middle and watched me. There was something more behind her eyes. Something I had never seen there before. It was like she was really looking at me, and seeing something different.
She slid on behind me and laid her hands on my waist like she always did. Enough to hold on and be safe, but nothing more.
I drove over to the diner, and she was off the bike before I put the kickstand down. She stood to the side with her hands in her pockets while she nibbled on her bottom lip.
“You okay?” I asked.
She tipped her head to the side. “Uh, I’m not really sure.”
That was the most honest thing she had ever said to me. Most of the time, it was a simple “yes.”
“Well, let’s get some food in you and see where the night takes us,” I suggested.
She nodded and led the way into the diner. The waitress told us to pick any seat available and Memphis moved to the booth all the way in the back and slid in. I sat opposite her and sprawled my arm over the back of the booth.
She tapped her fingers on the table and looked everywhere but at me.
“So, how come you were able to get off early tonight?” I asked.
“Uh, since I came in early and things were slow, Mitzy said I could go home.” She cleared her throat. “Or um, I mean back to the clubhouse.”
“You can call it home, doll. That is what it is right now.” Memphis rented a small apartment by the club, but she hadn't been there since the whole Jester incident. She was still paying the rent on it, but she never once asked to go there to stay.
“Well, whatever,” she mumbled. “I got off early because I came in early.”
I grabbed two menus and handed her one. “Well, that was pretty nice of Mitzy.”
She opened her menu but didn’t look at it. “Do you know Mitzy?”
I shrugged. “I mean, it’s not like we’re friends or anything, but I know her from Skinz. Why?”
She shrugged. “I was just wondering.”
Did she think that Mitzy and I had been together at some point? Nope. Not at all. “She had a thing with Barracuda for a bit. Don’t know much about it, though.”
“Really?”
I nodded and flagged over the waitress. “They hung out for a bit. She hung out with all of us, actually. Came to parties and whatnot. And then she stopped.”
Memphis nodded. “Interesting.”
“What can I get you two?” the waitress asked.
I nodded to Memphis to order first.
“Uh, can I get the mozzarella sticks and mini tacos?”
The waitress scribbled down her order and looked at me.
“Double cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. Onions on the burger fried, please.” I looked at Memphis. “Did you want anything to drink?”
“Chocolate milk, please.”
The waitress laughed. “Honey, if I looked like you, I would be eating like a teenager, too. I bet you have an amazing metabolism.”
Memphis blushed. “Yeah, I tend to order what tastes good and not worry if it’s going to go to my thighs and waist.”
“What about you?” she asked me.
“Coke, please.”
“I’ll get this in. Should only be about ten minutes.” She headed over to the kitchen and slipped through the swinging doors.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have ordered chocolate milk,” Memphis laughed nervously.
“Eat what you want, doll. I think she got a kick out of you ordering what you did.” Who the hell cared what anyone thought? If Memphis wanted to dip her mozzarella sticks in her chocolate milk, more power to her.
She sat back in the booth and sighed. “It’s kind of hard not to worry about what people think about you, ya know?”
I nodded. There was a point in my life when I had cared what others thought. I tried to do the things that would make them happy.
Problem was, it didn’t make me happy.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” I laughed. “Hang around the Bastards long enough, and you’ll be telling people to fuck off in no time.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Someday.”
The waitress dropped off our drinks and two straws. Memphis peeled the wrapper off her straw and stuck the straw in her milk. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
I shrugged. “Nothing really.”
She pursed her lips and looked side to side. “Uh, what?”
“You just seemed like you needed someone to talk to.”
A brief smile crossed her lips. “Mitzy was right.”
“About what?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Never mind. It was just a conversation we had tonight. Nothing important.”
“You like working at the club?” I asked. I wasn’t about to ask her sensitive questions. If she wanted to tell me anything of more importance, she was going to have to be the one to initiate it.
“It’s a paycheck. Manages to keep me fed, clothed, and a roof over my head.”
I nodded. “Good.”
“Most of the girls are really nice, too. I’ve only had a problem with a couple of the girls.”
“Which ones?” I asked.
She twirled her straw in her glass. “No one.”
“Keeping that a secret?” I laughed.
“I’m not looking to get anyone in trouble.”
I chuckled. “As if I have any power at the club. The most I do is security at the door. The hiring and firing is all up to Mitzy and Barracuda. Well, now, Monk.”
Most of the time, I didn’t even know what was going on at Skinz. It really was basically run by Mitzy, and the Bastards just turned a profit.
“Rain. She sort of thinks her shit don’t stink. She isn’t the nicest person. At least, to me.” Memphis sighed. “Please don’t tell Rebel or Tank that. I know they like her.”
“You mean they did like her. Rebel said he hadn’t seen her in two months.”
“But I saw her leave with Tank last night.”
“I guess her and Tank are still hitting it.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Well, at least Rebel came to his senses, right?”
“What did she do to you?” I asked. If it was anything bad, you could bet your ass I was going to do something about it.
Memphis shrugged. “Nothing horrendous, just little things. Making comments about my weight. Glaring at me whenever she sees me. The girls on stage make a whole hell of a lot more than I do, so she thinks that makes her better than me.” She tipped her head to the side. “I mean, she does make more money than me, but that sure doesn’t make her nicer or better than me.”
“That might be why Rebel gave her up. Well, that and the whole freaking him the fuck out when she told him she was pregnant with his baby.”
Memphis laughed. “I’m pretty sure that would terrify any guy. I think she tried that ploy on Tank for a minute, too, but he didn’t fall for it. Something makes me feel like things aren’t so sunny and peachy for Rain anymore.”
“You hear about that?” I asked. I still thought it was fucking crazy that Rain was hooking up with both Rebel and Tank, but it wasn’t any of my business. If that was me, there was no way in hell I would be hooking up with a chick that I knew was also nailing my brother from the club.
She nodded. “Oh yeah. I work in a club full of women. Gossip spreads like wildfire there.”
“I can imagine.”
The waitress dropped off our food and headed back to the kitchen.
“How is it?” I asked.
Memphis dipped a cheese stick in marinara and smiled. “Delicious. Skinny waists and flat stomachs don’t taste like this.” She took a bite. “I don’t want anything to do with that life.”
We ate in silence while we watched one of the nearby TVs.
Memphis ate half of her food and pushed her plate toward me. “You can have some if you want. I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach.”
I grabbed a cheese stick and popped it into my mouth. “She gave you a shit-ton of food. I’m impressed with how much you actually ate.”
I finished my food and also Memphis’. Next time, I was going to order the same thing she had and just enjoy it.
“You really didn’t have anything to talk to me about?” she asked.
I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “Nope.”
“I’m so confused why you asked to talk to me then.”
I shrugged and pulled out my wallet. “Just wanted you to know that I’m here for you. Even if you just want to eat appetizers and bad mouth Rain.”
I paid the check, even though Memphis insisted she would pay for her own food, and then we headed back to the bike.
“You wanna go for a ride?” I asked.
She tipped her head to the side. “To where?”
“Nowhere, particular. Just take the long way back to the clubhouse.” Even just five more minutes with Memphis I craved.
“Long way?”
I nodded and threw my leg over the bike. “How about we drive, and you tell me where to go and when to stop.”
“I don’t know where to go,” she laughed. “How am I supposed to guide?”
“Right-tap on my shoulder means turn right. The same goes for the left shoulder. When you’re ready to head back to the clubhouse, tap my leg, and we head back.”
“What if we get lost?” she asked.
“Sometimes, you need to get lost to find your way home.” I cranked up the bike and held out my hand to Memphis. “What do you say?”