Ashby Holler (19 page)

“It’s awesome.” Sasha’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she caught the outline of Misty’s body in her bed. She stumbled over piles of clothes, tripped on a boot, and flopped onto the mattress.

“I thought your truck was messy, but this place takes the cake.” Misty giggled, scooting closer to Sasha.

“I’m on the road a lot and—”

“You don’t have to explain yourself. No judgment, just an observation.” Misty rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow, inhaling deeply. “Your bed smells like a man.”

Sasha turned onto her side, resisting the urge to run her fingers through the golden hair sprawled across the pillows. “Judgment or observation?”

Misty propped on her elbow, staring into Sasha’s eyes. “I saw you chase that dude out of here. Is he your old man?”

“No. Just a friend. He’s in between pads right now, so I told him to crash here while I was away.”

“You’re a nice person,” Misty said, running her fingers along a strand of Sasha’s hair. “I’ll bet you’re an Aquarius. They’re the most generous of the zodiac.”

“I don’t know what sign I am.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“June sixth.”

“Oh.” Misty fell to her back, glancing away.

“Is that bad?”

“No,” Misty said in a hell yes tone. “You’re a Gemini, the twins.”

“What does that mean?”

“Gemini’s can be tricky. They’re, like, two different people rolled into one. They always fight themselves ‘cause they never know which version they want to be. The good twin or the bad.”

“What are you?”

“I’m a Cancer. We’re very in tune with the Earth. Gentle, delicate souls who seek out connections.”

“Huh.” Sasha flopped to her back, staring up at the ceiling. “It fits, all that zodiac shit.”

“So which twin are you right now?”

Sasha grinned. If there were any part of her that didn’t contain pure evil, she’d never met it. Although, in comparison to what she usually does in this bed with half-naked women, her behavior could be much worse. “The good one, I guess.”

“Is the bad one gonna come out to collect her payment for the ride?”

“What?” Sasha raised on her elbow, staring down at Misty’s smile in the low light. “You want me to stick my hand up your skirt?”

“I’m not wearing a skirt.”

The words sparked a frenzy in Sasha’s chest, one that kicked her lungs into overdrive. “You don’t have to do that with me.”

“What if I want to?”

Misty’s blue eyes fluttered, and Sasha smirked. Her hand flinched, yearning to stroke the freckled skin beside it. “Do you want to?”

Misty squirmed, and their legs brushed against one another. “I don’t know. I kinda do.”

Sasha glided her palm to the nape of Misty’s neck, leaning down. Their lips met, and Sasha tasted strawberries. Her hand wandered. A curve of a waist, hip, the silky flesh of the inner thigh, they all withered under her grasp. Every sweet moan that flowed made the blood in her veins pulsate. She ran her tongue down a smooth neck while pulling Misty’s shirt up, slow and tender.

“I’ve never done this before,” Misty said between pants. “I mean, with a…”

“Do you want me to stop?” Sasha hooked her nails around Misty’s lacy panties and looked up.

“No! Don’t stop,” Misty said with a shudder, curling her fingers into Sasha’s hair.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dez

Dez stood on the edge of the clubhouse porch. The ground shook when a bulldozer dropped its bucket onto the gravel. He grinned, turning to glare at Sasha’s door.

“What the fuck is this shit?” Ellen grumbled over the racket of heavy machinery. Dez didn’t bother to look. He could see Ellen’s sour expression clearly in his mind.

“You know Sasha’s trying to sleep,” Ellen said, stepping in front of him.

“Is that what she’s trying to do?”

“What?”

Ellen tugged on Dez’s arm, and he jerked away, steering his glare to her. “Sasha wanted it done now, so it’s getting done,” he said in a low growl.

“What happened to your hand?”

Dez looked at his knuckles, decorated in puffy red scabs, and sneered. “You’re wrong. Nothing can change who a person is inside. Not me, not even you, can undyke Sasha.”

“Hey!” Ellen glanced around, pushing Dez to the farthest corner of the porch, “I was wasted yesterday. Some of the things I said might’ve—”

“No.” Dez pushed Ellen’s hands off his chest. “You were actually honest yesterday, maybe for the first time in your life.” His eyes shot back to Sasha’s door before honing in on Ellen. “It doesn’t matter how many times you beat her or how hard I fuck her. If pussy falls in her lap, she’ll take it.”

Dez pushed past Ellen and stormed into the clubhouse, heading for the bar.

***

Otis

Otis caught the look on Ellen’s face before he even parked his truck. He knew that expression. Every time she made it, someone he cared about had died.

He cut off the engine and walked up the clubhouse steps, standing beside her on the porch. Ellen didn’t look over or nod. Not even a flinch when the machine across the lot dumped a tangle of metal into a steel dumpster.

“Do you know where Candy is?” Ellen asked, glancing at Sasha’s door.

“In my living room, watching soaps and smoking all my pot. Why?”

Her eyes drifted to him, her stare losing its sharp edge. “It’s been a strange morning.”

Otis followed Ellen’s stare through the clubhouse window to Dez, who was pounding shots at the bar. “We still doing this vote?” he asked, hoping to get a fuck no for an answer. Dez already held the look of a man ready to gut a biker, but Ellen could never resist a chance to poke a cage bear.

Ellen reached into Otis’s jacket pocket and took his pack of smokes.

“Why not?” she said, knocking a cigarette loose. “At the least, it’ll be entertaining.”

After seizing the zippo from Otis’s hand, Ellen strolled inside. He leaned against the threshold, watching Ellen’s hips sway as she strolled across the clubhouse. On her way into the backroom, she snatched the bottle of whiskey from Dez’s grasp and clicked on the radio.

***

Vinny

Once the bulldozer cleared the lot and the dumpsters were hauled away, Vinny walked his
friend
to her car. He couldn’t remember her name, but he’d never forget her ass. The perfect size to fit in his hand. Tight yet soft, and so sexy when it bounced in his lap.

Before Vinny could open the chick’s car door, she shoved her tongue in his mouth. He slid his hands right to that sweet ass, squeezing.

“Call me anytime,” she said, dragging her nails across his neck.

If he knew who the fuck she was, beside the brunette with huge tits, he might just do that.

“For sure,” Vinny said, guiding her into the driver’s seat of a yellow bug.

He puffed on a joint as she drove from the compound. Right now, he should be feeling pretty damn good. The sun shined on his skin, a calm buzz radiated throughout his body, but an edge clung to his bones.

In less than five minutes, the club would gather for a meeting. He’d be voted vice president of Ashby Trucking, betray his best friend, humiliate his brother, and he didn’t know why. Power meant nothing to him. The burden of responsibility scared the shit out of him, but he wanted that spot so bad.

If he were the man with the plan, Sasha would finally see him. He could crawl from beneath her shadow, stand in the light, and she’d notice.

“Nancy, huh?” Otis asked.

Vinny turned, and Otis walked off the clubhouse porch.

“Nancy, that’s right.” Vinny smirked. “I was trying to remember that.”

“You seen Sasha yet?”

“Nah.” Vinny walked closer to Otis, peeking up at Sasha’s door. “I’m surprised she didn’t start shootin’ out the window when that dozer scraped dead semi off the ground. She must’ve slept right through it.”

“It’s past noon, and everyone’s here,” Otis said, gesturing to the clubhouse. “We’re just waiting on her.”

Vinny rocked in place. On any other day, running to fetch Sasha would be a highlight. She’d spout out some hilarious rant, they’d blow a quick bone, he’d see that glimmer in her eyes. He could pull that off. One last time, before the big vote changed everything.

“I’ll go get her,” Vinny said, hurrying toward the garage.

***

Sasha

“Wake up.”

Sasha grinned. Warm breath tickled her ear, and a hand clutched her waist. She scooted back, into the soft body behind her, and pulled the arm around her tight against her chest.

“Someone’s banging on your door,” Misty whispered.

“What?” Sasha sat up. Over a steady knock, Vinny’s muffled voice flowed through her closed door.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” Sasha yelled, falling back into the pillows.

“Why is your door locked? Open up,” Vinny said, jiggling the knob.

“Oh my God,” Sasha mumbled. “Dude,” she shouted, “I’ll be down in a minute.”

After the thump of boots trailed off, Misty rose to her knees. “Are you not supposed to have people here?”

“No. I just…don’t usually have people here, that’s all.” Sasha tossed the blanket aside, draping her legs over the edge of the bed. “Whoa.” Her head spun, and a surge of fire jetted from her stomach to the back of her throat. “Not again.”

Sasha dashed to the bathroom. Her knees hit cold floor, and she dry heaved into the toilet.

“Are you okay?” Misty asked, rushing to Sasha’s side.

Misty brushed Sasha’s forehead with her silky hand, and Sasha backed away. “I’m good. It’s just some weird stomach thing.”

“And it usually happens when you first wake up?”

“Yeah,” Sasha said, slumping against the wall behind her. “Is there something going around?”

“Umm, yeah. It’s called pregnancy.”

“What!” Sasha jumped to her feet, ignoring the sway of the room. “That’s just, no.” She pushed past Misty, stopping in the middle of her room. “No. It’s not…It can’t…”

“When was the last time you had your period?” Misty asked softly.

Days melded into weeks, flying by like the lines of the road. Sasha looked at the calendar on the wall. Almost two weeks of X’s stood between this day and the day she was supposed to get her period. A few days late was understandable, a week was sweating it, but nine days? She dropped her head into her hand, slapping her palm against her forehead a few times. “No fucking way.”

“It’ll be okay.” Misty spoke in a soothing tone while rubbing Sasha’s shoulder, but it didn’t help. Okay was the last thing any of this would be.

“There are places that,” Misty shrugged, leaning close to whisper, “that take care of this sort of thing. Maybe some of the local women can point you in the right direction.”

“Yeah. Fuck! I have a meeting. I gotta go.” Sasha pulled on a pair of cargo pants and grabbed her jacket. “Just chill here. I’ll be back in an hour. Sorry.”

Before Misty could speak, Sasha scurried out the door. Her steps slowed at the sight of Vinny. He leaned against the rail, smiling up at her from the bottom of the stairs. She wanted to punch that look right off his dumb face. If he had any idea about the spawn growing inside her body, he’d choke on that bobble-headed grin of his.

“It’s about time, princess,” Vinny said.

Sasha’s plan to play cool crumbled. A snarl lifted her lip. She stomped down the last few steps, shoving Vinny out of her way. “You’re an asshole,” she shouted. His smile dropped into a frown and her stomach retched even harder, so she stormed toward the clubhouse.

“What’d I do?” Vinny ran in front of Sasha, blocking the path that would lead her away from explanations.

“Nothing. I’m just…”
Pregnant with either your or your brother’s baby.
“Cranky. I’m sorry.” She forced her scowl into a half-smile, gesturing to the clubhouse. “We better go before my mother comes out here breathing fire all over the place.”

Vinny moved aside, and they strolled toward the porch.

“That reminds me,” he said. “Dez had the burnt-out trucks cleared away this morning.”

“Oh yeah.” Sasha looked across the now-empty lot then to her feet. Dez, the latest of the many people she treated like shit for selfish reasons. This one stung more than usual. Vinny was used to her shit, but Dez put her on a pedestal. He’d created a flawless version of her inside his mind, one she could never live up to, a self she never even wanted to be, until now.

Her footsteps went into double time. It didn’t make sense, but she knew one glimpse of Dez’s frosty eyes would calm her riled soul. She stepped into the backroom, and all eyes went to her except for the ones she wanted most. Not a glance. Dez sat in his spot, hands clasped, jaw clenched, his glare fixed on the solid table.

“Sasha,” Ellen said, the way one would address a naughty child.

Sasha tore her gaze from Dez, turning to face her mother.

Ellen sat at the head of the table, narrowing her glare on Sasha. “Are you gonna join us?”

Vinny had taken his seat, leaving her alone in the doorway. She considered shaking Dez until he acknowledged her presence, but she settled for a loud slamming of the door. He still didn’t look over.

“All right.” Ellen pushed an ashtray full of joints to the center of the table. “Everyone, light one up for Chewy.” She waited until five halos of smoke rose into the air, took a long drag of her own doobie, and then leaned forward.

“I know it’s soon, but with everything going down, we need to fill the VP seat. And discuss bringing in some new blood.”

Sasha uncrossed her legs, banging her boot to the ground. “Chewy’s body is barely cold.”

“We need a strong front,” Ellen said, looking around the table. “Satan’s Crew might be out, but others will come. We need to be prepared for the next pack of loudmouth douchebags who roll onto our turf.”

Otis sat up in his chair. “I nominate Vinny as VP.”

“What!” Sasha and Dez thundered, almost in sync. Now Dez was looking at her, but not the way she wanted. She wanted a longing gaze and got a seething glower.

“I’ll second that,” Ellen said, directing her harsh leer at Dez.

Sasha grated the legs of her chair against the floor, turning to face Vinny. “What the fuck?”

Vinny shook his head. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Let’s vote,” Ellen said in a chirpy, giggly tone. “All in favor?”

“I,” Kev muttered, his gaze low.

“Opposed?” Ellen asked through a grin.

While caught in Vinny’s apologetic stare, Sasha fought the urge to laugh. The words
Hell no
bunched in her throat, and for the life of her she couldn’t push them out.
Dez didn’t make a peep. Sasha couldn’t bring herself to look at Dez, to see the hurt in his face.

“That’s three in favor and two undecided. Congratulations, Vinny, you’re our new vice president.” Ellen smiled, pointing to Chewy’s vacant chair. “Why don’t you come take your position?”

Shame. Sasha caught shame in Vinny’s eyes as he rose to his feet. He walked around the table, behind Kev and Otis, and sat at the other end—opposite his brother, next to her mother, and far from reach.

“Are we done here?” Sasha tapped her foot, glancing at the door.

“No,” Ellen said. “There’s still the matter of choosing two new prospects.”

“I vote yes to whomever you’ve chosen to be our prospects.” Sasha jumped up from her chair, latching onto Dez’s arm. “So does he.”

It didn’t take much of a yank to get Dez on his feet. The muscles beneath his skin flexed and she let go, but he grabbed onto her hand as they walked out the door.