Damaged and the Outlaw (12 page)

I grew up in a bowling
alley. My mom started as the cashier when I was little and ended up as a
manager by the time I was in middle school. Every time we moved, the one
constant was the bowling alley. Every evening, I did my schoolwork there, ate
my dinner there, and entertained myself there. My afterschool friends were all
league people, mostly the elderly. My father figures were the older guys who
showed me how to bowl. Often the regulars would help me with school projects
and they were the ones who threw me birthday parties when my mom couldn’t. All
of it ended when Mom became Ted’s old lady and my life revolved around the
motorcycle club instead of the alley.

Stupid as it
was, bowling was a special thing for me. I didn’t take chicks on dates to the
alley.
Ever.
Taking Raven to the alley was a mistake. I was already
having trouble separating what I wanted from her and what I could have. I need more
barriers between us, not less. Except when I asked if she wanted to bowl, she
was too excited for me to change my mind.

I reached the
alley first on my Harley because Raven didn’t have the luxury of maneuvering
around traffic. Sitting on my bike, I told myself taking her to the alley
didn’t mean anything. Nothing with Raven was real. It was easy fun. She was
just a friend and I bowled with friends.

Raven nearly
bounced from where she parked her old jeep to where I waited. I wanted to play
it cool, but she looked too perfect. Beautiful and excited, Raven was a sight.
I also saw the redness around her eyes from when she cried before I got
outside. I didn’t know what brought on the tears and didn’t have the courage to
ask. I also noticed a few new bruises rising up on her beautiful face.

Thinking about
her in the cage, I was shocked by how crazy she seemed. The way she went from
running away from her larger opponent to attack mode was impressive, but a
little scary. Fortunately, I found crazy, scary chicks hot.

“I haven’t been
here since I moved back,” Raven said, smiling up at me.

“Prepared to be
crushed,” I said, attempting for distance between us.

Raven ignored my
tone and slid up against me. I felt the heat from her skin and the dampness from
her clean hair. I thought about how she laughed when in the shower with me. I
recalled how her eyes watched me before we dozed off in bed. I hated her for
being irresistible.

“Can we get
pizza or hot dogs?” she asked, digging her fingers under my shirt and teasing
the skin. “I’ll pay.”

“What about
mooching?” I asked, fixing her messy hair.

“I reward my
friends when they support me. I was feeling crappy and you gave me a great hug.
You deserve a free hot dog.”

“Is it wrong
that I got hard when you said hot dog?” I asked, leaning down to nip at her
pouty lips.

“No more wrong
than how wet my panties are from thinking about your hot dog, Turner and Cock.”

“I like Cocker
and Hoochie better.”

“It does have a
nice ring to it, but let’s bowl first.”

Grinning, I took
her hand. I knew we were acting like a couple, but that was fine. With a line
of Harleys in the parking lot, I suspected we’d have eyes on us. Well, eyes on
Raven and I didn’t want the assholes getting any ideas.

The minute we
walked inside, the assholes noticed Raven. In her sweat shorts and a light
green tank, Raven was showing off a lot of flesh. I would have enjoyed the view
and didn’t blame them for doing it too. Except she was with me and that made
her mine. No matter how temporary our relationship might be, the fuckers were
leering at my woman.

Once Raven had
her shoes and ball, I said I would order us food. Before I made it to the concession
stand, I stopped to say hi to the out-of-towners. The head guy looked like
Santa Claus after a few years on meth and some time in the slammer. He tried to
shake my hand and might have been ready to compliment my hot date. I never gave
him a chance.

“I’m Jeff,” the
head fucker said.

“I’m Outlaw. If
you look at my girl one more time, I’ll cut your fucking faces off to make a
puppet show for her. Do you understand?”

“Man…”

“Do you understand?”
I asked again.

“Fine, asshole.
Hard to believe such a nice guy has a contract on his head.”

“I killed a few
guys to get that contract and I’ll kill a few more tonight. No skin off my ass
if I remove your fucking faces.”

Turning away, I
left them to bitch or maybe jump me. They played it safe and let me walk away.
I ordered a dozen dogs and two big sodas then returned to Raven.

Sitting in one
of the swivel chairs, Raven had her legs parted and was swaying back and forth.
An absent-minded seductress in a place filled with pervy old men and barely
behaving bikers. I wondered if she had any idea what she did to men. Raven
looked at me and smiled.
She knew.

“Did you scare
those losers?” she asked, standing next to me and looking over the food. “Would
it be wrong to say I got a little wet when I saw you glaring at them?”

Grinning, I
kissed the top of her head. “I get you so horny, don’t I, Gidget?”

“I like that
one. Makes me seem cute.”

“You are cute.”

“As a button?”

“I wouldn’t go
that far.”

Mouth full of
hot dog, she grinned then wiped her hands on her shorts and picked up the ball.
I half watched her position and form. Mostly, I watched her sway her ass at me.
Raven rolled and managed to take down eight pins. She smiled at me like a kid
looking for approval. The expression on her face killed me and I fucking
clapped.
How could I not?

Raven’s smile
softened and I saw such vulnerability in her eyes. I could crush her tonight.
For whatever reason, she was open to me more than ever before. If I treated her
cruelly, I could crush her and end this pointless dance between us. In my life,
I could have done many evil things and never did. I wouldn’t hurt Raven. At
least, not tonight.

After knocking
down a pin on her second try, she joined me at the table.

“Will you wiggle
your ass at me now?” she asked, batting her lashes.

“Hell yeah. Try
not to come at the sight of it.”

Raven spit up
her soda and kept giggling while I shook my ass while aiming up my shot. When I
made a strike, she clapped and bounced for me.

A few hot dogs,
soda refills, and strikes later, Raven was on my lap nibbling at my ear.

“What were you
yelling during the fight?” she whispered. “I saw you yelling, but couldn’t hear
you over the noise.”

“I wasn’t
yelling. I was cawing.”

“Huh?”

“Like a raven caws.”

As Raven laughed
into the crook of my neck, I wrapped her tightly in my arms. She felt so good
and I swear she was wearing my body spray. When her eyes met mine, she smiled.

“What happened
in the fight tonight?” I asked. “It was like you flipped a switch and were
suddenly a raging bull.”

“I just thought
about everything that pissed me off in life and I made it the chick’s fault.”

“Well, you made
her pay. She nailed you in the jaw at one point and you didn’t even blink. It
was crazy,” I said then added, “Sexy crazy.”

Raven traced my
lips before her fingers caressed my stubbled cheeks and jaw. As her fair blue
eyes studied my face in the most relaxed way, everything around us felt too
loud now. We were sharing a private unspoken moment in a very public place.

“I wanted to
work at a bowling alley,” I told her and Raven met my gaze. “Growing up, I
wanted to own one really. I loved the sound of the ball hitting the pins. This
place is a lot like the ones my mom worked in when I was a kid and it feels
like home to me. Nothing else feels like a home. Not anymore. In Ellsberg, I’m
an outsider and my apartment feels temporary. In fact, when I came here, I was
put up in the building where Kirk keeps his visiting friends. Like when the big
wigs from Memphis come, they stay in the building. That’s why it’s so empty.
The Johanssons own it and no one there is planning to stick around. I’ve lived
there for three years and it still feels like a place I’m visiting. The alley
feels like home.”

Raven watched me
in a way that told me she understood. Not the way a pretty girl fake
sympathizes with the guy she likes. No, Raven knew what if felt like to be on
the outside.

“I have a cabin
though,” I continued as she caressed my face. “Kirk sold me a chunk of his land
in the woods and I built a cabin out there. I only go a few times a month. It’s
mine in a way few things are.”

“You go out
there alone?” I nodded and Raven sighed. “I’m afraid I’ll end up the girl
everyone feels sorry for. Like in a few years, Lark and all my friends will be
settled and I’ll be the loser they invite along out of pity. I don’t want to be
that person, but I don’t know how not to be her. I’m not good at anything
besides fighting and roller derby. I can’t do even the most basic math. Like
I’m just stupid about that stuff and I’m a shitty waitress. I have no skills. Also,
I have a way of ruining good things and holding onto bad things. I don’t know
how to be different.” Raven blinked a few times and exhaled raggedly. “I don’t
know why I told you that.”

“Because we’re
friends and both losers.”

“You’re no
loser.”

“I fucked up and
ruined my life. Now, I wait for the bullet to my brain. That’s not exactly
winner behavior.”

“Fucked up how?”

I shook my head.
“I don’t want to talk about it. We were having fun and I got all feelings and
shit.”

Raven smiled
softly. “It must be something in the water because I got all feelings earlier
too. Feelings really aren’t our friend, but I am your friend, Vaughn. If you
need anything, I’ll help you. I mean, I already give you all those mind blowing
orgasms, but I can be helpful in other ways.”

I let my hand
tease the soft flesh on her inner thigh. “Let’s finish up our game then I’ll
take you to my place for some of those mind blowing orgasms.”

“Hot damn,” she
murmured, biting my earlobe.

A few rounds
later, we walked into the muggy evening. I had my mind on making her sigh,
giggle, and maybe scream. Yeah, most definitely scream.

The bikers from
inside were sitting on their hogs when we got outside and I knew they were
waiting for us. Raven was nuzzling my arm and I think she was whispering a love
song to my cock. Giggling, she didn’t notice the men until we were nearly to my
Harley.

“We’re looking
at your woman,” Jeff said. “You gonna cut off our faces now?”

“Sure, why not?”
I announced full of confidence, pushing Raven behind me. “Who wants to go
first?”

“Oh, I don’t
think we’re playing by your rules. In fact, we were thinking that the bounty on
your head would be a pretty nice chunk of change for our trip to Atlantic City.”

The killer in me
knew these fuckers were ready to shoot me down. I wasn’t ready to die though.
Not with Raven behind me, vulnerable to their bullets and dirty thoughts. I’d
seen what happened to the Smith sisters in their one week with a small nothing
biker gang like this one. I wouldn’t allow Raven to suffer the same fate.

“Let the girl go
and I’ll make killing me easy for you,” I said and Jeff just grinned.

“There are eight
of us and one of you. Easy isn’t a concern.”

“She’s living at
the Johansson place. If you hurt her, Kirk will put a contract on your head and
there will be no place to hide.”

“If we were
worried about Kirk, we wouldn’t be willing to kill his man in his territory.
The old man is retired and his kid is in charge. Word has it, Cooper is no
Kirk.”

Talking my way
out of trouble wasn’t a skill I possessed. My sweet talking worked with chicks,
not sick fucks like these guys. I was already thinking about how fast I could
reach my gun before they pulled theirs when a shot took out the front tire of
Jeff’s Harley.

“I texted Judd,”
Raven yelled from behind me. “He’s coming and he’s bringing help with him.
That’s what he said. He’s brining hell and that means you’re going to fucking
die.”

While the
fuckers had their guns ready, mine hung from my hand by my thigh.

“Things are
going to get bloody. You ready to die?” I asked Jeff.

Raven peeked out
from behind me and showed off her big fucking Magnum that I assumed Bailey gave
her.

“My next shot is
for the head,” she said and I heard the fear in her voice. “I’m not letting
them take me. I’m killing them first.”

“That’s my
Hoochie,” I whispered and I could almost feel her smile.

Backing off, Jeff
looked at his dead Harley and cursed.

“Fine, you can
live for now, but how long before the next guy just shoots you? Your days are
numbered, asshole.”

“I know, but
tonight you’re the one riding bitch on the back of someone’s Harley. When Judd
catches up to your gang, you can act as a human shield for your buddy.”