Honey Whiskey (A Bastards MC Novel) (8 page)

He gave me a sympathetic look, but crossed his
tree trunk arms over his thick chest. “You are home, Joey. You
signed the lease and wrote me a check earlier.
Remember?”

“
Well, tear them both up and we’ll
forget all about this shit show!”

“
No.”

“
No?” I was practically screaming,
my voice getting louder with each word, not caring if they heard me
upstairs. “You,” I jammed a finger into his chest above his folded
arms, “told me he was never here. YOU told me he’d never had anyone
else in that room.”

“
Jesus, you two are frustratin’ as
hell. Don’t you ever talk?”

“Yes!” I snapped back, suddenly
pissed off at the world. I had told myself that I would be fine
without Matty, repeating it hundreds of times since we’d broken up.
But, the last few weeks had put a glimmer of hope back in my heart.
Even though I’d told him to move on, I had clung to that little
sliver, believing that one day we’d find our way back to each
other. I was such a moron. I didn’t fight the tears. Instead, I
sank to the floor and let them flow.

Rob leaned back and watched me cry
it out, shaking his head a time or two. When the tears had dried,
he reached down, offered me a hand, and pulled me up. Without
saying a word, he led the way into his room. It was very similar to
Matty’s, with two large windows and a giant marble fireplace.
Instead of hardwood, though, there was a thick plush rug that my
feet happily sunk into. The room was practically bare. Two rocking
chairs sat by the windows and one bedside table flanked the giant
bed. It was immaculate, no clothes on the chairs or glasses on the
table. I wondered if Rob was a neat freak. My favorite thing about
this room, though, was that once the door shut, every noise from
the rest of the house vanished.

He took one look at my
tear-stained face and rolled his eyes. “I have nevah seen two
people jump to conclusions like the two of you.” Shaking his head,
he gave me an annoyed look. “L.K., you really need to talk to Matt
and figure this shit out.”

Rob was right, of course. I knew
that Matty and I would have to talk in the morning. I didn’t want
my new roommate to be angry with me on our first night, though, and
changed the subject. “I’m sorry you’re missing your
party.”

“
I’m not. It’s not my party and I
told Dean to move it because I’m fuckin’ beat. It’ll go half the
fuckin’ night. I’m too old for that shit.”

“Tank won’t be upset?

“Naw. I saw him
today. He gets it.” He smirked, as if he was trying not to laugh at
a private joke. “He won’t be there long, anyway. As soon as he see
his ol’ lady, he’ll forget the rest of us and go make up for lost
time.” I didn’t know a thing about Tank or why he’d been in jail.
This was that line, the one that Matty had drawn a long time ago,
trying to separate me from this part of his life. The idea made me
sad.

“
Why was he in jail?”

Deep blue eyes met mine. “Prison,
Joey. He was in prison.” I didn’t know there was a difference, and
Rob must have seen the confusion on my face. “Prison is jail for
big boys.” He smirked. “How can I explain it?” He paused, frowning.
“You get bagged doing somethin’ stupid, like driving drunk, and the
cops throw you in jail until you can get bailed out or until you go
to trial. Prison is serious shit. Think maximum security, convicted
killers that would like nothin’ more than to shank you in your
sleep, or beat you until you ahh bloody if you piss ‘em off, or
just ‘cause they don’t like the color of your skin. And guahds
don’t really protect you unless they have a monetary reason to do
so. Jail’s a fuckin’ joke, L.K. But prison, well, release is
somethin’ to celebrate.”

“
Oh.” I looked away, swallowing.
“Have you ever… I mean, you sound like you know the difference
first hand.”

“
Are you askin’ me if I’m a
convicted felon?” I nodded, not really sure I wanted the answer. “I
am. I’ve been to both, lived inside both, and probably will see the
inside of both again.”

My mind went into overdrive. I couldn’t
imagine the Rocker I knew doing anything that would land him in
prison. I debated with myself all of two seconds before I asked,
“What did you do? I mean, to get sent to prison?”

He didn’t blink. Didn’t hesitate. “Felony
assault. It would have been voluntary manslaughter, because I meant
to kill the prick, but the DA plead me down.” Meant to kill him.
Had he killed someone? My mouth went dry.

“
Matty didn’t tell you any of
this?” I shook my head. He shifted, eyes surveying me as if he
wasn’t sure he should tell me more or not. “How much do you know
about the Bastards?”

“
Not much, really. I didn’t even
know Matty was part of anything like it until I came down that
weekend last July. Ian,” I smiled thinking of the kid that had made
such an impression on me, “explained the back of the jackets. He
said you protect the innocent, but that’s all he’d say.”

“
Itus.” I nodded. He sighed, a
long painful sound, and rubbed his forehead. He looked up, meeting
my eyes, an internal struggle clear on his face as if he was trying
to decide if he should tell me more. “Matty…”

He was cut off by a loud banging on the door.
I turned, amazed to see the wood shake on the hinges. “Speaka the
devil,” he said, his voice full of humor.

Matty

I knew I sounded like a mad man
trying to beat down the door, but I didn’t give a flying fuck. I’d
checked my room first, just to make sure, but I’d known she
wouldn’t be there. I could barely breathe as I walked to his door,
half tempted to just burst in. If the door was locked though, I
knew I’d lose it and break the fucking thing down. Telling myself
there was a perfectly logical explanation for Jo to be in Rocker’s
room, I lifted a fist and hit the door.

The last twenty minutes filtered
through my mind while I waited for someone to open the damn
door.

I had clenched my fists as I watched them rush
down here, using every ounce of self-restraint I had not to follow
them. Jo had been the last person I expected to see tonight, and by
the look on her face, she hadn’t planned on seeing me either. I
stood there like a fucking idiot while she smiled up at him the way
she used to look at me. I didn’t know why she was here, or why Rob
was in such a hurry to get her downstairs, but I had a few
ideas.

I glared at Hawk, clenching my
teeth so I didn’t say something I’d regret. He met my stare, only
raising an eyebrow. I wanted to demand he tell me what he knew, but
Jessie picked that moment to lean on the island next to
me.

“That didn’t go quite like I’d
pictured.” She looked from me to Hawk, oblivious to the tension,
and sighed. “I’m missing something, right? Is L.K. his girlfriend,
and he’s trying to spare my feelings by saying she’s his roommate?
I mean, none of my roommates ever looked at me like that.” She
shrugged. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

I laid a hand on the counter,
fighting my anger. If Jess had picked up on it, too, then I wasn’t
imagining it. The only thing keeping me from running down the
stairs and beating Rocker into oblivion was the fact that Tank
would be here soon. “Tonight is about your brother. I thought you
wanted to be here for him.”

She laughed bitterly. “You know
damn well I didn’t dress like this for Tank.” She rolled her eyes.
“You can tell me, you know. I’m a big girl.” She licked her lips.
When neither of us responded, she tried again. “It’s not like I’m
just some piece of ass that comes to these things hoping to get one
of you to notice me. I’m as much of a Bastard as either of you.” I
couldn’t argue with that. She might not ride with us or wear the
jacket, but Jessie was one of us. “I know who he is and don’t
expect more than what he’s willing to give.” She looked into the
living room, watching as the prospects set up a makeshift bar.
“He’s been so distant lately, pulling away again.” She shrugged,
turning back. “I get it. She’s very distracting.”

Hawk looked uncomfortable as he
stared down at the counter, but shook his head. “You’re readin’ way
too much into it.” He moved his head, looking at me. “They’re
friends. L.K. needed a place to stay, and there’s room heah. It
made sense.”

“Ahh. She’s one of his rescues.
What’s she running from?”

Hawk shifted his weight, eyes
still staring at me, and waited for me to answer. I had nothing to
offer because the answer was me. She was running from me. We’d had
that fucking fight, and I’d never called back, even after she’d
apologized. I just didn’t expect her to run straight to Rob. He was
the last person I thought would ever catch her. Fuck them
both.

Realizing I was going to stay quiet, he
finally answered. “Nothin’ that I know of. She’s friends with Cris
and goes to BC. Seriously, they’re just roommates.”

Jess snorted. “Of course it’s
linked to Cris. I wonder how she feels about the way he looks at
her friend and how much longer they’ll stay buddies when she
realizes there’s a fox in her cock-house.”

It was no secret that Jessie
and my sister hated each other, and under normal circumstances, I
would have commented, but right now all I cared about was finding
out more. “BC? For grad school?” He nodded.
No fucking way
. She’d done it. I
was so fucking proud of her. We’d talked about her going back to
school, but she was so sure she’d never get in. BC had a tough grad
program and admission was wicked selective. I couldn’t understand
why she hadn’t told me. Big news like that I would have shouted
from the rooftops. Then my mind shifted.
How long had she known and kept me in the dark?
“When did she move in?”

Hawk looked uncomfortable again
and glanced over his shoulder. Walking to the table, he grabbed a
bottle of Jack and a poured three shots before coming back to the
island. He handed Jessie one and me the other before raising it in
the air in silent salute and then downing it. He waited for me to
swallow mine before answering. “Last night.” Glancing at Jess out
of the corner of his eye, he grimaced. “We brought her home with us
last night.”

My mind raced. Jo was at
Hooligan’s last night—she’d asked me to meet her there. I couldn’t
because I was on my way back from Pine Knot, Kentucky. The Bastards
had wanted to greet Tank in style so I took vacation time and a
bunch of us rode down on Wednesday to bring him home from McCreary
Penitentiary. There’d been nothing to do for thousands of miles but
replay the last conversation I’d had with Jo. She wanted answers
from me, so many more than I could give. I wasn’t ready to have her
walk away forever yet, and would do anything to keep my secrets a
little while longer. I had planned to call her, to try and figure
out the shit that was dragging us down, but I couldn’t just pull
out a cellphone and talk while on the back of a bike. When we
stopped for the night, there was no privacy to have the kind of
talk we needed to have.

They must have found her at
Fred’s. I slammed the glass down, startling Jess, as memories of
the last time I was there with Jo filtered through my mind. She was
a fucking mess when she was drunk. I should be relieved that it was
Rob that found her like that and not some stranger, especially
since she was there because of me. Instead, all I could imagine was
her coming onto him the way she had me. She’d torn off her clothes,
showing me just how beautiful her body was, and demanded me to
sleep with her. She was so sexy I couldn’t have said no if I’d
wanted to. Would Rob have been able to deny her?

Hawk tipped the bottle into my glass, filling
it again while Jess watched us, scowling in confusion. I needed to
calm down and get a fucking grip. I downed the shot in one gulp,
feeling it burn. A ping announced the elevator’s arrival and
suddenly the room was filled with a roar of voices. I didn’t care.
Were the two of them downstairs screwing right now? Was she showing
him how wild and crazy she was? Was he enjoying taking what was
mine?

I’d kill him. Best friend or not,
I would murder him with my bare hands. The two of us had scuffled a
few times over the years, and each time it’d been an even fight.
But this time, he didn’t stand a chance. I’d fucking destroy him. I
turned, fists clenched, and stomped across the room and down the
stairs, only one thought in my mind.

If he had touched Joes, I would
decimate him.

Chapter 8

Matty

Rocker's face was the first thing
I saw as he pulled open the door and leaned onto the frame,
blocking my view of the room. “Hey,” he said calmly. “Everything
ok?”

My entire body was on alert, as if
recognizing a threat, and my fists ached to knock that smug look
off his face. Rocker never missed a thing. I knew he saw my
reaction. He didn’t bite, instead, he reached a hand up to scratch
his head lazily. The movement gave me just enough of a view to see
Joes. She was leaning against the bed, fully clothed. The sight
made me relax as I met her eyes. “It is now.”

“What are you
doing in here?” I knew I sounded like a prick, but I couldn’t help
it. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she shook her head at my
question, as if to say ‘it’s none of your fucking business.’
Without waiting for an invitation, I shoved past Rob, striding
towards her. She didn’t move, and as I reached her, my hands
circled around her, yanking her into me, and claiming that sassy
mouth of hers.