WHEN I walk back to Tracker and Rake, Arrow finally notices me. He instantly storms over and pulls me into his big arms. I’m about to scold the shit out of him when his mouth lands on mine, kissing me quickly before pulling back and whispering into my ear, “I’ve missed you so fuckin’ much. I’m sorry I didn’t call, I’ve been dealing with these fucks and didn’t know when they would leave.”
He cups my face and kisses me again, cutting off anything I was about to say. “Do you want a drink?”
I shake my head. “No, I had enough of those.”
“Water?”
“Okay.”
He holds my hand and walks me back to the bar.
“Water,” he tells the bartender, then focuses his attention back to me. “You look fuckin’ edible tonight, Anna.”
“I try,” I reply, grinning.
“You don’t need to try, you have a natural beauty most women could only dream of.”
“Well, aren’t you the charmer,” I reply, taking the bottle of water from his hand and opening the lid. I take a sip and let the cool, delicious water slide down my throat.
“So this is why you turned down our hospitality,” the man Arrow was talking to before says as he stares me up and down. “Beautiful woman.”
I don’t miss the way Arrow creeps closer to me. “Yes, she is, isn’t she?”
“She is right here,” I mutter.
The man smirks. He looks to be in his fifties but carries himself well for his age. “A firecracker.”
He can tell that from one sentence? The man must be a genius.
I see Mary’s sister out of the corner of my eye, but she turns away the second I look back at her.
Good.
Arrow runs his hand down my body, resting it on my lower back, almost on my ass. “We done here?” he asks the man, his eyes on me.
“I’ll meet up with Sin tomorrow to go over the details,” the man replies.
Arrow nods once sharply, then leads me to the dance floor. One hand cupping my jaw, the other on my hip, he kisses me, then moves to the music.
“I was mad at you.”
“I knew you would be.” He smirks. “And I thought I handled you pretty well.”
My mouth falls open. “You did not handle me.”
“I did,” he replies, a smug look on his face. “If that didn’t work I was going to take you out for sushi.”
Dammit! He knows my weakness.
“Now let’s go home, I want to be buried inside you. Unless you want me to take you right here?”
I look around. “My brother is here, so no, thank you.”
Not that that was the only reason. I’d never had public sex, but I don’t think it was something I was going to be into.
He grunts. “Let’s go, then. I’m tired of being around all these people.”
We say our good-byes to everyone.
Rake kisses me on top of my head, letting me know that we’re good, and I leave the club with a smile plastered on my face.
I’m about to slide onto Arrow’s bike when Mary’s sister runs out, looking panicked.
She starts to cry, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
An uneasy feeling spreads through my body.
“What’s wrong, Janet?” Arrow asks, walking over to her. “Why are you crying?”
She lifts her finger and points at me. “How can you be with her?”
Arrow frowns and glances at me briefly. “That’s none of your business.”
“It is when she says shit about my sister! About how you never loved her and how she was a whore!”
My eyes flare, my fists clenching.
She can’t be serious right now.
“You conniving bitch!” I sneer, losing my composure. “I never said anything like that!”
Janet cries more, laying it on really thick. She looks pathetic ,really.
The bitch should get an Oscar.
After I punch her in the face.
I step forward, but Arrow grips my upper arm, holding me back.
“She threatened me too, in the bathroom. She hurt me, Arrow. What would Mary say?” Janet adds.
Arrow peers down at me; I can see that he’s thinking about Mary right now.
This woman is Mary’s sister. Mary obviously cared about her, and that means Arrow must either care or feel responsible for her in some way.
Arrow looks down at Janet. “Come on, Janet, I’m calling you a cab.”
“No!” she cries. “Not until you say you believe me.”
I stare up at Arrow with an arched brow, daring him to say that he believes her.
He rubs the back of his neck.
“Did you say that shit?” he asks me quietly.
“No,” I reply, staring him straight in the eye.
“Did you threaten her?” he asks then.
I bite my bottom lip. “I did. After she spoke shit to me and raised her hand to me.”
He stares down at Janet, and even I can see the pity on his face.
“I’ll take her home, Anna,” he says. “You wait with Rake. I’ll be back for you. I just don’t want to have to be worrying about her ass all night.”
Wow.
Even after how he looked at her, like he knew what her game was, he’s still choosing her over me.
I pretend that I don’t see her smug look, and walk back into the club without another glance.
“Anna!” he calls once, but I don’t turn around.
I’m too pissed.
I hear him rev his engine as I walk back into the club, looking around for my brother.
I just want to go home.
* * *
I don’t end up going straight home.
Instead, I have a few more drinks, then head to another biker bar.
“What’s this bar called again?” I ask Tracker, who’s texting someone.
“Your words are slurring, Anna Bell, that means no more tequila,” he replies.
I stick out my lower lip. “What about vodka?”
He laughs. “Only water.”
I lean my head on his shoulder. “You’re a great man, Tracker; why don’t you dump that whore once and for all so you can ask out Lana?”
“I thought you didn’t want me with Lana?”
“I want you to do right by her, and that means no Allie baggage. And I’m sorry for being a bitch; Lana is just really important to me, you know?”
He messes my hair. “I know.”
“Good.”
“Allie is the daughter of a club member who passed away, that’s why she lives in the clubhouse,” he explains to me. “It’s a little complicated.”
“It always is,” I say sagely.
“Arrow?”
“Last person I want to talk about right now.”
“That’s a shame, since he just messaged me asking where the fuck you are.”
“Yeah, well,” I sigh. “He chose that Janet bitch over me.”
Tracker studies me. “Let him explain himself, Anna Bell. I know that man is crazy about you.”
“You’re, like, ten times better-looking when I’m drunk,” I blurt out.
“Thanks, I think,” Tracker replies, his eyes narrowing on me.
Rake hears my comment and starts to laugh, the woman that was perched on his lap falling on the floor.
“Ooops,” he says, retrieving her with a lopsided grin.
“Why do I hang around with you guys?” I muse out loud as the woman runs her hand over his crotch.
“Because your man ditched you,” Tracker unhelpfully supplies.
“Oh. Right.”
He grins. “Come here, I’m just playing with you.”
“Ew, save that for Lana please.”
“Ew? What are you, fourteen?”
I sigh heavily. “Sex with you isn’t appealing. You’re like family and you belong to Lana.”
“And I’ve already told you, you look too much like Rake for my dick to even pay attention to you.”
I smile. “Good to know. That’s why we’re friends. Like, best friends. And ha! You didn’t deny belonging to Lana.”
He laughs and shakes his head, looking amused.
“Thanks for the pierced cock picture by the way, it looks like it would have hurt,” I tell him. “Oh, and you also have a pretty huge cock.”