Fight(36)

“No it hasn’t,” Tripp said. “This situation is bad. But us together. Yeah, that’s nice.”

We kissed. So soft. So romantic.

“I hate to f*cking say this,” Tripp said, “but you need to put on some clothes.”

I backed away from him, grinning. I slipped my hands over my breasts and just stood there. Anytime I had to deal with taking my clothes off, I was numb. I taught myself to be numb. It was easier that way. The thing with Tripp though was that he was far too real to feel numb around. I was standing there, touching myself. I felt sexy. Alive.

Even if we were just messing with expiring time.



~



Harlan jumped from the top of a picnic table. He threw a cigarette to the ground and embers danced along the pavement. He blew his smoke with a curled lip. His face was looking better now, but there were still some yellow fading bruises from where Tripp had gotten him.

“Round three?” Tripp asked as he walked by, holding my hand.

“Fuck you,” Harlan said.

He turned and walked away.

I didn’t know how Tripp could walk the way he did. Without fear, worry, even care. I mean, the Red Aces weren’t exactly the biggest MC in the world, but they were powerful. There were bodies of their enemies buried too close for comfort.

Stoney came walking from the back of the compound, wiping his hands with a towel.

“Didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Stoney said. “Figured you’d be making your calls and…”

The second Stoney got within range, Tripp grabbed him by his leather cut. I screamed and watched in horror as Tripp spun Stoney around and put him against a pole that was part of a canopy off the back of the clubhouse.

Stoney put his hands out.

There were ten guys charging toward Tripp, guns drawn, ready to take him out.

“No!” I yelled.

“You’re not going to have to them shoot me,” Tripp said. “So call them off.”

Stoney grinned. “Mind getting your f*cking hands off me first?”

Tripp backed away.

One of Rocky’s friends, Pat, put a gun to the back of Tripp’s skull. “Stupid *.”

“Pull the trigger,” Tripp said. “Trust me, brother, do it.”

“Brother?”

“That’s good,” Stoney said. “Everyone stand down.” A few seconds later Stoney bellowed, “I said STAND DOWN!”

All the guys backed away and put their weapons away.

“I want everyone inside. This is personal business.”

“Boss,” Pat said. “If he…”

“Pat, get the hell out of my face,” Stoney said. “Or I will shoot you.”

Everyone cleared out.

Tripp looked at me and nodded.

I had no idea what he was planning on doing.

“Did you call Aldo?” Stoney said.

“No,” Tripp said. “You want to be afraid, be afraid. But I need to know what happened.”

“You know,” Stoney said.

“I know about the baby. What happened with Endo.”

Stoney looked at me, eyebrow raised. “Fuck.”

“Endo is in a coma right now,” Tripp said. “Someone tried killing him. They shot him.”

“What?” Stoney asked.

“If Skull X wants the baby, well, the kid, and is going after who knows… it’s not making sense to me, Stoney. Your hands aren’t as clean as you think, are they?”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” Stoney asked. “Rocky was my best friend. He was like my brother. He insisted on pushing on them.”

“Why?”

“Personal.”

“I don’t buy it.”

“Before Winter, there was a woman Rocky loved. Skull X took her out, okay? He always wanted revenge.”

“What does that have to do with Endo?”

“Rocky and Endo were close,” Stoney said. He looked at me again. “For obvious reasons. Maybe Rocky tried pulling Endo into something. All I know is that Rocky was on his own at the end there. He wouldn’t listen to me. We got into a fight, he took off, and he never came back again. I should have never let him leave alone. And I knew he was going to go right to them.”

Tripp shook his head. “It’s not adding up. Give me a contact for Skull X. I’ll go up there.”

Stoney laughed. “Are you f*cking kidding me? You can’t go near them. They’ll tear you apart.”

“I have fists. I know how to fight. I’ll go up there and challenge them.”

“And say what? You tell them who you are, you’re dead.”

“I’ll stumble across them.”

“Talk sense into him,” Stoney said. He started to move away.

Tripp lunged forward. “Hey, I’m not done with you yet.”

Stoney shook away and turned, a gun in his hand, right between Tripp’s eyes. “I’ll tell you the same damn thing I told Rocky before he left. If you go near them, they will kill you. I won’t be held responsible for any of it.”

“Tripp, come on,” I said. “Don’t…”

“How can call yourself a leader when you’re afraid?” Tripp asked. “All those men in there ride behind you, fight for you, and you can’t even fight for them?”