Arrow of Time (9 page)

He swung his long leg over the bike and sat down. For some reason, bikers were at their sexiest when they swung their leg over their bike. I waited until he'd started it, and then I got up behind him. And this was the reason for my uneasy feelings. I was trying to figure out where to put my arms and how I could do this without... pressing my chest against him. Or just, generally touching him at all. I ended up putting my hands on his shoulder. In response, Dawg turned around, shaking his head.

“Around my waist.”

I glared at him, trying to figure out if this was something he said so I'd have to rub up against him. On the other hand, I kind of had to anyway. There wasn’t that much room on the bike and he seemed to know what I was thinking.

“Nibbles, I'm not saying it just to get you flat against my back. It really is the safest way. You can ask Vasco when we get back. Or Brick. Or anyone, they'd all say the same.”

I didn't say anything, but did as he asked. I'd seen him drive before and it didn't escape me that he was taking it slow and careful, something I very much appreciated. Once we were at the compound, he waited for me to get off the bike, then turned it off and followed me inside. Brick met me at the door.

“Can you take her?”

“
Sure. Can I have a word?” I could see him hesitate, and I knew they had church soon. “A really quick one.”

He nodded and took me to the side of the bar.

“I'm thinking about getting a car. Something cheap, like
really
cheap.”

“
Didn't even know you had a driver’s license,” he said and eyed me. “I'm not getting you a car if you don't have a driver’s license.”

“
I do, but I haven't really been driving in a city for a while, at least not one where traffic rules are a factor. Or driving much at all. And most often it was more like... the desert and stuff. You know, obstacle free areas.” That made him laughed and I cleared my throat. “So I might need driving lessons.”

“
Yeah, I'll take care of that, too.” He gave me a stern look. “If you agree to a phone.”

“
Sure. Just didn't think about getting one. It's not like I'd refuse it. Can I get a prepay? Don't want any scary phone bills.”

“
It's a prepay and I'm paying for it. Just let me know when you run out on it.”

He waved at Mech who came over and immediately handed me a phone.

“All our numbers are programmed on it,” he said.

“
Thanks.” I put the phone in my pocket and the charger in my bag. He’d had it ready so Brick had obviously made up his mind before I got there. Not like I cared. Not about stuff like this. If he wanted to give me a free phone and pay for it, that was fine by me. If it bugged me, it had an off button. “So, since I just admitted I can't drive for shit despite having a driver’s license, can you get someone to get me and Eliza home?”

“
Yeah,” he said and nodded towards Bucket, who got up and went outside. He put his arm around me and started to walk towards the door. “I'll have someone give you a ride to work as well.”

“
That's okay. I'll get a ride.”

Brick kissed my cheek and opened the door. “I'll have someone give you a ride, doll.”

When I walked outside I noticed Eliza come running and Mel walking behind her with a big smile on her face.

“
All okay?”

“
Yup. And your hub just gave me a free phone!”

“
Good,” she kissed Eliza. “I have to go, be nice to your aunt. I'll see you both later.”

I looked at Eliza. “So... what are we going to watch?”

“Mulan! She rocks!”

“
That she does. Okay. Mulan it is.”

I took her hand and walked towards Bucket, who was waiting next to the van.

-o0o-

It was a good six hours after church was done when Vasco noticed Dawg coming towards him and he sat down. He also couldn't help noticing that he wasn't dragging around on a woman. Around this time it was quite often two, but at the moment he was alone and he wasn't looking around.

“What's up?” he asked and looked at Dawg who shrugged. “Usually, by this time you're neck deep in pussy.”

Dawg gave him another shrug and a sigh. “I don't know...” he looked around, emptied his beer and stood up. “I need to get out of here for a while. I'll see you tomorrow, old man.”

“Where are you going?”

“
Home?” he said it like a question.

'Home' in this case was a dump. A one bedroom apartment that was empty, with the exception of a bed and a music collection, the last time he saw it, and he doubted that Dawg'd done much about it since. As far as he knew, the kid was hardly ever there.

“Could go to The Rover with me. Need to pick up Edie and give her a ride home, and then you and I can have a talk.”

There was something up with the kid and he wanted to know what it was. It wasn't good to let things fester. That's how small shit became big shit. Vasco knew that this boy was a fucking expert at letting things do just that. It had kept him from talking to his dad for almost a year. When Dawg moved to Greenville to prospect, his dad hadn't liked it. The two of them being the same meant they were equally fucking stubborn and proud.

It wasn't that they didn't love each other. He knew for a fact that the kid loved his dad and had never stopped. He just wanted to make a name for himself, prospect like everyone else instead of doing it at the charter where his father, one of the founding members, was the president. Vasco respected that. Most people respected that. His stubborn ass dad got pissed. He'd called Vasco, since he was the godfather, and Dawg agreed to prospecting in Greenville. Shit didn't get any better when he didn't go back to Englewood after patching in. That's when they stopped talking for a while.

He'd spent hours with him and he loved the guy. Dawg was a proud, vain manwhore, but also one of the most loyal and serious members the club had. He was born into it; it was in his blood.

Dawg nodded and smiled at his suggestion, probably knew what it was about, but didn't protest.

Twenty minutes later, they knocked on the door to The Rover and Edie opened.

“Hey.” Her smile almost died when she noticed Dawg. “Hi?”

“
Hope you're choosing music today, 'cause that shit Dawn played last time almost gave me kidney stones,” Vasco muttered as he walked inside and glared at Dawn who just laughed at him.

“
Yeah, I am.”

“
Choosing music?” Dawg asked him as they sat down at a table.

“
They clean to music.” He explained and turned to the bar, yelling to Edie. “Give the old man some country, why don't ya?”

“
Coming right up with the beer and my mad mop skills.”

He heard the first tune of the country music and smiled. It got bigger when that other waitress, Shauna, came over with two beers.

“Where's Dawn?” He asked Edie when she came out with the bucket and mop.

“
She had an earlier shift.”

He noticed Shauna give Dawg an appreciative smile, but for once he didn't seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on Edie, who was half dancing, half walking around the bar, singing along while mopping the floor. He mentally added Edie to one of the things they needed to talk about.

Then his thoughts took an extra turn, and he realized that she might not be something that he needed to add to the things they needed to talk about. She might be the very reason they needed to talk. The more he thought about it, and the more Dawg kept staring at her, the harder it was for him to make up his mind how he felt about it.

-o0o-

Dawg looked at Edie as she jumped off Vasco's bike. After giving the old man a kiss on his cheek, she gave him a wave before running inside the house.

He'd watched her for thirty minutes, slowly swinging her hips while she mopped the floor, singing along to the country music. All this in a white, tight shirt that did amazing things to her boobs and a short black skirt that hugged her ass. Her bare legs ended in a pair of bright orange plastic slippers. They did ruin the image a little, but not much. She was still hot as fuck.

And now he watched her jeans-covered behind as she ran up to the house before he followed Vasco on his bike. He was slightly surprised when Vasco seemed to head towards his apartment, and he tried to remember how clean it was. Not that Vasco would mind the mess. He would, however, mind if there wasn't anything to drink, and he knew he at least had a couple of beers in the fridge. Possibly some whiskey, too.

Once inside, Vasco dropped down on the couch and, after getting them some beers, Dawg sat down in the armchair opposite him. He was a bit on edge, not sure what Vasco wanted to talk about.

“So, kid, wanna tell me what's crawled up your ass?”

“
Nothing, really. Just... I don't know.” He looked at Vasco and smiled. “It's not like I'm terminally ill just 'cause I'm not feeling for some pussy a Friday night.”

“
Beg to differ,” he answered, but he was smiling. “Don't go there unless you're sure.”

“
What?”

“
Don't play with me, you know who I mean.”

He knew who he meant. Edie. It might be possible to deny it, but on the other hand he'd just spent a good thirty minutes staring at her, and it wasn't likely that Vasco had missed that. There were very few things that man missed.

“She's a good girl,” Vasco continued. “Got a lot on her mind and lot to deal with, and she needs some fucking peace in her life.”

“
I know and I'm not...”

Vasco interrupted him. “Don't give me shit, kid, 'cause I ain't chewing it down. You know that. This is me you're talking to and you know the drill. We talk straight or we don't talk at all. No fucking bullshit.”

Dawg wished he could tell Vasco differently, that he wasn't hitting on her, but he knew he kind of was. He was at least getting a feel of her and there was no point in denying he'd nail her in a second if she just gave him a shot. If it didn't mean Brick would beat the shit outta him. And by the looks of it, Vasco would have a go, too. So he nodded and looked up at Vasco.

“
I'll stay away.”

“
Kid, that's not what I said. I said that if you're not sure, don't go there. Not saying you should ignore her, just treat her as a fucking person. Not pussy.”

Something just then hit him that had gone over his head while they were talking. Vasco saying she had a lot on her mind, and those two were close.

“You know why she took off, don't you?”

“
Yeah. And that's none of your business.”

“
Okay.”

He hadn't really thought he'd find out, but it was rather to confirm what he suspected: It wasn't just her wanting to travel a while that had made her leave.

“She'll tell you if she wants you to know, but you don’t fucking ask her.”

“
I wasn't going to.”

“
That's not something for you to use to...”

This time he interrupted Vasco, since he was starting to piss him off.

“I got it. I'm not gonna go there. I just...”

“
Then get to know her, like she's an actual person. Think you could do that?”

“
Very funny.”

The two men glared at each other for a while and Dawg was actually pissed. Jesus! He wasn't some horny teenager, he could stay away from a girl, not like he'd dry hump her leg like some fucking dog just 'cause he thought she was hot. He knew the difference between her and the other girls who came to the club just to get a piece of the action.

“So what did crawl up you ass?” Vasco said after a few moments of silence.

“
Nothing,” he shook his head. “It was nothing.”

“
Hey, kid. If this is already more than just wanting a taste then...”

“
It's not,” he interrupted him again. “Don't go there, 'cause it's not.”

Vasco eyed him and then nodded. “Fine. I’m not gonna go there, this time.”

Well, that had an ominous tone to it. He hoped Vasco waited for a while, at least until he’d figured out himself what it was with Edie.

He understood why Vasco was worried, though. He knew he wasn't famous for caring much about the women he fucked. He didn't treat them bad, he just didn't bother to get to know them, not even enough to get their name. He didn't have to. Being a Marauder ensured a steady flow of women. They owned a chain of strip clubs for fuck’s sake. That didn't mean he was stupid about women and how they worked.

At the same time, he would like to get to know Edie, as a person, as Vasco so elegantly put it. She seemed like she really would be worth the effort to know. For a lot of reasons.