Page 85 of Dirty Like Brody
He didn’t even have to tell me that wasn’t good. The Bloody Bastards were yet another motorcycle club, of the outlaw variety, who’d been all over the news the last few years down in L.A., making all kinds of grief for lawenforcement.
Why there would be one at a Sinners party I didn’t know, didn’t care, and didn’t want to stick around to find out. I just wanted to leave. And preferably not on my own, wandering the mountainous roads in my high heels, waiting on a cab tofindme.
“Let me guess,” he said after anothersilence. “Roni.”
“I don’t want to behere,Jude.”
“Where are you? Give me theaddress.”
“I don’t know the address. I’m in North Van. I can use the GPS on my phone to senddirections.”
I did that. Then I lingered in the bathroom, wondering how the fuck I’d gotten myself into this—and pondering the irony that if I’d been sixteen I probably would’ve been thrilled for Roni to bring me to a party this crazy—until a couple of girls started pounding the door down and I had tomoveon.
I hung out in the vicinity of the front door, more uncomfortable with the idea of heading outside into the dark, alone, or maybe not so alone, than staying right where I was. Roni was nowhere to be seen. But it wasn’t like I didn’t havecompany.
A particularly friendly guy with a tattoo on his arm of what appeared to be a rabid wolf eating the Easter bunny alive made conversation with me while I waited. I had no idea if he was one of the Sinners or what, and I didn’t care to know. I told him I was just waiting for my friends, but he didn’t seem interested in that detail. Thankfully, I had good friends, and it didn’t take long for them toshowup.
I saw Piper first. He was standing just inside the back door talking to a couple of other bikers. He was wearing his Kings vest and seemed to know these guys, thank God. Though their conversation didn’t look all thatfriendly.
All the more reason to get the hell outofhere.
Then I saw Jude. He was coming out of a back hallway… followed closely by Brody. They must’ve been lookingforme.
“Oh, there’re my friends,” I said casually to the guy standing over me. “I should go. Nice talkingtoyou.”
I didn’t wait to find out what he thought of that. I beelined for Jude and Brody, past the dining room table where yet another young woman was sharing her talents with a couple of guys. Jude just gave me a steady look and a nod, and I walked right on past him, taking the hand Brody offered and following him straight out the back door. My heart was thudding. I didn’t like the feeling of not really knowing if I was in danger, or not knowing if that guy would’ve taken no for an answer if he decided I needed a go on the dining roomtable.
I didn’t like itatall.
I held tight to Brody’s hand as he led me around the house without a word, down the driveway and onto the street… past the line of Harleys and toward where I saw his bike parked, next to a couple of others I could only assume belonged to Jude andPiper.
As we left the property, Brody let go ofmyhand.
I’d had a few drinks, just a few, but I couldn’t keep up in my high-heeled boots and was afraid I’d slip on the slantedstreet.
Brody paused and turned, waiting for me to catch up. He looked past me, back up at the house between the trees, where the thump of music emanated into thenight.
He stared at me a minute, then scanned the lineup of bikes along the road. And I knew. I knew how it looked. I also knew how fast Brody and the others had dropped what they were doing to race up here togetme.
“It’s just a party, Brody,” I saidlamely.
“Yeah? You know what kind of partythatwas?”
I shrugged, hugging myself. “Roni had friendsthere.”
“Friends.Yeah.”
“It’s not like that. I just camewithher.”
“Yeah? And where was she when that guy was breathing down your neck? Because she sure as fuck wasn’t there between the two of you. In case you didn’t know, she was in a bedroom in the middle of her latest fuck-for-all. With the door open for any-fucking-onetosee.”
“That’s Roni’s business,”Isaid.
“Not when she leaves the door wide open, it’sfuckingnot.”
“Nothing was going on, Brody. I just needed to blow off somesteam.”
“Yeah?” He got in my face. “Blow off some steam on the first guy you happened to stumble across? Or were you gonna let him blow off on you, like you let me do lastnight?”
