Page 21 of Two Tricks

“Just say it already,” I grumbled.

“Do you really think this can work? You aren’t known for sharing things—how can you share a woman with four other people?”

Not wanting to see the look I knew was on his face, I just kept chopping up the vegetables. “Look, I can’t explain it, but there is something about her. I can’t accept the idea of her leaving.”

“Eagle, you haven’t even known her a full day. How can you say shit like that?”

Slamming down the knife, I turned to him. “We’ve been stalking that woman for months. Every one of us knows more about that woman than we do our own mother at this point. Before I even set eyes on her, I knew I needed to meet her, that she was too perfect to let pass out of my life.”

“You know this sounds crazy, right? I love you brother, but this is borderline mental.”

“I KNOW!” I bellowed at him, glad I no longer had the knife in my hand. Not that I would hurt him, but something would feel my wrath for all the chaos inside me.

Picasso’s face hardened as he leaned over the counter and grabbed my shoulders. “You don’t get to fucking yell at me, Eagle. We are not like that to each other. Just because I’m telling you truths that you don’t want to hear doesn’t give you that right. I’m your vice president, your brother, and I’m always in your fucking corner. Always.”

I sagged. He was right. “I can’t let her go without trying. If it doesn’t work, we’ll just stick with the original plan, and I promise I will accept it.”

“Know that I’ll make you keep your word, Eagle,” Picasso said, then let go of me and left the kitchen to head to his space in the garage off the side of the house.

Mind full of thoughts, I started working on dinner again, knowing it was the best way to calm myself down. We were going to have enough to feed the whole club, but it was better than me killing someone.

“Hey pres,” Sprocket’s soft voice said, drawing me back to the present. Seeing he had my attention, he continued. “You were right—she did go through all of our rooms, but we didn’t have much to find. Cognac left his notebook, but the information in there, from what I saw, wasn’t anything she couldn’t have figured out easily with time.”

“Do we know where Kimber ran off to?” I asked, not liking that she’d vanished after her meeting with Dax.

“No, but I don’t think Two Tricks has her, if that’s what you’re worried about. Can’t believe that bitch had us thinking she and Dax were tight.”

“Dax’s brother was a Blackjax, married to the president’s daughter, one of the only people to survive Two Tricks’ takeover. Guess we all assumed that Dax saved her because she was family,” I mused.

Sprocket leaned against the counter, chewing his thumbnail. “What if it was her last act as her being family? Dax could have asked for her to be spared but then disowned her after the fact.”

“Sounds reasonable to me. Guess we’ll have to wait and see who will tell us the story first,” I said with a grin, hoping it would be Kimber so I could show her how wrong it was to fuck with the Phantom Saints.

Waking up with a hangover was never something I enjoyed. My head pounded, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I felt like I had been run over by a Mack truck. That was the last time I was going to drink a bottle of brandy in the middle of the day. Glancing around, I saw that I was back in the room I first woke up in. Was it the same day? Or had I slept into the next?

Carefully, I sat up, letting my feet dangle over the edge of the bed. Looking down, I was just in the t-shirt and my underwear. Someone had taken my shorts off.

“They better not have copped a feel or I’m going to stab someone,” I muttered, getting to my feet. I paused, making sure I had my balance before continuing.

The blinds on my window were closed, but I could see the glow of light through the plastic, letting me know it wasn’t night. I shuffled my way to the bathroom, forgetting to knock before shoving the door open.

“Well, look who it is,” Sprocket said with a grin. He was standing at the sink completely naked, looking at me through the mirror.

Not having the energy to deal with him, I started the shower and stripped out of the few clothes I had left. Checking the water was hot, I hopped in and let the spray rush over my skin, helping with the muscle ache.

Seconds later, Sprocket was in the shower with me. I glared at him but knew it lacked any power behind it. My brain just hurt too much to give two shits. Squirting shampoo into my hand, I mushed it on my hair and carelessly scrubbed. Hands stilled mine and pulled them from my scalp. When they were at my sides, Sprocket started to massage my aching skull with his strong fingers.

“Oh god,” I moaned and relaxed into his touch.

He let his fingers drift down to my neck and worked on some of the tension there as well. I leaned my head forward, giving him better access, and let my body go slack against his. I could feel his dick wedged between my ass cheeks, but he didn’t make any move to draw attention to it. Grasping my shoulders, he turned me around and helped the water rinse out the soap. When he started the process all over again with the conditioner, I wanted to purr with how content I was.

Never in my whole life had I let someone wash my hair unless they were cutting it. This felt so decadent that I didn’t know how I’d ever be able to do it myself again. When he washed out the conditioner, he moved to take the washcloth and soaped it up. Methodically, he scrubbed my skin with firm movements that were more purposeful than sexual. The feeling of being so cared for was new for me—other than Wes and Devin, no one had ever given two shits about me. My various foster parents saw me as a check in the mail, and the other kids just saw me as competition for attention.

When Sprocket was done, I turned to repay the favor, but instead he picked me up, set me outside the tub, wrapped me in a towel, and stepped back to finish his own shower. I stood there, stunned, watching the shower curtain Sprocket had disappeared behind.

Did he not want me? From the rock-hard dick, I knew he liked me enough to want to fuck me. Why would he do something like that without wanting something in return?

Cocking my head to the side, I waited just in case he changed his mind and reached out to grab me, but he never did. Totally confused, I grabbed my clothes off the floor and headed back to my room. I took my time to towel off, still trying to process the fact that Sprocket, a stranger, had just taken the time to care for me.