I mumbled a few choice names under my breath as I tossed my giant purse into the car. “It’s a workout studio! Not a drinking bar! I’m not going to join a biker gang, but maybe I should. Maybe I’d find a man who wanted to spend time with me at least. Maybe I’d get a chance to get to know him if I always had my arms wrapped around him from the back of his bike.”
“Don’t you—” He started to growl.
I slammed the door before he could finish that thought. I turned the car on and locked my doors when he tried to open them.
“Saidy, I’m serious. Don’t go to The Bar! It’s not the place for you.”
On one hand, it was sweet that he was worried about my safety, but it didn’t change the fact that he was acting like a control freak. And on the other hand, I now felt an overwhelming urge to try out the biker bar downtown.
I didn’t have anything to prove. I shouldn’t feel pressured to try The Bar. But now that he was trying to make me promise not to go, it felt like I should.
I could convince Zoe to go with me. She was always up for trying something new. She would only be shocked that I was the one who thought of it first. Or, more like Fletcher thought of it first.
Actually, that was a terrible idea. I’d heard of a lot of fights at The Bar. I knew the place that Fletcher was talking about, and his concern was legitimate. Zoe and I weren’t the usual type to frequent there.
Yeah, that would be a terrible idea.
Fletcher’s laughter was muffled between the window of my car. “Never mind. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. You would never do something like that.”
Wait, what?
“You’re way more predictable than that. You’d never go somewhere remotely dangerous. That’s what I love about you.”
I ignored the part where he talked about what he loved about me. He thought I was predictable? That I wouldn’t do anything out of the ordinary or remotely dangerous? What kind of person was I?
With a scowl, I jammed my car into reverse.
Fletcher waved as I backed out.
“Well, now I’m going to have to do something stupid and reckless tonight,” I muttered as I drove down my street.
Chapter Eighteen
Saidy
The parking lot to The Bar—yes, the scary one that Fletcher didn’t think I would go near—was half full. Motorcycles made up the majority of the vehicles.
Zoe bounced up and down in the seat behind the steering wheel. “I can’t believe this was your idea.”
My original defiance against Fletcher’s bossiness didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. It looked like somewhere where I would pick up an incurable disease.
Proving Fletcher wrong didn’t seem very important anymore. Unfortunately, Zoe drove, and she wasn’t ready to turn around.
“I don’t think this is a great idea,” I told her as we stepped from the car. The number of motorcycles to cars was about a ten to one ratio.
“Oh, don’t be so judgmental. I’ve been here once before. Remember when I was dating Ashton?”
“You mean your ex-boyfriend who’s in prison?”
She waved a hand through the air. “Point is, he brought me here one night and it was fine. I mean, it’s a trashy little bar, but sometimes it’s fun to do something different.”
She faced me, planting her hands on her hips. “You ditched me the other night, so you owe me. I’m collecting tonight. You’re such a worrier.” With that she turned and strode up the sidewalk, opening the heavy metal door and walking inside.
I was tempted to stay out there on the sidewalk. But I would be a horrible person to leave her here in a place like this by herself. I’d follow her in, grab her and run out screaming if necessary.
I pulled the door open and slipped inside.
Apparently, they still allowed smoking indoors here. This was going to be worse than I thought. I coughed into my elbow as I searched through the haze to spot Zoe up by the bar already.
I was wearing far too little leather to be in a place like this.
“This might be the worst idea we’ve ever had,” I said as I stepped next to Zoe at the bar. It was filled mainly with bikers. A few of the people wore jeans and cowboy hats, but most wore leather vests and looked like they may have killed someone before breakfast just to get a good start on the day. I wasn’t sure if I’d stepped into a honky-tonk or smack dab in the middle of a biker gang ritual. Possibly both. And everyone was staring.
“Zoe, we’re leaving,” I whispered.
“Not yet we’re not,” she said as she gave a little wave at a young biker a few seats down the bar. “He looks like fun.”
I studied the man she was referring to. He was tall, broad, and had a tattoo covering his entire arm. His face was stoic as he stared back at…me. He didn’t seem to be responding to Zoe’s overt flirting.
“No,” I latched a hand onto her arm. “Let’s go.”
The man pulled his phone out, typed something on it, then stood up and walked closer, stopping behind Zoe. “Buy you a drink?”
Zoe turned halfway to face him and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Why, thank you.”
It was hard not to stare. He was large. Very large. He was as tall as Fletcher, but much, much thicker. Like maybe he chopped down trees with an ax for a living, or just used his bare hands instead of an ax.
I pulled my purse off the bar and onto my lap. I was going to have to clean it with bleach when I got home. In the back of my mind, all I kept thinking was thank goodness I had my Hep B vaccination. I wondered if
