CHAPTER NINE Mad Bell

CHAPTER NINE

Mad Bell

Pissed didn't even cover how I was handling the shit Maisy had pulled. It was all I could do to keep it together and bring my anger down enough to get through the rest of the day. Luckily, we only crossed paths for three hours after the delivery came in, and she had been wise to give me space during that time. Even as it was, every time she popped into the kitchen I felt her there. She didn't have to say anything, just her being there made that fire rise back up inside of me.

I couldn't believe she…

I grunted in frustration and shook my head. I wasn't going to carry this home with me, not back to my calm sanctuary. Fuck no. I wouldn't let her invade my life like that.

"Hey," Dipshit Dishwasher Prospect said, catching me off guard. I tossed a glare over my shoulder as I continued scrapping off the grill. "If you want to go ahead and take off, I'll finish up for you."

Him… clean my kitchen? This fuckin' prospect that messed up—

"I'll make sure I do everything right. I think I've learned my lesson." Did he sound a little bitter? And was I finding amusement in the little bit of a backbone he was showing? If I wasn't in such a bad mood, I might have laughed. "Get out of here and go blow off some steam. I've got it. I promise."

I went to open my mouth, still not sure that I trusted him completely— though, that might have had more to do with me at this point.

"If you come in tomorrow and it's not up to your standards, you get to yell at me," he said, tossing me a cheeky grin. "I know how much you like yelling at me."

Instead of denying it, I grunted.

I untied my apron and tossed it into the dirty bin.

I was on my bike not even two minutes later. As I tore out of the lot, I tried my best to leave this day behind. Which I quickly found hard to do. I rode, took some purposeful wrong turns, and rode some more. For a few minutes, I contemplated heading out of town. A long ride on the highway was sure to work. Just as I was about to resort to running away, I found myself back near the compound. I'd taken a huge circle around the city. Since I was close, I figured tonight was as good as any to see what was going on at the clubhouse.

I pulled around back, parked, and then made my way up to my room. I was sweaty not only from the ride but also from being in the hot kitchen all day. I knew I stunk. So, a shower was the first thing on the list.

It had been a while since I'd stayed at the compound and the air felt a little stale the moment I opened the door to my room.

The room was simple. A bed with a black comforter. A desk that I never used. A TV mounted to the wall over a tall dresser. I had a coffee pot on the counter next to the sink, and that was about it.

I bypassed all of it and headed for the bathroom. The warm water eased my tight muscles. It was a wonder what a shower and fresh clothes could do to one's mood.

I headed to the main building before I could talk myself out of it. The music was thumping and I could only imagine what would greet me once I got inside. I couldn't help but snort at Honey standing right there out in the open, dick out and piercings reflecting the moonlight. A club girl with long black hair was getting down on her knees and I knew he'd be a satisfied man soon enough.

"That's it, sweet thing, take me all the way to the back of your throat," I heard him say as I pulled open the back door and walked inside.

Any other night, I might have stayed and watched. It wasn't something I shied away from, and these days, I preferred jacking off as opposed to taking the chance of getting entangled with some crazy chick. And jacking off to a live show did it for me. Hell, I think Honey was into it too, so win-win.

"Hey, Mad Bell," Trixie greeted me from behind the bar in the main room. There weren't official bar tenders here, but usually, a club girl or prospect was there to sling drinks. Not that it was complicated. It wasn't like the bar back here. Your options were beer and straight-up hard liquor, which I wasn't complaining about.

"Shot of Jack and a beer, please."

She nodded and quickly slid over my request. I gave her a grateful nod in return before downing the shot instantly. Then I turned with my cold beer in hand.

The TVs were on, two of them with the volumes up loud enough to barely cut through the noise of the room. Boom was on one couch, eyes glued to one of the screens. I had no fuckin' clue what he was watching. The clack of pool balls occasionally broke through the boisterous conversations filling up the big, open room. Seemed everyone was trying to talk over everyone else. Flight Risk and Sidekick were in the corner talking to Tailor. A few couches over Twigs had his hands full with two women I didn't recognize, and I meant that literally as he seemed to be feeling them both up at the same time.

Ahh, it felt like home.

Villain caught my gaze and invited me over to his quiet corner with a jerk of his chin. He was one of the Tail Gunners. I strolled my tired, grumpy ass over in his direction and plopped down on the couch beside him. If anyone here got me, it was him.

"Rough day?" he asked. There was something in his tone that was telling. I turned my head and eyed him.

"You heard?" With my lips pressed in a thin line, I looked around the space. A few knowing smirks were aimed my way, making me curse this damn club for half a second. There sure were some damn Meddling Mollys and Gossiping Ginas up in here. And I was for sure talking about Wrench and all those club kids. Okay, and Twigs too.

"I like her," he said, causing my attention to snap back to him.

"Maisy?" I asked, sounding very confused.

"Yeah," he replied back, voice cool and even. "She's good people."

"A goddamn pain in my ass, that's what she is. And I'm here because I want to forget about what she got me into without asking me." I huffed and then took a long pull of my beer. "She stresses me out every damn day."

I scowled at the room.

"You ever think there's a reason behind what she does?" he asked, eyes on a nonexistent point across the room.

"What, fuckin' with me constantly? You think there's a reason other than trying to turn me into a psycho murderer?" I looked at him like he'd gone crazy.

He snorted before taking a sip of his rum.

"Do you think there's more behind it?" I finally cracked and asked him.

I didn't like the way he scrutinized me with a long side-eye.

"You know there are different ways people show their emotions?"

"Huh?" I shifted so I could look at him full-on. "The hell you goin' on about?"

He sighed and shook his head before saying, "This thing about love language. Like me, I'm the kinda person who's all about the little things. Picking up a bunch of flowers for no reason, or buying a little trinket just because it made me think of my girl or I simply because I know she'd like it."

"You have a woman we don't know about?" I asked with a raise of my brow.

"I'm speaking hypothetically there." He shook his head, which made me feel like he thought I was being a dumbass and missing the whole point of what he was trying to say. Truth was, I heard him, I just didn't want to think about that shit. Right now, I was far too pissed to think anything other than this was just another way Maisy was pushing my buttons because she loved to see me riled up. "Maybe the whole getting under your skin thing is like Maisy sayin' she—"

"Whoa! None of that shit going on here." I had to stop him before something crazy came out of his mouth. I took a long pull of my beer. "Love." I snorted and shook my head. Brother was out of his mind.

"I wasn't saying love, it's just what it's called." He shifted and took a sip of his drink. "I'm just saying that maybe she does it because she doesn't hate you."

We sat in silence for a while. Villain probably thought he was being clever by giving me time to sit and mull over his words. I told myself to forget it, that Villain was just talking crazy, though I knew he wasn't one to do that.

Out of everyone here, he got me the most. We could be satisfied hanging out with each other, having as little conversation as possible, though tonight he'd spoken up a little more than he usually did. Couldn't hate him for it. Deep down I knew it meant he cared. He saw me having a shit night and tried his best to make me feel better.

He had a story, that much was clear. I also had one, and I figured it was pretty obvious too. Yet, neither of us pushed the other to open up.

Damn, this shit wasn't helping. I wanted to forget, but all I was doing was sitting here stewing. Who the hell did she think she was? What on earth compelled her to do such a thing? I didn't get it. She'd done a lot to get under my skin, but this… this was… fuck, I couldn't even say.

And why was I the only one who seemed pissed about it?!

"Rack 'em?" Villain said, breaking the silence. He got to his feet, leaving me feeling like I didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"Sure," I said as I followed suit, crossing the floor to the open pool table.

We started the game in silence. A group of brothers came over to watch, most of them placing bets. I never set out to be good at pool, but somehow, I was. The only person I'd played at the club that had beaten me was Villain. And as far as the score went, he was only two games up on me. Yeah, I kept track of it, and I was going to turn the tables one of these days.

"Nah, fifty on Mad Bell," Twigs said behind me. "He's got this tonight." I felt him move in closer. "Don't let me down," he whispered in my ear.

I snorted and shook my head. The corner of Villain's mouth curved up into a small smile.

The room fell away as we played. It wasn't long until we were down to the end. I had one solid ball left on the table, and Villain had two striped. I was up, but he was right in my path to the corner pocket. I walked the table, eyeing the cue ball then my ball, then each of the pockets. I could try to jump him, which I was worried he was too far to make it a good shot, or I could bank off the side and go for the opposite corner pocket.

"Don't jump it," Villain said, and I glared at him. "You won't make it."

He was right, but damn him for pointing it out.

Someone handed me a fresh beer as I stood there getting up the nerve to make the trick shot.

I was gonna have to jump now that he'd called me out like that.

I sucked down the beer in four healthy gulps. The room around us got rowdier. Most of the brothers cheered me on while some of them taunted me playfully. It all became background noise as I lined up my shot.

I had this. I did.

"Seven ball, corner pocket." I pointed to the pocket with confidence.

My breath got caught in my lungs as I pulled back and thrust my cue forward. The blue powder marked the bottom of the white ball as it hopped off the table… and right into the striped orange ball. Then, to make matters worse, the damn cue ball rolled until it dropped into the opposite corner pocket.

"Fuck," I said, standing tall and frowning slightly. Most of it was for show. I knew I wasn't going to make that shot.

"Fuck," Twigs parroted behind me, but he sounded downright upset about losing his money. "Go again! Double or nothing!" He turned his back to me. "Get Mad Bell another beer! Shots!"

I laughed. Oh yeah, I laughed hard. My mood lifted and the night was good. I forgot about the things I was tryin' to forget about. My brothers helped me do that, no questions asked.

"Rack 'em," I said to Villain, who was already in the process of doing so.

This was just what I needed.

I hadn't been here that long, especially compared to the puppies who grew up here, but I'd seen the good this club could do more times than I could count. When someone was down, there was always a group there to help them back up. Even for the little daily shit, like me being in a shitty mood.

Family.

I didn't think I really knew the meaning of the word until I became a part of the club. I certainly didn't have anything close to this growing up. Deep down, I knew this was what I'd been craving and searching for my entire life. Maybe I'd found it. Maybe it was time I accepted that life had led me here for a reason. Maybe it was time to fully accept that this was my place, that these were my people, and stop holding back like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I only wished I had more of myself to give back. Wished I'd found this sooner.

Cheers and groans filled my ears.

I lost another round.

Even though Twigs was out a good chunk of change, he still patted me on the back in a "good game" kind of way. Villain stood there with a stoic face. He was never one to gloat. The rest of the night was lost in a haze of beer. Even though I was drunk off my ass, I knew the feeling of brotherhood and family wasn't an intoxicated illusion, and I was finally ready to accept it.