CHAPTER TEN Maisy

CHAPTER TEN

Maisy

I knew Mad Bell would be pissed at me, but I didn't think I'd get shut out for three days. Well, so far it had been three days. There was no telling how long he could keep it up. The clock was counting down. The big chili event was tomorrow!

I figured he'd be pissed at me the day he found out, but then he came to work the next day looking like shit and never once even glanced my way. Yesterday, he seemed like he'd gotten over it until I'd tried to talk to him. Then it was like the memory of how much he hated me washed over him, and by the end of the shift, his jaw would clench whenever we were in the same room. I half wondered if he was sick or hungover. I'd never seen him look that rough. Was that because of me? Had I really made him that mad?

I couldn't crack him, no matter how hard I tried. And I fucking tried. Nothing worked. I tried poking at him the way I usually did. I tried joking and engaging him in conversation. Not a damn thing from him but silence and the occasional glare. I was desperate. Desperate! So desperate that I even tried lightly flirting at one point in hopes of throwing him off enough so he'd forget he was giving me the shutdown. You'd think I didn't want the cranky asshole talking to me, but it felt wrong. The world wasn't right without his grunting or barking. I missed it.

I missed him.

I had a feeling today wasn't going to be any better. I'd been up all night thinking of ways to fix it.

I must have been out of my mind as I drove past the bar, following the dirt road which led to the compound. The very one that I'd never been to. The place where the MC had their clubhouse and cookouts. Where a lot of them hung out during their off time. Most of them even had rooms there, or so I gathered from bits and pieces I'd picked up during conversations. I wasn't sure if they lived there or not, but I guessed it didn't really matter. I wasn't an idiot. I knew why they'd need rooms. For crashing when they'd had too much to drink— see, they were responsible. Oh, and for fucking, couldn't forget that part either since they weren't shy about sharing. No way I could pretend to be oblivious to how much the members liked to party and fuck anything that looked their way even if I wanted to.

The building looked more like a two-story motel than the cult compound I had been picturing. Hm. It actually looked well-maintained. No chipping paint. No boarded-up windows. No rusted, falling down railings.

The one prospect I knew better than the others was out front polishing one of the bikes with a cloth. He stood to his full height the moment I parked.

"Maisy?" He sounded as confused as I felt. What the hell was I doing here?

I sent him a small smile, which only made the situation more awkward.

"Mad Bell?" I hoped he knew what I meant because I didn't have an explanation for why I'd come back here looking for the grumpy man at the ass crack of dawn.

I'd gone a bit nuts, I supposed. The silent treatment was really messing with my head, and I had to fix it ASAP.

"Uh…" he said, looking around as if searching for someone. "He's around back. I'd take you through the clubhouse, but it's not such a pretty picture in there right now."

"Boobs and dick everywhere?" I asked in a teasing tone.

His cheeks heated a bit.

"Yeah," he said with a tiny huff of a laugh. "It was a big night."

"I got ya." I shot him a wink. "I'll see if I can find him later."

I went to get back into my car but stopped when he said my name again.

"Go around that way, up the stairs, third door down." He pointed to the far end of the building. I turned and looked down to see where it was I needed to go, not that there was any other building to go around.

"Thanks," I said and headed that way. A few steps in, I turned around again. "Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

Calling him Prospect seemed stupid to me. And I sure as hell wasn't calling him Dipshit Dishwasher, like Mad Bell did.

"Prospect is fine." I stared at him for a beat. "If no one knows my name, I can easily fade away if it's not meant to be."

A frown tugged at my lips.

That was really sad to hear. It was like he knew he'd be forgotten if he didn't make the cut and he didn't want to make it hard on anyone that might get caught in the crosshairs. It didn't sit right with me, but it wasn't my world, wasn't my rules.

"Doesn't seem fair you get to remember me but I don't get to remember you," I said with a small smile.

He shrugged, and I got the feeling there was some heavy shit there under the surface. I gave him an understanding nod before turning around and walking away.

I was surprised when I reached the back of the building. There was a whole other building back here, leaving me to wonder how many rooms there were in total. The smell of the river filled my nose as I climbed to the second floor. I hit the top landing and nearly ran into a small woman with neon green hair down to her butt.

"Sorry," I muttered."

"Yep," she shot back as she stepped to the side and let me pass.

I felt her eyes on me. Was she sizing me up or wondering what the hell I was doing here? If only I had an answer for that last part.

Third door.

I raised my hand to knock.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said, and when I turned my attention her way, she stood there with a hip cocked and a hand resting on it. Very territorial energy rolled off of her. "He's grumpy most of the time, but he's a downright dick if you wake him up."

Was she coming from his room? Had Mad Bell slept with her?

I mean, it wasn't like I had a real reason to get upset or feel jealous over it. Certainly no reason to hate her for having some fun. Same went for him. Mad Bell and I weren't anything. I was a gnat in his workspace and he was my entertainment most of the time because I hated how just being there could piss him off. I deserved a bit of revenge on the daily for that shit. That was all, so I there was no reason I should be feeling a weird little kick in my gut.

"Hello?" She waved her hand in front of my face, and I blinked rapidly in response. "You okay? Look, I'm not tryin' to get in between you and him, but I felt I needed to warn you."

"Um, yeah, okay." I shook my head in an attempt to rid the strange thoughts. "No, there is no me and him."

"Okay?" Now she was the one blinking rapidly. "Don't care. Mostly because it's not my business. I was just tryin' to be nice."

A door opened up farther down the way, causing me to turn my attention to see who it was. Twigs stood in the doorway, naked as the day he was born. The clothes he should have had on were bunched up in one hand, managing to block out the parts it was way too early to get a glimpse of, thank God.

"Yo, Dra, get me a coffee before you go."

All I felt was a sense of relief knowing she'd come from his room instead of Mad Bell's. However, it was overshadowed by the anger rising up in me at Twigs ordering her— Dra, I assumed— to do his bidding.

"Excuse me," she snapped, and I had to hide my chuckle at her tone. It appeared as if I didn't need to say anything after all. "How about ‘thanks, Dra, for the lovely night. It was amazing, Dra. You know you're my favorite, Dra.' Huh?" There was sass in her raised brow.

I liked her.

To his credit, Twigs looked regretful and apologetic as he shuffled out of the room in our direction. I plastered myself against Mad Bell's door and looked up to the sky so I wouldn't get the pleasure of seeing how Twigs swagger made his butt cheeks bounce without anything covering them as he went by me to get to her. I wasn't tempted to look, I really wasn't.

"Baby," he started, wrapping his arms around her waist, clothes still clenched tightly in his grasp. It was going to be a close call if I kept facing their way. She held her ground with her hand on her hip and a sharp glare aimed at him. "Kendra, thank you for last night. I enjoyed burying myself in your tight pussy and making you come on my big cock over and over again."

She rolled her eyes, but I saw the way she relaxed.

He leaned in and kissed her lips.

"Coffee, please?" he asked.

"Fine, but make sure she doesn't get eaten by that irritable tool." Her super cool neon-pink, coffin-style nail pointed at Mad Bell's door. She smiled at me before turning and bouncing down the stairs.

"Maisy, the hell you doing here, girl?" Twigs asked as he turned toward me, looking like he'd just now noticed I was there.

"Twigs, you're naked," I pointed out lamely, closing my eyes. I knocked on Mad Bell's door before I was even aware of what I was doing.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." He did not sound sorry at all. "It's not a good idea to—"

"Yeah, I've heard. He doesn't like to be woken up," I said, frantically banging on the door this time.

"What?!" Mad Bell roared as he pulled open the door.

I only had time to take in his messy hair and squinting eyes before I pushed myself past him and into the room.

But it seemed in my haste to avoid seeing Twigs in all his glory, I'd put myself in a room with a nearly naked grumpy biker that currently was the object of half my sexual fantasies. Okay, seventy-five percent of my sexual fantasies.

Ugh! Fine! All of my recent sexual fantasies. I'd tickled the bean thinking about Mad Bell three times this week alone. Maybe it was five.

Close your mouth, Maisy.

But I couldn't. Nope. I couldn't control my body. I couldn't form thoughts, let alone words. I couldn't take my eyes off of his bare chest. I was blatantly ogling him and, fuck it, I didn't care. Because he was hot. So fucking hot. I knew he had tattoos and was fit, but I didn't know to what extent. He was a walking art gallery. Seriously. I couldn't count how many different tattoos he had, but they were broken up in a way that made me feel like I was moving through parts of his life. Though I couldn't figure out what each part symbolized.

The slamming of his door jerked me out of my trance.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, voice deep and still full of sleep. On the one hand, it was nice not to have him growling at me like a bear. On the other one, this tone shot straight through my body and settled warmly between my thighs.

Fucking Mad Bell. Why does it have to be him?

"We need to talk," I said, then cringed. "You need to talk to me." I poked at his chest, forgetting that he was shirtless until I felt his hot skin and tight muscles under my touch.

With a gasp, I retracted my hand quickly and turned to give him my back.

There, if I didn't see it, I could just picture him fully dressed. Shirt and pants and all. I could even put him in a snowsuit for good measure.

There was a shuffling behind me, but he didn't say a word.

"You can turn around," he said. I dared a glance over my shoulder, holding my breath until I saw he was fully dressed. Not a snowsuit, but a tee and jeans were better than boxers that barely contained his morning wood.

Wipe the drool and focus.

"How long is this going to go on?" I asked, and yes, I sounded a little pathetic. It hurt that he'd shut me out and I was letting it show.

"What?" he asked. "What the hell are you goin' on about?"

My lips thinned as I stared daggers at him. How dare he?! He knew damn well what he was doing.

"Look, I get you're pissed that I signed you up for the—"

"I'm not pissed," he said, cutting me off a little too calmly.

All the air went out of my sails and my shoulders rounded.

"Then what is it? You have been actively avoiding me and not talking to me for days now. If not that, then what?"

"I just don't have the energy to deal with you now that I have this on top of all the other shit I have to take care of." His tone was sure but not mean. I hated it more than if he'd yelled at me or barked. This made me feel like a stupid child that had fucked up royally. Like I should have known better. Like my fun tricks had gone too far.

But it wasn't just a trick. It wasn't for fun.

I'd finally come to realize why the subconscious part of me had pushed so hard for this.

I knew how he was proud of his food even if he didn't let it show. Everything he made, he made with a piece of himself. Pride, love, and care went into his food, whether it be a basket of wings for a crowd of drunk outsiders or a burger for a brother.

I glared at him as he basically walked me back to the front of the room and opened the door. Part of me was tempted to lock my feet in place and see if he ran into me. If I'd get to feel his hard body pressed against mine. If I hadn't been trying to play catch up with his words, I truly might have pressed my luck and done it. But as it was, I moved like a puppet as he controlled me. I let myself be pushed to the side as he opened the door and then used his body to urge me over the threshold.

"Lies," I said before I even realized I was speaking.

I didn't think his face could get any harder, but hearing my word, it turned to stone.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

"You put me in this position, so the way I see it, you should have to help me get through it," he said. His eyes widened slightly, leaving me to wonder if he hadn't realized what he was saying until he'd said it?

Us working together… did he really think that was a good idea?

But he was right, and I couldn't tell him there was no way in hell I'd help him.

"Tell me when, where, and how you need me. I'll be there."

That came out wrong.

But it was out there and there was no taking it back. If he noticed the way my cheeks turned pink, he didn't show it.

"Fine," he said before he slammed the door in my face.

"Fine!" I called back.