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I’m not in it for love.

Lover Boy

I’ll buy dinner. Or cook. My queen shouldn’t have to lift a finger

My queen!

He cooks?

I almost choke on my own spit. Keep it together… God help me if Diamond asks a question…

I zone in at the sound of her voice. “Drifter will start work later today.” She turns to look at him. “You’ll report directly to Ruby. What she says, goes. And you can’t be seen coming in and out of Rustic Grove, remember that. She’ll meet with you to get an update.”

“Ooh, a cute little date for them.” Sapphire laughs, nudging me. “How sweet.”

Pearl’s shoulders shake as she tries her best not to show her laughter.

“I’m sure we can do all of that over the phone,” I stress. “I’m snowed under⁠—”

“At your service, ma’am,” Drifter says before I can finish my sentence.

I turn to glare at him. “Let’s just get one thing straight,” I say, meeting his gaze. “You’re not here to give opinions, sass inside our clubhouse with your two-dollar smile, or think you know what’s goin’ on here. You don’t. Like Diamond said, you’re here to complete a task and that task only. If you don’t do everything we say, I’ll personally see to it that you stay a prospect. Wrath won’t go easy on you.”

There.

“I’m up for the challenge,” he replies, just as confident as he’s been since I met him.

Was that only last night?

Diamond wraps up the meeting, and I bolt for the door. Of course, Drifter is hot on my heels. I make it out to the lot, and he hollers after me, “Hey, I meant what I said back there!”

I turn to shush him, but nobody is following us.

“Keep your voice down!” I chide. “Someone will hear you, goddammit.”

His lips twitch. “Are you ashamed of me, Mama?”

“Don’t call me that.” I point at him. “And no, I’m not ashamed, but you weren’t honest last night. I never would have slept with you if I’d known.”

I’m not trying to be a bitch, it’s semantics. There’s a hierarchy in an MC, and he’s at the very bottom.

“Well, that’s just wrong, because you would’ve missed out on the best night of your life.”

I step closer to him menacingly. “Don’t count on it.”

“I don’t know, I heard my name in a multitude of crescendos last night.”

I poke him in the chest. “Back off. I mean it.”

He looks down at where I touched him, undeterred, then looks up at me. “You know I don’t give up that easily, not when there’s something I want.”

“Yeah? Well, you know what, Screwdriver, I’m not falling for your charm for a second longer. Goodbye, prospect.”

“You’ll be back!” he yells after me as I slide onto my motorcycle and start her up.

I give him the middle finger without looking back and rev my engine a couple of times before screeching off at top speed.

Screw him.