Free Thrash by JC Emery

where Jim and Ryan’s
stepmother, Ruby, went wrong with him. Back when he was in school,
she would always show up to his shit. It didn’t matter how little
he cared about the project or how poor his grades were. She always
showed up for his and Ian’s events. I have half a mind to slap the
idiot right out of him, but I’m not stupid enough to think whatever
history we have would save me from the repercussions of such an
act.
    “ I know,” he says without
an ounce of sorrow in his voice. His arrogance knows no bounds.
“Walk with me, Nic. Let’s go find Duke,” he says and leads me
through the crowd of strewn about tables and chairs and the
occasional sofa. I’d rather not be tucked into Ryan’s side, but
it’s not worth the argument, so I go anyway. We pass the main
hallway that leads down to the chapel, the palace, and the
bedrooms. In the back of the clubhouse is the game room. In the
center is a pool table with dark red velvet lining and an overhead
light that’s styled in a Nordic head-piece fashion. There’s an
AC/DC pinball machine in one corner and a Pac-Man machine in
another. Ryan removes his arm from over my shoulders and moves to
stand in front of me.
    “ Hey Brother, you wanna
share?” Ryan asks. My entire body tenses up at the question. The
word no flies through my brain repeatedly and at rapid speed. No,
no, no, no. He’s a jackass, but is he really this much of a
jackass? A rough, masculine voice laughs and instinctively, my head
flops forward between the shoulder blades of Ryan’s back. It’s
Duke. Just like I knew it would be, but knowing something and
finding something out are two totally different things.
    “ Fuck you,” Duke says. He
sounds occupied. “Get your own pussy.”
    Ryan’s shoulders shake
with laughter. My cheeks heat with embarrassment. I’m a Lost Girl,
not his Old Lady. I know better than to assume anything with these
guys. It doesn’t matter how much I know better than to have come
here and asking for Duke, it doesn’t make the humiliation and
frustration any easier to deal with. I left Darren and the bar so I
could be here and feel better. I figured maybe Duke and I could
hook up again and for a little while I could make like he means the
words he says, and I could feel like I belong. I didn’t always want
to—belong that is—but once I started babysitting Chel’s kid and we
got closer, I I ended up spending more time here. It was so natural
that I nearly didn’t even realize what I was becoming until I’d
already become it. And now I’m here, feeling like the biggest fool
on earth for thinking I fit in well enough to handle this shit with
Duke without getting hurt. I am an idiot.
    A few very long, very
brutal moments pass before Ryan steps forward, giving me the worst
fucking view imaginable. Duke’s back is propped up against the arm
of the sofa, facing the other direction, and I let out a silent
sigh of relief. He can’t see me here—not when I feel like this. His
short blond hair is slicked back tonight. It’s barely a few inches
long, but it’s in that awkward place where it falls in his eyes,
but isn’t quite long enough to tuck behind his ears. Above him on
the sofa, straddling his legs, is Dawn. She’s a Lost Girl, too. But
she takes it to a whole other level. I don’t think I can name a
single club member she hasn’t slept with. Even Jim had a go at her
during one of his and Ruby’s fights a few years back. It wasn’t
pretty, but now Ruby avoids the clubhouse even when Jim invites her
to come to a party, and Dawn knows better than to say a word to
her.
    Dawn’s naked form moves up
and down as slowly as she can. Her arms are stretched out before
her, resting atop Duke’s chest. Her eyes are focused on him, making
my voyeurism all that much more invasive. Ryan waits another beat
and then leans down and whispers in my ear, “Enjoy the show,
bitch.”
    Then he quietly walks away, giving me a
pat on my boob as he goes. The farther away he