Free Between Embers (Lost Kings MC #5.5): A Companion to White Heat: Three Short Stories by Autumn Jones Lake

Raises his kids, takes care of the house. But when he’s with me, it’s all just fun, you know?”
    “And she knows about you?”
    She gives me a sly grin. “I’m sure she does.”
    “And you’re okay just being his piece of ass?”
    She snorts, not insulted—not that I care if she is. “Yeah. I get to do the fun stuff with him. All bikers are like that. They all date you know, like, girls my age,” she says, as if she wants to really make sure I understand that I’m an old hag or something.
    “That’s fascinating.” She doesn’t even blink at the caustic tone of my voice.
    “So you’re new to the life, then? Like her?” She jerks her thumb in Hope’s direction. “She’s so fucking stuck-up.”
    This chick realizes I was in the wedding, right? “She’s actually one of my best friends. And she’s as far from stuck-up as a person can get.”
    “Oh.” Her lips quiver into a smile. “Sorry. I haven’t, uh really talked to her much.”
    “Then maybe you shouldn’t run your mouth about stuff you know nothing about?”
    “Whatever.” She stands and storms off.
    I guess I got a pretty good dose of reality tonight. If I ever thought about Z and I being something more permanent—which I don’t—I’d have to put up with him having club girls on the side while I sit home pretending I didn’t know what he was up to.
    Double fuck that.
    No. What we have is perfect. What we have is all we’ll ever be.
    I don’t recognize the guys at the table next to us. But they’re wearing Lost Kings MC cuts like Z’s. Their bottom rockers claim downstate New York as their territory. One loud, drunk one catches my attention. He aims his glare at Murphy, who’s up front talking to Rock. “That fuck is so far up her ass ain’t even funny. You believe none of them were fuckin’ her while he was inside?”
    A round of drunk noises of disbelief go around the table. Are they talking about Hope? I lean back in my chair a little further, straining to catch more of their conversation without appearing obvious.
    “Sorry,” Trinity says setting her hand on my shoulder and dropping into the chair next to me.
    My face must betray the eavesdropping I was attempting. “Everything okay?” she asks.
    “Oh, yeah. Who are those guys? The loud one?” I tip my head toward the “downstate” table.
    “That’s the president of our downstate charter.” Her eyes narrow as she studies my face. “He didn’t bother you, did he?”
    “No. Nothing like that.”
    “Okay. Z should be back any second.”
    Right after she says it, her man strides back into the tent. He takes a seat next to her and pulls her into his lap.
    Now, where is Z?
    As if my body’s aware of his every movement, my gaze lands on him coming in the back of the tent.
    He searches the crowd and when his eyes meet mine, his mouth curves into a wide smile.
    It really sucks that he’s so fucking gorgeous, he makes my knees weak every time he flashes his dimples my way.
----

    “ W HAT THE FUCK does Stump want?” I grumble at Wrath once we’re away from the wedding tent.
    “How the fuck should I know?” he grumbles right back. “I have my own things to take care of tonight.”
    I slap his arm with the back of my hand. “Care to share?”
    “No.”
    The clubhouse will be too packed for discussing business. We head down to the stone amphitheater where the wedding was held. Any meetings we needed to have with visiting MCs tonight would happen out here. Wrath and Murphy have the honor of dealing with the Wolf Knight sit-down. Wrath and I get to deal with the Devil Demon’s president, Stump.
    Stump’s actually not a bad guy. He’s old as fuck, though. His son Chaser should really be running things by now, but Stump isn’t giving up control of his club any time soon. Chaser is the VP and he’s sitting in on this meeting as well.
    “Can’t believe your prez went through with that,” Stump says after we get greetings out of the way.
    Like the half-caveman