Page 86 of Guarding Glenda

I patted the stool next to me. “Just how everything is club business.”

She scoffed, sitting but facing the room instead of the bar. “Ain’t that the truth. Stupid shit.” My eyes widened and she waved me off. “Well, it is. They use that shit as an excuse for everything.” She sniffed. “It’s like a fucking get-out-of-jail-free card, except it won’t work on real jail.”

Pinkie came out and asked, “You need a drink, Allie? Hungry?”

Allie spun around. “A beer would be great. I’m not hungry.”

Pinkie gave a tight-lipped grin but grabbed a beer, popped the top, then pushed it across the bar. “What are y’all ladies gabbing about?” Pinkie asked as she sipped her own beer. Perks of working a bar at a clubhouse. Everyone could drink.

“Boys,” Linny said. “Speaking of, I never see you with anyone.”

Pinkie grinned as she put the bottle to her lips. “I have my fun. Don’t you worry about me.”

Pinkie was cute, friendly, and kind. Plenty of the guys had their eye on her. She was pretty reserved though with her private life. Not that other ladies weren’t. A lot of the girls that hung around were here to get away from something.

“Don’t even look in my direction with that bullshit,” Allie said, taking a drink.

Linny laughed. “You’re not fooling anyone, ya know.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Allie turned back around, turning her bottle up.

We all giggled. The only way you could ignore the chemistry between her and Hammer would be if you didn’t have eyes. Even then, the tension was palpable so it would be obvious to a blind person. But they were so stubborn they wouldn’t admit it to each other.

I’d been around when they were being friendly but still pretending it was nothing more than that. Linny and her got close because it was Allie who originally helped get her away from that piece of shit, Marshall. Even after Linny came out here and she ended up with Bama, they stayed in touch.

Bama drilled them both, since that was his sister and his friend before they ever became club brothers. Something happened, but none of us knew what. And Allie’s been icy to him ever since.

Pinkie walked back to the kitchen then came back out with plates of food for me and Linny. “I’ll get Leigh’s when he’s here.”

Looking at my phone, I said, “Weird. He should be here by now.”

Linny was putting ketchup on her plate for her fries. “Did he run by the house?”

“Maybe.” I hit his name and picked up the phone, listening as it rang. When the message came on to leave a voicemail, I waited for the beep then said, “Hey, just checking to see if you’re on the way. See you soon.”

I laid the phone back on the bar and sipped my beer.

Linny grabbed a fry. “You gonna eat?” she asked before popping it in her mouth.

Looking down at the phone, I said, “I guess.” I sent a text to Leigh to say I was going to eat and put the phone back down.

I ate my hot wings and half of the fries, looking down at the phone the whole time. I’d used up a pile of napkins trying to keep my fingers clean to grab the phone between bites, but no call or message came.

“Something’s wrong.” I tried calling again, and Leigh still didn’t answer. He hadn’t been by the clubhouse yet, and the guys hadn’t left, so he wasn’t with them.

“Did he say he was on the way?” Allie asked.

Staring at my phone, I sighed. “He told me a while ago he was going by the clinic, then he’d be here. He always replies within minutes.” Putting the phone down, I looked at the mirror behind the bar and caught a glimpse of some of the bunnies walking around, flirting with the guys.

“Nope.” Allie said, slamming her beer down. “Not Leigh.”

Looking over at her, I asked, “What?”

She grabbed my wrist. “He’s not with a woman. Not Leigh.”

Linny wiped her hands. “She’s right. He wouldn’t.”

Glancing at the phone, willing it to light up, I said, “I thought that once about Reggie, too.”