The Hero Read online

  The door swung open, and she faced off with the same guy, though this time he seemed angrier. “Bitch, what the fuck?”

  She sucked in a breath and grinned. “Just thought you’d reconsider maybe letting me come in?”

  “The only way you’re getting in here is on your knees.”

  Macy gasped and averted her eyes to Rourke whose face tightened. It was a small relief to know the jackass’s words weren’t just affecting her. It was strange, though. Why did Rourke care?

  Gage tugged her into his side, making himself known. His arm wrapped around her shoulder. Macy clamped her lips together, trying to hold back her laugh. Somebody is in trouble.

  “What did you say to her?”

  The guy, who was clearly not a full-fledged member from the way his face paled and his eyes scanned the men in fear, choked on his words. “I-I, uh oh…”

  Dobbs barked out a laugh. “Stuttering pussy, get the fuck out of my way.” He pushed past, leaving the guy to stumble back against the door.

  “Gage, man, I didn’t know she was with you. She was asking for Cheyenne.”

  Gage stepped forward, and the guy cowered slightly. He turned back to Macy and grinned. “You want us to kill him?”

  She scrunched her brows and twisted her lips. “No. Though, I wouldn’t object to an ass whooping.”

  Gage chuckled and leaned toward the guy. “Your lucky day, you get to live, fucker. I hear you talk to her like that again? I will beat the shit out of you.” He started in and turned back to Macy. “Unless you changed your mind, let’s go, short stack.”

  She rushed behind Gage and smirked at the asshole. That was awesome. The hall was dark with a low light gleaming in from the bar. The music was loud. She could only hear the thumping from the bass. Two girls rushed toward Gage and Dobbs, draping themselves over their chests.

  Macy heard the door slam and jerked around. Rourke was standing over the man who was glued against the wall. Whatever he was saying had the guy looking more fearful than he had been a minute ago. Rourke straightened away from him then his hand jutted out, knocking the guy back against the wall. Hard. That couldn’t be for her. Could it? She angled her head for a better glimpse at Rourke’s profile. The sharp edge of his jaw was tense, and his hands were balled. It certainly seemed his anger was for how she’d been treated. Her stomach flipped as she flattened her lips, keeping her smile lowkey. She had never had a man attack another over her. Probably, not something she should be glowing over. But I am.

  “C’mon, Mace.”

  Rourke jerked his gaze, landing directly on her. His brows twitched, seemingly surprised to see her there watching him. His eyes had always been intense the few times he’d looked at her. Something was different tonight, or maybe it was just her. Seeing Rourke take a protective stance for her was incredibly sexy. And sweet. A side she hadn’t really seen from him. When he raised his brows, her cheeks heated immediately. She was staring at him as if he had just showed up at her door and asked her to prom. Look away!

  She tore her gaze from Rourke. It didn’t help the blush covering her face. Dobbs, covered with a topless woman, grasped her wrist and dragged her to the bar. She received a few appreciative stares from men she didn’t know, which amped up her confidence. Something she was in dire need of after acting the fool with Rourke ten seconds ago.

  She wiggled her hand from his hold when she saw Meg at the end of the bar. She’d met her during her first visit to the clubhouse. She was Mick’s widow and had become close friends with Cheyenne. She walked over, putting her hand on the older woman’s shoulder.

  Meg turned, and her face lit up. “Hey, girl, what are you doing here?” Meg didn’t wait for an answer. She pulled Macy in for a hug.

  “I was supposed to meet up with Chey.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Oh well, her and Trax left town a while ago.”

  “I heard.” Macy sighed. “An hour too late.” She sat on the stool next t Meg’s. “Mind if I hang out with you?”

  She smiled. “Yeah, stay with me, we’ll drink until we can’t feel our faces.” Meg winked and raised her hand. “Nadia, bring us some shots.”

  Oh hell, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.

  Three hours later, her thought was confirmed. She downed her fifth tequila shot. This time around, it wasn’t going down as smoothly as the first few. She sucked the lemon hard, and her face scrunched.

  She didn’t regret coming though. Of all the people she knew, Meg was the most fun. Twice her age and cooler than Macy would ever be.

  Meg stumbled from the stool. “Need a ride home?”

  What? Meg could definitely hold her liquor better than Macy. Still, she was in no shape to drive. Macy reached out to steady her drinking partner and scanned the room for a familiar face. She needed back up if Meg insisted on driving.

  Gage came out of nowhere grabbing the keys from Meg’s hand. “Christ, woman, you ain’t driving. I’ll get one of the prospects, come on.”

  Meg shrugged and pulled Macy into a hug, squeezing her tight. “Love you, girl, thanks for hanging with the old lady tonight.”

  Macy laughed. “Thanks for hanging with the boring chick.”

  She had shared a lot with Meg, including Jason’s take on her being boring. Meg was the best kind of drinking buddy, she cursed him out, plotted three different ways to kill him, and offered her backyard as his final resting place.

  “Mikey’s got ya, Meg,” Gage said.

  She gave a loud exit, and everyone, including a woman in mid blow job, stopped what they were doing to say bye. Macy shook her head laughing. She watched as Meg neared the hallway to the front door. She sidestepped to the right and gripped Rourke’s shoulder, leaning in toward his ear. He glanced up and lifted his chin. His face had softened, relaxing his harsh features. She had caught the two of them talking a few times before. Rourke always seemed at ease with her. It was obvious he loved and respected her, leaving Macy wondering if she reminded him of his own mother.

  Rourke patted Meg’s hand over his shoulder. It was a sweet gesture. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol streaming through her blood, but she was seeing Rourke in a different light tonight. He remained incredibly sexy in her mind, but she was struck by his small acts of kindness displayed earlier. First, with her. Now with Meg. She drew in a deep breath.

  For the past few hours, she had snuck a few looks his way. Rourke was unapproachable. It would take a certain savvy she wasn’t sure she possessed to have a full-on conversation with him. She considered herself outgoing and usually could talk to anyone. But Rourke? It would be as if she were interviewing for a job, and she knew she wasn’t qualified. She had tested the waters before with her feeble attempt at flirting. It only proved one thing. Out of my league.

  She rolled her eyes then snickered.

  She was still in the middle of her own amusement when his gaze shifted across the room to her. The heat rose up her neck at record speed. She could only imagine what he must have thought. She was staring at him with a giant deranged grin while she sat alone at the bar. Psycho.

  Even with her buzz, the reality of what he was seeing when he looked at her was enough to encourage a quick departure. She had her fun, enjoyed the night with Meg, and now it was time to head out before her liquid courage had her doing something ridiculous. Maybe I should go talk to him, offer to buy him a drink. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. It was definitely time to leave.

  She quickly swiveled in her stool and waved her hand toward the blonde behind the bar.

  “Hey Nadia, what do I owe?”

  “Nothing babe, Meg picked up the tab.” Nadia, the bartender with the fabulous fake breasts and her cleavage displayed from her lowcut shirt, winked and turned around. Macy dug in her bag for cash. The least she could do was leave a generous tip for Nadia. She pulled out a twenty and slipped it under her empty shot glass.

  “You leaving?”

  Macy looked up to see Gage flanked by Dobbs at the bar. It str
uck her as odd they were alone. With all the women circling the club members, it seemed strange to see these two guys by themselves.

  “Yeah, I’ll call an Uber.” She snapped her fingers, remembering her dead cell in her bag. “Hey, can I borrow your phone?” She lifted her bag over her shoulder and stood. Gage stopped her. He gestured her back into the stool.

  “We’ll get someone to drive you home. First I wanna hear about you being the boring chick.”

  She burst out laughing. Had she been sober, she might have been mortified to tell the story. The alcohol made things seem less tragic. A beer appeared in front of her, and Nadia took off again. She glanced up at Gage, smiling and oddly interested in the story.

  “Remember my boyfriend, Jason? You met him at Chey’s place?” They had had a brief encounter once.

  “The douche with the fucked-up bitch boy haircut? Vaguely.”

  Macy snorted. “Yeah, him. He broke up with me last week. Told me I was boring, and our relationship no longer excited him.” She slammed her hand on the bar. “Like it’s my job to excite him. How about him exciting me? He’s such a fucking jerk.” As Jason’s words replayed in her head, her blood boiled in fury. She grabbed her beer, taking a swig in hopes of settling her anger.

  “Boring in bed?” Dobbs asked.

  “Yes!” she blurted. “Which I’m not.” She turned away with a pout. Saying it out loud wasn’t even something the alcohol could set a barrier on. No woman wanted to hear she wasn’t good sexually. An insult like that struck right into the core. It wasn’t as though he was overly exciting either. Why should she have to hold all the blame when things got stale? And of course, there was the whole anal thing.

  Gage choked on beer and heaved forward, coughing. She patted him on the back.

  “You okay?”

  He coughed again through a laugh and turned to her. “The whole anal thing?”

  She drew in a long breath and scrunched her nose. “I said that out loud?”

  Dobbs burst out laughing. It was confirmation she had. Ugh!

  Time to go and spare herself any more embarrassment. Nothing sobered a woman up like talk of anal sex. She slid off her stool. “I’m going, thanks for getting me in and letting me hang.”

  “No, Mace, stay, have another drink with us,” Gage said.

  “Or you can stay and hang with us in the back,” Dobbs suggested with a sly grin.

  Her gaze shifted down the hall to the back rooms. “What’s back there?”

  Gage smiled. “Bedrooms.” He cocked a brow. “You know what the opposite of boring is?” His brows deepened and the corner of his mouth curled. “A threesome.”

  Her mouth fell open, and her gaze shifted between both men. She expected them to start laughing. Instead, they stared back at her with hungry gazes. Were they seriously asking her to do a threesome with them? Her? Oh my God, they are. They were waiting on her, but she remained fixated on the idea—these two hot, sexy men wanted her for a threesome. Her gaze flickered between both men. Oh my God, they’re serious. And they were. There was no punchline or laughter, Gage and Dobbs were a hundred percent onboard to take her in the back. The corner of her mouth curled. Why shouldn’t I do this? Wasn’t this on every women’s bucket list whether they were willing to admit it or not?

  “Thinking too hard again, short stack.”

  She eyed Gage. His eyes gleamed in challenge. She smirked. The same man who called her out for faking an orgasm with her ex a few months back was now trying to entice her into his bed. She rested her elbows on the bar and raised her brows.

  “Can you guarantee I won’t have to fake it ’cause, ya know, that shit’s exhausting.” Who the hell am I? Did she really just say that?

  Gage chuckled and glanced over her shoulder with a smile. She had a sudden urge to follow his stare. Who was he looking at? He flicked his gaze and arched his brow. “What do ya say?”

  Oh hell, why not? She was single. Gotta love liquid courage.

  “Okay.”

  Gage seemed more surprised than Dobbs, who lifted his beer and downed it. “Yeah?”

  Macy smiled. “Yeah.” Boundaries, set them, Macy. She blurted without a second thought. “I don’t want anything in my ass, though.”

  Her statement was crass and obviously caught Dobbs off guard because he spit a mouthful of beer over the bar.

  “I think we can handle that.” Gage leaned closer. “You can suck him off while I eat you out. I’m thinking you got a real sweet pussy, Macy.”

  Oh. My. God.

  Her heart raced, all the blood rushed through her body, causing her skin to prickle. Even over the loud music, she could hear her heavy breath and her heart pounding against her chest. When Gage started across the room, she didn’t even think twice or hesitate. She got up and followed behind him. Am I really going to do this? They were halfway through the room when Gage stopped and glanced over his shoulder, over her head. There were so many people in the room she couldn’t tell who he was looking at. Gage turned around and shouted, “Dobbs, man, take her to the last door on the right.”

  Dobbs furrowed his brows. “But that’s…”

  Gage cut him off. “Just fucking do it.” He glanced down at Macy and smiled. “Go with him. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Okay.”

  Dobbs took the lead, and the loud music was drowned into silence as they grew further from the bar. There were several closed doors lining up the hall. When they got to the last one, Dobbs opened it and gestured her inside. She walked in and turned, noticing him leaving.

  “Wait, where are you going?”

  Dobbs snorted. “Unfortunately, I’ve been replaced for this little party.” He scanned her body from head to toe and shook his head. “Damn shame, Mace, ’cause you are exactly what I’d want. Those are two lucky fucking bastards.” He winked and closed the door.

  What the hell was he talking about? Replaced by whom? She circled around the room, taking in her surroundings. Her head was still light from the alcohol, and she stumbled over the mess on the floor. Whoever this room belonged to was in serious need of a maid. There was a set of large black boots in the middle of the room, with a ratty chair in the corner. The bed appeared clean but wasn’t made and had mismatched sheets. She inched over to an open door and peeked into the bathroom. It was a replica of a plain gas station bathroom equipped with a shower stall. She twisted her lips.

  How long was she supposed to wait for Gage and the mystery guest? She felt confident if she wanted to back out, they’d let her. She didn’t get the rape vibe from Gage. Rape vibe? Really, dumbass? That, by far, might have been the dumbest thought she’d ever had.

  Non-rape vibe? Mystery guest? Was this really what she wanted? Suddenly, her spontaneous decision had lost a bit of its luster. Her annoyingly unfun rational side was taking over. Am I gonna do this? It was a recipe for disaster. She’d just been dumped, her ego took a hit at the door a few hours ago, and the one guy who sparked anything in her had no interest. All her hopes of being the wild, single girl for the night seemed to fade. She cupped her hands over her face. “Shit. I can’t do this,” she muttered.

  She circled the room again and jumped when the door opened. Gage walked inside with a dark figure behind him. She couldn’t tell who it was since he was drowned in the dark of the hall.

  “Change your mind?” Gage said.

  Macy bit her lip. It was good and exciting five minutes ago in the bar. Now, it seemed way too far out of her comfort zone.

  “Uh…”

  The dark figure finally made his appearance taking up the entire doorway. Those midnight eyes nailed her frozen in the middle of the room.

  She swallowed the knot in her throat. “No, I didn’t change my mind.”

  ****

  Rourke stood silently, gaging her reaction to him. He expected her to run scared from the room when she realized the players in her threesome changed. She didn’t. In fact, she seemed almost content on bailing until she saw him.

  Macy h
ad been on his radar for the past few months since the first night he laid eyes on her. At the time, she was strictly the sexy, outspoken best friend of the woman who held information the club needed. She was the polar opposite of the women he hung around with at the club and sparked an immediate reaction. However, it wasn’t something he considered acting on, once Macy voiced her thoughts to Cheyenne on bikers and their lifestyle.

  “Banging a biker for a night? That’s one thing, but making a life with him? Are you crazy? It’s absurd. You really want a lifetime with a dirty thug, and to spend your weekends schlepping his little biker babies to the prison to visit their dad who is probably spending his time making drug deals or dropping the soap?”

  They had set up audio in the apartment. It was fucked up but deemed necessary since they believed Cheyenne was holding out on them. Rourke got more than he expected with Macy’s distaste for the club and its members. It pissed him the fuck off. He wasn’t necessarily upset by her opinion, just the ramifications for him. He may want her, but he couldn’t have her.

  Her outward approach to the club and the members had softened, but he had doubted her deep-seated view on the Ghosttown Riders had changed.

  “We can get Dobbs back in here if you want.” Gage was walking around the bed near the nightstand where Rourke kept his stash of rubbers. It was a challenge, forcing Macy to show her cards.

  Ever since Trax and Cheyenne got together, Macy had been a fixture amongst the club and his own personal, torturous, infatuation. It was a self-harming method. When she’d show up, he could feel her damn presence when she entered the room. He had memorized her scent of lemon and ginger. It was an odd combination, but on her, it was clean and intoxicating. Then came the torture—resisting the urge to make a move. Getting involved with her would only end one way. He was aware of her take on the club and bikers, in general. It was an exact quote from Macy to Cheyenne when her friend got together with Trax. Knowing her stance should have sent him in the opposite direction. Instead, he found himself lingering longer when she was around.