Stone (Highway Jokers #1)

CHAPTER 6

LOLITA

I jumped when I heard the door slam behind him. It was like I couldn’t move, my breath was heavy as I leaned against the wall. All I kept thinking about was Daniel's words running through my head.

“I want you to be mine.”

“I want you to be my old lady.”

“....can’t control myself around you”

“I won’t touch you until you’re mine…”

I groaned and banged my head softly back against the wall. Since Daniel had walked back into my life, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. I wasn’t used to this, I had always been level-headed with situations but this… was all new territory for me and I was afraid.

I pushed off the wall and finally walked out of the dorm room, closing the door behind me. I could hear voices coming from downstairs but as soon I was on the last step, everyone stopped talking. I scanned the room but couldn’t find the one person I needed to talk to. Frowning slightly I stepped off the last step when Mage came over to me.

“You alright, sweetheart?” He asked me.

I ran my hand through my hair. “Yeah… um, have you seen Dan…. Stone?” I asked him, he looked towards the guys before turning to me.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart but he left,” he said to me. Frowning more, I walked past him towards the clubhouse door. Once I was outside in the daylight, I noticed that one motorcycle was missing. My jaw clenched as I turned around to face the men of the club.

“What is with you men being hot and cold all the fucking time?” I asked them. I shook my head before I started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” I heard John ask me as I got halfway up the stairs.

“Work. I do have a business to run” I snapped before I walked up the rest of the steps and towards my dorm. I quickly had a shower and pulled on a pair of jeans, my business shirt and my shoes before I grabbed my bag and headed back downstairs.

“Don’t you think you should stay here?” John asked me from his chair as he sat across from Thrasher.

“I have already lost enough by being closed. I have bills to pay for. I can’t sit around here waiting, you know I can’t do that.” I told my stepbrother. He sighed and nodded his head before looking at his president.

“She’s way too stubborn.” I heard John mumble. I saw Thrasher nod once before he yelled out two prospects’ names.

“Watch her with your life. If anything happens, call me immediately.” Thrasher growled at them, making me roll my eyes. I pulled out my keys and headed towards the door of the clubhouse.

By the end of the day, I was dead on my feet. My mind had been running like crazy from this morning’s situation. When I had a break I tried calling Daniel but he never answered the phone. I pulled into the compound and climbed out of the car with Connor and Ben, the other prospect. I rubbed the back of my neck as I made my way towards the door of the clubhouse but I stopped short when I saw Daniel walking out with Skitzo. With a cigarette to his lips, our eyes met.

“Hey… I tried calling you…” I said to him but he pushed past me, heading towards his motorcycle. Frowning, it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I spun on my heels and walked over to him. “What the hell is your problem?” I asked him but he ignored me and started the engine of the bike. The rumble of the engine drowned out my voice. I watched as he tore out of the compound with Skitzo behind him.

“I fucking hate it here,” I mumbled as I walked past John, Mage and 8Ball once I was back inside the clubhouse. I headed upstairs and locked my door before I went for a shower and then bed.

As the weeks passed by, I kept to myself. I went to work with Connor and Ben, the prospects and came back to the clubhouse. I barely saw Daniel and when I did he would just turn the other way and head out the door. I was getting sick and tired of the whole situation. I wanted to go home. I wanted my life back to the way it was but I just… I couldn’t keep the thought of Daniel’s lips and hands off my mind.

It was like my skin was burning every time I thought about it.

The way he made me feel in those moments, had me dreaming about how it would feel, feeling his hands all over me.

Over the past few weeks, I had gotten to know Mage’s old lady, Vikki. She was the mother hen to the boys and had been through a lot. I saw the scars that lingered over her body but I saw the love she had for her man and her son, 8ball. She was a strong woman and in the biker life, you had to be.

She gave me the rundown on how it all worked but if I was going to become an Old Lady, I needed to be all in. Now I’m sitting in my dorm thinking about it. I needed to bite the bullet and go talk to him. I needed to stand up and face him but was I ready for this life? His life? Was I ready to have the target on my back for the rest of my life?

I sighed and pushed myself off the small couch and went to look for Daniel. I couldn’t back out now.

Heading downstairs I saw some of the guys getting ready to leave on another run. “Got everything?” I heard Daniel yell as he came down the stairs behind me, carrying a duffle bag.

“Yeah, hurry up!” Gravel yelled back.

“Can we talk?” I grabbed Daniel’s arm, stopping him from walking away.

“Not really, I gotta hit the road” We hadn’t spoken in weeks.

“It will only be quick.”

He sighed, dropping the duffel bag by his feet. “Look, Lolita. If you don’t want to be here then that’s fine, once we take care of the people who shot up your shop then you can part ways. I’m just trying to do my job and that is to protect you. I wanted you to be my Old Lady because I’ve had feelings for you since high school but I can see now that you don’t feel the same way.” Daniel said as he looked me in the eyes.

“Hurry up Stone!” We heard someone yell across the clubhouse.

“But… I…”

“Look I’ve gotta go, we can talk about this when I get back next week. Well, that’s if you are still here…” he grabbed his bag and left me standing there once again. I bit my tongue to hold in the tears but I pushed past that and rushed after him. When Daniel climbed onto his motorcycle, I rushed over to him and took him by surprise when I grabbed him by the face and slammed my lips against his.

Whistles could be heard around us as we deepened the kiss. I was so lost in the moment I didn’t care. I leaned my forehead against him for a moment to catch my breath. “Stop walking away from me.” I kissed him again and took a step back, he stared at me but a smile covered his lips before he started the bike.

"We should be heading back tomorrow night" I heard Daniel say over the phone. It was nearly midnight when I looked over at the clock.

“Is the storm bad there?” I asked just as thunderstruck above the clubhouse, making me jump at how loud it was. “Jesus Christ…”

"I heard that... You must be getting it….” Daniel was cut off by the sounds of popping. I frowned and called out his name but all I got was a groan.

“Daniel!” I yelled out.

"Tell pres… the Devil Riders…" I heard him mumble before the line went dead. I quickly climbed out of bed and pulled on my jeans and shoes before I rushed out of my dorm. Down the hall, I immediately started banging on Thrasher’s door.

“This better be fucking good” I heard him mumble before he opened the door. He was halfway pulling up his jeans when he looked at me and glared. “Lolita”

“I think Stone has been shot…”

“What? How?” He asked, looking over his shoulder he yelled at the girl to get out of his dorm. She quickly gathered her stuff and when she came into view I realized who it was. It was one of the sweetbuts. Our eyes connected but then she left without a word.

“I was on the phone to him and I heard popping sounds and then he mumbled ‘The Devil Riders’ before everything went dead,” I told him, I watched as his eyes became dark. Thrasher pulled on a shirt, his boots and his leather kutte before walking out of his dorm. He banged on every single dorm door, waking up the guys that were still there.

“Get the fuck up!” He yelled out, scaring me.