The Thunder Wolves MC - Sophia (Book #4)

7

Jax

I spent the drive to the restaurant trying to calm myself, so I didn’t make an ass of myself. Also, if I could get my boner under control, that would be great. But with her hands on my sides, it was rather hard to do. And with the drive to the restaurant not taking long, I ran out of time quickly. Pulling into the parking lot, I parked as close to the door as I could. I knew she ate meat based on what she had for breakfast yesterday, so I was sure my choice to bring her to a steak house was safe. Climbing off the back of my bike, she pulled my helmet off and handed it to me. Like yesterday I followed her to the door and made sure to open it for her before she could. Again she smiled and thanked me as she moved past me. Inside we were greeted and taken to our table.

“So Jax, if you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you do? I know you're in the MC, and you're the vice president, but what does that intel?” Again she was straight to the point and wasn’t afraid to say what she wanted when she wanted. “Well, I help mostly with doing the books and overseeing things at our Auto body shop along with the two adult clubs we run. I also help with security details at both of the clubs.” She nodded, “those are two very different things.” I nodded. “Rooster started with having the auto body shop, and that was our main business. But then word got out about ten years or so ago that the owners of the clubs weren’t exactly the nicest to the ladies, and he decided that he wasn’t going to allow that in his town. I wasn’t here for any of that, so I don’t know the full story on how he acquired the clubs, but now all the girls that work there are there because they want to be and not because they have to be. And they keep anything they make as far as tips go. The club only takes the income from the door charge and what is made from the drinks.” A smile pulled at her lips. “That's cool of you guys not to take a percentage of what the girls make.” I shrugged, “They are the ones doing the work. And most of them are either college kids working so they can pay their way through school or single mothers who make more dancing than they would waitressing.” She nodded again, but the conversation ended as the waitress appeared to take our order. 

With our orders placed, Sophia sat back in her seat and stared at me for a minute. “Did you always want to be in the MC?” I nodded, “My father is in the MC but with the original chapter. I grew up wishing to be just like him one day. Did you always want to be a writer?” I didn’t really want to talk about myself and hoped my question would change the subject. A smile pulled at her lips again. “I did. It was always my way of forgetting the reality of things. Why not be a member of the same chapter as your father?” Damn, my attempt at subject change didn’t go as planned, but at least we aren't just talking about me. “What do you mean by the reality of things? And the answer to your question is quite a long one.” She leaned forward, placing her arms on the table in front of her. “I take it that neither of us has the best of fathers. And as they were and are our fathers and great guys, they have their demons and things we hate about them.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “Tell you what you tell me about your father, and I will tell you about mine.” Leaning back in her seat again, she nodded. “Deal….Well, I only have a few memories of my father being sober, and those are mostly from the time I was sixteen until the day he died. It started after my mom left, I think. I don’t really have that many memories of before then. But the few I do have are happy ones.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I learned at a young age that as long as I took care of myself, I could stay living with my dad. And even though he was drunk ninety percent of the time, he wasn’t abusive, and if I ever really needed something, he was there. Having friends wasn’t really something I did. So reading books became my way of escaping, and that changed over the years to me writing my own stories. Then when I was thirteen or fourteen, I became friends with a kid down the street who was willing to keep my father secret, making us become fast friends.” Again she shrugged. “What happened when you were sixteen to make your father change? In my experience, alcoholics don’t just change overnight.” She fell silent for a minute, and I wasn’t sure she was going to answer me. As I waited, our food was dropped off, and I was about to tell her she didn’t have to answer me but as soon as the waitress was gone, she opened her mouth. “Well, without going into too many details, that friend I mentioned turned out to not be that much of a friend. Apparently, some of the guys that went to our school decided to start spreading roamers that they had hooked up with me, and my friend became jealous. He claimed that he had spent years putting in the leg work, and I owed him a taste. Anyway, he didn’t get far because my father returned home, and luckily for me, he hadn’t been completely shitfaced. The next day he dumped all the bottles he had in the house and did his best to do better.” She shrugged again. “In the end, the experience was one I was able to draw from for one of my books. However, the character in my story wasn’t as lucky as I was. Now your turn.” 

It took me a few seconds to calm myself. Hearing what happened pissed me off quite a bit. I hated hearing stories like hers. I hated knowing there were guys out there that were too into themselves to realize how much better things could be if you were just willing to wait for it. Although I was happy to hear things for her didn’t go as bad as they could have. I am sure the memory is still one that will stick with her forever. As she waited for me to respond, she began to eat her food. “Well, to explain my dad, I have to explain more about life in the MC. A part of the life I didn’t really know about until I was in it.” She nodded. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Here goes nothing. “Within the club, we have what we call club girls. They work for the club, live at the clubhouse, and are with us for as long as they wish. Their job includes taking care of the clubhouse and all the members. In exchange, we make sure they are taken care of and have anything they need.” She raised an eyebrow. “Take care of the members how?” I sighed. This was going to be the tricky part to explain. As much as I understood the need for the club girls, I wasn’t a fan of why we needed them. “First, you have to understand not all the members partake in this part of things.” She nodded but was now watching me closely. “The girls take care of the guys in any way the guys need. They are there to make sure the guys have fun when they want to and not have to go out and find that fun elsewhere. This keeps things safe and ensures the guys aren’t taking anything home to their old lady’s. With that said, there are rules to being with the club girls, and if the girls feel like things are going too far, there are safe words in place. Also, every girl has an emergency button to call for help if needed in their rooms that only they know where it is.” Again she nodded, letting me know she was following what I was telling her. “The club girls are there at the club, but if ever a member's old lady is to show up, the girls are to make themselves invisible. They are not allowed at any family get-togethers. In fact, the club girls will rarely be in the same location as the old lady’s. But on those rare occasions, the club girls are to stick with the members that are not married. Anyway, because of this, my father was able to get through years of openly cheating on my mother, and none of the guys questioned it or said anything to my mother. So when I joined the MC, I was originally in the same chapter as my father. And once I was in, it was hard for him to hide what he got up to at the clubhouse while I was there as well. Needless to say, I wasn’t all that happy with the ease with which my father found it to be able to lie to my mother about sleeping with the club girls. So when Rooster offered for me to transfer up here and become his vice president, I jumped at the opportunity.” She sat for a few minutes, and I was growing worried I had just effectively ruined our night. But like so many times, she suppressed me. “Do you partake in having fun with the club girls?” I shook my head, “I am not a fan of sleeping with a woman I know every single guy she has let into her bed.” A small smile pulled at her lips as she nodded her head and went back to her food. The rest of the meal was done in silence. But it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was more of a comfortable silence. 

I thought she would ask me to take her home after that, but she again opened the conversation as we finished eating. “So you already know I’m an only child unless my mother has a child with Rooster or anyone else I don’t know about.” I shook my head no letting her know there were no other children. She nodded, “Do you have any siblings?” I nodded, “I have a younger brother.” She smiled, “Is he in the MC as well?” I shook my head, “No. He decided the MC life wasn’t really something he wanted for himself. He instead went to college and now works at the Science Center here in town.” Her smile grew, “You sound like you are close.” I nodded, “He is my brother by blood. I would do anything for the kid just as he would do anything for me.” I shrugged, “It’s what brothers are for.” With that, I paid for our meals, and we left the restaurant. Climbing back onto my bike, I drove us down to a bar that had several tables to play pool and dartboards along with tables to sit at. I was happy when she didn’t ask me to take her home and even happier when she didn’t seem at all bothered when I pulled into the parking lot. The place was not busy, but it was a weekday, so I wasn’t surprised. Walking in, I let her scan the place before pushing to go farther in. “Want to play pool or anything?” She nodded. “I am cool with pool.” I nodded. “You go snag a table, and I will get us some drinks. Anything in particular you like?” She shook her head. “I am fine with whatever.” I nodded and watched as she headed over to the tables before going over to the bar and ordering a couple of beers. If she didn’t like it, I would drink it and get her something else. By the time I got over to the table, she had picked she had the table set up and had taken her jacket off and laid it over the back of a stool. 

For the next hour or so, we had fun playing pool and laughing. She was terrible at it but didn’t seem to mind that she lost every single game. I even tried to help her win the last game, and she still somehow lost. Her laugh was infectious as we played. It was hard not to laugh with her. After losing yet again, she set her cue stick down. “Alright, I am done. You win…..” She laughed, “I will be back, and then you can take me home.” I nodded and watched as she made her way to the lady's room. While we were there, a few other guys had come in. My guess would be they are regulars to this bar because they set up at the bar. While I waited for her to come back from the restroom, I cleaned up our area for the bartender. I didn’t like to leave a mess behind, especially since I know what it is like to have to clean up after people before leaving the bar for the night. 

Just as I was finishing, I noticed one of the guys that had been at the bar was now standing in the hallway that led to the restrooms. Picking up Sophia’s jacket, I walked over in that direction, slowly trying to see if I could hear if the guy was saying anything. But it didn’t sound like he was talking to anyone, just standing there. At least that was until I got within a few feet of him. “Come on, sweetheart, just one kiss.” His hand reached out in front of him, but before I could react, the guy’s hand went from reaching in front of him to whoever he was talking to, to reaching between his legs. As he bent over cursing, I noticed Sophia standing on the other side of him. Anger flashed through me, along with pride in the fact that she just nailed this guy right where it counts. Shoving the guy out of the way, I took Sophia's hand and ensured she got past the asshole without being touched. Angrily the guy recovered just as she got to my side. Standing back up, he turned around, “You stupid cunt.” I raised an eyebrow at him, “excuse me?” His eyes focused on me for the first time, taking in the fact I was much bigger than him and the fact I had on my cut. He stumbled back a couple of steps. “Oh, I didn’t mean you. I was talking to the bitch.” I took a step in his direction. “Excuse me?” He looked from me to Sophia and back to me again, his eyes going wide. “Oh no I didn’t mean it, I swear. I didn’t realize this fine woman here was with you.” I took another step in his direction. From behind me, I could feel Sophia’s hand on my back. “With me or not you will remember to keep your hands to yourself.” He nodded vigorously. I glared at him for a moment longer before turning to Sophia and handing her her jacket. She took it and pulled it on, then let me walk her outside to my bike. She didn’t say anything as we climbed on my bike, and I drove us back to her place. Well, my place to park my motorcycle, then walk her over to her place.