Devil's Advocate BBW MC New Adult Romance Series - Books 1 to 4

Chapter Three-2

“It’s...interesting!” Kristie yelled over the din.

Kass smiled, apparently pleased with Kristie’s vague answer.

>>

Gray was looking forward to hitting up the bar and then heading off for a ride around town. Once a week, the club would take a ride around town and then along the outskirts, showing off their bikes to one another and feeling free, without any restrictions. Gray’s skin was itching for the weekly ride. It felt like ages since last week, and he was ready to have all his thoughts blotted out by nothing but the sound of the wind in his ears and his motorcycle roaring underneath him.

“Crowded tonight,” Rick, Gray’s best friend, said as they turned off their motorcycles.

Gray frowned. It was awfully crowded for the middle of winter and near the holiday season. For some reason, people liked to come to the biker bar to stare at the other world – one they wished they could join but were too afraid to. Instead, they would come to the bar and gawk at the real bikers like Gray and his friends, and take pictures to post on social media and blab to their friends about. They were pathetic. Gray disliked all of them.

His club, the Devil’s Advocates, was the most well-known biker g**g in the area. Anyone who said otherwise was a liar. This was their bar and where they liked to hang out on a regular basis. Just last night he had been here, getting drunk off his a*s after the fight with Lionel and his run in with Kristie. Kristie. Best not to think of her right now. Nothing good could come of it.

They stepped into the bar, which was packed with a lot of nobodies. People recognized them instantly. Gray and his group of friends ignored them and made their way toward the bar. The music was so loud that he couldn’t hear anything anyone was saying about him. He ordered a drink and then scanned the bar for anything of interest.

His gaze fell on Kristie in one corner. Gray squinted, thinking maybe he was just seeing things. But no, it was her, with some other girl. The other girl was dressed obviously to attract stares from someone, probably a biker. She had a look on her face that said this was her first time here, and she was enthralled with how risky it appeared to be. Kristie, on the other hand, looked bored and was stifling a yawn.

Gray’s heart skipped a beat when he saw her, but he ignored it. He wondered why Kristie was here and then realized that Lionel had probably put her up to it. Irritation flicked through him.

“Hey, do you know who that is?” Rick yelled in his ear and pointed to the girl next to Kristie.

Gray shrugged. He didn’t care who it was. Kristie had probably dragged her along to have someone to hang out with her while she looked for Gray. How could Lionel be doing this? Did he really think sending his step-daughter after him was going to make Gray suddenly change his entire life? It pissed him off. He slammed down his drink and ordered another. Rick was babbling about the girl in his ear but Gray wasn’t listening. He grabbed his new drink and began to walk over there.

“Let me do the talking, okay?” Rick was saying, as if Gray was going over there to help him impress that girl.

Gray ignored him, and the crowd parted before them. Kristie’s eyes landed on him and widened in surprise. Has to be an act. He loomed over her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Gray asked.

“Hey there, I’m Rick,” his friend said, already slinking over to the girl opposite of Kristie.

Kristie frowned. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me!” Gray barked, feeling angry that Lionel was sending girls after him to keep tabs on what he was doing.

Kristie stood up, staring him down, which took him aback. He thought for sure that she would back off instantly but instead she looked furious.

“I’m at a bar with my friend, asshole.”

“I know Lionel put you up to this.” His voice was raised over the noise of the band.

Kristie cursed, but it was drowned out by the music. “Are you kidding me? Like I want to waste my break with someone like you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means you are so f*****g full of yourself and self-absorbed to think that I came here to look over you, Gray! What a dick.” She snatched up her purse and looked over at her friend, who seemed enthralled by Rick.

Gray opened and closed his mouth, unsure what to say. He had been expecting a different reaction. Instead, she seemed defiant that Lionel hadn’t put her up to this. What if I made a mistake?

Kristie marched past him. For some reason Gray couldn’t let her leave, so he turned around to try to stop her...when he saw them.

Three men from the Infernos were walking into their bar, looking pleased with themselves. Gray clenched his fists. He couldn’t believe that they had the balls to come here. People were giving them a wide berth, as if they didn’t want to go anywhere near them. Armand, Gray’s other friend and member of the g**g, was already marching up to them, his fists clenching and unclenching.

Kristie had noticed the group as well and had stopped in her tracks, moving off to one side. Gray forgot about her as he moved toward the rival g**g, anger fueling every step. How dare these assholes come into his bar!

Armand was already shouting at one of the men, his face twisted into a mask of rage. The man, Ben, was laughing, as if Armand was just a little kid. Rick was behind Gray as he moved up toward them, ready to punch one of them in the face if he needed to. He was itching for a fight, he realized, as he moved past Kristie.

>>

Kristie had been more than ready to leave the bar till this group of thugs had come inside. She assumed they were probably a motorcycle g**g, but she considered them thugs. The way they were grinning, smug and pleased with themselves for crashing into the bar, rubbed her the wrong way. She had gone from wanting to tell Gray off and leaving to wishing he would tell these guys to get out.

She was still furious at Gray. How could he possibly think that Lionel had put her up to this? How would she have known that this was apparently the bar his stupid g**g hung out in? Kristie couldn’t even complain to Kass about it, because as soon as Kass had laid eyes on Gray’s friend, she had become entranced by him. The two of them had started flirting while Kristie had fought with Gray. So much for her friend having her back.

“Just came by to get a drink and see if anyone had come by to take out the trash yet,” the man in front said to Gray, who was clenching his fists.

“Get out of here, Ben,” Gray spat.

People were staring now. The thrum of the music was giving Kristie a headache, and she wished that she had stayed home tonight. Curse her mom for making her feel bad enough to ask Kass to hang out.

“No, I think we’ll stay and listen to this shitty band.” Ben scowled. “I see you still have the pup Armand here. Nice of you to let charity cases into the club.”

Before Gray could say anything, Armand swung. Ben seemed to be expecting it and grabbed his fist, twisting his arm back. The rest was a blur. The two groups lunged at each other. People screamed and made a circle around the group, watching the fight with avid interest while some people left quickly. Kass was soon by Kristie’s side, yelling at her new crush – apparently named Rick – to be careful. Kristie yanked her back before she could get toppled over by one of the men being punched and flying back.

Kristie could see Gray in the fray. He moved forward and wrapped his hands around one guy’s jacket, throwing him backward against the wall before lunging and decking him across the face. She winced, imagining that it must not have felt good at all. This is so childish. We aren’t in high school anymore. The band was still playing. Obviously these fights were nothing new.

She turned to Kass, who seemed mesmerized. “I’m leaving!” she shouted over the noise.

Kass nodded, clearly not caring too much about if Kristie stayed or went. Annoyed, Kristie turned around to go when the lights of cop cars shone through the front doors. Seeing the lights snapped the crowd out of their daze. People began to leave in droves and others headed toward the bar to pretend they hadn’t been cheering the fight on. She lost sight of Gray in the crowd and was moved forward by the crush of people.

She managed to get outside as the cops were getting out of the car. She could hear Gray fighting loudly with one of the officers. If he isn’t already getting arrested, he’s about to be. She would have to go over there and try to stop him from being arrested. If her mother found out that she had been there and merely watched as Gray got arrested, she would never hear the end of it.

Kristie barreled her way over to Gray. He was fighting loudly with a younger cop as Armand was being placed in handcuffs along with Ben. Rick, the guy Kass was crushing on, was standing behind Gray, as if to intimidate the cop.

“Ben started it,” Gray exclaimed. “Yet you arrested Armand!”

What a liar, Kristie thought as she approached. Armand had clearly thrown the first punch.

The handsome officer stared at Gray wearily. “Listen, your friend is being arrested for refusing to stop attacking one of the other men. We’ve had to call an ambulance for him. The only reason you have gotten out of being arrested yourself is because you’ve behaved yourself since we arrived. Don’t make me change my mind.”

Kristie looked over to where the group of other men were. Ben was being shoved into one of the cars with Armand, but there was a man lying on the ground, his nose clearly busted, with blood down his face. He was trying to look tough even though he was laying there, shooing his other friends off of him. Armand must have gone after him when Ben went after Gray. Ben was glaring out of the police car at Gray with a split lip but seemingly no other damage. Kristie was guessing that as soon as Gray had seen the lights of the police car, he had stopped punching everything in sight, unlike Armand.

“This is bullshit!” Gray yelled and the officer tensed.

Kristie ran over and put her arm on Gray’s shoulder. “Gray, enough,” she hissed. “You’re going to get arrested.”

Gray turned and his eyes widened slightly. “f**k off, Kristie.”

“Seriously? Stop being an asshole for like two minutes so you can get out of here without another arrest on your pathetic record.”

Gray seemed to be sizing her up. He had a strange look on his face that she couldn’t read.

The officer said, “She’s right, Gray. Let it go. I don’t feel like having to detain you again tonight.”

“Still bullshit,” he said but was more subdued.

He moved away from Kristie and Rick followed. Kristie watched Gray go over to his motorcycle, talking earnestly with the other men in his club. Her head was aching, and she wished she could go home and have a bath. What a stupid night.

“Thank you, miss,” the officer said, and she turned back to face him. “I haven’t seen him back down like that before.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, don’t say that loud enough for him to hear or he’ll just start back up again. You deal with him often?”

“Often enough. I’m John.” He held out his hand, and she shook it.

“Kristie. His former guardian, Lionel, married my mom.” The words felt strange on her tongue.

“Well, hopefully we won’t have to see each other again. Have a good night, miss.” John said before turning back to deal with the arrests.

By this point, the ambulance was arriving.

Kass’s eyes were shining with excitement as she jogged up to Kristie. “What a night! I should have come here before!”

“What?” Kristie sighed. “You made it sound like you came here all the time!”

“No, no, first time. Hey, where did your friend go? That Rick guy is so hot...” She started scanning the crowd, trailing after Kristie as she walked to her car.

Kass spotted Rick by the motorcycles and said a rushed good-bye, heading toward him. Kristie walked away, wishing the night would end. As she got to her car near the back of the parking lot, Gray was there, smoking a cigarette, which he flattened underneath his feet when he saw her.

“What the hell was that, Kristie?”

“Oh my God, Gray, please stop. I just want to go home. What are you upset about now?”

“You busting in on me talking to John. This isn’t any of your business.”

Kristie moved to her car, trying to demonstrate to Gray that she didn’t want to have this conversation. “Get a grip, Gray. Like I give a damn about your stupid childish biker g**g battles. I just didn’t want you getting arrested like an idiot.”

Gray moved in front of her. Kristie turned around, her back against the side of the car, crossing her arms.

“It’s my life, Kristie.”

“If I hadn’t interfered, you would have been arrested, i***t!” she exclaimed, feeling irritated.

Gray moved forward, and she realized with a jolt that their hips were touching. They were so close that even in the dimly lit parking lot she could make out the flecks of color in his eyes. Her chest felt as if it had seized up.

“You need to mind your own business,” he said, his breath coming fast – although Kristie didn’t know if it was because he was irritated as well or just worked up over their close proximity.

“And you need to grow up,” she replied, but her voice came out softer than she intended.

“I have a life here, Kristie. You don’t even know what my life has going on in it because you’re so sheltered.” Gray moved slightly, and her breath caught with how much they were touching.

The look on his face seemed to be a mixture of annoyance and one that was similar to the one he’d had in the bathroom the other day. She swore she could feel him hard against her thigh – but that was absurd, right? Everything was muddled in her own brain.

“I’m not that sheltered,” she mumbled.

Kristie tried to move away but Gray’s fingers wrapped around her wrist, moving her back against the car. Both of them were breathing hard as his fingers stayed wrapped around her wrist, unsure of how to act. His eyes searched her face as if he was looking for a sign.

Kristie wasn’t sure what she wanted. In the back of her head, she knew that she should move away from him and fast. But the louder part of her brain was screaming to rip his clothes off right there in the parking lot. It was confusing and made her brain slow, as if she was waking up from a long slumber. Gray seemed unsure of what he was feeling as well. Kristie could feel him hard against her thigh – there was no mistaking it. His breathing was shallow, and his fingers were still around her wrist as he pressed her against the car with his own body.

She thought again of him n***d in her room. Then the lights of the police car came by as the cops drove out of parking lot, followed by the ambulance. The lights brought Kristie crashing back to earth. She realized she was letting Gray press himself against her in a parking spot in a public place. What is wrong with me? Kristie suddenly pushed Gray away from her. He looked dazed as she turned on him and got into her car quickly.

Without looking back, Kristie took off out of the parking lot.