voice in your head is my enemy, and I won’t bow to it.”
Anders gives me a half-smile. He takes my hand and holds it against his cheek. “Did you really like the movie?”
“Can we watch it again tonight?”
Though falling back into distrust, Anders nods. He always assumes the worst. The ugly voice in his head keeps causing trouble. I’ll have to watch out for that one.
ANDERS
Between Pixie’s soft fingers on my warm skin and a joint, I’m ready to face Bronco and my club brothers at the Executioners’ clubhouse—Rooster’s Tavern. I’ve always liked this bar with the decorative wooden details. My old crew worked out of a scuzzy pub that smelled like piss and only served watered-down booze. Everything about that place felt cheap and evil.
Rooster’s Tavern was my favorite place before I got my house. I’d sit in here for hours, not even drinking, just listening to music or my club brothers talking. I liked the scent of leather seats and wood cleaner. Being in here left me feeling as if I was part of something solid and meaningful.
Lately, though, I haven’t been around Rooster’s Tavern as much. Fucking the bunnies wasn’t an option after I met Pixie. She might be a kid, and I ought to stay away from her. Yet, I still can’t have the bunnies touching me. Fucking those girls would be disloyal to Pixie. I knew she wasn’t touching anyone else. When I asked if she had a man at the Village, she laughed so hard that she literally rolled around in the grass.
I’m glad I didn’t cheat with the bunnies. I feel cleaner for Pixie now that she’s in my house. We haven’t done anything sexual, but she does keep kissing her fingers and putting them on my lips. Is that a friendship thing? Does she want me to be her man? I don’t know why I don’t ask. I guess I’m worried she’ll roll around in the grass laughing at me.
I’d prefer to keep my thoughts on Pixie. Her hair—free of the braids from the Village—felt soft when she brushed it across my face in the yard today. Pixie is effortlessly affectionate, and I want to return to her side.
“Lowell,” Bronco says once I enter the club’s private area.
The Executioners’ vice president signals for the bunnies to leave the large back room in the bar. Bronco never deals with the women. He’s weak with the fairer sex, letting them kick him around. He has two rough older sisters who both coddle and torment him. For a long time, Bronco avoided getting close to women. Then he met a sexy stripper named Lana, knocked her up during a one-night stand, and ended up marrying her. Though life changed fast for Bronco, mine went sideways even quicker.
“Waiting out the Volkshalberd won’t work,” he says once the girls are gone, and the room is locked down.
Twenty men watch him speak. Some were around from the beginning, like Lowell and Drummer. Others, like me, are newer. Then there are the club’s sons like Rooster’s hot-tempered boy, Wyatt. Conor’s father was a founding member too. Ambushing Wheels meant the end of the Killing Joes.
Likely, Conor will be the man I follow one day. Not because I necessarily believe he has what it takes to run the club. Bronco believes that, though, and I do what Bronco wants. Well, except for when he warned me off Pixie.
“Starving them didn’t work, huh?” Wyatt asks, giving Bronco trouble as usual.
Bronco ignores his nephew, which probably pisses off the shithead more. I like how our president doesn’t feel the need to freak out on people all the time. He’s unpredictable. Bronco can stay real calm or lash out suddenly. People never know what to expect. Except Bronco isn’t a hothead. Years ago, I learned that he might act unpredictable, but he’s always in control.
I doubt Wyatt sees his uncle so clearly. Conor does, which is probably why he’ll be president one day.
“Thanks to Topanga’s ability to chat with anyone,” Bronco says, smirking at Lowell, “we’ll have inside info about the Village soon.”
A few men look at me as if I’m to blame. I don’t react to their accusing stares. I’ve always assumed they view me as a traitor to my original club and part of the reason their friend died.
“Anders’s woman is named Pixie. Her mother is Fairuza. A few of you might remember her from the day we went out to the Village and held their bus in town. This woman