“Unh-hunh?” I asked my computer screen, my back to him.
“Babe, can you look at me?”
This was voiced soft and it was a little surprising. Hop wasn’t a soft kind of guy. He could have a laugh, he could tease but there was an edge to him the other guys didn’t have. Or, I should say, they all had edges. It was just that Hop’s was edgier.
And, on a biker, that was saying something.
Him voicing this request softly was also a little worrying.
Still, I did as he asked and when I swiveled my chair his way, I found he was no longer lounging, back to my couch. He was sitting, elbows to his knees, leaned toward me.
Oh boy.
Hop had black hair and a black mustache that ran along his upper lip, thick down the sides of his mouth and grew thicker and a bit long at the sides of his chin. He worked what would likely look ridiculous on anyone else because he had full lips, a strong jaw, fantastic cheekbones and great gray eyes that had lines radiating out of the sides of them like Tack’s.
Oh, and he was a biker and that was the biker mustache to end all biker mustaches.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Shoulda never left you at the mercy of BeeBee.”
I knew this was what this was about.
“Hop –”
“My defense, gorgeous, didn’t think the bitch was that stupid. Maybe dumb enough to mouth off to one of the other old ladies. Tack’s woman? That’s a whole new brand of stupid.”
I couldn’t argue that.
“We don’t have to talk about this,” I told him.
“I left you out there, pissed Tack off and he got in my face about it.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I said quickly, he lifted a hand and shook his head.
“I deserved it, Cherry.”
“I –”
“I did,” he stressed, dropping his hand. “Most ‘a the other women could hold their own against that bitch. You, I saw you come out while I was takin’ off, knew she was in there, shoulda known better.”
I smiled at him. “I think I proved that very night that I can take care of myself.”
Hop didn’t smile. “Women got different weapons and they’re sharper and more lethal.”
I couldn’t argue that either.
Hop continued, “She’s gone, won’t happen again but still, what I wanna say is, it won’t happen again. Way you are with Tack, way you took care ‘a Tabby’s business, the brothers got your back.”
I felt goose bumps rise on my skin. The good kind.
I’d earned their respect.
I knew this after brats and potato salad.
It was just good to have it confirmed.
“Does Tack talk about me?” I asked.