it to her and turned my back so she could do her thing. As soon as I heard her flush and pull up her pants, I took the cup from her and dipped the test stick into it. As expected, it only came up positive for weed, which I’d told her was okay. Everything else was negative.
I smiled at her. “Looks like you passed the first hurdle.”
“I’m not going back to that stuff, I made you a promise.”
“Good, I’m holding you to it. I can’t be here every morning so one of the guys is gonna have to do it from now on, okay?”
She shrugged. “It’s not like they haven’t seen it all before.”
I snickered and shook my head. “Alright, let’s get you a name tag and Beanie can take it from there.”
I got her settled in and gave Beanie the rest of the cups and test strips. After a few words of encouragement, I checked the time and walked out the door, intending to swing by the clubhouse to see if there was anything I could help with. I doubted it, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to offer.
As I walked to my bike with my head down, rummaging through my bag for my keys, I ran smack into another body.
Startled, I took a step back and saw Dana staring me down.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.
“Excuse me?”
“You got Nadia a job? What the fuck, Liv?”
Goddamn it, club women and their fucking drama. “Why is that a problem?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because we don’t need more skanks ogling our men around the clubhouse? They got rid of her and you bring the bitch back?”
“You can’t be serious right now,” I groaned.
“Do I look like I’m not?”
“You look like a fire-breathing banshee, honestly,” I replied dryly, in no fucking mood for this conversation. She probably didn’t know what was going on with Buddha and I wasn’t about to tell her, but damn, it wasn’t even ten yet. Could a bitch get some coffee in her before the claws came out?
She put her hands on her hips and scowled. “She used to fuck Torch. You know that, right? What are you, some kind of masochist?”
Gritting my teeth, I stared her down and wondered where the hell she was getting all this nerve. “Don’t be salty, Dana. First of all, she’s working at the store, not the clubhouse. Second, my husband’s past is none of your fucking concern. Obviously, I’m not insecure about it so don’t project your own issues on me. I don’t understand where you’re coming from. There’s always a plethora of women around the guys, it’s not like Nadia would tip the scale.”
“What happened to the sisterhood?” she seethed. “We’re the old ladies, your loyalty should be to us. She’s just a fucking junkie stripper.”
“My best friend was a stripper,” I hurled back, almost tasting the acid on my tongue. “Fuck you, Dana, this is exactly why women can’t get any respect. We’re too busy trying to tear each other down instead of working together. You have no idea what sisterhood really means if you think that’s okay. Maybe you should look into going back to college, I’m sure there’s some Alpha Delta Bitch sorority you’d fit right in with.”
Her jaw dropped and she stuck a finger in my face. “You’re unbelievable. Fuck you, Liv, you’ve been here for like five minutes!”
I grabbed that damn finger and twisted her hand away, eliciting a shriek.
“Whoa… whoa,” Beanie barked, as he rushed out of the store and stuck an arm out between us. “If you’re gonna get all crazy, bring that shit inside. There’s people watching.”
“It’s fine, Bean. We’re done here.” Still gripping her contorted hand and squeezing hard, I glared at Dana and sneered. “Tell you what, sweetheart… I actually have things to do today, so why don’t you run along and worry about yourself? Let me know when you get tired of riding that high horse and have to walk in the same dirt as the rest of us peasants. And stay the fuck out of Nadia’s face or we’ll have bigger problems than your snotty attitude. Trust me, I only need one minute to kick your ass.”
With that, I let her go, turned on my heels, and walked away. I couldn’t keep dealing with these estrogen-fueled shit shows, I’d lose my goddamn mind. It seemed like stupid drama got these bitches off, but all I got out of it was unnecessary anxiety. Sick or not, there