The Last Riders - First Four Votes (42 page)

W
inter nervously smoothed
down her skirt. Viper grasped her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Don’t look so nervous,” Viper said smoothly.

He wasn’t helping; Viper was part of the problem. He was dressed in one of his suits, looking like the cold-hearted bastard he had been before her assault.

“That’s easy for you to say, they’re too scared of you to say anything nasty to you.”

“If they know what’s good for them, they won’t say anything nasty about you, either,” Viper said in a threatening voice.

Ms. Richards came out of the closed doors of the School Board’s meeting.

“They are going to call us back in a few minutes. They’re going to open the meeting to the public. I wish you would have taken my advice and waited for your hearing.”

Her lawyer didn’t sound very happy with her decision. Winter could understand her apprehension as she looked around the hallway at the public ready to fill the meeting room.

That morning, as she was leaving, she had found everyone waiting for her in the kitchen, including Viper who had disappeared while she was in the shower.

All the women, dressed in their regular clothes, brought Winter to a standstill. They had informed her that they were going with her to the meeting. Of course, afterward they planned on dragging her to the local tattoo shop for her long overdue tat.

Viper had told her, the day after the deputy’s attack, that all eight original members had given her their vote for trying to save Lily’s life. Winter had managed to avoid the tattoo until now. The women were determined that it was time that she made it official. She was a Last Rider. Winter gave in with a smile, knowing they were right.

Ms. Richards, on the other hand, was not as moved as she was by their show of support, asking snidely if she wanted her job. Winter had remained quiet, sucking up the haughty woman’s comment. When Viper would have let the woman have it, Winter merely shook her head pleadingly, simply wanting to get the ordeal over.

The doors to the school board meeting opened, giving the public entrance to the rest of the meeting. As they were about to go through the door, the outside door opened and the biker bitches came through. Winter’s face paled at their appearance. They were wearing their tight blue jeans and leather jackets with biker boot heels. Winter seriously wanted to melt into a puddle. Beth, seeing them come through the doorway, hurried forward hoping to prevent them from coming into the meeting.

“Sex Piston, did you need something?” Beth asked quickly, hoping to get them out of the building before they were seen.

“Nope, when you texted me this morning saying you couldn’t keep your hair appointment and why, we decided to come, too. If it was important enough for The Last Riders women to be here, then we needed to be here. The bitch needs all the support she can get.” Sex Piston nodded her head at Winter.

“It’s all right; the room is already almost full. I don’t want you to go through the bother. Why don’t we meet in the diner in an hour?” Winter came forward, also trying to divert them.

“Girl, there’s nothing more important than standing up for another bitch,” Crazy Bitch butted in, her breasts barely squeezed into her tight t-shirt.

T.A., Killyama and another one that they introduced as Fat Louise ignored her, moving on towards the meeting room. Ms. Richards, striding out of the meeting room, came to a full stop when she saw who Winter was talking to.

“What are you doing here?” she asked sternly.

Winter didn’t understand her question until she realized she was talking to Sex Piston.

“Giving our bitch moral support. Why you here, Diamond?” Sex Piston answered.

“I have told you not to call me that,” she hissed.

“It’s your fucking name, bitch,” Sex Piston hissed back.

Her haughty lawyer lost her cool. “Don’t talk like trash.”

“I’m gonna tell mom you called me trash,” Sex Piston told her.

“You do, and if she calls me, I’ll smack you silly,” Ms. Richards warned.

Winter’s mouth dropped open when it dawned on her that they were sisters and Sex Piston was obviously the younger of the two. The resemblance was there. Both had the same shade of red hair and hazel eyes. Sex Piston was thinner than her sister, who wasn’t really heavier, just curvier.

Ms. Richards inhaled sharply before she gathered her professional persona around her like a cloak.

“If you lose this case, it won’t be my fault. You cannot flaunt your lifestyle and expect to keep a job in this community,” she told Winter. “I can’t perform miracles. If you really want to support her, go home, Sex Piston, and take your whore friends with you.” She started to leave, but turned back to Sex Piston for her final insult.

“If mom calls me, I’ll tell her to fuck off, so it’s up to you if you want to start another fight between us.” She concluded the conversation without a word of goodbye to her sister.

Sex Piston stood there and Winter could see that her sister’s words had hurt.

Winter stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Let’s go in, Sex Piston.” She owed these women her life. She wasn’t going to insult them by asking them to leave.

Once everyone was seated, the meeting was called to order. It started with discussions of the budget.

At the conclusion of the budget portion, Ben Stiles read the next item on the docket, which was to terminate Winter’s employment. Ms. Richards stood to her feet. When they gave her permission to speak, she gave clear and concise reasons why Winter should not be fired, stating her professional record and the contributions she made to the school system as a whole. Not just the high school, she often volunteered performing duties beyond her job description. Several of her students had shown up also to support her, giving their testimonials of what she had been able to accomplish for their future. Then her fellow colleagues were asked to speak.

“They hire her back, I’m going to go back and get my diploma,” Crazy Bitch whispered loudly to Sex Piston.

“You’re too old,” Sex Piston told her, not trying to whisper.

“I’m not too old; I’m just twenty-five.”

“That’s too old. Those snooty bitches,” Sex Piston nodded toward the high school teachers that came to support Winter, “would be afraid you’d fuck the boys and turn the girls into bitches.”

“Don’t want no young dick,” Crazy Bitch refuted, not denying the possibly about recruiting the girls.

“You’d fuck young stud dick,” Killyama broke into the conversation.

“Don’t fuck young dick. Wouldn’t fuck them stuck-up bastards behind that big desk, either,” Crazy Bitch argued back.

Winter bit her knuckle as they talked, having long since regretted inviting the biker bitches to stay.

“Two of them are women,” Sex Piston said popping her gum. Actually, there were three female board members, Winter counted.

“Which ones?” Both Crazy Bitch and Killyama scrutinized the school board members.

The board stopped further testimonials, calling for a vote while several members glared at the women.

Winter jumped to her feet. “Before you judge my future employment, I would like a chance to speak.”

“Go ahead.” Ben Stiles motioned her towards the podium.

“First, I would like to thank the School Board for taking time in their busy schedule to give me a fair opportunity to explain.” Winter described her attack and her recovery at The Last Riders. “I will not deny I am in a committed relationship with Mr. James, who is the president of The Last Riders, but in all fairness, the board must admit it is not in my contract that I couldn’t live out of wedlock with a male. Furthermore, I feel that it is hypocritical to hold it against me for living with Loker James when two members of the school board share a similar situation.

“Loker James has also become an important member of our community and will, in the near future, be one of Treepoint’s largest employers. Next week, they will start hiring for over fifty positions that will also pay a very generous salary with full benefits.”

The school board perked up immediately, new business meant collecting more in taxes.

“If I cannot find employment in Treepoint, we have decided to move to Ohio, where Mr. James has an existing factory and I will be able to find a job in the field of education, which I love. Mr. James has no ties to this town. It was his brother who was murdered by one of the very members who used to sit on this board. Both of us would like to see his brother’s dream of helping our financially-deprived community find opportunities and wouldn’t want this board’s decision to affect the community by denying them much needed employment.”

“Ms. Simmons, your job has already been filled by your vice-principal, Jeff Morgan,” Ben Stiles informed her with a frown.

If the townspeople found out they didn’t get high paying jobs because of the school board firing Winter, it could backfire on them. There wasn’t a person in the meeting room who didn’t know that. In their economically depressed area, money came before morality.

“I don’t want my job back at the high school. I want to be the principal at Riverview since Mr. Woods has long been overdue for retirement. The extremely high rate of dropouts exhibits that he is unable to understand his student’s needs. I feel, in all truthfulness, that I can make a change for the better at the alternative school. My records will show that Treepoint High School had the lowest dropout rates in twenty years during my years as a principal.”

The school board members stared back and forth among each other. Winter knew that Mr. Woods was heartily disliked. The only reason that he was still employed was because no one wanted the job. It was a punishment to be sent there. Mr. Woods had earned his job there when he had an affair with the gym teacher and had been caught in the equipment room.

“The School Board will return to a closed session and take a vote. We will notify Ms. Richards within the next forty-eight hours of our decision.”

Winter sat back down in her chair.

“Is that three days?” Crazy Bitch asked.

“Yes,” answered T.A.

“Which one do you think Bliss is?” Sex Piston asked, getting to her feet.

“I bet it’s the sweet thing at the end of the row,” Killyama’s threatening voice lowered as they moved away.

Winter turned, glancing sideways. She suddenly had a feeling that their appearance at today’s meeting wasn’t as altruistic as they had pretended.

As the meeting closed, everyone filed into the hallway. Winter and Viper came to stand next to her lawyer. “Thank you, Ms. Richards, for your help.”

“I will let you know as soon as they notify me,” Ms. Richards said.

Evie, Bliss and Natasha interrupted. “Winter, we’ll meet you at the diner. Bliss and Natasha want to get something to eat before we go to the tattoo shop.”

Ms. Richards paused before leaving, reaching into her purse to pull out a card. “Which one is Bliss?”

“I am,” Bliss said, stepping forward.

Ms. Richards handed her a card. “Call me if you ever need legal representation, I handle personal injury cases also.”

“What was that about?” Viper questioned after the woman left.

“I have no idea,” Winter lied, winding her arm through Bliss’s as they walked toward the exit.

W
inter lay on the bed
, pretending to read a book as Viper zipped his black jeans on before sitting down on the chair to put on his boots. His hair was still damp from the shower they had taken together where she had tried to lure him into having sex before he began to get dressed. He had subtly thwarted her attempts, though.

She had wanted to make sure he wasn’t horny before he went to Razer’s bachelor party. Evie had let it drop that Knox had hired a stripper.

Her fingers tightened on the book as Viper put on a leather vest with no shirt, showing his tats. Winter swallowed hard, his sleeve never failing to draw a response from her body.

“When are you going to start getting ready?” Viper asked, sliding his keys into his pocket.

“Why should I get dressed to watch television alone?”

“Why would you be alone?”

“Because Beth is with Lily at her house and the rest of the women are going to Rosie’s with the men.”

“You don’t want to go?” Viper asked, trying to keep his lips straight.

Winter looked at him in surprise. “You never said anything, I assumed I wasn’t going.”

“You got our tat on you?”

“Yes.” Her first and last tat, she was determined, but she hadn’t liked the look on Viper’s face when she had informed him of that decision.

Winter jumped off the bed, going through her clothes to find something to wear. “Jerk, you could have told me and I would have bought a new outfit,” she said, unhappily staring at her choices available.

“There’s an outfit for you in the closest in the brown dress bag.”

Winter opened the closet door, searching until she located the bag at the back. Pulling the bag out of the closet, she unzipped the garment bag, pulling out a black leather skirt that she was sure would cover her without being too short. The top was black lace across the top, with no straps and leather fringes that would both conceal and hint at her waist and abdomen. Winter loved it, they were perfect. There were even thigh high boots that were flat on the bottom. It was her first biker bitch outfit.

“Thank you, Viper. I love it,” she said, jumping into his arms and kissing him in thanks. He deepened the kiss until Winter thought he might change his mind about having sex before the party, but he released her.

“Thank, Beth; she’s the one who bought it for your first party,” Viper told her with a smile.

“Where did the ugly outfit come from that I wore?” Winter asked with a suspicious glare.

Viper went through the door. “I bought it. Conner would never have chosen the other women if he had seen you in that getup.” He barely managed to shut the door before she threw one of her boots.

R
azer pulled
out a chair in front of Winter with his back to the stripper swinging her body against the pole. He hadn’t let his eyes stray to the dance floor once. Winter herself wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t witnessed it, which she had finally deduced was why she was there. Razer had every intention of covering his ass. If Beth asked her, Winter would be able to tell her, in all honesty, that Razer hadn’t strayed.

Lifting her beer, she looked at Viper. Of course she couldn’t say the same; he was obviously enjoying the show.

“I’m getting ready to smash my beer bottle into that hard on your getting,” Winter threatened. Viper laughed, turning his chair to face her. Mollified, Winter put her beer back on the table.

When Viper and Razer began talking about a new method of growing plants, Winter zoned out, not in the least interested. The stripper finished with a flourish, putting on a silky pink rope that she didn’t bother tying. Several of the members followed her to the back of the bar.

Winter finished her beer, feeling the urgent need to use the bathroom, and excused herself to go to the restroom at the back of the bar. After using the toilet, Winter washed her hands, throwing away the towel as she left the restroom.

She tried to keep her eyes forward, but her curiosity got the better of her and she looked over towards where she had seen the stripper go. She slowly came to a stop in the shadows of the long hallway.

The stripper was giving a lap dance to Shade who was sprawled on one of the chairs. He was wearing blue jeans and had pulled off his t-shirt. He was leaner than Viper and the rest of the members with perfectly cut abs. Both arms, neck and chest were covered in a myriad of tattoos. His facial expression was fierce as he watched the woman shake her breasts an inch from his face. As she straddled his lap, she ground her pussy down onto a cock that Winter could see was huge, even covered in his jeans. The woman obviously knew him because, as she was grinding down on him, she was pleading.

“God, please, Shade, please.” The woman’s face was a tortured mask.

“What you want, bitch?”

“Your cock. Please, Shade,” she whimpered.

“Where you want it?”

“My pussy.”

“Can’t give it to you now. You come back to the clubhouse, I’ll give it to you all night.” The woman nodded frantically.

“Go give my brothers their dances. If you want to give them anything else, you can give them your mouth. Save your pussy for me.” The woman shakily moved off Shade, moving towards Knox who was eagerly waiting his turn.

Winter stayed to the shadows until she was able to get to her table.

“Where the fuck have you been? I was going to come looking for you,” Viper questioned her as soon as she sat back down.

“I had to use the restroom; the beer was making me sick. I stayed until I was sure I wasn’t going to vomit.”

“Eat some pretzels,” Viper said, noticing her flushed cheeks.

Razer’s speculative gaze wasn’t making her feel any calmer. Winter was having second thoughts about talking to Beth. Perhaps a slight warning wouldn’t hurt anyone and Lily would stand a fighting chance to…

“No, Winter. Leave it alone. You don’t want a mad Shade to deal with. I certainly don’t want to deal with him,” Razer warned her, reading her thoughts.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Winter replied, using her fingernail to tear at the beer label.

“Leave it alone,” he said with finality.

Winter finally nodded her assent.

Winter almost spit out her beer when the bar door opened and Lily walked inside, wearing jeans and a loose pale blue top that highlighted the darkness of her hair. Lily’s eyes searched the bar before finding Razer at the table. Her face was full of tension and you could see fear in the back of her eyes as she approached their table.

“Fuck. What’s she doing here?” Viper muttered under his breath.

“I don’t know.” Winter was also at a loss.

“May I join you?” Lily asked, trying to appear casual.

“Yes,” Razer spoke for the table.

Lily greeted them, deliberately keeping her eyes on their faces.

“Razer, could I talk with you privately? I‘ve tried to find several opportunities, but with Beth and you constantly together, it’s been hard to find a moment.”

“Go ahead and talk. Beth and I have no secrets from the club,” Razer told her.

“Perhaps I could find another time,” she said, beginning to rise from the table.

“Lily, sit your ass down and tell me what’s on your mind,” Razer said softly.

A soft scream of frustration could be heard from the back of the bar. Lily turned instinctively to see what was happening and faced a wall of biker’s staring back.

“What happened?” Lily asked.

“One of the girls probably saw a rat,” Winter said, glaring at the brothers.

“Oh,” Lily said. Taking a deep breath, Lily spoke her mind. “Razer, you know I love my sister.”

“I know that you two are very close.” Razer’s eyes were watching Lily’s hands.

“We are. Our parents adopted me, but Beth and I are as close as if we shared the same parents. We tell each other everything,” Lily confessed, not noticing that now Razer was becoming tenser. “When you and Beth broke up, she came to my dorm and shared with me how badly she was hurt.”

Razer listened attentively, still watching Lily’s hands. His jaw grew tighter and tighter.

“I am aware bachelor parties are meant to be fun, the man’s last night of freedom, and I wouldn’t want to take that fun away, it’s just that…” Lily paused, her eyes going to Bliss dancing with Rider. They had toned down their erotic dancing when they had seen her enter the bar, but Bliss couldn’t hide the sexy outfit she was wearing.

“I don’t want to see her hurt that way again,” Lily said miserably.

Razer suddenly leaned across the table, his hand covering the one flicking the rubber band repeatedly against the bright red flesh of her skin.

Winter swallowed hard.

“Lil’ sis, you’re breaking my heart, please stop.” Lily’s hand became still under his. He nodded towards Winter.

“You trust her?” Lily turned her head to observe Winter before turning back to Razer.

“Yes,” answered Lily.

“Do you trust her enough that she would tell Beth if I’m stepping out on her?”

This time Lily didn’t look at Winter, but her answer was the same.

“Yes.”

“She’s attached to my hip the rest of the night. When she leaves, I leave.”

“Okay.” Lily smiled at Razer in relief.
Geez, the girl is too beautiful
, Winter thought in worry.

“I am marrying Beth because I love her, which means I’m not going to do stupid shit to hurt her again. Beth has learned to trust me and I want you to also.” He moved his hand, touching the rubber band. “You don’t need this anymore to keep from being afraid, lil’ sis.” Razer leaned further across the table. “I swear on my life, I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

Lily gave him a heartwarming smile before getting up from the table and hugging Razer, who hugged her back before sitting her away from him by several inches.

“Now, let’s get you out of here. You have another year before you can legally be in a bar,” Razer joked. “Mick made an exception for Beth’s bridal shower, but he might get pissed off if we start making a habit of it.”

Lily laughed. “He can’t get in trouble. I turned twenty-one my last birthday. I thought Beth told you. Everyone just thinks I’m a year younger because Mom and Dad were so concerned I was behind in school when they adopted me.”

“Is that so?” Razer asked.

“I would have thought she would have told you. I guess she was waiting for me to tell you, now I have. Now Beth has no more secrets from you, does she?” Lily teased as Razer ushered her quickly out of the bar.

“I think she might have one or two,” Razer replied grimly, already hearing the commotion from the back.

Startled screams from the women were heard as they tried to get out of the way.

“Are you sure everything’s all right? Mick should really take care of that problem.”

“I imagine that’s what he’s doing right now,” Razer said, walking faster, looking back over his shoulder.

Razer escorted Lily to her car, watching until he no longer saw the taillights before going back towards the bar. The women had all escaped outside, staring back inside as the bar became engulfed in fighting.

“Fuck.” Razer was sure he didn’t want to go back inside.

“Looks like Beth isn’t as unaware of Shade’s interest in Lily as you thought she was.” Winter mocked Razer’s reluctance to reenter the bar.

“You told Lily you would protect her, you swore,” she reminded him, amused at his predicament.

“Shade’s going to fuck me up for my wedding night. Beth hasn’t let me touch her the last month to build the suspense. When he gets done with me, I won’t be able to do shit.” Razer winced as a loud crash resounded from within.

“I’m sure Beth will show her appreciation,” Winter consoled.

“She fucking better,” he said before striding into the bar.