“Holly, I feel terrible. I’ve never been to LJ’s place, so I had no idea he lived next to you. I’d never have asked you to come if I’d known what the situation was.” Jazz sounded genuinely upset.
“Because you wouldn’t have wanted to bring someone connected to the sheriff around your friends?” Holly turned her head until she met Jazz’s gaze. An unfair question for sure. Jazz had been nothing but great since Holly met her. First with the job offer, then letting Holly tag along on her Saturday night plans, and now taking the time away from her real friends to talk Holly off the ledge. Even knowing all that, Holly had to find out for sure whether Jazz would turn her back on her now that she knew the connection to local law enforcement.
“No. I’m not like that. Most of the people here aren’t. They won’t judge you based on your family. Will they be wary until they learn whether you’re a threat? Sure, but if you want to be here, want to be friends with the club, you won’t be judged. Especially not by me. Trust me,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh. “There is no one who understands fucked up family dynamics more than me. I’m the last one to throw stones. The glass of my house is so cheaply made, a cotton ball could shatter it.”
Seemed Jazz had a story. Holly genuinely liked the other woman. Hopefully, this tentative friendship could continue to grow, and Jazz would one day get to the point where she felt comfortable confiding in Holly. For that to happen, she’d have to earn the other woman’s trust. Best way to do that was to show vulnerability herself. “My relationship with my father is complicated. When I was a kid, he worked for years in the gang unit. Some of the shit he’s seen and dealt with…” Holly shook her head. She wasn’t ready to talk about Joy with her new friend. Too personal for such a new relationship.
After clearing her throat, Holly continued. “Anyway, his anger last night was more about me and our family’s past than this club.”
“I’ve only lived here about a year, but all the people associated with this club have become my family. If you give them a chance, LJ included, you’ll find that there are some damn good men and women here. Now, come on, enough serious shit for the night.” She grabbed Holly’s hand and tugged. “If we’re not going to leave, then it’s time for some fun.”
Twenty minutes and another shot later, Holly could admit to having a good time. Actually, a great time. Sure, about every forty-five seconds or so, she scanned the room for LJ, but other than that, she loved the women of the Hell’s Handlers MC. They were funny, tough, sweet, and badass all in varying degrees.
And then there was Izzy. An absolutely gorgeous, tall woman with her hair in a long Dutch braid. She had the most adorable baby bump that appeared in contrast with her kick-ass personality. Izzy seemed awesome. The type of independent, sassy woman Holly only wished she could be. Until she decided to turn the conversation onto Holly herself.
“Okay,” Izzy suddenly announced right after a woman named Stephanie had told an outrageous story about nearly getting caught having sex in public. “I’m just gonna put this right out there. Anybody have any objections?”
Seeing as she was pregnant, Izzy hadn’t had a drop of alcohol. Same couldn’t be said for the rest of the group of giggling women.
“No!” Shell, the MC president’s ol’ lady said with far too much exuberance. “Speak your truth, woman.”
Izzy’s face scrunched as she shook her head in Shell’s direction before turning her attention on Holly. “Wasn’t sure what to think of you once I found out your dad was the dick who keeps causing trouble for our men,” Izzy said, staring straight at Holly. The rest of the women stopped dancing and fell silent. “But I fucking like you,” she said with a scowl. “Fuck us over, and you’ll answer to me. Get me?”
Holly’s eyes widened at the same time Stephanie whistled.
“She’s even scarier now that she’s knocked up,” Toni whispered.
“I’m not fucking scary,” Izzy said with the scariest look on her face Holly had ever seen. “But LJ means a lot to all of us and preggers or not, I’ll fuck you up if you mess with his head further.”
The alcohol swirling in Holly’s bloodstream made it hard to follow the conversation word for word. But the intensity of the emotion rolling off the frustrated Izzy? Yeah, Holly caught every ounce of that.
“I-I’m not here to—wait, what do you mean, mess with his head any further?” Holly looked from one ol’ lady to the next. One of them would clue her in, right?