Diamond in the Dust (Lost Kings MC 18)

He sighs and watches his brothers for a second. “Some clubs will patch a club whore but her patch will say Property of Lost Kings MC. A girl who doesn’t belong to a specific brother wearing that patch…it’s asking for trouble, so we don’t usually do that.”

Still a little stunned he kind of referred to Anya as a whore, I’m not sure what to say. “But Anya’s not—”

“I meant in general.” He smirks at the guys. “Ice has made it clear she’s not free ass.”

I smack his arm. “That’s gross.”

He shrugs as if he’s not sure what I want from him and I roll my eyes.

Anya rushes over and barrels into me, hugging tight. “Thank you so much. I’m so excited. Oh my God, this place is huge. Are you scared?” she says in a breathless rush.

“Whoa. Easy, girl,” I tease, reaching up to tug on the brim of her pink ballcap. “This is cute.”

“It matches this.” She clutches the edges of her pink and green flannel shirt and spreads them wide to show off the flocking fabulous flamingo tank top I’d given her.

Lordy, the girl fills it out better than I do. And I’m not exactly lacking in the boob department. “Damn, girl. It looks great on you. You didn’t have to wear it, though.”

“Are you kidding. Of course, I did.”

She’s bubbling over with delight about everything and it’s kinda fun to show her around backstage and see everything through a newcomer’s eyes.

Steer, Dex, and Pants take off to help Dawson, while Ice and Jigsaw hang back with us in my dressing room.

Jiggy moseys over to me with his hands jammed in his pockets. “You relieved it’s over, songbird?”

“Relieved. A little sad. But feeling accomplished too.”

He quickly glances at Rooster, then back to me. “Not that you care about my opinion but I’m proud of you. You’re braver than most, Shelby.”

What an unexpected sentiment from Jiggy. “That’s so sweet. Thank you.” I pat his arm. “And I do care what you think.”

Anya watches Jiggy return to Rooster’s side with wide eyes. “I had no idea he was such a sweetheart. Everyone talks about Jigsaw like he’s some serial killer.”

“I’m sure he has his moments. Especially if he’s protecting the club or someone.”

“Oh, definitely.” She glances at Ice.

We left the door to the dressing room wide open. The atmosphere backstage is in high-party mode. Trent runs in and punches his fists in the air when he sees me. “Last show! Woo!”

Laughing, I hug him and we jump up and down, much like we did the day we signed on for the tour. “Are Abram and Kenny around?” I ask.

“They’re hanging with the Thundersmoke dudes.”

Huh. Weird. Thundersmoke’s been so standoffish the whole tour. “That’s good.”

His gaze strays over my shoulder and his body freezes in place.

“Oh, sorry.” I reach for Anya and pull her forward. “Anya, this is my friend and guitar player, Trent. Trent, this is a friend of mine, Anya.”

Crimson spreads from Trent’s cheeks to his forehead. He can’t seem to figure out how to work his tongue and stands there staring.

Guess Trent watches porn.

“Nice to meet you, Trent,” Anya says.

“Uh, yeah.” Trent recovers the manners I know dang well his momma smacked into him with a wooden spoon while he was growin’ up. “Nice to meet you too. Glad you could catch our last show.”

Trent’s gaze shoots over my shoulder and he backs up. If I had to guess, I’d say three six-foot plus bikers are looming behind me.

“What’s up, Trent?” Rooster holds out his hand and Trent shakes it. Then he introduces Trent to Ice.

I release a relieved breath, silently thanking Rooster for letting Ice know Trent’s not a threat without embarrassing him.

I don’t want anything to ruin the last show.

Rooster

I can’t take my eyes off Shelby.

Nothing new there, I’m always watching her. But tonight, damn. Pride’s beating a drum inside my chest. The arena’s huge, usually reserved for football games and mega-concerts. The stage is in the center with fans seated almost all the way around. Not a lot of places for the crew or security to stay out of sight.

Anya and Ice are right down in front of the stage. Shelby even waved to them as soon as she came out.

“You’ve got an in with Ice forever now,” Jiggy shouts in my ear.

“How so?”

He cocks his head. “Shelby going out of her way to give his girl the full experience.”

I snort and turn back to the stage. Ice has made it clear that’s not their situation but that’s none of Jiggy’s business.

Even though most of my attention’s on Shelby, it’s hard to miss Dawson jogging up and down the hallway behind us.

“What’s his deal?” I ask Jiggy.

He turns and shrugs. “Last show jitters?”

Earlier he’d stopped by to ask Shelby to come out during his last song. He’d warned her he invited Thundersmoke to do the same, which was classy of him, I had to admit.