Sugar (The Henchmen MC 12)

I didn't bother to tell him that there was no way Brodie would hurt me, but because I really liked Charlie, and he asked almost nothing of me, I had agreed to keep my distance.

"Your ass is not getting tequila again," he informed me, lips tipped up at one side, arms spreading wide on the bar.

"What? I livened the place up!" I insisted with a smile, finally feeling my sour mood starting to lift.

"You danced on the bar."

"To Something In Your Mouth," I agreed. "Which everyone knows is a fantastic dancing on the bar song."

"Fuckin' torturing me down here. I could see right up your skirt."

"Luckily I wore panties that night." I wore underwear every night, but what fun was it to admit that when I could make his eyes go all hooded at the idea of me not wearing anything under my skirt.

"Red lace. I fuckin' remember," he agreed, exhaling out a breath. "And my heart can't take it again, angel. So no tequila tonight."

"Fine. Then we're going for gin."

"Which means she is going to get flirty instead of dancy," Jamie informed him as he handed her the beer she didn't need to order since her preferences never changed. Pops handed me my first beer at fifteen after helping him work on his Mustang. I've never looked back.

"Flirty might kill me too," Brodie agreed, reaching for the Bombay since he knew Charlie wouldn't like it if he served me well drinks. "What are you having with it? Ginger ale or vermouth?"

"Let's make it a vermouth kinda night. But dirty. With two olives," I told him, watching a bit hungrily as his muscles moved as he worked, wondering how mad Charlie would be if we just had a one-night thing where no one got hurt.

"And for you, gorgeous?" he asked Savvy whose cheeks - on cue - went the slightest bit pink.

"Can she have tequila?" I asked, knowing it broke her out of her shell a bit.

"Can't figure she'll be on the bar, so I can whip her up a margarita or two."

"Perfect," I agreed, reaching for the toothpick in my martini glass, carefully lifting it, and maybe making a bit of a sexual show of sucking each olive into my mouth. What can I say, my mood was lifting, and I was ready to get my flirt on.

Now I just needed someone to do said flirting with who was an option for me. Unlike Brodie. As much as my heart - and my lady bits - hurt a bit knowing that.

"Alright, so who can Savvy fuck?" I asked, leaning back against the bar, smiling at Jamie when Savvs choked a bit on her drink.

"That was not part of the deal," she insisted. "We are just supposed to be coming out and having fun."

"Right. And what is more fun than fucking? And, more importantly, coming?"

"I know you are, Peyt, but I am not comfortable with casual sex," she said, looking around at the bar. "It just..."

"It just what?" I asked, brows furrowing at the way she was refusing to look at me.

"I can't have an orgasm if there isn't a connection," she admitted in a small whisper. "I know that is backward of me, but-"

"I'm not judging you," I cut her off, suddenly upset that she would think I would. I figured she knew I was only ever teasing her. But Savvs was sometimes more sensitive... in silence. She didn't always let you know when you got to her in some small - or even big - way, just held it to her chest, cradled it like a baby, before one day she couldn't stifle the crying anymore, and she finally broke and told you. Too late for you to really make amends for it anyway.

"I know..."

"Listen to me, missy," I said, using my dad's condescending tone, making her give me a wobbly smile. "You do what your lady bits tell you to do. Your vagina is a vagenous. Only it can decide what is right and what isn't. Not me. Or Jamie. Or Hottie Mc Prison Tattoos over there," I said, nodding my chin at a guy leaning up against the wall giving her a once-over. "So we can focus less on getting you laid, and focus more on getting me laid."

Two hours and three martinis later, I was feeling fuzzy and light, finally out of my funky mood. Jamie was still nursing her first beer even though we had taken an Uber so we could all get our drink on. She took her taking care of her girls role seriously. Maybe especially so when Savvs was around. She knew I could handle myself. Savvy was a little softer, sweeter, too kind to stand up for herself at times.

And speaking of Savea, she was on her third margarita. Three margaritas with Brodie's heavy hand and Savv's low tolerance meant she was currently half-leaning into Jamie and gushing about how she trained a Green Cheek Conure how to roll over on command.