Butch

The other woman opened the door at a long corridor.

“Step the f**k back, Tate. I mean it. You start bitching and I’m going to shut you up.” One of the women in the room was yelling at another one. They stood in the center, one red head and another dyed black.

“Zero’s not here to help you out, bitch.”

“I’ve never needed a man to fight my battles. I can take your ass down, and I don’t need a f**king excuse to do it.”

Cheryl tensed at the fight about to happen.

“Tate, back down.”

“Kelsey, stay out of it.”

“Ladies, we’ve got company,” Eva said, raising her voice to be heard over the noise.

All the women turned to look at her.

“Okay, the two arguing are Prue and Tate. Prue is married to Zero. Tate is with Murphy. Then we’ve got Rose. She’s with Hardy. There is Sophia, and her man is Nash.”

She met all of the women and knew the men’s names as well. They all smiled toward her.

“This is the bitch who took Butch away?” Tate asked, growling.

“Back the f**k off. Butch made his own choice,” Prue said. “It’s not her fault he’s being a dick.”

The two women glared at each other before turning their gazes to her. Cheryl didn’t have a clue what to do or to say.

“She’s not responsible for Butch making his choice. I think it will be good for all of us to be nice,” Eva said.

“It’s great to meet you. I can already sense that you’re going to be best friends with Angel when she gets back,” Kelsey said.

Smiling, Cheryl followed Eva’s lead. Today suddenly didn’t seem half as much fun as she anticipated.

****

Butch sat in the waiting room of the spa. He’d been finished work for over an hour, and Cheryl still wasn’t finished. Killer, Nash, Murphy, Zero, Hardy, and Stink had arrived. They were waiting as well. All of them had tried to pull him into a conversation, but he didn’t want to talk. After Whizz’s insightful chat, the last thing he wanted to do was start talking about the club. Whizz had a point in his argument, and Butch saw no reason to fight it.

He’d abandoned the club. Butch was sure a lot of the guys thought that way, and he didn’t need to hear any more about it.

“Devil and the crew have gone back home. They’ve got a shipment of girls to transport back to Piston County,” Nash said.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Butch said, picking up a women’s magazine. There were multiple pictures of celebrities in different states of undress. He didn’t have the first clue as to why women were always happy to compare their body shapes.

No one saw men pulling out their cocks and measuring them against another man’s size. If a guy ever did that to him, he’d cut the guy’s junk clean off.

“You’re really going to cut us out like this?” Murphy asked. “After everything we’ve been through, you’re just going to stop caring.”

“I’m never going to stop caring. I love you guys like f**king brothers. I just can’t do it. I can’t take my woman and allow danger to come her way. I can’t do it. I won’t.”

“Do you think we’re happy putting our women in danger? It kills us knowing they’re going to be hurting. We don’t get off on it. This is what we all agreed to when we entered the club. You’re changing the rules,” Killer said.

“I’m not changing anything. I backed out.”

“Then get your ink removed, or we’ll remove it for you. I’m done asking you back,” Hardy said. “A brother who can walk away because he’s scared is no f**king brother of mine. I’ve got a woman and a club to protect.”

The far door opened. As Butch turned in the direction of the laughing females, his heart tightened. Cheryl was laughing along with all of them. Her arms were linked through Eva’s and Rose’s. The three women were giggling about something.

“Baby,” Rose said, running toward Hardy.

He watched the couple embrace. Rose wrapped her legs around her man as she kissed him. All of the women moved toward their men with love in their eyes. Cheryl walked up to him, smiling.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to kiss you in front of them,” she said.

Her sweetness hit him in the gut. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in close. “You can do whatever the hell you want with me. I’m yours just like you’re mine.”

She circled her arms around his neck. “I had fun today.”

“I can tell.”

He’d never seen her smile be so bright.

“You’ve got really nice friends. I think they’re awesome.”

Butch chuckled. The rest of the world fell away as he held her in his arms. “I missed you today.” Running his hands down her back, he cupped her ass. The full flesh filled his arms. He loved her softness and the way she melted against him. Inhaling her scent, Butch calmed down. He’d been growing angrier the more he talked to his friends. With Cheryl in his arms, leaving The Skulls was worth it.

Was it, really?

Doubts assailed him at his decision to leave the club. Shit was happening, shit he didn’t know about. Devil and Tiny were about to fight another force against both clubs, and he was scared about Cheryl.

“I missed you, too.” She looked up at him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s get out of here. I want to enjoy our evening together. I don’t want to waste a moment of it.” He took her hand leading her out.

“Cheryl, call me if you ever need to,” Eva said.

“Me, too, Cheryl. It’s lovely to meet you. I look forward to hearing more about Matthew.”

Each of the women called after her, smiling and laughing.

Gritting his teeth, he kept walking outside not caring what they thought of him taking her away from it all.

“Butch, are you angry with me?” she asked.

By his bike, he handed her a helmet. “They’re trying to lure me back to the club,” he said. “They’re using you to do it.”

“No, we’re not,” Eva said, exiting the spa. Tiny pulled up in a car. He saw their two children strapped into the back.

“Hey, baby, did you have fun?” Tiny asked, climbing out.

“I had a lot of fun until this f**king jerk just pissed me off.” Eva crossed her arms, looking ready to do murder.

The whole of the club was glaring at him. The women were looking at him with murderous rage.