Silver Bastard (Silver Valley #1)(64)
Author: Joanna Wylde

Picnic raised a brow, clearly surprised, and I felt a small smile curling my lips. I had jumped right in and it felt good. I’d been a small, weak victim when he’d met me before. Now I was strong. Holding my own.

“Good for you,” Picnic said. “Puck, you got a minute? I wanted to go over a couple things with you.”

“Sure,” Puck said. “Let me get Becs settled.”

My new confidence disappeared. We’d never said anything about him leaving me alone at the party. I surveyed the party again, everything looking more sinister and scary this time. The girls skittered around like they might get smacked if they weren’t careful. The men seemed larger. Angrier.

I gulped my beer, forcing myself to calm down. The real menace was in my head.

“Hey, would I leave you?” Puck asked softly as we walked away.

“I think you read my mind,” I said nervously. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“We’re going to find Darcy. You can stay with her until I’m done, then I’ll come back for you. Remember, when you hooked up with me, you hooked up with the whole club. We’re all here for you, Becs. This might not seem like a safe place, but it really is. Nobody can hurt you as long as we’re together. Every man in here is my brother and someday the women will be your sisters. Darcy’s probably in the kitchen.”

Puck started toward the back, threading through clumps of men and women littering the room. Quite a few of them were old ladies, I realized. Some wore vests and others just gave off the aura of confidence that came from belonging. I saw some of the men I’d met down in Cali, too. A great big Reaper whose name I still remembered. Horse. He had a short, bubbly little brunette woman glued to his arm. She laughed at something, the sound friendly and happy.

There was another one I remembered, too. Rooper? Booger? Shit, his name wouldn’t come to me. He was alone, but when a girl came up to him with a drink and tried to worm her way into his side, he blew her off.

Toward the back of the bar was a hallway, off to the right. The music got louder as we followed it through the building. Along the left wall were a series of doors, two of which were labeled as bathrooms. Then we passed an open door. I shot a glance inside to find a big room with a heavy wooden table. On one wall hung several obviously old sets of Silver Bastard colors. Puck frowned and shut the door.

Okay, that must be the chapel.

The hallway opened up into a kitchen area. Along the back wall was a grill, and several women hovered around a big center counter, fixing platters of food. Directing them was Darcy. She saw me and a huge smile took over her face.

“Becca!” she called, sauntering over with a sexy sway of her hips. She had to be nearly fifteen years older than me, maybe more, but the woman still knew how to work it.

“I need to talk to Boonie and Picnic,” Puck said. “Will you keep an eye on Becca, make her feel welcome? I don’t want to leave her alone yet. Not until she’s more comfortable.”

Darcy nodded, a flash of understanding passing across her face. Over the years I’d wondered how much she knew about me. In the Longnecks, women never learned any of the secrets. I’d suspected Darcy knew most of what happened with the Bastards, including where and how they’d found me. Now I had confirmation.

“Can you give me a hand?” she asked. “We’ve got food set up out back, and the first wave has eaten. Now we’re refilling and getting ready for dessert. Just cold cuts tonight, nothing fancy. Ladies, this is Becca.”

Women smiled at me, murmuring their hellos as I washed my hands at the sink. I had just settled in to separate and lay out slices of cheese when Carlie came in through the back door.

“That keg will need changing out soon,” she announced. Then she saw me. My breath caught—obviously there had once been something between her and Puck. Just as obviously it was over. Now what?

“Hey, Becca,” she said brightly. Too brightly? “Deep said you might be here tonight. I hear you and Puck are together now. Good for you.”

Yup, way too bright. She still had a thing for him. That didn’t stop her from walking over and offering me a hug that felt genuine enough. To my surprise, she took the opportunity to whisper something in my ear.

“We’re both big girls, here,” she said. “I’m happy for you and Puck and I’ve got no problem with you. But these bitches are waiting for me to start crying or something, and I’ll be damned if I’ll do it. It would mean a lot to me if you’d treat me like we’ve been friends for a while. Let me save face?”

Then she pulled back, meeting my gaze, and I saw a hint of desperation in her eyes.

“I didn’t realize you knew each other,” someone commented, her voice sly and nasty. I looked over to find Darcy glaring at a girl wearing short shorts and a bikini top. I knew her, of course. Bridget Marks—she’d been a bitch in high school and obviously nothing had changed since then.

I felt sudden compassion for Carlie.

“We go way back,” I said loudly. “Carlie and I haven’t been able to hang out as much recently. Between work and school I’ve been so busy lately, you know? I haven’t seen you forever, either, Bridget. How are you doing? You finish your degree yet?”

Just like that, the power in the room shifted from Bridget to me, because she’d flunked out and everyone knew it. She hadn’t done much else, either, other than getting knocked up twice by two different guys. Not that she was raising the kids—nope, she’d dropped them at her mom’s place and kept right on partying.

Carlie wrapped an arm around my shoulder and laughed. “I’ve missed you, Becca.”

The statement was so ridiculous that I found myself laughing, too. Outmanuevered, Bridget stomped down the hall. I actually liked Carlie, I decided. What a surprise. I polished off my beer with a gulp, thinking maybe things might work out after all.

“Becca, do you have a minute?” Darcy asked.

“Sure,” I said, wondering if she would call us on our little game. Ruh roh. Following her out the door, I found myself in a large, fenced area. There was a bonfire inside a stone ring and big speakers blasted music.

“Over here,” she said, grabbing one side of a trash can next to a table full of food. There was a good-sized crowd out here, although not huge. Maybe thirty people? “Can you help me carry this out?”

I grabbed a handle and we hauled it toward a gate on one side of the fence. A man wearing a Silver Bastards cut opened it for us, frowning.