~Tweaker~

I knew that keeping Knox and Ronnie a secret would somehow come back to bite me in the ass. Not only did I have to physically restrain my best friend from killing some random fucker in a bar, I had to listen to him fight with his girl about it too. I nearly wanted to gouge my eyes out the entire ride back to Tooele, all because of their relationship drama. 

I didn't have my own old lady so I wouldn't have to deal with this kind of shit, and yet, there I was smack dab in the fucking middle of it. The best part of it was that it wasn't even my own relationship, and I felt just as involved in it. 

I understood Ronnie's appeal—the girl was hot, but she was nowhere near worth all the trouble. At least I didn't think so.  All Knox had to do to get his dick wet was say so, and yet there he was getting involved with a girl who could only cause problems for him. 

I had been around when Cash and Ronnie were dating, and I knew that for a guy like Cash, what he felt for Ronnie was as close to love as he would probably ever get. Even though he fucked it up, Cash still followed her around like a little fucking puppy, ready to claim her the second she would agree to it. Cash was nowhere near over Ronnie, and probably never would be—once again, the girl was hot. But for a guy in Knox's predicament, she would cost more than she was worth.

The way I saw it was that the way we lived our lives didn't fit with settling down. We were outlaws for a reason. We didn't follow the same rules and codes that everyone else did—that was part of what made The Tribe so appealing. Being a brother meant having freedom others didn't, and I could never understand why any man would voluntarily give up the chance of fucking multiple women and just settle for one. Sure, some of my brother's were able to do it, but I myself had no interest in the idea. 

I liked sex, and I liked women, and I liked sex with lots of women. 

Who in their right mind would ever give that up? 

As far as I was concerned, Knox had turned into a whipped mother fucker who's dick was being pulled on a string by little Miss. Ronnie. 

Sure, I'd thought about the idea of having an old lady one day, but with all the shit in my past, I doubted there was any woman who'd be willing to deal with all my baggage—because there was a lot of it. 

I preferred no strings attached sex. Things were easier that way—more fun too. I usually opted to entertain one of the Hellcat's fantasies for the night, but even after I'd dropped Knox's truck off at his house, I couldn't help but reminisce over my ride with Raegan. It had been short, but it was enough to remind me just how cute that girl was, and why I had a thing for her in high school. 

When Ronnie had said, "Keep your hands off of my best friend." I couldn't help but feel it was a warning I didn't wanna listen to. It was probably smart, but then again, I had given her and Knox a smart warning too, and here we were. 

I'd known the girl for years and had considered the idea of fucking her before, but she'd always had some pussy boyfriend she dragged along, so I'd gotten to know her sister very well instead. Raegan was definitely the better looking Clark sister, but Holly was the easy one, and I liked my shit to be easy. 

Yet, here I was, still thinking about her after sharing a ten-minute car ride without Knox and Ronnie. To top it off, it ended with an incident with her asshat ex, which made it all the more different to the shit I was used to. 

She definitely didn't seem easy, but I couldn't get her off my mind. 

_____________________

After the long night I'd had, I really didn't wanna sit in church and deal with all the bullshit that's been going on, but I had no other choice. We needed to figure out who was stealing from The Tribe before Donnie was forced to make a deal. If that happened, we were all fucked, and dealing with my best friend's relationship drama would be the least of my problems. 

I was surprised to see Rigs sitting at our table when I walked in, but I was even more shocked that Knox hadn't cracked that fucker's skull open yet. I might not have been able to have such restraint had I been in Knox's shoes. At the same time, Knox had fucked himself on multiple fronts since he'd been screwing around with Ronnie, and if he didn't behave himself, there was a very good chance he'd lose his spot altogether. I felt for my best friend, but that was the cost of becoming pussy-whipped by a girl who was very off limits. 

What really fucking sucked was that Knox had to bite his tongue when Rig's had said some fucked up shit during church, but Ace was happy to come in and start a battle of his own with Rigs. Ultimately it became a fight, and Mick had no choice but to dismiss us before things grew any more heated. 

Worked for me. I was fucking starving, horny, and desperate to find a Hellcat to suck my dick. 

Helping my best friend had ruined my shot at getting laid last night, and I was in need of making up for it. 

I walked outside and headed over to Ace and Knox, who were both smoking, and lit up a cigarette of my own. Just as I got within earshot of my two brothers,  my eyebrows shot up in surprise at what had come out of Ace's mouth. 

"Your husband is a dick," he said, as Nora approached. 

I couldn't help my surprise at the way Ace was speaking to her about her own husband, but she didn't seem to care in the slightest. She didn't react, didn't grow upset, and only kept her gaze locked on Knox as she walked over to us. 

"Can we talk?" she asked Knox meekly. 

This chick had balls. After all the shit she caused for the poor guy she wanted to talk while her husband was just inside. 

I knew my best friend, and I had a feeling he was in the market for a death wish. But with everything else going on with him, I let out a cough as a warning that taking Nora up on this would be a very fucking bad idea. 

To my surprise, Knox actually got the hint. "I got nothing to say," he mumbled, throwing his cigarette to the ground and taking off a few moments later. 

Nora broke down into tears as Knox pulled out of the lot, and Ace and I both shared a look like we almost felt bad for her. We knew what she had done, and we believed Knox's side of things. That meant that Nora was a liar and was willing to protect a man who hit her over a man who was essentially her family. 

"Hey," Ace said, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

Nora shrugged it off violently. "Don't touch me!" she said, wiping away at her tears before she stormed back inside. 

My mouth dropped. "Damn," I began. "You try to help 'em and they do that. This is why I only go for the chill ones." 

Ace rolled his eyes. "If by chill ones you mean any chick who hangs around here with a pair of decent tits and a fat ass than you got bigger problems than you realize." 

It was my turn to roll my eyes because Ace was another one of my brothers who had recently purchased a membership to the  'I am pussy-whipped organization'. He and Loraine weren't official, but she was as close to an old lady as she was gonna get.

"Don't be mad because you let your dick get tied down," I teased. 

Ace chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, I'm not mad. I mean, have you seen my girl? She's hot as hell." 

I scoffed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I saw her last night before I left." Ace had brought Loraine to her first ever clubhouse party while she was under his arm. Admittedly, I had felt a little out of place among all the couples, but I ran off with Knox early on in the night anyways. 

Ace eyes narrowed. "Yeah, where the hell did you and Knox take off to?" he questioned. 

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. "We went to some bar downtown." 

Ace snorted. "You left a club party for a bar in the city?" he asked. 

The city wasn't my thing, and especially after everything that had gone on last night, I'd be content to not go back there for a while. Despite everything that had happened, seeing Raegan wasn't the worst thing. It was a blast from the past sure, but not a half-bad one.

"Ran into Raegan Clark," I said, trying to change the topic before Ace began asking too many questions. 

"Oh yeah?" he asked. 

Me, Cash, and Ace had all gone to high school together, and so we knew most people in this town. Raegan was around our age too and wasn't a girl so easy to forget either.

I nodded. "Isn't Rain friends with her?" 

"Yeah," Ace confirmed. "Her and Ronnie are both really close." 

I didn't know what I was doing, but the words came flying out of my mouth before I could even consider it twice. 

"Think you can have Rain get me her number?" I asked. 

_______________________________

I stood against the wall of the clubhouse contemplating why the fuck I had asked for her number. Part of me wanted to make sure Fields hadn't gone back there, and the other part was just eager to talk to her again. Either way, it only took me a few minutes of consideration before I finally sent the message. 

ME: Fields didn't show up again, did he? 

A few minutes later I felt my phone vibrate with her response.  

RAEGAN: Aaron?  

Reading my first name off of the screen felt odd since no one had called me it in years. I never went by Tweaker in high school and so Raegan would have no reason to call me anything else. Even still, it sounded odd and I felt the need to correct her. 

ME: It's Tweaker 

I saw the three little dots appear as she typed her message and then they went away as if she had rethought her reply. Once she began typing again, it was only a few seconds before her message showed up on my screen.

RAEGAN: Yeah, and I'm Tootsie

I smiled, as I looked down at my phone because I enjoyed her sarcasm. 

ME: Tootsie... I kinda like it. 

 She looked like a Tootsie—no a Toots. 

RAEGAN: How did you get my number? 

ME: I had Ace get it from Rain. I wanted to make sure Deputy Dickfuck didn't hit up your place again. 

Admittedly, I was surprised to hear Raegan confirm that they were no longer together, but I was glad at the same time. That girl deserved a lot better than that tool. 

I had always hated that fucker, and not because he'd been dating Raegan for years. He was an entitled dick and thought he would be some huge football star. The asshole thought he was better than everybody else but ended up staying right here in Tooele with the rest of us.  Even last night when I'd seen him, it was clear he hadn't changed. It was pathetic the way he was waiting for her in her driveway like a fucking creep even though they were broken up. I was surprised at the animosity I felt towards him last night, especially after the fucked up shit he'd said, and the way he'd threatened her. I had no reason to care about how he treated her, but for some reason, I wanted to choke that dick when he called her a slut. 

RAEGAN: No, I think you scared him off. 

ME: Good. Guy's a dick. 

RAEGAN: And he's a lieutenant in the fire department, not a cop. 

I rolled my eyes because he could be the fucking president and I still wouldn't give a fuck. 

ME: Same bed, different chick

RAEGAN: ???

ME: *Same shit

Raegan didn't reply for a few minutes, and I found myself wondering if this way her way of ending the conversation. I didn't know how to do this—I didn't text chicks, but I wasn't ready for our conversation to end. 

ME: What are you doing? 

Once again the three little dots showed up, telling me that she was typing a reply, but they had stopped and begun again at least three times before she finally sent a message back. 

RAEGAN: Just on my lunch break. 

ME: Nice

I replied, really not knowing where the fuck I was going with this. 

It was like I didn't know how to talk to women outside of the bedroom. I turned into some fucking loser who was texting a girl I hadn't seen in years, hoping it would end in me getting to see her again. 

Who the fuck was I right now?

RAEGAN: Yeah...

ME: Just wanted to check up on you. Let me know if Fields gives you any more problems, okay?

What I really wanted to say was 'We should hang out sometime' but I knew better. I hadn't seen Raegan in years for a reason—a girl like that ran in a very different crowd than I did. The only connection we had was Ronnie, and it was pure coincidence that she was messing around with my best friend. Other than that, Raegan and I had nothing in common and no reason to hang around each other. 

Sure, she would surely be a great fuck, but Raegan was a clearly a relationship kind of girl and I wasn't interested in gaining another clinger—espeically when I would have Ronnie to deal with if I hurt Rae's feelings. 

RAEGAN:  Thanks, but I'm fine. 

ME: I mean it Toots. He gives you a hard time, I wanna know about it. 

Just because I knew I should stay away from her, it didn't mean I was willing to let a repeat of what happened with Deputy Dickfuck go on again.

RAEGAN: Since when do you care about what happens with me and my ex, Tweaker? 

She had a point. I had just spoken to her for the first time in years and now I was making demands, but I didn't care. The idea of Fields showing up at her house again made my blood boil.

ME: Since now. 

The three dots showed up and disappeared again before her message finally popped up.

RAEGAN: Whatever.

Something about seeing her again last night after all this time had caught my attention. I didn't know if it was because she was just as involved in the shit that was going on with our friends as I was, or if it was hearing the way her asshole ex-boyfriend spoke to her, but I wanted to see her again.

Her reply wasn't exactly what I was used to— most women would jump at the chance at having a member of the Hell's Tribe MC be their personal protector, but Raegan seemed almost uninterested in the idea. 

I knew there was a reason I used to like this girl.