seat.” She offered, not turning around to see if he had taken her suggestion. Removing a cup from the cabinet, she poured herself a cup of coffee. Out of habit, she did not add sugar, even though she liked her coffee sweet. With the sweetener, it tended to put her in hyper drive. She already felt on edge, she didn’t need the added stimulation.
Unable to put it off any longer, she turned to face Loker to see that he was sitting at her table, grimacing as he adjusted himself carefully in the chair.
“I see you’re a little worse for wear today. I did notice they seemed especially intent on you and the one with all the tattoos,” Winter said unsympathetically.
“They were.”
“I don’t think they appreciated their women wanting to fuck you two.”
Loker froze at her use of the explicit word. Winter had never even said damn in front of him since they had met.
“Winter…” She broke in before he could continue.
“Of course from what I heard, the women would have to wait in line. A long line.”
“Sit down and I will explain.” At one time she would have done just that; did whatever he told her, how he told her. Those days were over.
“I don’t need your explanations. I am not stupid or even blind as I obviously was. I can understand English and can figure out exactly what happened. I was a way to get close to Vincent, wasn’t I?”
“Yes, Ben Stiles also. I didn’t know which of the two was responsible for my brother’s death.”
“Congratulations, mystery solved.” Winter could not prevent herself from tacking on, “I am sorry about your brother.”
“Thank you.”
“Now will you leave Loker, or do you prefer Viper?”
“Whichever you prefer,” he said, trying to remain patient.
“Very well then, Viper, get out.”
“I am not leaving until I explain. I want to maintain our friendship, and whether you believe me or not, I care about you.”
“As friends?”
“Yes.” A knife to her gut would hurt less. It was time to level this playing field.
“I am afraid that’s not going to work for me. I don’t want or need a con artist for a friend.”
“I didn’t steal your money. You think because I am in a motorcycle club that I am a criminal?”
“You stole something from me that I will never get back. Well, to be honest, two things, my time and trust.”
“I was very careful to maintain a platonic relationship with you. I never led you to believe that it was an exclusive relationship.”
“But you were aware my feelings were not the same.”
His silence said it all.
Winter sat the coffee cup down on the counter before she threw it at him. Viper’s dark eyes followed the movement. She had put on her shirt without taking the time to properly dry off and put on a bra, the thin material clung damply to her breasts. Her hair was drying in a mass of curls that she always blow dried out and styled into a professional look, well aware she needed to maintain a certain image with her job. She had to project an appearance of authority and professionalism or the students and parents wouldn’t respect her position. She only relaxed her guard in the privacy of her own home.
“Wow. You are a complete and utter ass. I thought we had a relationship, you knew I thought that. I waited patiently for you like a fool when you were out of town, while you were fucking your own personal stash of women in not one motorcycle club, but two.”
“They are not my own personal stash. The women in the Last Riders don’t belong to anyone,” Viper sighed. He had not wanted the conversation to turn ugly, but he could see that had been a false hope. “The members are not exclusive to anyone; neither male or female.”
Winter could only stand there with her mouth open, her mind unable to comprehend the sheer magnitude of his deceit.
“Like a sex club? You share the women?”
“It is a