The Phoenix Club (written as CJ Bishop)

CH 6: "Daytime Nightmares"

C O L E didn't question him on the drive back to the small apartment, and Abel offered up no details. It was a quiet ride, though not tense. It was habit on the part of the most of the guys from the club to respect one another's personal privacy. Many had pasts they just wanted to forget, leave dead and buried. Abel was one of them, though his past seemed to trail him like the Grim Reaper, waiting for that moment when it would snatch away what little he had acquired for himself and Savannah.

Already it was trying to steal Savannah away.

"You get some rest." Cole said sternly when they were back at the apartment. "I'll go back to the hospital and check on Savannah this afternoon, then let you know how she's doing. But you don't need to be making trips back and forth right now."

Abel nodded, though he would insist on visiting her by tomorrow. If Cole wouldn't take him, he would take a cab.

"Max will probably be by later." Cole told him. "I think he had something to talk to you about."

Abel sat down carefully on the sofa. "What?"

"I don't know." Cole shrugged. "He didn't say."

Unease tightened Abel's brow. Surely Max wouldn't cut down his hours. He needed more hours, more customers – not less.

Reading the look on his face, Cole smiled. "Don't worry about it. He isn't going to fire you." He winked. "That cute ass of yours brings in a hell of a lot business for the club."

Abel rolled his eyes but laughed low. "If you say so."

"Don't be modest." Cole grinned. "You get more private requests than all of us."

"Even Gabe?" Abel looked at him dubiously.

"Well," Cole chuckled. "You're almost breaking even with Gabe. And that's saying a lot."

Abel adjusted himself on the sofa. "Do you think Gabe might...help me tighten my act a little? Maybe get more bonuses without the injuries?"

Standing at the door, Cole nodded. "I'm sure he would be happy to help you out." he smiled. "He's got a soft spot for you."

Abel lifted an eyebrow. "And I think he's got a hard spot for you."

Laughing softly, Cole shrugged. "Perhaps. But we're just friends who...enjoy each other. There's nothing serious going on."

"Okay." Abel held up his hands and smirked. "If you say so."

"I do." Cole opened the door, grinning. "Now get some damn rest, boy."

"Aye, aye, Capt'n." Abel saluted him, though the humor behind it came off weak.

Cole chuckled. "Smart ass." he shook his head and exited the apartment.

When the man stepped out the door and closed it behind him, the smile drained off Abel's face. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, his chest squeezing as the doctor's words came back to him. This wasn't right. How could Savannah...His throat tightened, knotting with emotion.

"It isn't fair." he choked quietly, tears welling without warning. He draped his arm across his eyes as sobs shook his body. It isn't fucking fair!

♦ ♦

Cole tugged on the skin-tight black leather pants, shimmying his hips back and forth as he worked them up over his firm ass and his sizable bulge filling out his G-string underwear.

Gabe cocked an appreciative eyebrow. "Gonna get all that in there?"

"Oh yeah." Cole grinned and did just that. The waistband of the pants reached just barely to his hips where he fastened the snap and dragged up the zipper. He smacked his very defined crotch smugly. "Snug as a bug in a rug."