Devil's Sons M.C. (Manxman)

27.

"Eh too much work, too little time." He shrugs out in reply. Not until I spot the smile threatening to fall from his lips do I relax back. "Damn I'm just joking." He waves me off and I let a small awkward laugh spill from my lips too. "But seriously are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks man." I extend my hand and he claps his around mine, we do a small handshake, fist-bump thing before he silently goes back to where he came from.

I think that's enough punishment for one night so I grab the small towel and toss it into my bag.

I reach for my hoodie and throw it on immediately since it's a little chilly tonight. It's not up to a second that I've put my hoodie on, that my phone buzzes. It's been inside the pocket of my hoodie all night so I haven't had access to it.

23 missed calls from an unknown number.

Damn what have I done?

Clearly it's not a telemarketer, they're not this passionate to call me 23 times.  I tentatively call the number back and it's picked up on the first ring.

"Jesus Christ, where are you JJ?" Jeez I remove the phone from my ear to avoid the deafening loudness of the voice. Of course I instantly recognize the voice.

"Dude how did you get my number?"

"You seriously don't know why they call me mamba, do you?" I can almost imagine him rolling his eyes.

"What do you want?" I sling my gym bag around my shoulders and proceed out of the gym through the back door that leads to the alleyway. The door can only be opened from the inside so entrance could only be made from the front door.

"Have you heard from bruiser today?"

"No" It comes out too aggressively than I wanted it to, but I could care less about Hunter. I'm even more pissed off because that's a lie. I care more than I want to admit. Okay I care a lot more than I want to admit. Fucking asshole. I hear a lot of cursing from mamba so I proceed to ask. "Why?"

"Since shit went down at the club house yesterday, I haven't seen or heard from him." I cross the street quickly before continuing the ten or so minutes journey home.

"So? He's a big boy, he'll be alright." I reply easily. If there's nothing to be worried about, why worry then?

I hear mamba take a deep breath before replying moments later. "I suppose you're right." He sighs.

I feel my eyes narrow in suspicion and my lips purse in question. What's that supposed to mean. "Dude what are you talking about?"

"It's nothing JJ, I was just wondering if you've spoken to him." I hate when Hunter does that and I hate it more when mamba does it.

If you feel something is wrong, you should tell me. Don't get me invested in the conversation and then close it with 'it's nothing'. Clearly it's something for you to call me 23 times.

"Meet me there in twenty." That's enough time to take a quick shower and wash off all this grime and sweat off me. Already sighting my house, I close the distance with every step and soon I'm climbing into the shower and making haste to where I'm going even though my body demands rest.

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I hop out of my truck already spotting mamba's bike off the side of the cream colored house.

"JJ seriously it's nothing."

That's why you called me 23 times. I've never seen the guy so shaken, annoying? Yes, shaken? Fuck no. He looked visibly scared of something but I knew that whatever it was, it had to do with Hunter. And for some reason, I couldn't bear the thought of not doing anything to help.

"Let's make sure then." With that I make my way towards the front door and of course it's locked when I twist the knob. Mamba moves to check somewhere around the side of the house.

"He removed the spare key from the regular place." Of course I know mamba and bruiser are childhood friends and all but that didn't ease the jealousy rising in my chest. He had free access to Hunter's house, food, water, bath, probably bedroom too. It's not the right time but I couldn't help the feeling.

I rein in my thoughts and feelings however before turning to him. "You won't happen to have a hairpin would you?" It's comes out as more of a statement and immediately I start looking around for something sharp and a slim that I could use to pick the locks.

I'm still looking when mamba sharply clears his throat loudly behind me. In his hand lays a bobby pin that he extends to me.

"What? Long hair problems." Right, I was staring.

I remove the coating on the ball of the pin, exposing the metal of the separated ends to reveal the slightly sharp points. I widen the pin a little and insert it into the lock with a right amount of pressure, I press it in and twist slightly. I hear a click and immediately twist the knob. The door opens.

It's dark as we navigate our way into the silent house. Something is off, Hunter is never off guard like this for starters. Secondly, he's a pretty light sleeper. We move deeper into the stark dark house trying not to stumble on anything.

At least until I feel something cold pressed into my head. That right there, is the man I know.

"Turn around slowly or I'm gonna blow out your knee caps. Trust me I don't miss." He says gruffly.

That made me so hot.

"Don't shoot Hunter, it's me." The light goes on instantly in the house, and we're all faced with each other.

"Fuck what are you doing here?" I don't bother replying as I take in the state of the house. There's a half bottle of vodka just laying on the floor, a box of pizza on the table. A bottle of pills sit next to the vodka. His D.S. knife sits carelessly on the couch, his leather cut on the floor, and an empty bottle of water at the far corner.

The only thing that catches my eyes though, is the pills. I find my legs moving towards it.

Memories flash through my head, memories of my mom stumbling into the house high out of her mind, aimlessly rummaging through the cupboard looking for something to eat. I would usually make her a sandwich to eat and calm her down or she would throw a fit and lock me in the bathroom again. It's like deja vu all over and all I see are the pills on the floor next to a bottle of strong liquor. Distaste and bile fills my mouth.

I close my hand around the bottle of pills but before I can open it, it is snatched from my hands by bruiser.

"Don't touch anything." His eyes dare me to defy him, every word of his oozing anger. "Now, what are you doing here?" He's not focused on me anymore, instead it's on mamba now.

"I haven't heard from you since everything yesterday and I just thought that... I was worried is all." He replies quietly.

"I'm fucking fine." Bruiser snaps before continuing "And you didn't need to bring him, or to come here at all." He finishes.

Fucking ass, I turn to him angrily, "'Him' is right here you know?" I start, I wouldn't have him speak about me like I wasn't standing right here. He had no right to be angry, he gets to stay in the club, he gets to keep his position so what more? "We were worried when you went off grid."

"I'm right here aren't I?" He snaps back at me. "And I'm fucking peachy." He states sarcastically.

I close the distance between us, standing right in front of him and looking straight in his eyes, daring him to lie to me again. His present state and the state of the house screamed nothing synonymous to peachy at all.