Juice's lips curled up as he looked at the picture. Little Sasha was sitting on Raine's lap, her cheeks and chin covered in ice cream. Mouse was sitting next to them on a picnic table, showing her shiny smile. Raine was smiling too—the sight of it still warmed him. The traces of his last fight weren't completely gone; there was still a green-yellowish shade surrounding his left eye. A reminder of the past weeks.
But the misery was over now.
Raine knew the whole truth. They were back together—really together this time.
Juice heard footsteps close behind him. Quickly he wanted to shove his cellphone back in his pocket, but the thing slipped through his fingers and fell on the floor.
He hadn't told his brothers that Raine and he were back together.
It just seemed wiser. Now, they wouldn't make stupid comments; everyone seemed eager to forget that he had a boyfriend who was a Mayan.
He however felt caught when he bent to pick up his phone. A low chuckle sounded as he stood up, undoubtedly with a light blush on his cheeks.
"Were you secretly watchin' some hot pics of your new lover?"Jax flashed him a grin. "You're in a much better mood lately."
Juice grinned back stupidly, hoping Jax would leave.
His vice president however didn't; instead, he came to stand next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Why don't you show me a pic, hm?"
Juice wondered if the man was really interested in his love life or that he simply wanted to rule out the possibility that it was Raine. Or had he just gotten a glimpse of the picture and was he testing his honesty now?
"I don't have a new lover," Juice muttered eventually.
Which wasn't a lie.
Jax's eyes didn't leave his.
Juice felt how he was beginning to sweat. He hated it. The fact that there was no one in this place who would be glad about him feeling finally happy again, sucked. He however refused to hide his relationship again. He just didn't want to start any drama, but he wasn't ashamed of who he loved.
He looked his VP right in the eye. "Raine and I are back together."
Jax raised his eyebrows. He clearly didn't know how to respond, and Juice was happy he didn't start to talk trash about Raine immediately.
"You serious? Wasn't he cheatin' on you?"
"No," Juice mumbled. "Esai drugged him and made him believe he cheated. Because he hates me."
"Wow." Jax raked a hand through his blond hair. "That's fucked up, man."
Juice felt relieved that his brother agreed with that. "Yeah."
An awkward silence fell.
"So... does this mean you still wanna leave?"
Juice shrugged. A part of him still didn't want to disappoint Jax. He had been the one bringing him into the club.
"We think it's for the best if we both quit. And well—the past weeks, when I was single, I wasn't of much help anyway."
Jax smirked. "Yeah, you were doin' pretty bad." He laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's not that I want to see you go, Juicy. But this is somethin' you really want, huh? Settlin' down?"
A blush spread across his cheeks. Jax would probably find him a pussy. "Yeah." Admitting that longing still felt like something that was forbidden. The club was supposed to be his highest priority. Deep down, Juice however knew his heart wasn't in it—it never had been. It were just the people he liked—and the feeling to belong. For a long time, the club had been the only thing he had, but his relationship with Raine had given him a completely different future perspective.
"It's not like I want to leave right away. I don't mind training someone, but it's hard to train one of the hang arounds. I don't want to put you guys up with a rookie, but with someone who's as good as I am. Or better. And people like that aren't easy to find. In fact, most hackers work for themselves. They're good in hacking shit, and not in, well, running around with guns. Let's be honest—I'm not cut out for that either. Computers are my thing, and not bein' in the field. And that's why I was wondering... What do you think about having someone under contract? Someone you can access 24/7 but who's not part of the club?"
Jax rubbed his hand across his chin. "Before you patched in, nobody knew shit about computers. I can run it at the table."
"You know—the thing is... I can teach some random guy to hack. But it's the trick to do it without leaving marks. I rather want the club to rely on the expertise of a professional when I'm gone, instead of some kid who barely knows what he's doing."
"And you know a reliable professional?"
"Every professional should be reliable. But yeah, maybe. I can talk to her, see what she's thinking. She has a rep sheet too."
"She?"
"Come on Jax, you're not as old as most of the others. You shouldn't be surprised by the fact that there are female hackers."
Jax showed him a sheepish smile. "Touché. Fine—go talk to her, let her make a concrete proposal and then we'll discuss it."
Juice nodded enthusiastically. Slowly, he really started to believe they would let him leave.
Even because of a Mayan.
. . .
It wasn't the first time Skye saw the guy in a suit look in their direction. Because of her long friendship with Juice, she'd learned to be skeptical when nicely dressed guys like that were around. It wouldn't be the first time that a cop in civilian clothes kept an eye on her friend. The same could be said about Raine.
Yet, she also knew that not all properly dressed men were cops. After all, they were at a playground. There couldn't take place many illegal activities in a place like that, except for the ones involving children—which was a kind of crime the bikers were just as fiercely against as every other sane person.
After a while, twins of approximately ten years came towards the man. They flopped down next to him and were handed a packet of crisps. Again, the man glanced their way.
"I think that guy over there is checking me out," Skye told Raine, chuckling. "Or you."
Raine tore his glance away from Sasha, who was sitting at the swing, and gave her a questioning look.
"That decent guy with the twins. He keeps looking at us. And I gotta admit—he's pretty hot."
Raine looked at the man before returning his gaze to her, grinning. "Go for it. You're not exactly shy, huh? I remember very clearly how you introduced yourself at the fundraiser, telling me you wanted to date me."
Skye grinned back. "I was doing that for Juice, not for myself."
But he was right. She didn't mind going to that guy and introduce herself. "I just need a good excuse."
"Ask him if the suit isn't too warm—and that it might be better if he takes something off."
She started to laugh. "You and your great opening lines. What again was the first thing you said to Juice?"
The question made Raine chuckle too. "Well—you can't deny that my 'you don't think we're gonna be friends now' wasn't original."
"No wonder he didn't dare to go to you."
With a wide grin, Raine rotated his face to the sun. "Ah well—lucky for me he had a very bold friend. Or do you want me to return the favor now and play the perfect wingman?"
"By asking him out?"
"I can suggest a double-date?"
"I'm sure I'll leave a great impression if I take him on a date with two gang members."
"At least he'll know not to mess with you."
Laughing, Skye shook her head, casting the man another glance. He had messy, brown hair that didn't match his decent clothes. A shadow of stubble covered his jaws and he had a light eye color, although she was too far away to be sure if it was blue or green. She smiled as he looked at her again, feeling satisfied when he smiled back.
She would never grow tired of flirting games like these.
Only when the twins went back to the playground, Skye got up.
"Well—I'm going to try out your pick-up line."
Raine smirked. "Good luck."
. . .
I decided to join the WATTYS2021 with 'Rivals', with means a lot of updates because the story needs to be finished by the end of September! Bear with me, haha!
I'm curious... who's your favorite character? (:
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