CHAPTER REVISED: 11 April 2021
" shots - LMFAO "
" hangover - taio cruz "
" man! i feel like a woman! - shania twain "
" obsessed - mariah carey "
" beautiful monster - ne-yo "
PRESENT DAY
04 APRIL 2008 (FRIDAY)
The night before, Colbie and Juice had been playing Call of Duty long after the sun had gone to sleep in California. Of course, when the pair was gaming, alcohol was also involved. Any time that either one of them had been killed in game, the rule was that they would have to take a shot.
When Colbie and Juice had gotten to the point of having one eye completely closed and the other squinted so much that it looked shut, just to see straight, Gemma had walked into the room and laughed.
"You two act like children when you play this damn game," Gemma spoke, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Momma, we are children," Colbie replied. "Your children."
"Sometimes, I feel like dropping you two off at the fire station," Gemma laughed.
"But, you love us," Juice commented.
"I'm not really sure why, but I do love you both," the older woman replied. "But, I came in here to tell you both that you need to get some sleep. The garage is behind with all the tows that came in today. Someone is going to have to do the work and you work better together."
"It's Juicy's turn to save the day," Colbie spoke up. "I rescued the garage the last time."
Grumbling, Juice knew that his best friend spoke the truth. "Fine," he scoffed. "I'll handle the garage, but that means it's bedtime."
"Good decision," Gemma grinned. "Work starts at 8."
"Oh, fuck me," Juice grumbled.
"You're not my type," Colbie mumbled.
Laughing at the pair's banter, Gemma left the room so that she could head home for the night.
"You staying in here tonight?" Juice asked.
"Absolutely not, sir," Colbie laughed. "I'm not letting your alarm wake me up so that you can guilt me into helping you in the garage. Nice try, though," Colbie laughed.
Standing up too quickly, Colbie couldn't help but laugh at herself as she stumbled a bit while trying to find her footing. "And, now the alcohol is kicking in, so I'm going to sleep until the hangover passes."
"I'm gonna hate you so much in the morning," Juice complained.
"I can live with that," Colbie said. "I did it the last time, so I know that you'll survive."
"Yeah, yeah," Juice grumbled.
"Love you," Colbie spoke in a sing-song tone of voice as she left the room to head to her own.
Once she was in the comforts of her own room, Colbie quickly changed into a crimson wife beater tank top and a pair of black lacy boy shorts.
Quickly finding the sweet spot in her bed, Colbie was asleep in no time at all.
PRESENT DAY
05 APRIL 2008 (SATURDAY)
Thinking that someone was knocking on her door in her dream, Colbie laid in bed, fast asleep, until the knocking got louder.
Opening her eyes when she couldn't blame the noise on her dream any longer, Colbie turned over and growled shortly in annoyance, eventually removing herself from the confines and comfort of the black sheets that dressed her mattress.
Making the short trip from her bedside to the bedroom door, Colbie felt uneasy on her feet. She knew that with as many shots that she had done with Juice the night before, she would still be considered drunk still.
Unlocking the door, Colbie slowly pulled it open without looking to see who it was. "What do you want, Juice?" she mumbled, then realizing that it wasn't whom she had expected it to be.
With a slick grin forming on his lips, the bald male looked the nearly naked female up and down from her toes to her nose before locking eyes with her. "Not Juice, but he does want your help in the garage. He's gotta do shit for the club and needs someone to finish up the car that he was working on so the owner can pick it up today."
"His promise, his problem," Colbie spoke. "Today's my day off and we already talked about him being in the garage today," she informed the male, attempting to close the door.
Forcing the door from closing, the bald male shot his hand out to catch it before it clicked shut, startling Colbie at the same time. She wasn't used to someone being this forceful around her, so for this unknown person to be this bold with her was definitely alarming. "Excuse you," Colbie spoke. "But, you can remove your hand off of my door and be on your way. Your hair will sooner grow back before I end up in the garage today, so you can hurry yourself back to Juice and tell him the same thing."
Before she knew what was happening, Colbie was being thrown over the shoulder of her intruder and walked down the hallway to the main room of the clubhouse. It was there that she was finally able to quite literally get a leg up on the situation and take back control.
Pulling her leg towards her body, Colbie managed to connect her knee with the nose of her abductor, which loosened his grip on her enough to wriggle free and land her bare feet on the cold floor. "I'm not telling you again. Juice's promise, Juice's problem. He can figure it out on his own," Colbie spoke, her anger clutching to each syllable.
Seeing Jax, Chibs, and Tig near the bar, all with wide eyes, Colbie began the journey back to her room. She made it all of four steps before she felt a hand smack her ass harder than anyone had ever hit it before. Almost instantly, the female turned around with the look of the devil himself in her eyes and the speed of a cheetah in her hand to make contact with the male's face. "Don't ever lay a hand on me again," she said, the echo of her slap ringing through the room.
Whispering to his brothers as he laughed, Tig couldn't help but be in awe of the woman. "Hap's never met our little spitfire, but I think he's met his match."
"Twenty bucks says Hap backs down first," Jax muttered.
"No way in hell. Colbie's got fire, but Happy can go the distance. My money's on Colbie backing down first," Chibs chimed in.
"They're both the most stubborn people I've ever met. They'll be fucking by the end of the week," Tig added.
"Shit's about to get good," Chibs commented, watching as Colbie had nearly made it to the hallway before the shock wore off and Happy was hot on her tail.
"You, little girl, better watch yourself," the male spoke, practically growling each word at her.
"Listen, Baldy," Colbie spoke, turning around to face the male. "I don't care who the hell you are, where the hell you're from, or what the hell your rank is. Unless the order comes directly from Clay or Gemma, I don't listen to you. Juice needs help in the garage, then he can get a prospect to do the work. Or, if you were smart enough and decided not to waste time, you could have helped him out yourself. Are you just not that good with your hands? I bet that's it," Colbie grinned mischievously. "Remember one thing, I'm not a member of the club, I'm not a croweater, and I'm definitely not a porn slut, so you and the rest of the club don't have any authority over me or any of my business. So, I suggest that you run along to the garage and figure out where you fit in with the rest of the tools."
Turning around, Colbie managed to make it back to her room without any further disruptions. Closing the door behind her, the dark-haired female made her way back to her bed to find the perfect spot again so that she'd be able to sleep off the rest of the alcohol flowing through her veins.
At a loss for words, Happy didn't know how to respond to the fiery female. While he tried to figure out his next move, she was already halfway down the hall headed back to her room. "What a bitch," the male said, turning around and heading towards the garage.
"Pay up boys," Jax laughed, holding his hand out to Chibs and Tig to collect their bet money.
"I don't owe you shit. They have 'til the end of the week to fuck," Tig reminded. "I accept payment in the form of cash or fresh pussy."
Laying herself down on the mattress, Colbie rolled over onto her stomach and quickly managed to find that comfortable sweet spot. No sooner had she found it, she was interrupted once more.
"Get up, baby," Gemma's voice sounded. "Juice needs your help and the prospects are doing bitch work for Clay."
Grumbling, Colbie knew exactly what the bald-headed male had done. She had exposed her weakness and he ran with it, ran all the way to Gemma to tattle and get her help.
"Yes, Momma," Colbie said, turning over to view the older female. It was often that they were compared as mother and daughter, but it was the bond that the two had formed that truly made them seem like they shared the same DNA. Hell, even Clay was more of a father figure to her than her own biological father. That was why Colbie had all the more respect for the pair of adults, as they showed her a more normal set of parents and a more structured family structure.
When the door clicked shut, Colbie got herself off of the bed, made it quickly, and dressed in clothing that she wouldn't mind if they had gotten greasy. Not bothering to pull her hair back, Colbie exited her room, pulling the door shut with her foot on the way out. She began her walk down the hallway to the main room of the clubhouse, overhearing the male voices that were already there. Stopping to listen for a moment, Colbie grinned, knowing that one of the voices was that of the male that had disturbed her peace no more than an hour prior.
Waltzing into the room, all of the guys turned to look at her, Gemma turning as well. Eyeing the bald one, Colbie shook her head as she walked past him. "When you need help gettin' it up later, you gonna call Gemma again?" The female knew that Gemma wouldn't be offended by what she said, because they often joked around with the guys like that with one another and knew that it was nothing more than to get one of them fired up. Being the only two females that remained consistent around the clubhouse, they knew that they could have a little fun as such.
Exiting the building to head over to the garage, Colbie left the males in the clubhouse a bit speechless until Chibs decided to speak up first.
"You gonna let that lass talk to you like that, brotha?" he smirked.
"Yeah, Hap. You let it go now, she's just gonna keep talkin' to you like that in front of everyone, including the other charters," Gemma grinned. She could see that Happy was thrown off by Colbie, something she hadn't ever seen before. The Tacoma Killer never backed down or called in for back up when it came to a woman, he always managed to handle his business accordingly. So, the moment that he requested her assistance, Gemma knew that she was going to slyly play matchmaker and that she had chosen the right one to pair Colbie with. "Or, are you going to give her what she really needs and put out the flame that she's walking around with?" she questioned.
Glancing around at the group that was in the clubhouse with him, Happy knew that he couldn't let this go; he was now fully determined to put this woman in her place and show her exactly how she was supposed to speak to him. It also didn't help that three of his brothers saw the exchanging of words only moments prior. He'd be damned if he didn't right that as quickly as possible to protect his reputation.
Huffing in annoyance, Happy walked out of the clubhouse and towards the garage; he was going to settle this now before the girl got too comfortable shouting her insubordinate words at him.
Back in the clubhouse, Gemma looked to her son, Chibs, and Tig before speaking. "Dinner tonight at my house, don't be late. Happy sits next to Colbie, got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," the three replied in unison.
Entering the garage, Colbie immediately took a quick glance around, trying to find Juice. When her eyes locked on him, Colbie strutted over to him.
"I heard that you're bitching out on our deal and now I have to do your work for you," Colbie teased.
"Colbs, it's not like that," he replied.
"Then what is it like?" she questioned. "Because I see you skating out of this work and I'm getting stuck doing it."
"Clay needs me for something," Juice explained.
"What something?" she pried.
"A club something," he spoke, not giving up any details of his new assignment.
"Well, heaven forbid that you skip on a club something," Colbie said dramatically. "Go ahead, run off and leave me with all the work around here. You owe me though."
"Whatever you want," Juice replied, kissing the female's cheek before walking away to find Clay or Jax.
"I'm going to make you eat those words," Colbie mumbled to herself.
Watching Juice leave the garage, Happy quietly stepped inside so that he'd be able to confront the female. He was quiet, careful not to make a single noise, so he was able to watch the woman in amazement. It was rare to find a female that was able to change her own oil, let alone hold her own in a garage.
Feeling as if she was being watched, Colbie quickly moved her eyes to see the bald-headed intruder in the garage with her.
"Why are you so obsessed with me?" Colbie questioned, trying to focus on what she had to do under the hood.
"I'm not," Happy replied shortly.
"If you say so," Colbie said, turning away from the car to grab a different tool that she needed.
Happy wasn't used to a female not being afraid to speak her mind to him, especially when she challenged him with her words, so he was thrown off of his game and didn't have anything good to retort with.
"You can stop being a creep at any time, but right now would be ideal," Colbie spoke, not looking up from what she had been doing.
"I'm making sure that you're doing it right," Happy said quickly, not wanting to blow his cover.
"I am, so you can go," she said shortly.
"You better watch your mouth, girl," Happy said, his body tensing with frustration.
Finally looking up, Colbie stared coldly into the male's eyes. "Or else what? You gonna put me on your knee and spank me until I promise never to do it again?"
Not expecting anything of that sort to come out of her mouth, Happy simply stood there in actual shock. Waiting for a moment, Colbie spoke again. "Exactly. All talk, no bite. Now, get out of my face and go play with your dollies like a good boy and let the grown-ups do some actual work."
Still with nothing quick to come back with, Happy gave up for the moment and walked out of the garage, leaving Colbie alone to finish her project.
Not long after she had completed the work on the car, Colbie was cleaning her hands off when the owner of the vehicle showed up to pay the bill and claim his car.
"Hey sweetheart," the guy spoke smugly.
Looking up at the male, Colbie decided to let his comment go for the time being; she only wanted the guy to pay and leave so that she was able to go back to her room and relax.
"Can I help you with something?" she questioned with her best customer service voice.
"I want to pay my bill so I can take my car," he spoke. "Maybe I can even take you too."
"That's sweet of you," Colbie smiled. "I actually have a lot of work to complete today," she lied, hoping the male would take a hint.
"I'm sure the boss would let you get away with letting some paperwork go for one day. Go out to dinner with me instead. It'll be a lot more fun than working."
"Excuse me?" Colbie questioned.
"I'm asking you on a date," he replied.
"I got that and my answer is no," she spoke. "I'm just curious as to why you assumed that I'm the one that does the paperwork around here. I actually fixed your car today so that your misogynistic ass could get it back on time."
"I just assumed that a pretty girl like you wouldn't like getting her hands dirty," he spoke, trying to make up for his wrong assumption.
"It's what I do all day," Colbie informed him. "I fix cars so that guys like you can drive around with your giant egos and bullshit assumptions," she spoke in a harsher tone. "The office is that way," she pointed. "One of the guys can get the bill for you."
"Thanks," the male spoke, scratching his head, not knowing how to apologize.
Having watched the entire interaction from the small office window, Happy soon realized that it wasn't just him that the female spoke like that too. She had a fire in her that Happy was going to tame one way or another, he was determined and certain of it. He had to figure out a plan of action, because he knew just by their limited interaction, the female wasn't going to lighten up with her words and snide remarks.
Watching the defeated customer come into the office to pay his bill, Happy grabbed the paperwork off the bulletin board next to the desk. It wasn't the first time that he had been in the garage or helped out for that matter, so he knew how to process payments when Gemma had stepped out.
"She always like that?" the customer asked, referring to Colbie and her smart mouth.
"Yeah," Happy replied, not liking the way the conversation was going.
"What's her deal? Hot chick, works on cars, fiery attitude, there's gotta be something wrong with her," the customer spoke.
"She don't like assholes," Happy replied shortly.