Tyler twirls the keys around his finger once more before he tosses the set of keys to me. I reach out to catch them. “Maybe this will help keep your mind off things.”
I hold the keys out in front of me, eyebrows raised as I stare at him. “The keys to your Chopper?” I question examining them. “I have my own bike, man.” I toss them back and he catches them. “Thanks for the effort, but I’m cool.”
“No.” He shakes his head and brings his eyes up to meet mine, the look on his face telling me he’s about to ask for my help again. “I need your help. You’re the best I know when it comes to motorcycles. She’s been making strange noises lately. Can you check her out, man?”
The keys come flying back at me and I reach out to snatch them right as they’re about to smack me in the face. He is right, though. Even I have to admit it. I do need a way to keep my mind off shit. “Sure man, I don’t have shit going on tonight. Where is it?”
“I already have her parked in your garage, man.”
My lips turn up into a small smile as I shove the keys into my pocket. That smart dick. “What made you think I would even do it?”
Tyler stands and walks over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. He points to his chest with his free hand, “Because it’s me, man. The coolest motherfucker you know.”
I look at him from the corner of my eye and reach for a bandage. “You still owe me. When I need something big, you better f**king come running.”
“You know it.” He pops his knuckles. “That’s pretty sick, man.” Tyler’s eyes widen as he leans in and checks out my half-finished angel. “She looks kind of broken though. That’s some sad shit.”
A tight smile forms on my lips as I examine it myself. It practically covers my whole forearm, connecting itself to the smoke that trails around my arm just above her wings. “Just as I intended her to be. She’s not quite finished though.”
“It’s going to be sick as shit when you do.” Tyler walks back over to his desk and pulls open the drawer before tossing handfuls of ink into a box. “I’ll be at my place doing a few tattoos if you want to come through later.”
“Yeah. We’ll see.” I walk around the small tattoo shop and start flipping off the signs. “I have a few things to take care of first.”
“Sure, man.” He walks over and bumps his fist against mine before heading for the door. “Be careful with my baby.”
I nod my head before he walks outside, leaving me alone to finish closing. Not that it takes much work. I grab for my leather jacket, flip off the last light and lock the door behind me.
The night air is refreshingly cool as I walk around the brick building to the back parking lot. It’s probably not cool enough for my jacket, but when riding, it only seems natural.
As I approach my Harley, my lips twist into a wicked smile and I straddle her. Running my hands up the handles, I shift to the right, the hard gravel crunching under my boots as I steady myself. If anything else can come close to the feeling the tattoo gun brings me, it’s riding hard and fast.
My moment is rudely interrupted by shouts coming from the parking lot of the bar next door and from the sound of the woman’s voice, I can tell she has been crying. That is all it takes to get my full attention.
“Don’t touch me. Don’t f**king touch me,” she screams.
I get off my bike just in time to see the man grab the woman’s face and slam her into the side of the brick wall. “Shut the f**k up, Maxine.” He leans in so his face is right in front of hers. “People can hear you. Don’t be such a bitch.”
As much as I know I shouldn’t get involved with some bullshit like this again, there is something inside of me that can’t help but to rescue the damn damsel in distress.
Fuck me!
I walk over to the bar, my boots crunching in the gravel, but neither one of them seem to take notice of me approaching.
They continue to fight, the ass**le pressing his luck even further. “You’re not going anywhere, Maxine. No one else wants you, so you might as well stop fighting me.
The woman presses her hand into his chest and gives him a hard shove, but her tiny arms are barely enough to even make an impact. “Go screw yourself, Nathan.”
The guy swings his arm back and is just about to hit her when I interrupt his tough guy moment.
“Hit the woman one more time and I am going to f**k your world up and make you wish that you never even laid eyes on her.”
The woman’s eyes desperately scan me looking for help as she scoots across the wall in an attempt to get away from the ass**le in front of her.
The guy slowly turns around and pushes his sweaty hair off his face, clearly drunk as he stumbles, almost tripping over his feet. His eyes widen as he checks out my athletic build. What can I say; I have a lot of frustration to get out.
“There is nothing going on here.” He grabs for the woman’s arm as she tries walking away. “And if there was it would be none of your damn business.”
I press my hand to my forehead, trying to cool the anger that is threatening to explode. I really can’t stand it when a man touches a woman with force. He’s pressing every one of my buttons and tonight really isn’t a good night to f**k with me.
“I just made it my business.” I reach out and grab the woman’s arm, pulling her out of his grip. Then, I press my arm into his chest and slam him into the building just as he did to the girl. “It’s not nice to hit a woman. Didn’t your mother ever f**king teach you that?”
The guy struggles to push away from the building, but soon realizes that his small build has nothing on my six foot two frame. “I’m just trying to get her home, that’s all. She’s had a little too much to drink and she gets crazy.”
The woman reaches up to wipe a drop of blood off her upper lip. He must’ve slapped her around before I came outside and that makes my blood boil even more. “He’s full of shit. I broke up with his loser ass last week and he can’t handle it,” she hisses. “I’m not going anywhere with him.”
I press my elbow into the guy’s neck and place my face just inches away from his to be sure he gets the message. “You see that beautiful woman over there?” He turns his head to look at her before struggling to nod, looking everywhere but at me. “If you ever f**king touch her again, I will find out and I can assure you that after I’m through with you no woman that beautiful will ever even look your way again. Do you understand me?” I shove him into the wall again when he doesn’t respond. “I have a really bad temper and sometimes I can’t control it. Trust me, you don’t want it to get to that point.”