Booger (Reapers MC Book 3) Read online

  But… if I stay here… under Fist’s protection and watchful eye, will he do the same that he’s done to Booger, to other men who pursue me. If that even were to happen again. Knowing Fist, he’ll repeat the overprotective father bit.

  I hop out of bed and don’t bother changing from the black tank top and matching booty shorts I have on. Quickly, I grab the duffel bag that I keep under my bed and pack as many clothes into it as I can. He said to only bring a handful, but I’m Camila, which means I’ll do whatever the fuck I want to do.

  I grab a hair brush and my small pack of makeup, shoving that into the bag. As I approach the doorway and open it, I stand in the frame and turn back to take one last look at my room. I say last because I’m sure that it will be my last glance, the last time I ever stare into the place I have called my home for these last few years.

  If I have learned anything over my time here, it’s that change is inevitable and more importantly, it needs to be embraced. Now it’s my time to embrace the changes that are staring me in the face and begin the life that I’ve always wanted. The one where I’m the one in control.

  3

  Making a big life change is pretty scary. But, know what’s even scarier? Regret.

  -Anonymous

  Booger

  “You’re dumber than I thought you were,” Widow’s voice pops out from the middle of nowhere. I continue securing my bike to the back of my truck, making sure that my baby doesn’t tip over in our long ass drive. At first, I thought I’d take my bike down, but I’m so limited to what I can take with me. They’d be fuckin’ dreaming if they think I’m going to leave my flat screen TV up here.

  “I don’t remember asking for your opinion.” I retort back, shutting my tailgate as quietly as I can. Just because Widow’s awake doesn’t mean the rest of the club needs to be.

  His figure approaches me, and I’m only able to tell from the light that’s still on at the clubhouse door. “What do you think is gonna happen? Hmm? I saw you sneak outta her room and come straight out here. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

  “It might be,” I mutter, grabbing two duffel bags off of the ground I toss them into the back seat of my truck. They sit snuggly right next to my TV. “But sometimes the greatest things come out of the chaos we go through.”

  He chuckles, then shakes his head. “Never thought you were one of those romantic types.”

  “Oh, I assure you. I’m not. I’m just over getting told who I can talk to, and who I can do what with Fist doesn’t own her. No one does.” I state firmly. Everyone here knows that Fist just wants to protect Camila with everything he can. All I know is that she has a dangerous past, and she’s been under protection ever since she’s been here. Fist should understand that he can’t be the only one that protects her. He won’t be here forever. Someone else is going to have to take over his task.

  “Fist doesn’t own who, exactly?” His voice comes out irritated and quite possibly filled with anger. I don’t respond, and instead keep making sure everything is secure in the back of my truck. I’m yanked by the back of my neck and tossed on the pavement.

  “What the fuck!?” I hiss out, glaring at the silhouette of the head man in charge. My Prez, Fist.

  “I should be askin’ you that, boy. What did you think was gonna happen? No way in hell are you takin’ that girl away from here when we’ve been the only safe place she’s had to stay in years. I’m not allowing you to jeopardize her safety.” He hollers in my face, getting up and personal with me as he leans over me. Just as I’m about to speak, his fists smash against my face. First the left, and then the right. Over and over again until I hear a door slamming shut and a scream.

  He lets up and rises, taking a few steps away from me. “I warned you, Boog. I fuckin’ warned you to stay away, to not push me this far.”

  “Dios Mio!” Camila rushes over to my side, her knees coming into contact sharply against the pavement. I hear a small hiss leave her mouth. There’s no doubt she scraped her knees along the way. “What did he do…” Her voice goes from loud and shocked to concerned. “Why did he do this…” It’s as if she’s tuning out everything around us, forgetting that he’s still standing a few feet away.

  I can feel the tightness of the swelling already beginning to start, causing a great deal of uncomfortableness throughout my face. Driving like this is going to be a bitch. There’s no doubt about that.

  Camila shoots up from the ground and charges straight towards Fist. I get up quickly, grabbing her before she has the chance to maul him. I don’t even know why I stopped her. It’s not like he doesn’t deserve to get roughed up by a small little Latina. “What in the world is wrong with you?! Why do you do this to Booger? What has he done to you?!” She questions him, screaming every bit of it out. I can hear the hurt in her voice. She’s far more upset than I ever imagined she would be.

  Fist coughs, “He’s trying to take you away from us, Camila, and I simply can’t allow that to happen. You’re safe here, and you’re only safe here as long as you’re under our watchful eye.”

  She tries to lunge at him again, but my arms are wrapped securely around her small frame. “I am a prisoner here. Never can I leave the club. Never can I go out and do things that normal girls my age would do. I just want to have a life again, Fist. I don’t want to be anyone’s prisoner, even if it is to keep me safe.”

  “I… I’ve only kept you here as a precaution. We both know your past is still looking for you, every day.” This is what happens, whenever Fist speaks to Camila about her past it’s always in some sort of code. I can put the pieces together, that something awful must have happened when she was younger. She’s been here for a few years now, and she must’ve been seventeen or eighteen when she arrived. There’s never a good story behind a girl coming into the club life that young.

  “Then let him! I refuse to live my life in fear. I want to feel the sun on my face and travel to many places. I want to go to a soccer game and enjoy cotton candy. I want to live, not just watch as my life passes me by.”

  “Fine, then you can go out…”

  “No!” She yells, “You aren’t listening to me. I am not a child that you can give permission to. I am a grown woman who wants to make her own decisions. A woman who wants to see what it’s like to maybe date this burly biker who always flashes his googly eyes at me. I need to make these decisions, Fist. Not you. As much as I love you like the father I always wanted, I need to do these things. I appreciate everything it is that you have done for me over the years, but it is time for a new chapter. A chapter of change… where I can grow into the woman I am meant to be.” My arms loosen at hearing her words. I’m pretty sure this feisty girl just admitted she wants to date me. That’s a pretty big win for the day, all things considered.

  Fist is silent for a few moments but begins to speak, “I just want to keep you safe. He hasn’t found you yet, and I don’t plan on him being able to.”

  Camila heads straight to Fist and wraps her arms around him, hugging him closely from the looks of it. “Nothing will ever happen to me while I am with the Reapers, no matter which clubhouse I am in. I am a Reaper, Fist, and we always protect our own.” I can hear the smile in her voice as she says those words, speaking nothing but the truth. This girl sure is one of a kind.

  He grumbles out something lowly and I see Camila jump up and down for a minute and run back into the clubhouse. “She’s going to get more clothes, but Boog, you’re a dead man if you even allow a bumble bee to sting that little girl. You hear me?”

  “Yes, Sir. You don’t have to worry about a thing, though. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  “Good, cause something will happen to you in return.” I guess this is as close to a vote of support that I’m going to get, but I’ll take it cause in a few minutes I’ll be on the road with Camila, heading towards Las Vegas. Driving to the new possibilities that will await us there.

  4

  You can. You should. And if you start, you will.r />
  -Skinny MS

  Camila

  He put up the worst fight for a solid eight hours before he let me take over driving the truck. Kept grumbling on about how I’d do something to mess up his bike. So, I just assured him she’d be just as pretty as when he was driving. The funny part is, he didn’t even ask me if I knew how to drive. I had… maybe two… yep, two lessons under my belt as a teenager. Jokes on him, though.

  I glance over to the passenger side and see Boog comfortably laying back in the seat. His face is swollen and he looks tired beyond belief. We just managed to hit Salt Lake City with all the construction that’s happening on the interstate, and I’m deciding that it’s time for a break, and maybe a bit of shut eye.

  The city is so beautiful. Truth be told, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, seeing the ridges of the mountains behind the city scene like this. If I squint my eyes hard enough, I can see the small bit of white that covers the top of the mountains. I guess it must still be pretty cold up there.

  I take the truck further into the city and decide to pull over at a small little motel. It’s nothing special, but kinda reminds me of the motels we have back home in Mexico. It’s an off-white color, with rounded archways. Royal blue shutters grace the building, giving it a much needed pop of color.

  “Where are we?” Boog asks, rubbing his eyes.

  “Salt Lake City. I thought it was time for a pit stop. We both need some shut eye. Plus, why not enjoy the scenery of our long drive.”

  He sits straight up in his seat and starts to unbuckle himself, but stops. “Camila, there’s no way we’re staying here. Start this bad baby back up and find us someplace decent to sleep.”

  I look around the vicinity and see a couple of the doors look a little roughed up, but it’s not too bad. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in worse places than this. “Are you sure? We can make do.”

  If looks could kill, I’d be a dead woman. “I appreciate that you want to save me some money, but there’s no way in hell either of us are sleeping in those seven levels of bedbug infested hell.”

  I turn the truck back on, reverse out of the parking space and head further into the city. Neither of us speak a word for what feels like forever, but it can’t be more than ten minutes. He hasn’t told me where I should stop at, and I’ll admit I’m getting a bit frustrated at this point the first place I picked wasn’t good enough for him, so who’s to say that the next place won’t be either.

  After another five minutes of driving, I pull into a parking lot of a hotel chain that I’ve seen a few times before. I had no idea that these hotels were even in the United States. I should’ve known, though. They definitely aren’t a Mexican hotel company. “Does this place make you happy?” I ask him as I park.

  He nods, “Yeah. I’ll get us a room,” Before I know it, he’s already walking away from me, towards the lobby. I turn the key, shutting the truck off and wait for him to return.

  It feels surreal being here right now, to be away from the clubhouse, off and doing my own thing. I knew that it would happen eventually, but I never expected it to happen quite like this.

  Boog comes of the lobby entrance with a keycard, approaching the truck. I hop out of my seat and grab a small duffel, and he grabs one of his own before shutting the doors. His face looks even worse in this lighting, “C’mon, let’s get inside. I need to put some ice on that.” I say, signaling with my head that we get a move on. I don’t know about him but I’m starving, and more importantly, I’m a tad bit anxious.

  Fist is right with everything he said to me. It’s dangerous for me to be out and about like this, but I have to do it for me. Like I said to him, I need to live my life. Feeling trapped isn’t any fun at all.

  Booger walks a few feet ahead of me and I follow him closely as we enter in through the hotel doors, go into the lobby and grab the elevator. As I glance around, I see this hotel is much fancier than I thought it was. We take a step into the elevator as it opens, and then the doors close behind us.

  This feeling is so odd, I can’t help but think as I look at him. We’ve been dying to be alone for ages, and here we are. Yet it’s so different. Almost awkward in a way. “You do some drugs while I was asleep?”

  His question startles me out of my own head, back into the present. “What?” I ask.

  “You’re staring at me like you’ve never seen me in your damn life, or like I’m the hottest dude around. Given our location, I think it’s the latter.” Boog’s stern expression grows into a smile, causing me to do the same. This smile isn’t like any I’ve ever seen from him before.

  I giggle, and lean my body into him. For the first time since knowing him, I can do whatever I want without worrying that he or I will be reprimanded. I can’t explain just how excited I am to see where this goes. The first step is getting off this damn elevator, and boy, I can’t wait to do just that.

  We may have left the club hours ago, but somehow I feel as if the second these doors open is when my life truly begins.

  5

  She was everything real in a world of make believe.

  -Atticus

  Booger

  I don’t know why I’ve stayed so quiet this long. Honestly, I have no clue. It’s not like Camila and I have never seen each other before, or never have spoken. When we do chat, it’s usually filled with innuendoes and flirtatious jabs. I wonder if because we’re out of the club, if things are different now. If maybe, I’ve suddenly become boring to her.

  I stare at her from the somewhat comfortable couch, looking at her sitting in the windowsill as she overlooks the mountains. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. Have you?”

  “Yes,” My answer shoots out before I even have time to fully process what I’ve just said. She turns to look at me, and all I can think about saying to her is what I’ve wanted to for ages. But, I’m not that hopeless romantic kinda guy. I’m a big, burly biker. We don’t do the romance shit. Fuck, if I don’t wanna tell her that she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I want to, but I’m holding myself back.

  “What did you see?” She asks, pulling her knees to her chest as she stares at me, smiling away.

  Instead of telling her the full truth, I decide to tell her a half one. “In my home state of Iowa, we have something called the Grotto of Redemption. It’s a place that depicts scenes from the life of Jesus, made from manmade minerals and stones. Most wouldn’t know, but I grew up in a very conservative Christian family. We’d drive every summer to the Grotto. When I was a kid, I’d often find myself being annoyed that we’d have to pick up and drive a few hours away to go see it. But as the years passed, I found that what my parents believed in was beautiful. Or… maybe I found their faith beautiful. I’m not really sure.”

  Camila tilts her head at me, “It sounds like a pretty place. Will you take me to it someday?”

  I nod, smirking at the girl. “Yes, if you really want to go.”

  “I’d love to see this place you speak of. I have a question, though.”

  “Ask me anything,” I say, realizing at this moment that Camila and I don’t know too much about one another. We may have been in each other’s company for a long time, but never did we go in depth into our pasts. Although, I can understand why she didn’t. It doesn’t take an idiot to figure out hers is grueling and filled with pain.

  “Did you find your faith in the club? The faith that your parents had for Jesus, for their religion?”

  I nod. In a way, I think I did find that same faith with brotherhood. I was always in search of something close to what they had with God, but I couldn’t find it for so long. Eventually, I found it in the club and in finding that missing piece of my life, I lost my family in the process.

  “Good. I did too,”

  “What do you mean?”

  Camila hops off the windowsill and walks towards the bed, sitting on the corner as she speaks. “I think that I lost my faith in God after my mother was
killed. It’s not his fault… what happened, but for so long I was lost. So much had happened, and then I was in a safe place with the Reapers. That is where I found my faith again, with all of you.”

  I want to press her for more information, to find out all the missing pieces of the puzzle that is Camila. But I don’t, I know that in our own time she will tell me about herself. Even if it feels like we’re still two strangers. One day, we’ll be so much more than that. I just need to have faith, oddly enough.

  “You have never asked me about my past.”

  I shake my head, “No, I haven’t. It’s not my job to press you to find out what happened. I figure you’ll end up telling me when you want to tell me, if you even do.”

  Her face contorts in a way that makes me feel like I’ve slapped her across the face. “Why wouldn’t I want to tell you? I want you to know about me, like I want to know about you.”

  “I understand that people like their privacy, princess. I’m just not gonna push you to tell me anything you aren’t ready for.”

  She scoffs while rolling her eyes at me. “Fine. Let me spell it out then!” Her voice goes from a normal tone to a downright pissed one. I don’t even know why she’s pissed, but I’m guessing I don’t have to understand because she’s Latina. These bitches be crazy. “My father worked for the Mexican cartel and did something bad. I don’t know, or maybe I don’t remember. Our house was raided and my mother was shot point blank in front of my sister and I. The cartel kingpin, Rafael Ramirez took my sister and I as payment for whatever my father did to him. We were split up and carted away to different places. Long story short, eventually I ended up with the Reapers.”