I'm on Fire

18: A creature of love, I can't be tamed

There came the sound of shrill feedback from the stage, and the drummer twisted his stick around his fingers before clapping the high hat. You took your break and met Eddie over by the carpeted hallway. The two of you huddled together, out of view from the front half of the bar, including Charlene and Billy.

"What's Steve going to do?" You hushed, feeling the familiar anxiety rise inside of you that someone might get hurt again.

"Nothing for now," Eddie exhaled. You put your hand on his chest, and he held it there. "You let me worry about Steve and Charlene, you have enough to do. I won't let anything go sideways in here tonight."

You told him about what you'd just learned from Shana, about Charlene being part owner of the Velvet Hammer, and he gave a slow blink, dragging out a long, ragged breath. "Why does that not surprise me," you could almost hear the wheels in his brain turning. "She can't have this place, it's ours," he growled, walking you down the hall and clanking open the heavy metal back door to the alley.

"But," you started. Eddie pulled a pack of smokes out of his front pocket and sparked a flame from his zippo to light the end. "Isn't it too late for that? It sounds like she already took it?"

You held two fingers like you were making a peace sign for Eddie to pass you a smoke and he raised his eyebrow at you curiously. You gave a nod, answering his unspoken question, and he put a second one between his lips to light it for you before passing it over.

You took a tiny drag and coughed smoke out of your nose at first, but then the second inhale was smoother. Thanks to so many nights at the Hammer, your throat and lungs were sufficiently coated with tar and ready for the challenge.

The other owner of the Hammer was a well known real estate investor and builder named Murray Bauman, and he was a friend of the MC. They'd done several "jobs" for him over the years that were clean by MC standards, but dirty enough to ruin his reputation if they came to light. Murray was also notoriously unfriendly with the Gregson's, and Eddie wondered how much Charlene had paid, and what kind of scandal she'd dug up on Stephen, to make him give up his share like that.

Eddie tilted his head back, exposing his throat, to take a long, thoughtful drag, looking up at the clear sky that was blinking full of stars. "I wish I could go back in time before I ever met Charlene, and avoid her at all costs."

"I don't know," you looked down and kicked the heel of your shoe against your toe. "She's awfully determined. I think she would've found you anyway. Plus, I don't think it's you she wants anymore."

"I feel responsible though," Eddie muttered, blowing smoke out through tight lips. "For everything that's happened to the people around me because of her."

The sound of Nancy saying something into the mic, followed by the crowd cheering, came muffled through the door, and you really wanted to change the subject, to pull him out of his dark thoughts. "I'd love to see you play tonight," you told him right before both of your cherries glowed orange at the same time in the dark.

"I don't have my guitar here," he stated the obvious, sucking his tongue on the roof on a sharp inhale, angling his head back to blow smoke up while keeping his eyes on you. "But I might sing one or two with her. Just for you."

"You can sing too?" Your eyes got wide like a little kid watching the twinkling lights on a Christmas tree.

"Hi, baby, have we met?" He scoffed, slipping his bottom lip through his teeth to repress a grin, and then he winked at you and smashed his smoke on the brick wall before throwing it in the dumpster. He caught you by the hips and pulled you flush to him. "I mean, I guess you'll just have to wait and see."