Devils & Daughters (An MC Romance)

Chapter 7: Asked For A Miracle, Got A Storm

"Well, I can see it in your eyes, like I taste your lips, and they both tell me that we're better than this." -Modest Mouse, Little Motel

 Jacko

After hour four of Sarin's "Operation Silent Treatment" towards me, my skin had started to crawl with annoyance. Not even when we stopped for a bathroom break and two large bags of snacks did she bother to utter a word in my direction. When the rain started to beat down mercilessly on the windshield of the truck, somewhere outside Walterboro, South Carolina, I was at my tipping point.

As the large truck fought through the rain and budding hail, swaying side to side a touch as the heavy winds swept in, I was more than ready to pull over and say my peace. But nature had a different way of dealing with shit, and as a forceful gust of wind almost took down a tree on the side of the highway, I realized that instead of that pleasant miracle I'd asked for earlier, the universe had dumped more shit down on me.

Taking the next sharp turn off, I looked around for somewhere we could all hold up till the storm broke. If one thing was certain it was this—when you lived on the east coast and grew up in hurricane territory, you never took a chance where Mother Nature was concerned.

Spotting a motel with a vacancy sign down the road, I pulled the truck into the full parking lot with a frustrated groan. Drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, I looked at the older motel with its two stories of room decked out in an old coat of brown paint.

"We need to ride this shit out." I glanced in the backseat at TinTin. "I'll run in and book us a few rooms and you all see what we can get quickly by way of food. Somethin' tells me this is just the beginnin' of this storm."

Sarin shook her head and snatched up her purse from the floor. "They have a diner." She pointed to a small alcove with a flickering sign that was threatening to burn out any day. "That's where I'll be when you get my room key. I need coffee and a few minutes alone." She smirked sarcastically in my direction as she pushed open the door.

A heavy gust of wind almost knocked it right back in her face and the rain pelted down onto the leather of the seats. "Dammit, woman!" I shouted after her as she fought through the hail to get under the awning of the building. Turning to TinTin I frowned. "That woman's gonna be the death of me."

He huffed with a sarcastic eye roll. "If you're lucky."

"Har. Har. Har. You got fuckin' jokes." I glared. "Go make sure her ass don't blow away."

"I'd make a joke about her blowing something else but I can tell that stick in your ass is watertight right now," TinTin said with a smirk.

"I'll be sure to pull it out and beat the shit outta you later. Just go." I scowled.

He huffed as he braved the fight to get his door open and took the several large steps to shelter as he quickly followed in her direction. I ran my hands through my hair, psyching myself up to deal with the storm—the literal one and the metaphorical one I felt brewing.

"How about you take a few minutes and I'll check us in," Rigs offered.

I sighed. "If only a few minutes would solve this shit storm that I'm tumblin' around in." I tossed him the keys to the truck. "Go ahead and load gear once you get us settled. I need coffee cause I doubt this shithole diner has booze."

"Probably not." Rigs stepped out of the truck and jogged towards the sign marked Office and for a few brief moments I basked in the moment alone. Just the rain mercilessly crashing down on the glass, the wind whipping through the parking lot with a sharp whistle, and a briefly empty mind void of turmoil—but even that didn't last very long. Resting my forehead against the steering wheel, I took a few deep breaths as I tried to cool my budding anger at the situation, at myself, and more importantly, the beautiful girl who was taunting every piece of me at every turn.