Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 57

Tank POV

As I walked back into the dining hall, talk of what Max was doing was active, eyes tracked my movements, several here hadn’t known that Max was a mechanic, or if they had heard that she was, they didn’t believe it, and thought that the club was just being friendly to her. They had seen Prez’s paint job and thought her painting was what they meant, not the physical job. The debate was about her, some said she was great, while others were doubtful, having never seen her in action.

Seeing was believing, I guess.

“Tank, will she have my bike back on the road tonight?” Dags asked, coming to me, excitedly. Often, we try to fix the bikes ourselves if Mike or one of his apprentices were not on the trip, and today none were. Max was here, and she didn’t hesitate to rush out to the bike when she heard it approaching. She had heard the bike long before I heard what she was listening to.

“Yep. As long as your bike doesn’t need parts, then you will be fine,” I replied with confidence, even if it took her all night.

Max was knee deep in the repairs of the bike, and I pulled her attention away long enough to give her a coffee.

“Thanks, someone needs to talk to your young ones about maintenance. If he had it serviced, he wouldn’t have broken down. I have seen you guys, most working to make sure the bike was in good condition for the trip, but some?” She left the comment hanging, but I got the message. This was neglect, and preventable; it happens more often than I would like to admit.

She finished her coffee, and I gave her a quick rundown of what might happen tonight. I was doing the first shift. Still, I might do another later, depending on how Max was by the time she had finished the bike. These things happen from time to time, and Dags should be grateful that Max was on this run, or his bike would have been unceremoniously shipped back home and his ride done. He would have to ride the way home in the van if there was room. Listening to his woman bit.ch all the way home.

Max went back to the bike after I forced a break on her. She still didn’t complain and accepted it, for what it was, a coffee break and a chance to think.

Bruiser and I completed a few rounds of the perimeter we had mapped out and the areas that needed extra attention. On our fourth round, Prez joined us, and we walked it twice more, so he could see what we needed to.

“Have everyone away from this area. Place a few light sensors here; it might startle them.” Prez was good, thinking all the time. We all have our little specialty, and his was to think outside the box.

Prez left Bruiser and me, heading to Sticks. She won’t admit it, but she’s finding this ride hard; Sticks was still having morning sickness, which is making the trip harder for both of them; they’re trying to hide it, not dampen the mood for others. But I can see it, and I bet others can too. Max had nudged me to look at Stick just this morning, and I could see her pale, as if she had just chucked. I felt bad for her, but good ole Sticks kept acting happy and chirpy. Helped pack up and do her part.

Bruiser left me to do another walk around the area while he sorted the guys for security detail.

The bike roared to life, then sputtered to a stop. She fiddled some more until it stayed idling, then continued working on the bike before asking Dags to run it. I headed over towards her while she cleaned and packed away her tools, and as I passed by, I heard some of the guys talking about her, and their conversations were all glowing; some were glad to know they had a mechanic on the run, which helped ease the worry about breaking down.

“Done?” I asked her.

“Yeah, need to put my tools in the van.” She looked beat.

I led her to Sticks’ room, where she had her bag of clothes to get changed into. The last thing I had expected was for Sticks to stop me from entering, saying she didn’t want to hear us together in the shower. WTF? So she can have her fun, and scream down the tent, and most likely all of the campsite heard her, but doesn’t want to hear me having fun? Where’s the justice in that?

I heard Max giggling as the door closed, and I leaned against the wall and waited for her to come out.

“Tank, can you do a morning run, say four o’clock?” Bruiser asked, coming to lean against the wall with me.

“Yeah, I can do that. How are the club members doing? No complaints?” I had expected a few not wanting to do guard duty.

“Just the usual crowd, they’re already on their way to being drunk, they’re useless anyway. I feel they do this far too often for my liking. We need to bring it up at our next meeting; it’s unacceptable.” I nodded, not needing to voice my thoughts; they would be the same as his.

“Max lifted the morale of the group, so many were skeptical. Roadside repairs are a skill all of their own. That she was out the door before any of us could react was amazing.”

“She heard the bike before I did.”

“Yeah?”

“Humm, her grandpa taught her a lot, she was telling me a bit about it, as she explained what all the different equipment was in the shed, that she had set up, and how she can use them. She said her Grandpa would set the engines up and have her work out what was wrong with them.”

“He did us a favor, teaching her like that.” I nodded, because what could you say, he was a fantastic man, from what I had learned from Max.

“Do you have Dags on shift?” I asked as I watched him glow over his bike repairs for his mates, his woman smiling again.

“Yep, he will have the two o’clock turn, give him a chance to get some sleep; he looked exhausted from the stress of the breakdown and the cracking partner.” I chuckled that the woman had stormed off; if it were possible, she would have had steam coming out of her ears.

“High maintenance that one,” Bruiser said, as we watched her flick her hair and make a show of buttoning up her shirt. I can’t see Dags keeping her around much longer, not after this weekend’s behaviour. He didn’t look too happy with her having her goods on show.

“Glad we don’t have girls like that, I think I would prefer to stay alone,” I said, being honest.

“Agreed, we found good ones.” I wouldn’t have expected him to say anything less. Cricket was a nice girl, and fitted in since day one, and being his ole lady, he’s not about to bag her.

“Going to get some shut eye, it’s you and me at four.” Bruiser left, heading to the room next door, which they had prioritized for those with ladies expecting. Then, who put their hands up first after that? All knowing that they have to share the bathrooms, if one of the guys needs a shower, they can’t say no.

The car park was starting to go quiet, and more and more people hit the sack; with guard duty, you needed to get sleep while you could. Max came out, smelling of apples, her hair shampoo was applescented, and her soaps. She smells so good, I want to eat her.

“We have the four o’clock shift,” I said as we walked to our bikes. I had set my phone alarm for quarter to, giving me time to get up and have a piss before relieving Dags.

Max sat by the swag, removed her boots, jeans, and shirt, and climbed into the swag, wearing underwear, a T-shirt, and socks. I chuckled when I saw Snoopy socks and underwear. I got to love that chick.

What?

Love?

I thought the L word.

Do I?

Or was it just a figure of speech?

I found I didn’t mind the word, never thought I would say it, let alone believe it.

I love Max.

Very much so.

In such a short time, I had tripped over and found a girl I care for very much.

Now, can I get up the courage to take it further than just in my head, and could I even bed her, like how long would she wait for us to be intimate?