A/N: Thank you for the interest so far. I meant to update before now (even if it hasn't been that long) but this chapter just didn't want to get written. All my bigger ideas for this fic involve a lot of Vince/OC moments but of course they haven't met yet so it was hard… However I managed to wriggle in that meeting and even a moment between the two of them near the end.


As we pulled up across the road from the small garage I studied it carefully. It was tucked away nicely so that it was hard to see inside from this angle. It didn't look like much but who was I to judge? I hung out in the middle of nowhere in a bar that attracted all sorts of people. I could see Nate checking the place over out of the corner of my eye. It had taken a while to find the place, all I had to go on was the name but once we found the right person it was a breeze. Apparently they were popular amongst those who were part of the street racing scene.

Nate got out of the car first and I joined him soon after. I heard the car lock behind me before he crossed the road. I took a moment but I soon followed after him. As we got closer to the entrance of the garage I could hear talking from inside. I heard four sets of voices, three guys and one girl but I couldn't pick out Dom's. I'd seen his car outside with the others so I knew he was here. Nate was ahead of me and when he turned the corner and entered the garage they all stopped talking suddenly.

"Yes?" Asked a gruff voice.

"I'm here to see Dom," Nate explained. "I'm Nathan, but he might remember me as Nate."

"Business or pleasure?" The same voice asked.

"Both," Nate admitted carefully.

I could just hear the eyebrows raise and the suspicious looks that they must have given him. They probably didn't get that sort of answer on a daily basis. I sighed and finished the last few steps that were required to enter the garage.

"He's here to talk about something that happened with me last night. So it's technically a bit of pleasure and business."

Four sets of eyes fell on me and I almost hid away again. Each of them studied me, and I'm sure that it was in great detail. The girl was about my height and my build. She had dark hair tied back in a ponytail, tanned skin and a stern look on her face. The smallest guy looked almost afraid. He was fiddling with his laptop and his beanie looked like it was about to fall off his head at any moment. The second guy was just leaning back against one of the cars, swinging the wrench around in his hand. He looked too relaxed if you ask me. And the last guy was well, scruffy. He looked just as menacing as the girl but he kept back, arms folded. I realised he had been the one to talk.

Suddenly Dom reappeared. No one had noticed him yet except for me and his eyes instantly fell on me. He leaned against the doorframe to what I assumed was an office. His arms were folded and he wore a smirk. Something was clearly amusing him but I figured if he told me I probably wouldn't be anywhere near as amused as him. While the others seemed to watch me carefully still Dom moved away from the door and started to make his way over to us.

"What the hell could have happened?" The girl asked.

"I saved her ass." They all turned at the sound of Dom's voice. "Or would you phrase it differently?"

I shook my head. Why was I so shy all of a sudden? "I guess not…"

"Oh, what a hero," the girl said sarcastically. "At least I know where you were now. Although, 'I saved her ass' is a bit vague if you ask me."

"Yeah, she's right," the relaxed one agreed, still swinging that damn wrench around, as she went to working one of the cars. "Where did this happened?"

"And how?" The scared looking one piped up.

He looked at me for a moment, seemingly debating whether or not he should re-tell the story. I knew for damn sure that I wasn't going to. Nate had freaked when I'd told him the story and to be honest the whole thing was more than embarrassing now that I'd slept on it.

"I went for a drive and when I stopped I decided I was thirsty." This part I hadn't heard before. I never really knew why he was there or chose to intervene, all I knew was that if it had been his girlfriend or sister then he would want someone to help. "I parked up and headed over to the bar when I spotted her getting into a bit trouble with some bikers."

"Is there not an incredibly short version of this story?" I muttered.

"Guy was dragging her back to his bike and his guys," he explained, standing a little straighter now. "I'd seen her telling him no and heading to her car before so I knew it was some seriously unwanted attention so I stepped in."

"He beat on the guys, they ran like girls and then Nate and I thanked him with a few drinks." I rushed it out so that he couldn't drag it out anymore.

Dom chuckled slightly. "Yeah that's pretty much it."

"So he saved you, he thanked him," she said, tone slightly harsh. I watched as she wandered over to Dom. Ah, the girlfriend. "So what the hell are you doing here?"

Nate took hold of my hand suddenly and squeezed. He performed gestures like this when he thought someone was being a little unfair towards me and to show he had my back. "I got him some of the drinks for free seen as I was working behind the bar but I didn't get the time to thank him properly."

"It was nothing," Dom said, how modest.

"No." I was surprised that it was me that was disagreeing. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for you, or I'd be left wishing that I was."

"Where in the hell did you go in order to run into bikers?" The scruffy one asked. "Especially those kind of bikers."

"Biker bar, where else?" Dom shook his head, clearly judging the stupid question.

"It's not a biker bar." Nate let out a low sigh. "Really, it isn't. Just bikers like to come there. Ninety percent of the people there are good, real easy to get on with, just a few give it a bad name."

"It's how it got known to be a biker place," I explained.

"Place isn't half bad when you go in," Dom said, obviously agreeing with Nate's statement.

"Well, thanks," Nate nodded. "And thanks for saving my girl. I was stupid to let her walk out on her own, nothing normally happens, everyone knows she's out of bounds, even just for a little flirt."

"Sound possessive," the relaxed one commented.

"I wouldn't call it that." I jumped in before Nate could make a comment.

Dom cleared his throat suddenly. "It's nearly the end of shift so everyone is a little cranky, why don't you two come round tomorrow? We'll do some introductions, talk some and gets all this 'thanks' and shit out of the way."

"Uh." I looked around awkwardly at the others. "I guess we could do that…"

"We own another place," Dom explained. "Seen as it's Saturday we'll be closing up a little early, a little after lunch."

"We wouldn't want to impose," Nate said. "Plus, it's clear we might step on some toes…"

"I agree," Dom nodded. "And my family here should apologise for that."

"Not all of us," the smaller one piped up. "Some of us are innocent."

"Still." Dom laughed for a moment.

It took a moment or two but Nate finally agreed. When I noticed Dom had his eyes on me I realised that he wanted an answer from me as well. Did I want to drop by tomorrow? This was only supposed to be quick. We would come by the garage, Nate would say a quick thanks then off we'd go. But now suddenly we had invite round to spend lunch with them? Or was I thinking about this too much? In the end, with the pressure of them wanting an answer building up, I just agreed to it.

On the way out half my mind was on what had happened while the other was trying to remember the address Dom had given me until I could write it down somewhere. As we got into the car Nate didn't say another word only handed me a pad and paper so I could write the address down before he drove away.

I was never one to get nervous. At least not properly. But standing across the road from the address Dom gave to me I was nervous as hell. It looked like a small diner/café but it seemed to sell essentials like groceries. I caught sight of the back of Nate as he headed over and I ran after him in order to keep up.

Once inside I could see everything clearer. There was a counter/workspace area in the middle in the shape of a square. There were booths on the right and left walls but on the left there were also shelves with things on them. At the very back was an office. Nate decided to take a seat at the counter, a little away from Dom and his family.

A young girl came over to us, a happy and polite smile on her face. "What can I get you?"

"Lemonade and a cheese sandwich, please," I decided. Everywhere sold those, right?

"Coffee and ham sandwich please," Nate decided.

"Sure thing," she nodded before turning away.

"And Mi." She turned around at the sound of Dom's voice. "It's on the house, OK?"

She didn't argue just went on to get what we needed. No one said anything else until everything was set in front of us. Suddenly Dom and his family moved over a little so that we were all sat in a group, even the girl behind the counter came to sit with us.

"So, introductions," Dom started as Nate and I finally finished eating. "You know me, the lovely lady who served you is my sister Mia, the other lovely lady is my girlfriend Letty, the smaller on is Jesse, the scruffy one is Vince and the other is Leon."

"Ash and Nate, right?" Leon asked before we could say anything.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Short for Ashley and Nathan."

"And you're together?" Mia asked. "Like a couple?"

Nate nodded this time. "Yeah, for about eight months now, nearly nine."

"Dom told me what happened," Mia explained. "How you were gonna drop by at some point seen as yesterday didn't go so well."

"It went well enough," I disagreed. "This really wasn't necessary."

"I don't see you bolting for the door," Vince commented.

"Yeah," Leon agreed, smirking. "I'd say she's drawn in."

"Both of them of course," Vince added.

"Oh yeah, definitely both," Leon nodded.

Dom hit them both upside the head. "Leave the poor girl alone."

"Not gonna defend him too?" Letty snapped, eyes rolling.

"And make him feel like he can't handle himself?" Dom smirked.

"Yeah," Nate agreed. "Guys don't like that so much."

I coughed a little to get their attention. "So because I'm a woman you think I do?"

"Stick around and we'll see if you can handle yourself or not," Vince said. Was that a challenge?

I never got a chance to prove to Vince that I could handle myself before it was time to head to the bar. It was only two when we left and opening wasn't until about five but Nate had promised to set everything up which meant we had to get their early.

When we got there I sat at the bar, switching between that and throwing darts at the board. Nate moved around the bar, working on restocking all the empty shelves with bottles and changing the barrels. I helped a little with making sure the tables were clean and the bear mats straight but it was more fun watching him struggle. He always complained yet when he's asked to do it he says yes without question.

I found myself growing bored already and I knew that even when opening arrived I'd still be bored. The place stayed fairly quiet until about eight at least, sometimes even nine. I knew because the regulars were good people and we sold some food that the place needed to be open a little earlier but that didn't stop me from wanting to bang my head against the table.

Luckily for me four guys walked in and headed straight over to me around seven. Two sitting on either side of me. I smiled at Dom and the others before Nate got some drinks for them. None of them said anything as they sipped their beers, only when they had a second one each did they talk.

"Boys wanted to see this place," Dom explained.

"Is it as bad as you thought it was?" I asked the other three.

"Nah," Leon shook his head. "It's alright. Once you get passed the smoke."

"It's less so on this side of the room," I told him." Smokers sit on the other side."

"Place is small enough that it doesn't help much though," Jesse commented as he looked around."

"Exactly," I nodded as I drank some of my orange juice.

"You don't drink?" Vince smirked.

"I'm only nineteen," I sighed. "So not in here, no."

"Your boyfriend works behind the bar and you don't drink here?"

"I don't want to get him or the other people who work here into trouble," I ground out. "I drink enough in my own time anyway."

"She's lying a little though," Nate laughed. "Sometimes the regulars buy her a shot or two, especially when they're celebrating."

"So what if I was to buy you a drink?" Vince asked, his face unreadable.

I could see Nate's eyes on him. Suddenly he didn't look so happy about the attention I was getting but he remained quiet. "I'd say no," I shrugged. "Politely of course."

Vince kept his eyes on me but didn't say anything. I looked away out of awkwardness to see Nate was watching me too. I groaned and drank the rest of my orange. I smiled a little at Nate before I dropped down off the stool and headed for the door. I wasn't going outside per say just going to open the door a little for some fresh air.

When I reached the door I sat on the step just outside of it. I was back far enough that the door hit my back, stopping it from closing properly. No one was insight which made me feel a lot better. I closed my eyes for the briefest of moments as the cool air picked up. As I opened them the door opened behind me. I expected it to be someone heading out but instead they sat down on the rest of the step beside me.

"I was joking about the drink."

I looked sideways at Vince. "I wasn't joking about refusing."

"Your boyfriend almost jumped the bar to come and check on you."

"So you decided to be the gentleman who would come out and do it instead?"

"Yeah, if you say so," he laughed. "Plus he was screaming murder the way he was watching me, guess I wanted to piss him off some more."

I elbowed him hard. "Dick."

"You this honest with everyone you meet?" He rubbed his side slightly.

"Only the jerks."

"I'm not the one throwing insults around," he pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, you look really offended."

"Maybe I am." He pouted a little.

"Well you're not fooling anyone," I sighed. "You deliberately tried to piss my boyfriend off so you deserved those insults."

"I was only playing and he got his panties in a twist," Vince chuckled. "Guess I forgot about the no flirting policy."

"Oh shut up, you're twisting it," I groaned. "He just meant that they know I'm spoken for so they don't try. Most of the regulars are pretty protective anyway so they wouldn't anyway."

"So if someone comes out here and sees me they'll kick my ass?"

"Well I'm not saying-" As I turned to look at him I realised how close he actually was. In fact his lips were barely an inch from mine. I could feel his breathe and a vague sense that that was his hand resting on my knee. "Yeah, maybe they would."

"Would you?" Another challenge?

"Why don't you try continuing to push your luck and see what happens?"

He chuckled and moved away. "I'm good."

"Scared?" I teased.

"Nah," he grinned. "Just like to stay in one piece tonight."

"You sure can dish out the challenges, but you can't even attempt one yourself?"

"You're just trying to get me into trouble," he accused. "Plus, it's actually a lot better if you're interested in what I'm thinking on doing."

I gulped. Suddenly this all seemed so real. But then maybe he didn't mean what I thought he did. Either way I knew teasing and then taking a huge step back could prove an issue around here, but was Vince like that? I shook my head, it didn't matter. Instead of contemplating it I stood up. The door swung shut and as I turned to re-enter the bar Vince grabbed my arm.

"I'm not one to step down from a challenge," he whispered into my ear. "But I'm also not one to seriously over-step the line with someone else's girl. Dom seems to have a soft spot for you both, especially you. So I can wait."

He pushed ahead of me and went inside. I stared at the door as it closed. What the hell was that supposed to mean. I numbly opened the door and headed back into the bar, going over Vince's words in my head.

R&R