Page 20 of Bullet

The door slammed. I sat forward and listened. He was coming. Fear and insecurity crawled into my tightening throat. Then he was there. He’d pulled on his T-shirt, and his Heller Raiders cut.

“Hurry, brown eyes. Time to go.” He waited as I climbed out of the tub. Then rested his hand on my lower back as he pushed me into the bedroom.

“Let me get my stuff.” I grabbed my duffel.

“No time. We leave now.” He sat on the bed and stomped on his boots. “I can’t leave you alone,” he said to Bristol. “But I need to get Madison out of here.”

“I’m ready to go. I just need the one bag.” Most of my stuff could be left behind. “And don’t call me Madison.” I never wanted to be her again.

“I can drive her,” Bristol said. “Do you want me to follow you?”

Bullet stood and grabbed a gun from the bed. “No. I’ll take her on my bike. I don’t want you seen with her.”

I clutched my duffel in my hands. “You can’t just drop me off at the bus stop without my things.”

“I’m not dropping you at the bus stop.” His words landed with a finality.

Bristol tossed a few things into her satchel. “I’ll go hang with Lacey and Clover until you get it figured out.”

“Blue is over at Indulgence,” he said. “Stay put until I come for you.”

Bullet stalked toward me. “Do you want my help or not?”

“I— I—” I stammered because I wasn’t just afraid of Emerson. I could almost feel his breath on my neck. But I couldn’t be caught with Bristol, and Bristol would always be near Bullet. I wasn’t going to dissect why because it wouldn’t matter. I couldn’t watch them together. “No. I made a mistake.”

“I’m not letting you make another one. You don’t get a choice. You’re with me.” He pried my bag from my hands. “Bristol will take your shit with her. We need to leave now because they’re going to come back. It’s only going to take a couple of minutes for those assholes to figure out you’re not at the motel.”

I stopped arguing, nodded, and turned to Bristol. “Everything I have is in the bag.” I wasentrusting her with all my money, and she was trusting Bullet to keep me safe.

“Take care of my girl.” Bristol pressed against Bullet. “Thank you,” she whispered.

My gut tightened as his hand slid onto her ass. He gave her a slap, and I waited with arrested breath, waited for her to tip her face to his, to see his mouth claim hers.

Jealousy was a toxic friend. Jealousy would be my only friend if I couldn’t swallow the bitter taste on my tongue.

“Text me when you get there.” He didn’t linger, and he didn’t press his full lips to hers. Last night, he’d had his mouth on hers with his fingers doing wicked things to her. He’d begged her to spread her legs for him, and she’d moaned his name as he’d thrust inside her.

At the door, Bristol hugged me close. “I trust Bullet. I promise, you can trust him, too.”

Less than a minute later, Bullet tossed my bag into the backseat of Bristol’s car, straddled his black and chrome Harley, and started the engine. The pipes were deafeningly loud and vibrating with power.

“Do you have a helmet?” I asked.

He braced the bike and slid his mirrored sunglasses over his eyes. “Get on the bike, brown eyes.”

How hard could it be? Swing a leg over, feet on the pegs, and hold on. I’d been on a motorcycle before, but I didn’t think sitting on my grandpa’s, without the engine running, when I was six counted for having experience.

Bristol backed out of her stall, waved, and drove away.

I wiped my hands on the seat of my butt, then reconciled the truth that I’d have to touch him to ride behind him. I placed my hand on the soft leather of his cut. Like the contoured steel of his bike, the hills of his shoulder were molded from hard muscles. He smelled of cigarettes and spice. I breathed him in, but with his nearness, I couldn’t catch my breath.

This was the first time I’d seen his club patches up close. The Heller Raiders wings and devil on the back both thrilled and terrified. Bullet was outside the law. He lived on his own terms. Like Emerson, he was dangerous. But unlike Emerson, Bullet wasn’t hiding who he was.

“You can grab my shoulders or wrap your arms around me, but you’re going to have to hold on.”

I rested my hands on his shoulders, keeping space between us.

“Ready?” He rolled the throttle, revving the engine.

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