Page 32 of German

I noticed her face kind of soured when she asked this.So did German, because he sat forward a little and his eyes sharpened.“Yeah.The Devil’s Riders.Have you heard of them?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.“It’s just, I thought you might be from another Club.”She smiled then as if to brush off the question.“That was stupid of me to assume that all guys who are in motorcycle clubs were in the same one.”Nervously, she sipped her drink and popped a fry into her mouth.

German tilted his head.“Which Club?”

Kayla set down her drink and looked down into her lap.“It doesn’t matter.I’m sorry I brought it up.”

I placed my hand on Kayla’s arm reassuringly to let her know she was safe to speak up.“It’s okay, Kayla.You can tell us.Something’s obviously bothering you.”

Wiping her hand on her napkin, Kayla took a deep breath.“There’s this Club called the Watchmen.Have you heard of them before?”

German’s eyes narrowed even further.“Yeah, I’ve heard of them,” he confirmed, suddenly deeply interested in this conversation.“Have they been bothering you?”

Kayla fidgeted in her seat.“Just one guy.He’s been coming around my job lately and I was kind of hoping, if you knew him, were in the same Club I mean, you could convince him I’m not interested.”

I could tell how big a deal this was when German’s face hardened to stone.“Who’s bothering you?”

“His name’s Ghost,” Kayla revealed, sounding embarrassed by using the moniker.“He’s Roadmaster for his Club, I think.He’s just, I don’t know, a little scary is all.”

German nodded.“You want him to stop coming around?”

Kayla didn’t hesitate to answer.“Yeah.I’m just not interested and he can’t seem to take no for an answer.”

“I’ll make a call tonight to my buddies.If Ghost won’t listen to reason, he’ll listen to my President, Reaper.”

Her whole body relaxed at German’s words.“Thank you.I tried to tell him I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend at the moment, but he didn’t seem to care.”

“He sounds like a total dick,” I interjected, causing my friend to chuckle through her obvious upset.

“Pretty much,” she agreed.

We moved on to the topic of the upcoming semester next and then our love of fall fashion.When we began to talk about which riding boots we had our eyes on this season, German stood up from the table and excused himself to make a phone call.

After he left, Kayla turned to me and whispered, “Okay, spill.How into this guy are you?”

I was taken aback by her sudden change in topic.Was my lust for German that transparent?How embarrassing!“Um, I don’t know.”

“Well, if you don’t want him, I do!”she teased.“He’s gorgeous, dotes on you, pays for lunch, and makes problems mysteriously go away.Girl, wake up.You have to hook up with him.He’s a catch!”

Giving up on playing coy, I repeated the battle cry of my generation.“It’s complicated.”

She snorted.“You’re into him.He’s into you.What’s complicated about that?Is he single?”

I suddenly realized, after all we’d done together, I’d never bothered to ask.For obvious reasons, I was going to have to clarify the man’s relationship status.No sense getting attached to someone who already had someone else back home.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted.

“Well, find out!If he’s single, rip that man’s clothes off and have your naughty way with him.When you’re done, call me to repeat every sordid detail!I’ve been in a bit of a dry spell myself lately, so I have to live through others these days to get my kicks.”

I laughed.“I’ll get right on it.”

When German returned to the table five minutes later, we cleared our trays and I said goodbye to Kayla.

As we walked over to the main building where I planned to meet with my advisor, I asked, “You seemed concerned when Kayla mentioned the Watchmen.Are they bad guys?Is my friend in danger?”

“I don’t trust the Watchmen,” German indirectly answered.“But I trust my Prez.He’s going to look into it.Nothing’s going to happen to Kayla, Maddy.You have my word on that.”

The Club was tight-lipped.As an outsider, I understood why they needed to be about sensitive issues like this.I was just happy they’d be willing to help Kayla.I didn’t need to know all the dirty details.Just that she was safe from harm.“Thank you.”

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