Page 48 of Ryder

But the important thing was she hopped on the back of my bike and wrapped her arms around my waist. She could say whatever she wanted as long as she didn’t fight me on leaving.

Braylen

Angrily throwing clothes into my suitcase, I stomped around the bedroom like a child having a tantrum. But I couldn’t help it. I was pissed off. Ryder showed up at my job and told me I had to stay with their charter in Texas. He’d given me no warning whatsoever, spewing some bullshit about the decision being last minute. Maybe if he’d fully explained just what the problem was, I would find myself more on board with the sudden plans, but all he would tell me was that it was club business. Oh wait, he did tell me I was in danger. That was more than he usually gave me.

“We gotta leave soon,” he announced, popping into the bedroom and leaning against the doorframe. He watched me for a few minutes before speaking again. “You can be as mad at me as you want, but this is happening.”

“You see me packing, don’t you?” He smirked, which only served to infuriate me even more. “You can go back to waiting in the living room.”

He threw up his hands in mock surrender, turned around and left without another word.

The entire ride to the clubhouse was in silence. I wasn’t happy about my life being uprooted over something Ryder wouldn’t even fill me in on; I sure as hell wasn’t about to make idle chitchat just to pass the time.

There was more than one reason why I was so upset, though. Not only was he shipping me off to Texas, but I knew in my gut that Ryder was putting himself in harm’s way, only he wouldn’t tell me why.Club business. If I heard those two words one more time, I was gonna scream bloody murder.

We eventually pulled into the clubhouse lot and parked. I saw a group of women gathered together and a separate group of men off to the side, reminding me of recess during elementary school. Only this wasn’t a break from school—it was more like a break from our everyday lives. And not the good kind.

Slamming the truck’s door behind me, I headed toward my sister and the other women she was speaking with. “Hi,” I greeted, hugging Kena before smiling at Adelaide, Sully, and Reece. If I thought I’d been upset about having to leave, I could only imagine how Adelaide and Reece felt. Both of them were pregnant, and Adelaide had an infant on her hip as well. Kaden, the baby Sully and Marek had been caring for, was in Sully’s arms, tugging on a strand of her long black hair. Knowing these women had more to worry about than I did, I calmed my anger to a simmering boil.

“Don’t be too worried,” Reece comforted me, placing her hand on my forearm. Seeing my obvious displeasure, she said, “I know I’m pretty new to all this, but I have every faith the men are doing this as a last resort. I know Tripp’s torn up about it.” She flashed me a sympathetic smile, making me realize everyone standing around me was affected. I needed to get on board and lose the crappy attitude.

We chatted for close to twenty minutes, trying to keep the topics off the next few days and on lighter subjects like children.

Eventually, Ryder came to stand behind me, cautiously putting his hand on the small of my back. My white tank top was split in the back, just above my skirt’s waistband, so when he touched me, he stroked his thumb over my bare skin. When I didn’t yell at him or pull away, he leaned down and kissed my temple.

“You ladies ready to go?” Jagger asked, pulling Kena in for a kiss. She seemed to be handling the situation much better than I was, and I had no idea why.

On our brief walk toward one of the two black SUVs that were taking us to Texas, I stopped her. “Aren’t you upset?”

I’m more scared than upset. Not for us, but for the guys. But my emotions will do nothing except distract Jagger, and I need him focused. For whatever they have to do.

Damnit! I hadn’t even thought of it like that, thinking that my mood might inadvertently be a distraction for Ryder. And if he was worried about dealing with my surly ass, then maybe he might get hurt. I couldn’t have that on my conscience.

“Thanks, sis.” I hugged her again before taking off to search for Ryder. It didn’t take me long to find him, seeing as how he was helping to load the suitcases into the back of one of the vehicles.

“I don’t wanna argue,” he said as I approached. “I can’t deal with that right now.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I should have been more sensitive to what you’re going through. Sorry for acting like such a brat.”

He stopped midthrow and turned to look at me.

“Is this some sort of trick?” He was serious, which made me feel even worse.

“No, it’s not.” I moved toward him until I could wrap my arms around his neck. Pulling him down, I covered his mouth with mine. When I tried to break away, he grabbed the back of my head and deepened the kiss, swirling his tongue with mine until I completely lost myself to him.

“Get a room,” Tripp teased, moving in front of Ryder to help finish the job he’d started. We finally parted and Ryder ushered me toward the side of the truck, where we had some privacy from everyone else standing around.

“I’m sorry we have to do this, but it’s necessary. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

“But what if something happens to you? What will I do?” The question rattled me because I knew there was a possibility Ryder could be harmed. In what way and by whom I had no clue, but it didn’t matter. The simple fact that he could be scared me.

“Nothin’ is gonna happen to me.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and stroked the exposed skin on my lower back once more. “But somethin’ is gonna happen to someone if they even look at you the wrong way.”

I smiled because it was his way of telling me we were all good. And that was the thing with Ryder. He didn’t hold grudges.

I could certainly learn a thing or two from him.

Laredo was approximately a twenty-five-hour trip, and because we couldn’t afford to waste any time, the guys took turns driving. We stopped every six hours so we could stretch our legs, grab something to eat, use the restroom and top off the gas tanks.

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