Page 54 of Ryder

“What you are two laughing at?” Reece asked, looking into the mirror to glance at her reflection. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she turned to the two women who’d just joined us.

“I think Kena has an admirer,” Sully teased, bumping her shoulder into Kena’s.

My sister shook her head.Sully’s crazy. All he did was offer me some of his pizza.

“Oh yeah? Who?” I asked after translating for Reece and Adelaide, who knew some sign language but not enough to keep up with the flowing conversation.

Kena tried to playfully cover Sully’s mouth, but she sidestepped my sister and blurted, “Nash.”

I knew exactly who they were referring to because Salzar had briefly introduced us to everyone, Nash being the one who stuck out from the rest. He was certainly handsome with his long black hair and dark blue eyes. He was tall and broad shouldered, slender but muscular. The shirt he wore left little to the imagination, fitting him like a glove.

I know, I know. I’m not supposed to notice other men, but I’m not dead.None of us were interested in anyone but the men who held our hearts, but we also knew a handsome bastard when we saw one. But we weren’t stupid either—girl talk stayed between us. Besides, causing tension between any of the guys just for looking was the last thing we wanted to do.

“I’m sure he was just being polite.” I gave Kena a wink. “We’re gonna grab a drink and try to forget for a little while. Wanna come?”

Please.

We all filed out and headed toward the small bar. It wasn’t anywhere near the size the guys had back home at their clubhouse, but I counted five seats.Yep, it’ll do.

Nash had been standing around talking to a few of the other guys, but as soon as he saw us take a seat, he rushed over and walked behind the bar.

“What can I get you, ladies?” He looked at all of us and smiled, but afterward his attention moved to Kena. He tried not to be obvious, taking all of our orders, but his eyes kept drifting back to my little sister. Maybe he did have a little crush on her.

Over the course of the next two hours, I’d been able to relax a little, doing my best to focus on bonding with the incredible women stuck in the same position as me. For the most part, they seemed to be handling it well, but how much of that was a façade? If I had to guess, I’d say the majority.

Salazar checked in on us a few times, at one point even pulling Nash aside to talk to him before disappearing to his room. He’d been staying in one of the back bedrooms, seemingly taking his promise to keep us safe very seriously.

“Well, that’s it for me.” Sully stretched her arms above her head, her white tank top exposing a small amount of skin, enough to where I saw a scar above the waistband of her shorts. My eyes flicked to hers and I prayed she hadn’t noticed. The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable.

Ryder had told me a few things about her past, enough for me to realize what a strong woman Sully actually was to have gone through what she had and come out the survivor she was today.

“Me too,” Reece yawned, finishing her soda before hopping off her barstool. “You coming?” she asked Kena, squeezing her shoulder.

My sister took another sip and placed her glass on the bar, pushing it toward Nash who was beaming at her.Jagger better not get wind of this.

Someone must’ve filled Nash in on the fact that Kena wasn’t deaf, that she just couldn’t speak, because a few times he asked her a question, then passed her a notepad and pen. His attention toward her wasn’t pushy, but I definitely picked up that he was interested, even though I knew he wasn’t stupid enough to make an actual move on her. He knew better. In fact, Ryder had mentioned that he warned everyone. What exactly that meant, I had no idea, but I could take a guess, especially if it came out of Ryder’s mouth.

I’m ready too, Kena signed, smiling politely at Nash before standing.

“Yep, I’m ready for bed,” Adelaide announced, stifling a yawn as she rose to her feet.

“I guess I am as well,” I agreed, walking behind Kena and whispering in her ear. “Youdefinitelyhave an admirer.” She looked at the man behind the bar, then back to me.

You’re gonna get me in trouble.

“Not me, lil’ sis. Not me.”

“Good night, ladies,” Nash called out as we disappeared down the hallway.

We’d been assigned two of the bedrooms. Sully and Adelaide shared one with the children, and Reece, Kena and I shared the other, my sister and I sharing a bed while Reece occupied the spare one. Grateful not to have to sleep alone, lost in thoughts of what Ryder was doing at that exact moment, I found solace falling asleep next to Kena. Just like when we were kids and one of us had a nightmare.

Ryder

Two days after we’d arrived back in California, we finally decided to take a drive out to where we believed some of the Reapers were gathered. An hour away from our stomping ground. We planned on exacting a few recon missions, so to speak, before doing anything, but lo and behold, the very first ride we took, we saw a few of our enemy unloading crates from a secluded and otherwise abandoned shipyard.

Maybe Smiley was right after all. Maybe the devices we’d placed on some of their bikes were still active, and they had no clue they were even being tracked. However, extremely cautious and aware it could still be a trap, we never made a move. Not that first time. Instead we returned to the clubhouse to discuss exactly how we wanted to proceed.

Most of the Reapers weren’t the smartest tools in the shed, which had always worked to our advantage when dealing with them, but we did a thorough sweep of our rides, as well as the cages, just to make sure they hadn’t returned the favor and popped some of their own trackers on our vehicles.

---