Page 89 of The MC's Little Brother

He shook his head. “Dad said we had to wait for Aunty Mel. Hurry up! I wanna ride by myself!”

Laughing, I put my hands on my hips. “Hold your horses, Flash. I’m coming.”

My words meant nothing to them, and they took off together to where Gracie was waiting with Butch and the other guys. Mattias came around thefront of the car, still frowning, but he softened a little when I put my arm around his waist and squeezed gently.

“He likes bikes, but he’s not old enough to learn to drive. This is a good compromise. Besides, if he’s proficient on this by the time he’s old enough to get his license, it’ll make you feel better that he knows the basics.”

He grunted, but he knew I had a point. Begrudgingly, he let me lead him inside, lifting his chin in greeting to the rest of the crew.

The place I found was professional, with a pristine lobby and every piece of gear needed for parents to feel safe putting their kids on dirt bikes for the first time. I did my research, since I knew overprotective Mattias would be wary. I even called in advance so the owner knew we were coming. He met us in the lobby, smiling brightly.

“Hey. Are you Mel?”

“That’s me!” I shook his hand, then gestured to the kids hovering in front. “These three are here to learn to ride. The rest of them are likely to be obnoxious, so feel free to kick them out.”

“Hey!” Circus protested.

The owner snorted and shook his head. “Well, if they break the rules, I’ve got no problem doing that, but first, let's see how it goes. Hi, everyone. My name is Jonah. You can call me Joe, or Jay, or Hey you with the hair. Anything works. I’m the owner of the X-Treme, this fine establishment you joined me in today. I’ve been teaching all ages about riding for ten years now, and if you follow my rules, everyone will have a good time and no one will get hurt. Now, has anyone actually ridden a bike before?”

Hands went up, surprising Jonah, and I snickered before admitting, “So… I may have brought about half a motorcycle club with me. I hope you don’t mind.”

48

Wraith

Iwas apprehensive at first about putting Xander on a dirt bike. It was different from him riding with me. But Mel was right. The owner was professional, and while he had an easygoing personality, he was strict about the rules and made everyone sit through the training video first, despite most of us riding longer than his company had been established.

Helping Xander find his gear was easy enough. He knew all about what he needed from riding with me and didn’t complain about any of it. Unlike Malcolm, who complained he was sweaty a few times before Jonah pulled him aside and explained to him why the gear was important and offered him some water to cool him down. The guy was good with kids and knew how to explain things to make it sound exciting without skipping the important safety parts of it.

My heart was in my throat when Xander finally got on the bike. I doubted Butch had it any easier. He hovered around his kids, and Rooster was just as bad. Mel kept laughing because different members of the crew kept jogging over to check that the kids were fully covered and safe before heading back to their own bikes.

They took it slow, on flat ground with no obstacles, one at a time.Malcolm was the first to fall over, too eager to go slow and take his time. Gracie was wobbly, but managed to get a good distance without falling before Jonah stopped her. While he was praising her, I noticed the anxiety written all over Xander’s face, so I moved to his side.

“What’s wrong?”

“He keeps saying it's like riding a bike, but I never learned how to do that…” he murmured.

I frowned. I probably should’ve expected that. Tank was the one who taught me how to ride a regular bike. Jorge would have never bothered. But I didn’t think it would put him at a disadvantage.

“It’s fine. Just keep your head up and try not to stop and start. It makes it harder. Once you get moving, it’ll do most of the work.”

He swallowed hard, shaking out his hands, but when Jonah called out to him to let him know it was his turn, his face flashed with the same determination he got when we asked him to babysit. I stopped him before he could take off to prove himself, squeezing his shoulders.

“No matter how good or bad you do, I’m already proud of you. So focus on you, alright?”

He relaxed a little and flashed me a smile before starting his engine. He walked it a little bit but once he started moving, he caught on quick. It was the same with school. I noticed he got frustrated and nervous when he didn’t immediately understand the work, but once it was explained in a way he could understand, he took it and ran with it. He was a smart kid, and I was proud of all the effort he put in to better himself. I was grateful every day that he was brave enough to get on that plane and find his way here.

Grateful, and always cautious. I never wanted him to do something that reckless ever again.

It didn’t take long before Xander was allowed on the course. And because there wasn’t a chance in hell I was letting him go alone, I suited up and joined him. The dirt bikes were smaller and there was a learning curve to it, but luckily, it wasn’t my first time on one. Wyatt and I went to courses like this a few times as teens just because Tank didn’t want us doing stupid tricks on regular bikes. He let us get it out of our systems here and when he taught us to ride, we knew better than to do anything stupid.

We were on our second lap when a flash of pink blew pastus. The rider came skidding to a stop just on the other side of an obstacle and I swear, I could see the smirk from here.

“Holy shit. Is that Mel?” Xander called over the noise of the bike engines.

“Language,” I called back. “And yes. Let’s go before she starts crowing about being better than us.”

He cackled, taking off in front of me to go after her. I knew Mel knew how to ride, but I didn’t know she knew about dirt bikes, because she smoked us both. A few of the other guys tried to keep up with her, but the only one who matched her was Circus, who did tricks on his bike for a living. When it was finally time to go and they bumped fists, I got suspicious and confronted them when we were finally somewhere we didn’t have to shout over engines.

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