Page 20 of Ruckus

“And that's what girls are supposed to be for, right?Fun.” I cross my arms over my chest and let him see how pathetic I find him.

“The kinda ones I hang out with are.” He smiles.

“Come on, if we hurry we can make it to the club in time for breakfast.”

“Breakfast?”

“You could expect to get a lot of things from the clubhouse when I used to hang out there, knock off liquor, drugs, herpes, but never breakfast.”

“You're gonna be very surprised at how things are. Prepare yourself.” Ruckus smiles at me as he grabs his cut, and I head to the bathroom to put on the mystery girl's clothes.

I follow Ruckus down the stairs and into the gym when I’m ready and I have to admit, the place is impressive. There's ahuge training ring on one side, plenty of equipment and it’s busy considering how early in the morning it is. Most of the females stop their workouts as we pass so they can greet him, with fluttering eyelashes and stuck out chests, Ruckus just nods politely back as he guides me toward the back door.

“What? No bike today?” I point out when he opens the passenger door of one of the club’s black cages.

“That was a desperate situation, it won’t happen again. And we mention it to no one,” he warns me as I climb inside.

“Why? Scared you’ll hear the tiny bursts of female hearts breaking all over Long Beach?” I roll my eyes as I buckle up and he growls under his breath as he rounds the hood to get in the driver’s seat beside me.

“I have questions.” I wait until he’s pulled out onto the main street.

“Of course you do.” He rests his elbow on the open window.

“Why do you call AaronWrath?” I ask one of the many questions I have for him.

“That’s just what everyone calls him these days.” Ruckus shrugs.

“That doesn’t answer the question,” I point out.

Ruckus fails to hide his frustration when he makes that deep growly noise again, and I can’t help but smile to myself. I always did like being under his skin.

“Things went dark for Aaron after he left Long Beach. He was mad at your father, and mad at himself. He found an outlet for his anger and it earned him a reputation,” he explains. “Look, I’ve been thinking about how we’re gonna explain this.” He quickly moves us past the subject, turning a little in his seat toward me when we hit traffic.

“Explain what?” I bite my lip and act cute, forgetting that it’s split open and making my eyes water. Being around Ruckus again makes forgetting far too easy.

“Can you stop with the— you know exactly what I mean. Aaron, and well… everyone is gonna wonder why I came back last night. I figure we tell ‘em that I called by to check on you this morning and you asked me to bring you home.”

“So you want to lie?” I wait for confirmation.

“I don’t want to lie, Freya, I just don’t wanna tell the truth.”

“Which is that you kissed me.” I keep trying to hold off the smile I want to make, and not just because it stings.

“We definitely ain’t tellin’ ‘em that.” He pulls forward with the traffic, looking agitated.

“Okay, we’ll stick to your lame assed story.” I shrug, looking out the window. Despite all my nerves, I feel a sense of freedom which is strange considering where we’re heading.

“It’s not a lame story. It’s believable.” Ruckus grips the wheel tight in his hand.

“More believable than the truth?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“A whole lot more believable.” His cheeks turn slightly red.

“I think what you did was sweet. It would have been a real crowd pleaser if ya hadn’t almost killed the man.” What I say must trigger him because he quickly switches lanes and pulls over at the side of the road.

“Sweet…” He looks at me as if I’m crazy. “Freya, are you forgetting why I nearly beat that man to death? I did it because he did this to you.” He rips down the vizor in front of me so I can see myself in the mirror. “You have been in an abusive relationship for years, trying to play that down ain’t gonna heal you any quicker. I saw how scared you were.” He flips the vizor back up before slamming his fist at the steering wheel, and I close my eyes and breathe calmly.

“I wasn’t playing it down, I was just… I was trying to be us again.” I shrug, feeling tears building in my eyes.

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