Page 4 of Striker

“Yeah, Striker, baby sis was just leaving.” Sawyer looked at me, pleading with me to just shut my mouth and leave. The rest of the club men were watching; seeing if their big bad President could handle a little thing like me. Little did they know, I was in no mood to be tossed around or treated like a child.

I looked at my brothers with a smirk on my face. I was going to show everybody what happens when you messed with Lilah Crawford. “I’m a big girl, boys; don’t you worry. Clearly, Levi here needs to be put in his place since Mama was home all alone. In case he forgot, you boys have a responsibility at home and poor Mama...” I turned and looked right at Levi,“You know, the lady who treated you like her own son, was going to wrangle all the animals in by herself. Thank God I was there to help and nothing bad happened to either of us. Not that you would care if anything happened to me huh? I’m nothing to you, Levi; certainly proved that point to me once before.”

Levi’s blue eyes went dark. His icy stare froze me in my place. I was in over my head, but I just couldn’t stop myself. I had a bad habit of running my mouth; ‘sassy’ as Mama called it. Silas and Sawyer looked down at the floor knowing it was a lost cause at this point.

“Go on boys, you heard her. Little Lark and I have some catching up to do. She clearly has no clue about the real world since she still throws fits like a child.”

My brothers slowly walked away. Levi grabbed my arm and turned to me as he stared me down, those blue eyes bringing me back to that heartbreak four years ago. “We can talk right here, and I’m not throwing a fit. Let go of me right now.” I tried to rip my arm away from him, but he held on tight.

All the other men in the club turned around and went back to their business. “Let’s go. We’re not talking here.” He led me out a back door that opened out into a small courtyard.

His old truck was sitting in the middle of the courtyard and my mind was flooded with memories of the two of us. We used to spend all night driving around in it, talking about all our dreams of the future. All the dreams that Levi burned to the ground along with my heart. After all these years he still brought me so much pain. I needed to leave and go home. It was going to rain and I wanted to be home before the big storm.

Levi leaned in and grabbed some things from the truck before grabbing my waist. He turned me around to face him and plopped a helmet on my head,“Still fits you, babe. Just like always.”

I realized he had put my old helmet on me.He still kept it after all these years?I thought to myself.Why would he do that? Psh probably uses it for all the women he picks up at the bar. I’m nothing special to him, he proved that four goddamn years ago that’s for sure.

We walked out front to his sleek black Harley. Levi turned and looked at me. “Come on, Lilah, stop fighting me for once.” I stood there, unsure of what to do. I knew if I climbed on that motorcycle all my feelings for Levi would come crawling back. All the hard work of pushing them away would be flushed down the drain. My heart would open back up and beg for his love. I couldn’t do that to myself again. I needed to be strong though. I was home for good and needed to put Levi in his place so I could try and live as peacefully as possible. My heart told me one thing while my mind told me a different thing. Levi was a summer thunderstorm and I was smack dab in the middle of it.

He climbed onto his motorcycle and patted the seat. “Let’s go, Little Lark. I don’t have all night to wait on your pretty little ass.” I shot him a death glare and reluctantly got on behind him. I carefully wrapped my arms around his waist and held on tight as he revved the Harley’s engine to life and took off. This all felt too familiar and I had to hold back my tears. I was not going to let Levi Walker make me cry ever again.

Levi took off and before we were even out of the gates, I could feel the tears springing from my eyes. I was foolish for coming here and even more foolish for climbing on the back of this motorcycle. There was no turning back now though. I held on to Levi and closed my eyes, letting the tears fall the wind wiping them away.

I forgot how freeing it felt to be on the back of the motorcycle. The wind whipped past me, wrapping me up in its embrace. I always wanted to just open my arms and let it take me away like the little larks in the sky. They were always so carefree and could leave anytime they wanted, singing their sweet little songs, forgetting about all the bad in the world.

I slowly opened my eyes and could see Levi watching me through his mirrors. I snapped back to reality and scowled. We took off down Main Street and I could feel everybody’s eyes snap toward us. The rumors would start to spread and soon everybody would be talking. Levi turned down the access road for the lake and slowed down before taking the next turn. The tears started to come back from the memories of the lake and I had to take a deep breath to get my shit together. I wasn’t going to cry in front of Levi and give him any more ammunition to egg me on.

Chapter 4

Striker

Lilah didn’t know it, but I could see the tears start to form in her eyes. She held on tighter as I took the next turn in the road.What the hell was going on in that pretty little head of hers? And what the hell was I doing with her on the back of my motorcycle?Nobody got to ride with me. Riding on the back of a patched members motorcycle was a big deal. It was a claim to that woman; telling the world that she was your Old Lady.

Lilah was the only girl who has ever been on the back. I couldn’t make the same mistakes I did in the past. I would give her a ride home after this, but then I needed to keep my distance. There was no way I would let that heartbreak back into my life. I didn’t need that shit and she sure as shit didn’t need me.

We came to a stop next to the lake in town and I hopped off my motorcycle. I reached my hand out to help her off, but she just glared at me with those big green eyes. They always lit up when she was mad. Blue around the outside, deep green in the middle; almost like they were on fire. I knew riding through Main Street was just asking for trouble, but I couldn’t help it. Deep down I wanted everybody to know Lilah was off limits. There was this primal feeling in me; the feeling to claim her, even though she wasn’t mine. I knew that if I saw Lilah with another man that I would lose it. I still loved her after all this time. Having her here in front of me was bringing up all the feelings I had pushed down. I needed to get my head back on; I was Striker, President of The Devil’s Highwaymen. I didn’t need this bullshit drama in my life. “Come on, Little Lark, just trying to help you off. Being a gentleman and all. Your Mama would whoop my ass if I wasn’t.”

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