Page 77 of Apex of the Curve

Chapter Nineteen

Aspen…

To ride with Fenris was nothing short of amazing. The faster we went around swoops and curves the more I could believe the wind washing over and around us carried the burned broken bits of my soul to a better place. The ashes of my marriage stripped away leaving new growth in their place. Raw still, sure, but new and alive and soaking up the light from the sky leaving me feeling refreshed, and my spirit renewed.

I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten how freeing this was.

I breathed cleanly, the crisp fall day rejuvenating in its own way as we wound our way to the freeways and to the guys’ favorite Harley-Davidson dealership.

Dump Truck and Little Bird went in ahead of us and Fenris stopped me at the door.

“Hey,” he said, tipping my chin lightly with his crooked finger in that way that made my heart beat faster and the butterflies take flight in my stomach.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“I don’t want you thinking that I expect you to pay for any of this,” he said.

“I-um, I hadn’t thought about it, actually. I thought we were just here looking?” Shit, I really hadn’t thought about it. My head was so full of information from the breakfast conversation that I was still trying to parse through that I hadn’t put one thought toward what we were doing here.

“No, babe. I want you to ride in safety, so we’re going in there, we’re going to get you the best gear money can buy, and I don’t want to hear shit else about it. I mean it. This is on me.”

I stared up at him, not in disbelief, because I could see he was very much so serious. More, I guess, stunned? Surprised? I mean, we were moving awfully fast, but then again, wasn’t that how they lived? Didn’t they just get through telling me as much?

“Talk to me,” he said in that gentle, hushed way that made me feel so ludicrously safe.

“I guess I’m just overwhelmed,” I whispered. “You’ve been so generous and I… I just don’t know what to think. There’s some real cognitive dissonance and—”

Little Bird came to the door and reached out, capturing my hand with both of hers and dramatically tugged on me with an exaggerated, “Ugh! Come on!” effectively cutting me off from what I was trying to convey.

I laughed, and Fenris nodded at her. He met my eyes with his and that one look conveyed that we would definitely talk later, but also said with his smile and those beautiful blue eyes of his – right now, life was supposed to be fun.

“Anything she likes, whatever she needs,” he called to Little Bird who smiled at him serenely and called back, “Roger that!”

“Are they always this intense?” I asked quietly, and she grinned at me.

“Yes, and I know it’s a lot to wrap your mind around – the casual violence and all of that, but I promise you there’s nothing ‘casual’ about it to them. Their perceptions vary wildly from the citizen norm.”

“I just don’t get that,” I murmured. “The ‘us vs. them’ mentality.”

Little Bird sighed and took us over to the shoe section, sitting down with me on the bench there.

“I didn’t either, at first,” she said. “Then I realized that it all boiled down to they’re heartily sick of the bullshit, and it’s all bullshit.”

“I still don’t get it,” I said with a little laugh and she smiled at me, her deep brown eyes warm and her general demeanor sweet. She was effervescent, and a breath of fresh air. A delightful personality from what I had seen so far.

She heaved a sigh and blew out her cheeks.

“Sometimes it’s tough to put into words,” she said. “Let’s put it this way, you remember what we were talking about when it came to Mace?”

“Yes, of course,” I said. “We were only just talking about it.”

“Right, so this man intentionally tried to run Mace off the road, right?”

“Right, I remember,” I said.

“Now imagine Mace did everything you’re supposed to do in a scenario like that. Imagine, he pulled over, called the police, and gave him all this guy’s information. What do you think would have happened?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I suppose it would be naïve of me that anything would.”

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