Page 20 of Wild Card
“I did.” Balancing my bike on the kickstand, I wait for her to get off.
“You should have taken a right at the crossroads; we’d have been back here ten minutes quicker,” she informs me, and I quickly grab her arm to steady her when she wobbles on her feet.
“Don’t worry, it’s normal for first timers,” I assure her, making sure she’s stable before I release her. “And I know my way around this town, I just figured you were enjoyin’ the ride.” I smile at her, and it doesn’t take long for the one she gives me back to fade.
“I should head inside and speak to Esmé.” She suddenly looks bewildered now that we’re back in the real world. It makes me want to grab hold of her and put her back on my bike so I can ride us the hell outta here. I can see that she’s worried Brett is gonna be a problem. But she doesn't need to be. If he hasn’t already learned his lesson, I’ll happily teach him another one. He was lucky that the desperate sound of her voice pleading was enough to stop me; the rage I had for him was beyond anything I’ve had to handle before. It was different, and I’ll be honest, a little scary. The image of him hurting her and making her scared made me wanna put the son of a bitch in the fuckin’ ground.
“I’ll catch ya later,” I tell her, wondering if now would be the right time to kiss her again.
“Where are you going?” She looks slightly nervous, and I wonder if it’s because she wants me to stay and protect her, or if she’s worried I’ll go back and finish what I started with Brett
“I need to ride back to the club. Byron put me on collection duty with Taint,” I explain, wishing I could stick around. Something tells me she needs me, too, even if she would never admit it.
“You need me, you call. I’ll give you my number.”
She closes her eyes and shakes her head as if she just remembered something.
“I left my cell in Brett’s car last night,” she tells me, biting her bottom lip.
“You want me to go back and get it?” I offer, with a smirk.
“No!” Her eyes stretch, and she looks even more panicked. “I’ll see if Esmé can fix something for me. That’s if she forgives me for leaving her brother with his face busted open.” I hate that she looks so fuckin’ concerned for him. He doesn’t deserve a single thought in her head.
“Just tell her that the big, bad biker gave you no choice.” I decide that I am gonna kiss her, she looks too fuckin’ adorablenot to, and when I move in and lock my lips with hers, she doesn’t resist. She kisses me back, in that soft, gentle manner that makes me wanna kill any man that came before me.
“I won’t be gone long,” I tell her after we both pull away. The way she’s blushing like we just committed a sin makes me wanna get off my bike, fling her over my shoulder, and take her upstairs so I can make the rest of her body blush.
“Goodbye, Ash.” She smiles as I kick-start my engine and take off toward the club.
“What thefuckdid you do?” Byron greets me with a furious face when I step through the clubhouse doors.
“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” I shrug, knowing damn well what he’s talking about.
“I just had Mayor Preston on the phone, telling me how you attacked his son. He’s talkin’ about pressin’ charges. D’ya know what that means for you? You wanna go back to jail?”
“If anyone's gonna be getting charged, it should be his son. I was just fixing one of ya little town problems. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“We don’t always fix things here with our fists.” Grizz decides to step up and have his say.
“Yeah? Well, maybe that's why you're losin’ control of your streets,” I snap back at him, and it makes the entire clubhouse go quiet.
“I thought a son of Dom’s would have more respect.” He looks me up and down with a snarl before shaking his head and slamming his shoulder into mine on his way out the door. I can feel the eyes of everyone in the room on me, and not one of 'em looks supportive.
“Prez, that asshole got what he deserved, he was–”
“You’ve barely been in town two days and already you’ve upset the mayor and Kurt Kingston. I got enough on my plate without having to handle damage control,” Byron interrupts me. “Here, in Cody, we got a system that works. We rely on it, and the people of this town do too. We don’t upset the fuckin’ mayor,” he explains, trying to adopt a calmer tone but unable to hide his frustration.
“So, we just let his son beat on his girlfriend and stand back? Do nothin’ about it? I don’t think my father would have allowed that.” I wait for his response, but he says nothing, just glares back at me.
“Careful, boy. You’re sailing a little too close to the sun,” he warns. “What Brett Preston and his girl get up to ain’t club business. We stay out of it.” He points his finger at me sternly.
“Hard to stay out of it when the kid’s gettin’into the girlfriend, ain’t it?” Moby adds, turning around to face the room and resting his elbows back on the bar. “Cute little Ruby Saunders… I underestimated you, Wild Card.” He holds his hand out to me to hit, and Byron quickly slaps it away.
“This ain’t a fuckin’ joke. Itoldyou to stay fuckin’ clear of that girl.” He pierces me with his eyes.
“I heard he put her on his saddle and everythin’.” Moby stirs the pot a little more, and it makes me wanna put my fist through his face.
“Good news travels fast around here, don’t it? Good to see your mouth is as big as your dick,” I hit back at him, and Moby looks nothing but proud at the accusation.
