Page 46 of Moving to Love
Joci was also introduced to Angel’s husband, Ray. Angel was the clothing manager at Rolling Thunder.
Janice was there, and she rode her own bike. JT, Ryder, and Gunnar were there as well, each riding alone. Chase showed up, and he seemed to be in a pissy mood. No LuAnn. Perhaps that had something to do with Chase’s mood. Usually, when there was a shop event, LuAnn rode with Chase.
Joey was a bike designer. He rode alone. Ricky and Bear were in parts sales at Rolling Thunder. Ricky was riding alone, and Bear had his girlfriend, Ashley, there.
Frog was a mechanic at the shop, and he was riding alone, too. That left LuAnn, who, so far, hadn’t arrived. Joci hoped that meant she wasn’t coming along this weekend. Jeremiah looked at his watch. “It’s five-thirty, let’s ride.” He glanced around to make sure the lights were turned off. “Go on out and I’ll lock up.”
As they were getting on their bikes, a bike pulled into the parking lot. LuAnn was coming after all. She was riding with someone on a ratty-looking older bike that needed a lot of attention. It was spitting and sputtering and coughing. Of course, LuAnn was wearing short shorts and knee-high, black high-heeled boots, a bra top, and a ton of jewelry. Her messy blonde hair was blowing around like a whirlwind.
She jumped off the bike as soon as he stopped so everyone could get a good look. She shimmied around and yelled as loud as she could. “I’m glad we aren’t late. We were…kind of busy.”
JT was the first to say anything at all. “Get on the bike, LuAnn. We were just leaving.”
She shrugged her shoulders and climbed back on the bike, without ever introducing her ‘date’ to anyone.
Jeremiah climbed on his bike and motioned for JT to take off since he was leading. Soon they were on the road. Joci ended up in the back of the pack, which she didn’t mind at all. She could watch everyone riding up ahead of her. Directly in front of her were Jeremiah and Gunnar. She could ride behind him any day. It gave her a chance to look at his strong arms gripping the handlebars, his hair blowing around. Though he pulled it back into a ponytail, little tendrils made their escape. His massive shoulders tapered down to that fabulous ass of his. Yeah, great view.
About an hour into their ride, an older Ford Mustang pulled up behind Joci. It was way too close. Joci watched the car in her mirrors and became uncomfortable with how close the car was to her. Soon, the Mustang pulled into the left lane and drew up alongside her.
“Hey baby, you wanna ride me?” The other guys in the car laughed hysterically.
The guy in the back seat leaned out of the car and yelled, “Hey, sugar, wanna fuck?”
Jeremiah and Gunnar were watching this go on. Jeremiah pulled out into the left lane in front of the Mustang, and Gunnar followed. They slowed down, so the car had to slow down. Joci pulled ahead, and Jeremiah motioned for her to move up in front of him and over to the inside of the lane. She moved and Jeremiah slid into the lane next to her. Gunnar stayed behind her. The group up front picked up the speed.
The guys in the Mustang yelled out to Jeremiah, “Fuck you, buddy. We’re just having a little fun with the hottie.”
Frog and Bear, with Ashley on back, pulled out into the left lane then, to slow the Mustang down and the rest of the group pulled ahead quickly. As soon as the group had made some tracks down the road, Frog and Bear pulled back into the right lane and increased their speed to catch up. The guys in the Mustang were not to be swayed and tried keeping up with the bikes, but the bikes were faster, and eventually, the Mustang was caught behind some traffic, which the bikes were able to weave in and out of.
Joci’s heart raced. That shit happened once in a while, but she never got used to it. It was so dangerous when cars got so close. One wrong move, one big pothole in the road, and it could be deadly. Idiots.
JT pulled into a gas station about twenty miles up the road, and they each went to available pumps to fill up. Joci dropped her kickstand and stood on shaky legs.
“Are you okay, baby?” Jeremiah asked.
Joci smiled at him. “I’m good. They’re just idiots.”
“I know, but that could have been bad. You’re a good rider, Joci. You knew just what to do when I pulled over.”
She wrapped her arms around Jeremiah’s waist and soaked up his strength. He kissed the top of her head and held her tight.
After they had filled their tanks, Jeremiah and Joci moved their bikes off to the side as the rest of the group filled up. Once they had filled their tanks, they came over and joined Jeremiah and Joci. LuAnn’s ‘date’ pulled up last and shut his bike off. LuAnn was adjusting her clothing and trying to get anyone to notice her.
Finally, Chase said, “What the fuck is your problem, LuAnn? Aren’t you getting enough attention?”
LuAnn gave him the finger. She turned to the guy she was riding with and winked.
“This is Boyd.”
Boyd’s chin jerked up, which seemed to be his hello.
Jeremiah looked at the group and said, “Listen up. For the rest of this ride, Joci is not to be last in the group. I want all of you to make sure she has a spot in the middle of the pack. I don’t want any more bullshit like we just encountered back there. For that matter, Janice and Julie should not be at the end of the group either. No woman should ride in the back. As we saw, men can be pigs.”
Jeremiah smirked. Everyone nodded and mumbled their agreement.
Gunnar looked at his mom. “Are you okay, Mom?”
Joci smiled at him. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for helping Jeremiah move me forward; I appreciate it.”
