Page 67 of Joy Ride

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When Dane heard the distinct purr of Joy’s motorcycle speeding away from Hot Rides—and him—he had a sick feeling something had gone horribly wrong.Even more wrong than when Joy had emerged from their bathroom with red-rimmed eyes and insisted he swab his cheek for her damned paternity test.

Unwilling to sit around and wait for her and Walker to duke it out on their own, lest he be sitting there until he rotted, he bolted.

He didn’t even bother to shut the door as he took off after Joy, tearing along the path toward Gavyn and Amber’s house, where he could see a small crowd gathering on the porch.On the way, Jordan and Van rushed past him in the opposite direction.

Instead of pausing to talk, Van shouted at him, “We’re going to get some more help!”

“For what?”Dane’s heart raced.Was something wrong with Arden?

He stumbled but kept going, pumping his arms to propel his run into a sprint as he headed toward Walker.His best friend was clinging to the railing of Gavyn’s porch as if he’d slammed an entire fifth of whiskey and needed the grip to keep the world from spinning off its axis.

“What’s wrong?”he hollered when he was close enough for anyone to hear.“Where did Joy go?”

Wren looked nervously at Kason as Trevon did the same to Quinn.Nobody was talking.

“Come on.Somebody…anybody!Fucking tell me what’s happening.”He charged up the stairs and crashed into Walker, threatening to take them both to the ground again.

Except his friend was limp, completely without the will to fight.He absorbed the impact and stumbled back a few steps instead of resisting or clashing with Dane.

Nothing had ever terrified him more.

Walker was officially broken.

“What did you do?”he shouted as he fisted his hands in Walker’s shirt and shook the man.

“Nothing.”He swallowed convulsively as if he might be sick.“I did nothing.I let her go.”

When Walker opened his hand, Dane saw he was staring down at the paternity test Joy had sprung on him not that long ago.Had it shredded Walker’s heart, as it had his, to think he might not have the honor of being called Arden’s dad for much longer?

Walker shrugged free of Dane’s hold, reached into the pouch, and took out the unused vial.“What am I supposed to do, Dane?”

He wondered if his friend was asking about the test or something a hell of a lot bigger in the grand scheme of things.Dane didn’t have answers to the difficult shit so he stuck to the simple stuff.

“Swipe the inside of your cheek with that thing attached to the vial lid and put it back on.”Dane pointed at the prepaid label on the front of the package.“She has it ready to mail and everything.Seal it in there with the other two, and send it off.She said we’ll know in a few days.Or…you could, you know, skip it, man up, and take care of what’s yours.ArdenandJoy.”

Fuck it, why stop there?

“And me,” Dane murmured.

Walker’s head snapped up then.He took one look at the misery that must have shone through Dane’s eyes, cursed violently, then swabbed his cheek so hard Dane was afraid the thing would either snap or pierce Walker’s face.When it was done, he tucked it into the vial, closed the bag, handed it to Tom, and said, “Will you mail this?”

“Of course,” the older man said, though he didn’t seem excited by the prospect.

“Why can’t you do it your damn self?”Dane wondered, both pissed off and utterly disappointed.

“I’ve got somewhere else to go.”Walker looked at Tom again.“That’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?

Tom stepped closer.“Fear of what might happen led you here.It doesn’t seem like those decisions are sitting well with you at the moment.So I suggest you deal with what’s actually wrong and leave the what-ifs behind.Terrible things happen to every one of us eventually.All you can do is enjoy the joy rides between the rough patches.”

“So you’re saying I’m being an idiot and about to miss my chance for any of the good shit in life?”Walker groaned.

“We all have our moments.”Tom’s smile was short-lived.“But this isn’t the time to keep screwing up.The people you care about need you—Joy, Dane, Arden, me, all of us.We know the man you are capable of being.Don’t let us down.”

Walker nodded.“I’m going after Joy.Dane, you should stay here with Arden.Just in case…she’ll need at least one of her parents.”

“What am I missing?”Dane flicked his stare between Tom and Walker, searching for a clue.

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