by Hope Ford
Rider
Exiled Guardians
Hope Ford
Thank you so much for embracing the Exiled Guardians MC series. Your support has been amazing and I appreciate it so much. I planned to end the series with Keeper in book five, but since I had so many requests for Rider’s story, I felt I needed to continue. I hope you like it. You’ll be happy to know, as I was writing Rider’s book, Brewer’s story formed in my mind and he will be the seventh book of the series. After that, I’m pretty sure the series will be complete! As always, thank you for reading!
Rider is dedicated to all of you that were asking for his story!
XX, Hope
Contents
1. Rider
2. Willow
3. Willow
4. Willow
5. Willow
6. Willow
7. Willow
Epilogue
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1
Rider
Sitting at the bar and looking around the clubhouse, I barely recognize it anymore. Since quite a few of my brothers have settled down and found themselves with ol’ ladies, well let’s just say a Friday night at the Exiled Guardians Clubhouse is not what it used to be. The twinkies are still here, but they pretty much stay on one side and out of the ol’ ladies’ hair. You would think I would be over there with them. But nope, instead, I’m sitting here at the bar talking to Keeper. Well, when he isn’t sucking face with his girlfriend Lilly.
I give all of them a hard time. Keeper, Smoky, Brick, Tatts… even Sniper, our MC president. They all are pussy whipped now. And I don’t let them forget it. I’m known as a player to most of them. But what they don’t realize is that I’m actually jealous of what they have. I look over at the twinkies and Iron and Brewer all playing pool. They’re laughing and having a good time and they all know that they are going to be going home satisfied tonight.
I could have that. All I’d have to do is nod at one of the twinkies and they would come to me, no questions asked, and no worries about a relationship tomorrow. But in the last several months, hell, let’s be honest, since my best friend, Willow, came back into town, well, I haven’t thought about getting easy pussy. Nope. I look over at Keeper as he steals a kiss from Lilly and look quickly away, not wanting to interrupt their moment. Nope, what I want is Willow, in my house, in my bed, in my life. I would gladly give up all the easy pussy for that.
As if thinking about her all the time isn’t enough, now I think I hear her too. When I keep hearing her, I turn toward the door and she’s stopped by Brewer who’s undoubtedly trying to charm his way into her pants. I laugh watching them. Yeah, my pulse starts to race thinking about another man with my Willow, but the problem with that is, Willow can undoubtedly take care of herself.
She sees me from across the room and waves. I start to get up, thinking she might in fact need my help, but she shakes her head. I turn completely around in my stool to watch the action go down. She brushes her hair off her shoulder as she laughs at something Brewer is saying. The smile on her face is not her trademark smile; no, this is the one that says “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but if you come any closer, I’m going to” smile.
I would feel pity for Brewer, knowing what’s coming, but I don’t. He of all the men here can take it. Plus, he’s been warned to stay away from Willow. However, his argument was if I’m not going to claim her, then I can’t hide her. It’s the truth too, I know it, but I don’t have to like it.
I watch her face right before she goes in for the kill. I know it’s coming, but by the rigid way Brewer is standing, he wasn’t expecting it.
When the twinkies and Iron start laughing, I know that Willow just delivered a good one. I can see Brewer’s shoulders shake and she one-arm hugs him before walking away. I’m sure Iron is busting his balls about whatever it is that Willow said to him, but I’m not watching them. No, I’m watching Willow in her short skirt and tall boots strut toward me. Her wide hips shimmy and shake the whole way. I almost kick myself, knowing I shouldn’t be eye-fucking my best friend this way, but also knowing that I’m nowhere near dead. And you’d have to be dead without a pulse to not notice the magnificence of Willow.
I pull out the stool next to me and she slides onto it. Her skirt hikes up and the creamy skin of her thick thighs draws my attention and I can’t look away. “Ugh, too short, I know. I put on a little weight and everything is too short these days.” She laughs self consciously.
I drag my eyes away from her legs and up to her eyes. She’s looking at me with a weird look on her face and I know that I’ve been caught staring. I flush and look away.
“Okay…. Well, Keeper, can I get a shot of Tequila?”
My head whips around so fast I almost give myself whiplash. “Tequila?” I ask her loudly.
She just shrugs her shoulders. “Yep.”
Willow and I met when I was home on leave and she was in college. We were both at a local bar burning off steam and ended up getting drunk together. I’ve often thought about what might have happened between us if we hadn’t got so drunk that first night we passed out. We woke up the next morning both sick and hungover. Since that day, we’ve been best friends. She wrote me letters while I was in the service, I go to all the big events in her life and even when I came back from being stationed overseas for years, left the life I thought I had and joined the MC, she still stuck by me.
And because of all that, I know exactly what tequila means. “What’d that fucker do?”
She puts her hand on mine. “Nothing… well, actually, he met someone and they're in love, blah, blah, blah.”
“That asshole!” I exclaim. “I told him he’d better not be fuckin’ with you. Where’s he at, Willow?”
I jump up from the bar as Keeper sets a shot down in front of her. She reaches for her drink with one hand, and at the same time she reaches for me with the other. She grabs on to the front of my shirt as she tips back the shot glass and takes it down with one gulp.
Her nose scrunches up. “Shew, thanks, Keep.”
He nods at us, smiling at me, then walks back over to Lilly.
She spins her chair around until I’m standing between her open thighs. I swear I can see a hint of her pink panties and I’m thankful as fuck that I’m blocking the view from every other fucker in here.
“C’mon, I’m fine. I wasn’t really feeling it anyway. We hadn’t even had sex, so see, really, I’m not really bothered by it.” Her hand is still clenching my shirt. When I look down at it, she releases her hold and pats my chest before resting her hand in her lap.
“You sure, Willow? He shouldn’t get away with disrespecting you like that.”
She shakes her head at me and just smirks. “I’m good, I promise. But I would be even better if my best friend would sit down with me and do some shots.”
2
Willow
I’m telling Rider the truth. I could care less about Steve. He was just something to occupy my time. In all honesty, I’m pretty sure he knew how I felt about Rider. That’s the reason we never got close. We were more friends than anything and when he told me he was in love, well, I was happy for him.
I order two more shots from Keeper and he sets them down on the bar in front of us. I pick up the glass and hold it up to Rider. He’s looking at me, deep in thought. I know that look. He thinks I’m about to fall apart because of the breakup. He has no clue how I feel about him and I’m definitely not going to tell him. I’m not screwing up our friendship.
“What should we drink to? Best friends?” I wait for him to pick up his glass and I swear I think I see him flinch when I say the
words “best friends.”
But before I can ask him about it, he raises his glass to me. “Best friends.” He’s smiling, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. I can tell there’s something bothering him but I don’t know what that is.
We both gulp down our shots and my eyes water as the cool liquid rolls down my throat.
Gasping, I shake my head and look over at him in wonder. “I still don’t see how you do that.”
He just shrugs his shoulders. He can drink the nastiest drink there is and it doesn’t even faze him. He never makes a face. When I first met him, I thought he must drink a lot, but I found out that wasn’t true pretty quick. I’m probably a bad influence, because the only time he drinks really is when he is with me.
“So now you’re up to date on my life. What about you.? What have you been up to? Or I guess I should say, who have you been up in?” I joke with him, swatting him across the chest.
He chuckles and I feel the rumble under my hand. He grabs on to it and holds it for a minute, pulling it down to his knee. The moment shocks me. We’ve always been affectionate with each other, but something about the way he’s holding my hand, almost like it’s a promise of something more, has my heart and my mind racing.
My eyes widen and he must see the shock in them because he drops my hand and clears his throat. “No one,” he says and clears his throat again.
“Huh?” I ask him. I’ve completely forgotten what I asked him.
He smiles at me and shrugs his shoulders. “No one. I haven’t been seeing anyone.”
Secretly, I’m glad and I can feel my hopeful heart soaring. But I try to play it off. Honestly, I’m a little shocked too. “What’s up with you, Rider? You used to have game.”
He just shrugs his shoulders. I swear I hear him mutter, “I lost my game a month ago.” But before I can ask him about it, Keeper comes over to talk to him.
Lost in thought, I think back to a month ago and realize that I moved here about then. Did me coming here mess him up in some way? I’ve tried not to cramp his style, but maybe I have. I’m watching him as he talks to Rider. He glances over at me and I smile at him reassuringly.
He’s massive. His beard is longer now than I think I’ve ever seen it. I want to run my fingers through it, but I know I can’t, not without giving my feelings away. And I can’t do that.
Shaking my head from my thoughts, I realize that Rider and Keeper are looking at me.
Rider just smirks, and Keeper asks, “Ready for another one?”
I lift my head to Rider. “You in?”
He taps his fist on the bar. “Count me out. I’ll get you home, Willow.”
I pout. “You never drink with me anymore. I can’t drink by myself.”
Keeper interrupts. “Normally I would say Lilly would drink with you, but she can’t.”
Confused, I look over at Keeper and the smile on his face is so big, it surprises me. My mouth drops open and I ask him, “Is she…?”
He stops and holds his hands up. “Nope, I’m not saying a thing. She’s already mad that she hasn’t gotten to tell anyone.” He puts another shot down in front of me. “Here you go. Go talk to her and here’s a shot for the celebration.”
I grab the drink, excited for them, and tell him, “Congratulations” before stumbling from my stool. Rider grabs on to my hips to steady me and I suck in a breath at the contact. Instantly, my lower belly tightens and I rub my thighs together just to feel the friction on my swollen sex. Fuck, I think to myself. Why can’t I just lean in to him and ask him to take me home? When I’m steady on my feet, I mutter thanks and walk away with my drink in hand.
Rider
I watch as she walks across the room to where Lilly and few of the other ol’ ladies are. When I turn back to the bar, I can’t avoid Keeper’s knowing gaze.
“Why don’t you tell her?” he asks me as he hands me a bottle of water.
I take the lid off and chug half the bottle, hoping that Keeper will forget his question. But there’s no such luck. I set the bottle down and he’s still staring at me.
“Tell her what?” I ask defensively.
He laughs and slaps the towel in his hand across the bar top. “You know what.”
I just shrug my shoulders and spin my chair around. I look out at the clubhouse and my eyes are instantly drawn to Willow. When she moved here a month ago, it had been almost a year since I had seen her last. And in all our years of friendship, it’s only now that I have an unbearable urge to make her mine. When she first got here, I almost asked her what she thought about us. But I’m glad I didn’t. Her first night here, she met Steve. He’s her roommate’s boyfriend’s best friend. Yeah, I was carrying all her shit into the apartment while he was making a play for her. When I left that night, Willow walked me out to my bike. She told me then that Steve had asked her out. She wanted to know what I thought about it.
Of course, being the stubborn ass I am, I told her if she liked him she should go for it.
When she asked me if I was sure, I swear I wanted to tell her no, I wasn’t sure, I didn’t want her with anybody but me. But hell, these feelings were new, and I knew I couldn’t ruin our friendship when I wasn’t even sure what I was feeling.
So like a dumbass I told her she should go out with him. And I’ve fuckin’ kicked myself ever since.
I watch as she hugs Lilly and the excitement on their faces is almost contagious. I would be smiling if I didn’t have half my brothers looking my way. I know they’re trying to figure out what’s wrong with me. Or hell, maybe they’re all like Keeper and already know.
The night flies by and it isn’t long before Willow walks back over to me. She sets down on the stool next to me. “I think I’ll head out, Rider.”
She stopped drinking awhile ago, but she’s still had quite a bit. I stand up and pull my keys out of my pocket. “You think you can hold on to me on the bike or do you want me to drive your car?”
She hops off the stool and claps her hands together, jumping up and down. “The bike. Definitely the bike.”
I laugh at her antics, but the bulge in my pants hardens knowing I'm going to have Willow pressed into my back.
We tell everyone bye and I give Lilly a hug to congratulate her on the way out. When we get to the bike, I sit down. Willow’s standing next to me and she stretches her arms over her head and tries to hide a yawn. “Rider, can I crash at your house? My roommate has her boyfriend over and they are so loud I never get any sleep.”
“Of course,” I tell her, but groan inwardly. How much more can a man take?
3
Willow
I get onto the back of the bike and with my short skirt, I know I almost look indecent. My panty clad pussy is pressed against his rough jeans and I scoot in closer after first contact. Wrapping my arms around him, I lean my head on his back. He grabs my hands on his chest and hollers back to me, “Don’t let go.”
As if I would, I think to myself. If it was possible, I would stay like this forever. In the beginning, I thought he was just some player and I fought off my attraction to him. As I’ve gotten to know him more, I’ve found out he’s not a player at all. When he was in the service, I worried about him like any best friend would. When he joined the Exiled Guardians, I worried about him. Until I met them all. He’s found his family and is living the life he wants. I tried to stay away, but decided that I didn’t care anymore. Even if I had to watch him go out with other women, I couldn’t stay away. So I packed up my apartment, turned my notice in at my job and moved here. I started at a salon in town and I’m already slowly building up my client list. Of course, Rider helped with that. He has all the ol’ ladies already coming to me.
When we pull into his driveway and he turns the bike off, I don’t let go. If anything, I hold on a little tighter.
He turns in his seat, as much as he can with my hold on him. “You okay?”
I don’t answer him. I only nod my head against his back.
He sits there quietly for a
minute and I know he probably thinks I’m crazy.
When my hold loosens, I shakily climb off.
I pull my skirt down and watch him as he gets off the bike. I follow him to his door and I can’t take my eyes off his ass. Usually, I can control my wayward thoughts, but not so much tonight. I probably shouldn’t have had that third shot.
He opens the door and gestures for me to go on in. As soon as I’m inside, I tug off my boots, walk into the living room and fall back on the couch.
He follows suit and sits down. He picks up the remote and flicks the TV on. “You need something to sleep in?”
“Yeah, that’d be great!” I tell him. I don’t know if he realizes that I steal all of his T-shirts while I’m here. I intentionally don’t bring any clothes so he will give me something of his. And then I sleep in it every night. Hell, sometimes I tie it at the waist and wear it to work. There’s something about being wrapped in something that is his.
He jumps up from the couch and walks down the long hallway. With my head laid back on the couch, I look around the room. Nothing’s changed. He has only the bare necessities, just like a bachelor’s house would look. But the framed picture on the mantle has me sucking in a breath and I vault from the couch to get a closer look. I pick it up and hold it in my hands, staring at it.
“How about Bon Jovi?” Rider asks when he walks in, holding up a shirt with the band name on the front of it.
I turn with the picture in my hand. “How did you get this?”
His cheeks turn red. “Lilly. She took our picture that day and when she showed me I had it printed and framed.”
