Just Ride: Legion of Guardians

by Turner, Xyla

  This also happened at the hospital, so when I got out, and it was still happening three days later, I finally lost it on him.

  “Take me to my parents!” I exclaimed. “Now!”

  “What?” he asked.

  “You heard me. I want to leave.”

  “Why?” He asked as he sat on the couch as he had done for the past three days staring at nothing.

  Razor hadn’t touched me or barely kissed me, but wanted to always check the surveillance in the house. He even had a couple of guys stopping by once every two hours. Bronx told me to let him do it while Apollo just grunted. Shay and Lori kept their distance because he was in such a terrible mood.

  “Because you are driving me crazy. I’m in pain, like real physical pain, and now you’re contributing to my emotional pain!” I exclaimed as I started to climb the stairs one at a time.

  “Wait, I can help you up.” He touched my arm.

  “No, don’t fucking touch me. I can walk up the damn steps” I snapped at him.

  Razor was right behind me, but I did not care one bit. When I reached the top stairs, he cornered me against the closet door.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he growled.

  I growled back, “You!”

  His head drew back and his eyebrows closed in on each other. “What did I do?”

  “You’ve been sulking for the past five days, while I was at the hospital, and now here.. I’ve tried to be patient, but I need some time. This is fucking ridiculous.”

  “Sweetheart,” he sighed. “Wait a minute.”

  “No. You’ve been ignoring me and giving me only one-word answers. You’re not sleeping in your bed, and you’re driving me fucking crazy with the surveillance. You got the guy. So what in the actual-”

  “He took you!” Razor roared. “He took you, broke your rib, fractured another one, cut your arm, and fucked up your eye. He did all of that on my goddamn watch. Know how that makes me feel? Huh? I’m a fucking Guardian. The goddamn District President, and my woman was taken on my watch.” Razor put his head down and growled, “My watch.”

  “Razor, you found me, okay? You found me. You’re going to beat yourself up for this? How long? Huh? Let me know because I’ll come back when you stop.” I pushed him away and walked towards the bed. “Cause if you think that your brothers or the other club thinks any less of you as their leader, you are absolutely wrong. If it wasn’t for you, only God knows where I would be. So sulk about the fact that I was taken and not rejoice that I’m back. That’s how shit works when it gets tough? I don’t want that. I thank God I’m fucking alive.”

  I turned to see he was staring at me and his eyes were wet.

  Shit.

  “It was on my watch.” He shook his head.

  “Have you forgotten, it was also on your watch that I was rescued in less than eight hours?” I was about to get emotional. “Xander,” I sighed.

  Walking back to him, I pulled his face down towards me and said, “I know I don’t look the best right now, so I understand.”

  He reared his face back, “What the fuck? Shit, Kylie! That has nothing to do with anything,” he scoffed. “Woman, your beauty goes far beyond your looks. That’s for damn sure. I love you, no matter what. You hear me? That’s why I’m so fucked up. I almost lost you for good. That sorry excuse for a man was about to take you away from me. We were fucking minutes to hours away from you being gone, and darlin’,” Razor put his head down, “I,” he sighed, “I wouldn’t be able to handle that.”

  I pulled his face down and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “Razor, it didn’t happen, okay? I’m here. You got me. You’re still home to me. Always will be.” His face paled and the tear finally fell. This time, it was me who kissed it away.

  “I almost killed him, Kylie. I would have too, if Bronx didn’t pull me off of him. Need you to know that.”

  Shit.

  “Now that would have made me mad, Razor, you not being in my life because you were behind bars. I would have killed you because that’s not something I could have handled. I get it Razor, but I need you to know. I want the future father of my children in their lives and not being seen behind steel gates.”

  He nodded like he understood, but I also was no dummy. I knew when I saw it, Bronx was the insurance. That man would have died at Razor’s hands, and that was his VP’s role to make sure that didn’t happen by having his back. I’d have to thank him when I saw him again.

  Needless to say, I didn’t go to my parents’, and Razor snapped out of his mood. I even orchestrated a guy’s night out, so he could get some male bonding/therapy with his brothers. Even the Columbia chapter joined in. I had a sleepover with the gals.

  A month later my external wounds had healed for the most part. The eye patch had been off for a while, the wound on my wrist left a nasty scar, and the bruising was gone from my ribs. My ribs weren’t completely healed just yet so that made both Razor and I sexually frustrated. I’d helped him get off a couple of times a day, but I knew it was just filler. My ribs had not been in any condition to withstand pressure, because even breathing heavy, laughing, or having an orgasm was tough. It felt like I was going to die. Believe me, we tried, but the pain was just too much.

  There was also no real cuddling which also upset Razor. He could only hold my hand and encourage me when the pain set in, and knew I was trying to stay away from the pain killers. Sometimes, he’d force me to take them when I was in extreme pain, but after five weeks, the throbbing pain had subdued and I didn’t need to rely on them at all.

  In other news, my father held a dinner party six weeks later, where he proposed to my mother for the second time. I saw that they were getting closer, but I had no idea they would be making that leap. She emphatically said yes, and it seemed like all was well with the world until I saw Razor’s face. He was smiling on the outside, but his eyes told a different story.

  I knew it had to do with his own family, but he did not say, and I did not push after our last conversation about them. That was one conversation we no longer had, yet I knew he was not happy about his family’s current situation.

  Once I was fully healed and settled, Shay and Razor set up a ‘She’s Back’ Party for me at Peppers. It was more of an excuse to get me out of the house. I was not really in the partying mood because I could finally have sex with Razor, and he wanted to attend some damn party for me. He kept saying that he’d make it up that night.

  To say I was sexually frustrated was an understatement.

  “So good to see you looking like yourself again,” Wiley said.

  “How’d they drag you into enemy territory, Wiley?” I asked.

  “Ah. Anything for you, Kylie,” he smiled at me.

  I gave him a hug and thanked him for coming. Mom and Dad showed up as she flaunted her new rock. It was huge too. Dad said he wanted to start new, so he brought her a new ring.

  As the party was underway, Guardians were definitely in the building because there were angel wings with scales of justice symbols with bikes on cuts draped across almost every guy’s back. They had to be from other chapters in Razor’s district because I’d never seen some of them before.

  The deejay was playing mostly country music, but then some other kind started beating through the speakers.

  It was a song from my old band.

  Razor looked up and smiled at me from across the room. He was standing with Pete and some other guys while I was at the bar with Shay, Lori, and my mom. My dad was mingling with some of the guys while we were gushing over my mom’s engagement ring.

  The doors opened and four people walked through, but only one person I recognized. It was Razor’s mother and three tall men. They all were handsome and built like Razor. They all resembled the man I’d seen in pictures that Razor had shown me of his father, so I assumed they were his brothers or related to him in some way.

  I witnessed the moment he spotted them. His eyes grew wide and his mouth slightly parted. There we
ren’t too many times I’d seen that look on his face, but it was there for a brief moment. Nostalgia, hope, and maybe even fear crossed his features, but vanished as he wiped them free like he often does. When his mom spotted him, she made the first few steps, and he took the rest to close the gap between them. The men followed behind her and stopped when she did. Some words were exchanged between the two of them. I was on pins and needles as I watched it like a silent movie play out. I almost wanted to intervene, but I’d done enough in regards to that union. A moment later, she opened her arms, and Razor picked her up as she squealed in delight.

  Tears sprang to my eyes as I witnessed the two, well five, of them embrace. Shay saw it too and had tears in her eyes as well. She leaned over and whispered, “You made that happen.”

  “No,” I smiled. “They did.”

  After a few songs had played from our album, a deep voice came over the loudspeaker.

  “Well, as you know this party here is to celebrate Kylie’s full recovery. Razor wanted to make a big deal out of it because it has been a hard and trying time for her, and I’m sure for him as well.” The men hooted in solidarity. “However, he also wanted to let Kylie in on something else.”

  Razor nodded at the guy and said in his sexy raspy voice, “Thanks brother.” He cleared his throat and continued, “Everybody in here knows what this is about, ‘cept her. Kylie Mills stormed into town, gave me nothing but shit, and then snatched my heart right outta me. Fucked around, mended it together, and then put it back.” Everybody started laughing, while tears were flowing from my eyes. He sobered, and then continued. “It’s funny now, but that shit didn’t feel funny at the time, even worst when I almost lost her. Worst moment of my life and I thank God every day that I got her back.”

  Razor paused as if he were going to get emotional.

  “Go on, brother!” someone yelled.

  He smirked, and then continued, “Kylie, come here darlin’.”

  Oh shit.

  Standing on shaky legs, I wobbled my way to the front to be with him. He smiled down at me and wiped my tears from my watery eyes.

  “Love you, darlin’. Not sure what I’d do if I ever lost you.” His eyes bore into mine. “You.” He paused and I wrapped my hand around the wrist of his hand that rested on my shoulder. He exhaled and continued, “Never knew it could be like this. Never knew there was someone out there like you. Been waiting for you a long time and didn’t even know it.”

  Razor bent down on one knee, reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. I gasped and took a step back with both hands to my face. When my eyes peeked through my fingers, I saw a huge rock. It was big, princess cut diamond with smaller ones etched around the base of the ring and three or four stones placed on each side of the main rock. It was absolutely gorgeous.

  He held out his hand towards me and said, “Marry me, Kylie. Promise you’re always first, darlin’. Always.”

  “Razor,” I uttered in my hands as everybody in the place was hooting and hollering.

  There was no way he could hear me. but OH MY GOD! Xander Razor Willis set up an engagement party without me knowing anything about it.

  “Son of a bitch!” I said as I brought my hands down. “You set all of this up, and I didn’t know.”

  He smirked, and then said, “That woulda defeated the purpose.”

  “Goddammit,” I shook my head.

  Everybody laughed.

  Razor stood up, picked me up, and declared, “That’s a yes! Everybody, she said yes!”

  The place erupted in celebration. If anyone knew Razor and me, they knew that was a yes. I couldn’t believe him.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. This caused him to drop me so my feet hit the ground and both of his hands were on my ass.

  The two of us sat and kissed for what felt like hours, but after all of the noise, the music resumed, and somebody yelling for us to get a room, we pulled apart.

  Shit, nobody knew the duress we were both under. No sex for two months. Not even major fondling.

  Razor introduced all of us, including my mom and dad, to his family. They even invited them on the family getaway that we planned every few years. They talked amongst themselves to get acquainted while I sat on Razor’s lap and let him soothe me with his presence as he always did. He was my home, my safeguard, and most importantly, my man.

  As the evening progressed, I saw Shay speaking with Bronx. I could not tell what the conversation was about, but she looked frazzled, and he was simply livid. Bronx was a big man, and when he was mad, he seemed to grow even bigger. He was speaking sternly to her, and the crazy thing and very unlike Shay was she was taking whatever he was saying. There was no sass and no attitude.

  I still had yet to ask her about her taking Bronx home with her that night. It completely slipped my mind, but something was going on with those two. Razor kept telling me not to meddle in their affairs, and I kept telling him that what best friends did-meddle.

  Lori, on the other hand, was not having a good night, and if I had known it would have turned out to be as bad as it got, I would have stopped her consumption of those four Long Island Ice Teas a long time ago.

  The parents, both his and mine, had left because they were old and needed to retire. His brothers, whose names were John and Lance, along with their cousin, Wes stayed. I planned to try and hook him up with Lori if she would get her head out of Apollo’s butt for ten minutes. Shay said she was through talking with her because she seemed to be stuck on getting her heart broken. Well, from Shay’s mouth to God’s ear, that’s exactly what happened.

  Apparently, Apollo had been drinking too, so when one of Columbia’s members tried to get Lori’s number, she declined and said she had her eyes set on Apollo. Well, the guy went and told Apollo what was said and he lost his damn mind.

  The crazy part about all of this was the timing. Apollo started his rant right in between songs, so the place was quieter, meaning everyone heard every word he said.

  “If one more fucking person tells me that Lori likes me, wants to fuck me, or she’s claiming me, I’m going to knock them the fuck out! I don’t give one fuck about what she wants. She ain’t mine, and I do NOT lay any claim to her or her pussy. So drop that shit! I don’t want her!”

  Well!

  I was sitting right between Shay and Lori, and the guys were at their table across the bar. You could have heard a mouse piss on cotton it was so quiet in there. The next song did not play, and most eyes were on Apollo while the rest were on Lori. She immediately turned bright red and big droplets burst from her eyes. By the time Shay or I could react, she was up and practically running from the bar. We chased after her, but she had hailed down a biker that was leaving and hopped on the back.

  “Who was that?” I asked Shay.

  “Beats the shit out of me,” her eyes narrowed.

  My blood was boiling, and if I knew my friend like I thought I did, we both had the same idea. We burst back in the bar going right for Apollo.

  “You motherfucker!” Shay yelled.

  The music was still off, but the conversations had started again.

  “Fuck!” Razor growled. “Grab Shay,” he instructed to Bronx.

  “I cannot believe you,” I shrieked as I made my way around the other side of their table.

  “She ain’t my bitch,” Apollo defended. “I’m fucking sick of people…”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Razor barked at him as I lunged towards Apollo, but he used my momentum and tossed me over his shoulder.

  Shay was over Bronx’s shoulder as well, and we were being escorted out of the bar.

  “I’m going to kick your ass!” Shay yelled to Apollo.

  She was pointing, kicking, and screaming about how she was going to avenge her friend. The crazy part was I was doing the same.

  “Stop!” Bronx yelled to her.

  They got us outside and Shay yelled, “Put me down, right now!”

  “No!” he yelled back, then sa
id, “Watch who the fuck you’re talking to like that!”

  Uh oh.

  “I’m talking to you!” Shay snapped back and kicked her legs out.

  Bronx slapped her on her ass twice and said, “Keep talking, and I will tan that ass.”

  I didn’t hear much else from her, but then Razor interrupted my show and said, “That’s our cue, sweetheart. Mind our business and go.”

  “No, Razor. He did not have to do that to her. Publicly humiliate her in front of her entire town. That shit ain’t right.”

  “Darlin’, this has been going on for years. I know that’s your friend, but enough is enough.”

  What?

  “You’re condoning that shit?” I kicked as he still had me on his shoulder.

  “Oh, fuck that. Their shit won’t mess with our shit, sweetheart. What we ain’t going to do is fight about other folks. I ain’t had you in two goddamn months. I want you in every goddamn way. They are my brothers, and that’s your girl, but fuck them, right now.” He patted me on the ass. “Okay? Fuck them.”

  The man had a point.

  Two months of no sex.

  Fuck them.

  We drove home, put all that drama aside, and we fucked until we both passed out. Two months was a long time, and we had a lot of making up to do.

  When we did revisit our conversation about Lori and Apollo, Razor shared that Lori was damn near stalking the man at one point. He told her to stop, and she backed up but still was always around. She was actually telling people that she was with him, and it turned him off. It was as if she had no self-worth. That would be a turn-off for anyone, but she was still my friend.

  Weeks later, Shay and I had not heard from Lori. It was like she fell off the face of the earth. Her parents said she quit her job, moved, and did not leave a forwarding address. Shay nor I really dealt with Apollo after that. He was always around, but as far as we were concerned, he was dead to us. Razor tried to address it with me, but I was not and would not hear that shit. As far as I was concerned, as long as Lori was gone, so was he in my mind. It was stupid since Apollo had helped me with my situation, but he crushed my friend like a flea.