RYDER: Southside Skulls Motorcycle Club (Southside Skulls MC Romance Book 12)

by Jessie Cooke

  “Where to?” he asked.

  “Kenmore Park Apartments, just south of Kenmore Square.”

  “Nice,” he said. They really weren’t all that nice, but they were affordable. She realized when he spoke again that he was talking about the location and not so much the place.

  “Baseball fan?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Wow, I was in the service with a few guys that would have killed to live that close to Fenway Park. You’ve gone to a game or two at least?”

  “Um...no...”

  “You better put that on the bucket list.”

  “Are you a baseball fan?”

  “Yep, but I grew up in California. My team is the San Francisco Giants. I love it when they come to Fenway. Maybe you and I could catch a game next time they come?” She didn’t answer him. The idea of a date with him of any kind sent both a thrill and a feeling of utter terror through her. Did she want to go to a baseball game with him? Hell yes. Did she want to get her hopes up when the guy was probably just making conversation? No. She tried to put it out of her mind as he started the bike. She clutched his vest a little tighter with one hand on each side, pinching the fabric. He let go of one side of the handlebars and she felt his hand cover one of hers suddenly. His was warm and big and calloused and she barely noticed that he was moving hers until she had it wrapped all the way around his waist. He reached over and did the same with her other hand. She linked her fingers together and for a second just let the good feelings wash over her. “Lean in close,” he said, “like you’re hugging me.” They started moving before she leaned in and she realized exactly why he’d told her that. Her body automatically wanted to lean back, away from the wind. She adjusted her arms and gently leaned her body into his. Damn, he felt good, and even if she tried, she couldn’t ignore the sexy, masculine, spicy smell of him. She hadn’t had a boyfriend in a long time, two years to be exact...and she refused to be one of those girls that did the hook-up or one-night-stand thing. That meant a lot of long, frustrating nights, fantasies and intimacy with a couple of toys she’d bought online that brought her at least temporary relief. The feel of a man was almost a foreign concept at this point. though. She vaguely remembered it felt good...but she didn’t remember just how good. Or maybe Ryder just felt better than the others had.

  Her walk to work and home usually took about half an hour each way. Ryder had them in front of her complex in less than fifteen minutes. As soon as he stopped, she started to climb off but once again he trapped her hands with his and said, “Where should I park?”

  Park? Why does he want to park? “This is fine,” she said, pulling one of her hands away as she slipped off the back of the bike.

  “Not going to invite me in? Make me a cup of coffee? Make wild, passionate love to me to make up for threatening to bust my skull?”

  Storm was standing next to the bike now and luckily, before she sputtered out a shocked reply, she realized that he was joking. His eyes were full of mischief. She rolled hers at him and said, “Maybe some other time—the husband and kids are home now, and he hates it when I bring men home and make passionate love to them when he’s in the house.”

  Ryder threw his head back and laughed. “Good thing I heard you tell Dax you didn’t have an old man or I might believe you. Why is that, anyway?” It was not even six a.m., it was cold outside, and she barely knew this man. She wondered how a person got to be so direct.

  “Oh, you know...men are stupid and all that...”

  He laughed again and said, “I wish I could argue that point, but I know a lot of men and I can’t say as you’re wrong. Go on inside and get some rest. I’ll see you again soon.”

  She was about to ask him how he was so sure of that, but she decided she didn’t care. She already knew she wanted to see him again too. As a matter of fact, that making passionate love thing was going to be in the forefront of her mind just as soon as she got inside and dug out her toys. “Thank you for the ride.”

  Ryder winked at her and said, “Anytime.” When she turned to go toward her apartment, she could feel him watching her. As she turned the corner, she looked back, and he waved. She waved back with a shaky hand and as soon as she stepped around the building and out of sight, she heard him take off. As she let herself into her apartment, the events of the night ran quickly through her head. It had been an interesting one, that was for sure. Not knowing if she still had a job was definitely the low point, but somehow meeting Ryder overshadowed it all. She was smiling as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

  “You look happy.”

  “Shit!” The sound of the voice in the dark apartment, which she had assumed was empty, nearly gave her a heart attack. “Mom! What are you doing here?”

  “Is that any way to greet your mother?”

  “Sorry...you just almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?”

  “Waiting for you. Hot date after work?”

  “No. We were held up, at gunpoint. It was terrifying.” She walked over and sat on the couch next to her mother. She smelled like stale cigarette smoke. Her clothes were wrinkled and looked like she’d been wearing them for a few days and her hair and make-up were a mess. “Mom, what happened? What did you do?”

  Her mother rolled her eyes. “You sound just like your Aunt May. ‘What did you do, Elise? What’s wrong with you, Elise?’ Do you and your aunt think I want my life to be like this?” Her green eyes began to swim with tears and despite her frustration, Storm felt bad.

  “Don’t cry, Mom. Tell me what happened.” Elise began to sob, and Storm pulled her into an embrace and let her cry it out. With mascara all over her face, she finally pulled back and looked at her daughter and said:

  “You weren’t a part of that robbery tonight, were you?”

  “Mother! Why would you ask me that?”

  She shrugged and said, “Denny’s been around asking about you a lot. I thought maybe you hooked up after he got out of county lock-up...I was hoping...”

  “Why in God’s name would you wish that awful man back on me? You know what he put me through.”

  Elise teared up again and said, “I’m sorry, baby...It’s just...oh God...I need money. I’m in deep. I borrowed money from this awful man and if I don’t pay him back soon...Oh, Stormy! You have to help me!” Once again, her mother was in her arms...only this time instead of feeling sorry for her Storm wished that she could strangle her. She loved her mother...but the woman needed help, the professional kind, not the kind that she wanted her daughter to be involved in. Unlike other kids, every tight spot Storm had ever been in was thanks to her mother and her gambling problems. When her father was alive, he kept her in check, but he’d left big shoes and Storm was tired of trying to fill them.

  4

  Ryder finally finished his work for the day after being caught in the middle of an armed robbery doing Garrett’s job. Garrett had a baby boy that night, though, so Ryder quickly forgave him. He’d slept for about five hours the day after the robbery and then he’d driven back into Boston to see the baby at the hospital. Paige encouraged him to hold the baby boy but while he had him in the crook of his arm, Garrett hovered over him, trying to tell him how to do it and acting like Ryder might drop him on his head if he looked away. Ryder smiled at the thought now. Those kids might not know it until they were finished growing up, but they were damned lucky to have Garrett.

  The rest of the week had been filled with work...and getting called back and forth into Dax’s office to answer more questions about the gunman, or his truck...or strangely enough, Storm. Ryder was dying to see her again, but Dax had forbidden it. He was having her followed, which kind of pissed Ryder off. He rarely disagreed with Dax, but on this point, he did. Dax had gotten a tip from someone that Storm was involved in the robbery. According to his informant, she’d gone into the kitchen that night, planning on opening the door for the robber. Ryder’s sudden appearance had changed the plans and the guy had gone in the front way.
That was as much as anyone would tell Ryder. He knew Dax, and he knew there had to be more for him to be so convinced that this girl was involved, but Dax wasn’t sharing any details, at least not with him.

  But he respected the laws of the club and most of all he respected Dax’s position and the man himself, so he’d stayed away from her. He’d worked twice as hard that week both in the field and in the shop on Edith, but the thoughts of Storm and the way she’d felt hugged up to him on the back of his bike had also sent him into wild, long jerk-off sessions in the shower. His regular club girls had been hitting him up, as usual, but oddly...he just hadn’t been interested. But after a week of building frustration he had already decided that once he was finished with Edith for the night, he was fucking someone, and as long as she was female, he wasn’t even sure he cared who.

  When he got to the shop he found Toolie locking up for the night. “Hey, Tool, I’ll lock up, I’m gonna spend some time with my old girl.”

  Toolie laughed. “You know, if I didn’t know you already made your way through every single pussy over eighteen on this ranch, I might just worry about you and that old girl.”

  Ryder chuckled. “No worries here, Tool, just a long-ass week.”

  “I hear ya,” the old mechanic said. He left, and Ryder went into the office and pulled a cold beer out of the refrigerator. He’d just popped the top when his phone began buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that it was Mayhem at the front gates calling.

  “Hey, May, what’s up?”

  “That girl from the bar is here.”

  “The girl from the bar? Shit, Storm?”

  “I don’t know nothing about a shitstorm but...”

  Ryder laughed. “Her name is Storm. What is she doing here? Piston was supposed to be watching her.”

  “He was, is...he’s sitting across the road right now trying not to blow his cover. He called and told me she was on her way here as soon as he figured it out. I called Dax. He’s busy with Susie tonight. He said to send her up to see you and you could fill him in.”

  Ryder felt excitement growing in his body just at the idea of seeing her...he didn’t like the idea of reporting back to Dax. The truth was, what he’d really like to do was bend her over Edith and fuck her all night long. To Mayhem he said, “Alright, will do. Are you sending her up?”

  “Yeah, I will. Where are you?”

  “Out at the shop. Tell her I’ll meet her out front.” Ryder ended the call and realized he was smoothing down his thick hair as he walked toward the shop door. He reminded himself this wasn’t a date...and very likely never would be if Dax had his way. With a frustrated sigh he stepped outside. It was only a few minutes before he saw her headlights coming up the dirt road, surrounded by a cloud of dust. He folded his arms, leaned into the metal building, and waited for her to park the banged-up little Honda she was driving. He felt a slight tug in his core when she stepped out. She was dressed casually in jeans and a Metal Mulisha t-shirt, and her hair was in a ponytail again, and she didn’t look like she was wearing much make-up...if any…but one look at her and his mouth was already watering. He bet that she tasted as sweet as she looked, and he was dying to taste her.

  “I wanted to talk to Dax,” she said, walking closer. He hadn’t noticed the first time he met her, but her hair wasn’t actually blonde. It was more of a medium brown with a lot of highlights running through it. He wondered what it looked like down, and that led him to wanting a feel of it.

  “He’s busy; sorry, you get me.”

  “It’s pointless to talk to you,” she said.

  Trying not to be offended, Ryder folded his arms and said, “Thanks.”

  She sighed and rolled her eyes. “It’s about my job. Can you tell me when, or if, I’m going to get to go back to work? I have bills to pay and I depend on my tips to do that. Another week of this and I may as well just quit and look for a new job.”

  “Come on inside and let’s sit down. You want a beer?”

  “Ryder, please, this isn’t a social call. We’re talking about my livelihood.”

  “I understand, I do. I’m not taking what you’re saying lightly. Let’s sit down and try to figure out what to do, okay?” He motioned toward the office and she rolled her eyes again, but this time she marched toward it. He almost felt bad for watching her butt as she walked away...almost. Damn, she’s fine. He followed her into the office and she sat in one of the office chairs. He grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and handed it to her. She took it and set it between her legs but didn’t open it. Lucky damned beer. He sat in the other chair and said, “Have you talked to Dax at all?”

  “Yeah, I got through to him once after finally convincing Carolyn to give me his number. He told me to be patient, but that’s easy for him to say when he’s not the one trying to figure out how to buy groceries.” Ryder’s heart hurt at the thought of her doing without things. He wished he knew why Dax was so convinced that she had something to do with this robbery.

  “That’s all he said?”

  “He said they were still investigating what happened. I don’t understand what that has to do with me. You were there...you saw what happened and that I had nothing to do with it, right?”

  “Yeah, of course.” Ryder really didn’t think she had anything to do with it. She’d been...or at least seemed…as shocked as the rest of them. But he knew Dax, and his president wasn’t one to take action like this without reason. If he knew she was involved, he would have done more than suspend her from work...but he still had to have a pretty good reason to do that, not to mention the manpower he was wasting watching her around the clock. “Why don’t you relax for a minute, drink your beer, and I’ll call him.” She nodded, but she didn’t look like his suggestion gave her much confidence. He got up and heard her pop the top on the can as he stepped out of the office. He pulled the door shut behind him and took his phone out. Dax answered on the first ring.

  “Ryder, what’s up?”

  “You know Storm is here, right?”

  “Yeah, I told Mayhem to tell you to handle it.”

  “I’m trying, Dax...but I’m not sure what I’m handling. She wants to know about her job and I don’t know what to tell her. She can’t pay her bills...”

  “Maybe her ex-boyfriend can share some of the money he stole from me and help her out,” Dax said. Ryder recognized the tone—if and when Dax caught up with that “ex-boyfriend” he was going to wish he’d never been born.

  “Her ex-boyfriend, huh? She says she doesn’t know anything about the robbery. Are you sure she was involved, Dax?”

  “No, that’s why we’ve been watching her. But I’m sure I’m not putting her back into that bar and taking a chance on her letting someone else in to clean us out. Until I know for sure she wasn’t involved, I can’t let her go back to work, Ryder. I can’t leave the house right now—Susie is sick and Angel’s not here—but if you don’t want to tell her that, then tell her to come back in the morning and I’ll talk to her.”

  “So, she’s being fired?” Ryder was usually pretty good at keeping what he was feeling out of his tone, but Dax was better than most at picking up on things.

  “Ryder, what’s your stake in this?”

  “I’ve got no stake in it, Dax. It’s just...and I mean no disrespect to you…but I was there. I saw her. She was as surprised as the rest of us. She was scared, first of me and then of the guy with the gun. I just think she’s a nice girl and maybe she has shitty taste in men...but I can’t see her doing this.”

  “Your opinion is noted,” Dax said, “And it’s appreciated. But you don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, Ryder. This is my decision and I have to let her go. Like I said, you don’t have to tell her that and I’m not going to make Carolyn tell her either. I’ll tell her myself, in the morning.”

  Shit. “No, I’ll tell her. I might be wrong, but it may be easier on her hearing it from me. Can I ask you something else?”

  “Sure.”

  “Am I f
ree to pursue some kind of...relationship with her? You know that this club will always come first and if I see or hear anything, you’d be the first to know...”

  Dax interrupted him by laughing. “Not enough pussy for you on the ranch, Ryder?”

  He felt his face go hot. That was fucking new...at least it hadn’t happened since he was fourteen years old. “Nah, there’s always plenty of that. There’s just something about this girl...I can’t explain it.”

  “Tell you what, you pursue that all you want, outside of work time. After she leaves tonight, she’s not welcome back on the ranch unless it turns out that I’m wrong. If that’s the case, I will personally offer her an apology and compensation. While you’re pursuing it, you might want to ask her about that ex, and her mother.” Part of Dax Marshall’s appeal was that as dangerous and deadly as he could be if you crossed him, he was a big enough man to admit when he was wrong. Ryder knew however that almost never happened. He would be willing to bet that Dax was the smartest man any of them had ever met. His mind never stopped working. But even smart men are wrong sometimes...right?

  “What’s up with her mother?”

  “Ask her and see what she says,” Dax told him.

  “Fair enough, Dax. Thanks.” He ended the call and stood there for a few seconds trying to think of a way to tell her that she no longer had a job, gently. He had an idea, but he wasn’t sure she’d go for it. He made another call, just in case.

  “Skybox.”

  “I’m looking for Frank, tell him it’s Ryder.”

  “Just a sec.” The phone was put down, but Ryder could hear the commotion in the background. The Skybox was a sports bar on the Common. It was always packed with college kids and young sports fans looking for a good time. The girls wore sports uniforms, modified to make them look hot. He wasn’t sure if Storm would go for that or not, but if Frank was hiring, it was worth a shot.