“Pami,” he told me, “I didn’t have a life before you. I had a mom who did it all on her own. She gave me good, honey. I’m gonna give you and your boys good. I’m a simple man, and I got all I need in you and your family, baby.”
Just like that, we moved on together, and now here he is with bikes for my boys. Not just any bikes, either, custom designed, Hellions’ bicycles.
“Gotta start ’em young,” Ruby says, smiling at me.
I laugh as I watch Wesson taking in the bike that has been outfitted with a fabricated gas tank, saddlebags, and even rearview mirrors.
“Safety,” Boomer says, winking at me as he pulls a matching black bike down for Colt, while Ruby helps the boys put on their helmets.
Wesson immediately hops on the bike and takes off with only a mild wobble. That’s my oldest, though; he has always faced things head-on and taken off.
Colt looks at me as I wrap my arm around Boomer’s waist. Then he looks at Boomer holding the bike by the handlebars, but Colt doesn’t move.
Ruby makes his way to Vida and wraps her in his arms, planting a firm kiss to her lips like he does every time he gets close to her. RJ runs off to his house to get his own bike as his sisters play in their front yard.
Colt moves over to Boomer, looking at me then to the man beside me.
Boomer squats down to get eye-level with my son. “You all right, Colt?” he asks, and my son leans over to whisper in his ear.
I can’t hear what he says, only see the fear in his eyes.
Boomer nods his head and stands. Taking my son’s bike with his right hand, he extends his left for Colt. My boy releases the bike, and hand in hand, Boomer guides them out to our quiet street.
I watch with tears filling my eyes as Boomer shows my baby boy the brakes, the mirrors, the pedals, the chain, and every piece to the bike.
I move closer to hear Boomer say, “We can get you some training wheels if you want, or we can try it out and see how you do. I’ll hold on to your seat from the back.”
“Don’t let go,” Colt pleads.
“Never,” Boomer reassures him. “That’s how it is in the Hellions, Colt. We never let go, and we always have your back.”
If that isn’t the truth of the motorcycle club I have found my way into, I don’t know what is.
I look to my little boy who smiles proudly at the man who has captured my heart.
“Then what are we waitin’ for? Let’s ride, Boomer.”
I think to myself, let’s ride for life, Boomer. Simple as that.
~Boomer~
Sometimes, things have to go slowly. Pamela and I are a testament to this.
After being apart for so long, I didn’t want to encroach on her reestablishing her place with her boys. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be almost six hours from the woman I have fallen in love with. Having no real roots in Catawba other than the Hellions and Shooter, making the move to Haywood’s Landing wasn’t hard.
I sold my cabin and land, turning a decent profit. Making the move, I was able to buy a few acres not far from the compound and build a place big enough for Pami, her boys, and her mom to live. It may seem crazy that I left my life behind to keep her from having to uproot her kids again, but my life is where she is.
Now I only have one last piece of my past I need to put to rest so I can move on with my future.
As I pull into the driveway, his gray Ford truck sits in the driveway just like it did years ago. I look up to the blue sky above and hope he is watching. I hope he can see that, even though I felt like it should have been me, I have somehow made it through.
Climbing off my bike, I head to the front door and ring the bell. It’s not long before Melonie opens the door.
“Boomer,” she greets in surprise.
“Melonie.” I lean in and hug her.
She steps back, and I enter the home of my friend’s widow and feel the weight lifted off as I see the pictures lining the walls of her son.
“Boomer, what brings you here?”
“Wanted to check on you.”
She reaches out and squeezes my hand. “We’re good, Boomer. You can let go.”
I squeeze her hand back. “Never, Melonie.”
Tears fill her eyes. “We’re good. I want you to know that.”
“If you ever need anything—”
“I’ll call. You’ve gotta let go, Boomer. Life goes on. Skid died doing what he loved to do. He left this world with honor and integrity. Don’t let that be wasted. You’ve gotta live life, Boomer.”
Seeing the sincerity in her eyes and knowing she genuinely cares, I am proud to stand before her as the man I am today.
I pull her into me and hug her tightly.
“Boomer, talk to me. Something has changed.” She’s never been one to hold back.
“There have been a lot of years I wished I could turn back the hands of time. I wanted to give him back to you.”
She pulls away, and I see the tears fall down her face. “I have him with me, Boomer. No one can take him from me not the Army or the enemy. He’s in my heart; he’s in my child; he’s forever in my world.”
“I never felt like I had a purpose. Always was a drifter. I did what I had to do, but I existed. Then we lost Skid, and I couldn’t move on like it didn’t happen. I rode wherever the road would take me for a lot of years, Mel. It took a long time, but it brought me to a place, and I found someone.”
Her eyes light up and a smile creeps across her lips. “I’ve been worried about you.”
“I would still trade places with him; you know that, right? No matter what, if I could, I would trade places with him so you wouldn’t have to bear the pain.” It’s the truth. As happy as I am, I would give it all away to give my brother back his life.
“With pain comes healing, Boomer. I value the time I had with him, the gifts of the memories we made. You know, not everyone finds a love like I had. Not everyone gets to marry their very best friend. Not everyone gets to know a man who will stand up to the very end for the values he believes in. My husband did that. My husband gave his last breath serving someone other than himself. Boomer, you’ve gotta find that love. You’ve gotta give some woman that kind of man.”
She is okay. I needed this. I needed the closure.
I give her another hug and pull away. “I have that.”
“Then hold on tight and make every moment count. Don’t take one second for granted. Keep it simple. You love through the good times and the bad. You love through the close times and beyond any distance. Boomer, no matter what happens, you simply love each other through it.”
~~~
“Boomer, I don’t think we’re supposed to be here.”
I laugh. “Where is your rebellious side, Pami?”
“At home with my kids,” she replies dryly. “Seriously, someone bought this place months ago. I don’t think they would appreciate us being here.” She doesn’t know I sold my cabin. She doesn’t know I bought the field with the old farm house and had it remodeled.
I have been living in one of the duplexes Roundman has on the compound while Pamela and I have been getting to know each other better and introducing me into her sons’ lives. Over time, I have had enough sleepovers that I live in her doublewide with them more than at the compound, even though we haven’t made living together official.
I want more than that, though. I want it all, and I want it all officially.
Reaching over the cab of truck, I squeeze her hand. “Trust me.” I then climb out and round the hood, making my way to open her door.
“I should’ve known you were up to trouble today when we didn’t take the bike out, and we don’t have the boys.”
“I love the sound of that.”
She reaches up and checks my forehead. “No fever. Are you crazy today? The sound of what?”
“We and boys in the same sentence.”
She laughs, and my heart beats faster.
“Boomer, the boys love you.” Tears fill her eyes.
“You-you …” She inhales deeply. “Boomer, you’re everything they’ve never had, everything we’ve never had.”
Leaning in, I brush my lips over hers.
As much as I want to get lost in the moment with her, I can’t. No, I have so much more to take care of first.
“I love them, Pami.”
She nods, knowing it’s the damn truth. Then she takes my hand and hops out of the truck. I turn her to face the two-story farm house with the large wraparound porch.
“One day,” she sighs.
“Remember when the sign went up and you said how you saw the potential in this place being restored?”
She nods her head.
“You said you would keep it white with black shutters; only, you would make the front columns black instead of white.”
She takes in the house and the black columns in front of her.
“I believe it was a red door you always wanted.”
She looks to the red front door and nods her head.
I step away and go to the back of the truck to reach under the tarp. Her eyes go wide as she looks at what I removed.
“Well, I had to buy it in white, but Sass and Vida helped make it black for you, honey. I remember you saying once how you liked the idea of a black picket fence, too.”
She shakes her head as tears fall down her face. “No.”
I nod. “Yeah,” I say, moving the fence panel to the edge and laying it on the ground in front of us.
“Boomer, no.”
The shock on her face has me on edge.
“That’s not exactly the reaction I was going for, honey.”
She covers her face. “You-you-you did all this?”
“Well, I was thinking more along the lines of we and the future.”
“Boomer …”
“Pami, it’s been a long, turbulent ride to get to this place. Not one damn thing has been easy except thinking of my future with you and the boys. Giving you everything you never had, carrying your burdens with you side by side, that takes away the pain of the past.”
I pull the black, velvet box from my pocket and drop to one knee in front of her. “Don’t over-think, don’t overdo, just listen … I want to give you the simple life. I want to be the man you turn to at night and smile at in the morning. I want to be the man your boys look up to, and I want to teach them to appreciate good when it’s right in front of them. I want us to grow old together in this house that was a mess until, together, we made it beautiful.
“I was a mess before you came into my life. I was drowning in regret, and you gave me a reason to be again. Everything complicated became simple with you, because of you. I love you, Pamela, and I want to ride for life with you on my bike and by my side.
“I am not a man of material things; I am a man with a heart that beats for you and your children. I am a man who is on his knee, giving you a promise of a lifetime together—a lifetime where you will be safe; you will be cherished; you will be loved. I am a man who promises to love your children as my own and teach them what it is to be a man of honor. I am a man who promises to walk hand in hand with you through the good times and the bad.
“Ride with me, Pami? Give me the black picket fence? The simple life. Marry me, Pami?”
“Never in my life did I believe fairytales or a happily ever after would happen again after … everything.” She pauses, thinking. “Boomer, never did I have hope in my hopeless situation. Nothing about us is simple, but everything between us simply is. I would be proud to be Mrs. Nathan ‘Boomer’ Vaughn. I want nothing more than the simple ride with you for the rest of our days.”
The End …
Until the next ride.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Chelsea Camaron is a small town Carolina girl with a big imagination. She is a wife and mom chasing her dreams. She writes contemporary romance, erotic suspense, and psychological thrillers. She loves to write blue-collar men who have real problems with a fictional twist. From mechanics to bikers to oil riggers to smokejumpers, bar owners, and beyond, she loves a strong hero who works hard and plays harder.
Chelsea can be found on social media at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorchelseacamaron
Twitter: @chelseacamaron
Email: [email protected]
Other works by Chelsea Camaron
Love and Repair Series:
Crash and Burn
Restore My Heart
Salvaged
Full Throttle
Beyond Repair
Stalled
Box Set Available
Hellions Ride Series:
One Ride
Forever Ride
Merciless Ride
Eternal Ride
Innocent Ride
Simple Ride (coming 2015)
Heated Ride (coming Early 2016)
Originals Ride (coming 2016)
Final Ride (coming 2016)
Roughnecks Series:
Maverick
Heath
Lance
Box Set Available
The Fire Inside Series:
Co-written by Theresa Marguerite Hewitt:
Kale
Mason (coming 2016)
Ryan (coming 2016)
Regulators MC Series:
Co-written by Jessie Lane:
Ice
Hammer (coming 2015)
Coal (coming 2016)
Caldwell Brothers Series:
Co-written by MJ Fields:
Hendrix
Morrison (coming December 2015)
Jagger (coming April 2016)
Stand Alone Novels
Stay (Taboo Thriller)
Villain (Psychological Thriller coming 2016)
Heated Ride
Hellions Ride Series Book 7
The Hellions motorcycle club is a commitment for life, one Ruben ‘Ruby’ Castillo believes in.
His wife Jenna ‘Vida’ Natera de Castillo has given her life to being his ol’ lady and the mother to their three children. She takes her commitment to her man seriously.
People change, and over time, passion can fizzle. Life for Jenna falls apart the day Ruby no longer says I do.
Keeping the fires burning in a marriage is hard. Will the chaos of the club bring them back together, or is it what pulls them further apart? Will these two find the flame again? Will their love find a new spark on their heated ride through life?
Coming Early 2016
Excerpt
Ruby
Eat. Sleep. Shit. Shower. Work.
Ride.
Wash, rinse, and repeat. That’s my life.
When did everything become the same?
I walk into my home, and there is a part of me that wants to turn and walk right back out the door. Behind the stove—making an amazing dinner, I’m sure—is my wife, my life, my “Vida.” Her long, dark hair is braided behind her back as she studies the pan in front of her, humming to herself. Standing in the doorway, I study her. I study our life.
There are worry lines on her forehead. I remember when her face was flawless. My best friend’s little sister, my amigo from way back, somehow worked her way into my blackened heart. She filled every void I ever had as a boy and helped me grow into a man.
Ride or die, she’s been by my side.
I step into the living room where I immediately step on a car little RJ left on the floor, and I can’t stop the irritation that builds inside me.
When did my life go from dodging bullets to dodging fucking toys?
Are we too comfortable? Is this all we have left? Getting wrinkles and raising babies?
Vida looks up at me and smiles the same smile she has smiled for the last fifteen years, the smile that still brings my cock to attention.
I study her. She looks tired. No makeup covers her face. She’s in sweats and an old T-shirt I could swear each of our babies has puked on more than once. She sees me, and still, she smiles.
Her body has g
rown. She has changed. With the swell of each pregnancy, she grew and glowed. After each baby, she got curvier. She isn’t large, but she is no longer the tiny, no hips, tits, or ass she once was. No, my woman, my wife, my life has curves.
Smugly, I think, Yeah, I gave her those curves. Every time I planted my seed so deep, I gave her curves.
I make my way to the stove where I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her to me. I kiss her, and she opens readily for my tongue to greet hers.
Now, this is the life.
Her arms wrap around my neck as she kisses me back.
I’m lost in my woman’s arms, in her mouth, and in her touch. No matter what goes on, I can get lost in Vida.
She pulls away, still smiling. “I gotta cook, Ruby.”
“Turn it off, and I’ll turn you on.”
She pats my chest before turning back to her meal preparation. “Maybe later. The babies need to eat.”
Babies, my ass. Our kids are now nine, seven, and five. They can wait thirty minutes for me to take my wife to the bedroom and have my way with her.
I move behind her and pull her braid to the right, exposing the left side of her neck to me. I lean in and suck … hard.
She pushes her ass into me to get space. “I said not now, Ruby. Geez, I gotta feed the babies and then move the laundry. I’ve been at work all day, and now I have a house to manage,” she snaps.
I’m a motherfucking Hellion. Pussy is thrown at me constantly, but not the pussy I want. When did this happen? Where did the woman I married go? Where is the girl who couldn’t get enough of my cock when we were mere teens?
When did everything change?
Simple Ride (Hellions Ride Book 6) Page 10
