Joyride: (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series)

by DD Prince

  We both must’ve gotten lost in our thoughts (me in my longing), because we played out the rest of the game quietly.

  “How long did Jet and Edge date?” I asked after a long silence.

  Her eyes went dark again. “Like…five years maybe.”

  I winced.

  “But they’ve loved each other a lot longer than that. They’d dated when they were teens, too. She was in foster care and got transferred somewhere else, so they split due to distance. Found one another again years later. She was good people,” Jojo whispered.

  “I think she got the video I got.”

  “You got? You…you saw it?” Jojo’s eyes went wide.

  “Just a couple seconds. I thought I was gonna be sick. I closed it and took off. Bronto and Jesse took me kicking and screaming to your family cabin. The Wyld Jackals had already threatened to do something to me. It looked real. Jojo, if that’s the caliber of the men in this club, why would anyone want that?”

  She winced. “Not all bikers cheat, Jenna. My dad never cheated on Mom. Never. And she deserved it. She cheated loads. And Jet never said anything, but she and Edge seemed happy. I don’t know if they had an open relationship or what, but…” she trailed off, looking lost in thought.

  I didn’t say anything to that, because her biker had cheated. Because, obviously Edge had cheated on the now-dead Jet. And his cheating had gotten Jet dead. Rape or not rape, open relationship or not, Jet was dead because of Edge sleeping with that Kailey girl.

  “Did you see Luke?” she asked. “In the video?”

  I put my hand up. “Please don’t ask me about it. You don’t wanna know.”

  She shook her head. “I can tell by your face that he was fully involved. It must’ve been hard to see my brother---”

  “It was.”

  “But it was before you two met.”

  I shrugged.

  “My brother didn’t rape her. Neither did Scott, Luke, or Edge. I know these guys. If they say it was a game, it was.”

  I had nothing to say to that.

  Jojo got up with a sigh and a sad expression. “I’m gonna go grab my phone, call Gia and find out what the fuck. I also gotta warn her now that Ride knows she’s Kailey’s stepsister.”

  “This gives me a bad feeling,” I warned her.

  “I’ve known Gia for ages. She’ll get me information about Kailey.”

  “Her boyfriend was found in a dumpster in Aberdeen his morning.”

  Jojo’s eyes bugged out. “What the fuck?”

  “Rider says they’re trying to frame the Dominion Brotherhood.”

  “Who was he?”

  “A Jackal. Ben something.”

  “I don’t know him. I’ll be back.” She stepped out into the hallway.

  I hung out with Marshmallow.

  Rider stepped in a couple minutes later.

  “Where’s my sister?” he asked, looking around.

  “She went to make a call.” I kept petting the cat. “I need my phone.”

  “Why?”

  “I have to call my mother,” I grumbled. And then my gaze cut to him. “You know, I shouldn’t have to ask to use my own effing phone.” I thought I’d maybe left it at the cabin, but the look on his face told me he had my phone.

  He folded his arms across his chest. “If I wasn’t worried about what sorta calls you’d make, I wouldn’t make you ask.”

  “I’m just gonna text her,” I muttered. “Deadline, remember?”

  He sat on the bed and took my phone out of his jeans pocket and passed it to me.

  I found Mom’s contact details and opened a text message.

  “Can I help you?” I glared at Rider, who was looking at my phone screen.

  “You’re not calling; you’re texting?”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “Chicken shit.”

  “You wanna call her?” I offered.

  “Nope. I’m chicken shit, too.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Call her.”

  I looked at him.

  “Better to know where things stand than send a text that pisses her off even more.” He shrugged.

  There was wisdom in this. But, I often preferred avoidance where my mother was concerned. And, I wasn’t keen to do what he said, even if it made sense.

  I checked my email to procrastinate, and then re-opened my text messages, about to compose a message to my Mom when I saw Daniel Sotheby’s text string.

  I opened it. That morning’s text had been replied to.

  “This is Jenna’s man. She’s not avail for breakfast with you today. Or ever.”

  I glared at him. “Really?”

  He jerked his chin up in question.

  “You texted Daniel?”

  His lip curled.

  I rolled my eyes and went to my mother’s contact details and hit dial. Being pissed was being channeled into nerve…nerve to call Mom instead of text.

  “You gonna stand here and listen, too?” I demanded.

  He said nothing. He just stared.

  There was a knock on the door. He opened it. My Mom’s line was ringing.

  I saw Jojo’s head. Rider whispered something to her and then he stepped out into the hall with her.

  “Hello,” Mom answered, grouchily.

  “Hey Mom,” I said, my voice all scratchy.

  Silence. But, I swear I could feel the animosity through the phone lines.

  I cleared my throat. “I just wanted to check in, tell you I’m okay.”

  “Where are you?” she demanded.

  “Sioux Falls.”

  “Why?”

  “There’s some drama. I’m hoping to be back soon.”

  “Genevieve, this is ridiculous. You have a business to run. You can’t just run off with some loser and…”

  “I have coverage,” I defended, pacing the room. “And shit happens, Mom. I’m dealing with stuff and when it’s dealt with, I’ll be back. And he’s not a loser.”

  I heard a noise behind me. Rider was standing there. He’d heard me defend him. His expression was blank. His arms folded across his chest.

  “Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady!” she snapped.

  There was another rap on the door, so he stepped out again.

  My eyes rolled ceiling-wards and I flopped back on the bed.

  Marshmallow took that as an invite and climbed up onto me and stretched out across my belly.

  “You get back here, and you get back here today or there will be consequences.”

  “I can’t get back there today, Mom.”

  “And why is that?” she demanded.

  “I can’t tell you why. It’s complicated. I just ---”

  “Either you give me a good reason, right now, why you can’t get back here today, or you’ll force my hand.”

  “Mom! I’m an adult. I’m not a kid. And I don’t have to answer to every damn thing I do! I can’t get into things. I need you to just respect that I’ve got things under control with my business and that I’ll be home as soon as it’s feasible.”

  “Your business is clearly not your priority, Genevieve.”

  “You know what, Mother? I have a lot of priorities. My business. My friends and family. My safety. My happiness. And you and Daddy gave me the opportunity with this business, and I appreciate that, but sometimes I have to juggle things. You can’t use the business to control me. I don’t think I can take another three years of this.”

  Silence on the phone line.

  I sighed. “I’m sorry if you were worried. I can’t get into the details of why I can’t come home yet. You’re just gonna have to trust me.”

  “No. I’m just gonna have to go now. I’m busy. Some of us take our responsibilities seriously.” And with that parting shot, she hung up on me.

  Nice. I let out a growly sound in frustration and put the phone down.

  Marshmallow was sleeping on my belly, her paws curled under her chest. She purred in her sleep. I put my hands on her head and
felt her soft fur.

  Mom had said she was allergic to cats, so we couldn’t have one. I’d always wanted one. I didn’t believe she was allergic. I’m convinced she just didn’t want me to have one. My dad’s aunt had two cats and we went there once for dinner, when I was a little kid, and Mom didn’t sneeze or complain once.

  I decided that when I got home, I was getting a kitten. Or maybe a big old shelter cat who needed a forever home. Whether I had a business, or an apartment didn’t matter. I was a grown woman who could have an effing cat if I wanted to. Maybe I’d get a kitten and a shelter cat. And they’d have one another while I was at work, so they wouldn’t ever get lonely.

  Rider stepped in. Jojo followed.

  “How’d it go?” Rider asked, his voice soft.

  I looked away and shrugged. “Not good.”

  “I was just gonna get her and set her up in my room,” Jojo said. I sat up and passed the sleepy kitty to her.

  “You okay?” Jojo asked.

  I shook my head. “I’m gonna get a cat. Maybe two.”

  Rider was staring at me curiously.

  “You?” I asked Jojo.

  She shook her head. “I’m gonna get drunk.”

  I smiled. “Day drinking. Best idea I’ve heard all week.”

  Rider’s eyes bounced between the two of us, and then he said, “It’s five o’clock somewhere. What do you girls wanna drink?”

  “Pina coladas,” Jojo said. “No! Strawberry daquiris. Jet loved daquiris. And shooters. We’ll work up to the shooters.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “You two need to eat first,” Rider advised.

  “Cold bagels?” I screwed up my face. Jojo screwed hers up, too.

  “I’ll get you set up. Booze and food.” Rider kissed his sister’s forehead and then grabbed my hand. “What happened on that call?” I looked at his hand holding mine and felt something seize my chest.

  Jojo reached for the bag with Marshmallow’s things and left the room, telling us, “Bang on my door when you’re ready for me.”

  Me and Rider were alone.

  “You okay?” he pushed.

  “No.” I pulled my hand away. “But, I’m tired of her bullshit. She’s more worried about pulling my strings than what’s really going on that’s keeping me away. I can’t tell her the truth about why I can’t get back and frankly, I’m sick of her treating me like this. If she takes my salon… I’ll just figure something else out.”

  He was quiet a moment, studying me. “That what you’ve always wanted to do?”

  “I got my business degree and I worked at her bank, at Dad’s real estate brokerage. I just always wanted to do my own thing. I went to beauty school and got a loan for it and paid for it myself, despite their complaints about the business degree they paid for. I would’ve been totally happy working for another salon to start, but Dad insisted on giving me the salon. Well, I told them I wanted to pay for it. If it was gonna be mine, I wanted it to be mine for real, not a gift. And Dad came up with the plan to loan me the money and said if I did well, I’d only have to pay half and the rest would be early inheritance money from them. Morbid, kind of, but he insisted. She wasn’t happy from the get go, especially since Dad came up with the plan without her. But, then she figured out she could use the salon to control me, which she loves to do. I’m just so sick of it. Maybe I should walk. Go work for some other salon. Say forget it to the hassles.”

  “You like having your own salon?”

  “I love it. Love every damn thing about it.” I sighed. “The spot. My customers. Making them feel good about themselves. Making plans for it to grow. Seeing it actually grow. My apartment upstairs. My neighbors.”

  He ran his fingers through my hair and I felt my insides freeze up. I was being real with him. I was being revealing. And it hit me that I shouldn’t be. Why was I?

  “There it goes again,” he muttered.

  “Huh?” I played dumb.

  “The wall. Back up she goes. Read it all over your face and then saw it in your body language. If you and me are gonna work, we’re gonna have to do something about that.”

  “If you and me are gonna work? What you and me? There’s no you and me.”

  He smiled. And his smile wasn’t sweet. It was cocky. And dangerous.

  He leaned over and kissed my lips. “I think you know there is. I’ll leave that for you.” He gestured to my phone. “But, fair warning: you break my trust, it’ll be hard to earn back.” He pointed at me.

  I jerked back away from him and shot him a glare. “Don’t point at me.” I reached to smack his hand away, but he caught my index finger in his grip and pulled it to his mouth and kissed it.

  I was kind of speechless.

  He smirked. “Text message there from Pippa for you.”

  He left.

  I stared at the door for a long time.

  And then I stared at my phone and lifted it and went to a message from Pippa from earlier.

  “Hey…. I talked to Rider and not to worry. Doc Lola’s sister Lulu is helping me with Kendra’s wedding. Deb knows her. Met her teaching a class at the beauty school. Crisis averted. Lulu’s fresh outta hair school but she has talent. 4sure. I sent Kendra her portfolio and told her to look @ it before I broke the news that you might not make it. I also got Lulu to do my hair in the style you picked for Kendra and she aced it. I showed Kendra and she was totally fine. You’ll luv Lulu. I think we found our new stylist for when Deb retires, but we’ll talk when you’re back. Can I give her a couple of your appointments this week? Not to worry, I’ve been doing the daily deposits, too. Pay her by the split you talked about doing when you hire someone? Call or text me.”

  Rider called her about Kendra’s wedding? I didn’t know how to feel about that.

  I texted back a heart and wrote:

  “Thank you. My life saver! And sure. I trust your judgment. I’ll msg when I can but all’s ok right now. Love you. Xo”

  I put the phone down. And I gave my head a shake. He’d acted like the wedding wasn’t even on his radar, but then went and took care of it. And today was Wednesday and he’d covered me for Saturday, so clearly, there were no plans to get me home before then.

  A couple minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I opened it and it was Jojo. She had a pitcher containing a pink frozen beverage concoction and two glasses.

  “Strawberry daquiris,” she announced. “I found a can of mix in one of the freezers. Likely from the last time Jet partied. I was gonna wait but he told me you were alone. He’s getting us food and more daquiri mix.”

  Ten minutes later, Rider came in with a paper bag. He plopped it onto the wooden chair sitting beside the bed. I could smell whatever food it contained, and it smelled fantastic.

  “Breaded veal parm sandwiches,” he said.

  I looked at him and blinked. “Veal? Uh…. I do not eat baby animals.”

  He took a big breath, pointed at the pitcher sitting on the chair, and said “Don’t. I’ll be back.” He passed Jojo the bag in his hand, which she accepted, and then he turned on his heel and was gone.

  Just like that, no complaints or smart-alecky comments.

  But forbidding us to drink? Bossy.

  Jojo glanced at the door and then her eyes darted to me. She shook her head in what looked like confusion.

  “Pour me one of those,” I said, feeling like ‘fuck it’.

  We toasted Jet when we had our first sip.

  ***

  I’d already had two daquiris on an empty stomach, and I had no idea how much booze was in them, but I did know that those types of drinks didn’t typically taste like booze --- but these ones did. In other words, whoever the mixologist was, they mixed with a heavy hand.

  Rider came in with another bag. “Eggplant parm panini. You think eggplants are cute, babe, I’ll just say, you can pull it out and eat a tomato sauce sandwich.”

  I laughed big.

  He smirked at me, looking at me with warmth. I was feeling
a buzz already.

  Jojo got to her feet, holding the empty pitcher. “I’m gonna make some more…” she swayed just a little as she got to the door.

  He tilted his head. “She eat?”

  I nodded. “She ate both of them. She has no aversion to baby cow eating. The wench. Poor Norman.”

  Jojo laughed as she shut the door on her way out.

  “How many drinks have you had?”

  “Two. But, it feels like six.”

  “On zero food.” He shook his head. “Jojo’s cocktails are Molotov.”

  “Huh?”

  “Lethal.”

  “I’ve never tasted eggplant parm,” I notified him, eyes on the bag.

  He passed me the sandwich.

  “How was your meeting?” I asked, feeling chatty and thinking the sandwich smelled awesome.

  “Rough. Lotta tough decisions have to be made. How you doin’?”

  “My life sucks.” I bit into the partly unwrapped sandwich. I chewed, swallowed, and then gushed about it. “Mm. This is really, really good.”

  “Their pizza is their specialty. I’ll get us one before we head home.”

  “Mm.” I kept eating. It was awesome.

  Rider’s phone made noise and he texted for a minute and then he left when Jojo had come back with another pitcher of drinks. Me and Jojo had been drinking and talking. We’d been listening to music with my phone while playing cards on the bed, the wooden chair beside the bed pulled close to act as our drink table.

  We’d decided to try to get our minds off the heavy stuff. I told her about my salon. About Aberdeen. About my life before all this craziness.