Mac, another new Prospected lifted his chin as I rode through the gate at Haven. A few members were outside when I parked but that wasn’t what caught my attention, it was the kid moving around looking at the bikes. I dismounted and walked to where the boy stood beside Crank’s bike admiring the dual chrome pipes. When I saw his hand reach out, I walked a little faster.
“Hey, be careful, those could still be hot,” I said as I reached him.
“Is it yours?” the kid asked as he looked up at me. His face showed he was young; however, he was tall and big for whatever his age was. His hair was dark brown, and long enough the one side fell across his face causing him to swing his head to get it out of his eyes.
“Nah, that is mine over there,” I pointed toward my bike, “this one belongs to my brother, Crank. You like it?” I asked and saw the gleam in his brown eyes as he smiled.
“Yeah, it is freakin’ awesome. The paint job on the gas tank is wicked, especially the skull. Did he buy the bike like that?” I wanted to laugh at the excitement in his voice.
I never saw him around the club before so I knew he didn’t belong to any of the members unless someone had family visiting that had never been here before.
“No. He bought the bike but added a few things to it and then had the tank painted.”
“It is sweet,” he said and bent over to get a better look at the Haven emblem painted on the side of the tank.
“You like bikes, huh?” I imagine the look on his face was the same one I had the first time I was around bikes.
“I’m trying to get my mom to buy me a bike so I can ride on the farm but she says I’m not old enough. Christ, I’m twelve, not two.” I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from chuckling when I saw him roll his eyes. Damn, I didn’t envy his mom and dad with the boy’s attitude. I imagined he was a handful.
“What’s your name, kid?” I asked as he continued to examine Crank’s bike, checking every detail out.
“Ryker Allen. My mom calls me Ry.”
“Okay,” I chuckled. “Bet you catch shit for that one, don’t you?” I asked because damn, his parents had to know what they were doing when they named him.
“At first, but now I just tell them my mom gave that name because my dad was serving time there when I was born,” Ry smirked, and I laughed. Smart kid.
“Nice. You here with your mom or your dad?”
“My mom. She’s a vet. My little sister and I came with her so she could look at some snake. It’s sick or something. She mostly works with large animals like horses and cows. My sister went with her because she likes snakes.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah, they give me the creeps. I don’t even like the black snakes that hang around close to the barn to eat mice.” Ry cringed.
“Yeah, I’m with you there, kid.”
“Well, there she is, gotta go,” Ry said and moved past me. I turned to follow so I could go ask Freak about his pet. The man took better care of his snakes than he did himself. Ry’s mom was holding the hand of a little dark-haired girl talking with a couple of the guys standing out front. She had her back to us. When we walked up, she and the little girl turned around—and I was left speechless as a piece of my past met my eyes.