“What’s wrong?”
“I’m nervous.”
“Have you ever been on one before?” Lincoln asked, twisting around to look at me, his sunglasses shielding his eyes. He sat on his bike with his helmet in place, so I couldn’t readily see if he was upset with my hesitation to hop on behind him.
“Once. When Pike took me for a ride… back to his club.” The memory seemed like a lifetime ago, yet gave me the chills because it had been less than a year.
His left hand rested on the handlebar, his fingers squeezing tightly when I mentioned the Reaper. I didn’t want to upset him, but I didn’t want to lie to him either. If we were going to forge ahead in whatever relationship there was to be between us, I shouldn’t be afraid to tell him the truth, no matter how much he might not want to hear it. I was sure there would be plenty of times when I wouldn’t want to answer, but if I’d been taught anything growing up, it was never to lie.
Nothing good had ever been born from dishonesty.
“Do you trust me?” He reached for my hand.
“Yes.” And I did, without reservation.
“Then come on.” I slid my palm into his, steadied myself, and swung my leg over the bike. “Put your feet right here,” he said, reaching back and helping me. “Then scoot forward more. Yeah, right there. Now I need you to put this on.” He handed me a black helmet, but mine was a full-face one, whereas his only covered his head. Once I clicked the strap under my chin, I rested my hands on my lap. Turning over the engine startled me, even though I saw him switch the position of the key. The deep rumbling both frightened and thrilled me, a mixture of emotions I’d never experienced before. Lincoln reached behind him and grabbed my arms, pulling them forward and wrapping them around his waist. In this position, I was so close to him, my body practically melded around his. “Hold on tight, and when I take a curve, lean into it with me.” My entire body tightened at the thought I was gonna do something wrong and cause us to crash. He patted my leg, then gave it a light squeeze. “Don’t worry, babe. You’ll be fine.”
Babe?
I didn’t have time to dissect why he used that term of endearment before we were flanked on either side by Brick and his other buddy Kaden.
“You guys ready?” he asked, and after a nod from them both, Lincoln patted my hands and took off out of the lot. Once we were on the highway, he picked up speed but didn’t go too fast, which I was thankful for. Something told me he would’ve broken some laws had I not been on the bike with him.
After several minutes, I relaxed, all while keeping a tight grip on his waist. I quickly learned why people loved to ride these things so much. The feel of the open air mixed with the rumbling of the machine beneath me gave me a sense of freedom, something I’d never experienced before. When I’d ridden with Pike, I hadn’t experienced this calm, this exhilaration, and it was because I didn’t know him. And because of this, I didn’t trust him, which only made my ride with him tense. And although I hadn’t known Lincoln long, there was an attraction I felt toward him, and it wasn’t purely physical.
His stomach muscles contracted every time I moved my fingers, even an inch, and at first, I thought it was because I was griping him too tightly, but every now and again, he would reach back and touch my leg, caress the top of my thigh, and the notion I bothered him drifted away.
When his sister came by the club earlier, she brought some of her clothes for me, a gesture I appreciated more than she realized. I had to wear a belt with the jeans I wore because they were a little too big. But the shirt and sneakers she gave me fit better. Funny how a simple change of clothes did wonders to elevate my mood. On top of her generosity, she told me Lincoln wanted to bring me by the hair salon where she worked. She said he asked her to pamper me because he wanted to cheer me up. Hearing how much he cared about how I felt was enough, but I had to admit I looked forward to getting my hair done.
Whenever I started to think about what happened before Lincoln saved me that night, the vibration from the bike stole my thoughts and redirected my focus to the world passing us by. I wanted to live in this moment for as long as I could, and even surrounded by traffic, I felt a sense of calm. I didn’t want our trip to end, but five minutes later, he pulled off the highway, made a few more turns, and pulled into a busy parking lot. His friends pulled up next to us, and the three of them shut off their bikes at the same time. I didn’t realize how hard I’d been clinging on to Lincoln until I pried my hands away from his body, a slight ache making me stretch my fingers.
Reaching under my chin, I unhooked the strap and removed my helmet. “Did I hurt you?”
Instead of answering, he motioned for Brick to come over.
“What’s up?”
“Can you help Maddie off the bike?”
“Sure, but why?”
Was he mad at me? Did I do something wrong on the way here?”
“Because I need a minute,” Lincoln answered, practically growling at his friend.
Brick looked at him oddly for a second before chuckling. “Happens to the best of us, man.” He picked me up and set me on my feet before I realized he’d even touched me.
“Go inside,” Lincoln told me, shifting in his seat before biting his bottom lip. I even heard him huff.
“Are you mad at me?” The thought of him being upset with me for any reason troubled me. If only I knew what I’d done.
Brick placed his hand on the small of my back and ushered me toward the salon, but before I entered the building, I turned to look behind me. Lincoln stood next to his motorcycle, his hand adjusting the crotch of his jeans.
“Your man got a bit excited with you on the back,” Brick said, and it was then I understood what happened. I couldn’t focus on the fact that Lincoln was aroused, however, because my brain had wrapped around what Brick just said.
“My man?”
“Face it, sweetheart. You’re his.”
As soon as we entered the salon, Riley stopped what she was doing with her customer and came over to give me a quick hug.
“I’m so happy to see you, Maddie. Take a seat, and I’ll be with you in a few minutes. I’m almost done here.” There were three empty chairs against a nearby wall. I took the one on the end, closest to the door.
“I didn’t know you’d be here,” Brick said next to me, and when I looked up at him, I saw he was looking at the woman in Riley’s chair. She was beautiful, her hair the most gorgeous shade of red I’d ever seen.
“I needed a trim.”
“I’m sure you did.” His words were innocent, but the way he said them made me shift in my seat. Brick leaned up against the desk near the door, his gaze on the redheaded woman the entire time. “Whatcha doin’ after this?”
“I promised my dad and Braylen I’d stop by for dinner.”
“Maybe I’ll come with you.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” a blonde-haired woman replied, coming from the back of the salon and walking toward all of us. “You better watch yourself, Brick, or my husband is gonna be one pissy bastard, and I don’t need two moody people in my house right now.” She rested her hand over her belly before rubbing in a circular motion, and I could only assume from her gesture, and words, that she was pregnant.
While I wished to remain in the moment, I couldn’t help but be thankful Griller and his men hadn’t been able to steal another thing from me, more than they already had. I’d always dreamed of one day getting married and starting a family, and those options seemed to still be within my grasp.
Riley leaned over her chair and whispered something to her client, to which the woman shrugged before smiling.
“I have plans after dinner anyway. But we can meet up afterward,” the redhead said to Brick.
“Zoe,” the blonde woman said in warning. She looked back and forth between the woman, whose name I now knew, and Brick. “I hope you two know what you’re doin’. You see what happened when Stone found out about Riley and Kaden. These guys don’t take kindly to other Knights dating their girls.”
“I’m grown. I can hang out with whoever I want.” Zoe’s brows rose. “Besides, even though my dad won’t like it, he won’t go after Brick.”
“He can’t do much damage even if he does,” I blurted, slapping my hand over my mouth as soon as I finished speaking. What the hell was I thinking? I wasn’t part of their conversation, and I had no right butting in. “Sorry,” I said when I saw all eyes were on me.
“Yeah, what she said.” Brick laughed, pulling Zoe off to a corner as soon as she vacated Riley’s seat.
“Looks like you’re up, Maddie.”
The blonde woman who told him to watch himself brought me bottled water. “So, you’re Maddie. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Braylen.” She pointed toward Zoe. “Her stepmother and Ryder’s wife.” The blank look on my face made her clarify. “Ryder is one of the other guys in the club.”
“And he’s hot.” I turned to look behind me and saw a girl who appeared to be around my age turn the corner. She was pretty, her chestnut-colored hair styled poker straight.
“That he is.” Braylen chuckled, not at all seemingly annoyed the girl fawned over her husband. “That’s Natalie. And if you haven’t guessed already, she’s got a thing for my hubby.”
“And every other red-blooded male,” Riley added, draping a black cape over the front of me before securing it in the back with a snap.
“What can I say? I love a hot guy. Speaking of which….” I turned to see who was in her line of sight and saw Lincoln and Kaden walking toward the salon, stopping outside on the sidewalk for a moment before reaching for the handle. The chirp of the door sounded seconds later, and both guys headed straight for us.
“Hey, guys,” Natalie sang out, and even though I didn’t know her at all, she rubbed me the wrong way. An inexplicable feeling of jealousy erupted, something I’d never experienced before in my short life, and I had to admit... I hated it.
“Natalie,” they replied in unison, but neither of them looked at her. Instead, Lincoln’s eyes were on me, and Kaden’s were on Riley.
The small victory of sorts made me smile, which in turn made Lincoln grin at me like he just heard the best news.