Affliction

“Second right off Main, then first left,” I tell him, my fingers flexing instinctively at our closeness. He nods, still not speaking, and after a few revs of the throttle we take off. My grip on his cut deepens as the forward motion catches me off guard. I’ve never been on a bike, and after hearing Kadence’s rendition of her ride with Nix, I can now say the woman did not lie. Even if we only go slow, the air blowing my hair back is exhilarating. I don’t know if I want to get off.

“You can go faster,” I encourage, hoping he takes the hint, but something tells me he’s not the type of man to take any sort of hint. He continues to stay mute, so instead of wasting my breath, I hold on tighter and memorize his hard body under my hands.

The short ride to my apartment is over before I know it, and when he pulls into the lot, disappointment fills me. I shouldn’t be feeling like this; the man is all wrong. He doesn’t even seem interested. Why do I always go for the ones not interested? He idles in the drive while I manage to untangle myself without flashing my neighbors.

“Well, thanks for the ride, Sunshine,” I say once I’ve handed back his helmet. He takes it without speaking a word and places it on his head before looking back at me. Jeez, he really is a man of few words.

“Okay then,” I say awkwardly, even giving him a small wave and goofy smile. Holly, the guy isn’t interested. Don’t be cute. I inwardly groan at my discomfort.

His eyes narrow as he watches me and I realize I’m better off hitting my head against a wall. The man clearly has his own issues and is not interested in me being cute. I know rejection can happen—I’m just not familiar with it. I try to ignore the sting of his dismissal. I turn before I make a bigger fool of myself and start walking up the front path.

“See ya,” he finally acknowledges while revving his bike and pulls out before I can even reply. What the fuck? Now he talks?

Hitting the button for the elevator, I go through the events of tonight. The whole situation was weird. Between his instant snarky attitude at me being in his shop, to his obvious a

The doors open and I walk through ready to put this whole night behind me.

I don’t need some sexy tattooed biker to warm my bed. I push the button to take me to my floor. Shit, I might not need him, but I sure as hell want him—even if it’s just to say I’ve had him. Or at least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

***

“So, let me just get this right for a moment. You went to visit your asshole ex-fiancé without telling me. He is a part of some huge drug ring and the men after him—the men who started the fire at your house—are friends of Nix’s?” I tick off everything that just went down as Kadence sits back down on the sofa the following morning.

“Yes,” she admits, crying into her hands.

I knew something was up when I received a text message from her. I had only just spoken to her about her first sleepover at the clubhouse and filled her in on my non-eventful ride home with Sy. She told me she was hanging out for the day, when not twenty minutes later, she needed a lift. I didn’t ask questions, just jumped in my car and drove to get her. I should have pushed her, demanded she tell me what had happened, but she brushed it off as nothing. I didn’t even second-guess her when she was home for five minutes and then raced out the door. When she came through the door an hour later, white as a ghost, I knew something serious had gone down. Next thing I knew, sexy, badass Nix was banging the door down telling her that her ex-fiancé was second in charge of one of the county’s biggest drug rings. I wasn’t expecting the blow up, but hearing Zane’s name alone has my skin crawling. I’m not surprised he’s come back to start some shit. I never liked the douche. Even back when things were good between him and Kadence he always rubbed me the wrong way, but being the good friend I am I kept my mouth shut and helped her plan her dream wedding.

“Why would you go and see Zane?” I ask first, shocked she would want to see the man who destroyed her only a few years ago.

“He threatened you, Holly. Threatened our place.” She motions to our small apartment to add emphasis.

“I don’t care if that asshole threatened me, Kadence. I’m not scared of Zane, besides, what’s the point in having a badass biker daddy if you’re not going to use him to your advantage?” I ask, still not understanding her. The man tried to kill her for Christ’s sake.

“This isn’t fu

“I’m not laughing. I’m serious. Zane tried to kill you. Did you hear what Nix said? Yes, sexy biker daddy was a douche talking about your oral abilities, but you have to give it to him, he held back for a while, and you were kinda bitchy,” I admit, trying to get her to see it from his side.

“He was the one who was out of line. Don’t side with him,” she snaps, but I can see her mind ticking over what just happened.

“You both were out of line,” I correct her.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she huffs when there’s nothing left to say. She knows I’m right and in time she’ll admit it.

“So what do you want to do?” I ask, moving over to sit next to her on our comfy sofa. I know she’s upset. The best course of action would be to fill her with junk food and let her cry it out.

“I want movies, ice cream, and chocolate,” she orders, and like any good best friend, I leave her sitting there to search for supplies.

“Cookies and cream or peppermint,” I call out, checking our stash from the freezer.

“Both,” she cries and I hold in my laugh.

“You know you owe me for this,” I say, throwing the spoon at her. “I want all the juicy details on your first night in the clubhouse,” I demand before handing over the tub.

“Holly, don’t make me relive it,” she complains, thinking her pout will sway me.

“Girl, you have a real-life sexy-ass biker. Let me live vicariously through you,” I beg, watching her roll her eyes. If only she knew just how lucky she is.

“Fine, but I want details about what Sy said to you when he dropped you off last night,” she replies, taking the peppermint tub out of my hands

“Ha, I told you, the man said two words—‘see ya’.” I repeat what I told her on the phone this morning.

“You weren’t kidding?”

“No. Total asshole too, but seriously, did you see the ink on him?” I ask, remembering how sexy he looked in his dark jeans, Henley, and cut.

“I’ve seen him. I wonder what his deal is?” she asks, heaping a large spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“Don’t you know?” I ask, shocked she has no inside scoop for me.

“Nope, he’s a mystery. He doesn’t talk much and if he did, it wouldn’t be gossip, that’s for sure.” She reaches for the cookies and cream. Mystery, hey? I can handle mystery. I can’t help but hope I see the mysterious Sy again. I know I didn’t have a good first shot at him, but I know if I get another chance, I’ll have him eating out of my hand.

“What are you smiling at?” Kadence asks, watching me closely.

“Nothing, just remembering something from earlier.” I don’t want her to know I’m thinking about one sexy, broody biker. We already have one of us messed up with the Knights Rebels.

“Well, let’s stop talking about Nix, or any of the men associated with the Knights Rebels. I’m done with them.” She swallows down another heaped spoon of cookies and cream.

“Calm down woman. You can’t dump him until I get inside their club. You hear me?” I ask, only half joking. I’m more concerned for her. She’s only just coming back to herself and I won’t let one fight bring her down.