****
Her week got better. That day, Saturday, her sister and Tim showed. Surprising and thrilling. For one, she got to see her sister, whom she missed a lot, and Tim, who was a desk guy but a guy’s guy who set up her flat-screen TVs, one in her bedroom and one in her living room, and Blu-Ray and DVD players. He also helped her hang a couple of her heavier artwork while her sister watched. By the time they left that evening, her house looked like a home, but most importantly, she spent nine hours with her sister, her best friend, and Tim, the brother she never had.
Sitting on the blue armchair in her living room, feet propped up on an ottoman, she stared at her flat screen TV, off at the moment, and thought how perfect everything looked.
A bang sounded on her door.
She flinched, grabbed her cell phone, strode to the door, and looked through the peephole.
Dodge, brows furrowed, jaw clenched, the muscles lining his shoulders bunched.
Fantastic.
If she opened the door, he’d ruin her day, and she’d finish her week on a low. She could walk away and ignore the knock except she had a feeling he’d bang her whole house down until she answered causing a scene, which would end her week at the lowest low. Steeling herself for the onslaught, she unlocked and opened the door.
There, he stood, eyes hard, hands in fists at his sides and still, undoubtedly gorgeous. He wore his usual, a pair of jeans, a black shirt, and the leather vest.
She walked out, closed the door behind her, and waited.
“I came to tell you to stay away from my kid.”
Not what she expected him to say, but she couldn’t say it surprised her. He always delivered a blow. Even the one time he drove her home and complimented her was a blow, a physical one.
She didn’t understand how such a beautiful man could be such a jerk all the time. Though she had ideas about why he acted the way he did, it didn’t make it okay to bang on her door, ever. It didn’t make it right to treat her the way he had several times.
At this point, she should’ve just agreed, strode inside her house, and closed the door, but instead because she cared about Cullen, she snapped, “Why?”
“Just how many men are you fuckin’?”
He had to be kidding.
Her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “W-what?”
“I fuckin’ save you from getting hit on by my brothers ’cause I think you have a man and you’re cheating?”
The man had her confused for someone else. Had to.
“What?” Her voice high pitched.
“You fuckin’ heard me.”
She had, but it didn’t make sense. She wasn’t doing anyone, period. Why he thought she had a man, she had no idea.
Gritting her teeth, she shut her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts. “First, I didn’t ask you to save me. I don’t need to be saved. If I did, I don’t need a man to save me. I save myself. Second, I don’t have a man, so it’d be impossible to cheat on him.”
Livid now, she felt her face flush, felt that heat creep down her neck and chest and knew he noticed when his gaze lingered that way.
His stare hit hers when he cocked his head. “Come again?”
Maddening.
She fisted her hands. “I don’t have a man, so I can’t cheat on anyone.”
“You shittin’ me?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “If you mean am I taking a dump on you, that would be no. If you mean am I lying, I’m not.”
His jaw clamped shut, but before it did, she swore he’d been about to laugh, at her.
Infuriating.
“I saw you with that guy. You were kissing, right here.” He pointed to the ground.
Now at least some of it made sense. He must’ve seen Mitchell kiss her.
Her lips parted, eyes widened. She dropped her arms to her sides. “So you saw him kiss me, but you didn’t see me push him away?”
Brows furrowing, he reared back. It made her a little less angry.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but that guy you just so happened to see me kissing and didn’t see me push away is my ex. He’s been an ex for five months. He showed thinking he could get me back since it’s worked for him in the past. I guess he thought if he kissed me, I wouldn’t be able to tell him to get lost. Guess what?” She paused for a split second. “I told him to get lost.”
He lifted a brow. “So then you’re just fuckin’ the other two?”
She didn’t owe him any explanations! She didn’t owe anyone anything.
That heat traveling down her neck and chest suffused her whole body, searing her from the inside out. “You’re so vulgar, and that’s just none of your business.”
Eyes hardening, he took a step toward her. “It isn’t my business? Two men in three fuckin’ days? Why do you make it everyone’s business bringing them home?”
“Stop cursing at me on my porch.”
He advanced taking two powerful, menacing steps toward her. Eyes widening, she retreated, stumbling until her back hit the door behind her.
“You get tired of what those assholes give you, babe, you come to a real man. I’ll give it to you good. I’ll fuck you all night, make you come so hard, you’ll beg for more.”
Her jaw dropped, not because of what he said, but because of how she reacted. Her pulse jackhammered, breath hitched, body shuddered. Yes, she wanted that so much she almost told him to take her right there.
Insane.
He was a rude biker and a jerk, and she was done with men, but she couldn’t deny she wanted that, wanted him.
She shut her eyes tightly as if in doing so she’d shut out that thought. When she parted her lids, she expelled a breath. “Stop cursing at me.”
“Not cursing at you, I’m just fuckin’ talking.”
“Are you done?”
His jaw clamped. “Yeah, I’m fuckin’ done, Alexa.” Then he spun and stormed off.
That night, she lay in bed awake and thought for the first time, maybe, just maybe, she’d picked the wrong town.
Chapter Seven
Alexa couldn’t help but feel a little down since her last encounter with Dodge. The whole point of moving had been to restart her life, make it her own. She had done that, but it seemed she’d done it in the wrong place. Her nasty luck with men, she blamed it on that. No other way to explain the huge coincidence—how she’d managed to buy, remodel, and move across the street from the biggest jerk who she also happened to be insanely attracted to.
Now, she was convinced he had it out for her.
Saturday, the biggest clue of all. He didn’t care who she dated. Why would he? He was just finding ways to humiliate her in front of their neighbors and torment her. He wanted her gone and was doing what he could to make that happen.
He didn’t like her, he could ignore her. But no, every chance he had, he tried to make her life hell. He offended her, meddled in her business, and made a scene at her front door all the while insinuating she slept around.
Technically, as unmarried, she could sleep with whoever she wanted, whenever she wanted. It wasn’t anyone’s business, but if that got around, even if a lie, in a small town where word spread faster than wildfires, it’d affect how parents perceived her as a teacher. Unfortunately, people were judgmental. They’d think she lacked morals and wasn’t a proper role model. She’d lose her job meaning she couldn’t afford to have him sully her name.
Luckily, there hadn’t been another big blow up, but she knew anything could potentially tick him off considering she wasn’t even dating anyone and he thought she was sleeping around.
To avoid him, over the course of the last four days, she no longer read outside. In fact, the only time she went outside was to grab her mail. Sunday after meeting with the second contractor she interviewed, she organized the garage making enough room to fit her car. She never parked on her drive anymore. Even so, she’d seen him twice, both times while she’d been getting her mail. Though she looked outside before she walked out to make
sure he wasn’t around, he magically appeared. She blamed that on her rotten luck with men too. She missed seeing Cullen, but his father hated her and didn’t want her around, so she didn’t have much choice.
Staying indoors meant by mid-week she had gotten a lot done and had officially unpacked, the last box gone. She liked the outdoors though. Her backyard was such a mess, she couldn’t stand being out there. That left her sitting by one of the windows facing her front yard. She’d set up one of her chairs, a table, and lamp, angled so she couldn’t see his house. That way, she could sit and read and every once in a while look out.
Sitting there, legs tucked under herself, nose in a book, she heard a cry. Her stomach rolled. She shot out of her chair, tossing her book on it, and ran to her door and outside.
In the street, Cullen, his butt on the pavement cradling his knee. She didn’t think. She sprinted his way sparing a glance to her left and another to her right. A car headed toward him. The driver’s gaze down.
“Stop!” But she didn’t stop.
Her heart beating a million miles a minute, she heard it over the horn blaring and the tires screeching. She jumped in front of the car, grabbed Cullen under his arms, and hauled him to her chest. The next second, she threw herself and Cullen out of the way and turned. She intended on landing on the stretch of grass between the road and sidewalk but miscalculated how far she’d been because her back hit the pavement hard knocking the wind out of her.
The weight of Cullen sprawled on top of her, she lifted her head, looked down at him, and tightened her arms around him. His head came up, eyes wide, tears brimming, cheeks wet.
With the pain in the center of her chest shooting down her back making it impossible to take a breath, she managed, “It’s okay, Cul. E-everything’s fine.”
Everything was fine. Cullen was safe. She’d saved him.
Knowing this, she dropped her head. When it hit the pavement, her eyes fluttered closed.
****
The drier had been giving him trouble for months, but now, it was officially fucked and making some racket. It sucked big because that meant he had to blow money on a new one. Every time he started saving for a new TV for the living room, some shit happened.
He made good money at the garage, just not as much as he could make if he went on guard jobs for the club. Those jobs weren’t entirely legal, but he’d make good money and he needed money. He lived paycheck to paycheck and hated it, partly since his bitch wife spent more than he made and had accumulated a lot of debt. He took away her credit cards and told her if she didn’t cut the shit, he’d leave her, and she had, for once, listened. They’d ended anyway shortly after but for different reasons. Only recently, he’d paid off the debt, but to do it, he’d had to cut back on a lot and emptied his savings.
He slammed the drier shut and headed toward the living room.
“Stop!” A scream, her voice, scared out of her goddamned mind.
He moved, jogging toward his door. When he threw it open, a part of him died.
Cullen sat in the middle of the road, Lex running toward him. A car headed for them.
His heart sank, stomach rolled making bile rise in the back of his throat. He felt this, but he didn’t hesitate a second. He sprinted toward them, knowing no way he’d make it on time and that’d be the end of him too.
A horn echoed. Tires screeched.
Lex grabbed Cullen off the ground, hauled him to her chest then threw herself and Cullen out of the way. Mid-air, she shifted angling her back toward the ground. Dodge extended his arms like he could reach them, save them. Then a loud thump—the sound of her body, her landing on her back with Cullen sprawled over her.
Gut-wrenching.
Horrifying.
She lifted her head, looked at Cullen then dropped it.
A second later, he made it to them.
Lex moved, her arms spasmed.
Cullen raised his head. “Lex! Lex! Lex!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, the sound almost more dreadful than witnessing the scene.
Dodge knelt, circled an arm around Cullen, tugged him off her, and scanned his boy. His knee busted bad, blue bruise showing, scraped and bleeding. “You okay, Cul?”
Cullen wrapped his arms around his waist, nodded, and wailed. “Lex!”
He shifted and cradled the back of her head. With his other hand, he tugged her hair away from her face and cupped her cheek. “Lex.”
She didn’t move.
He straightened and looked around them. Maggie, his next-door neighbor, stood a few feet behind them.
“Call an ambulance.”
She stood frozen.
“Mags, now!” She moved then, so he redirected his attention to Lex. “Talk to me, baby.” Heart beating too loud, he barely heard his own voice. It didn’t stop him from talking. “Come on. Speak. Say something, Lex.”
Her ice blue eyes cracked open. “Sorry…” Her voice low, broken.
Cullen, at his side, clutched his cut and cried loud, gut-wrenching sobs.
Turning to Cullen, he released Lex’s cheek to wrap his arm around him. “She’s awake, Cul. Gotta calm down so we hear her.”
His boy went silent.
He faced Lex. Her eyes now closed. “Lex? Lex?”
Her lids parted. She groaned. “I hear you. Stop screaming.”
“Lex!” Cullen lunged.
Acting quickly, he snaked an arm around his son’s waist and tugged him back beside him, stopping him from slamming in to her. Locking eyes with his boy, he explained, “Cul, you’ll hurt her. Gotta take it easy.”
The minute he released Cul, his boy moved to the opposite side of Lex, leaned down, draped his arms around her waist, and rested his face against her stomach.
Instantly, she circled an arm around Cullen’s back and threaded the other hand through his hair. “You okay, sweetheart?”
As Cullen drew away, her arms fell from him. His boy then grabbed her hand and nodded.
Smiling at Cul, she brought her free hand to her forehead, took a breath, and with a whimper, sat up. “It’s okay, honey. I’m good.”
Dodge hooked an arm around her back helping her sit.
Her left hand came to rest on his chest. “I can do it.”
Yeah. He knew from one look she didn’t need a hero. She was her own. She didn’t need a man. She made her own dreams come true. Right then and there, things were different, but he knew if she needed help, she wouldn’t want it from him, and he had no one to blame but himself.
“I know you don’t need anyone, but I wanna help you. Every once in a while, you should let a man help. It makes us feel useful.”
Her gaze flew to his. Out of nowhere, she laughed softly. She probably didn’t have the energy for anything else, but the beautiful sound, a little something that gave him hope. He kept his arm around her back when her hand left his chest and went to her stomach.
“Oh, gosh…”
“Where does it hurt?”
“I think…” She closed her eyes. “Everywhere…”
He looked over his shoulder and spotted Maggie. “How long?”
A second later, sirens blared. He tightened his arm around her waist. “You’re gonna be okay.”
Not long after, the paramedics arrived. He moved aside, giving them room to examine her. Cullen refused to leave her; he stayed beside her holding her hand. Dodge didn’t argue the point. As he stood there watching them with his hands fisted at his sides, he felt eyes on him, looked over his shoulder, and noticed what he hadn’t before. The sedan parked on the street in front of his house, the car he’d seen almost run over Lex and Cullen. Outside the car stood a man in his early twenties. Dodge didn’t let himself look at that guy too long, whether or not the guy had done the right thing and stopped. Because if Dodge did, he’d remember that guy could’ve killed Lex and Cullen both, and that would make him lose his cool and do something that’d mean he’d spend time in jail. Instead, he looked in front of the man at the cop who stood there speaking to the
guy.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
Hearing her voice, he shifted and peered back at Lex and Cul. She now had an arm around him, tucking him close to her side.
“Can you walk to the ambulance?” One of the medics asked.
She nodded. He took two long strides, squatted beside her, snaked an arm around her waist, and helped her to her feet. Cullen didn’t release her, not as they strode to the ambulance, not when the paramedics had her sit on the gurney, not while they continued to examine her. His boy wouldn’t let her go. Lex didn’t seem to mind, so Dodge grabbed Cul under his arms and hefted him up, setting him beside her and stepping away, again giving the medics room to check her.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a blue pick-up truck, one he’d seen before, pull into Lex’s drive. A guy hopped out of the car. Dodge got a good look at him, the same man who’d been at her house last Thursday. He was dressed again like he got off his construction job, dark-haired and tall but not as tall as him, and the guy was an idiot. A chance with Lex, he would’ve at least showered before heading to her place, put on some cologne, bought her flowers, or some shit like that.
He headed for him, stopped a few feet away, and said tersely, “Lex’s not here.”
The guy cocked a brow.
“She’s getting checked by the medics. Had an accident.”
“Who?”
Fucking idiot. Who the hell would he be talking about?
He took a step toward him. “Lex, the woman whose drive you just parked in.”
“Oh, shit. Yeah? She’ll probably want to reschedule.”
Worthless. What about asking how she was? Was this the type of man she liked? Why didn’t she find herself someone who gave a fuck something happened to her?
He turned and walked away. If he looked at the idiot for longer, he may actually punch him. The guy deserved it, but still.
Reaching the ambulance, Lex sat on the stretcher, Cul beside her, his hand still in hers. The idiot followed Dodge and now stood next to him.
“Alexa?”
Her head snapped up, gaze went from him to the idiot. “Oh, I can’t believe…”
“You okay?” The idiot finally asked.
Riding Hard (Hell Ryders MC Book 4) Page 5