But what was meant for me?
✽✽✽
Chapter Fifteen
Take me for a ride…
Dyno
I managed to shove all of Fancy’s shit in my saddle bags and still had a bit of room if she needed more. “You sure that is everything?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I have everything I’ll need.”
When she walked out of her bedroom, I could tell something in her had shifted. I hadn’t intended to tell her how to live her life, but from what I saw standing on the outside looking in, she seemed to be chasing something she didn’t really want.
If there was anything her mom’s life should have taught her, it was life was short and you needed to live every minute for yourself.
There were people out there who were meant to have the spouse and two point five children, but I didn’t see that being the life to make Fancy happy.
Fancy stared at the bike and didn’t move.
“You wanna take the long way back to the clubhouse?”
She tipped her head back and looked up at me. “Long way?”
I grabbed her helmet and handed it to her. “Yeah, babe. The long way.”
Something had changed back in Fancy’s bedroom. I had seen her as more than what she put out to the world. The high maintenance and bitchy vibe was a shield, and it protected her from actually feeling anything.
I threw my leg over the bike and cranked it up. Fancy hesitated and looked down at the helmet.
She was either going to throw the helmet at me and tell me to get fucking lost, or strap the damn thing on and just start living her life as it came.
It felt like an eternity waiting for her to decide, but she finally reached up and snapped the buckle under her chin. She slid on behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Take me for a ride, Dyno.” Her lips were close to my ear, and her warm breath fanned against my neck.
I kicked back the kickstand, backed up the bike, and rocketed out of the parking lot.
It seemed Fancy had figured out some shit about herself, and I realized something too.
I liked Fancy on the back of my bike, and I wanted her to stay there. Now she had to figure out if she wanted to be there.
✽✽✽
Fancy
“Where are we?” I slid off the bike, my legs shaky from being on the back of it for hours.
“Not fucking sure.” Dyno reached up to unsnap my helmet and lifted it off my head.
I looked around at the large truck stop where we had stopped. Taking off and just driving was something I had never done before. “So what made you stop here?”
It seemed like Dyno had done something like this before, so I was going to have to follow his lead.
He nodded toward the bike. “Not gonna get much further unless we gas up.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” I laughed. “Here I was thinking you had a plan.”
Dyno shook his head and pulled out his wallet. “I never really have a solid plan, babe. I know what I want to happen, but the path to getting there is always an experience.”
“So, what do you want to happen today?”
He pulled out his credit card. “For you to just live.”
I looked around, and my eyes caught on a large sign. “So today, for me to just live is to get gas at a random gas station and eat the biggest cinnamon roll in the Midwest?” I nodded to the sign behind Dyno.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Yup, that seems like a good place to start.”
I walked across the parking lot and into the gas station. I grabbed a booth in the diner and decided to embrace just living. I ordered a few things that caught my eye on the menu and waited for Dyno to come in.
The waitress brought over two iced teas, and I toyed with the wrapper from my straw.
I wasn’t sure if Dyno had intentionally driven for so long to give me time to think, but I was thankful he had. It wasn’t as if I had figured out my life on the back of his bike, but I was definitely looking at things differently.
Since Mom died, I had lived with the goal of having more than she did.
A steady job.
A place of my own.
A man who was the exact opposite of anyone she managed to turn the head of.
Kids I would put first.
I wouldn’t only think of myself.
The only way I thought I could have those things was if I did everything she wouldn’t do, and in my head, that all started with a guy who wore a suit and was the most boring person on the planet.
At the end of the day, all I had gotten out of it was a string of shitty dates that just made me feel bad about myself because none of what I thought I wanted and needed was working for me.
“You’re staring so hard at the table that it looks like you’re trying to split it in half.” Dyno slipped into the opposite side of the booth with a smile.
I studied his handsome face and sighed. “How are you so happy?”
He shrugged. “I’m just living, darlin’.”
Telling him my name was Fancy sat on the tip of my tongue but something about the way he called me darlin’ felt right.
Just living.
What does that even mean?
“You’re thinking too hard about it, Fancy. There isn’t some plan you can make to live life. You just have to take it as it comes and enjoy it.”
“You’re like some Zen biker.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I wouldn’t say I’m Zen. I’ve just lived enough to know that you can’t expect life to follow a plan you laid out before you ever had a chance to live.”
Dyno grabbed the menu, but I pulled it from his hands.
“I already ordered.”
He looked up at me with a coy smile on his face. “Oh, you did?”
“I decided the first way I’m just going to live is to order whatever looked good on the menu.”
“Now you got me wondering what exactly you ordered,” he chuckled.
“Well, here comes our appetizer.” I nodded over his shoulder at the waitress walking over with two red baskets in her hands.
“Here we are, folks.” She set the baskets down on the table. “Mozzarella sticks and southwest eggrolls.”
Delicious smells wafted up to my nose, and I smiled. “My first choice in just living is fried cheese and egg rolls.”
Dyno tossed his head back and gave a deep laugh. “Now that is the kind of life decision I can get behind.”
We were halfway through deep fried heaven when the waitress brought over our next plates.
“You ordered more?” Dyno laughed. “I’m not going to be able to get on the bike if we keep eating.”
I winked. “Live a little, Patty.”
Dyno growled at the name. “Just for that, I’m never calling you Fancy again.”
“Your name is Fancy?” the waitress gushed. “Like the song?”
I rolled my eyes but nodded. “Exactly like the song.”
“Well, if that isn’t the neatest thing I’ve ever heard.” She set the two plates down and beamed at me. “Much cooler than Patty.”
Dyno choked on the bite of mozzarella stick in his mouth.
I looked at the name tag on the waitress’s chest. “Thanks, but I think Denise is a pretty kickass name, too.”
She shook her head and giggled. “You’re wrong, but I’ll take the compliment.” She walked away with a huge smile on her face and humming under her breath.
Dyno sat back and wiped his hands on his napkin. “That was nice, but I have to agree you’re wrong about Denise being a kickass name.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled one of the plates closer to me. “So, I couldn’t decide between the meatloaf that they boasted as world famous and the turkey dinner with all the fixings.”
“So you ordered both.”
I shrugged and grabbed my fork. “I guess that’s how I’m going to live. Two dinners and make you eat the leftovers.” I dug into the meatloaf and groaned. “They were not wrong about that being
damn good meatloaf.”
Dyno stabbed a chunk with his fork and chewed slowly. “You’re right, darlin’.”
I ate a few more bites and sat back in the booth. “So now that you know all about my life, I think it’s only fair for I know a little bit more about you.”
He wiped his mouth and shrugged. “Not a whole lot to tell. I had a pretty good childhood. Parents stayed together until I graduated high school and then divorced. One lives on the west coast and the other the east coast. Worked on cars for a while but burned out on that. Found out I was pretty good with my hands when it came to wood. Took a few courses at the community college on architecture and set off on my own working any job I could get. Learned from every person I came into contact with. Somewhere along the way, I became the guy people came to learn things from.”
“And now you’re in Marion helping build an MC clubhouse?”
He nodded. “Yup. I met Quinn a while ago on a job, and we kept in touch. Even when he was put away. When things went south with the Rolling Devils, I was the first one he called to help. I really didn’t have the urge to put roots down for the past fifteen years, but something about the kind of club Quinn wants to create sounded good.”
“So now you’re going to live life in Marion with the Kings of Vengeance.”
He took a huge bite of turkey and smiled. “Yup. This is where living life got me.”
I looked around and laughed. “Living life got you sitting in a diner eating two dinners and me.”
“Yup, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now.”
My cheeks heated at his words, and I tried not to swoon.
I failed.
Butterflies floated in my stomach, and I couldn’t help but feel that this was where I was meant to be. For so long, I had been searching for the right man, and somehow, Dyno ended up sitting across from me.
He nodded to the plates on the table. “You better help me eat all of this. There’s no room on the bike for a container of leftovers.”
“I’m thinking maybe you should get a sidecar for your bike.”
Dyno stopped chewing and eyed me up and down. “I can’t tell if you’re fucking serious or not.”
“What if I am serious?” I wasn’t. Not at all. Dyno's bike was too cool to be ruined by putting a sidecar on it.
“Then I think we better go get your head checked, darlin’.”
I laughed and stabbed a piece of turkey. “We’ll take a detour to the doctor’s office on the road of just living?”
“There’s just living and then there is thinking about putting a sidecar on my bike is a good idea.”
“So there is a line that can be crossed in this world you live in.”
“Yeah, darlin’. Just working on living and I’ll take care of the bike.”
We finished most of the food, and I understood what Dyno was talking about earlier when he said he wasn’t going to be able to get on the bike if he ate too much.
“Oh, my God,” I groaned as I threw my leg over the bike. “I shouldn’t have ordered so much food.”
“Good thing you didn’t order that cinnamon roll. Denise would have had to have rolled us out of the restaurant if you did.” Dyno handed me my helmet over his shoulder. “Put that on and try not to fall asleep back there.”
I set the helmet on my head and snapped the strap under my chin. “How come I have to wear a helmet and why don’t you?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Gotta keep you safe, darlin’.”
“Same goes for you, Patty,” I smirked.
“You’re gonna pay for that, Fancy.”
I had bugged him about only calling me Fancy, but now, I liked when he called me darlin’ or babe. It was different when it came from him. “Oh, is that so, Patty?”
I was pushing him. I wanted to know how I was going to pay for calling him Patty. I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
He shifted on the bike, leaned forward, tilted his head a little bit, and pressed his lips against mine. I had wondered if his mouth would be soft or hard. There was no more wondering.
His lips were hard, but they also yielded beneath mine. He teased my lips with the tip of his tongue, and I opened my mouth. He swept in, playing with me while we tasted each other. I leaned forward, my tongue dancing with his, and he twisted around to cradle my chin in his hand.
“You taste better than honey, darlin’,” he whispered against my lips.
“You’re so soft,” I whispered back.
“Not for long,” he grunted. His lips pressed hard against mine, and his fingers unsnapped my helmet. It clattered to the ground, and he delved his fingers into my hair.
“Dyno,” I gasped against his lips.
The kiss turned wild. We weren’t tasting each other anymore. Dyno was devouring me, and I was just along for the ride.
The hot, sexy, swoony ride.
“Oh yeah, buddy! Give it to her!” A loud semi horn blew, and guys were hooting and hollering around us.
I buried my face in Dyno’s neck and tried not to die from embarrassment. “Kill me now.”
Dyno hooked his finger under my chin and tipped my head back. “No dying on me after that kiss.” He pressed a kiss to my lips and twisted back around. He leaned over to grab the helmet off the pavement and handed it back to me. “Strap that on, darlin’, and let’s head home.”
I did as he said because my brain was still drowning in his kiss. Dyno cranked up the bike, and I wrapped my arms around his middle.
“Take me home, Patty,” I whispered in his ear.
He chuckled low and glanced over his shoulder. “Anything you want, darlin’.”
✽✽✽
Chapter Sixteen
Right now or longer…
Dyno
“Where the hell were you?”
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and looked around the kitchen area. “Went for a ride.”
While Fancy and I had been gone, all of the new appliances had been delivered and hooked up.
“Must be nice to just disappear for the afternoon.” Quinn leaned against the stove and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Sorry, brother. Sort of just happened.”
Fancy had disappeared to her room once we had gotten back to the clubhouse, and Quinn had cornered me in the kitchen.
“You wanna tell me what happened?”
“I need to?” Last I knew, kissing Fancy didn’t have anything to do with the club.
“You seem a hell of a lot more relaxed so I’m assuming you and Fancy managed to come to an understanding.”
I shrugged. “Guess you could say that.”
Quinn chuckled and shook his head. “Come on, brother. You’re really gonna stand there and not tell me what the hell is going on between the two of you?”
I couldn’t tell him what was going on because I wasn’t really sure. Yeah, we kissed. And yeah, it felt damn good to have her pressed against my back the whole way home, but God knew what it actually meant. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”
“Well, you’re a braver man than I thought you were. Any man that decides to take on Fancy needs a medal or a psych eval.” Quinn smiled wide. “I will say, compared to the other guys she’s dated, you’re in a league of your own.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked,
“It means every guy before you was dressed in a suit and was either a doctor or a lawyer.” He laughed again. “Think she thought if the guy had a 401k and a Bentley in the garage that they were the perfect man.”
“You and I both know that’s some bullshit.”
I had worked for the guys Fancy dated. They may have money in the bank, but that didn’t make them good people. I couldn’t tell you how many times I would be working for these guys building a pool house or some extravagant addition to their house only to have their wives or girlfriends hit on me because that perfect guy was really an asshole who was only good for paying the mortgage and car payment.
“Yeah. Though
it looks like maybe she isn’t thinking that way anymore if she’s looking your way.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
Quinn eyed me knowingly. “You want her to keep looking your way, or are you just looking for right now?”
“Don’t know about that either, brother. I can tell you I like being with her. She’s sexy as fuck. Felt good to have her on my back with the wind in my face. Does that mean we’re together forever?” I shook my head. “Too early for any of that shit, brother.”
I had lived the past fifteen years of my life caring for myself and no one else. I knew having a woman who was mine was something I wanted, but I wasn’t going to jump the gun and assume that person was going to be Fancy.
“So you’re just gonna ride it out and see what happens?”
I nodded. “That’s how I’ve lived my life for the past thirty-four years. No reason to change now.”
Quinn chuckled. “This is going to be fun to watch.”
I had a feeling he was right. Fancy may be looking my way, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to have to deal with all the sass she liked to hand out.
It was a good thing I liked that sass.
✽✽✽
Chapter Seventeen
Another one, again…
Fancy
“I feel like we’re back in high school and having to bum rides from people to get to school.”
Kimber snickered next to me. “That is exactly what this feels like.”
Rhino was driving, and Petra was sitting in the passenger seat next to him. It was our first day of carpooling to work, and it felt ridiculous.
After Dyno had kissed me like I was air, he sort of kept his distance from me. Though, that might have been because Kimber was attached to my hip for the rest of the night and all day Sunday.
Saturday night, I fell asleep before he even came into the room, and then last night, Kimber and I had fallen asleep on the couch in the common room watching Mortal Engines.
Lean Into It (Kings of Vengeance MC Book 2) Page 10