“Well, are you ready to head home so you can take your mistress out for a ride?” Avery asked me as she grabbed the ring Tristan dropped. My physical therapist gave her a shocked look, and I laughed. He had no worries. She’d been the only woman for me for months, and she’d been in my bed every night since the night she came to the clubhouse and drove me over the edge.
“Yeah, she’s tired of being neglected. Time to blow those cobwebs off.” Avery laughed at my reply. Her dark hair was pulled up in a high ponytail that accented her striking looks. It amazed me that I’d been so blinded by my infatuation for Raiven that I hadn’t seen Avery for the unique beauty she was. Any similarities were superficial. My girl was stunning and stirred something so deep within my soul that it took my breath away.
In a way, it scared the fucking shit out of me.
“Well, then let’s go,” she said as she stood. Her long, tanned legs drew my attention, and I wanted to do naughty things to her in the PT clinic.
“Want me to see if Mattie will watch Tristan so you can ride with me?” The truth dawned in my therapist’s eyes and I chuckled.
“Not this time. I think you need this one by yourself.” At her words, I reached over, grabbed her by the back of the neck, and kissed the fuck out of her.
“I think I love you,” I whispered against her lips. Her eyes went wide, and I realized what I’d said. The funny thing was, I didn’t have any desire to backpedal or correct myself.
We made my next appointment and left the clinic.
The entire way home, I held her hand like a pussy-whipped sap and didn’t care one iota.
After getting her and Tristan settled at home and making sure everything at the house was secure, I grabbed her hair and kissed the absolute fuck out of her.
“Wow. If that’s what I get when you’re able to ride your bike, I hope you ride every day.” Her voice was breathless, and her gaze was stunned.
“I love that look on you. What do you say I do that and more when I get back?” I said against her neck. When she was only able to answer with a moan, I grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes?”
“Mm-hm,” she said as she tipped her head to grant me better access to her neck. Taking full advantage, I scraped my teeth along the sensitive skin before nipping harder.
“You better go, or I’m keeping you here and in your bed,” she rasped out, and I chuckled.
“That has definite merit. But I’ll take a rain check until I get back. You sure you don’t want to go with me?”
“Next time.” She gave me a soft smile. My fingers sifted through her long ponytail.
“Avery… I….” My heart pounded as I contemplated what I was about to say. Not because I doubted myself, but because I wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear it. Granted, we’d been fucking like rabbits since that night at the clubhouse, but this was more.
“We’ll talk when you get back,” she said as she reached up to kiss me again. It was my turn to groan.
“Go spend time with your mistress,” she teased, pushing on my chest.
With a growl, I grabbed her ass, jerking her up against me. “You know that’s bullshit, right? There’s only you.” It was true. She was the only one I could see myself with. No one else held a candle to her, and I was actually ashamed I didn’t see that right away.
Searching my face, she inhaled deeply. “I know,” she whispered.
“Okay. I’ll be back later, babe.”
One last kiss, and I was out the door.
After opening the doors, I rolled my bike out of the shed. Her paint gleamed in the sun. For a moment, I stared at her, trailing my fingers along her surface much like I would over Avery’s skin.
Throwing a leg over, I settled into the seat. The rumbling roar of my engine as I started her sent a giddy thrill through me.
Carefully maneuvering on the gravel drive, I turned around and hit the road. Anticipation had me shaking. The wind tugging at my cut immediately calmed me. Fuck, I’d missed that.
Taking the scenic route, I went to the shop to see Lock and Truth. Pulling up out front, I saw Lock’s head lift from the bike in front of him. A broad smile covered his face. Hitting the throttle, I caused my pipes to crackle and saw him shout something across the shop.
Truth got up from the racing Harley he was working on. As he wiped his hands on a shop rag, he too grinned. I shut the bike off and sat there enjoying the ticking of the engine as it cooled.
“Well, look at that. Back on two wheels,” Truth said. I got off my bike, and he came over to give me a fist bump.
“Good to see you riding, bro,” Truth said. His white T-shirt was covered in smears of grease, and his hands and nails were stained with it. The smell of oil, exhaust, and rubber hit me, and I actually found myself missing working in the shop back in Iowa.
Recognition flickered in Lock’s eyes. He smirked. “You ready to come aboard?”
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I shrugged as I looked off to the side, then back to him and Truth before admitting what I’d been putting in motion, “I’m thinking about finishing my paramedic certification.”
“Really?” I expected him to be upset that I didn’t want to keep busting my knuckles on bikes. I didn’t expect the happiness that lit his face.
“I figured you’d be upset,” I admitted as I chewed on my lip nervously.
“Why the fuck would I be upset? If it makes you happy and it means you stay around here, I’m over the fucking moon, Jax.” Lock tipped his head as he studied me. “You actually look really damn happy.”
I thought about the last several days with Avery and Tristan. “I am, bro. I really am.”
“That’s good shit,” Truth said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler inside the bay door. He tossed me one, and I cracked the lid, pouring a bit of the cold water over my sweaty head. Then I guzzled half the bottle down.
“Fuck, it’s hot today,” I grumbled. It was days like that when I really missed Iowa. We didn’t get near as miserably hot up there. “Are y’all about done here?” I glanced at the time. It was almost closing time.
“Yeah, why? Whatchoo got planned?” Truth questioned, with a curious grin.
“Impromptu ride?” Lock asked.
I couldn’t hold back the happy curl of my lips. “Yeah. You up for it?”
“Hell, yeah. Just let me text Raiven to tell her not to hold supper for me.” He pulled his phone out as he was talking and shot off a text.
After texting Slice to see if he wanted to join us, I waited while they finished up and closed up shop. He didn’t answer, but he pulled up as they were closing the bay doors.
“Hey, hey, hey, look at this shit!” He jumped off his bike and embraced me hard enough that he lifted me off the ground. “Good to see you riding again, bro! Arm doing better?”
“Yeah. Still a little tingly and twitchy, but I got the go-ahead from the doc.”
He grinned and nodded. “Fuck, yeah!”
Once everything was locked up, everyone mounted up, started their bikes, and tugged on their helmets. “Try to keep up,” teased Truth before he dropped his visor and whipped out of the parking lot. Hauling ass across 29, I was thankful traffic was light.
The rest of us went full throttle to catch up. When I pulled up next to him, he gave me a chin lift and held out his fist. Reaching out, I gave him knucks, and we rode two-by-two through Georgetown. Once we crossed the San Gabriel River, he shot ahead again.
I’d almost caught up to the crazy fucker when a crotch rocket darted past like I was standing still. It was like watching a bad movie play out in front of me. The bike intentionally clipped Truth, who tried to fight it, but his momentum worked against him gaining control.
His bike went down and skidded sideways with him in its wake. Slice motioned for us to go after the guy as he pulled over.
Screaming down the road, I hit 115 mph. Lock was on my tail, but the sport bike was pulling away. Cussing, I realized there was no way we were catching him. The only on
e of us who had a bike fast enough to catch him was down. Spinning my hand in the air, I told Lock we were turning around.
We hauled ass back to where we’d left Truth and Slice. Pulling in behind Slice’s ride, we wasted no time getting off and over to where Slice was on the phone and Truth was laid out on the ground.
“Motherfucker!” Truth was yelling as he held his leg. His helmet was about twenty feet away, and I prayed he’d gotten pissed and threw it. Because if it had gotten ripped off his head, that was not good.
“Lie down, goddammit!” I shouted at him as I dropped to my knees. Afraid he had a spinal injury, I knew he could risk making it worse if he kept moving around.
“Fuck off! Everything’s good except for my leg!” He at least let me assess him, but he refused to lie still.
“Do you have x-ray vision now?” I demanded. He glowered at me as I palpated his leg and abdomen once he finally humored me and lay back. Satisfied that I’d done all I could with no equipment, I glanced to Slice, who was still on the phone.
“Help is on the way. You catch him?” Slice asked as he tucked his phone in his back pocket.
“Fuck, no,” growled Lock. “Asshole was fucking fast.”
“I’m not surprised. That was a fucking Ninja H2R he was on.” Truth moaned as he clutched at the dried grass in the ditch.
“What the fuck? Those aren’t even street legal—and they’re like fifty grand. What the hell just happened?” asked Slice in exasperation.
“Right. Therefore, not even a plate to track. And it goes almost 250 mph, so there was no way we were catching that shit. You’re putting cams on my bike when you’re able. I’m going to call Hacker and see if he can find out who all owns one in this area. Lock, call Smoke and let him know what’s up.” There were tech savvy brothers down in Texas, but Hacker and I had history. Even though he had Kassi and their son now and they were all back in Iowa, we were still close.
I’d finished giving Hacker the info when we heard sirens approaching. The fire truck was first on scene, immediately followed by law enforcement. Stepping back to give the paramedics room to work, I experienced a longing to be in the thick of things. Walter thought it was about firefighting, but really, it was the thrill of saving a life. Sure, I’d enjoyed being a volunteer fireman, but the other side of that coin was what drew me.
It was then that I knew what I needed to do. Shit or get off the pot. I’d hesitated because there were times that blood sent me back in time in not a good way, but I knew I could get past it.
By the time we all arrived at the hospital, the rest of the club was there waiting. Styx went in as Truth’s “brother” and got all the information regarding his injuries from the doctor to relay to us.
“Where is he? Cooper Kosinski. Goddammit, where’s my brother?” we heard shouted from the desk. I stood up and went to the desk with Smoke and Straight.
The poor nurse at the desk was sitting there staring at the guy with her mouth hanging open. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was intimidating, because she recognized him, or because she thought he was hot. Regardless of the reason, we decided to save her from his ire and him from getting his ass in trouble.
“Alex?” Smoke called. The tall man at the counter turned. He and Truth didn’t look a lot alike unless you counted their dark brown, wavy, shoulder-length hair and those blue eyes. That, and they both had full sleeves of ink.
“Smoke,” he said in relief. They’d obviously met before. Looking over his shoulder at the nurse, he gave an apologetic look. “I’m sorry if I was an asshole. I’m worried about my brother.”
“Come on over here,” Smoke said and walked away. We all followed. Once we were out of earshot from everyone, he filled Alex in on what we knew.
“Jesus. I thought him getting off the flat track would mean he’d be safer.” He ran a hand through his hair, and I was pretty sure I heard the women who’d now gathered at the front desk sigh.
“Well, like I said, all in all he’s good. Styx said they told him he’s going to be fine. Sore, but okay. He’s got some pretty bad road rash and his lower leg is broken, but it’s a clean break,” Smoke explained as he rested a hand on Alex’s shoulder.
“When can I go see him?” he asked, appearing only slightly less worried.
“Mr. Kosinski?” a young blonde nurse said from behind him. Her cheeks were flushed bright pink, and she was damn near drooling. Alex turned to make eye contact.
“Yeah?”
“Umm, I can take you back to see your brother.” She stammered a little, and he gave her a killer smile.
“Thanks.” He turned to us. “You guys still gonna be here when he gets discharged?”
“Do you really need to ask that?” Smoke said with a smirk.
“Right. Okay, see you in a bit then,” he said before he returned his attention to the young nurse.
“I’m a really big fan of yours,” she was saying to Alex as they walked off. We all chuckled.
“If I was a betting man, I’d say someone’s getting lucky tonight,” chuckled Straight, covering his mouth and shaking his head.
“Truth said that boy gets more pussy than he knows what to do with,” Slice added from his slouched position in the chairs.
“Like you don’t?” laughed Radar as he kicked the bottom of Slice’s boot.
“Fuck off. Not like that, I don’t,” grumbled Slice.
“So on a serious note, when are we going to talk about all of this? Because that,” I thumbed over my shoulder toward the door Alex and the nurse had gone through to get to Truth, “was no accident.”
Everyone sobered. Smoke met all of our gazes. “Yeah, I know.”
My phone rang, and I saw Hacker’s number flashing on my screen. I held up a finger and mouthed, “Hacker.”
“Hey, bro, you got anything for me?” I asked. His sigh told me either he didn’t or it wasn’t good.
“Not really. A bike matching the description you gave me, was reported stolen two days ago. So it’s likely it’s your bike that ran Truth off the road. After all, what better way to do something like that than with a bike that can’t be traced to the person who did it.” He swore. “I’m sorry. I wish I had better news. I’m still checking for traffic cams that might have caught the guy before he got to you guys.”
“It’s all good. Thanks,” I said, then hung up and pocketed my phone.
“What did he have to say?” asked Smoke and Straight at the same time. I glanced around to make sure we were still alone. An older couple was in the chairs over by the front doors. A woman with a sleeping baby looked forlorn. Other than that, we were by ourselves in our corner.
“A Kawasaki Ninja H2R was stolen two days ago that matched the description of the bike that ran Truth off the road. So we’re 0 for 0 on that. He’s looking into cameras and shit, but who knows.” My arm was starting to throb a little, and I flexed my fingers to work away the numbness that was tingling at the tips.
“You okay?” Straight asked when he noticed my actions. Concern furrowed his brow.
“Yeah, it just gets weird every so often. Nothing I can’t handle,” I said. Shrugging, I realized how long I’d been gone and figured I better let Avery know where I was. “I need to make a call. I’ll be right back.”
The whoosh of the automatic doors preceded me as I made my way outside. I was looking down at my phone and accidentally shoulder-checked someone as I walked outside. “Sorry,” I said as I looked up. The man’s hard gaze held mine the entire time he walked past me. Something about the guy was familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him.
“Do I know you?” I asked, but he kept walking, ignoring me. “Fucker,” I muttered. I stepped outside and wandered off to a bench away from the door.
Hitting Avery’s contact on my screen, I listened to it ring then go to voicemail. I hung up and tried again in case she was in the bathroom or taking care of Tristan and couldn’t get to her phone quick enough. Voicemail again.
Deciding to leave her a message, t
o be safe, I said, “Hey, Ave, I didn’t want you to worry, but I’m at the hospital with Truth. He went down today, but he’s going to be okay. Just wanted to let you know. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Give Tristan a kiss for me.”
I ended the call and went back inside.
A niggling apprehension left a sour feeling in my stomach, but as I glanced around, I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. People parked, got in and out of vehicles, kids fussed or laughed. No one looked or acted suspicious.
Frowning, I went inside and rejoined the guys. “Everything okay?” Smoke asked me.
“I’m not sure. Nothing I can pinpoint, but something doesn’t feel right.”
All the guys looked around carefully. “I don’t see anything,” said Slice as he scanned the room inconspicuously.
“It’s nothing I saw, just a feeling.”
Smoke nodded.
And we waited.
“Angel”—Theory of a Deadman
After finishing my homework and playing with Tristan for a while after he woke up from his nap, I was bored. Looking at my chunky monkey where he bounced in his little activity center, I smiled. “Hey, wanna go shopping?”
He clearly didn’t understand me, but he grinned and cooed. Drool trailed down from his toy he was shoving in his mouth with both hands. “Look at you. Messy boy,” I laughed.
Scooping him up, I lifted him high in the air causing him to giggle. I pretended to eat his belly, then kissed his chubby cheeks and in the soft perfect spot on his neck. “Mama loves you, little man.”
Once I’d changed his diaper, I gathered his stuff, my purse, and my keys. We got in the car and I cranked up the AC. The trip into town didn’t take long, and I parked in the closest spot I could find. The place was packed, so we were damn near at the back of the lot. Huffing, I put Tristan in the ridiculous Tactical Baby Gear carrier that Gunny had bought because he wanted a badass carrier to use. I snickered at how over the top it was.
Jax and Jokers: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel Page 21