Blacktop Freedom

by Winter Travers

  That was surprising. I thought for sure we would be knocking the funeral home down to the studs. “I can swing a hammer. Just tell me where.”

  “Now that is the kind of enthusiasm I expect from you peckerheads.” Dyno smirked. “Though I bet I know where your eagerness about this is coming from.”

  He sure as hell did because he would have acted the same way if Core had asked him about Fancy. I didn’t wanna fucking talk about it, and I would do anything to change the topic.

  The only difference was Lynn wasn’t my ol’ lady. Hell, I didn’t even know when I would actually see her again. It wasn’t like she had a direct connection to the club. Sure, she hung out with the other ol’ ladies, but that was only for parties or stupid Book Club shit. And even then, she wasn’t always at those. Kimber and the girls called Book Club at the drop of a hat, and it was pretty much for whoever was sitting there.

  I shrugged and tossed the tape measure to Dyno. “I’m just doing my part.”

  Dyno snatched the tape measure out of the air and shoved it in his pocket. “Well, in that case, I’ll make sure to let Quinn know you want to work on the club every day instead of working on exterminating the Devil’s Rebels.”

  I cringed and tipped my head to the side. I wasn’t sure which one I really wanted to do. They both had good and bad things about them. “How about I split my time between the two?” I laughed.

  “Whatever you say, Zephyr.” Dyno turned toward the stairs. “Now, let’s go upstairs and see what’s happening there.”

  We spent the rest of the day measuring and remeasuring shit all while Dyno tried to figure out what layout he wanted for the club.

  The mundane work left me plenty of time to think about Lynn and wonder if I should head over to her house to make sure she was okay. I could have just called her, but I didn’t have her phone number, and I didn’t want to have to ask one of the girls for it.

  I could always call her at work, but I didn’t want to bother her when she was busy.

  By the time we finished at the funeral home, I didn’t know what the hell I wanted to do.

  Drop in on Lynn unexpectedly, or try calling her tomorrow at work?

  I was sure she would be annoyed if I just dropped in on her, but she could easily ignore me and just hang up the phone if I called her.

  It had only been a day since I had seen her. Maybe I needed to give her some more time before I called or dropped in unexpectantly.

  I cranked up my bike and pointed my wheels toward the clubhouse.

  One more day, and then, I would stop by.

  Just to make sure she was fine.

  That’s all it was.

  *

  Chapter Five

  Curve ball...

  Lynn

  “You have a visitor.”

  I stared at the messy pile of papers on my desk. “You mean my next appointment.”

  Jeanie, my secretary, cleared her throat. “Uh, well, no. He said he doesn’t have an appointment and that he’ll wait for however long it takes for you to see him.”

  “What?” I squawked. What in the hell was Jeanie smoking out front?

  “He was here when Queenie came the first time.”

  “Sledge?” I guessed. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  “Are you Sledge?” Jeanie asked.

  A low, muffled voice spoke, but I couldn’t make out what he said.

  “Oh,” Jeanie gasped. “He’s not Sledge, but he told me not to tell you anything else.”

  What in the ever-living-fuck was going on out front? “I’m coming out there,” I grumbled.

  Hopefully, I’m wrong about who is out front. Today was not the day I wanted to deal with Zephyr dropping in on me at work. I had four more appointments, and I still had to go to the pharmacy and then Dad's for dinner. Plus, I still wasn’t over my last temper tantrum I had on Sunday, so between now and me knocking on Dad’s door, I needed to get over it.

  I pulled the hair tie from my hair and combed my fingers through it. Sure, I didn’t want Zephyr here, but that didn’t mean I had to look like cow dung when I told him to get lost. Now, if only I had an extra shirt to change into. This morning when I had been going over my calendar for the day, I had managed to miss my mouth and dribble down the front of my shirt. Most of it wiped off with a wet napkin, but I still had two stubborn spots that weren’t going anywhere.

  On my way out, I caught my reflection in the glass of my door and shrugged. I sure as hell wasn’t going to win any beauty contests, but at least I wasn’t going to scare anyone if they looked at me.

  Remind me why we are trying to look nice for Zephyr?

  I didn’t have the time to talk to myself about this. What I needed was to get Zephyr out of here and get ready for my next appointment.

  “Hey,” I yelled when I pushed open the door that connected to the waiting area. Zephyr leaned against the check-in area while Jeanie sat on the other side of the desk, looking absolutely smitten with him.

  I tamped down the ting of possessiveness I had toward Zephyr.

  He is not ours. We cannot be jealous of him.

  Not like I had anything to worry about with Jeanie. She was fifteen years older than me, and she had been married for over twenty years to the sweetest guy.

  “You got a second?” Zephyr asked.

  I nodded and held open the door. “Sure thing.” I glanced at Jeanie. “Let my next appointment know I’ll be right with them.”

  Jeanie looked down at the computer. “Robert isn’t even here yet. You’ve got probably ten minutes.”

  Why did she have to say that in front of Zephyr? My plan had been to tell him I was very busy and that he needed to leave right away. Now he knew I had ten minutes. I led the way to my office and entered without holding the door open for him. Even though I was walking in front of him, his delicious, manly scent swirled around me. He smelled like freedom, leather, and fresh air.

  Freedom? Explain that more.

  I really was a dick to myself.

  Zephyr stepped into my office, and I closed the door behind him. “You can sit in either chair,” I instructed.

  He sat down in the chair closest to me and leaned back. I plopped down in my chair and tried to get a grip. This man had seen me naked. Him sitting across from me shouldn’t be an issue at all. I took a deep breath and instantly thought about him in nothing but his birthday suit.

  Oh, Jesus. That wasn’t helping.

  “You doing okay?” Zephyr drawled.

  I nodded my head vigorously. “Yeah, totally. Doing amazing.” My inner shrink rolled her eyes at the blatant lie. I really couldn’t fool myself.

  “You and dad good?”

  I nodded again. “Yeah,” I gasped. “Never better.” More lies.

  “He seemed like a good guy. He was pretty worried about you, though.”

  My eyes wanted to roll, but I didn’t allow them to. “Yeah, he’s always thinking about me and wants to make sure I’m okay.” At least for the last eight years, he had. I didn’t want to go into the twelve years before that. Those twelve years I just couldn’t get over.

  He tipped his head to the side. “Something ain’t right, darlin’.”

  I grabbed a stack of papers on my desk and tried to straighten them. “Oh, yeah? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Well, things didn’t seem that great when you stormed off the other day. Just kind of surprised by you saying that everything is great.”

  I shrugged and dropped the papers on the desk. “Everything is fine.” I sat back in my chair and tried to act like I wasn’t pissed off at Dad and just wanted to drink ten bottles of wine to dull the world. “How about you? Things going good with the club?” Deflect and redirect.

  Zephyr shrugged. “Same shit, different day. Got some things going on, but nothing worth talking about, Doc.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Maybe you should talk about them,” I suggested. Anything to stop Zephyr from talking about what a great dad Walter was.
>
  He pointed his finger at me and clicked his tongue. “You’re not gonna ‘shrink me,’ Lynn. Nice try.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Asking how you are doing is not shrinking you,” I grumbled. I was totally trying to “shrink” him. It was my job, after all.

  He sat back in his chair and kicked his legs out in front of him. “You got plans tonight?”

  “Yeah.”

  He smirked. “Do you, or are you lying?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I have to pick up a prescription for my dad and then drop it off.”

  “That’ll take you twenty minutes, darlin’.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “And then I’m having dinner with my dad. My sister might make an appearance, but hell didn’t freeze over today, so she won’t be there.”

  “There’s a whole other story behind what you just said.”

  I glanced to the side. I had said too much. I shouldn’t have even mentioned Steph. “Just stupid sister stuff. Nothing exciting.”

  “How about you meet me at your house after work, we go get your dad’s pills, and then we go to his house?” he suggested.

  Say what? “Uh, I don’t know...What?”

  Why in the heck would Zephyr even suggest that? Was hanging out in awkward situations a sort of kink for him? I wasn’t one to judge how someone got their rocks off, but if Zephyr was into that, boy, did I have buckets of family bullshit.

  “You’re telling me things are great with you and your dad, but you sure don’t sound like it. And then you mentioned your sister coming over but only if hell froze over.” He shrugged. “Sounds like maybe you could use some backup tonight.”

  “Backup?” I parroted. “I’m going to my dad’s, not robbing a bank.”

  “How about I’m more of a buffer? Things are rocky with you and your dad, so if I’m there, he’ll be more focused on me, and you won’t have to stress over whatever it is that stresses you out.”

  I tipped my head back. “Uh.”

  Yeah, I didn’t know what to say to that offer. It made sense, but how did he know that I needed that? Sure, I had dropped subtle hints that things weren’t all puppies and rainbows with Dad, but Zephyr was a guy. Guys didn’t pay attention to details like that.

  Zephyr stood. “What time are you done?”

  “Done?” I whispered. I was still trying to wrap my head around what Zephyr had said. Was he going to be a buffer between Dad and me?

  “With work, darlin’? I can pick you up from here or meet you at your house if you want.”

  I tipped my head back, and my eyes connected with his. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now, Zephyr. Why are you even offering to do this? You don’t even know me.”

  He shrugged. “I know enough about you, Lynn.”

  A few random meetings and one night of hot sex. Zephyr knew more about the shape of my body than he did anything else about me. “You’re crazy.”

  That was all I could think. What kind of man offered to go to someone’s dad’s house so he could basically be a wall? A crazy one. Case in point—Zephyr.

  “You wouldn’t be the first one to tell me that,” he chuckled. “What time do you get off work, Lynn?” he repeated.

  “Uh, I don’t know.” I didn’t, not really. It all depended on how long my appointments took. I pushed a stack of papers to the side and looked at my calendar. “My last appointment is at four forty-five.” I bit my lip and looked up at Zephyr. “Possibly five-thirty? It all depends on my much my patient needs from me.”

  Zephyr nodded. “Got it, darlin’.” He moved to the door. “I’ll see ya later.”

  “Uh, okay?” My head spun. What was going on? “I really don’t know what time I’ll be done, Zephyr.”

  A smile spread across his lips. “Don’t stress about it, Lynn. I’ll be waiting for you, no matter how long it takes.” He opened the door and slipped out of my office.

  The door clicked closed behind him, and I blinked.

  What in the fucking hell had just happened?

  He’d wait for me no matter how long it took?

  I sat back in my chair and sighed.

  Well, blow me over with a feather. I had just seen a side of Zephyr I would never have thought existed.

  Jeanie’s voice echoed through my phone. “Lynn, Robert is here.”

  I grabbed the receiver and put it to my ear. “Send him back,” I chirped.

  Right now, I couldn’t think about Zephyr and what he was up to.

  I had Robert and three more people I needed to help figure out their lives. Maybe when I got off work, I could try to figure out just the hell was going on with mine.

  It was headed in an unexpected direction, and I was confused as hell about how I had managed to find a sexy biker who wanted to be a buffer between my family and me.

  Man, life sure could throw you a curveball.

  A handsome, gorgeous biker curveball...

  *

  Chapter Six

  You waited...

  Zephyr

  It was half-past six, and Lynn hadn’t surfaced from work.

  I was parked right in front of the front door to catch her, and I had even gone in when I had gotten here at five to let Jeanie know I was here for Lynn.

  Nothing.

  I pulled a cigarette from my pocket and tucked it in the corner of my mouth. The front door opened, and a guy in ripped jeans and a white shirt jogged down the steps. I eyed him closely as he looked from side to side. This was probably the guy who had been holding up Lynn. Though I’m sure Lynn wasn’t the only shrink in the place.

  The guy made eye contact with me and tipped his head. “Can I bum one from you?”

  I nodded and pulled a cigarette from my pack. “You need a light?” I handed him the cigarette.

  He grabbed the cigarette. “Yeah. If you don’t mind.”

  He had bummed a cigarette from me, so I figured if he didn’t have his own cigarette, he wouldn’t have a light. I handed him my lighter.

  “You waiting for someone?” he asked.

  I inclined my head toward the building. “Waiting for my girl.”

  The words were out of my mouth before I could even think about them. My girl? It must be my subconscious knowing something that I didn’t want to admit.

  The guy handed me back my lighter and tipped his chin to me. “Thanks, bruh. I’ll see you around.” He ambled down the street toward the bar.

  Five minutes later, Lynn popped her head out the front door. “Wow, you really are here,” she laughed. She held open the door, and Jeanie walked out.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jeanie called to Lynn.

  Lynn pulled the door shut behind her and stuck her key in the lock. “Bye, Jeanie!”

  Jeanie gave me a sheepish smile and headed in the opposite direction the guy had walked.

  “You really didn’t have to wait for me,” Lynn argued. She jogged down the steps and stopped in front of me.

  “Said I would.” If I said I was going to do something, I did it.

  “You can still back out of this. I won’t hold it against you.”

  I shook my head and grabbed a helmet off the seat of my bike. “Not wanting to back out. I don’t offer to do something if I don’t want to do it.”

  She grabbed the helmet and sighed. “I don’t think you actually know what you agreed to do.” She laughed softly and looked up at me. “If Steph shows up, you’re going to have a front-row seat to the circus.”

  I grabbed the helmet from her and plopped it on her head. “Nice try, but you’re not going to talk me out of taking you to your dad’s, Lynn.” I grabbed the straps and clipped them together. “Get your ass on the bike, and let’s go.”

  She shook her head but moved to the bike. “If you’re driving, I’m totally going to buy a bottle of wine when I pick up Dad’s prescription.”

  I chuckled and swung my leg over the bike. “Whatever you want, darlin’. You worked hard today, so that means you get to play hard.”

  She s
lipped on behind me and rested her hands on my waist. “I’m not going to argue with that logic, Zephyr.”

  I started up the bike and glanced over my shoulder at her. “You’re in a pretty good mood for working so late.”

  She smiled wide. “It probably has something to with the fact I love being on the back of a motorcycle. It takes me back to another time.”

  “You used to ride?”. When I had given Lynn a ride home, I could tell that she was comfortable being on the back of the bike.

  She nodded. “Had my own bike for a few years.”

  “What happened?”

  She laughed. “Damn thing was thirty years old, and it was breaking down on me every other day. It was cheaper for me to get a car instead of fixing the bike.”

  That sucked.

  I would have to be dead to never ride again. I would spend my last penny to keep my bike on the road. “What pharmacy?” I asked.

  “The one on Birch.”

  I turned forward, knocked up the kickstand, and glanced over my shoulder for traffic. I pulled onto the road, and Lynn wrapped her arms around my waist.

  Lynn on the back of my bike felt good. It felt so good that by the time we had picked up the prescription for her dad and then pulled up to his apartment, I wanted to just toss the pills to him and keep riding.

  Lynn slid off the bike and looked up at the apartment.

  Something told me Lynn wouldn’t have argued with me doing that for one second.

  Things weren’t as great as she said they were, and I was going to figure out just what the hell was going on.

  *

  Chapter Seven

  Surprise...

  Lynn

  “Lynn.”

  I bit my lip and dropped my eyes to the ground.

  “Darlin’,” Zephyr whispered.

  “Maybe we can just throw the pills at him and get back on the road?” Being on the back of Zephyr’s motorcycle was way better than spending the evening with Dad.

  Zephyr chuckled and shook his head. “As much as I would like that, I think we actually need to go in.”

  I sighed and looked up at him.

  How had I gotten here? How on earth did I wind up standing in front of Dad’s apartment with Zephyr standing next to me?