Outlaw Souls MC Box Set: Books 1-6

by Hope Stone

  She nodded in understanding. “All right, then. Best of luck to you, Paige.”

  The smile faded as soon as I turned my back to walk out the door. Tears threatened to come and my heart sank. Maybe I should just quit and go home to Verde Hills. Maybe my parents were right, and this whole thing was a huge mistake.

  Ryder

  The church clock was gonging, telling me it was midnight. The church down the street from our apartment complex had this bell that went off every half hour. It was supposed to stop at night so nearby residents could get some sleep, but evidently the timer was broken so it gonged every half hour all day and night. While most people would find it irritating, I found it kind of soothing. Sort of a reminder that we were being watched over by a higher power.

  But tonight I wasn’t thinking about that or feeling soothed. Seething was more like it. Lily had said she and a friend from school were going to a movie that was supposed to get out at ten. The theater was literally three miles from here, so either they went somewhere else after, didn’t go to the movie at all, or she was out with Scorpion again.

  If it were the latter, that little shit better realize how close he was to being seriously injured by me. I was not kidding when I told him to leave Lily alone.

  I stretched and then got up off the couch to turn the TV off. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until she got home, but I was sick of just sitting there waiting.

  I went to the fridge to get a bottle of water when I heard her key in the door. That familiar feeling of relief and rage surged again. I just turned around and waited.

  “Oh! Ryder. I didn’t think you’d still be up.” She came in but didn’t meet my eye as she put her keys in the bowl.

  One whiff of her told me she’d been with Scorpion. Not too many sixteen-year-old girls were chain smokers.

  “You know I can’t sleep when you’re out. You’re late.”

  “Oh, yeah. Hannah and I went to Baskin Robbins to get some ice cream after the movie.”

  She was lying straight to my face!

  “I see.” I turned my back and went to put the bottle in the recycling. “How was the movie?”

  “Oh, it was good.”

  “Did the dog die in the end?” I knew the answer to this question because I’d accidentally read a spoiler about it online.

  “Thank goodness, no. You know I hate movies where the dog dies.”

  I had her. “That’s bullshit, Lily. And you know what’s worse? You’re lying straight to my fucking face. You know I hate it when people lie to me.” My heart was pounding in anger.

  “I’m not lying to you, Ryder. Why would you accuse me of that?”

  Now she was lying to me about lying. But I could tell by the look on her face that she knew I’d caught her.

  “You are really off track, Lily. You’re hanging around that asshole and you’re going to get hurt.”

  “If you’re referring to Scorpion—who I was not with tonight, by the way—he is not an asshole. He loves me. And if you would just take the time to get to know him before you judged him—”

  “Oh I know him, all right. I was him. You think I don’t see the hickeys on your neck? It’s you who doesn’t know him, Lily.” I rubbed my face in exasperation. “Maybe we should just leave La Playa. Go somewhere where you can find people your own age to hang around with.”

  “I do have a friend my age. We’re going to a concert together. The one at the convention center? She got tickets and invited me.”

  She was crazy if she thought I was going to believe her at this point. “What friend?” Those tickets were expensive. No one around here would be able to afford them, unless they were not a teenage girl or were into some illegal shit.

  “Her name is Bailey. She doesn’t live around here. We met at Southgate one day and started texting. She’s really cool, Ryder. Not like the jealous bitches that go to my school.”

  That actually sounded believable. “The only way you’re going to that concert, Lily, is if I drop you off and pick you up. With your new friend.”

  “Fine. I want you to meet her anyway. She was saying something about getting dinner first. Maybe you could come?”

  For a moment Lily looked like a hopeful young girl. It was the way she’d looked before the accident.

  “Okay,” I said. “But let’s go somewhere other than Tiny’s.” I did not want to risk running into Paige.

  Paige

  It had been a rough week, and I was ready for it to be over. After things went downhill with that job interview, I’d gotten really discouraged. I’d gotten crappy tips at Tiny’s, dealt with loud neighbors smoking weed day and night, and couldn’t stop thinking about Ryder. I didn’t really have a reason to be avoiding him, but I felt like such a loser at the moment that I wasn’t up for starting anything with someone. I needed to figure out my life first.

  Which is why the timing of this concert for Bailey was so unfortunate. I had to drive all the way up to Verde Hills in the pouring rain, deal with my parents and the third degree, then drive all the way back to La Playa and have dinner with Bailey’s new friend and her brother of all people. How I’d gotten roped into dinner with some girl and her pimply-faced brother, I did not know.

  I figured I’d just drop them off at the concert, and she said the brother was going to give them a ride back here.

  I checked myself in the mirror before heading out the door. I’d taken a nap after work and didn’t bother to brush my hair, so I stuck it up in a messy bun. I wasn’t going to bother with makeup either, since I really didn’t care what Bailey’s friends thought of my appearance. My parents would probably judge me, but they would do that no matter what. I threw on a Victoria’s Secret PINK tracksuit and headed out the door.

  Whoever said it doesn’t rain in California has obviously never been here during an El Nino year. It wasn’t just raining, there was water slamming out of the sky. I was actually sorry I’d given my umbrella to that homeless guy at the bus stop. Okay, no I wasn’t, but I was sorry I hadn’t replaced it.

  Street parking was a disaster on rainy days and I had to park two blocks away, which meant that I was completely drenched by the time I got to the car. “You owe me big time, Bailey,” I muttered under my breath.

  “So. How's life treating you, Paige?” My mother sat at the kitchen island drinking a cup of tea.

  It was pretty obvious from my damp clothes and hair and the scowl on my face that life was not treating me well at the moment. But I forced a smile on my face and said, “Things are great, Mom. Thanks for asking.”

  I glared at the stairs. What was taking Bailey so long? We weren’t going to prom together. It was a concert.

  “Any luck on the job search?” Mom asked.

  I did not want to talk about this, so I just said, “Yes. I have a few leads.” I then looked at my phone and yelled at the stairs. “Come on, Bailey. Traffic is bad because of the rain.”

  I didn’t really care about being late for dinner, but I wanted to get away from my mother’s inane questions.

  Finally, I heard her clomping down the stairs. I was surprised. She wasn’t wearing a stitch of makeup, and had on a pair of sweats and a hoodie. This was what I’d been waiting for? An overstuffed backpack completed the ensemble. Frankly, she looked more like she was going camping for the weekend than to a concert.

  I didn’t care. I just wanted to leave. “Do you have everything??”

  “I think so. Let’s bounce.”

  I was so ready to bounce I could have tried out for the Lakers.

  We were pulling out of the driveway and I could barely see a thing through the rain. “You were smart to wear a hoodie. This weather is crazy.”

  Bailey just grinned at me and pulled the hoodie over her head, revealing a skimpy tank top. Of course. Why hadn’t I seen that coming? The old “cover up for the parents” trick. My guess was that she had a miniskirt under the sweats and makeup in the backpack.

  “So where are we meeting these people for dinner?”<
br />
  “It’s this Italian place on Third Street. La Passarella. Lily says it’s one of her favorite places in town.”

  Great. Just my luck. The pimply-faced kid wants somewhere nice and I’m dressed for a night out at Chipotle. Since when do kids eat at fancy Italian places?

  “When you’re done with that eyeliner, can you enter the address into the GPS?” I could barely see the cars in front of me because of the crazy rain. At least one of us would look good tonight.

  Forty-five minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic later, we were on Third Street. We were twenty minutes late for dinner and I couldn’t find parking. “Why don’t you get out and meet them and I’ll park the car?”

  I had to admit, Bailey looked gorgeous. Her blond hair was down and brushed, her makeup was gorgeous, and she looked happier than I’d seen her in a long time. Whoever this new friend was, she was having a positive influence on Bailey.

  “She’s just so real, Paige,” she’d said on the drive over. “She hasn’t had an easy life. Her parents were killed in a car accident but she’s keeping it together. She’s dating this older guy and even though he says he loves her and all, she’s waiting until they move in together to have sex. She says she wants to make sure the guy means it.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond. How old was the guy? Was having sex at sixteen so common? Did this mean Bailey wasn’t a virgin? There were too many questions, so I said, “Sounds like she’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

  Now, as she slammed the car door shut and ran into the restaurant, I realized that she was closer to being a woman than she was to being a girl. When did that happen?

  I got completely drenched again from the car to the door of La Passarelli. Everyone else had umbrellas and raincoats and I looked like something that had washed ashore.

  Whatever. I’d have some dinner, drop the kids off at the convention center, and go home.

  The smell of garlic bread hit my nose as soon as I walked in the place, making me realize that I was starving. I hadn’t had a decent meal out since I moved to La Playa. This was the kind of restaurant I went to all the time in Verde Hills. Upscale, with a warm family vibe.

  “Welcome to La Passarelli. I’m Lisa, the owner. Table for one?”

  The place was packed. Photos of Lisa and a woman who appeared to be her mother were on the walls, along with other family photos. Frank Sinatra crooned softly on the radio, and each table was filled with happy, laughing people enjoying family style meals. Red and white checkered tablecloths and green ivy completed the scene.

  “Actually, my sister just came in. She was meeting some friends?” I started to scan the room for Bailey and the pimply-faced kid and his sister.

  “Oh! Of course. I should have known. She looks just like you. Follow me this way.”

  As I watched her walk ahead of me, I wondered how Lisa spent every night in those high heels. Her feet must have been a mess.

  We walked around tables and squeezed through tight corners. I saw Bailey sitting next to a dark-haired girl and a guy with brown hair, who had his back to me.

  “They’re right over there,” Lisa said. “Your server will be with you shortly.”

  There was something strangely familiar about the brother. I couldn’t see his face, so it must have been something in his body language or demeanor.

  Honestly, he reminded me a little bit of…

  And then he turned around. “Ryder?”

  “Paige?”

  Of course. Of course I would run into him looking like this. Between the wet sweatsuit I was wearing, my ridiculous hair, and no makeup, I looked like I’d just come out of the ocean sporting a terrible hangover.

  Ryder, on the other hand, looked so sexy I could die. He wasn’t wearing his jacket, but instead had on this black Polo shirt that hugged his biceps. I wondered how often he got to the gym, because guns like that don’t grow on their own.

  I couldn’t see under the table to see his pants, but he had a five o’ clock shadow thing going on that made me instantly wet. I wanted to rub that beard all over my—

  “What are you doing here?”

  Ryder

  I hated to admit it, but Lily’s friend Bailey was nice. She seemed intelligent and had a lot more class than most of the other girls I’d seen Lily hanging out with. Pretty, blond, and you could tell she came from a good family with a lot of money. I was glad they’d met, although I’d never gotten the full story of how it happened that Bailey was at some random Mexican market in North La Playa.

  Looking around the cozy restaurant, I was glad that Lily had suggested coming here. I’d told the other guys that I’d be getting to the concert before it started, but after they set up the security perimeter. We weren’t primary security, just backup to the LPPD. The police often called us to help out for major events like this because of our long history with the community. Between the fun runs and other events, Padre had done a good job of keeping a good relationship with the police. The bribes helped, too.

  Lisa walked past us to get to the kitchen and stopped to say hi. “I can’t believe how beautiful you are, Lily,” she said. “You’ve become a proper young woman.”

  We didn’t come to La Passerelli very often, but when we did, Lisa treated us right. Her husband had died of cancer and she’d raised two boys on her own while running the restaurant. She’d become friends with Padre, and then we started having Lily’s birthday parties here.

  We were supposed to be meeting Bailey’s sister, but she was parking the car or something. The last thing I needed right now was some babbling blond older sister telling stories about pilates class or whatever chicks were into these days.

  Honestly, the only woman I found myself wanting to talk to these days was Paige, but I hadn’t seen her since I’d talked to Sofia. In fact, I thought it must be my imagination when I heard her voice. “Ryder?”

  “Paige?”

  “What are you doing here?” we both asked at the same time.

  “You guys know each other?” Bailey asked.

  “Oh my God. Your sister is that waitress at Tiny’s.” Lily looked shocked.

  We were all shocked. Somehow, Paige’s sister and my sister had managed to meet and become friends!

  “What a small world,” Paige said as she sat down next to her sister.”

  As soon as I saw them side by side I saw the resemblance. Bailey looked exactly like what I imagined Paige did at sixteen.

  What a weird fucking coincidence. If I believed in fate, that’s what I would say this was. Here I’d wanted to ask Paige to dinner and the next thing I know she walks into the restaurant I’m in so we can have dinner together!

  The girls were chattering about the concert and Gerard Way’s baby.

  Paige tried to smooth down her wet hair and said, “If I’d known it was you I’d have dressed a little better. Honestly, I thought you were going to be some twenty-year-old kid and we’d be having Chipotle.”

  I had to laugh. “You look fine. Beautiful, actually. And if I’m being honest, I was expecting some ditzy bimbo.”

  “Oh, hey. The night is young.” She laughed and I felt it all the way down to my soul. Suddenly I wanted to become Jimmy Fallon and make her laugh again.

  “I wish,” I said, picking up the menu. “I have to…work. My…friends and I are helping out with security for the concert. I actually should be there now but wanted to meet who Lily was going to the concert with.”

  “Yeah, me too. You never can be too careful these days.” She was looking at me and I sensed a double meaning in her tone.

  “No. It’s important to have protection.”

  “Well, there are times when protection is overrated.”

  “Ew. Are you guys doing that again?” Lily wrinkled her nose and turned to Bailey. “The day we met your sister they were doing this gross flirting thing there, too.”

  “Oh, really?” Bailey grinned at Paige as if she’d discovered a huge secret. “Is that so?”

  Fortunately, we w
ere interrupted by the waitress who’d come to take our order.

  I barely ate my lasagna. Lisa’s food was as good as usual, but I was in a complete daze from running into Paige like this. It takes a lot to rattle me, but this did it.

  When the girls got up to use the restroom after dinner, I finally had a chance to talk to Paige alone.

  “I’ve been wanting to run into you again.”

  “You have?” She was just finishing the glass of red wine she’d had with dinner.

  “Yes. There was…” The words caught in my throat, but I remembered Sofia’s advice. “There was something I wanted to ask you.”

  “Oh? What?”

  “I wanted to see if you’d like to get dinner sometime?” I was actually starting to sweat! This was ridiculous.

  “You mean like we’re having now?” She smiled and my heart melted. Paige was what my mother used to call “a heartbreaker.”

  I laughed. “Well. Yes. Like now. But more of a…”

  “More of a date?” She was looking at me with those blue eyes and I almost forgot where we were.

  “Yes. A date. I wanted to know if you would go out on a date with me.” I felt like the biggest idiot on the planet. This was so awkward!

  When she grinned, it showed deep dimples at the corners of those luscious lips.

  “A date, huh? Well, I don’t know. You might need to ask my dad.”

  “Your dad?” It was then that I realized she was teasing me. “Oh. Yeah. Well, I promise to have you home by midnight. You think that’ll fly?”

  “Who’s going to fly?” Lily asked as she and Bailey came back from the bathroom. “I love airplanes.”

  Paige

  “Thank you for dinner, Ryder. I really appreciate it.” The whole meal seemed to have flown by.

  “Yes. It was so good! Thank you!” Bailey added.