by Megan Lowe
“That’s cute. She a journalism major too?”
She shakes her head. “Geography and meteorology.”
“Really?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Okay, so you’re an only child, who’s relatively local, and a journalism student who likes delicious food. What do you do in your spare time?”
“I read or listen to music, shop. You know, girl stuff.”
“What do you like?”
“Besides good food and caramel milkshakes?”
“Yeah.”
“Not much, really. I’m a simple girl, Reed.” She takes another sip of her drink.
“I don’t think there’s anything simple about you,” I say and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, “except for how seamlessly you’ve become a part of our lives.”
“So why bikes?” she asks, turning the focus onto me.
“Why not? My pop and pa rode them and that filtered down to us. There wasn’t much of a female influence for most of us, so we didn’t have a mum around to tell us or my pop and pa that motorcycles are dangerous and young boys shouldn’t be on them.”
“Would you have listened even if there were?”
I smile and shake my head. “Probably not. We’re all stubborn and when we find something we love we hold on to it, for the most part….” I trail off, thinking about the women who have left our lives.
“Your pa, Jay, right?” she asks, and slides a hand over mine. I nod. “He told me about your mum and grandma.”
“Obviously I never knew my grandma, and I was six when my mum died.”
“Do you remember much about her?”
“Little bits. Park was eight and he remembers a little bit more, but still not a lot.”
“I’m sorry.” She squeezes my hand.
“It is what it is. We just have bad luck. Well, if the stories my pa and pop tell are true, extraordinarily good luck and then extraordinarily bad luck.” Suddenly I see Bria in a whole new light. Not as a girl I’m insanely into, someone I have no doubt I could have a future with, but as someone who, if she continues her relationship with me, could very well become a victim of our family’s shitty luck as well.
Chapter Nine
BRIA
We finish dinner chatting about general things. Towards the end, Mike comes out and joins us, giving Reed a hard time and trying to convince me to stop seeing him. We both laugh him off.
It’s only when I start yawning do we realise how late it is.
“Come on.” Reed stands and offers me his hand. “It’s late and you’ve probably got class tomorrow.”
“I do, but tonight is worth any tiredness. I had a great time.”
“Me too.” He kisses me before putting the helmet on my head.
He puts me on the bike then gets on himself, and I have to admit that being wrapped around him is a major advantage of this mode of transport. I slip my hands under his shirt and rub them over his tight abs, his muscles contracting from my touch. With a quick squeeze of my knee, Reed starts the engine and we’re off into the night again.
This time I enjoy it more, knowing what to expect. I think if Reed and I go anywhere, I’m going to insist on taking his bike. The freedom and feel of flying combined with being wrapped around him? I doubt there are too many better feelings on the planet, except for maybe his kisses. Reed’s kisses could probably cure cancer if, you know, kisses could do that sort of thing. Okay, so I’m getting caught up in all that is Reed Ryan, but anyone coming under the onslaught I have and I'd like to see them try and resist it. I bet everything in my bank account, which at the moment is sitting at $113.42, that they won’t be able to. I’m only human, after all. Just a normal twenty-two-year-old girl who has caught the eye of a motorcycle god and is trying to keep her composure. It’s not easy in the face of all his charm. Sure, I’ve dated in the past, but no one like Reed.
We get back to the diner and Reed spins to face me. His hair is a mess from his helmet and he quickly restyles it, the movement showing off his bulging biceps and giving him an irresistible "just been fucked" look. I get why he found the same thing with me irresistible. He takes mine off and smiles when we make eye contact.
“Can I see you tomorrow night?” he asks, bashfulness crossing his features.
“Three nights in a row? Are you sure you won’t get sick of me? Plus, people will talk. The famous Reed Ryan, notorious womaniser, seen with the same girl three nights in a row.”
“I’ll never get sick of you, angel. We could be together for ten lifetimes and I still won’t get enough.”
“Reed…”
“Shh, angel.” He presses a finger against my lips. “I know this has been fast, but there’s something drawing me to you, something I’ve never experienced before. It’s making me want to do things I’ve never done, like spending three amazing evenings with you. I know I have a reputation, we all do, my brothers and I, but my pa and pop always told us that when we find the girl we’re meant to be with nothing will stop us.”
My heart beat speeds up at his words. “And that’s me?”
“It is.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say.
“I know it’s soon and I’m probably freaking you out, but I don’t want to leave you in any doubt as to what you are to me, Bria. I don’t want there to be any doubt of what we’ve got, what we’re building here.”
I nod.
“Okay?”
“Okay,” I reply and Reed exhales in a rush.
“I really like you, Bria.”
“I really like you, too.”
“Good.” He smiles his brilliant smile. “So I’ll see you tomorrow, now tonight?” he asks, looking at his watch.
“You don’t want to wait until the weekend? It is Friday. We could hold off and do something Saturday.”
“Liam has a race on the weekend. He’s down there now with Mav and Pop. Jax and I are going to go down Saturday morning.”
“Oh.” My shoulders slump. I'm not doing a great job of acting coy. It's one of my weaknesses. I'm an open book.
“Hey.” He lifts my chin with a finger. “I’d love if you’d come with us.”
“Really?” Excitement courses through me.
“Yeah, you can be Liam’s umbrella girl.”
“Umbrella girl? I won’t have to wear anything skimpy, will I?”
He laughs. “As much as I’d love to see that, I don’t want anyone else to, so no. Just one of our tees and jeans, or shorts if it’s hot.”
“I won’t be in the way, will I?”
“Nah, we’ll see if Pa and Chris want to come, that way Park can have the diner to himself.”
“It won’t be too much for him?”
“It’ll be easier for him actually, especially if we take Chris with us; then he won’t have to worry.”
I nod, discovering even more about the inner working of Reed and his family. “So you all usually go?”
“Depends, but how about we talk about this over dinner tonight? It’s late and I don’t want you to fall asleep in class.”
I laugh. “I won’t, don’t worry about me.”
He takes a step closer to me and pulls my hips flush with his. “Baby, that’s just not possible. You’re mine to worry about now.”
“So does that mean I can worry about you too?”
“There’s nothing to worry about, and I don’t want you to trouble yourself about little old me.”
“That’s not possible,” I say, echoing his words, and reach up, grabbing the back of his neck and bringing his lips to mine.
We quickly get lost in the kiss and it’s only when we’re both gasping for air that we break apart.
“Damn, angel,” Reed says, his forehead resting on mine.
“I should probably go,” I say, but make no attempt to move.
“You could stay.”
“Reed….”
“Okay, but will you stay tomorrow night? We won’t do anything you don’t want to do, but it’ll mean we can
leave straight from here.”
I smile. “Fine, I’ll stay tomorrow.”
“Good.” He smiles, kissing my nose before stepping back and releasing me. I grab his hand and walk him over to my trusty Honda Civic. It’s almost twenty years old but has never failed me yet.
Reed opens the driver-side door for me, and after I get in, he bends down and fastens my seat belt.
“Can never be too safe.”
“There’s that worrying again.”
“I promise you, angel, I’ll always worry.”
“Don’t. I’ll see you tonight, around six?”
“Sounds perfect, I’ll see you then.” With one more kiss, he gets up and closes my door.
I start my car and drive out of the diner’s car park, Reed watching me before he’s finally out of sight.
The journey doesn't take long, especially when I'm caught up in replaying our sweet kisses. Before I know it, I pull into my spot outside my dorm at just after one. I’ve just closed our suite door when I hear her voice. “You’re coming in late.”
I jump and try not to let my heart beat through my chest.
“Jesus Christ, you scared the life out of me.”
“That’ll teach you for thinking you could get anything past me. You didn’t come home last night and you’re coming in late tonight. So, who is he?” Grayson’s eyes light up and she bounces on our op shop couch.
I cringe. Having been so involved with Rome, Grayson is well versed in the racing world and will likely know all about Reed and his gorgeous brothers.
I sigh and take a seat on the couch. The breakdown of her and Rome’s relationship was rough, really rough, and I’ve barely got my nose out of a book long enough to notice the opposite sex, so this kind of gossip has been rare between us.
“His name is Reed. Reed Ryan.”
“As in Ryan Racing, those Ryans?” she asks, the pitch and volume of her voice rising.
“Yep, that’ll be them.”
“Them? You mean you’ve met them?”
I nod. “Yep, all of them: Nate, Jay, Parker, Reed, Liam, Mav, Jax, and Christian.”
“You met the father and grandfather?” she asks incredulously.
“Last night. I was at the diner and some shit went down and I got caught in the middle.”
Her face falls. “Was Rome…? Did you see…?”
I place my hand over hers. “I didn’t see anyone, least of all Rome.”
She nods. “Okay.”
“So I take it you know about the Ryans and Devil Racing.”
“Everyone knows. From what I hear, Hunter is full-on pure hatred.”
“Well, I don’t know who was there last night, whether it was that Hunter guy himself or some other guys, but it is full-on. Have you been to Wheels?” I ask.
“Once, ages ago. Rome took me in the hopes of meeting one of the Ryans, but they weren’t there. That was before….” She trails off.
“Hey.” I grab her hand again. “It’s okay.”
“It shouldn’t hurt this much, still!” Grayson says, wiping at her eyes.
“I know, honey, but not everyone works to a timetable.”
“Ugh! Okay, enough of this. Tell me about the Ryans. Are they as hot as everyone says they are?”
“Hotter.” I sigh.
“So Parker’s the one with the kid, right?”
“Yep, Christian, he’s such an adorable kid. I ended up looking after him last night when everything went down.”
“The mother’s dead, right?” A frown creases her brows as she waits for my answer
“From what I’ve been told she wasn’t ever really a mother, but yeah, she’s dead.”
Nodding, she continues with her follow-up question, which in Grayson's world means jumping from one train of thought to the other with no logic, “Tell me about Reed. I’ve heard he’s a major player.” To her credit, she bites her lip as she says this.
“Well he may have been, but he says with me it’s different.”
“Do you believe him?”
I pause, thinking about the last twenty-four hours. Smiling, I answer, “I believe how he’s been with me.”
“And how’s that?”
“Respectful and sweet and hot, and I think I’m in real danger of falling for him.”
“He is really hot,” she concedes, but I can tell she’s worried.
“He is, but it’s more than that, way more than just his incredible looks. I can’t describe it, Gray, but there’s something pulling us together. He says he feels it too.”
“Have you slept with him?”
“No. Not entirely.”
A loud laugh spills around the room, and she shakes her head. “What do you mean, not entirely?”
“We shared the same bed last night.”
“And….”
“There may have been some touching,” I say quickly, blushing.
“Bria Marie Adams!” Her hands fly to her mouth, but I know is covering a smirk.
“What? It’s not like I’m a virgin.”
“I know. It’s just, my little girl is all grown up.” She mock sniffs and wipes at her eye.
I shove her shoulder and she falls back on the couch laughing.
“I’m going to bed. I won’t be here tonight.”
“A sleepover! Already?”
“Shut up! Liam’s racing this weekend and Reed has asked me to go. If I spend the night there with him, and he’s promised to be a gentleman, we can leave straight from his house.” Not that I'm quite sure I want him to behave, but I'm willing to let it play out and see what happens.
“Hmm, well, just be careful.”
“I will, don’t worry.”
She sitting again, her smile gone. “It’s just, I know guys like him, you know?”
“I know, but I think Reed is different. He’s older than Rome, and by all accounts, his racing career is over.”
“I just don’t want to see you heartbroken.”
I pull her to me. “I know and I love you for it, but Reed is different. Now, let’s get some sleep.”
“Okay,” she says, but I can tell she’s hesitant to believe me. I can only hope I’m as right about Reed as I think I am.
Chapter Ten
REED
I have to admit the idea of spending tonight with Bria, having another night with her in my arms, even if we don’t do anything, has me psyched. I take a minute to reflect on how different that thought is. Usually I’m a one-and-done type. With all this shit with my family’s so-called curse, I never wanted to bring a girl into the chaos, and to be honest, none has ever caught my eye to convince me otherwise.
Until Bria.
She’s amazing. She’s smart and funny and incredibly beautiful and so fucking hot it’s a wonder I haven’t exploded from how much I want her. I’ve been with my fair share of women but none I’ve wanted more than her. I feel like this dramatic shift in my usual MO should have me a little disorientated, but all I feel is excitement. Excitement about when I’m going to see her again and what we’ll get up to, even if it’s just making out. I genuinely just want to spend time with her. That’s never happened before, and if I have my way, it’ll never happen with anyone besides Bria ever again.
I walk into the diner’s kitchen with a huge smile on my face.
“You’ll be okay tonight without me, right?” I ask Park.
“Why? You got a hot date with sis tonight?” Jax asks as he hops up on one of the benches.
“Sis?” Parker asks.
“Yeah, Bria.”
“You’re calling her sis?”
“Dude, you’re the one who called her R’s game changer. I’m just making it official.” He shrugs.
“Fair enough, but yeah, we’ll be fine.”
“Thanks.”
“So what’s the plan?” Jax asks.
“Dinner and then hang out. She’s going to be staying with me tonight and then we’ll drive to the race tomorrow.”
“She’s coming to the race?”
>
I shrug. “Yeah.”
“Cool.” Jax nods.
“Hey, have either of you heard of a guy called Roman Thomas? He rides for Devil,” I ask as casually as I can. Bringing up Devil is never a good idea, but I want to know about Bria’s friend.
“Roman?” Park asks.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve heard of him, why?”
“He, Bria, and her best friend grew up together. I just wanted to know what sort of guy he is.”
“He’s been with Devil for a while, a lot longer than their usual lackeys, but I’m not sure why. I think he’s had a few rides but that’s it, mainly testing I think.”
“What sort of rider is he?”
“He’s good, too good to be wasting his time with Devil, but you know how they suck guys in.”
“So you think he’s just hung up on making it?”
“I guess so. I mean, it’s not like I know the guy personally, but that’s my best bet. Liam might know more.”
“What about in general? Is he a good dude?”
“Are any of them good dudes if they ride for Devil?” Jax asks through a mouthful of chips.
“You never know. He grew up with Bria, so....”
“Oh, you are so whipped, man.” Park chortles.
“Hey, man, you’ve seen her, she’s beautiful—”
“She’s downright smokin’,” Jax interrupts, and I smack him on the back of his head.
“Get your own, fucker.”
He laughs and stuffs another handful of chips in his mouth.
From the dining room, we hear Chris yell out, “Bria!”
“Speak of the devil,” Park mutters as I race out to see her.
When I get to her, she has Chris in her arms and is giving him a hug. I bring her as close to me as I can with Chris hanging on to her, and take her face in my hands.
“Angel,” I breathe and crush my lips to hers.
She giggles as we break apart. “Hey.”
“I missed you,” I say, still not releasing her cheeks, and feel them heat beneath my palms.
“Me too,” Chris chimes in. “You’re pretty and you give good hugs.” We both chuckle.
“Well thanks, handsome,” Bria says and gives him another squeeze.
“All right, buddy,” I say, reaching for Chris, “you’ve had enough cuddles with my girl today. It’s my turn.”