Running Wild (Hell Ryders MC Book 1)

by J. L. Sheppard

  She was extremely, utterly, and undeniably attracted to Jace, and it wasn’t either of their faults, but her brother would kill for her. One slip and she could destroy the relationship they’d build over the course of seven years; years she hadn’t been around. While she lived in New York, living lies, Ty built a life for himself. She wouldn’t destroy it, even if Jace deserved it. He didn’t, not in her eyes.

  “Don’t tell me if you don’t want to. I’m not gonna be Dad. I’m not gonna force you to do shit you don’t want to do. So if you don’t wanna come, then don’t. But I know some shit happened, and I wanna know what it was. But again, I’m not gonna force you to tell me ’cause I know you.

  “I know you love me, and I know you don’t wanna fuck up shit between me and my brothers, but you’re important. You’re more important to me than any of this shit. In a fuckin’ second, I’d throw this away for you, Allie, only for you, ’cause you’re my blood and my sister and ’cause I know how my brothers are. You gotta tell me, and I can make it better. If I can’t, I’ll fuckin’ leave this shit behind, and we’ll go. You and me. It doesn’t mean I don’t fuckin’ love them, the club, and this life I’ve built. It just means I love you more.”

  Her heart clenched. Why was he so good to her? She couldn’t understand how her brother had become this amazing man when their father was such a dick.

  She shook her head. “Ty, I’m fine. I promise.”

  His eyes scanned her face, and then he released a breath. “When you’re ready to talk about it, come to me. We’ll talk. Just don’t lie, Allie. Right now, you’re lying.”

  “Did you ever think maybe I want to build my own life, Ty? The club is your life. I moved here…after everything…to be close to you, but I have to find my own way like you did.”

  He paused for a second. The tension in his shoulders dissipated, and he nodded. “I get it, just wish you’d figure that shit out under my roof.”

  She smiled then bit the side of her lip. “Let’s go or we’ll be late.”

  Ty drove his SUV to the compound and parked around back beside the slew of bikes and cars. She pulled herself out, and they walked the distance to the back gate. It was sunny and hot, and she wore a pair of shorts and a white shirt. He opened the gate for her, and she strode through, finally summoning the courage to look up. Her eyes gravitated to him.

  Jace looked good, wearing a pair of faded jeans and his cut. He stood beside the large grill with a beer in hand, talking to Stone, who manned the grill. She forced her eyes away and spotted Tina and Della walking toward her. She smiled.

  “Hi, Allie,” Della said, giving her a hug.

  “Hi, Della.”

  Della turned to Ty. “Hi, Ty.”

  Tyler kneeled in front of her and opened his arms. “What? I don’t get a hug?”

  Smiling, Della wrapped her arms around Ty, embracing him, too.

  She shifted her attention to Tina. “Hi.”

  “Hi, glad you could make it.”

  She rolled her eyes playfully and spared a glance at her brother. “Like I had a choice.”

  Tina laughed.

  They took seats on a picnic table. She perused her surroundings. Besides Stone, Jace, and Blaze, she didn’t see anyone else. The double doors in the back of the building opened. Several others drifted out including Mia, Lynn, and much to her surprise, Tiffany, headed for them. Lynn took a seat across from her. Mia sat beside her. Tiffany took a seat next to Tina. They chatted for a while, Allie fighting the urge to look in Jace’s direction.

  Stone whistled, then nodded to Mia. She stood. “My cue. Gotta get the sides.”

  “I’ll help.” She wanted to get away from the heat and Jace.

  They headed inside to the kitchen, bumping into Dash and Cuss who were headed outside. Each of them grabbed a side. They had it all: macaroni salad, bean casserole, roasted potatoes, mac and cheese, and cole slaw. Outside, they set the sides and buns on the picnic table beside the grill and cooler, and then Stone began assembling the burgers and hotdogs.

  Everyone crowded the area. Allie decided to wait and headed back to the table where they’d been sitting. She spotted Cuss sipping a beer, his eyes intense and focused behind her. She turned and spotted the object of his affection—Tiffany. Warmth settled in her chest. He looked at her the way every woman wanted to be looked at, like he lived and breathed for her and her alone.

  She took a seat next to him, grabbing the beer she left on the table that had since gone warm.

  He spared a glance at her. “Hey, Classy. How you been?”

  She shrugged. “Good, and you?”

  His gaze still intense and on Tiffany. “Good.”

  “All you have to do is look at her.”

  He straightened, his upper body turning to her, and then his sapphire gaze pierced hers. “Come again?”

  “Tiffany. All you have to do is look at her.”

  His eyes widened, but he didn’t say a word.

  “Don’t look at me like that. You know what I mean.”

  Shaking his head, he chuckled. “No, I don’t.”

  “Are you fishing for a compliment?”

  He gave her a level stare. “Really don’t know what you’re gettin’ at, Classy.”

  “Okay, well…all you have to do is look at her. If she’s looking at your eyes, she won’t be able to look away.”

  He drew away slightly, his eyes scanning her face, and then he smiled. “Can’t believe you just said that.”

  She took a sip of her warm beer. “I’m not telling you anything you shouldn’t already know.”

  His eyes darkened. “Bikers got reps, and she’s like you. She—”

  Her brows furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “She’s class like you. Her parents got money. She went to college, graduated top of her class. I barely graduated from high school, didn’t go to college, and I gotta record. I ain’t worth two looks from her. She dates clean-cut, pretty boys with college degrees who don’t fuckin’ curse.”

  Her chest clenched. “Cuss…” Having no idea what to say to that, she hesitated. Her eyes instinctually gravitated to Jace, who handed Della a hamburger. She then managed to tell a truth. “All a woman wants is to be loved, really loved. If you think you can love her, treat her with respect, and not cheat, she’d be a fool not to take you up on the offer.”

  He hesitated. The whole time, his gaze on her. Finally, he shook his head. “You’re somethin’ else, Classy. Don’t even want to call you Classy. Feel like it should’ve been somethin’ else, somethin’ that means more, ’cause, babe, you ain’t nothin’ like you appear to be.”

  She smiled.

  “It’s a fuckin’ sweet thing to say. The sweetest thing a woman like you can say to a man like me, but I don’t believe that shit for a second.”

  He looked away from her, then went to take a pull of his beer. She placed her hand over his arm, stopping him. He turned his head, and his eyes hit hers.

  “I didn’t say it because it’s sweet, Cuss. I said it because it’s the truth. I’m not going to lie to you. Yes, there are women who want a man with a college degree, money, and whatever else, just like there are women who’ll spread their legs just because you wear a cut. I won’t pretend I know Tiffany well because I don’t, but from what I know about her…the way she acts and talks, the fact she works at a daycare, and is here means she’s not one of those women. There’s also a reason she’s single, why it hasn’t worked out with any of those college, pretty boys. Are you going to let her get away?”

  He swallowed, holding her stare. “You don’t know the whole story. It’s fuckin’ complicated.”

  “You’re right. I don’t, but I saw you looking at her. Every woman wants to be looked at like that.”

  His jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. “Fuck,” he hissed.

  She supposed a biker didn’t like to hear he’d been staring at a girl with his heart in his eyes.

  She jerked her hand away from his arm. “I shouldn�
�t have said anything. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

  “Fuck, Classy.”

  She began to shift away. “I’m sorry—”

  He grabbed her wrist firmly, holding her still. “How was I lookin’ at her?”

  She swallowed, unsure if she should tell him. “It may make you angrier.”

  “Tell me.”

  “You looked at her like…” She meant to say like he loved her, but felt it may be too much for him to handle. Instead, she borrowed Jace’s words. “…like the sun rises and sets on her.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I saw it—”

  He shook his head. “How do you know every woman wants to be looked at like that?”

  She hesitated. Looking away from him, she whispered, “Because that’s how I want to be looked at.”

  His eyes widened. They held each other’s gazes for a long moment.

  “Cuss? What the fuck?”

  God, her brother sure knew how to pick the best moments.

  Cuss released her and stood, facing Ty. “Nothin’, brother. Just talkin’.”

  “We’re having a conversation, Ty,” she said, simultaneously.

  Tyler fisted his hands, and then his eyes sliced to her. “Yeah, so why do you look like someone killed your puppy?”

  Her eyes narrowed. She stood, closing the distance between her and her brother. “Never had a puppy, Ty.”

  The muscle in his jaw jumped.

  “Cuss has been nothing but nice to me. If you pick a fight with him, I’m not talking to you.”

  His lips twitched, fighting a smile, and then he chuckled. Why this amused him, she didn’t know. She stared at him blankly.

  Once he sobered, he said, “You can’t go a week without talking to me, Allie. Stop fooling yourself.”

  Damn. He was right. When he’d been in the military, the longest they’d gone without speaking was a month, and those months were the worst. She worried constantly. When he got out, they talked two to three times a week.

  She smirked. “Try me.”

  “I’ll try not to. Now, go get food.”

  She smiled and walked away.

  “Miracle.”

  She spun and met Cuss’s gaze.

  “That’s what I’m gonna call you.”

  Her smile widened.

  Chapter Thirteen

  True to custom, Trig spent Saturday with Della. He took her to the park, and then they watched a movie. Now, they were headed to dinner at Anthony’s.

  Arriving at the restaurant, he parked, helped Della out, and headed to the entrance. They walked inside, hand in hand, and he instinctually scanned the restaurant, stopping dead when he spotted her.

  Allie. She sat in the far corner, facing the entrance. Her hair loose around her shoulders and styled in curls. Wearing a blue top, a genuine smile spread across her lips.

  Without thought, he took a step in her direction. She stood, and he realized it wasn’t a top, but a dress that fit snugly against her frame.

  His view of her was blocked a second later when a blond-haired man sitting across the booth from her stood.

  His chest tightening and stomach knotting, Trig stopped dead in his tracks. Fuck. She was on a date with a pretty boy with class, like her. He didn’t need to see the man’s face to know it.

  Jealousy flooding him, his whole body tensed. He tore his gaze away, wondering if this was how she felt when she caught him with a tap.

  No, it felt worse, much worse. He hadn’t caught her sitting on the guy’s lap with his hands on her ass. Still, he’d paid double. It hadn’t been enough to see her at the cookout in tiny shorts sitting close to Cuss with her hand on his arm. He meant to talk to her, but after seeing that, he lost the will along with the courage. She made it perfectly clear she wanted nothing to do with him. She hadn’t even glanced his way. Now, he caught her on a date, and still, it fucking hurt.

  Damn it to hell, he didn’t know what hurt more. The knowledge she moved on and he missed his shot or the knowledge the pretty boy with class was better for her than him.

  “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.

  “J?”

  His gaze snapped to Della, his beautiful niece, standing right there, and he’d just cursed. Beautiful Allie had the ability to shred his insides apart, making him forget where he was and who he was with.

  “Sorry, Della. Don’t repeat what I said.”

  She nodded, her eyes softening. The kid was too smart. She sensed something was up.

  He put his hands under her arms, lifting her, and tucked her against him. Then he whispered, “Gonna get food somewhere else. This place is too crowded.”

  “Okay.” She rested her cheek against his chest.

  It made him feel a little better.

  ****

  Allie closed the door behind her and locked it. When her cell phone rang, she dug into her purse to find it. Several rings later, she answered.

  “How’d it go?” Tiffany asked.

  She shrugged.

  She’d just been on her first date post-split Wyatt. Keith, blond, blue-eyed, and handsome, was an attorney and a single dad to a two-year-old boy, Henry. Allie saw him every morning when he dropped off his son at daycare, but she’d never spoken to him until recently, until Tiffany told him she was single. He asked her out. She said yes.

  Turned out, he appeared completely perfect. He was not only handsome, but a gentleman, opening doors, standing when she went to the rest room, and a good conversationalist, too. He’d talked about his son with pure adoration and his work like he loved it. He asked her questions, nothing too personal, got her talking and feeling comfortable.

  The date had been great, but nothing about him, as perfect as he appeared, made her want to start a romantic relationship. No chemistry, as simple as that. She wanted to believe her last relationship held her back, but it wasn’t the case. As perfect as Keith appeared, the entire night her mind drifted, and when it drifted, it settled on Jace.

  “It went well.”

  “Great. Are you going to see him again? Did he ask you out?”

  She dropped her purse on the couch, then headed into her room. “He has my number.”

  “You don’t sound too excited.”

  Slumping on her bed, she began removing her shoes. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Tiff. I mean the guy seems perfect. He’s sweet and kind, but something’s missing.”

  For several moments, silence hung in the air. “You’re still in love with him?”

  This took Allie by surprise. She’d never mentioned Wyatt to Tiff. “I…”

  “It’s normal. I mean you were with him for a long time.”

  No, whatever she’d felt for Wyatt had since been buried. Jace was the reason, but she couldn’t admit that. “Wyatt killed any love I had for him. It’s just—”

  “Trust.”

  Her brows drew together. “What?”

  “It’s hard to trust after…” Her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. It just occurred to me you never told me the story. Cuss mentioned something, and I…well…it’s none of my business.”

  “Cuss mentioned Wyatt?”

  Tiffany sighed. “Please don’t be mad at him. We’re really good friends, and well…I saw you on the news, and I asked, and he said your ex cheated so…”

  “I’m not mad. Cuss is a great guy, and because of him, I have this great job, so—”

  “I think so, too.”

  Her ears perked up. She waited, hoping Tiff would say something else about Cuss.

  “Listen, I’m sorry I told Keith to ask you out. I never meant—”

  “Tiff, it’s not a big deal. I had a great time. It’s just…maybe it’s exactly what you said. Maybe it is hard for me to trust after Wyatt. The thing is, I had reservations about Wyatt when we met, and then he cheated. I don’t want to make the same mistakes. I’m not saying Keith is like that. I don’t know him, but there’s no chemistry, and I don’t want to
settle. Last time I did, I got hurt.”

  “I understand.” Tiffany paused. “Look on the bright side. You said he’s sweet and kind. It never hurts to have an extra friend, especially one who’s an attorney.”

  She chuckled. “So true. Never know what kind of trouble I’ll get into working at a daycare.”

  They talked for several minutes while she changed into a pair of jaw-string shorts and spaghetti strap shirt, and then she hung up. She connected her phone to the charger, plugged it beside her nightstand, and lay in bed.

  Not a moment later, a knock sounded on her front door. She tensed, got out of bed, pulled on a robe, and headed for the door. Looking through the peephole, she caught sight of Tyler. His head angled to the left. She could only see the right side of his face. She swung the door open. He faced her. His left eye was bruised and swollen almost shut.

  “Ty? What the—”

  “I’m fine,” he cut her off, walking past her, and inside. He took off his cut, set it on her couch, and took a seat.

  She closed the door, locked it then turned to him. “What happened?”

  “Allie, I’m fine,” he repeated. “Come sit. Let’s watch some TV.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Not until you tell me why you have a black eye.”

  He hesitated. His eyes softened, and he admitted, “Got in a fight. I’m fine.”

  Got in a fight? Did he think she would settle for that answer? “With who?”

  “Some guy.”

  “Why?”

  “Allie, it’s club shit. Don’t worry about it.”

  Club shit? What the hell was the club doing that got her brother a black eye, and why was the damned club so secretive? When she lived at the compound and shared a room with him, she’d seen him take off in the middle of the night. Other times, he’d be gone all night and wouldn’t return until morning.

  Allegedly, he worked at the garage, but what he did, she had no idea. She’d never seen him work on a car or bike beside his own. She also often overheard him say he was going on a “run” or he had a “guard,” but she had no idea what it meant. Mia and Lynn told her not to ask questions, that it was club business. She hadn’t. But now that he had a black eye because of club business, she would ask.