by Tia Siren
“There’s a lot going on right now,” I replied.
“What’s keeping you inside? You used to like going for rides when you were like this, before. Is it something that Buck did?”
I wondered if I should tell her the truth.
“No, momma, it’s nothing. Just get back to sleep,” I said in a vain attempt at assuaging her curiosity.
“I’m not stupid, Tara. You could just tell me that Buck is off doing something crazy, like beating up a rival gang.”
I wondered how she knew, and my open mouth and gasps did nothing but prove her point.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“You know I was your father’s wife,” she said, “There’s a reason there weren’t any other motorcycle clubs around when you were growing up. And, I was there for most of them. Why aren’t you with Buck right now?”
“He sent me home, he didn’t want me there,” I said honestly.
“He didn’t want you there because he couldn’t stand the possibility of you getting’ hurt, Tara.”
I knew what she was saying was the truth. Buck really did love me, and I just seemed to slap him in the face every time he showed it.
“I gotta go, Momma,” I said as I ran to the closet and threw on my jacket.
“Take the shotgun with you,” she said, “I won’t need it.”
I did as I was told, and lumbered out with the shotgun in tow. My heart raced as I knew that was I had planned on doing was incredibly crazy. I also was scared of what Buck would do if we actually survived this.
I rode as fast as I could; I didn’t really know where. But, the place that was most famous for settling disputes was the old quarry. I wondered what I would do when I got there. Sometimes it’s best not to know.
7.
I was still half a mile out, and I could hear engines in the distance. The roaring thunder of motorcycles gathered in mass. It was impossible to make that sound any other way.
Rounding the corner, I saw Buck and the gang standing in a stalemate on the north side, while Connor and his gang were lined up on the south side. I could see the two men yelling at each other, but couldn’t make out what they were saying over all the noise.
I cut a path through the bikers, heading straight for Buck, coming to a screeching halt just in front of him.
He looked at me with rage.
“What the hell are you doing here,” he shouted.
“Why the hell wouldn’t I be here,” I shouted in response.
“Because I need to know you’ll be okay, get the hell home, now!”
“I’m not leaving your side, not until this is all through,” I said.
I took my place next to him, lifting the shotgun under my arm. Connor looked over at the two of us and laughed.
“I guess you guys really do love each other,” he said.
I looked up at Buck who didn’t change his expression in the slightest.
“I won’t ever leave my man,” I shouted.
Buck leaned over and pulled me in for a hug. I forgot how strong he was; it felt like he would break me in half with the force of it. I didn’t want him to stop, and I don’t think he wanted to either.
“Buck, I thought you loved me,” I heard a screeching woman’s voice say.
Looking over, I saw that Gracie had decided to come. I wanted to put her in her place, but I didn’t want to be the person pulling the trigger first.
“Gracie, you better crawl back into whatever hole you just crawled out of,” I shouted, only for Buck to throw his hand over my mouth.
“I can speak for myself, Tara,” he said.
He took a couple of steps forward. The lights of the other cycles were near blinding, and I couldn’t make out anyone’s face behind Connor and Gracie.
“Gracie, you know what we did. We weren’t nothin’ more than a good afternoon. Just tell your brother you’re done, and this whole feud can come to an end.”
Gracie started laughing.
“You think we were just some afternoon fun? I thought we were something more than that. My brother is going to kick your ass,” she said.
“Connor, can you control that woman? I don’t think she speaks for you,” Buck said.
Connor rubbed his forehead and clenched his teeth.
“Gracie, shut the hell up. We’re tryin’ to hash this out without people getting’ killed and you’re just makin’ things worse,” Connor said.
“You’re takin’ his side, instead of your own sister,” Gracie said, “what the hell is wrong with you, Connor?”
Connor turned and gave her a good smack across the cheek.
“You heard me, Gracie. Stop talking,” he said.
Gracie panicked. She started pounding her fists into Connor’s chest, but he didn’t budge. She cried and wailed, then collapsed to her knees a crying mess.
“Connor, I got no beef with you or your gang. I just want us all to walk out of here and forget any of this happened,” Buck said.
Connor thought for a moment, looking to his sister crying on the ground. I could see his embarrassment at having her by his side.
“Gracie, get up,” Connor said.
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her from the loose gravel. She didn’t resist, and just seemed to have lost all interest in what was happening.
Connor pulled her back and sat her on his motorcycle. She sat without a sound, motionless. Then Connor turned back to Buck and me.
“Buck, I got nothing against you. I was just tryin’ to do right by my sister. When you said you were gettin’ married to Tara, I thought you were joking. I had a feeling you were just saying that ‘cause you didn’t want to end up with Gracie. I don’t blame you; if she weren’t family, things would have been different.
“Get outta here, Buck,” Connor said.
He backed up and eased back on his cycle, and kicked it started.
“You got a hell of a girl there,” Connor Added.
“I really do,” Buck said.
Buck turned and started walking back towards me. I was glad things ended so easily and without a fight. Then again, I did miss watching Buck get ornery.
“I’m the only one you should ever love,” shouted Gracie, then she turned her gaze toward me, “he would love me if you were dead!”
Gracie held up a revolver, taking aim straight at me. I started to duck, and I felt everything start to move incredibly slowly. I looked at Buck, who had a horrified expression.
I could remember the first time I saw him. He wasn’t as big then, but he was scrappy. I wondered if he ever thought about me when we were younger. There are worse ways to die; I wouldn’t be able to dodge at this distance.
I closed my eyes as I heard the shot, and I waited for the pain that would follow, but it never came.
I opened my eyes a second later to see Buck hovering over me. Blood poured from an open wound in his shoulder. I stared into his big eyes and he in mine.
“I love you,” Buck said.
“Don’t die,” I squeaked out.
“Ugh, it’s just a shoulder shot,” he replied, “I didn’t like that tattoo anyway.”
He collapsed on top of me. I didn’t realize how much he really weighed until then.
8.
Everything was a blur for the rest of that night. We ended up at a hospital where he got his shoulder sewn shut. I stayed with him the whole time, and we exchanged knowing glances.
He wasn’t the man I remembered at all. I wanted to hold him and never let him go. I knew he would always be there to protect me, and that was a feeling I never wanted to lose.
Connor turned in his own sister for what she’d done. I think he knew that if Buck decided to come after her, she wouldn’t have made it far. Connor even visited him in the hospital to make amends.
The next morning the hospital released Buck. He was built like a tank, and it would’ve taken a lot more to do him in.
I met him out front with his motorcycle, the old hand me down he received from father. With
his arm still in a sling, he hopped on the cycle.
“I think I’ll take the lead on this one, Buck. You can’t brake with only one arm,” I said.
“This is my bike; I’m the only one in this saddle,” he said.
I cocked and eye, the same look my mother gave me a million times. It always worked on my father when he was alive, and it looked like it might just work with Buck.
He let out a drawn out sigh and scooted to the back seat of the bike. I hopped into the driver seat, and he threw his arm around my stomach.
I finally felt like I was home.
*****
THE END
MOTORCYCLE Romance – Outlaw Bad Boy Biker
1
Jennifer Walters groaned as her six-year-old son leapt atop her. She was in bed, and after opening one eye and squinting at her alarm clock, she saw it wasn’t even seven in the morning. In fact, it wasn’t even six thirty.
“What are you doing up so early?” Jennifer asked the little boy. His name was Jaxson, and he had the same blonde hair his mother did though his green eyes were his father's. That man was long gone, out of the picture and out of the state. It was just Jen and Jaxson, together in Arizona, in a small town named Harrisburg. It was dusty and hot, and Jennifer owned a small bar right at the end of the main drag, a place called Chuck’s, the name inherited by the man she had bought it from. Chuck’s was the local biker hang out, and there were plenty of bikers in and around Harrisburg.
“It’s not early, is it?”
“Six twenty is pretty early,” Jennifer groaned. “Go back to bed.”
“I don’t want to; I’m too excited about school.”
Jaxson was in first grade, and he loved it. He was bright and was already reading far beyond his level.
“Why? You go five times a week. How could you be excited?”
“Today is Chris’ birthday, and he’s bringing in cupcakes,” the little boy said with a huge grin.
“You got me up so early because you’re excited about cupcakes?”
“I guess so,” Jaxson said.
“Do you know how late I worked?”
“Yeah, you didn't pick me up until two in the morning. I woke up as we were driving home.”
On nights that Jennifer worked, which was most of them, an older woman named Barbara, who lived down the street, watched Jaxson. After leaving the bar, Jennifer would swing by and pick him up. Being a single mother was tough, but Jennifer wouldn’t have her life any other way. Jaxson’s dad had been an asshole, one of those tough guys Jen always found herself chasing after, and when she had gotten pregnant, he had disappeared. She was better off without him.
Jennifer’s mother lived across the country and wasn’t able to visit much, and had no money to send to help when Jennifer had needed such a thing.
Buying Chuck’s had been a big gamble, but it had paid off. Jennifer hadn’t gone to college. She had worked in the dingy bar for a couple of years. And then, when she was twenty-three, Chuck retired and offered the bar to the few employees he had. Jennifer was the only one who expressed interest in buying it. She got a loan, and she did so. She wanted to make a better life for herself, and her son.
Twenty-three turned into twenty-four, and that gave way to twenty-five, and the bar stayed afloat, and she finally had a monetary cushion. She wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck.
But she did stay up late, and she was tired, and she felt as though she was missing out on Jaxson, particularly since he was in school until three, and she went to the bar at five, six times a week.
“Turn on the TV, but keep it low,” Jennifer groaned as her son cuddled up beside her. He searched for the remote, tossed amongst the blankets on the bed, found it, and turned on the TV that sat on a long dresser against one wall of the bedroom. A blue light flooded the dim room, and Jennifer groaned once more for good measure, before pulling her pillow over her head and going back to sleep.
When she awoke again, it was because her alarm was going off. Seven twenty, time to get her son ready for school. Cartoons were on the TV, but Jaxson was sleeping beside her.
“Get up,” she said, nudging her son.
“I’m tired now,”
“Mom’s are allowed to sell kids you know.”
After they had climbed out of bed, she made breakfast and got him dressed. He was at school by eight, and she was back home ten minutes later. She collapsed into bed and went back to sleep.
Jennifer rose again just after noon. Her cell was ringing. She searched for her shorts; her phone was still in the pocket, and she had taken them off just before getting back in bed. She found her phone and looked at the screen. A name was there, across it. Ryan.
Ryan was a nice guy. Maybe that was why she didn’t like him. He came into the bar sometimes, completely out of place among the blue jeans and leather. He always looked nice. He was a fit guy, a bit on the thinner side, and he wore khakis and polo shirts. His shoes were nice and shiny, and his arms bare of tattoos or scars. He was wholesome. He had a good job, he was an accountant at a company twenty miles to the east, in a much bigger town called Grove.
And he was interested in Jennifer. He hit on her whenever he came into the bar. In fact, she was pretty sure he only came in to see her. She wasn’t sure how he had come to find his way into Chuck’s the first time, but he had seen her behind the bar, and he had kept coming in. And he had kept asking her out. For over a year. She flirted with him, teased him; she found it fun. She was stringing him along, and she knew it. He was handsome, tall and dark, his skin tanned, his smile dazzling. It was just those khakis. She didn’t like those kind of guys. Something was wrong with her. She needed a good guy. She knew it. So maybe, she would give one a chance.
She answered her phone.
“Hello?”
“Oh, hey, it’s Ryan.” The man sounded surprised as if he hadn’t expected her to answer. Probably because she never usually did.
“I know, what’s up?” the young woman asked. She laid back against her pillows, holding the phone to her ear.
“What are you doing?” Ryan asked. Jennifer smiled to herself.
“Lying in bed. I’m not wearing pants.”
She giggled. She knew that would drive Ryan crazy, and she knew that was rude, but she liked messing with the man too much. She heard him gulp, and she found herself thinking it was cute how intimidated he was by her.
“Oh, I can let you go,” Ryan said.
“Why did you call?” she asked.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me on Saturday. I have a work thing, down in Tempe. I know it’s a bit of a drive, but It’s a dinner. I’m uh, getting an award, and it’s a get dressed up sort of thing, and go have a free meal, and listen to boring people talk about boring accounting things, and I don’t know why I’m even bothering to ask you, because it’s starting to bore me just talking about it.”
“You’re getting an award?” Jennifer asked him.
“Yes,”
“Wow, I’ve never known anyone who got an award. What’s it for?”
“I’m the Arizona accountant of the year,” the nervous young man said.
“Ryan,” Jennifer said, “I will go with you.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I can pick you up, uh, at three? We’ll be there by six then, and it starts at seven, but we can mingle, grab a drink or whatever.”
“Sounds great,” Jennifer said, and she hung up. She bit her lip as she stared at her ceiling. She wondered what she was doing. She needed a good man, a good guy. Someone who had a good job, and had to wear a tie to the office. That’s who Ryan was. She found herself feeling nervous suddenly, her stomach in a knot.
She stood up and took her tee shirt off. Then she unclipped her bra and let it fall to the floor before sliding her panties down to her feet and stepping out of them. She padded into her bathroom on bare feet, and stopped in front of the sink. If she backed up far enough, she could see most of her body,
her face, her chest, her flat stomach. She was attractive. She always had been. She was the first girl in school to develop, and now, at twenty-five, her breasts were round and heavy. Her pubic hair was trimmed, a small strip above her pink slit. Her hair blonde and long, loose and framing her shoulders. Her lips were plump, and she had a small beauty mark above her lip on the right side. When she smiled, there was a dimple, just in her left cheek.
She was hot. Beautiful. And she had never been with a good man. Ever. Ryan was a good man. She was excited to go with him to Tempe that weekend; she was excited to go on a real date, with a good man. The last man she had gone on a date with was named Michael. He was an asshole, to put it simply. He never took her out; he just expected sex, and even then he never made love to her. It was just hard fucking. Hair pulling, ass grabbing.
Looking in the mirror, she wondered what kind of lover Ryan was. Would he pull her hair? Would he grab her breasts so hard that it hurt her? Would he smile when she yelled out in discomfort, or would he let up? Jennifer found herself wanting to know. She took a hot shower, thinking of Ryan. She let her hand fall between her legs, her fingers sliding over her slit. She came, and then she washed, and then she got out and dressed.
She spent a couple of hours cleaning the house, and then she went and collected Jaxson from school. They hung out for a while at home, but soon it was time for Jennifer to go to work. She dropped Jaxson off with Barbara, and then hurried to her bar.
She employed two other night bartenders, a guy in his thirties named Steven and a girl younger than her, with bigger tits and a more vacant expression named Brittany. It was Thursday, and Steven was working. One guy manned the bar during the day, seven days a week, an old man named Bert, who only had to come in from two in the afternoon, when the bar opened, to five, when the night tenders took over. Jennifer liked all of her employees, even if Brittany was rather vapid and airheaded. She also had two cooks in the kitchen who worked part time, alternating days. On that Thursday, the cook was Andre, a tall black man who had once been headed to the NBA before an injured knee brought him to the world of cooking. He was smoking a cigarette at the rear of the building when Jennifer pulled into the employee lot.