RANGER

by Samantha Leal

  “Yes, Nicole, this is my brother.” Sarah grinned.

  “Ranger,” he said flatly as he pulled his hand away and glared at her with nothing but contempt. He was looking at her as if she were a half-wit, almost as if he wasn’t even sure she was fully present in the mind, and he raised his eyebrows.

  Nicole’s heart did a double-flip and she felt her cheeks burn red.

  Why are you acting like such an idiot? she was screaming to herself inside.

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” Ranger said, as he turned his attention back towards Sarah. “And what brings you back to town on a Saturday night? I don’t think you’ve been home to Slate Springs once on a weekend in three years.”

  “Well that is the question,” Sarah agreed and laughed.

  Nicole’s cheeks were still burning and she couldn’t look up to face him. In any second he was going to know what a pair of stupid fools they both were, and she was going to be left even more red-faced.

  “Hang on,” Ranger said as his eyes darted towards the doorway and at a rowdy group of men that had just walked in. They looked drunk and leery, as if they were gunning for a fight and didn’t care where they got it. “I knew we’d end up with trouble tonight.”

  Nicole was aware of some other men in leathers moving forward from behind her and one of them tapped Ranger on the shoulder as he went. Ranger nodded at him before he sighed and cracked his knuckles. He looked back over his shoulder as he began to move away from the two girls and toward the doorway.

  “Stay here,” he pointed at them both, “and don’t move.”

  Sarah saluted him and Nicole grabbed hold of her arm and started to tug it nervously.

  “What the hell is this place?” she hissed. “And your brother… I mean come on. He looks like he couldn’t be any less pleased to see us here.”

  “He didn’t know we were coming,” she shrugged. “But he’ll be fine once he gets used to the idea.”

  She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and then she looked out towards the stage.

  “Wow,” she said. “Look at her go.”

  She nodded in the direction of the dancing girl and Nicole felt as if she were going to burn up. The music and the sweat and the noise was making her feel queasy. And with the thick and heavy smoke being thrown into the mix, things were only beginning to feel worse.

  “I have to get out of here,” she said as she darted towards the nearest exit she could see, a closed door at the side of the stage.

  Sarah reached out and tried to grab her as she lunged for the handle but it was too late. The door opened and Nicole was already slipping inside and down a long dark corridor.

  Sarah followed and the door slammed behind them. The girls both leaned against the cool wall. Nicole breathed in and out deeply as she tried to steady herself.

  “Another panic attack?” Sarah asked as she peered up and out of the small window in the door and back out into the club, checking to make sure that they hadn’t been seen.

  Nicole nodded and rubbed her chest.

  “You can’t carry on like this, Nic,” Sarah said. “You’re driving yourself insane with nerves.”

  “I know,” she breathed. “It’s just the pressure of it all. I feel as if my whole life isn’t my own.”

  “And this is why we’re here,” Sarah said with a genuine smile. “We’re going to get your money and we’re going to set you up doing what you want to do.”

  Nicole nodded and tried to take in what Sarah was saying, but it all just felt like white noise.

  “Come on, let’s get back out there before we get discovered down here and roped into dancing on that stage!”

  Nicole laughed and her breathing started to return to normal. She really was going to have to get a grip. She had so much to achieve, and it was time to stop being scared.

  “Ranger’s coming back,” Sarah said nervously. “We better get out of here.”

  She opened the door and the music, heat and smoke hit them again, but this time Nicole just threw back her shoulders and held her head high.

  “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go and get me a fake husband.”

  Sarah burst out laughing and so did Nicole.

  For all the adventures they’d been on together, this was going to go down in history as the all-time most bizarre.

  “Imagine if people could hear us talking sometimes,” Nicole joked. “They would think we were mad.”

  “Well, I think we actually might be,” Sarah called back over shoulder as they stepped back into the crowd.

  Ranger was coming towards them and he had another man with him. Another tall, beast of a man, covered in tattoos and wearing black leather. They both looked so menacing and intimidating together it was like they weren’t even real.

  Nicole held her breath and stared at them both and held out her hand.

  “I’m sorry,” she said with a weak smile as she stared into Ranger’s dark eyes. “I’m Nicole.”

  He gave her a flash of a smile before it disappeared again, but he reached out and shook it.

  His grip was strong and hot, and she realized he was wearing a smattering of heavy, silver rings. When she let her eyes travel to his knuckles, she could see that they were all twisted faces of skulls and crossbones. She shivered.

  “This is Snake,” Ranger said as he motioned to the man stood next to him. Nicole could feel Sarah tense up.

  He looked down at them both and Nicole looked back up at him with wide eyes. These men were barely speaking; they were just standing there but were so incredibly intimidating she wanted to run.

  “Snake?” Sarah suddenly asked as she looked him up and down. “What’s with all the names?”

  He curled his lip and grinned before he winked.

  “You don’t want to know,” he said wryly before he turned and merged into the crowd.

  Nicole felt a flutter of amusement in her chest and she swept a strand of hair behind her eye. Sarah gasped.

  “That’s enough,” Ranger said as he gripped onto Sarah’s arm and led her to the back of the room.

  Around them all the crowd was increasing and the music was rising. It was so loud and disorientating Nicole could barely make out what was happening around her. One moment she could see the girls dancing, the next men were jumping, wooping, chugging beers, then knocking into her, making her skitter across the floor and bump into Ranger’s back.

  He looked down at her and smiled with amusement and she felt herself blush again.

  “You didn’t just come here to flirt with my brothers, did you?” he asked scornfully as he looked down at Sarah.

  “Hell no,” Sarah said as she ran her hands through her long blonde hair and grimaced at him. “We’re here to ask for your advice and help. Your worldly wisdom, if you please.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Nicole noticed a look of frustration pass over Ranger’s face.

  “Seriously Sarah, this better be good,” he looked at his watched and then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Outside,” he said as he began to walk towards a door at the other side of the stage. “Follow me.”

  Sarah raised her eyebrows and grinned at Nicole, but Nicole was still finding it hard to see the funny side. Ranger was clearly annoyed and he was looking at them both as if they were the biggest pains he had ever experienced.

  He stopped by an exit door at the side of the stage. Nicole and Sarah followed him trying not to catch the eyes of any of the truckers who were clearly in the mood for trying their luck with any girl they happened to come across.

  He pushed open the swing doors and stood aside so the girls could enter first. They found themselves in another corridor much like the one they had just hidden in, but this one was lit right down at the end and they could see there was a door which led to the outside world.

  Ranger strode ahead of them and sparked up his cigarette, blowing a plume of smoke out behind him which wafted into the girls faces. Nicole couldn’t help but cough and try to s
hake it away with her hand. Ranger looked at her with daggers over his shoulder. She quickly averted her eyes to the floor with embarrassment. Seriously, this meeting couldn’t have been going any worse.

  At the end of the hallway on the right was a room that was brightly lit, and as they passed by Nicole managed to sneak a glimpse of what appeared to be a girls’ changing room. Underwear and stilettos were scattered all over the floor and perfume hung heavy in the air. The room was empty, but it screamed girl time and that made her feel more at ease considering they seemed to be right in the middle of a biker’s den of iniquity.

  “Okay.” Ranger sighed as he stepped down onto the dusty ground and leaned back against the wall of the club. “Let’s hear it.”

  Nicole stepped down beside him and wrapped her arms around herself to shield her bare skin from the nipping cold. The air was still warm, but the breeze rolling in was sharp and she suddenly regretted not bringing a jacket.

  She tried to keep her face straight and to not let herself shiver.

  Be strong, she coached herself. This man clearly doesn’t like weakness.

  Sarah knotted her fingers together and brought her hands up in front of her as if she were trying to show some powerful stance and assume her authority.

  Ranger smirked and took another drag.

  “Okay,” she began. “I don’t know if you ever listen to me, or read any of the messages I send you…”

  “I don’t,” Ranger said scornfully.

  “But this is Nicole, my roommate.”

  “I know. We established that inside,” he said with an eye-roll. “I mean come on, I don’t listen to that much of an extent. You two have lived together for years, haven’t you?”

  Nicole smiled. “Almost three.”

  Ranger’s eyes flashed over her and she was sure she caught them trail down to the bulge of breast in her low-cut top. She felt a little hot pulse of excitement roll through her.

  “Well, Nicole has a problem and I know that you and your friends are good at fixing problems,” Sarah said tentatively.

  Ranger shook his head and exhaled. “I don’t like the sound of where this is going Sarah,” he said sternly. “You better not have gotten yourself into any serious trouble. So tell me, who is it? Who do I need to fuck up?”

  In that instant his whole attitude changed. He went from being annoyed they were there into full on protection mode. His eyes seemed to blaze with a fire and his fists began to flex. Nicole couldn’t help but watch him and the way suddenly the rage and power seemed to course through him. It made her pulse race and her breath catch in her throat.

  “Will you let me finish?” Sarah said with exasperation. “I said it’s Nicole who’s in trouble, not me.”

  Ranger looked down at Nicole and studied her for a moment. Their eyes locked in on one another’s and he seemed to let his barrier down for a split second, as if there was some softness to him he had just been hiding. However, as quickly as the softness came it disappeared and he crossed his tattooed muscular arms over his chest and breathed out heavily through his nose.

  “This isn’t the one stop fix-your-problem shop,” he said sternly, his nostrils flaring.

  “I know that.” Sarah rolled her eyes again. “But this is something that could benefit your club too, in more ways than one I think and it isn’t dangerous.”

  Ranger’s ears seemed to prick up as he glanced over at his sister, seeming to consider what she was saying.

  “Go on,” he said. “You can continue.”

  Sarah and Nicole looked at each other. This was the last chance they had to back out but the deeper they were getting to asking him, the more it seemed like there was no other way to go.

  Nicole gave Sarah the nod and then briefly covered her eyes before she sighed and looked up at Ranger to watch his reaction.

  “Okay,” Sarah said. “Nicole needs someone to help her out because her parents are withholding her trust fund from her.”

  The interest that had been behind his eyes all too quickly disappeared.

  “First-world problems, right?” he said with a snort and a shake of his head. “Poor you, Nicole. Have Mommy and Daddy not given you what you expected? Are you going to have to work harder than planned?”

  He seemed to practically sneer it at her and it made her stand back, completely unprepared for how annoyed he seemed to be.

  “I…” she began, but she couldn’t find any words.

  “Ranger!” Sarah stomped her foot. “Don’t be so rude! You haven’t even let me finish.”

  “I honestly don’t see how I need to hear any more,” he shook his head and laughed. “A little princess who hasn’t got her trust fund isn’t exactly the kind of cause I can deem worthy of my time.”

  He went to step back inside but Sarah reached out and grabbed hold of him.

  “Five minutes,” she said desperately. “That’s all we need. I promise you’ll feel different once we’ve explained.”

  The moonlight caught on his face and illuminated the smattering of stubble on his chin and cheeks. It made his look even darker and cast new shadows, adding to the depth and brooding nature that was both endearing and terrifying.

  He clicked his teeth together and reached for another cigarette before he clamped it between his lips and lit it.

  “Five minutes,” he said irritably. “And then I’m out of here and so are you.”

  “Interesting,” Ranger said as he ground his second cigarette out onto the ground with the steel tip of his boot.

  Sarah had told him the entire story as quickly as she could, barely stopping to take a breath. Nicole was watching him nervously, waiting for him to dismiss them but he seemed to genuinely be in thought.

  “I have to admit, when you initially said the words trust fund, I thought you were going to say you wanted it to go and buy a handbag or to travel the world.” Nicole felt his eyes on her. “But to want to invest it in your future, it’s smart.”

  “Thank you,” Nicole said as she finally dared look at him.

  “It’s smart, and it’s admirable,” he continued. “Not a whole lot of people I know would want to stop taking their meal ticket at college when they have a guaranteed career at the end of it to start something from scratch on their own, especially when they had all of that money backing them up in the first place.”

  “I told you you’d be interested,” Sarah said smugly.

  “Maybe,” Ranger said as he looked up at the stars above them and sighed. “If you were just anybody I’d probably turn you away and not want to hear any more about it,” he said as his eyes travelled back down to meet Nicole’s. “But you’re my kid sister’s best friend, and you’re the daughter of one of the most powerful attorney’s in the state. I’m pretty sure when all is said and done, this can’t be too bad for business.”

  “I’ll pay you whatever you want,” Nicole assured him.

  “I don’t mean about the money,” he smiled slowly. “I mean the connection to your father.”

  Nicole felt a wave of panic.

  “We could call it insurance,” he said. “If the whole plan fails.”

  He had a mischievous look in his eye and Nicole suddenly felt way in over her head. Was he threatening her?

  “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

  Ranger straightened up and began to pace back and forth around the girls, his face alight with ideas.

  “This is a fucking crazy plan.” He laughed as he slapped his hands together. “But I like it.”

  “Do you think one of them would be interested in helping us out?” Sarah asked with wide eyes.

  “No,” he shook his head. “I don’t think any of the guys in there will have the slightest bit of interest. They don’t know either of you, and they’ll think I’m insane, but I’m not talking about them. I’ll do it.”

  He looked down at Nicole and she felt her whole body tense.

  “I’ll do it for the money, and I’ll do it because I have a feeling this is going
to be worthwhile.”

  She felt stunned. This had not been the reaction she’d been expecting.

  “I’ll speak with the other boys,” he said. “When they know a decent amount of money will be in it and I’ll be able to get close to some serious legal counsel, I’m sure they’ll be on board and happy to let me do my thing.”

  Nicole’s heart was racing and she felt a wave of panic. What was she getting herself into?

  Sarah reached out and touched Nicole on the shoulder. “Nic?” she asked in almost a whisper. “What do you think?”

  Nicole’s mind was swimming. She felt as if she couldn’t keep one real thought together. Her palms were sweating and her pulse was whooshing loudly through her ears.

  “Well,” she croaked. “It’s what we came for.”

  She looked up at Ranger who was staring down at her coldly. She had no idea how the hell he was even related to Sarah. It was as if something inside of him was broken. Something was cutting him deep and he had a chip on his shoulder the size of China.

  “Well, don’t sound too grateful,” he said with a snort. “I’m putting my ass on the line here with my club. I don’t have to help you out.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” Nicole corrected him. “I’m just nervous about this, that’s all.”

  “What’s to be nervous about?” he asked. “We pretend we’re getting married and you get your trust fund. Sounds simple enough to me.”

  “Okay,” she said, resigned. “Let’s do it.”

  Ranger turned back around and took a step towards her. As he held out his hand she felt a ripple of panic and excitement shift through her. He was so tall he was covering her in his shadow and when she took his hand to shake it again, she realized how strong and rough his grip was. It made her gulp.

  “Well then,” he said. “It looks like we have a deal.”

  Nicole looked up at him and their eyes met, their hands still entwined with one another’s.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Ranger said as he dropped her hand and stepped backwards.

  When he moved away from her, Nicole felt disappointment and her need raged hard.

  “Thanks, bro,” Sarah said, smiling. Ranger just glared at her and then disappeared into the hallway and let the door close behind him.