Ride For Me (The North Shore Crew #1)

by VR Baucke

  Lil coughed discreetly and moved into my arms when I opened them for a hug.

  “See you at dinner on Saturday? If you’re up to it?”

  “I’ll be there,” I confirmed.

  As Mace and I walked out the door, he chuckled. “Ha, told you it wouldn’t be long until she had you begging for it.”

  My answer was to flick him off, slide into the passenger seat of his car and slam the door closed.

  SIXTEEN

  GAGE

  WITH THE AIR cleared between me and Lil, and somewhat settled between her brother and me, I was cautiously looking forward to the get-together at their parent’s place this evening. First though, Mace and I stopped by his folks’ house to see how Dave was recovering.

  Lil’s car—a metallic blue Mazda 3 with tinted windows and a set of decent mags—was visible as soon as we pulled up on our bikes. And Lil was the first person I saw inside the house. Our eyes locked and neither of us moved until Aunty Sandy spoke.

  “There are my boys! How are you both?” She hugged Mace then myself. “Someone is feeling rather silly after his outbursts the other day,” she murmured and raised an eyebrow in Dave’s direction.

  Mace barked a loud laugh. “I wish I was first hand witness to your shenanigans, oh wise father of mine. The Snapchats didn’t quite cut it.”

  “What!” Uncle Dave stared at me, feigning disbelief while I cracked up at his expense. “You sent my son pictures of me? Jesus, talk about kick a man when he’s down.”

  “They were short videos, Uncle, and how could I not? Besides the fact that you were in fine form, your outbursts were bloody embarrassing.”

  He leant forward in his chair so he was closer to where Lil crouched over his wounded foot. There, he gently set his large hand on her forearm.

  “I am sorry for my outbursts and embarrassing you, love. It’s not as if you don’t have enough troublesome patients to deal with, but add my behaviour...”

  Lil laid her hand over his and smiled warmly. “Honestly, it’s absolutely fine, Dave. Most people react to harder drugs in a similar fashion, and you were tame compared to some behaviour I’ve had to work with,” she shrugged. “You didn’t cause any physical harm, so that’s a pass in my book.”

  That last comment reignited the fire in my belly. Knowing that she has had hands raised upon her while doing her job, made me want to hunt down those individuals and give them a taste of their own medicine.

  “Huh?” I said, snapped from my darkening thoughts to see Aunty Sandy talking to me.

  “Are you on your way to the McMillan’s too?”

  “Yep. We’re heading there after this.” Anxiety crept in. “Do I need to be worried?”

  “Of course not,” Aunty waved off my concern while Dave chuckled.

  “What?” I asked while narrowing my eyes at him.

  He winked. “You’ll see, son.”

  Lil stood, making the cute little sundress swish around her toned thighs.

  “It’s looking good so far, Dave. Keep it elevated for a little longer yet. I’ll stop by again in a few days to recheck it. I start nights tomorrow, so it’ll be before my shift on Wednesday.”

  Uncle Dave smiled up at her. “That’ll be perfect, thanks, love.”

  “You’re welcome. Not everyone gets special treatment, so count yourself lucky,” she teased and bent down to give him a goodbye hug.

  The hem of her dress rode precariously high where I got an eyeful of her toned muscles flexing as she held her balance. Goddamn best show in town. Seemed I wasn’t the only one to be noticing either; Mace was also transfixed on the view.

  Giving him a backhand to the stomach, his reaction was to grin and wiggle his eyebrows. Lil stood and absentmindedly ran a palm over her ass, ensuring it was decently covered. The action gave me a fleeting glimpse of her figure. I blinked away the daydream as Aunty walked us to the door.

  Mace kissed her cheek. “Have a good day, Ma.”

  Lil and Sandy embraced and hugged tight for a few moments.

  “Great to see you, love, thanks for stopping by.”

  “Anytime, Sandy. Thanks for the cuppa. See you both on Wednesday.”

  I followed Lil down the garden path, thoroughly distracted by her dress flowing around her thighs. Her deep-red hair reflected the sun, making the rays reflect off each glossy strand.

  In my inattentive state, I crashed into her back when she halted at the edge of the parking spaces. Panic rose in my gut. Stepping around her with Mace hot on my heels, we both let out a collective sigh of relief then turned back to Lil.

  “Shit, I thought my Hog had been stolen!” Mace hissed, running a hand through his hair.

  I couldn’t find a single word. The intense stare Lil pegged me with stole all my ability to breathe. Desire and lust emanated from her entire posture as her eyes flicked between me and my Gunner.

  “What?” I demanded again, becoming damn uneasy.

  She strode over to me as I swung a leg over my ride and picked up my helmet. Much to my surprise, Lil started running her hands over my chopper like it was the sexiest fucking thing she had ever laid eyes on. And goddammit, her reaction alone was getting me hot under the collar.

  A breath whispered past her lips. “I need to ride this.”

  “And here I thought you liked me for me, not what I’ve got between my legs.”

  Lil’s eyes snapped to mine. “I never said I liked you, but I do a little now,” she replied coyly.

  Cussing came from Mace’s direction. “Don’t tell me you’re about to commit the foul act of treason too, Missy! You’ll never sit your ass on my Hog again if that’s the case. Harley for life!” he declared and hit his fist against his chest.

  There he goes again, being loyal as fuck. Though, I had to admit, I missed my Harley. My Victory, however, was the next best thing. Nothing could beat the sound of pure horse power roaring to life as soon as I opened the throttle. It was an addiction.

  I would never own another Harley after what happened. Mace knew why too. For me, from here on out, I was a converted Victory fan and had chosen the Victory because it was American made (like Harley Davidson) and was comparable to all the aspects of my Hog that I used to love.

  “Don’t kid yourself, you’ll let me ride behind you any day,” Lil sassed at Mace.

  He grinned while shoving his helmet over his big-ass head, knowing full well that she was right.

  Lil turned back to me. “Like I say, I need to be on this.”

  I pointed a finger at her ass. “Your sweet ass can perch behind me anytime, Sunshine.”

  And I meant it. The thought of her wedged against my back had all my blood rushing south.

  Lil laid a swift, flirty whack on my arm. “Tease!”

  “You are,” I mumbled back, somewhat darkly, because damn, she was!

  I winked while fastening my helmet then grinned when her cheeks flushed. Kicking up the stand, I revved my Gunner to life and felt the reciprocating soul run through my veins.

  “See you there, Lil.”

  “Ride safe,” she yelled and pointed a forefinger at each of us.

  I watched her ass again as she walked to her car and slid behind the wheel. With a final wave though the open window, she peeled out of the driveway in the direction of her parents’ house.

  Mace smirked at me as he sat waiting on his idling Harley. I flicked him off as I drew up beside him.

  He yelled over the combined rumble of our motorbikes. “Race you there, loser shouts lunch this week.”

  And with that, he peeled out onto the street in the same direction as Lil turned before I could shout that I didn’t know the fucken way. My race was lost before it had even begun, but that didn’t mean I was gonna let him win easily.

  SEVENTEEN

  LIL

  CRUISING DOWN THE motorway with the window down and the music pumping was freeing and uplifting. I loved the air whipping my hair around my face, and the permanent smile on my face was testimony to that.

&n
bsp; And, oh my Lord, I was pretty sure I drooled on the spot from seeing both Mace and Gage straddling their muscle bikes. They were too goddamn sexy for their own good, and my panties all but removed themselves.

  Mace always looked great—especially all kitted up; he had the whole muscle-man physique to go with the attitude his Hog evoked. Gage however... That man was on a whole other level with his dark broodiness and bold words, not to mention his sinfully hot ride. I had been surprised to discover a sweetness to him this week; the way he held my face in his roughened hands, and looked into my eyes had every romantic part of me swooning. And the tenderness I felt when he kissed me in the spa before it turned heated…

  My daydream slipped back to reality when the song began to fade, making way for the unmistakable rumbling of muscle bikes tracking at speed down the motorway behind me.

  Glancing at the rear-view mirror, I saw two bikers in the distance, one ahead of the other, weaving in and out of traffic at an alarming speed. The sight made my heart skip more than a few beats as a surge of adrenaline filled my veins. Not to mention my panties were reduced to rubble again. Mace was in the lead, and close behind him was Gage. The only way it could have been better was if I was riding pillion.

  Mace gave me the ‘rock on’ salute as he smoked past, then seconds later Gage followed suit.

  The drive time from Albany to Whangaparaoa was roughly thirty to forty minutes, depending on traffic, and from their pace I knew they would arrive long before I did.

  Pulling off the highway and cruising around the smooth streets on the peninsula, I checked on the whereabouts of the rest of the gang, through Mickey.

 

 

 

 

  His sign off made me smile as I parked up outside Mum and Dad’s beach house. Unsurprisingly, there were already two bikes stood neatly side by side in front of the closed garage doors.

  Grabbing the bowl of salad off the floor in the backseat, I hastened towards the front door, worried about what I would find.

  “Hi,” I called into the empty foyer as I flicked off my jandals.

  “Out the back, hun,” came Mum’s voice.

  Going via the kitchen to put the food in the fridge, I grabbed a beer on a whim, then headed out onto the back deck. Dad had Mace and Gage bailed up and immersed in deep, manly conversion that stopped when I appeared.

  “Hey, Lil. I love that dress on you!”

  “Thanks, Ma,” I replied and I returned her hug. “The others will be here soon.”

  “Joshy driving?” she asked.

  “Yup. They’re carpooling today.”

  Mum’s wide smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. “I’m going to get more snacks ready,” she declared then made her way inside.

  According to my mum, one could never have enough snacks! I walked over to Dad who planted a kiss on my cheek when we ended our squeeze.

  “You’re looking well, bud.”

  “Thanks, Daddyo, so are you. And looks like you’ve met Gage already?”

  I was curious to know just how much information he had interrogated out of the two guys. Dad was a first-class interrogation officer, which meant whatever he wanted to know he would eventually find out using any technique he deemed necessary. He always looked like he meant business too.

  Outside of work hours, Dad’s personality was the opposite of serious and the only thing that conveyed that was the occasional twitch of his lips.

  “Oh, you mean this guy? He was introduced to me as Batman.”

  Mace snorted a laugh and Gage raised his beer in salute. “The one and only.”

  At least he wasn’t letting Dad get to him; both men were intimidating in their own right, and I figured that Gage should be fine from here on out. I took a sip of beer then turned a suspicious expression on Mace and Gage.

  “How long have you two been here?”

  “Oh, I’d say around fifteen minutes.” Mace winked as my jaw fell open.

  I couldn’t bloody believe it. I was all for driving in the fast lane, but that was pushing it.

  “And just how many tickets did you collect along the way?”

  “Here’s hoping none,” Mace dead-panned.

  He knew full well that blatantly admitting to breaking the law would earn him a lecture from Dad at some stage during the night. As with all Police Officers, Dad took his duty to uphold the law extremely seriously.

  “You two are a bad influence on each other,” I sassed then shrugged sheepishly when Mace pointed at the beer in my hand. “It’s just one, I promise!”

  Dad excused himself to grab another round from inside, and Gage seized his opportunity to get me alone. A marvellous wash of his scent rolled over me and I bit back a hum when he bent his lips to my ear.

  “So, your dad eyeballed my brow, then questioned how many tats I had before asking me how much jail time I had under my belt.”

  I gasped loudly, totally appalled that Dad had even gone there. Gage chuckled within his chest as I apologised profusely.

  “Don’t worry about it, Sunshine. He sure as fuck didn’t have a comeback when I told him I’d done seven years and was finally released on probation, and that my crime was being too good looking.”

  “You didn’t! Please tell me you’re joking?”

  More chuckling came from Gage as a rare, full grin graced me with a view of his straight, white teeth.

  “Nope, not kidding. All he did was look at me weird like he was trying to figure me out, then raised his beer and said, “Well, I’ll cheers to that.” Your mum looked well impressed though, I must say. I’m sure she was checking me out...”

  I playfully slapped his bicep. “Oh my God, she didn’t.” When Gage laughed louder, I threw up my hand. “You’re all fucked I tell ya. Fucked! I’m surrounded by special people,” I declared through my own laughter.

  There was never a dull moment to be had at ‘de casa McMillan’.

  It wasn’t long before new rowdy voices sounded within the house, and Mickey, Neek, Trav and Kimmie soon appeared. Mickey had spent the day with Neek and Trav—something about helping with Trav’s car restoration project—so it made sense that they carpooled. What didn’t make sense at all was why they had all squished into Kimmie’s beat up old Mini, which was affectionately named The Crab Bucket. The poor wee mustard coloured Mini would have been sacked out, and by the sounds of their complaints, Nico and Trav had crammed into the back, ‘balls to balls’, as they put it.

  Trav totally had a ‘thing’ for my mum. Actually, I suspected he had a thing for older women—and to be honest, Mum enjoyed his attentions, as innocent as they were.

  “Thanks for having us around again, Mrs Mick,” Trav grinned as he engulfed Mum in a massive hug.

  “You know to call me Ev,” she playfully scolded. “It’s lovely to see you again, Travis.”

  “Pa-leese! You know to call me Trav.”

  “Touché.” Mum pointed at him. “And you still owe me that dance later.”

  “Noted, just holler when you’re ready.”

  I didn’t know how Trav did it. He was all boyish charm and grins, and could talk his way into panties with his mouth taped shut. The buddy-buddy banter between him and Mum still weirded me out a little at times, though it had been going on for as long as I could remember, starting the very first time Trav had called around to check out something on Mickey’s old car.

  Mum had taken a shining to his mischievous streak and enjoyed hearing about his outrageous adventures. However, she made it crystal clear that if he ever got Mickey in the shit, there would be hell to pay.

  As per usual, us girls gathered in the kitchen to make sure all the food was in order. We all quietened when a loud conversation broke out amongst the guys outside.

  “Hey, Mr Mick, I know for a fact Lil doesn’t like her sausage burnt,” Mace’s voice boomed, followed by a string o
f laughter.

  “Christ, Mason, how many times have I told you to call me Matt? Mr Mick makes me sound old.”

  More rapturous laughter broke out before Mace continued, knowing how to give as good as he got from my father.

  “I wouldn’t worry about age, Matt, according to the latest Womens Day, fifty is the new thirty.”

  Mum and I burst with laughter; they were both still in their forties.

  Dad’s bewildered voice rose. “Bloody Nora, you’re in for an asswhooping, boy. I’m not pushing fifty yet!”

  Mum, Kimmie and I were cracking up to the point of tears, and when any one of us so much as squeaked or snorted or went to say something, it set us all off again.

  “Er,” Gage stuck his head around the door frame, looking perplexed at the scene before him. “Party for three and I’m not invited?”

  He hesitantly stepped into the kitchen like he was about to be chewed up and spat out purely for sport. I waved him in and turned to the bench to select a plate of food to pass him. The moment his hand landed on my lower back, I gasped, totally unexpecting the intimate touch around my family and friends. It was fleeting but I felt it throughout my entire body; every cell now hummed in response.

  “Pass me something, Sunshine,” Gage murmured when I remained paused for a little too long.

  “Oh, ah, here.” I shoved two bowls of salad his way then ushered him from my space.

  I hadn’t expected him to return, so was surprised when he came back, not even a minute later, and plucked the bowls from Mum’s hands without asking if she wanted help. I received an impressed look from her, who seemed a little dazzled by Gage using his initiative.

  “He’s gorgeous, Lil,” she whispered once Gage had disappeared again.

  “You don’t need to tell me that, Mum, I have eyes. Which happen to be working exceptionally fine, might I add. But, he’s not actually mine, so don’t look at me like that,” I pointed at her face and raised a brow in return.

  “I see the way he’s looked at you in the short time you’ve been here.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like that.”