Warren text around midnight to say we were heading out at seven AM. They wanted to get back to Jersey in one day. He said I was riding with them, but that wasn’t happening. If he thought I was leaving my car behind, my only way out of that place, he was crazy. When I heard the bikes as I slammed the trunk, I smiled at the thought of facing two pissed off bikers. I turned and held up a hand to Warren, not in greeting but to tell him to stop.
Declan came out of the apartment building with my cell phone and his eyes immediately went to the two bikes. Luckily, Warren heeded my warning and turned away, stopping down the block.
“What the hell are those guys doing around here at this time?”
I shrugged, reaching for the phone to distract him.
“I can’t believe you almostforgot this.”
“I didn’t forget it.” I shook my head. Icouldn’tforget it. It was my lifeline.
“Call me when you get there, okay? Let me know how your aunt is.”
“I will,” I told him, about to pocket the phone and taking out my car keys. The phone pinged with an incoming text and a glance told me it was Hudson. It was worrying I still had his number stored in my phone, even more that he still had mine. I ignored it and locked the screen. “You focus on the band, okay? They’re going places.”
“You bet they are.” He pulled me into a tight embrace, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. The other reached down and squeezed my ass, making me giggle into his neck. “Drive safe,” he leaned back and looked at me. I pressed myself into him and gave him a searing, passionate kiss, one that had him hardening against me.
“God dammit, woman,” he laughed. “You sure you have to go right now?”
“I really do.” I kissed him again and gave his cock a squeeze. “It’s about an eight-hour journey and I don’t want to stop.” I was certain from their position, Hudson and Warren could see exactly what was going on.
“Shit, I’m gonna have to take care of this now.” I laughed, pulling back as he adjusted himself. “If you need a rest stop, take it,” he tapped the end of my nose. “You’ll be no good to your aunt if you end up the same way as her. Gonna miss you.”
I swallowed, staring at him with a tremulous smile. There was an awful feeling in my stomach, one I didn’t want to give in to or even think about. I hugged him close again, breathing in his scent. Then I stepped back and got into the car. Warren and Hudson started their bikes and set off. Declan stepped back, shoving his hands into his pockets, watching them in confusion.
I waved to him as I backed out of the space. I drove the other way, taking a different route to the Interstate. It would piss them off, but I didn’t care. Watching Declan getting smaller in my rearview mirror was like watching everything I’d worked towards for the last five years, disappearing from my grasp.
They caught up with me on I-85 about thirty minutes later, after I’d ignored a few phone calls. I heard them before I saw them. Warren pulled alongside me and gestured at me to pull over. I pointed a finger at my ear and shrugged as if I didn’t know what he meant and keptright on driving, turning up the radio, ignoring him. I wasn’t worried in the slightest. If I was being forced into this, they’d go along with how I wanted to do it.
A little over four hours into the drive, I decided I needed a comfort break and copious amounts of coffee. We were approaching Petersburg in Virginia when I spotted a sign for a rest stop and headed in.
After finding a space as close to the building as I could, I grabbed my purse and phone, locked up the car and walked inside. I made my way to the bathrooms first, used the toilet, and washed my hands and face. I hadn’t had time to apply make up before I left, and I didn’t have it with me now to hide the dark shadows under my eyes. I finger brushed my hair and found a hair tie, pulling it up into a messy ponytail.
In the restaurant, I found Warren and Hudson at a table, my brother holding and studying a menu with three cups of steaming coffee in front of him. I plonked myself on the chair beside him and added a sugar packet to my coffee before taking a sip. It wasn’t great, but it was caffeine and my sleep deprived brain sighed.
“You want anything to eat?” Warren passed me the menu.
I didn’t answer him as I perused. When the server came back, all wide googly eyes staring between my brother and Hudson, I sighed impatiently and rattled off my order. Warren beamed a huge smile at her, making her cheeks flush a deep pink as he ordered. Hudson just waved a hand that he was fine with his coffee, barely glancing at her. I stared at her. She got the picture we were done. She cleared her throat and spun away.
Warren laughed, and I glared at him. “It’s like old times, Waverley, protecting her guys.”
“You’re not my guys anymore.”
That shut him up. I drank more coffee and looked out of the window. I stayed like that for a while as they talked about some motorcycle crap. They wouldn’t talk business around me, so the mundane bullshit about engines and pipes and body work droned on. When the server returned, Warren shut up long enough to inhale everything on his plate. He’d always been a vacuum when it came to food. When he tried to steal some fries from my plate, I slapped his hand away and scowled at him.
“You won’t finish them.”
“Back off,” I snarled. He was right. It was more food than I would normally eat, but I was going to make damn sure I ate every bite. Warren knew I was doing it out of spite, if the half smile on his face was anything to go by.
“So,” he said, after the server topped off our coffee for the fourth time. “Who’s the guy?”
“What guy?”
“The one grinding all up on you,” he smirked.
I pulled a face. “Just because you perverted degenerates are comfortable watching each other get your dicks sucked doesn’t mean I want to talk about it with you.”
Hudson snorted. I’d purposely ignored him, and he’d been happy enough to sit in silence while we ate. I cast a critical eye over him. He’d had girls falling all over him in high school. He was a grade A asshole to most of them, but that never deterred them. As a fully grown man, he was even more gorgeous. I couldn’t think about that because it caused a pain in my chest I didn’t want to identify. He didn’t get to affect me like that anymore.
