Everyone’s demeanor changes. Alessa and Gage’s faces drop all teasing simultaneously; it’s fucking eerie.
“Shit,” Dex mutters when he sees more people coming up behind them, backing them up.
“Who are you calling a cunt?” Alessa says in that deadly voice she used on me.
“You, you cheating bitch.” The guy puts his kickstand down, hopping off the bike.
Does he have any idea who he’s talking to? Who the hell talks to a woman like that? I look at Dex, and he doesn’t seem like he’s going to step in.
Alessa tilts her head to the side. “You really want to be that stupid?”
“We have you outnumbered. I’d say we aren’t the stupid ones,” the other guy says, getting off his bike. He isn’t wrong; there are at least twenty of them and seven of us.
“If you fight like you ride. I’m not fucking worried,” Gage laughs, but it has a weird edge. “Let’s fucking go!” Gage yells, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Goddamnit,” Dex mutters under his breath, then all hell breaks loose.
Alessa jerks her leg up and back before kicking it forward, smashing the one who called her a cunt right in the face, blood spurting everywhere. Fists and feet start flying around, Alessa right in the middle. What the fuck? Why doesn’t someone grab her? I go to step forward, and a hand hooks into my shirt and jerks me back.
“Stay back,” Ryder barks and disappears into the madness. More people are gathering around and pushing me back, some joining either side and some to watch.
I hear someone howl like a fucking wolf, Gage’s manic laughter following it.
Crazy fucker.
Between the two sides, they finally get everyone separated, and I’m relieved to see Alessa standing right in the middle in one piece and even have to admit I’m relieved to see Gage too.
Alessa spits blood from her split lip. “You have anything else to say?”
The one she kicked in the face glares, but it’s ruined by his hand against his bleeding nose. “This isn’t over.” They all start leaving the way they came in, and I walk back over to Alessa and Gage. Ryder jerks Alessa’s face up, looking at her lip.
She swats his hands away. “I’m fine.”
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Ryder grinds out.
Her mouth pops open. “Me? What the fuck was I thinking?”
“Yes,” he says between clenched teeth. “Starting a fucking fight.”
She spits more blood, and it lands right beside his boot. “Fuck you,” she says sweetly before swaying her ass back to her bike, Gage following. “Come on,” he says to me, so I go to follow, and Ryder grabs my arm.
“You stay here.”
“Let him go,” Alessa barks, and he squeezes my arm harder than necessary before he drops it.
Gage nods to the back of his bike. “Get on.” I raise my eyebrow, and he rolls his eyes. “Your weight on the back of her bike will throw her off balance.”
Alessa shrugs. “He’s not wrong. We’re just riding over there.” She points to the other side of the lot, where I see bikes lining up.
Gage waggles his eyebrows. “Come cuddle me, Leo.”
I shrug because why the fuck not. He climbs on and I get on behind him. Dex thrusts a helmet into my hands. “If you are going to be stupid, at least be smart.” I put it on when he gives me a hard look.
Alessa swings her leg over hers, shoving her helmet on; she lifts the face mask with a grin. “Go the long way.” She slams it closed, and they fire the bikes up.
I have never been on a bike, much less a crotch rocket. Gage grabs my arms and jerks them around his waist, so I have to lean against his back. “Lean when I lean. You will get used to it,” he says, and I realize they can talk to each other through the helmets, so the one I’m wearing is either Dex’s or Ryder’s. My money is on Dex. Ryder is probably hoping my brains will splat everywhere if we go down.
“You guys look hot as fuck right now,” Alessa laughs, her voice filtering through the helmet.
