Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“Got no reason to do that.”
Crow stared at him for way too fucking long.
Could he see Rage’s pulse racing along his throat? His heart pounding against his chest? His brain spinning like a fucking Tilt-A-Whirl at a carnival?
Crow sucked his teeth, then a few seconds later said, “Gonna take your word for it. Hope your word’s as good as your pop’s.”
Fuck. The man knew how to cut with his words.
With that, Rage watched Lyric’s father spin on his boot heel and stride back out.
Lyric was beat. Her work day had been long and busy. Of course, the late start hadn’t helped. Luckily, she managed to get caught up with her appointments since her clients considered her work worth the wait.
Only, now she was closing the shop two hours later than normal.
She left out the back and the steel door automatically locked behind her. While setting the alarm on the phone app, she heard a noise and looked up.
Her heart leapt into her throat at the same time a squeak escaped her.
“Holy shit!” She slapped hand to her chest. “You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing here?”
Ash’s long, denim-covered legs straddled his sled, which was parked right next to her vehicle.
He jerked his chin at her. “Let’s go.”
Her eyebrows stitched together. “Where?” What was this about?
“For a ride.”
She walked over to him, pointing at her car since her Harley was still at the body shop getting repaired from the crash. “I have my own ride.”
His lips thinned out. “Yeah, and that ain’t the fuckin’ point.” He jerked his head toward the back of his Harley. “Get on.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just said. A ride.”
She rolled her eyes. Men! “People might see us.”
“Don’t fuckin’ care. Bein’ a backpack don’t mean shit. Anyone got anythin’ to say ‘bout it, they can say it to my fuckin’ face.”
Lyric was quite sure most people wouldn’t say shit to Ashton’s face. He was the epitome of “fuck around and find out.”
“But you know how everyone talks. Look what happened this morning.”
“Fuck it. Let ‘em.”
Uh oh. He was aggravated about something. Maybe it was the run-in with her father earlier.
In truth, it wasn’t like she’d never rode with Ash before. She had. Along with some of the other club brothers she’d grown up with. She’d also ridden plenty of times on the back of both her father and brother’s sleds, too.
All her club brothers or sisters rode as backpacks the minute they were big enough to not fall off. It was in their blood. Because of that, Lyric always loved riding and was thrilled when Vi proposed their all-women’s MC.
While most of the guys in the club were against the women forming the Angels of Fury—including Ash—once her father heard about it, he not only went out and bought her a used Sportster XL883, perfect for her size, but taught her how to handle it.
Unlike some bikers, Crow had always been a proponent for women’s empowerment.
“Ash, after this morning with my father…” She scratched her forehead and shook her head. “What happened with that, anyway?”
“He made his feelin’s known about me fuckin’ you over.”
So Crow was concerned about him fucking her over, but not about any actual fucking. Interesting. “He knows you’d never do that.”
“Yeah right, if he wasn’t your father, but he is. The fuck if he’ll look at shit the same when it comes to you as compared to any of your club sisters.”
“Do you think he knows what…we…” She flapped her hand around as heat burned her cheeks.
“Dunno. More I think about it, the more I don’t give a fuck. ‘Specially after the way he confronted me at Heaven’s Angels.”
Oh shit! She really didn’t need tension between Ashton and her father. “He wasn’t a dick, was he?”
“Your pop ain’t ever a dick, but he knows how to make a fuckin’ point. It was pretty fuckin’ sharp.”
“And that point was not to hurt me?” She hissed out a breath, then groaned. “Sounds like he might know what we did.” To her, that was nerve-racking.
“‘Less you told him, he’s just guessin’.”
“My father has a crazy instinct when it comes to the truth.”
A muscle jumped in his cheek. “No fuckin’ shit.”
“This is why I don’t think it’s smart for me to go for a ride with you. Maybe once I get my bike back from Badger we can ride together, but until—”
His tight jaw shifted sharply. “Baby, get the fuck on my sled. We can take the back roads outta town.” He extended his big hand, waiting for her to take it.
Lyric was starting to believe Ash was aware that whenever he called her “baby,” she became a gooey mess inside and would probably do anything he asked.
Okay, maybe not anything. Anything within reason.
And going on a run with someone she trusted her whole life would be considered reasonable.