Page 4 of One Night with the Biker

I should’ve known better than to trust him with setting me up on a date when I really didn’t trust him with Nova. His sudden absences without explanation; his insistence we couldn’t call him by his road name or his given name; the out-of-way places he took us; and so many other signs that indicated he had another woman. He knew Nova was my best friend and the daughter of the local Bloody Scorpion president. Sometimes, I believed he strung her along for that reason. That dickhead would find humor in sending me on a date with an enemy of mybrother’s club.Fucking asshole.I did not. My brother meant the world to me, even when I wanted to wring his neck.

Upon the deaths of our parents, Roman dedicated his life away from the club to me. He moved back home, helped me with my homework, learned to cook, and handpicked club girls to babysit me when he couldn’t allow me to tag along. He could’ve easily sent me away and turned his back on the grieving ten-year-old I’d been. But we were close, my parents, brother, and I. Just as our father had been a Bloody Scorpion, Roman had only just become a full patch member, when our parents were shot and killed.

Roman obsessed over my safety. He’d tapped a councilman’s son to marry me. The guy was planning to move to New York, a perfect distance between me and trouble in Roman’s eyes. Except I couldn’t stand the arrogant fuckhead he’d chosen for me and I had yet to accept.

However, every guyIchose wasn’t good enough. If I couldn’t have my dates at the clubhouse, Roman went with me and sat at the fucking table. He wanted someonehedeemed worthy of me. He definitely didn’t want me with a biker.

This weekend, Roman took his flavor of the month away, and I made my move. I had one opportunity for freedom and rebellion. One chance to have my V-card punched without Roman ever finding out.

Reese continued gaping at me. Long enough to allow all the bullshit swimming through my head and threatening to pollute my date.

“You’re a virgin?” Reese managed finally.

I nodded. “It isn’t a crime against fucking humanity,” I grouched.

His gray gaze fell on my mouth, and I licked my lips. I tried my best not to clock his rippling muscles and full sleeves. The intensity on his face should’ve repelled me, but it drew me likenickel to a magnet. A square jaw gave way to a strong chin and firm, unyielding lips.

I sipped my Hurricane again. It tasted like shit—too much syrup—but whatever.

“Does Louisiana know?”

“Nova probably clued him in. I certainly don’t announce my sexual inexperience to random dudes.” I shook my head and sipped again. “It isn’t their fucking business.”

“That motherfucker definitely knew,” Reese said flatly. “I thought he was looking out for me.”

“He told me that you lost your lady friend a few months ago. He thought I’d cheer you up.”

Ignoring Reese’s curse, I went in for another sip.

“He had no fucking right bringing up Trinity Parker.”

I gasped mid-suck, sending the drink down the wrong way. Luckily, Reese believed my reaction stemmed from the liquid, not the fact that the woman Reese was mourning was my brother’s ex, whom he’d killed when he discovered her affiliation with the Royal Bastards.

Amid my choking at hearing Trinity’s name, Mira arrived with the bread. I checked for phlegm or anything disgusting and would continue to do so every time she set food on the table.

Once my coughing subsided, I decided to push aside Roman’s fuckery and enjoy myself. I could pretend I wasn’t about to throw my life away in hopes that my brother would take an ol’ lady. The times he tried never worked out. He moved the first one in with us a year after our parents’ deaths. That girl hated me. Later I discovered he suspected as much, set up cameras, and saw her punching me in the stomach.

Her body was never found.

Then, there was Trinity, who was apparently very popular. My brother thought he’d found ‘the one’. Until someone tipped him off that she was a Royal Bastards’ club rat and in love with one of the brothers who snubbed her each time she pressed for more. The day she came to the house, I tried to warn her away. We got into a huge argument. Unfortunately, Roman walked in.

He ignored my pleas for her life and dragged her away. Nova told me he’d sent pieces of her back. It fucked with my head so much, I’d taken a leave of absence from school.

I pushed that horror aside, too. My brother was my protector, but a brutal motherfucker to everyone else. Cognizant dissonance and pretense were my best friends until reality smacked me in the fucking face.

I leaned back and allowed Mira to set a steaming cup of gumbo in front of me. The French bread and butter had been perfect, the fried alligator bites and crawfish tails ordered as appetizers were crispy and spicy.

Just as I finished my gumbo, Reese pushed his aside.

I swiped my napkin across my lips. “I cannot tell you how happy I am you didn’t ask for potato salad in your gumbo.”

Reese snorted. “Louisiana swears that’s how it’s done in those parts.”

“Louisiana is a liar. The only person I’ve ever met who did that is him. Usually, you get a dollop on the side to counteract the gumbo’s spice.”

He leaned back and clasped his massive hands, resting them on the table. “So does the food pass muster?”

I tilted my hand from side to side. “Eh. I’ve had worse.”

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