Page 15 of Rebel

I took a step back. That wasn’t exactly what a woman wanted to hear after a kiss that turned her world upside down.

He reached out for me and pulled me closer. “I just… shit, I wasn’t expecting it to still be like that.”

“Me either. We can ignore it if you want, I doubt we’ll cross paths again anytime soon.” It wasn’t what I wanted, I knewthat without a doubt, but it wasn’t just up to me. If it’s what he wanted, I could do it. I’d already spent the past six years without him, what was a lifetime?Doable, it was doable.

“Nah,” he finally said, a playful grin curled his lips. “You ain’t gettin’ rid of me that easily. I’ll see you soon Nikki.” He pressed a hard kiss to my lips before he spun me away from him and gave me a soft shove towards the hotel entrance.

My legs felt shaky as I crossed the lobby towards the elevators and my lips tingled from the feel of his kiss and the scrape of his scruff. I shouldn’t have kissed him.It was crazy to think we could pick things up after all those years apart, even without the secret I carried. I told myself it was just hormones and a desperately starved for attention libido.

Still, I touched my lips as the elevator doors slid closed, because I knew that incredible kiss would get me through the next few days. At least.

Chapter Six

Rebel

She hadn’t called.

Again.

It was dumb as fuck to feel so upset about the fact that Nikki hadn’t called, that she’d ghosted me. That history was repeating itself. But it’s what the fuck I felt, which made me a glutton for punishment because I listened to her show while I went over the MC’s books for the month. I tried to keep on top of the club finances each month, because otherwise it became too much to handle and put me in a bad fucking mood. Also because we had a list of enemies that grew every month, and it was crucial to know if or when someone was trying to take our shit.

Don’t fucking worry about her. You warned her and that’s all you can do.That was the bullshit I told myself to make me feel better. But it didn’t fucking work because if it did, I wouldn’t be listening to her damn radio show for the fourth time this week.

I wanted, more than I could even admit to myself, to get to know her again, but for real this time. That night we spent together we’d only touched the surface because surface shit is what you do during a one night stand. You don’t bare your fucking soul to a complete stranger, but now I wanted to know her secrets and her worries, her hopes and her goals. It’s what I wanted, but she had to want it too, which was why I’d left the ball in her court.

And she hadn’t called. Or texted, goddammit.

“Caller, you’re on the air.” Her voice was chipper as usual but there was an edge to it. “Tell us, um Thrash, what’s your siren call to the open road?”

There was a long and uncomfortable silence before a slightly familiar voice spoke. “You ignored my warning, bitch. I told you to keep your mouth shut. Now you’ll have to pay.” There was an audibleclickon the line which told me the person had called from a payphone or a landline.

“Slate, listen to this,” I called out. I knew it was bad news because that voice and that name belonged to the President of the Blood Fangs MC.

His brows dipped. “Who the fuck is still using a landline these days?”

“Someone who either doesn’t want to be tracked or doesn’t want anything linking them to a threat like a call log, would be my guess.” Given that he’d used his real name, I was thinking it was more the latter. Which meant they were serious about these threats.

“Want me to look into it?”

I nodded and pushed away from the desk in our shared office inside the clubhouse. “Could you? I’m gonna head out for a bit.”

His lips curled into a knowing smile. “Be safe. Holler if you need backup.”

***

I jumped on my bike and putHighway Pulseon in my helmet as I weaved between cars to get to the KTDH studioswhere her show was broadcast, as fast as I could. When I arrived most of the windows in the building were dark, and I was worried that maybe I was too late to talk to her. But then her voice sounded in my ears again and I relaxed and listened to the soft song of her husky voice, and her sweet laughter.

I’d made her laugh so many times that night. It was like a fucking challenge to see how many times I could get her to make that sound that I’d become addicted to within just a few hours. She laughed freely, openly, and without pretense—and I craved that sound.

She’d recovered quickly from the call and kept on with more callers who told her to ignore that humorless asshole, as they shared their stories of being on the road for all kinds of reasons. Nikki listened and understood them, commiserated with them. She reached them where they were, and they loved her for it.

“Okay road warriors, that’s it for me. Thanks for joining me on tonight’s journey and as always, ride safe.”

The tension in my chest loosened as I watched the front door of the studio, waiting for Nikki to appear. Cars pulled in and picked up people or dropped them off and I paid them almost no mind while I watched the door like a fucking stalker. I didn’t care if she was angry or annoyed by my showing up, she needed help.

There she was.

My heart slammed faster and harder in my chest when I laid eyes on her. Instead of the braids she’d worn the last time, her hair was down in messy waves that reminded me of how she looked, after I made her scream my name the first time. And the second time. She was laughing and smiling with her friend—thesame woman who’d given me shit at the festival—as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

---