Page 21 of Laying it Bare Biker Style: Ryder

After I tugged on a pair of shorts andpulled a t-shirt over my head, I froze as more horrible thoughtsraced through my head. “What if he gave me some disease? If he gotme pregnant, he very well could have.” My stomach lurched and Isprinted to the bathroom to throw up my breakfast.

Ryder was fast on my heels. Kneelingdown beside me, he took my hair in one hand and he grabbed a wad oftoilet paper in his other and wiped my mouth. After tossing it intothe toilet, he cupped the side of my face and turned my head tomeet his steady gaze. “You are getting way ahead of yourself. Takea few deep breaths and try to calm down. I know you are terrified,but remember, you aren’t alone. You have me and Grayson and Angeland Misti. Let’s see what Doc has to say and she can run some teststo put your mind at ease.”

Taking in a deep breath, I held it fora moment before exhaling. Then I took another.

“Good girl. Yourappointment isn’t for an hour, but why don’t we take a long rideand go the scenic route to the clinic? Hopefully it will helpsettle your nerves a bit and it’s never a bad idea to take a ride.”He gave me a warm smile.

The gesture made my heart flutter, butas unwanted as that was, it felt a hell of a lot better than thehammering it had been doing since I had woken up. I stood withRyder’s help and then brushed my teeth and combed through myhair.

When I was finished in the bathroom,Ryder took his turn and then we headed out to his bike. On the backof his motorcycle with my thighs around his hips and my chestplastered against his back, I could almost pretend things wereperfect. Soaking in the fresh air and warmth from the morning sun,I tried to push everything else aside and just live in the momentwith him. When we finally pulled into the lot outside a decentsized clinic and he parked his bike, my nerves came rushing backtenfold.

Sliding off of his motorcycle, hepulled me into his arms. “Hey. It’s okay. Do you want to go in theback way? That’s usually how we go inside.” I felt his smileagainst my temple.

“So you don’t scare awaythe rest of the clients.” I teased.

“That’s better. But yeahsomething like that. Ain’t gonna lie; many times when we come herewe’re pretty bloody and yeah we don’t want to scare the public, butwe also don’t want the questions.” He pulled away and wrapped hisarm around my shoulders and led me around the building. “But wehaven’t had that in a while.”

“I hope my situationdoesn’t stir things up again.”

He paused for a moment and gazed downat me. “None of this is your fault. You hear me. You are not toblame for anything we discover inside the clinic or shit thathappens in the near future. I can’t share club business with you,but know this, your situation didn’t start anything. If anything,you brought to light that there may be more going on that weweren’t aware of. And while I’m not happy something horriblehappened to you; I’m glad we found you and now we’re going to goabout fixing things that need to be fixed.” He led us to a backdoor and knocked three times really hard.

A couple moments later, a prettyblonde with curly hair pulled into a pony tail opened the door.“Are you ever going to use the front entrance, Ryder?” She leanedaway from the opening so the two of us could enter. Then shesteered us down a narrow hallway. “Although thankfully neither oneof you is covered in blood or unconscious. Glad to see things havebeen staying quiet.” She gestured to an empty patient room and thetwo of us stepped inside, with her following, closing the doorbehind her. “You didn’t give me any specifics, so what can I do foryou today? And which you is it?”

Forcing in a deep breath to hopefullykeep the tears at bay, I gave her a little wave. Silly I know. “Mycycle is like clockwork, but my period is two weekslate.”

She narrowed her blue eyes at Ryderand quirked a brow. “Why did you have to knock her up? Do I need tolecture you about using condoms? Maybe surgically remove your dickwithout anesthesia?”

“Damn, Blooms. Give a guy abreak.” Ryder covered his crotch, but then quickly sobered. “It’snot like that. She was assaulted almost a month ago. Can youconfirm for her and also run some other tests?” Thankfully, hedidn’t give specifics and that helped to keep me somewhatcalm.

“My name is Dr. Michaels,but you can call me Blooms as well. Ryder likes my smocks with thepretty flowers on them, but he won’t admit that. Too manly. Soinstead he just secured me a nickname with his brothers.” Shepatted the exam table. “Hop on up here and we’ll take some bloodwork first so I can get you those answers before you leave and I’llrun a urine test if your pregnancy test comes back positive. Andthen I’ll give you an exam and ask you some questions. But don’tworry; I know not to ask for details about whathappened.”

“Is it okay if Ryder staysin here the entire time?” I slowly raised my head to stare up athim and whispered, “It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“That’s between you andRyder. I’m fine with whatever the two of you are comfortable with.I’ll be back in a minute to take your blood.” Giving me a patientsmile, Dr. Michaels stepped out of the room.

“Hey, I told you, you’renot alone. I’ll stay if you want me to.”

“Thank you. I’m reallyscared and I’m having a hard time not bursting into tears.” Iwalked over to the cot and hopped up on it. So many things werewhirling through my head it was making me dizzy.

Ryder pulled a chair over to the headof the table and sat down. Then he took my hand in his. “No onewill think anything bad of your tears. You’re doing great.” He gaveme a squeeze.

The doctor slipped back inside anddrew my blood. “This will take about ten to fifteen minutes. I’mgoing to check on another patient, but I’ll be back in soon.” Shestepped back out.

“I’m feeling a littlewoozy.” I slowly lay down on the cot. The fact that I had prettymuch nothing in my stomach was catching up to me.

He pulled a protein bar from hispocket and tore open the wrapper before offering it to me. “It’s alittle warm and smashed since I’ve had it in there since yesterday,but it should help until we can stop and get you somebreakfast.”

Snapping off a little piece, I nibbledon the section.

“No matter what news weget, I don’t have anything planned for today. Why don’t we stopsomewhere and get some serious food into your stomach and then hita long ride up the coast? Some developments have surfaced with theclub and I may be a little busier in the coming weeks so let’senjoy today. But don’t worry; you’ll hang out at the club with thegirls or something. I won’t leave you alone.”

Even if he didn’t want anythingserious with me, I was well aware I was a priority with him. Henever made me doubt that. “A bike ride does sound good as long asmy stomach settles. I never would have imagined it being so freeingand calming.”

“It’s usually a remedy forjust about anything. And we can always pull over.” He gave me agoofy grin.

Despite my gloomy mood, I couldn’tstop the small giggle that escaped my mouth.

Immersed in our little conversation, Ihadn’t noticed the doctor had re-entered the room. “Okay, I’m notsure what kind of news this is because I never say being pregnantis bad news, but you are pregnant. However I know this will begreat news: your other tests came back negative. You’reclean.”

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