Page 3 of Riding Through Life

“Not helping, woman.” Aftermath leaves the kitchen and the four of us take a seat in the nook nestled in the corner.

Jezebelle, Derange, Torch, Daisy and their kids come into the kitchen. Jezebelle and Daisy head right for us, while Derange and Torch wrangle their kids to eat some breakfast. “What’s going on?” Daisy asks.

I hold my left hand out and wiggle my fingers. “I’m getting married and Nadia is my Maid of Honor.”

Before I can continue, Danyella chimes in, “We’re helping her plan everything. Want to help?”

“Of course we do,” Jezebelle answers. She and Daisy take their seats and we plan all the details we can for hours. We eventually move to the common room where there is more room. Jezebelle’s son and an RBMC Prospect, Seth, brings us drinks all day long without question. A few times, someone comes up and congratulates me or hugs me. People come and go all day while the six of us plan the best wedding ever.

I still can’t believe I’m getting married in less than two months. It’s surreal that I found the man of my dreams after everything I’ve been through and we are going to start our lives together. Could anything get better than this?

Chapter

Three

AFTERMATH

Watching Kensi with the other Ol’ Ladies of the Club smiling, laughing and having a good time without a care in the world, makes my black heart skip a beat. They moved from the kitchen to the common room and Seth is bringing them drinks as fast as he can. At this rate, all of them will be three sheets to the wind, except for Nadia. I’m at the bar sipping on a whiskey waiting for Red to get done with his tech shit.

In the beginning, no matter how hard I tried to fight the attraction between us, I couldn’t. Despite our age difference, no one in this world has captured my soul the way Kensi did. The woman with her bad history, multi-colored eyes and a spitfire attitude came barreling into my world and turned it upside down.

“What’s that goofy grin for?” Red, the Royal Bastards IT guy and my best friend asks as he slaps me on the back. His eyes scan the room for Nadia and his face turns bright red when she spots him. Hence his road name, Red. He blushes at everything and I mean everything. I overheard Nadia and Kensi talking about it one night. No woman I know finds that attractive, but Nadia said that is what drew her to him in the first place. Nadia gives him a wink and a smile that lights up her whole face. Will Red be next to tie the knot?

“Just thinking,” I answer, sipping on my whiskey. “Want to go for a ride?” I ask. It’s now or never. With the way the women are planning everything, we’ll be married before I know it.

“Sure. I have to go to Nadia’s dance studio and check on the security system. We can swing in there while we’re out.” Red shrugs his shoulders. Nadia was Red’s several night stands and disappeared on him. He went out of his mind trying to locate her and almost lost his patch for it. When he found her, she was being held captive in a stingy abandoned motel by her boss and his sidekick from the strip club, being groomed to be sold on the Black Market. When we got her back, she had a couple of surprises for Red. One, she was pregnant with Red’s kid and the other was the two young girls she protected the best she could while pregnant and held captive. Lattimer got away but Josiah is now pig feed by the hands of Nadia, Exleigh and Syvannah.

Once Nadia got her footing here and had Matthew, she opened a dance studio for girls and women who needed a boost to their confidence or a place to escape their everyday hell. Dancing did that for Nadia and with her big heart, she wanted to do the same for others, which is how Royal Dancers formed. Oh, and she is the little sister to who Red calls Nolan-fucking-Ryan, who happens to be dating the most dangerous woman on the West Coast, Krimson, aka Ashley Force.

“Kickstands up in ten,” I respond.

“I only need five.” Red shouts over his shoulder as he approaches the ladies. He leans down and gives Nadia a sweltering kiss that leaves her breathless and him blushing. Then he gently kisses Matthew’s head and whispers something to them. All the women around swoon and Kensi’s gaze lands on me. Her hypnotic eyes capture my attention and I forget where I am and what I’m supposed to be doing.

“Maybe you needed the ten.” Red chuckles next to me.

I grunt and rise from my stool, approaching Kensi. I kiss her on the lips which taste like Tequila and seven-up and she grips my hair. I pull away and a whimper leaves Kensi’s throat. “I’ll be back later. Red and I are going for a ride and stopping at the dance studio.”

“Be safe and come back in one piece.” The adoration and love shining in my Tiger’s eyes swell my black heart.

“You know it, Tiger.”

“I love you, Aftermath.”

“Love you, too.”

I do one of the hardest things I hate doing and that is walking away from my Tiger. I know she is safe and she can take care of herself, but it still makes my chest ache and it feels like a piece of me is missing until we are together again. Kensi has been through so much in her young life that, if there’s something I can do to make it better for her, you bet your ass I will.

Red and I mount our bikes and ride out of the garage. Bones and a Prospect, who is Daisy’s twin, Knight, are manning the rolling gate. Once they spot us, the buzzer sounds and the chain link fence rolls to the right, giving us room to exit. Back a couple of years ago, the Mexican Cartel tried to overtake our Clubhouse. They smashed the gates, came in guns blazing and killed one of our prospects, Alex. He was young, homeless, a good kid trying to survive in a fucked up world. Derange found him and brought him in as a hang-around for a while until he was old enough to prospect. He was close to earning his colors until he wasn’t. It still angers me to this day how someone could be so cruel to a young man trying to find his way. If we didn’t take out Salazar, I’m sure none of us would be here right now breathing the salty air in our lungs.

We take a detour and ride south along the coast, letting the chilly air nip our exposed skin while the cloudy sky keeps us from being sunburnt. I find a parking lot that looks over the ocean and signal for us to enter. Even though it’s cloudy today, the sun is still trying to peek through and tease us with her warmth. Red pulls up next to me and pulls his gaiter down.

“Everything OK, Aftermath?”

I turn off the engine and unbuckle my brain bucket. Leaning on the handlebars of my Harley Davidson Ultra Street Glide, I stare out into the ocean, watching the waves change the sand with every splash. Kind of like my life. One moment I was set in my ways and the next, a whisp of a woman turned my world on its head. “Let’s walk.”

I climb off my bike and Red does the same. Together we walk down the beach until the water laps at our boots. Standing there, I stare out into the ocean, letting the noises drown out my thoughts.

Scrubbing a hand down my face, my beard rough against my palms, I blow out a deep breath. “As you know, I asked Kensi to marry me.” Red stands next to me awkwardly but doesn’t say anything, waiting for me to continue. My heart is beating hard in my chest and my hands shake. I don’t have a fucking clue why I’m so nervous. “I don’t have much in the form of a family except for this club and my mom. I consider you to be my closest friend.” Jesus, why does this have to be so fucking hard?

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