Page 14 of Courting the Consequences

“I have court this afternoon. I don’t know when we’ll get out.”

He nipped her jaw, “So you’ll have something to look forward to. Call me when you get out. We can go out, or I can pick something up and we can stay in.”

“Stay in, yes, stay in,” she moaned.

He laughed and pulled back. He carefully let her down, and she sighed at the loss of his warm body. He pulled out his cell phone and, after he unlocked it, handed it to her. She grabbed it quickly and opened a new text message. She put in her phone number and then texted herself with her address as the message and hit send so she would have his number.

“I’ll see you tonight, beautiful.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips before he pulled away.

Kevin got ready in his room at Johnny’s house. Johnny had inherited his grandmother’s place after her death. It was located just north of the industrial district, across the Evermore River, a quick ten-minute drive to the clubhouse and set in an older unincorporated part of Mourningside. It had been perfect for the three of them.

By the time Kevin, Johnny, and Derrick had left the Marines, they were so used to shacking up together that Johnny had invited them to move in. That had been five years ago; they never left, and Johnny never asked them to.

Kevin kept his look casual and clean for his date with Kara: dark wash blue jeans and a plain black T-shirt. He was off work, so he slipped on his Ravager Knights cut with its menacing skeleton in knight’s armor holding a scythe. The top rocker read “Ravager Knights”; the bottom rocker read “Mourningside” for the city they lived in.

The front of his cut had the United Psychos patch on his right peck that Johnny and Derrick also wore. It was something they called themselves during the Marines that carried over into the club. On his left peck were two rectangular patches stacked on top of each other: “Ravager Knights” and “Death’s Henchmen.” The Ravager Knights were Death’s henchmen to deliver your soul to Death himself.

Kevin may work a day job, but the club came first,always. And he was not afraid to get dirty if he had to.

“Whoa, look at you, Rockstar,” Devil drawled with a grin as Kevin walked into the living room. Devil and Johnny were sitting on the couch, still in their work clothes from the day. “All showered and looking real purdy. Where you headed?”

Kara had texted Kevin around four that she was leaving court and heading home. She told him to come by around six and said she would cook dinner. “Date with Kara,” he announced, locking eyes with Johnny as he said it.

Devil whistled low.

Johnny raised an eyebrow, “You don’t think she’ll take one look at that cut and slam the door in your face?” He sounded bitter.

“Only one way to find out,” Kevin said, knowing full well that this could all blow up in his face. He turned for the door. “Don’t wait up,” he called over his shoulder. He headed out the back door to the sprawling backyard. The house was set on three acres, and the guys had built a pole barn when they moved in. It housed their bikes and tools, cars, and whatever else they were working on at the time.

The overhead door was still open when he walked out. He made quick work of mounting his Harley and starting it. Once he had his gloves on and sunglasses in place, he pulled his helmet on and buckled it. He was out of the long driveway a moment later.

Kara’s address wasn’t that far from them. It only took him twenty minutes to get to her house on the west side of the city in an older subdivision filled with newer cookie-cutter homes.

Kara’s was no different. A blue Craftsman with white trim everywhere, it was a fairly modest ranch style home with an attached two-car garage. The simplicity of it had surprised him. He had expected some gigantic two-story house with a three-car garage or something extravagant.

He pulled his bike into the drive and parked in front of the closed garage door. He took his time dismounting while looking around and checking out the neighborhood. It was a quiet, tree-lined street. Most of the neighborhood had new homes on the lots, with a scattering of older smaller homes still holding out.

Kevin set his helmet on his handlebar, made sure his black ball cap was situated, and headed for the front door. He had just knocked when the wooden door swung open and the most breathtaking sight stood before him.

Kara’s blond hair was down from her usual fancy updo. Large wavy curls fell to the middle of her back. They still looked damp from her shower, but they were drying into massive curls.

She wore a pair of cutoffs and a red tank top. Her feet were bare.

His mouth dropped open in shock as he took her in. He was utterly speechless and stared in awe. For the first time in the three years that he’d known her, her arms were bare. Her heavilytattooedarms were bare. She had two full sleeves of black and red tattoos that led from her shoulders all the way down to her wrists. “Holy fucking shit,” he breathed, moving toward her slowly.

When she took a step backward, he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes flew to her face. She held a hand out, gesturing for him to stop.

She wore her own expression of shock. Her eyes flew back and forth over his chest and cut. “Shit,” she murmured, her eyes wide.

Kevin tensed. “Kara,” he started, keeping his voice low. “Let me explain.” He held his hands out in surrender.

Her eyes snapped to his as she broke out of her daze. “Fucking hell, Kevin,” she groaned, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re a fucking Ravager Knight! What’s there to explain?”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. He hated when anyone immediately drew conclusions based on the cut. He was used to it, sure, but he had expected better from her. He clenched his teeth together, trying not to say something he would regret. “Kara,” he started again, his voice steady. “You know me. You’ve known me for three years. Let me explain it to you.”

Kara’s gaze searched his face, her eyes darting back and forth between his. Eventually she sighed and nodded before she turned away from him and walked further into the house.

Kevin sighed and took a moment. He let his shoulders sag and tried to relieve some of the tension that had built up. He took a deep breath and finally closed the front door. He left his heavy boots on and followed Kara into the large open-concept great room.

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