Page 59 of Ride Long
Chapter 19
Sloane
Staringup at the mass of metal above me, Iscowled.
This was not the kind of ‘on my back’ I wanted to be. Underneath a car, spanner in hand, learning about oil changes and axle shock absorptionwhatever.
And the thing I was lying on didn’t exactly feel stable. Spike told me it was called a creeper, but that just made it sound weird, so I kept correcting him to luge. Luge sounded morebadass.
Spike was beside me, pointing out what part did what, but I wasn’t having the best time focusing on any of it. This was all temporary in the grand scheme of things. Pretending to learn about nuts and bolts while Chaser was out there with Sam was hard. What if the Hollow Men reared their ugly heads? What if Marini found out what he was doing and had a bullet with his name on it? The moment he got back—if he got back—would the shit hit the fan and splatter? Not knowing was driving me over the edge. I wanted to be there. To be with him and never let him out of mysight.
“I need a break,” I declared, rolling out from underneath thecar.
Spike followed me, grumbling all the way. “You’re never gonna learn if you don’t pay attention,Sloane.”
I rolled my eyes. I want to tell him to shove his car up his ass, but before I could get the words out, a shadow appeared in the garagedoor.
Chaser.
My heart soared at the sight of him. His gaze met mine, and as soon as our eyes met, he glanced away without as much as atwitch.
“Sloane?”
“What?” I snapped, glaring atSpike.
He narrowed his eyes, then looked at Chaser. “You look at himlike…”
“Like what?” Iscowled.
“Like you want to fuck his brains out,” he retorted with agrin.
I made a face. No wonder Gasket wanted to have a ‘talk’ when Chaser gotback.
“What happened out there?” Spike went on. “When you andhim…”
“People were after me,” I replied, not wanting to get into it. I had to sit here like a moron when all I wanted to do was run after Chaser and…Man, I was sogone.
“The Hollow Men.” Spikenodded.
“How…” I frowned, not understanding how he knew. I thought the Hollow Men and the shit Marini had gotten the club into was ‘need to know,’ meaning no one outside the inner circle knew about them. Spike was great and all, but he wasn’t exactly in theloop.
“Word’s spreading,” was his onlyreply.
Across the garage, I spotted Gasket talking to Chaser. They exchanged a few words, then parted. Chaser went into the compound, and Gasket went back to work. I desperately wanted to ask about Sam, but now wasn’t thetime.
Word was spreading? I wondered if that meant dissent was rearing its ugly head.The time for watching and waiting wasover.
“So?” Spike asked, nudging my shoulder. “You’re intoChaser?”
I grunted and shook myhead.
“Sloane, you really have to work on your pokerface.”
“He took a bullet and got knifed for me,” I said. “I shot a man…” I glanced at the door, wanting nothing more than to go after him. “Did you see the way he just looked atme?”
“Chaser’s always been like that,” Spike replied. “That’s what makes him so unpredictable…and fucking scary.” He shook his head. “I can see why women are lining up for a ride, though. They seem to dig that whole dangerous vibe. He’s a good-looking guy—I getit.”
I raised my eyebrows, not liking the wistful way Spike was looking at me.Great. I was breaking hearts when all I wanted to do was breakskulls.
