Page 7 of Faithless
Nobody said a word while I laced up my boots, not even the stupid bird, thankfully. I purposely kept my gaze away from any of the windows as I grabbed my keys from the bowl on the side table.
“Text me when you’re home, Rori,” Daren said as I headed for the door.
“Me too,” Torr piped up.
“What, do I have six fathers now?” I grumbled.
“Pull over and call me if you’re not able to ride safely,” Torr added. “I’ll pick you up and take you the rest of the way.”
“Fucking hell, it’s a ten-minute ride! And I’m sober, like I said. No need for all the hand-wringing.”
“Just check in with us anyway,” Torr said. He was using that bossy tone that all the girls hanging off of him melted over. Well, it wouldn’t work on me.
I mean, I knew it came from a place of caring, so I’d do it. But it was still annoying. I’d been riding since my toes could reach the footpegs. I didn’tneedto check in with them like a child.
“Fine, whatever.” I swung the door open, calling out over my shoulder, “See you guys later,” before I closed it behind me.
Once away from their worried faces, I hurried to my bike and instantly felt a sense of comfort when I sat in the familiar seat. My parents got me this bike for my eighteenth birthday, and it was my greatest treasure. Jandro custom-built it, along with Daren’s bike, since we shared the same birthday, while Gunner had everyone else helping him source the parts for our gifts. I can only imagine it took months, maybe even close to a year, to piece together both bikes.
I turned the key and welcomed the roar of my machine coming to life. Riding was the only thing I knew I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was freedom and exhilaration unlike anything else in the world. My bike and the road were always there for me whenever life kicked me down, like when guys decided I was too slutty to be a serious girlfriend.
Riding was healing, and I needed it right now more than ever.
I pulled out of Daren and Lily’s driveway, not looking at my mirrors until I was out on the main road.
Sure enough, I saw a white dove flying behind me.
3
TORRANCE
The white dove flew away from the windowsill just as Rori left the apartment. Daren and Lily watched it too, all three of us puzzled as to why it spooked her so much.
“Do you think Rori’s okay?” Lily signed to Daren, worrying her lip between her teeth.
“I dunno,” he admitted, pulling his girlfriend into an embrace when she started leaning into him. “I’ve never seen her act like that before.”
I could only nod, chin in my hand as I pondered her behavior. As her twin, Daren knew Rori best. If he’d never seen her in that state before, that was really alarming.
Something we could all agree on though, was that Rori was fearless.
In all the years I’d known her, I’d seen her enraged, heartbroken, or hurt over some douchebag who didn’t deserve her. She was at times moody and sarcastic, with an especially sharp tongue that came out when she drank. But I’d never seen herafraid.
This was the first time I’d seen Aurora Wilder, the daughter of the bikers who’d once ruled the lawless southwest, express genuine, unabashed fear.
My mind was made up in an instant. “I’m gonna follow her.”
I went to the couch for my clothes and turned when I heard a soft snort behind me. Lily grinned as she signed at me, “Good luck. She’ll have your balls in a vice if she finds out.”
“She won’t find out. I’ll stay far enough behind.”
“Like usual,” Daren muttered under his breath, the words not meant for my ears, but I heard them anyway.
“What was that, D?” I finished getting my pants on and shook out my shirt before putting it on. “If you’re gonna say something, say it with your whole chest.”
“I said, like usual,” he repeated in a normal voice. Next to him, Lily sucked her cheeks in and widened her eyes in a,oh shit, here it comes,kind of look.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
