Page 16 of Ripper
He put his arm around me, and my heart nearly leaped right out of my chest. I felt the heat emanate from him, the warm roughness of his skin on mine. To have him this close to me had my mind doing tailspins of its own.
I was surprised to see that it was still rather busy for being the middle of the day, but I guess I had a lot to learn about the lifestyle of a biker. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this free, and I had a feeling that feeling would only grow the more I spent time with Ripper.
“Ripper. Now this is probably the first time I’ve seen you where you aren’t bandaged, battered, or bloodied,” I teased.
“You saying the rest is doing me good, sweet pea?”
He smirked at me, and it sent a chill down the back of my spine. I felt my cheeks grow hot and I knew I had to be blushing. The butterflies in my stomach were doing cartwheels, but I didn’t mind. It felt incredible.
“I suppose it is.”
“You want anything before we head out? The desert is hot as fuck today.”
“How about you buy me a drink after I kick your ass?”
“Oh, you’re the one that’s gonna be buying me a drink, Ronnie.”
“You’re gonna be eating your words, Ripper.”
“All right. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
We each got onto the back of our bikes, and I followed Ripper’s lead down to the middle of the Arizona desert. It was at least a half hour outside of Mascid, and I could feel the sun beat down on me as we pulled up to this straight, long desert road. Ripper flipped up the front of his helmet, and I caught a glimpse of that captivating smile of his.
“You ready for this?”
“I sure am,” I said.
He revved his engine at me, and it ripped through the air like a jet engine.One. Two. Three.We both tore down the long pathway, the sand kicking up behind our wheels with every passing second, and I was running on the pure adrenaline coursing through me. I felt absolutely and irrevocably alive for the first time in ages. The wind whipped against the sleeve of my jacket, rippled in my T-shirt as I took the lead. It wasn’t long before Ripper started catching up, and I could practically feel him catch the drift behind me.
I kept my lead for as long as I could before he overtook me. I looked down for a split second to see my knuckles were going white with how hard I’d been gripping the handles.
The speed alone was enough to blow off the steam, to feel that sense of adventure I’d been searching for ever since I first made it back to town. Ripper crossed the finish line marked off by the large rock on the side of the road a few seconds before I did, and I smiled, accepting defeat.
“You’ve got real speed, sweet pea. I’ve gotta hand it to you, I really thought I was gonna leave you in the dust back there.”
“Not a chance. You may have won this one, Ripper, but I’ve got you the next time,” I said with a chuckle.
“Sure you do, sweet pea,” he responded with a wink.
“How about we head back so I can buy you that drink, huh?”
I nodded, feeling my heartbeat finally start to slow as we rode back into the city. We pulled up outside the Ironhead Tavern, and Ripper held the door open for me as I made my way over to the bar. I glanced behind the counter to see if I could spot Charlotte because I wasn’t sure if she was working this evening or not, but she was nowhere to be found.
“What’ll it be?” asked Ripper.
“I thought I was the one getting you a drink, remember?”
“There’s no way I’m letting you buy me a drink when you’re the one that deserves it, Ronnie. I meant it when I said I was impressed. You’re a real natural,” he said.
I was smiling so hard my cheeks started hurting. I watched as he waved down the bartender. He put down the washcloth and glass in his hand, greeting us both with a warm grin.
“What will you two be having? Nice to see you again, Ripper. Who’s your friend here?”
“This is Ronnie. She’s Axle’s niece.”
“No kidding.”
“I’ll have a beer. Get the lady here whatever she’d like,” said Ripper, resting his arms on the wooden bar, glancing over at me.
