Page 11 of Wild Weekend
“I was in the military.”
That doesn’t surprise me. There’s something about the clean cut biker that screams military. Except he doesn’t talk like a soldier.
I’m about to ask which regiment he was in when Will’s eyes light up. “Whack-a-mole. I bet you’re good at this one,” he teases.
He’s right. I’m a little too vigorous at smashing the mallet down on the poor moles. But it’s the only game I win my own prize at.
By the time we come to the end of the line of carnival games, my arms are full of stuffed animals, a bag of candy floss, and a rainbow slinky.
All of them are prizes that Will insisted I take. I’ll give them all to Cleo for the foster kids that stay with her sometimes.
As we near the beer tent, the crowd thickens and the sounds of rowdy men talking fill the air. In front of us, a man pushes another guy from a different club who stumbles back into a group of men.
I stop, and Will stops with me. I don’t want to go anywhere near trouble, and this doesn’t look good.
“Do you want to get out of here?” Will asks.
I peer at him over the head of a stuffed bear. I’ve just spent an hour with him, but it doesn’t feel like enough. “Where to?”
“Let’s go for a ride. Away from this.”
It’s like he read my mind. The thought of the open road with him by my side makes me grin. “Let’s do it.”
5
WILL
Half an hour later, after depositing the stuffed animals at the hotel and grabbing sandwiches and fruit for a picnic, I’m riding along the highway with Stella on her bike next to me.
Her leather riding jacket is worn, and there’s a patch sewn over a hole in the elbow, but there’s no club patch on it.
She’s not wearing anything to indicate she’s part of the Underground Crows. I don’t believe for a second that they’ve gone legit. People don’t change, and I don’t like the idea of Stella hanging out with them.
But I’ve not felt a pull like this to a woman for a long time, so I’m not going to dismiss her by association. If she’s with the Crows, then she’s from the West Coast, so there’s no harm in spending time with her this weekend.
Stella looks good in leather. I haven’t been able to get the image of her naked in the shower out of my head. I know what she’s got under her t-shirt, but it’s not just theimage of her breasts that make me want to spend time with her. Stella is fun to be with. She smiles easily, and I like making her laugh.
We ride away from the town, from the rowdy men and the muddy field. I lost my MC brothers somewhere in the beer tent, but no one will miss me for a few hours.
The wind of the highway whips against my cheeks, my bike thrums under my thighs, and I’ve got a beautiful woman riding beside me. It’s a fantastic feeling, despite being saddle sore. I’ll take this any day over being back in that field.
I turn to look at Stella, and she's grinning. The smile makes my loins tingle. I don't know what it is about this girl, but she's got my body on fire.
I checked out the local geography, and there's a small wood with walking trails not too far from here. I miss the wooded mountain, and I need to see some green after riding through arid landscapes for the last few days.
We take the next off ramp, and I lead us down a gravel road. Pine trees thicken above us as the road takes us deeper into the wood. It's quiet out here. No cars pass us, and there’s nothing but the thrum of our bikes, a good respite from the chaos back at the festival.
We come to the end of the road, and there's a little parking lot. No other cars are here, and we park the bikes. Wooden markers indicate walking trails, and I choose a short three kilometer loop trail.
I don't know if Stella likes walking or not, but I just want to be near her and away from anybody else.
I grab my backpack from the back of the bike and apicnic blanket that I always keep in my saddle bag, and we set off down the trail.
“Do you hike much?” Stella asks.
I grab Stella’s hand, and she links her fingers through mine. Warmth spreads through me at her touch. “We've got good trails around Wild Heart Mountain. I don't know anybody who doesn't hike.”
“What's it like, North Carolina? I've never been there.”
