Page 18

Emma

What kind of hell had I landed us in? By us, I meant me and Ace and the whole damn Riptide club. I’d gone from witnessing a murder and having someone take potshots at me, to someone tossing a bomb into the house I was supposed to be safe at, and damn near killing me and Ace both. A bomb!

Talk about the shit hitting the fan. It took all my willpower not to break down into a blubbering mess.

Thank God I still had some clothes up in Ace’s room here.

I’d been literally buck naked, wrapped in nothing but a damn blanket when Thor drove me here.

It was the middle of the night, so Jake and Mom weren’t anywhere to be found.

I pulled on an old pair of jeans, and one of Ace’s sweatshirts.

I had a few shirts of my own, but I wanted the comfort of something that had touched him wrapped around me.

I sat down on the edge of Ace’s bed, with my arms crossed, and took a deep ragged breath. What was I supposed to do now? I had nowhere left to run. Nothing to fall back on. I wanted Ace so bad I ached, but what if he’d changed his mind? What if he didn’t want the issues that came with me?

I practically oozed problems, and he’d sent me away with Thor when I needed him most. I wasn’t good at this relationship thing.

What if that meant he was done with me? I couldn’t blame him.

Hell, I hadn’t seen him in years, and when I finally did, I was nothing but trouble.

What did they call that? High maintenance.

Yeah. I was about as high maintenance as you could get.

I lay on the bed, huddled in a pathetic pile with my knees pulled up to my chest. I couldn’t stop shivering. I pulled the blanket I’d been wearing over myself, inhaling deeply. It smelled like a mixture of Ace and me, and that just made me feel worse. Was there any chance for Ace and me?

We came from the same place, but our paths had taken such different routes.

Could I be part of his world, his club? It felt like family, and that was one thing I’d never had.

A family. These guys counted on each other, covered each other’s backs.

They trusted each other. I wasn’t even sure I knew what trust was.

Except for Ace. I trusted him without question, without thinking it through. Was that enough to base a life on? Did he even want a life with me, or was he just scratching an itch?

A soft knock on the door sounded, and I attempted to pull myself together. “Come in?”

The door slid open, and two teenage girls entered hesitantly. I frowned. “Do I know you?”

The taller one, a lithe brunette, shook her head. “No, but Thor told us Ace’s woman was here and probably needed another woman to talk to, so we thought we’d come up and see you.” She crossed the room and held out her hand. “I’m Jasmine, and this is my sister Jewel.”

I sat up, the blanket still wrapped comfortingly around me. “I’m Emma. And I’m not Ace’s woman, we’re just…” I paused, not sure how to explain Ace and me.

“You’re in his room, wearing his shirt, and Thor says you’ve been staying at his house with him.” Jewel wrinkled her nose. “That kind of says you are his woman.”

I shrugged. “We’re just temporary.”

Jasmine giggled, and her sister elbowed her in the ribs. “Whatever. Are you going back to sleep for a while, or do you want to come up to the range with us?”

“The range?”

“Shooting range. We like to get in a bit of practice a couple times a week. It makes our dad happy. Beast is our dad. I think you met him.” She smiled. “He likes to know we can take care of ourselves if we have to. He worries too much.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know how to shoot, and besides, I should wait for Ace to get back.”

Both girls looked shocked. “You don’t know how to shoot? What if you need to protect yourself?” asked Jewel.

“You don’t want to have to count on some guy to protect you, do you?” Jasmine sat down beside me on the bed. “We can teach you. It’s not hard and besides, as soon as he gets back the Prez is going to call church, so you won’t see him for a while. Only the guys go to church.”

“Ace told me about church. It’s when the guys hold a meeting, right?”

“Do you want to come learn how to shoot?” The two girls bounced up and headed for the door.

“Sure. Why not?” Given the last week of my life, learning how to handle a firearm suddenly seemed like a good idea. “Except I don’t have a gun.”

“No problem,” insisted Jasmine with a grin on her face. “You can use ours for now. Ace can get you your own later if you want.”

The pair’s enthusiasm was hard to resist. I shrugged the blanket off before I realized I didn’t have any shoes.

“What size are you?”

“Sevens usually? Maybe seven and a half.”

The two exchanged a look. “I bet there’s some in the box.”

“The box?” I was beginning to suspect there was a secret language only these two were privy to.

“It’s where Mom and Jake throw all the extra bits that people leave behind when there’s a party. Jackets. Shoes. Shirts. That kind of stuff. She throws out the underwear. Says no one’s going to want used underwear.”

Good call. Just the thought of wearing someone else’s underthings made me shiver. Yuck. “Kind of like a lost and found?”

“I guess. People don’t usually come back for the stuff so it’s just extra. Mom washes it before she puts it in there. It’s in the coat closet.”

I let them lead me downstairs and to the back door. Jewel opened a door to the left and gestured at a rack of shoes and boots neatly arranged by size. “Pick something that fits.”

I picked a pair of ankle boots in serviceable black leather and tried them on. They fit and were well worn in, so they felt comfortable. Hard to believe no one had come to claim them. Did they go home barefoot?

While I was busy getting footwear, Jasmine disappeared and came back with a long-barreled gun and a box of ammunition. “This one’s easy to start with. Lighter than some of the big guns, and it doesn’t pack as much of a kick. It’s got a sight on top too, so it’s a good one to learn on.”

I eyed it doubtfully. “What is it?”

Jasmine hefted it up. “Twenty-two semi-automatic. The magazine can hold ten rounds, so you don’t have to reload quite as often. That makes it better for target practice. And the cartridges are small, so they’re cheaper. You don’t want to waste money on expensive ammunition just to practice with.”

We exited the back door. A prospect I hadn’t met yet was sitting on the back porch.

“Dodge, meet Emma. She’s with Prez. We’re going to do some target practice.” Jewel gave the young guy a dazzling smile as the three of us tripped down the steps and headed toward a field behind the clubhouse.

“He’s new around here, and Jewel thinks he’s cute.” Jasmine laughed when Jewel growled at her.

“He is cute, but Dad would kill him if he looked at me sideways so there’s not much point in getting to know him any better.” Jewel sighed. “Sometimes it sucks having a biker for a dad.”

“You live with your dad full time?”

Jasmine nodded. “Yup. Mom and he split up and she shacked up with a creepy guy from Atlanta, so we opted to stay with Dad.”

Before I could ask, Jewel chimed in. “Mom’s boyfriend is a banker, and he’d expect us to act like perfect little southern ladies.

Not our style. I think everyone was happy when we said we wanted to stay here.

We still see Mom a lot. She comes down, or we go up there for holidays. It works as good as anything can.”

“How old are you?” My guess was eighteen so when Jewel said fifteen, I was taken aback. “You look older than that.”

“Thanks.” Jewel laughed. “We try. Dad is kind of strict about us not wearing much makeup and staying out of sight when the club hosts parties. I think he wants us to stay his little girls forever.”

“Sound like a nice guy.” I couldn’t keep the note of envy out of my voice. The last time I’d seen my father he’d been heading out the door and I’d been six years old.

“So how old are you?” Jewel threw the question out innocently enough.

“Twenty-three.”

“Wow. “

I raised one brow. “Wow?”

“I thought you’d be older. Ace is like over thirty.”

“We’re not permanent.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Ace sounded pretty sure when he told the guys you were off limits. That means he doesn’t want any of his brothers fooling around with you. And that means he thinks you’re permanent.”

She was young. Probably believed in happily ever after and all that crap. Far be it for me to disillusion her. Time to bring the subject back to the task at hand.

“Tell me how this shooting thing works?”

Jasmine motioned me over and showed me all the parts of the gun -- the safety, the magazine, the barrel, the stock. “This one is really easy to use.” She demonstrated how to load a cartridge into the chamber. “This will also eject the spent cartridge, the one you’ve already shot.”

She picked up the magazine and held it up for me to see.

“This is a 10-shot magazine. You fill it like this.” She slotted a few of the cartridges in, then handed it over to me to finish.

When she was satisfied that I had done it correctly, she showed me how to insert the magazine into the rifle.

She stressed how to check that the magazine was empty, and not to ever point the barrel at anything I didn’t intend to shoot.

“Most firearm accidents are caused by guns that the person thought was unloaded.” Jewel shook her head solemnly. “Always check for yourself. You do not want to be that person who shoots their best friend.”

When it came to firearms, both of the girls dropped the giggly teenage personas and became deadly serious.

Satisfied that I knew the basics, Jewel set up a target against an old hay bale and showed me how to stand, how to hold the stock snug against my shoulder to minimize the kickback, and how to sight down the target.

My first few shots went wide, but by the time I’d emptied the first magazine, I was hitting the target, although not the bullseye.

Both girls looked impressed.