Page 2 of Break Away (Riot MC Next Generation #2)

Chapter two

We Aren't Family

Rafferty

The call from Blood earlier in the day shook me to my core. I’d been two hours from the outskirts of Macon, but the drive to that hospital in Valdosta felt like six hours of torture.

Now I had Lex in the passenger seat, her floral scent in my truck, and more silence. She’d switched off the radio as soon as I guided the truck back onto the Interstate.

“I’m sorry. I have a headache. I hope turning off the music is okay.”

“Sure.”

She didn’t want music, that was fine, but something about this quelling silence unnerved me.

“Why are you so quiet?” I asked.

She inhaled, but I didn’t hear an exhale. I struggled to keep my right hand on the steering wheel because the thought of touching her was the only thing keeping me together right now.

Finally, she exhaled. “I feel like this could have been avoided.”

I hid my irritated and confused expression by checking my blindspot. “Don’t do that second-guessing shit. You couldn’t know there’d be a wreck.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw her twist her face my way. “I made a scene about Porter before we left. He and Brantley blamed me for us running late.”

Alexandra didn’t usually cause a drama… and I knew because my mom and my sister, Jasmine, had a definite flair for being dramatic. The fact that Lex had grown up around them, too, meant she knew how to throw a drama even if it was uncharacteristic of her. “Why would you make a scene?”

“It’s… a long story. But the whole trip, a little voice in my head said I should have stayed home.”

I gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Stop it, Alexandra. Seriously, you can’t go back.”

“You’re right.”

Her defeated tone and her words bothered me. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing, Raff.”

She was lying. I let that go and recalled Porter staring at us in the waiting room. It felt creepy at the time, and I’d meant to ask Lex about that then, but the nurse had called her away.

“How did he know you would call me?”

She swung her face toward me. “What?”

“How did Porter know you would call me? That’s what he said at the hospital.”

She rubbed at her temple and I almost asked if she had a headache, but that would have changed the subject.

After another moment, she said, “I guess you could say because we’re family.”

My brows drew down and I glanced at her. “We aren’t family.”

“Eyes on the road, Raff.”

I cocked a brow and stared at her for a second longer, then watched the interstate. “Elaborate, Lex. You told Porter we’re family?”

Her voice held a hint of attitude. “No. You told me that.”

“When?”

She let out a small sigh mingled with a scoff. “In the waiting room. I asked, ‘Wouldn’t you put family first?’ And you said that was exactly what you were doing.”

Nobody was in the right hand lane and an exit was coming up fast. I changed lanes and pulled off.

There was a single gas station, but it had shut down years ago, based on the incredibly low gas price listed and the boarded-up windows on the storefront.

I drove into the empty lot, put the truck in park, propped my left wrist on the steering wheel and stretched my right arm along the back of her seat. “I never said we were family.”

Exasperation and confusion warred in her expression.

She repeated our conversation at the hospital and I stopped her with a finger to her lips.

Touching her was torture, but touching her lips went beyond torture.

We’d kissed once when we were teenagers.

In the last five years, every fucking time I saw her, I wanted to kiss her again…

and then some. So I should have known not to touch those full, bow-shaped lips.

I powered past my urge to kiss her. “Can see where you interpreted my words that way, Lex, but we’re not family. Coming to get you was me putting you first.”

She cupped the side of her face, but that was to hide her fingers rubbing her temple again. “You’re splitting hairs.”

I shook my head. “I’m not. You’ve got a headache. Do you need some painkillers?”

She did a long blink and sighed. “They prescribed some, but I’ll have to get them when I get back to Gainesville.”

My brows shot up. “What are you talking about? You aren’t going to Gainesville.”

Her eyes flared with irritation. “What are you talking about? I have to get back to Gainesville. I’ve got classes this week.”

I bit my lower lip. “I’m a prospect now, Lex. If I don’t follow an order this simple, I’m gonna pay a steep price.”

She shook her head and I admired that she didn’t roll her eyes. “So what I want doesn’t factor here?”

Part of me wanted to give her what she wanted, but I saw both sides of this fucked-up situation. “I’d do that for you Lex, but Blood said Cal and Aunt Mallory want to see you.”

Her face darkened with what I imagined was guilt before she sighed. “Right. I shouldn’t have called Dad.”

That was the wrong conclusion. I tilted my head and softened my tone and my expression. “What are you going to do in Gainesville?”

She turned to me, her hazel eyes practically empty. “I’ll gather some of my roommate’s clothes, get my car, and drive back to the hospital so I can help Ines out.”

I nodded once. “That’s cool of you, but she’s in ICU right now. It’s not like she’ll go home that fast. Her parents were there. I’m sure her family’s going to take care of her.”

She shook her head. “Okay, but why didn’t her dad stop to talk to me after you came in?”

I had to resist touching her cheek. Instead, I leaned a little closer. “Lex, I wasn’t there that long before they got your papers to you and told you to talk to the cop. Hell, I’m still pissed I didn’t get to sit in there with you.”

With a pointed look, she tilted her head. “He asked about the accident, Raff. It’s not like he’s going to pin it on me, even if… never mind that doesn’t matter. I was in the backseat for heaven’s sake.”

Her last words had me biting back my smile.

Every so often, Alexandra talked just like Aunt Mallory, and I dug that.

She didn’t care that other people gave her crap about the phrases she used, and I liked that too.

Most of all though, I loved how close she was with her mom because something told me she’d be the same way with her own kid… or kids.

I shook my head and focused on her words.

“You proved my point. Seeing as he only asked you about the accident, it should have made no difference to him for me to be by your side. The fact he wouldn’t let anyone else in the room says something to me, and I don’t like it.

Somebody should have been with you. The only reason I brought up the cop was to point out that the questioning gave Ines’s dad plenty of time to wander past me and go to a different waiting room or whatever. ”

Her expression softened and she nodded. “You’re right.” She suddenly shot me an annoyed look. “I still wish we were going back to my place. I told the nurse to fill my ‘scripts in Gainesville.”

I leveled a dry look at her. “Pretty sure somebody can fix that.”

She nodded dejectedly. “Guess I’ll call the hospital.”

I grinned and pointed a finger at her. “Don’t. I’ll get my mom or Jasmine to call them. I should have asked this earlier, are you hungry? This looks like a lousy exit, but we can stop and get you something to eat if you want.”

She shook her head. “No, we aren’t that far from the state line and I’d rather get home.” Her eyes went wide. “Crap. I need to call Dad… or Blood. I don’t know if he talked to Dad or Mom or —”

I touched my finger to her lips again. “I told Blood that I’d update Cal, and you know he isn’t going to tell your Mom shit until he knows you’re okay.”

She blew out a deep breath. “Okay, good. That’s a slight relief. I’ll—”

With my fingertip to the base of her chin, I tipped her face up half an inch. “Let me, Lex. You’ve been through the wringer today. Hell, if I’m not mistaken, you just stopped shaking ten minutes ago.”

Her eyes locked with mine. “You’re way too observant, Rafferty. No wonder Steel and the Devil Lancers wanted to recruit you.”

In reality, I was only observant where Alexandra was concerned. If she wanted to think that was why the Devil Lancers had wanted me to join their motorcycle club, I wouldn’t argue.

“Let’s get you home.”

Her hand grabbed mine. “Call Dad first, please. I don’t want him to worry.”

I dipped my chin and pulled out my phone.

Cal answered within the first ring. “Talk to me, Raff.”

“She’s fine, and we’re almost to Florida. Should be at your place in two and a half hours.”

He sighed. “Thank God. Did she give you shit about bringing her to Jacksonville?”

My eyes slid toward Alexandra. “She did, but she’s on board now. Did that plan change?”

“No. I’ll see you soon.”

“Plug in your iPod,” I muttered as I set the cruise control on the truck.

“I don’t have it,” Alexandra said.

If she hadn’t replied so quickly, I might have believed her.

I glanced at her and back to the road. “You’re lying, Robertson.”

“I’m not.”

I fought off a smile. Riling her up always gave me a perverse thrill. “You don’t go on a road trip without your whole freaking music library with you, and you’re the only woman I know who treats her iPod the way you do.”

“I don’t treat it in any way, Rafferty.”

“What I mean is that you’re the only one who still uses it. Everyone else our age has moved on to streaming services.”

She failed to hide her groan. “Like I want to rely on a stinking algorithm to give me good driving music.”

I chuckled. “Believe it or not, they’ve been known to work, Lex.”

Her head twisted toward the passenger window. “Yeah, well, I don’t have my iPod since Ines asked me not to bring it. Though that was her trying to keep Brantley happy.”

My grin fell away. That wasn’t cool of Ines, but I kept that opinion to myself.

We rode in silence for a good twenty minutes while I warred with myself. There was more to her story about Porter. I didn’t want to press her, but I hated not knowing how big of a moron Porter really was.

Curiosity was more dangerous to me than the most addictive drugs.

“What’s with Porter? Did he cheat?” I asked.

She scoffed. “No. Hell, if he’d done that, he’d be some other woman’s problem.”

Guess he was a little smarter than I thought.

She fell silent again.

I glanced at her. “What did he do then?”

She leaned her head back and stared at her visor. “Possibly two of the worst things he could do. He judged me after meeting Mom and Dad.”

“Say that again?”

She glanced at me. “You know how it is. People judge you for being a biker. He didn’t know Dad was a ‘biker-biker’ as he ineptly put it.”

I waited for a Mini Cooper to pass us before veering into the left lane to pass a tractor trailer. “You’re used to that, though.”

Her rueful chuckle filled the cab. “Yeah, well, let’s just say - while we were in the car today, he put a fresh spin on it.”

Those words struck me strange. “What does that mean?”

“It means we aren’t talking about this while you’re driving.”

I clenched my teeth. He’d clearly done something to her, and that pissed me off. If he hadn’t, Lex wouldn’t have any issues talking about it. Right?

We were fast approaching the interchange with I-75 and I-10. I let the conversation drop so I could concentrate on changing lanes and avoiding assholes who would cut me off because I-10 jumped out of nowhere on them.

Ninety minutes later, and I realized being in my truck with Lex was the real torture. She was right here, but so far away. Something beyond the car crash was wrong, and she wouldn’t share.

Every few miles, I’d check to see if she’d fallen asleep. No such luck.

“Why were you in Memphis?” she asked.

The brothers had tons of bullshit they put prospects through, and like Fight Club, talking about it to non-members was frowned upon.

“Club business,” I muttered.

Her chest jerked with her lone, bitter chuckle. “Should have known.”

Truth was, until I got that call from Blood, I thought I was moving.

It seemed to me that transferring as a prospect rather than as a patched member would be easier.

Dad told me I was wrong, but everywhere I went in Jacksonville held reminders of Alexandra.

We never really dated, but we had spent tons of time together running around the city. I couldn’t take much more of it.

I blew out a sigh. “I plan to transfer up there.”

“What? No.”

I shot her a quick look because from the tone of her voice she sounded crushed. The disappointed look on her face matched her tone.

I shook my head and turned back to the windshield. “You look like I told you Santa isn’t real.”

She blew out a breath, drawing my attention and I saw her roll her eyes. “No, I’m just surprised. That’s a big move.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Cross-town or across three states, a move is a move, Lex.”

“Yeah. That’s one way to look at it.”

A rest area sign came into view. If we stopped maybe I could get the whole story out of her.

“You need to stretch your legs?” I asked.

“That’d be good.”