Page 6 of Break Away (Riot MC Next Generation #2)

She tilted her head. “You don’t want to get in my pants, Raff. I still remember how clear you made that during—”

“High school?”

She nodded.

“Lex, that was five years ago. We’ve changed, and I’d like to think we’ve both matured since then.”

“Why now? Is it because of the car crash?”

My body went stiff for a long moment. I hated that she thought that, but I also understood why she did. “No, Alexandra. The accident woke me up, but I didn’t know you kicked that asshole to the side.”

She stared up at me. “He’s not an asshole.”

I leaned into my hand on the bed. “Did he make assumptions because of Cal?”

She didn’t say anything.

“Did he touch you and not stop when you told him to?”

“Fine. He is an asshole,” she said, in a slightly exasperated tone.

I loved that about her - how she could forgive. I also hated it because he didn’t deserve her forgiveness.

“What was your nightmare about? Do you remember?”

Her eyes skated toward the wall. “The accident. It was like the other car hit us on purpose, but that’s crazy.”

That got my attention. “Why do you think that? I thought the other driver was drowsy?”

She nodded. “Yeah. That’s why it’s just a crazy nightmare.”

I tucked her comforter around her shoulder. “You want me to go? It’ll be another hour before Cal has food ready.”

Her lips twisted to the side for a beat. “I don’t want to send mixed signals, but it’d be nice if you laid down next to me.”

I stalked to the other side of the bed and tugged my shirt over my head.

Alexandra took in a sharp breath. “Do you need a different shirt or something?”

I watched her eyes dance over my chest. “I don’t sleep with a shirt on, bad enough I’ll be wearing jeans.”

“Right,” she muttered, and rolled to her side away from me.

I climbed into bed and kept my distance. It killed, but I wouldn’t take advantage.

“I didn’t know you had so many tattoos,” she said after a moment.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“They’re in color,” she remarked.

“Yep.”

“Who did them?”

“Blake.”

“Really?” she asked and shifted to her other side.

We went to high school with Blake. He’d been a tattoo artist for a long time, and with his talent, it boggled my mind why he didn’t leave Jacksonville and make a killing out in a bigger city like Los Angeles.

“You sound surprised,” I murmured.

She grinned. “Well, I just figured some of that ink happened in Augusta with the Devil Lancers.”

If she only knew why I had so many tats with such vivid colors.

“Nope. Are you planning to chat or get some rest?” I asked.

She inched closer. “One more question.”

I turned my head toward her. “Have at it.”

“Will you tell me the story behind just one of them?”

Shit.

Dammit.

I got my act together and came up with an answer. “Another time, Lex. Every one of them has a long story behind it. You’re in pain, so get some rest.”

I woke up alone. Alexandra’s floral perfume teased my nose. My stomach rumbled and I rolled out of bed. Lex had laid my shirt on the foot of her bed for me.

I tugged it on and went downstairs.

The microwave in the kitchen indicated the time was five-thirty-five. An unyielding silence permeated the space.

I turned to the sliding glass doors and saw Cal and Lex strolling up the pier back to the house. The house sat on an estuary that fed into Julington Creek. They must have gone down to the water. I craned my neck and saw Aunt Mallory watching their progress from a lounger near the pool.

Cal wrapped an arm around Alexandra’s shoulders pulling her to him, then he kissed the top of her hair.

The door to a half-bath opened down the hall and Abby, Blood’s wife, aimed a questioning look at me. “Why are you hiding out like a lurker?”

“Just woke up, that’s all.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said skeptically. “Well, it’s a good thing you did. Trixie was gonna come get you.”

My brows furrowed. “Mom isn’t here.”

Abby slipped past me to open the door. “Yes, she is. You can’t see her from here because of the bad angle, but she’s sitting on the other side of Mallory.”

I followed her out onto the patio and immediately heard the splat of a beanbag hitting a cornhole board. My gaze cut in that direction. Dad and Blood were standing opposite one another in the middle of a game.

“Startin’ to wonder what happened to you, Raff,” Dad said, lobbing a bright orange beanbag.

“You need our prospect to do a beer run, Cal?” Blood asked.

Cal shook his head, let Lex go, and wandered toward Blood. “No. When he’s here he’s not a prospect - at least not today.”

Blood’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Because I assigned him to chauffeur duty for your girl?”

Cal shook his head. “You know better, brother. Besides, you made me tap a fresh keg.”

I nodded my silent thanks to Cal.

Five minutes later, I milled about the grill as Cal lowered the grill lid on some chicken and steaks.

Dad and Mom wandered up.

Mom said, “Your girl’s home safe.”

I almost nodded until she reached out to pat Cal’s bicep.

Dad shot me an assessing look and tipped his head toward the house. “Abby said the salsa’s running low and you knew where the extra tub was in the fridge, Raff.”

“I can grab that,” Cal said.

Dad shook his head. “Nah. You keep an eye on the steaks.”

In the kitchen, I opened the fridge only for Dad to close it.

“I lied about that, Raff. Are you making a move on Alexandra?”

I faced him while tamping down my ire. It took a beat for me to get my thoughts together. “Mom’s always called her ‘my girl.’ You’re reading too much into this, Dad.”

His brow slowly inched up. “Am I?”

God, I hated how well he could read me.

“You are, but what difference does it make?”

Dad stepped toe-to-toe with me, his face set like stone. “The difference it makes is that he trusts you like nobody else. You break that… it’s a long road before you can repair it. If you can even repair it.”

“Isn’t it her choice? Or have I got to get Cal’s permission first? It’s not like you’re going to treat Bobby, Ryan, or Killian that way if we were talking about Jasmine.”

Dad’s lip curled. “Don’t muddy the water by bringing your sister into this. And you know it’s Alexandra’s choice, but it doesn’t change how he’ll see it if you sneak around. Like you took advantage of a situation.”

I clenched my jaw and turned my glare toward the fridge. Finally, I met Dad’s gaze, but he spoke first.

“I see you get me.”

“No. You see that I’m pissed. It’s only because of this fucked-up sitch that I found out she dropped that loser boyfriend months ago since nobody told me that.”

“Why the hell would they? You’ve been actin’ like a disinterested jackass the past four years.”

The hiss of the glass door sliding open interrupted our stare-down. I leaned over and caught Mom glaring at me.

She bustled up to us. “What are you two arguing about? We can hear you outside.”

That wasn’t true. Mom hated being left out of a conversation between me and Dad, so I knew she’d been trying to eavesdrop.

Dad aimed a dry look at her. “If they can hear us, then you would know what we’re arguing about.”

“Don’t get logical with me, mister. Besides, Cal figured out Abby didn’t need more salsa right off the bat, so you two need to wrap this little soirée up real quick.”

Normally Mom using the word ‘soirée’ would make me laugh. Right now, not so much.

I grabbed a tub of salsa, two bottles of Blue Moon (since that’s what Alexandra drank), and moved to get out of the kitchen.

Mom snagged one of the bottles. “Your girl can’t drink because of her medicine. And if this fucked-up day has extracted your head from your ass… I’m glad it only took you four-ish years to your father’s ten. Just, do us all a favor.”

I waited for her to say more.

She shot a coy grin at Dad, then pointed the bottle at me. “Don’t fuck it up.”

“Woman, this is not the same thing,” Dad muttered.

She sipped the beer. “You’re right… and yet, you’re still wrong. Now I need some chips to chase this beer.”