Page 10 of Ghost

Rider:Just say the word, little owl, and I could take you on a real date. Or are you still swearing off all men?

I laugh at the fact that he remembers I said that. I was bitter at the time. I’d caught Ghost watching me from across the room, so I took a shot of vodka and figured I’d actually try and flirt with him. He shut me down so fast, my pride hurt for a week from the whiplash.

SnoOwl: You couldn’t keep up with me if you tried.

Rider: I’d still try ;)

The boss topples on the screen, his health taking a massive drop.

Rider: Nice hit.

SnoOwl: Thank you.

I do an in-game curtsy before turning my attention to the minions that spawned the second the boss went down.

Rider helps me pick them off one by one, and after we collect our gold, we teleport to a safe zone. I set my character into dance mode while we wait for the next raid queue.

People run past us on the screen, heading to their missions. And I wonder what it says about me that my online elf life is the most normal part of my day. Or that Rider, a man I’ve never met in person, is one of my closest friends.

The downside of living with a motorcycle club is that it can be isolating and lonely, especially when they’re in lockdown.

While many of the girls here are looking for a relationship or waiting for a biker to claim them as their old lady, I’m in limbo.

I’m an outsider in a building filled with people.

When Tempe showed up, she felt like a kindred spirit. She was an outcast, too, since her father was Steel’s former VP, and he betrayed the club. We were both here for unusual reasons, and it gave us something in common. But now that Tempe is Steel’s old lady, I’m aware there’s a difference between her role in the club and mine.

I’d like to think the Twisted Kings are my family, but if my childhood taught me anything, it’s that family can be as temporary as friendship.

I bounced around from foster home to foster home growing up, collecting bad memories and non-blood-related siblings. And when I turned eighteen and was no longer worth the checks I used to come with, I was kicked to the curb.

It was just me, alone, in a world that couldn’t care less if I found my footing or drowned.

That’s why Rider and I get along so well. He doesn’t have any blood relatives either. We’ve both always been on the outside looking in. Seeing what a family is supposed to look like and not having one.

My computer pings, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Rider: You’re quiet today. Everything all right?

SnoOwl: I’ve just got a lot on my mind.

Rider: Like?

I debate not saying anything, when there’s nothing that he can do about it, but maybe it will help to get it out.

SnoOwl: Something feels off with the guys.

Rider doesn’t know I live at an MC clubhouse. So when I first mentionedthe guys, he assumed they were my roommates, and I left it at that.

Rider: Are they treating you all right?

SnoOwl: Yeah, they always do. It’s not that. I just get this feeling they know something that I don’t. Something was off tonight, but I don’t know what it is. It feels like everything’s about to change.

Rider is quiet for a minute on the other side of the keyboard. A message pops up that he’s typing, and I glance around my empty bedroom while the in-game music plays in my ear.

My roommates’ beds are empty since Reina and Wren are with the guys at the bar partying. So I have this room to myself at the moment.

It doesn’t usually bother me, but tonight, it feels so empty the silence is deafening.