Page 21 of Ridin' Free

I couldn’t rewrite it.

All Icoulddo was remind myself I was better. Stronger. Freer.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard the rumble of an approaching motorcycle. Given whose house I just exited, I assumed his destination was the same as mine. I made it to my driver’s side door when the Harley and the Stallion who rode it pulled in directly behind me—blocking me in.

Twister smirked at me as he killed his Hydra-Glide’s engine, and I folded my arms across my chest while he lowered his hog’s kickstand. I hadn’t seen him since our last run-in. If he came to the bar Friday night, we were too slammed for me to notice, and he hadn’t been leaning against my Bronco when I finally left at nearly three A.M.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said in greeting.

“Yeah, well, I was just leavin’.”

He stood and kicked his leg over the bike, completely disregarding what I said.

“Seriously, do you mind?” I asked, my tone dripping in annoyance.

“I won’t be long. Just doin’ a drive by.”

It wasn’t until I watched him unstrap the box he had attached to the back of his bike that I realized he was making a diaper delivery.

“What do you know about buyingdiapers?” I muttered, unable to silence my curiosity.

“More than you give me credit for, I imagine. Got two sisters—five nieces and nephews between ‘em. Maverick’s already sent about fifty damn pictures of the kid. These might be a little big, but they won’t go unused. He’s a tiny bugger now, but he’s got my brother’s genes—he’ll grow.”

His answer was enough to shut me up.

Propping the box against the side of his hip, he jerked his chin at me and asked, “You give anymore thought to our date?”

I sighed as I rolled my eyes and dropped my arms to my sides. “Don’t start. Could you just deliver the diapers and move your hog so I can get out of here?”

“You got someplace to be?”

“Yeah—not camped out in Maverick and Jenna’s driveway.”

“Go out with me.”

“Twister—”

“Tonight. Right now. You hungry?”

I huffed out a breath as I shifted my gaze away from him and down the street. I couldn’t believe I was considering it, but I was pretty sure about two things.

First—this Stallion was not going to let up.

If I didn’t say yes now, he’d bug the hell out of me until I did.

But that wasn’t the reason which made me even the slightest bit amenable.

If I didn’t say yes now, if I got behind the wheel and started driving, I suspected I wouldn’t stop until I ran out of gas—running from the thoughts I felt trying to haunt me even in that very moment.

I hesitated a little longer as I looked at the man in front of me.

One date wouldn’t mean a damn thing, but I was pretty confident it would earn me another ride. I would be a liar if I saidthat didn’t appeal to me. A ride was also guaranteed to rid my mind of demons. For a while, anyway.

Besides, I was hungry.

“Fine,” I agreed. “But I’m not changing.”

I had on less makeup than I usually did, seeing as I wasn’t behind the bar that night. The button-up I wore was tied closed at my waist, and the cut-off shorts I had on were high enough to cover my belly-button, but short enough that the lining to my pockets peeked out beneath the frayed hem.