Page 13 of Riding the Line (Steel Saints MC #1)

We headed into the mall, making a beeline for a cute little coffee shop.

Five minutes into debating which stores to visit in front of the mall map, I began to wonder if we should have kept Maria’s list. Holly dragged us into a photo booth and we made total fools of ourselves behind the curtain.

I tucked my copy into my pocket carefully.

Over the next three hours, we raided the shelves in almost every store on the first floor. By the time we made it to the second floor, our arms were already laden with bags.

I finally found my mattress store and, oh sweet heaven, they did deliver.

I hated a lumpy mattress. I managed to find one on sale that felt like a cloud.

The three of us lay on it until the store kicked us out.

When we got to the food court, our bags took up two tables, and I said, “Girls, I think we need to call it quits. There’s no way we can carry any more. ”

Holly winked at me. “I’ve got a better idea. Grab me some of that crappy pizza, would you? I’ll take care of this.” Meanwhile Maria headed off to get drinks, and I joined the throng of people by the pizza place.

When I got through the line and back to the table with our food, Maria was already back with three sweet teas.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

Holly reached for a slice of pizza and nodded towards the escalator. “There’s our plan.”

I looked over to see three prospects making their way over to us.

“Aw,” she said, “Jackson sent one for each of us. Sometimes, I think he might actually be smarter than he looks.”

Maria made a general sound of agreement around a mouthful of food.

“Hey, Mrs. Morgan. Jackson said you needed us?” one of the prospects said as they approached us.

Holly waved at all of our bags. “I hope you came in one of the trucks and not your bikes.” The prospect nodded, the other two seemingly content to be quiet.

One of them winked at me when he caught me looking, and I rolled my eyes.

He was cute, but those brown eyes seemed lackluster compared to the blue ones I had found myself preferring lately—though I was loathe to admit it.

“Yes, ma’am, sure did. Wasn’t born yesterday. Want us to take all this back to the clubhouse?”

Holly nodded, and the three guys grabbed our bags and left.

Fully sated on greasy pizza, we went through the next stores. Maria went for broke in the bookstore, buying two or three complete sets. “Jewel will go nuts over this stuff,” she told me.

I had somehow become her basket after she insisted she didn’t need an actual one. In the next store, she put a couple of t-shirts on top of the pile in my arms.

“Her birthday is the weekend after next. Which, by the way, you’re totally invited to.

She’s turning fifteen, and we’re throwing her a modernized quinceanera .

So, literally, everyone is invited.” She made a face as we made our way to the front of the store.

“Except her dad, of course. Don’t need his drama. No sir, no thank you.”

I glanced at her, confused. “Diego isn’t Jewel’s father?”

She shook her head. “He is in every other sense but blood. Her dad… I had a young and dumb moment when I was fifteen. I was so not ready to be a momma, but I stepped up, you know? My girl needed me. But her sperm donor… he’s a useless son of a bitch, and always has been. Just took me too long to see it.”

Holly appeared behind us. “Who are we talking about?”

“Jesse.”

“Oooo, fuck him. I hope he gets run over.”

“Literally same. Would make my life so much easier.”

I looked between the two. “He’s a real piece of work, then?”

Maria nodded. “Just a little,” she said, miming the opposite by spreading her arms as wide as they would go.

I squirreled away that nugget of information and said, “I’m going to run back while you finish checking out—I saw something I wanted to grab real quick.”

Holly gave me a thumbs up as Maria dug her wallet out of her purse.

I found the book I was looking for pretty quickly.

I debated the optics of buying Dalton a gift for all of five seconds before grabbing the worn copy of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway .

He had told me a while back that he loved the classics.

I didn’t know much about reading, but surely you couldn’t get much more classic than a dead guy?

I had the clerk wrap it in tissue paper before meeting the girls outside.

We all piled into the car with our bags and headed back to Maria’s.

It was getting late, and we were all the kind of tired that comes from a long, good day with the people you love.

I lounged in the back seat while Holly and Maria bantered up front.

My phone buzzed, and I got a text from Dalton letting me know he was having someone bring my things to my apartment.

I typed back, “How will you know what’s mine?”

I blushed furiously when he sent back a picture of Holly’s red lace nightgown, along with the caption, “While I can’t think of anything better than you in this, somehow I feel like it’s not your style.”

I couldn’t resist replying, “Guess you’ll never know,” then shoved my phone back in my pocket, ignoring the incoming text vibration. I focused on Maria, who was describing Jewel’s party in detail.

“So, she wants barbecue and a strawberry chocolate cake. She’s already picked out her gown, and Diego found the perfect venue. And you said Jackson can DJ, right?”

Holly nodded. “Yeah, and he’s got some old band buddies that are coming, so you’ll have live music and all that too.”

Maria grinned. “I’ve been planning this since she turned thirteen. Have you ever been to a quinceanera ?” she asked me. I shook my head. “You’ll love it.”

“If you don’t mind me asking… you guys all seem to know ea ch other pretty well. When did you first meet?”

Maria and Holly shared a look, one that carried the weight of thousands of memories.

Maria turned to me. “Jackson, Dalton, Mac, and Diego were all jocks at my school. Total assholes. Well, not Dalton. And Diego only sometimes. But idiots, you know? I avoided them for the most part. Then this hotshot with a bad attitude moved into a freaking mansion not too far from us. Somehow, she ended up at our school.”

Holly took up the story. “I hated Jackson the second I met him. Dude almost ran me over. First day of school, I realized he went there too. Maria kind of made it her mission to keep me from killing him.”

“Yeah, and Diego had his hands full dealing with Jackson’s temper. Oh, sure—he’s all calm and cool now. Didn’t used to be that way!”

“Somehow, it all just fell together. I left Jesse after Diego beat him to a pulp. Remind me to tell you that story sometime. Eventually, Holly and Jackson worked out their issues.”

“We worked out a lot, actually,” Holly said, winking at me in the rearview mirror. Maria shook her head, and I grinned.

“What about Mac and Dalton?” I asked.

Holly shrugged. “They were just kind of always there, you know? Mac had always been in charge. The Saints had just gotten up and running. His dad was… well, everyone liked him. And Mrs. Mills, she was like a second mom to me. Towards the end of high school, the five of us were spending every weekend together. At the Mills’ or just running around town. ”

“What happened to them? To their mom and dad?” The car fell deathly quiet, and I realized I had touched on a sore subject. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked—”

Maria interrupted me. “It’s okay, mija . It’s just not our story to tell. Their mom… she was taken too soon. And their dad died shortly after. Doctor said heart attack. Broken heart, I think.”

“I miss them. We all do.”

I glanced at Holly, surprised by her rare show of emotion.

The rest of the ride was short, but quiet.

Even the radio was kept low. When we pulled up in front of Maria’s, she and I exited the car after hugging Holly goodbye.

Holly drove off quickly while Maria tried to squeeze the life out of me.

I felt the need to apologize again. I hadn’t realized I was opening old wounds, but Maria shook her head.

“You didn’t know. And you should. Maybe one day they will tell you more. But, right now, let’s not let it ruin the day. Okay? For the record, I’m so glad you set that bike on fire, girl. If you wouldn’t, mine and Holly’s dynamic duo would never have become a…” She grasped for the right words.

“Tremendous trio?” I offered with a smile.

She laughed and hugged me harder. “Yes, exactly. Goodnight, mija . Drive safe.”

I watched her until she was safely inside. Diego had brought my bike out for me when we pulled up. I wasn’t sure how, but this new life was becoming more than just a job to me. I didn’t want to think about how hard it would be to let it go when it was time.

Once I somehow managed to get my bags secured to my bike, which was no easy task, I headed home.

Back at my apartment, I tossed my keys and helmet on the stand next to the door before kicking off my shoes.

Running a hand through my hair to loosen it from the braid it had been in all day, I headed towards the kitchen in search of dinner.

That pizza seemed forever ago, and I had the post-shopping munchies.

Speaking of, I wondered where my things were.

I’d assumed they would be here by the time I got back.

I found some ramen noodles in the cabinet and decided that my missing bags was an issue for full-belly me.

While my noodles cooked, I changed into a pair of fuzzy shorts and an old tank top.

Hot cup of noodles in hand, I settled on my worn brown couch before flipping on the TV.

I had just settled on my usual Full House reruns when there was a knock on the door.

I paused, fork halfway to my mouth, and frowned.

I’d literally just sat down, for Christ’s sake!

I briefly contemplated shanking whoever was at the door, casting a sad look at my abandoned dinner.