Chapter 2 – Nara
Being back in Broken Arrow isn”t exactly the homecoming I expected it to be. Well, that”s not really true. I knew that it wasn”t going to be great, but I didn”t expect things to be this bad. The only good thing about Broken Arrow is that my friend, Astrid, lives here. She’s the one bright spot in my life and I’m happy she asked me out to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Okay, so it’s the only Mexican restaurant in town, but it’s still delicious.
My thoughts turn once again to the awkward and awful way my family has been toward me lately. From the moment I got back home, I’ve been treated like an outsider. I should be used to it. I mean, I’ve always been treated as different by my family. Mainly because I am.
My dad and brother are both part of the Midnight Rebel MC here in town. Well, actually they kind of are the MC, considering that they’re the President and Vice President respectively. My mom passed away when I was six, and my dad met my stepmom when she came to the clubhouse. He married her a few months later.
I’ve never really gotten along with any of them. I didn’t want to be part of the MC life and I swore that I would never date a biker when I saw how they treated women at the one and only party I went to.
I left when I went to college and it was probably the best four years of my life. When I graduated though, I had no idea where to go and no money to get there even if I did, so I came back home. I shouldn”t have bothered. It”s not like there are a lot of teaching jobs open in town.
I sigh as I finish my margarita and Astrid laughs.
“Am I that bad of company?” she asks and I shake my head.
“No, I was just thinking about my family,” I tell her.
“Ah,” she says knowingly.
I’ve been best friends with Astrid since I was a kid. We grew up here in town together and she knows all about my family issues. Heck, she has some family problems of her own. We split up when we went to different universities, but now we’ve both graduated and are back in town. Tonight was supposed to be us celebrating being back together, but the sound of motorcycles roaring past the restaurant has my mood taking a dive. Not that I was in a great mood to begin with.
“Do you want to head out?” my friend asks, popping one of the last tortilla chips in her mouth.
“Yeah, I should be getting home. I’ve got a busy day of applying for jobs tomorrow,” I tell her and she gives me a sympathetic smile.
Astrid is lucky. She graduated and got a job with one of the companies that she interned for. Now she gets to work from home and has a steady paycheck every week.
Maybe I should have gone into marketing too,I think as I finish my margarita.
“We can hang out tomorrow. I’ll help you look for some schools that are hiring,” Astrid promises and I smile.
“This is why I love you.”
She laughs and we both stand and head out to the street. Astrid drove us and I follow her out onto the sidewalk. I pause when I see the bikers at the bar down the block and I sigh again.
“Ignore them,” Astrid advises me and I nod.
I spot my dad and brother racing toward the bar and I know that a brawl is about to break out. Not again.
”We should leave,” I warn my friend. ”Now.”
”Yep,” she agrees, her eyes locked on my family members, too.
We take off at a brisk place, but we have to pass by the bar to get to her car.
“Let’s go around back,” Astrid calls over her shoulder when she sees more bikers coming out of the bar.
”Good call.”
We turn the corner but suddenly, the side door of the bar bursts open and a group of guys separates Astrid and me.
“Nara!” she calls out. I stand on my tiptoes, trying to spot her in the crowd.
“Astrid! I’ll meet you at the car!” I yell, but I’m not sure she even heard me.
I turn, trying to find a way out of this mess. Everything seems to be happening so fast though. There are big men on each side of me, pushing and shoving and I start to panic.
Should I try to keep going? Go low and try to crawl through without being crushed? Where is Astrid? Is she okay?
“This way, princess,” comes a deep voice to my left and I look over, locking eyes with a dark-haired man.
He holds his hand out to me and I hesitate for only a second before I slip mine into it. He pulls me out of the fray and then puts himself between me and the other men, sheltering me.
“My friend!” I tell him and he nods.
”Caden has her.”
”Who?” I ask, raising my voice to be heard over the noise.
“My friend. He has her. He’ll keep her safe.”
“I have to get to her. She’s my ride home,” I inform him.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he growls down at me. “You see the mess that’s happening downtown right now. It’s not safe.”
“I’ll be okay. We’re leaving town.”
“No!” he barks and I back up a step.
“I’m going home,” I tell him firmly.
“Where’s that?”
I press my lips tightly together, refusing to answer him.
When the man first showed up, I had thought he was my knight in shining armor, swooping in to rescue me. Now I see that he’s just another jerk.
My eyes scan over him, taking in his leather vest and I sneer at it.
“What?” he asks and I blink.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re thinking something.”
He looks down at his chest and I study the rest of him. He”s tall, almost a foot taller than myself, and just as wide. I”m a big girl with lots of curves, but next to this man, I feel almost… delicate.
His green eyes come back to meet mine and he frowns down at me.
“You don’t like bikers?” he asks.
“Hate them,” I admit.
He seems uneasy about that, but he doesn’t say anything more. I jerk my hand out of his and he takes a step toward me like he’s going to take hold of me again.
“I should go.”
“I’ll take you home,” he says and I step back from him.
“I have a ride.”
He takes another step toward me and I back up, matching him. I need to get out of here and find Astrid and I’m not sure that this man is going to let that happen.
“Thanks for the assist,” I say, trying to brush him off.
“Princess,” he growls in warning as he takes another step toward me.
I can tell that he’s not just going to let me go. He’s going to want to give me a ride home or something else. I can’t have that. I need to figure out a way to get away. I need a distraction.
Inspiration strikes and I look over his shoulder, pretending to see something that scares me and as soon as he turns to face the threat, I take off.
I run, ducking down the alley and popping out into the parking lot. I see Astrid running toward her own car and we reach it at the same time. We share a bewildered look over the roof and then she’s laughing.
“Men,” she says as she slips behind the wheel, making me giggle.
“Let’s get out of here.”
She nods, starting the car, and then we do just that.