Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
LEXI
THEN
“L exi, seriously get out of the shower!” My brother, Jayden, was banging on the bathroom door. He rushed me every morning, even though I had told him every morning to wake up before me and get ready first if it was such a problem.
“I’m going to take longer now. The more you knock, the longer I take, Jay.” I was serious. I took smaller sections while straightening my hair just to take as long as I could to try and annoy him. Only two minutes later, I heard his loud sigh from the other side of the door before he stomped down the stairs.
My brother and I had the ultimate love-hate relationship. We were fraternal twins and besides me being a girl and Jay being a boy, we looked practically identical. We both had wavy blonde hair, mine reached my waist and Jay’s was always messy and overgrown. We both had blue eyes, taking after our mother’s genes. My dad had all dark features with deep chestnut eyes and dark hair, although with age, his hair was slowly getting speckles of gray shining through. Jay and I grew up being really close and we always looked out for each other.
Nine years ago when we were eleven years old, our parents were in a very serious car accident. My dad loved riding his Harley motorcycle and my mom loved to ride on the back. Whenever they went out without us, they always took the bike since they didn’t need the extra seats. One night, they went out for dinner for a friend’s birthday and on their way home a drunk driver ran a red light, speeding three times over the limit. According to the police report, both of our parents were found thrown off the bike and the bike had skidded a fair distance away from them. Whether the bike kept sliding or they were thrown that far, the police were unsure.
The bike was totalled and a complete write-off and our mom died on the scene from her injuries. The report told us there was minimal chance of survival, yet my dad miraculously survived, despite the doctor's concerns. He had severe damage to his spine, breaking three vertebrae and damaging his spinal cord. He was told he was extremely lucky to be alive, let alone walking, but due to his injuries he would never be able to ride a motorcycle again. He was completely heart broken. He had lost his wife and the mother of his children and his club all from one accident that wasn’t even his fault.
That had always been the part that scared me about motorcycles. It doesn’t matter how good of a rider you are, it’s the other drivers on the road that you need to be aware of. He went into an extremely depressive state for almost a year. Never leaving his room and never eating any of the food we tried to feed him. During that time, despite only being eleven years old, Jay and I learnt how to look after each other while also taking care of our dad.
* * *
I f there was one thing to describe Haven Cove and one thing everyone knew about our small town it would be the Vipers. The Vipers were our town’s local motorcycle club. My dad and his best friend, Preston Blake, started the club along with a few friends when they were in their early twenties. My dad was now nearly sixty, so it had been around for almost forty years, with Preston as the current President.
It started as a few friends who just loved to ride bikes, going for long rides, but it progressed from there and they were now very well known, having multiple charters across the country. They were also known for getting themselves in all sorts of trouble. After losing our mom, I was happy that my dad got out of that life. I couldn’t imagine losing him as well if he went to jail, or worse.
When my dad first came home from the hospital, he had to learn to walk again. Jay and I would find him in the garage trying to get back on his bike, but his injuries would never allow him to move in the way he needed to if he were to ride again. We heard him yelling in the garage one night, followed by loud bangs. The next morning, his bike was covered up and he never tried to sit on it again.
Preston would come over and see him every now and then but slowly over time we saw him less and less. It seemed the more my dad accepted his injury and stepped away from the club, the less we saw of Preston. I thought of that as a good thing; Jay, not so much.
Jay loved the idea of the club lifestyle: the riding, the money, the girls and the parties. As Dad distanced himself from Preston and the club, Jay held resentment towards Dad for losing what he believed would be his way into the club. Jay could always become a prospect but then he would have to work his way up in the club on his own, whereas being a legacy gave him an automatic advantage. Even though Dad was no longer an acting member of the club, Preston had always made sure that he knew he would always be a Viper.
“Ugh finally. Why do you spend so much time getting ready anyway? No one cares what you look like,” Jay said as I entered the kitchen where he was sitting at our dining table with a bowl of cereal in front of him.
“Like I have said a million times, Jay, I get up and get ready at eight every morning. I have to work so just wake up before me if you have somewhere that you need to be.”
Jay just rolled his eyes at me muttering a, ‘yeah whatever.’
“Where are you rushing off to today anyway? Usually we have this argument during the week. You never wake up before twelve on a Saturday,” I asked as I sat across from Jay at the table. My brother was a typical boy; he would sleep the day away if he could. Especially at the moment when he didn’t have a job, but he had been out of the house a lot more than usual lately.
“None of your business,” he muttered and stormed out the front door. Dad and I looked at each other, wondering what his attitude was about this morning. My dad shrugged and picked his newspaper back up and took a sip of his coffee.
* * *
T he morning went by so slowly. I was working my usual part-time job at the local cafe which was always consistent with the same regular customers coming in and ordering their morning coffees. Usually they took them to-go but as it was the weekend, some of the customers preferred to sit down, read the paper or meet up with their friends. Enjoying their coffee in store instead of having to rush off to work.
I decided to make the most of the quiet moment and head out for my half hour break. I finished making a large caramel latte for one of our customers before I called over my co-worker, Bailey, to cover the counter for me. I made myself a coffee and decided to spend my break in the sunshine. I sat at one of our tables out the front of the cafe. After scrolling through my phone for the first fifteen minutes, I looked up when I heard the loud rumble of engines. I wasn’t surprised when I saw five black Harley’s speed past. All of the riders were wearing the signature Viper black leather cut, the same cut that I had seen my dad wear many times and that still hung in our lounge room. My eyes locked onto the thick red Viper design on the back of the black leather.
The bikes all came to a stop across the road from the cafe. I watched as they all lined up next to each outside Sub Street, by far the best sandwich shop in Haven Cove. My family didn’t have much to do with the Vipers anymore, so as the riders all began to take off their helmets, it was no surprise I didn’t recognize many of them. I did, however, recognize the member riding at the front of the pack: Ryan Blake. Ryan was Preston’s son and he was only a year older than Jay and I. Jay always looked up to Ryan when we were younger. He wanted nothing more than to be his friend. Every time we used to play as kids, I was always the one left out while the boys ran off and played.
My eyes drifted to one of the other riders, whose leather cut looked newer than the rest of them; it almost looked brand new. He lifted the black helmet from his head and the second I saw the familiar blonde hair, I jumped from my chair, leaving my coffee and lunch sitting on the table in front of me. I walked across the road towards the group of boys.
“Jayden,” I said as I walked into the sandwich shop and stood behind the five bikers. I had my eyes set on my brother’s back, the same back that was currently wearing a Vipers cut. I watched his shoulders stiffen before he turned to face me. The other five boys also turned to see who was speaking behind them.
“Lex, hey. What are you doing here?” He sounded nervous. I looked down at his cut that was covering the plain white shirt he was wearing when he left the house this morning. I noticed the freshly sewn patch on the left-hand side saying ‘Prospect’.
“I was at work, like I am every Saturday. What exactly are you doing? And since when do you wear a Viper cut?”
“Jeez Jay, most girls like a cut,” one of the other members said, laughing to the other boys as he put his arm around Jay’s shoulder and winked at me.
“Don’t be a dick, man. That’s his sister,” I heard Ryan say, which made me look over at him. He leaned against the counter behind him. Ryan was my first crush when I was ten years old and age was definitely on his side. I couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was even now. His brown hair had gotten even deeper and he was wearing a plain black baseball cap placed backwards on his head to hold the loose pieces of hair from falling into his eyes. His green eyes were even more captivating than I remembered.
“Guessing you didn’t know Jay joined the Vipers?” Ryan looked over at me with one of his brows raised. A little smirk appeared on his face, flashing a small dimple on his left cheek.
“Lexi, can we talk outside?” Jay looked at me, knowing I was clearly annoyed he hadn’t told me, and probably trying to prevent me from embarrassing him in front of his new friends.
“I actually need to get back to work. But hey, you have fun with your new friends,” I said sarcastically before walking back across the road to the cafe. I grabbed my coffee and lunch I left on the table and threw it into the rubbish bin before heading into the back room to put my personal belongings away. I leaned against the wall and put my face in my hands, trying to compose myself and calm down before I headed back out into the cafe.
I made my way back to the counter to relieve Bailey so he could take his break. I was restocking the coffee cups when I heard the bell ring from the counter. I turned to see Ryan standing in front of the counter with his hands tucked into the pockets of his black jeans. Unlike Jay’s perfectly clean leather cut, Ryan’s was well worn. It looked softer and the black leather was faded in some spots from the sun.
“Hi there, what can I get you today?” I smiled at him as if he was any other customer, ignoring the raspy chuckle that left his mouth.
“Black coffee, please, and a conversation.” He leaned forward, the smirk returning to his face.
“The coffee I can make. As for the conversation, I am not interested.”
Ryan didn’t look like he got turned down very often by girls, so he was a little shocked by my blatant disinterest in a conversation. I was still mad though. I know Ryan didn’t make my brother join but he was a part of the Vipers and selfishly, I didn’t want my brother to be a part of the club.
“I know you’re pissed that Jay didn’t tell you when he joined the club, but are you really surprised that he did? When he reached out to me wanting to apply, he said he had been wanting this since he was a kid. Being a Viper is in his blood, Lexi, just like it is in mine. We are born to be a part of this club.” He continued to speak and I continued to ignore him while making his coffee.
“There you go, that will be four dollars, please.” I handed him his coffee and put my hand out for him to pay. We both stared at each other stubbornly. He broke his stare first and he let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head. He reached into his pocket and handed me a five dollar note. He turned and walked out the door without his change so I put it in the glass tip jar on the counter instead.