Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
RYAN
THEN
W hen I opened my eyes, I felt the weight of Lexi’s head as it rested on my arm while she slept. My arm was beginning to go numb underneath her so I slid it out slowly and pulled the pillow closer to rest her head on it once I stood. I kissed her softly on the cheek and watched as she cuddled into the pillow, as if she thought it was still me underneath her. I opened the bedroom door quietly and peeked through the small gap to check if her dad or Jay were out in the hallway, but I saw Jay’s door was still closed. I quickly ran across the hallway and stepped into the bathroom to turn the shower on. Since Lexi became my girlfriend, I had been cautious about pissing Jay off any further. I know he said he was okay with our relationship but I also knew he wouldn’t hesitate to punch me in the face again if he saw me sneak out of her room in nothing but my underwear.
I preferred when we slept at Lexi’s house rather than the clubhouse because every time we were there, I couldn’t seem to relax. I was always on high alert and paranoid that one of the other boys would stumble into my room after too many beers. Or that someone would walk in on her showering. Worst of all, I didn’t want her to overhear anything that would make her scared of the club.
I heard someone open the bathroom door as I was in the shower and realized I must have forgotten to lock it behind me. Then again, the only one who would walk in there while the shower was running would be Lexi, and if it was her then I was glad I left it unlocked. I got lost in Lexi every time I was with her, and last night was no different. Our bodies were made for each other and every time she touched me, my body ignited. I couldn’t keep my hands off her and she couldn’t keep her hands off me, which was usually what made us unable to fall asleep until the early hours of the morning.
“Nice of you to come and join me, babe,” I called out from behind the shower curtain.
“Seriously dude, I just came for a piss.”
I quickly pulled the shower curtain back just enough to be able to poke my head through and make eye contact with Jay, who was standing shirtless by the toilet with his face screwed up in disgust.
“Shit, sorry Jay. I thought you were Lexi.” I gave him an awkward smile as he turned around to go to the toilet. I closed the shower curtain again and let the hot water run over me. I heard the toilet flush and the door open before I called out to him again.
“Hey Jay, get Lexi for me, would you?” I poked my head out from behind the shower curtain just in time to catch Jay as he stuck his finger up at me and slammed the door behind him. I didn’t want to rub the fact that I was sleeping with his sister in his face, but at least this time he didn’t punch me.
* * *
L exi had already woken up and left her bedroom by the time I had finished my shower, so I quickly pulled on my jeans and grabbed a shirt from the drawer in her dresser that she had emptied out for me. After I stayed with her for a week straight, she decided I needed to keep some of my things here. When I came over one night. She showed me the empty drawer and then the next day she came to the clubhouse with a bag and started packing some of my shirts, underwear and pants before kissing me in front of everyone and walking back out without saying a word, leaving me speechless. What she didn’t know was that I had also hidden one of my guns in that very drawer because I needed a source of protection everywhere. The downside of being a Viper was that you had some dangerous enemies and you never knew when you needed to protect yourself.
As I walked down the stairs, I heard three familiar voices coming from the kitchen. I stood in the doorway as I approached the Davis family having their breakfast and morning coffee. Lexi was sitting on the kitchen bench wearing one of my shirts and a pair of tiny black shorts, while Scotty stood at the stove cooking some eggs and Jay was across the room sitting down at the dining table.
“Don’t just stand there, son. Help yourself. What’s ours is yours,” Scotty said as he moved the fry pan from the stove top and over towards the plate on the bench next to Lexi.
“I think he’s helped himself to enough,” Jay mumbled from the table, which made Lexi scold him from the bench. I walked over to her and laughed at Jay’s comment. Lexi looked between the two of us before settling on me now that I was standing in front of her.
“Okay, what did I miss between you two?” Lexi asked.
“Jay may have walked in on me in the shower this morning…”
“And he thought I was you!” Jay said from the table as he leaned back on his chair. Scotty laughed from where he was eating his breakfast. Scotty was like a second dad to me and I had gotten closer to him again since I’d been staying here most nights.
“Oh god,” Lexi said as she put her head on my shoulder to try and hide her face in my chest. Jay stuck his finger up at me again before he turned his head to look up at the clock on the wall and nodded his head towards the door to let me know it was time to go.
“I got to go, Lex, but I’ll meet you at Hannah’s birthday tonight.” I kissed her head and she wrapped her arms around my neck to keep me in front of her.
“I’ll be waiting for you okay, be safe.”
I smiled down at her. She said be safe every time I walked out the door and each time she said it, she stalled slightly as if there was something else she wanted to add onto the end of it.
“Always am, Lexi. See you tonight.” I kissed her quickly while in front of her dad, and Jay was already out the door.
* * *
I t was a full day of planning at the clubhouse because the job on Sol’s worked out exactly how we planned it to. We ended up getting an increase in our security jobs, Sol’s being the biggest. The one thing that had kept all of us on edge was the Horsemen retaliation. They saw Jay and I there that night which meant they knew we were responsible for them losing the job, as well as losing the respect of the town that they were trying to claim, but they hadn’t retaliated yet. That could only mean one thing: they were planning something big. We introduced a few extra security measures such as never riding alone and never riding without protection, not that many of us did anyway.
It was almost nine o'clock when Jay, Haz and I pulled up outside the local bar where Hannah was having her birthday party. Since we met Hannah at the cafe a few weeks ago, Haz and her had been fooling around. When he found out Lexi was throwing her a surprise party for her twenty-first birthday, he hadn’t stopped asking Lexi questions before she got so annoyed by him that she split all the information and invited him. The bar was full when we arrived and I only recognized some of the faces. I searched through the crowd until I spotted the familiar head of blonde hair on the opposite side of the room.
Lexi, Hannah and Bella were sitting at a table with some other girls and a few boys I hadn’t met before. A waitress stopped at the table to drop off a large plate of shots and judging by the slices of lime in the bowl in the middle of the tray, it was tequila.
“I hope one of these shots are for me,” I said to the group as we approached the table.
Haz leaned straight down before taking the shot glass out of one of the boys’ hands who went to stand up to confront him, but Jay pushed him back down. Lexi squealed from her seat when she saw us standing there and she stood up and quickly came towards me before jumping up and wrapping her arms around my neck. I tightened my grip on her waist and her feet were off the floor when our lips connected. Someone cleared their throat from the table to remind us we were not alone and I knew it came from Jay.
The tray of shots sat on the table empty after everyone had two each and I excused myself from the group to head to the bathroom. As I turned down the hallway, someone stood in front of me and blocked my way. I noticed the leather cut but it didn’t belong to a Viper; it was a Horsemen and not just any Horsemen. Silas Gray.
“Ryan Blake, I would say it’s a surprise running into you but it’s really not, since I followed you here.”
“Are you really that obsessed with me, Silas?” I knew my gun was in the back of my jeans and ready to be pulled at any moment, but I remembered my surroundings. I can’t pull a gun out in a bar full of people and I wouldn’t pull it out when Lexi was in the same room.
“You screwed me. That Sol’s job. I brought that to the club and now they don’t trust my judgment.”
“Never thought the Horsemen would make a smart decision, but not trusting you is probably for the best. Give up, Silas. You lost.” I went to push past him but he held out his hand and used it to push me back.
“I have to earn their trust back and what better way than taking down the Vipers. Starting with the President's son.”
I narrowed my eyes at his smirk. I glanced behind him to make sure I could still see Lexi because I needed to know she was safe, but she was no longer standing with Hannah. Jay and Haz saw me from across the bar and quickly walked over towards me and stood behind Silas.
“You don’t think I came here alone, do you boys? I’m not that stupid.” He nodded over my shoulder. I turned around to see another Horsemen member standing by the bar and I felt my heart stop when I saw that he was standing right next to Lexi. Lexi wouldn’t have been able to see him, but he was close enough that he could touch her if she turned around. Jay noticed the same thing and I watched his jaw clench as he pushed Silas.
“What do you fucking think you’re doing?” Jay yelled in his face as he gripped his elbow tightly, but Silas just laughed back at him.
“As I said, I’m taking you boys down and I might just use her to do it.”
This comment made me see red. I forgot where I was when I reached up and wrapped two hands around Silas’ neck as I pushed him against the wall. All the noise in the bar stopped and everyone’s eyes were on me. Silas kicked me in the shin which made me loosen my grip. He broke out of my hold but I swung my right hand at him and landed the punch straight into his nose. Lexi came running over to see what was happening and the other Horsemen went to pull her back. The second he laid a finger on her, Jay pulled him off and threw him on the ground. He was punching him and I was punching Silas, while Haz had two hands on Lexi’s shoulders as he tried to calm her down while she continued to yell at us to stop fighting.
“Haz, get her out of here. Take her home!” I yelled at him as Silas swung back at me and landed his punch while I was distracted. I heard Lexi yelling out for both Jay and I as she hit Haz’s back. He carried her out of the bar and even though I knew she was going to be pissed as hell at me later, at least I knew right now that she was safe.
* * *
T he fight was eventually broken up when the owner of the bar threatened to call the cops. Silas and his friend stumbled out of the bar with blood gushing from their noses and lips, while Jay and I apologized to Hannah for ruining her party. Jay quickly stole another shot out of one of the boys’ hands and then we headed out towards our bikes.
“This is just the beginning, isn’t it, Ry?” Jay looked up at me as he sat on his bike. He wasn’t a part of the Vipers the last time we were at war with the Horsemen which meant he didn’t know how messy it got, but he’s about to find out.
“Yeah, Jay, I think it is.”
We both rode back to the Davis house and when we both pulled into the driveway, our headlights lit up the front porch. The shadow of Lexi sitting on the swing grabbed my attention. I didn’t know what I was about to walk into and I didn’t know if she was going to be angry, upset or maybe both. Our bikes weren’t even turned off before she ran down the stairs and wrapped one arm around each of us to pull us into her arms for a tight hug. One second later, she pushed us back and hit both of us on the arm.
“I am so angry at you both for making Haz take me home, but I’m so relieved to see you that I don’t even care.”
“I needed you to be safe, Lex. I had to get you out of there,” I said as Jay wrapped an arm around her.
“You two do not need to protect me, okay? I can look out for myself but I need to know the truth. What happened tonight?” She looked between Jay and I as she waited for one of us to give her the honest answer.
“You can take this one, Ry,” Jay said as he held up both of his hands and backed away from Lexi and I. He walked into the house and closed the front door behind him.
“What you saw tonight was a threat,” I told her. “Silas, the one I held against the wall, is a member of the Horsemen, our rival club. The night of your birthday, the Vipers stole a job from them. So tonight, Silas came to tell us that he wants to take us down.”
“What do you mean ‘take you down’? You as in you specifically, or all of the Vipers?” She crossed her arms and I could see the panic in her eyes.
“All of us. We have history so I’m the person he came to because he knows how deep I am in the club. He thought I would be the best person to pass along the message.”
“Where do I come into this? You said you needed to keep me safe, but I’m not a Viper.”
“He’s been following me. I don’t know how long, but he now knows that the best way to get to me is through you. He threatened you tonight, Lexi, but you need to know that I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I don’t understand, Ryan. Why would he threaten me?”
“Because you’re my weakness, Lex and he knows that he can get to me by hurting you.” I reached out and put two hands on her shoulders as I took a step closer to her. “Why am I your weakness?” she asked quietly.
“You’re my weakness because I’m in love with you, Lexi.” Her arms dropped from her chest and the panic left her eyes as they softened. I didn’t mean to tell her I loved her like that. I knew I loved her, but I didn’t expect it to come out just yet.
“What did you just say?” I could see her chest rising and falling as she took deep, fast breaths.
“I love you, Lexi Davis. I am so madly in love with you.” I hardly finished my sentence before she pulled my face down to meet hers and kissed me passionately. We kept kissing until we were out of breath and she rested her forehead on mine, our lips brushing against each other.
“I love you too, Ryan Blake.” This time when I kissed her, I took my hands and placed them on her thighs and picked her up so that she wrapped her legs around mine, carrying her towards the house. Thankfully everyone was in their own rooms already so I continued to carry her the whole way to her room before kicking the door closed with my foot and resting myself on top of her as I leaned in to kiss her again.