Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LEXI
THEN
I had caught Ryan and Jay sitting around having conversations with my dad that they didn’t want me to overhear. I knew this because every time I walked into the room or around the corner, they went silent and all walked in opposite directions. I had asked Ryan and Jay to let me know what was going on but every time I asked, I got the same response: they were working it out and everything was going to be fine.
When I walked into the kitchen this morning, it was no different. I didn’t even bother asking them what they were talking about because I knew I wasn’t going to get a proper answer anyway. Instead, I walked straight over to our coffee machine, made my coffee and left the boys to their conversation without saying a word. I felt all of their eyes on me as I walked out of the room and went to sit on the porch swing. I opened up my book and read one page before I heard the front door open and footsteps make their way towards me. Knowing there was a fifty-fifty chance of Ryan or Jay standing in front of me, I chose to pretend they weren’t there and returned to my book.
“What? Not even a good morning?” I looked up as Jay leaned against the porch rail and crossed his ankles over one another and smirked at me, knowing I was annoyed at their secrecy.
“Morning.” I faked a half smile at him and took a sip from my coffee. He laughed at my response and ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier.
“I mean, it’s a little better. What about, ‘good morning my amazing, perfect brother who I love and adore’.”
I looked back up at him and pulled my brows together, shooting him my best annoyed glare. He continued to laugh and put his hands in the air in surrender just as Ryan walked out the front door and looked between Jay and I, wondering what he walked in on.
He didn’t realize that I could tell how different things had been since we were followed by a Horsemen last week. Ryan tried to brush it off that it was nothing to be worried about, but things had definitely changed and all of the Vipers were on high alert, mostly Ryan.
The newest change was that none of the boys rode alone under any circumstances, which meant that no matter where we were going, we always had Jay and Haz with us because the three of them were inseparable. This also meant that the only alone time that Ryan and I had was when we were going to bed; even then, most nights the second his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. I sat up some nights just watching him because he looked so much more relaxed and peaceful in his sleep.
Even Jay and Haz, who were usually always the carefree ones of the group, had been extra tense. This made me nervous because something must have happened for them to be on high alert. Two nights ago, we all went into town to get pizza for dinner and I was riding on the back of Ryan’s bike as usual. I could feel how tight and tense his body stayed under my arms and I noticed how he kept checking his mirrors to make sure he knew his surroundings and if anyone was following us again. There was a loud bang as we were riding and all three of the boys reached for their guns. The cause of the bang drove beside us and it was just a few teenage boys driving a car with an unnecessarily loud exhaust.
Ryan told me the truth about what happened the night we were followed, after he left Haven Cove and rode with the rest of the Vipers up to the Horsemen. He told me they had found the biker who was following us and it was just a young prospect who was told by the older members to follow us and deliver a threat. I’d seen firsthand how Vipers respond to threats and I knew violence would have been involved, but I was not expecting to find out that the prospect had been killed. The thought of that kid being shot made me feel sick. I knew Ryan was affected by it also because I heard him that night in the bathroom when he thought everyone was asleep. He had his head buried in the toilet as he emptied the contents of his stomach.
The behavior of the boys this week, along with the secret conversations with my dad, made me anxious about what they were expecting the retaliation to be from the Horsemen. I knew something was coming, but not knowing what it was made me more anxious than I thought possible.
Ryan had his usual baseball cap pulled backwards on his head, holding his hair off his face as he leaned over me on the swing. I wanted to still be annoyed at him, but the second his eyes connected with mine and he was within reach for me to pull him close, I couldn’t be annoyed anymore.
“I’ll be back tonight. Make sure you don’t leave the house without someone with you, okay?” Ryan leaned in and kissed my cheek before standing in front of me. Every time they left the house, they knew to tell me when to expect them back, otherwise I would send them non-stop messages all day. They knew I was panicking every time they left and got on their bikes.
“I’ll see you both tonight?” I looked past Ryan towards Jay, who was still leaning on the porch rail across from me. Sometimes Jay stayed at the clubhouse with Haz, but even the nights they did that, Haz and Jay would ride back here to drop Ryan off before they rode back to the clubhouse together.
“I’ll be here tonight too. Can you make that chicken pasta that you know I love?” Jay walked backwards towards the stairs as he held his hands together in front of his chest in a begging motion. I rolled my eyes at him but he knew I would make anything if it meant that he’d come home.
“Be safe, both of you,” I called out to both the boys as they put one leg over their bikes, pulled their helmets over their heads and pulled out the driveway. I watched until both the bikes had disappeared down the street and I raised my hand to my chest as a wave of anxiety rushed through me, causing slight chest pains.
* * *
I didn’t have work today at the cafe, which made the day go longer. At least when I worked I had something that took my mind off worrying about the boys, but today I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in my gut. I had been dealing with anxiety all week, but today was different and I couldn’t figure out why.
“Feel like an outing to the grocery store?” I asked my dad, who was sitting on the couch with his feet kicked up on the coffee table as he watched an old football game on the television.
“Let me grab my walking stick.” He stood from the couch slowly and turned towards the hallway cupboard where he kept his walking stick. He didn’t need to use it everywhere he went, but if he knew he would be walking more than usual, he’d always take it just in case.
We got to the grocery store and I walked around with a trolley and grabbed the basic things we needed for the house, along with the ingredients to cook Jay’s pasta he requested.
My dad knew I was nervous and wanted to help keep my mind off worrying, so he took me out for a late lunch after. No matter how hard I tried to question him about what was going on, just like Jay and Ryan, he didn’t tell me.
It was an hour before the boys were due to arrive home for dinner and they hadn’t been answering my messages to check if Haz was also coming along as well. Not that it really mattered if he was or not, but I more so just wanted to hear from them. I began prepping dinner, cutting up all the ingredients and boiling the water for the pasta when I checked my phone again to see no response.
I tried to call Ryan first, but he didn’t answer which was strange because he always answered my calls. I could feel the pain in my chest from this morning returning and I ran the base of my palm across my chest as I clicked on Jay’s contact, waiting while the phone dialed.
“Lexi Loo,” Jay answered the phone. He spoke in such a happy way that I almost forgot I was just panicking about them.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you and Ryan. He didn’t answer. Is everything okay?” I held my breath, half expecting him to tell me he wasn’t okay and that was why he didn’t answer my call.
“We’re fixing up a couple of bikes at the moment. Ry has his hands covered in grease so he couldn’t answer the phone.” I could hear Ryan yell out in the background to tell me he’s sorry for not answering. The sound of their voices made the pain in my chest go away. I could hear them both which meant they were both safe and I could finally calm down.
“I just wanted to see if you were still coming for dinner. I made a bowl for Haz as well, if he’s hungry.”
“Haz would never turn down a Lexi special. We’ll be home soon.”
“See you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too, Lex.”
* * *
I t had been three hours since I spoke to Jay on the phone, when he said that they’d be home soon. I knew I was probably overreacting but I expected them to be here by now. I didn’t usually panic like this. I knew what these boys were like when they started pulling their bikes apart; they could be there for hours and lose track of time. I had witnessed them do that many times, but along with everything that had been going on and this horrible feeling in my gut, I was losing my mind. I had tried to call Ryan ten times, Jay about fifteen and even Haz about eight times. None of them had answered me.
I was sitting on the front porch swing with my car keys in my hand, trying to decide if I should just get in my car and drive to the clubhouse myself. But I also knew that if everything was fine and I arrived there on my own at night, Jay and Ryan would be angry with me. I looked up and watched every time I heard an engine drive down our street and each time it was a car, I deflated. I stepped towards the porch steps as I made the decision to just go to the clubhouse when one bike pulled into the driveway.
My heart sank instantly because they were not meant to be riding alone. So why had only one bike pulled into the driveway and who had not come home? I could feel myself panicking as the rider began pulling off his helmet and the second I saw the dark hair, I knew that it was Ryan.
I ran straight to him and my eyes instantly went down to his t-shirt and hands that were covered in blood.
“What the hell happened?” I grabbed his hands and turned them over. I ran my eyes over his whole body, trying to figure out where the blood was coming from.
“Lexi...” I could hear him try to get my attention but I wasn’t listening to him as I lifted his shirt to see where the wound was.
“Where are you hurt?” I couldn’t see anything on him but there was so much blood that it had to have been coming from somewhere. No one would have this much blood on them from a minor injury.
“Lex, stop.” His pleading voice made me look up at his face. His eyes were bloodshot and I could see they were swollen from crying as the tears slipped down his cheeks.
I took a small step back, my own eyes filling with tears now. “Whose blood is this, Ryan?” I asked the question, but I already knew the answer. Ryan couldn’t say the words. He didn’t need to. There were only two people that Ryan would be this distraught over and if anything happened to Haz, he wouldn’t be standing on my front lawn unable to speak to me.
For a moment I felt my heart stop beating. I felt the panic attack come over me as I shook my head, not wanting to believe that something had happened to my brother.
“I’m so sorry,” Ryan said, but I couldn’t look at him again. My knees couldn’t hold me up anymore and I fell to the ground. Ryan caught me before my whole body hit the cold grass and he pulled me into his chest. I could feel his tears land on my head. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I kept trying to take a deep breath, but each one felt like it was suffocating me even more.