Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
The weather was more of the same as the day before. The high would be around forty-two, but the temp wouldn’t get there until around two or three p.m. There were a lot of hours between then and now.
They had eleven-and-a-half hours left before they would arrive at the clubhouse.
Cree didn’t want to tell Kennedy that he didn’t think they’d make it.
Instead, he picked up their bags and headed to pack the bike.
He was buttoning up one saddle bag when he got a call from Eros, another nomad from the Montreal chapter.
“Eros. What’s doing, Nakota?” Eros was from the First Nation like Cree.
His tribe was one of the six known from the Plains.
They were the Nakota, which was where the nickname came from.
“I hear you’re heading into Montreal from Deep River, Cree.”
“Nah, we had a lot of damn delays. We’re about two hours west of Sault Ste. Marie.”
“Ontario side?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s even better. I have to make a run down south and I have a package for Teller. We’ll both hit Deep River around the same time.”
“Do you have a location in mind?”
“Nope. Whoever gets there first, shoot the other a message with the location.”
“Sounds good, brother. Keep the rubber side down.”
“You do the same.”
Cree hung up as a knock came from the hotel room window. Glancing up, he tried reading Kennedy’s lips. Giving her a shrug, he watched as she pointed outside and rubbed her arms as if cold.
He got the question then—she wanted to know how cold it was. Holding up three fingers on one hand and five on the other, he gave her the current temp, then he pointed upwards and showed her forty-five. Kennedy gave Cree a thumbs up before disappearing from view.
Kennedy made one last pass through the bathroom and bedroom before pulling on her riding gear.
Along with her bracelet, Cree had surprised her with a pair of black leather chaps he’d picked up at the bike shop for her.
She’d checked herself out at least five times after she managed to wrangle the damn things on.
It wasn’t as easy as one would think. First, she had to unzip the legs and then buckle the waist, cinching it tight, though not too tight, but tight enough.
Then she had to wrap the leg portion around her leg and hold the two sides together while trying to get the zipper hooked.
Once that was done, she had to zip them down, all the way to the bottom, with the buckle on the waistband digging into her stomach.
Then she had to repeat all of it on the other leg.
She was already sweating by the time she’d gotten them on.
Then she saw her boots on the chair and swore like a sailor.
Thinking it over, Kennedy unbuckled the waistband and held it so the damn chaps wouldn’t fall down.
Taking a seat, she put on her boots then buckled the chaps.
“It’s a good thing the place isn’t on fire,” she grumbled out loud.
Pulling on her riding jacket, she glanced around making sure they hadn’t missed anything.
At the door, she turned back toward the hotel room. This was the last time she’d be alone with Cree without anyone interfering in their relationship. “Fuck ‘em if they don’t like it,” she said and exited the room.
Cree had finished looking over the bike when Kennedy stepped into view.
The spit in his mouth dried up at the sight of her in the leather chaps.
The woman had the finest ass he’d ever seen, and seeing it framed by leather, he could honestly say he was jealous of the chaps.
“Damn, iskwew, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“You bought them.”
“I had no idea your ass could look sexier. How wrong I was.” Cree signalled for her to spin around for him. He wanted the three hundred sixty view. “You might have to wear them without anything underneath for me one night.” He waggled his brows at her.
Kennedy laughed at him as she thought she’d do just that as soon as they were settled in Montreal. “Are we ready to ride?”
“I want you to promise me if your hip starts hurting, you’ll let me know. Deal?”
“I promise.”
Like she said, there was always next year. Throwing a leg over the saddle, Cree dropped into the seat and fired up the bike. Signalling for her to climb on, he waited for Kennedy to tap his shoulder, letting him know she was ready.
Pulling out of the parking lot, they headed for the freeway and eleven-and-a-half hours on the open road.
At the first gas stop, the sun was out warming up the day. It wasn’t anywhere near hot, but it felt good to have something other than heavy snow and sleet-laden clouds hanging overhead. A message from Teller had Cree calling in. “Hey, brother.”
“Cree, it’s good to hear your voice.”
“You sent a nine-one-one. What’s up?”
“Have you seen the weather?”
“No. We got on the road about three hours ago. We’re right outside Sault Ste. Marie. I’m fuelling up, then we’re gonna hit the road again. Is there something I should be aware of?”
“There’s a storm that’s gonna hit Montreal late tonight. You might want to make plans to stay in Deep River with Eros.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll keep you and Player in the know.”
“Safe travels, brother.”
Cree hung up and looked at the sky. It was sunny and blue at the moment. “Kennedy?”
“Yes?” She saw the look and knew something was wrong. “What is it? Is Player hurt?”
“What? God, no. That was Teller informing me there’s a bad storm moving into Montreal tonight. We either need to push hard to make it or plan to stop for the night in Deep River.”
“Would we be able to get out of Deep River in the morning?”
“Not sure.”
Kennedy squared her shoulders and made her mind up. If he could make it, she could too. “Let’s plan to stop if we get caught in the weather. Other than that, we ride.”
“Damn, you’re sexy.”
They loaded up and took off. If they were lucky, they’d make Deep River in enough time to meet Eros and make Montreal before the storm hit. That was an enormous if.
At their next gas stop, Kennedy went to pee while Cree fuelled up. When he met her inside, she was purchasing snack packs and small bags of nuts along with two bottles of water. “Hang here while I hit the head,” he told her.
“Do you want anything other than this stuff?”
“Nah, that works, and it’s fast.”
Kennedy paid for the items and stepped aside to wait for Cree. A TV playing the local weather caught her attention. She saw the information on the storm that was on its way through the area. They weren’t going into it—they were trying to outrun it.
When Cree walked back up, she pointed to the TV. “There’s a storm heading this way,” she told him.
The weather panned to Montreal and the storm Teller had warned him about. “Okay, there’s two fucking storms, one behind us and one coming ahead of us.” There was nothing they could do but get on the road.
Moving Kennedy along, he took the bag of peanuts she handed him, peeled them open, and ate them in one mouthful. Washing them down with the water was all Cree had time for. Kennedy would have to eat on the bike because they needed to get back on the road ASAP.