Chapter 22
Gabriella
Before
Luke had a girlfriend. Or at least, that was what people were saying.
The funny thing was, for one stupid, humiliating second, I had let myself hope they meant me.
But of course they never meant me.
I was never the girl people spoke about when they talked about Luke.
Now that we had both left the local high school, we didn’t see each other nearly as much, but he made the effort to stop by at least once a week.
Our late-night texting sessions had turned into late-night rides.
We went everywhere and nowhere, all at once.
Sometimes we drove to Skegness, and watched the waves at night.
Other times we simply hung around locally, watching the stars and talking about life.
But one thing was always consistent: it was done in secret.
At first, that thrilled me. After our… I hated to call it a fight, but that’s what it was. After our fight when Luke had rescued me from my date with Darren, it was nice to know he was still around, that he still wanted to be my friend.
There was some awkwardness… especially as we both knew that we wanted this to be something more. But we were content to be secret friends.
Even though that title didn’t quite fit.
We were something more, but neither of us had ever said what. Friends didn’t sneak out in the middle of the night to watch the stars together. But we weren’t anything official, either.
And then there were occasions like now, where rumours were flying around about his sex life, and I realised just how much of a secret I really was.
Natalie had no idea how much it hurt when she told me Luke was caught at his clubhouse with Dante, and some random girl spread between them.
She had no idea that I would hate the visual of Luke leaving bite marks on some other girl’s neck.
But Natalie thrived on gossip, and she always gave me the latest.
I had no room to complain. I was a seventeen-year-old girl, and I had a lot to make up for.
In the year since Darren, I had dated myself.
But I was always aware that Luke and I were something, and so I was much more discreet than he was.
I wasn’t willing to put my life on hold for a man who might never be ready, but I also wasn’t willing to hurt him by flaunting any men I might have in his face.
Fool as I was, though, I had blown off a date tonight to ride with Luke again.
Even after hearing about his threesome with Dante—a secret that had earned them a beat-down from Kitty.
Or Mama, as they called her. Even after months of being his secret, the tradition of riding with him, sneaking back into my house, and flashing the light to let him know I was safe… it was my routine. Ingrained in me.
I couldn’t let it go, even if part of me broke every time I heard he was giving a piece of himself to someone else.
The sound of his motorbike approaching had me jumping off the tree stump I was sitting on, and smoothing my skirt over my legs.
“You know, for a girl brought up around motorbikes, you don’t exactly choose appropriate riding gear,” he quipped as he pulled the bike to a stop and pushed the helmet off his head.
I took him in, all of him, and felt my heart flutter in response.
He was gorgeous. From the piercing blue eyes, that almost appeared silver, to the way his muscles bunched and flexed under his arms with every movement. His blonde hair was slightly longer, having spent the summer growing it out, and there was a slight tan to his skin that made him glow.
“Gabby?” he questioned, raising one of his eyebrows at me when I didn’t reply.
Feeling embarrassed having been caught staring, my mouth moved before I had the chance to second guess what I was going to say. “I’ll have you know, there’s been many a man that had no issue with me… riding… in this skirt.”
Why the fuck had I said that? Was I trying to make him jealous? To get a reaction? What?
I internally groaned, and then shuffled forward towards his bike.
“With legs like that, Princess, I can certainly believe it,” Luke smirked, and I rolled my eyes back at him.
So not jealous, then.
“But for the sake of my sanity,” he said, gently grabbing my arm, preventing me from climbing onto the back of his bike. “I think we best change our plans for tonight. How does a walk sound?”
“What does your sanity have to do with this?” I asked, frowning at him as he pulled the key out of the ignition and kicked the bike stand out.
“I am but a man. A fine specimen of a man, but a mere man, nonetheless. With the length of that skirt, knowing your bare ass was on the back of my bike, just inches away from my touch… Wouldn’t want me giving in to lustful teenage hormones and dragging you to the nearest alley to have my wicked way with you, would we?
” he smiled to show he was joking, but my stupid, traitorous heart jumped for joy at the prospect of such a thought.
“Chance would be a fine thing,” I muttered under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” I said, beaming my most innocent smile. He frowned at me, but didn’t push it any further. He just held out his hand to me, and I took it, just like I always did, and we started walking together.
“Did I tell you Laura and Dante are having their ceremony next year?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.
This wasn’t uncommon in our communities.
Bikers could still get married—and often did—but this was considered second to the ceremony.
The ceremony would cement Laura as more than just Dante’s girlfriend, and elevate her to old lady status.
She would wear his property cut, and gift him with his own leather jacket in return.
He would still wear his Devils Disciples cut, and the leather jacket on top of it.
“Why is Crash pushing for this to happen so early?” I asked. “They’ll only be eighteen. They’ll have their entire lives ahead of them.”
“Beats me.” He shrugged, my arm being pulled with the motion since our fingers were still linked.
You know, because that’s what just friends did.
“From what I’ve heard, Crash isn’t so keen on Macbeth ruling as president after him.
Right now, Zach is acting as VP, but with Macbeth being twenty-two and Dante almost eighteen, he’ll need to make a decision sooner or later who he wants by his side.
I guess his thought process is to lock Dante down, stop him whoring around, and then he can focus on training. ”
“Whoring around like having threesomes with you?” I asked innocently, keeping my tone light.
His steps faltered for a second, but then a big grin split across his face. “Exactly like that. The club stray, leading him astray. We can’t be having that.”
“You’re not the club stray, Luke,” I muttered softly.
“It’s okay, Gabby,” he said, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “I came to terms with it a long time ago.”
“You may have been the club stray one time or another, but things change. Didn’t you tell me you and Dante had been allowed to sit in Church sessions?”
“Yeah?”
“And aren’t you both the leaders of the Descendants—at least for the next year?”
“Also yes.”
“That’s not stray behaviour, Luke. And that’s not me placating you, trying to make you feel better.
We both know I know what I’m talking about.
The Devils and The Riders might not operate exactly the same, but the basic fundamentals are across the board.
Strays would not get the level of responsibility and honour of Church. It just doesn’t happen.”
“Possibly.”
“There’s no ‘possibility’ about it. You’re a Devil.
And this time next year, it will be official.
Besides,” I said, not wanting to focus on the next step in his life, knowing it would take him further away from me.
“We’ve all heard what you and Dante get up to as leaders of the youth division. That isn’t stray behaviour, either.”
The Descendants had made quite the name for themselves, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Dante was the son of the current president, I might have genuinely believed that they were ready to branch off and form their own club.
They were involved in some heavy stuff—some of which kept me up at night, worrying over whether or not Luke would be returning home in one piece.
They had already hospitalised two of our Juniors, one of whom was given a permanent smile. Which was basically just a knife slash from ear to ear, creating a manic looking grin.
They were involved in drug distribution, shipping and selling of bike parts for their garage, as well as other drama with other gangs throughout the country.
Many times Luke had come to me covered in bruises, his knuckles split, and sometimes with dried blood on him. He never spoke about it, and I never pried. There was no need to. Not when I had Natalie and her ears to the ground, ready to intercept all gossip from the biker underworld.
“Yeah… but I’m not sure what’s going to happen with the Descendants once we age out.
There’s not a lot of kids in the club right now, and Crash is reluctant to recruit family men—at least for the time being.
He wants the focus to be on strength and growing with prospects, not kids.
And I think Dante and I have given him enough grey hairs for him to allow the youth division to phase out for a generation. ”
“Really? But… they are like a sure thing for club membership.”
“He says there’s enough grown men wanting to prospect that he doesn’t need it.”
“A lot’s changing since Warrior passed away, isn’t it?” I asked.
Warrior had passed a few months ago. Once he retired, he gave in to the limp that had been bothering him for years.
Too proud to visit a doctor, or even admit that he had a pain to begin with, it had been too late.
Bone cancer had taken him before anyone had the chance to process what was happening.