Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Reina
R ain was relentlessly pounding down on my umbrella and soaking through my shoes with every step I took. I was so cold, my teeth were chattering, and I still had another fifteen minutes in my walk before I made it home and could hop in a hot shower.
Johnny was going to give me a ride home today considering football practice had been canceled because of the rain, but Dad chewed his ass out about something this morning—like usual—and Johnny hadn’t shown his face yet. In fact, he didn’t even show up at school, hence my walk home in the downpour.
I didn’t hold it against him. Dad and Johnny had always clashed heads, and sometimes, it was better for Johnny to go take a breather than it was for him to worry about me and how I was faring.
Didn’t mean this entire day hadn’t sucked though.
A motorcycle pulled up beside me, jerking me out of my head. Drew, the boy working on a project with Johnny, was sitting astride it, his helmet sitting on his head. He looked sexy as fuck, every bit of a guy on the verge of being a man. Every part of my body came alive at the sight of him. There was something about seeing him sitting astride his bike, leather clinging to his shoulders and the rain slamming down around him, that made my breath catch in my throat.
“Need a ride?” he asked over the loud rumble of his bike.
“You don’t mind?” I asked, raising my voice so he could hear me.
He shook his head and took his helmet off, his black hair instantly getting drenched by the down poor. He held the helmet out to me. “Put this on and hop on,” he ordered.
I quickly did as he said, not stupid enough to turn down a ride that would get me home quicker. After folding my umbrella, he took it from me and hung it on his handlebar. When I didn’t move after getting on, he pulled my arms around him, pulling me flush against his back. My heart knocked hard against my breastbone, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I could feel his abs beneath my palms, and his back muscles were flexing against my chest as he maneuvered his bike along the street, speeding toward my house.
This was the closest I’d ever been to a guy that wasn’t my brother, and parts of me awakened that were only awake when I read those spicy romance novels that my dad hated. Drew was strong and muscular, and he made me feel… safe. A different kind of safe than I felt when I was with Johnny.
My skin was a deep red by the time we pulled up to my house.
I quickly slid off the bike and handed him his helmet before I rushed up to the porch. He followed me, his clothes dripping onto the wood boards beneath us. “Fuck, I hate the rain,” he groaned once we were under the porch roof. We were both drenched, but we’d gotten here a lot faster than if I’d walked the entire way.
I wrung my hair out, flushing when the water splattered on the wooden slats. “I don’t mind it as long as I’m not stuck in it,” I admitted. “It’s soothing.”
He aimed that perfect smile at me, almost stopping my heart. How was it possible for a guy to be so fucking gorgeous?
“Johnny might be back soon,” I told him, needing to change the subject so I didn’t do or say something stupid—like confess how hot I thought he was. “Do you want to come inside, Drew?”
He reached out and grabbed my arm, halting me when I turned toward the door. The heat from his palm seared across my skin, and I couldn’t fight the shiver that raced down my spine. “Ink,” he told me. “My friends call me Ink.”
I turned to him, instantly intrigued. “Why?” I questioned.
He shrugged off one side of his leather jacket, revealing a set of tribal tattoos that covered his bicep. My mouth dried, and I quickly licked my lips. A bad boy, drove a motorcycle, and had tattoos? He was practically a book boyfriend walking, which was really dangerous for a book nerd like me.
“Make sense now?” he asked me as he completely pulled off his leather jacket. Another tattoo peeked out from the collar of his shirt, but I couldn’t make out what it was, and I was too nervous to ask.
I dumbly nodded, too entranced to form a coherent response. He flashed that grin at me again before draping his jacket over one of the leather chairs. “Hate to sound weird or something, but does your brother have some clothes I can change into?”
Johnny’s car rolled into the drive at that moment, preventing me from answering. He rushed out of the car and jogged up the steps, an apologetic look on his face. “I’m so fucking sorry I didn’t come pick you up,” Johnny rushed out, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. Guilt colored his voice, and my heart sank. He had enough to deal with without worrying about me, too. He looked at Ink. “You gave her a ride home?”
Ink nodded. “Yeah; she was getting soaked, and we were coming to the same place anyway.”
Johnny stared him down for a moment. I swallowed thickly, trying to breathe through the tension quickly thickening the air. My brother was pretty intimidating when he wanted to be with his height and build, and though Ink was a bit skinnier, he was also a bit taller than my brother.
He evenly met Johnny’s gaze unflinchingly. Neither of them was backing down from the other, and it was making me nervous.
Johnny nodded once, and suddenly, the tension evaporated—as if it had never been there in the first place. “Come on. I’ve got some clothes you can change into. We need to work on this stupid-ass project.”
“I’ll make coffee,” I announced.
Johnny smiled at me and reached up to ruffle my damp hair. My cheeks colored, and I ducked my head. “You’re the best, little sis. Get some dry clothes on first, yeah?”
I nodded, smiling at him. Ink flashed me a small smile before he followed my brother inside, leaving his leather jacket behind. I grabbed it for him and hung it up, blowing a fan on it to try to dry it as much as possible. After, I changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt, sighing as the comfortable, loose-fitting material settled over my skin.
Ink and Johnny were downstairs in the living room when I finally emerged from my room. I looked at Ink, but he didn’t lift his head, saying something quietly to Johnny instead. I set about making coffee, wondering what it would be like to be with Ink.
He seemed so sweet and kind. He wasn’t very cocky—not like I imagined he would be. I knew he was a bad boy—could tell it just by the way he carried himself. But he was the kindest person I’d come across in a long time.
And I craved that kindness. I craved his attention even more. When he looked at me, I felt special. There was something about his gaze that made me feel like I was the only person that existed for him.
But I knew Ink would never feel the same. Not only was I younger than him, but I was also Johnny’s little sister. Not to mention, I was a geek.
No one wanted to be with a geek.
Mom surprisingly emerged from her room as I was setting out mugs, drawing my attention to her. Her eyes were bloodshot, a clear sign that she wasn’t getting any sleep. She didn’t say a word to me, not that it wasn’t normal. Instead, she just grabbed a water from the fridge, a bottle of sleeping pills, and went right back to her room. I frowned, my chest squeezing.
Neither of my parents ever paid me a bit of mind. And I knew Mom was mentally ill, but still. It sucked. Johnny had always been the one to take care of me, even when we were little. He was more of a parent than Mom or Dad ever had been.
It was a sad, hard reality—one I hated.
But it was also why Johnny always apologized so much when he didn’t do something he promised he would. He felt like he let me down. But Johnny was just a teen. He wasn’t my dad or my mom. It wasn’t his job to take care of me. So, I never held anything against him when he didn’t do things like he promised.
It wasn’t his duty to. He was already doing way more than he should have to as just my older brother.
“Guys, coffee is ready,” I announced once Mom had disappeared back into her room. I didn’t think Ink had seen her. She was pretty good at moving around unnoticed and unseen. They both instantly got up from the floor and came into the kitchen. Johnny gently squeezed my shoulder as he passed me, instructing Ink on where to find everything.
I’d noticed Johnny had taken to calling Drew Ink as well. Something had shifted between the two guys today while on the porch. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it had happened when Johnny had come home—had happened sometime during their standoff.
“You really going to prospect for the Savage Crows MC when you graduate?” Johnny asked Ink as Ink poured a cup of coffee.
I almost dropped my own mug in shock as I stared at Ink’s back. Ink nodded as he poured some creamer into his coffee. “Yeah; college isn’t in my future. Don’t know what I want to do with life. But I like structure. And the SCMC has been my family for a while now.” He shrugged as if that explained everything.
And I guessed in Ink’s own way, it did.
Johnny laughed. “Wonder what it’s like to have parents that don’t give a fuck if you go to college or not,” my brother mused.
Dad had high hopes for both of us. He expected excellent grades, college, and a steady, reliable job with great income once we were adults. Ever since I was a little girl, schooling was a priority. Dad had forced me to watch informational videos as a child instead of the normal cartoons other kids my age were watching. Johnny had been put into numerous sports on top of having to watch those same, stupid videos.
Ink grunted, not saying anything. I frowned at his back. Johnny had been joking, but something in Ink’s stance, in the way he shifted, alerted me that it wasn’t such a joking matter—not for him.
Johnny obviously picked up on it, too. He clapped a hand to Ink’s shoulder, breaking the tense silence in the room. “Come on; let’s go get some more of this project done. It’s still raining like hell outside. Don’t know how I feel about letting you ride that bike home.”
Ink smirked at my brother, the tension bleeding from his shoulders. “Worried about me, Johnny?”
Johnny barked out a laugh. “My sister likes you.” My cheeks flamed red. Ink winked at me when Johnny wasn’t looking, and my blush darkened even more. “ As a friend ,” Johnny quickly added, stressing his words. I quickly turned my back to them, my face so red that it was embarrassing. I liked Ink way more than just as a friend, but I would never let Ink know that. “She’d be upset if I let you ride off from here in that storm.” Just as he said that, thunder clapped outside, making me jump.
I heard the guys walk out of the kitchen a moment later. I drew in a deep breath before drinking a sip of my coffee. I turned around, squeaking in shock when I saw Ink standing there. I thought he’d left with Johnny. How long had he been standing there watching me?
He flashed me a smirk. “Thanks for the coffee, sweetheart.”
My blush came back full force. He laughed softly and walked out of the kitchen completely, leaving me standing there like a dumb, love-struck fool.