Chapter Seven #5
He growled and rolled his shoulders. “McKelle, I just need you to tell me what you want. Don’t make me guess because I’m jumping to some fucked up conclusions. This is like sister wives, only you want brother husbands. Are you planning on sleeping with both of us?”
“Planning isn’t the right word.”
He cocked a brow.
“It’s still not the right word,” I said. “I didn’t plan last night.”
He chuckled, and the lightness of it slipped under my skin. “Do you make him use a condom?”
“Every time—”
He sagged with relief.
“Every time, except the last time.”
“Considering last night, it’s not like I can be pissed. When was the last time you were together?”
“A couple weeks ago, before he went to fuck Jinx.” We started walking back. “He didn’t fuck her. Cruz has made mistakes, but he wouldn’t lie to me about that. He has some warped ideas about relationships. His family is fucked up. I’ll leave him to tell you those stories.”
“I don’t plan on hanging out with him to hear his stories.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “We don’t have to be exclusive. We’re early days, but we need to have some rules.”
“Ouch.” I flinched, grabbing onto his arm. Bending down, I picked a thorn from the heel of my bare foot. I smiled up at him. “Just so you know. I’m really happy you didn’t leave.”
Ryatt shifted in front of me and stooped down. “Hop on.”
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and climbed onto his back.
“What happens when all three of us are together?” He held my thighs and piggybacked me toward the garage.
“Group date?”
His grumbled, “Fuck no,” vibrated into me.
Yep, too soon for teasing. “Can you try to, I don’t know, be friendly with each other?”
“If I’m prospecting for the Hellers, I don’t see that I have a choice.”
“And you’ll get the room at the MC?”
“Even if it’s not an option, I want the patch.”
I hugged him tighter and kissed his neck. “Harleys are slow as fuck.”
“I guess I’ll be riding you hard and fast instead.”
My brows furrowed. “Really? I mean, good on riding me, but would you trade your Yamaha for a Harley?”
He laughed. “I’m a SQUID, baby, even if I’m on a Harley.”
“I hate the acronym.” Stupidly quick. Underdressed. Imminently dead. “If you’re with me, you’re all the gear, all the time.”
“Ah, you sound like you care.”
“I do, so don’t tease about that.” I tightened my hold on him, keeping the blanket wrapped around my back.
“When I talk to Romeo about the room, I’m going to talk to him about getting a second bike. I wouldn’t give up my R1. I liked spending time with you and your dad at the track.”
We reached the garage. I slid down his back until my toes touched the ground. Ryatt took my hand. “I have one more question.”
“Okay.”
“Is your boyfriend gay, or I guess he’d be bi since he’s clearly into you?”
I buried my face in his chest to stifle my laugh.
“Forget I asked.”
I tipped my face up. “It’s not a secret.”
His brows shot into his forehead. “Wait? What?”
“Cruz likes girls, but he’s been with guys.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Are you asking if I’m okay he’s bi? Then yes.
” I sighed. “This is going to make me sound like a hypocrite considering what happened between us last night.” I guess I was because I didn’t want Ryatt or Cruz to sleep with anyone but me.
“Cruz doesn’t have to care about someone to have sex with them.
He’s never considered sleeping with someone else cheating.
I do. I wanted sex to be as important to him as it is to me. I don’t think it ever was.”
I hated that Ryatt would get the wrong idea about Cruz. Cruz put importance on emotions, not the physical act of getting his dick wet. I was a hypocrite, because I’d hate for him to be emotionally connected to another woman. And here I was getting emotionally invested with Ryatt.
Emotionally, Cruz was connected to the Hellers. They came before me, but it didn’t feel like cheating. It should, because for Cruz, he was loyal to them in ways he’d never been loyal to me.
“Being with you means something to me, too.” Ryatt pulled me from my thoughts as he tunneled his fingers into my tangled hair, bent down, and kissed me softly. The pressure of his lips opened my mouth, and I felt the delicious possession all the way to my bare tiptoes.
Squeals sounded from the house and the screen door banged. Cece ran across the yard, straight to Cruz’s Harley, and dragged her hand along the seat. “Where is he?”
“In the garage.” I stepped out of the way, and Cece threw open the door. “She likes Cruz.”
Her squeal sounded from inside the garage.
“Fantastic. More competition.”
I smiled at Ryatt. “She’s like me. She’ll find out she has a thing for nice guys, too.”
We followed the chatter up to the loft. Cruz’s cut draped over the arm of the couch. Cece ran her fingers over the Heller patch. “Did you get the tattoo yet?”
“Not yet.”
“It’s going to hurt.”
“That’s why I’m waiting for your sister to come with me. I’ll need to hold her hand.”
Cece giggled.
Ryatt followed me up the stairs.
Cece’s lips twisted into a half smile. “Mom made pancakes. She already set a plate for Ryatt. Dad wants to know if Cruz is staying.” She turned her adoring gaze to Cruz. “You can sit next to me.”
He smiled at my sister, but his focus was on me. “Give me two minutes to talk to your sister and Rizz.”
“It’s Ryatt,” he said.
“Not the way it looked from the window. You were giving big rizz vibes.”
Ryatt shook his head. “You’ve got issues.”
“I told him you kissed McKelle.” Cece tattled on Ryatt and smiled at Cruz. “Can I sit on your Harley?”
“Yeah, just don’t take her for a ride.”
“Ha ha.” She started for the stairs. “Can I wear your vest?”
“As long as you never tell a soul. McKelle and Rizz have to swear a vow of secrecy. The patch is sacred.”
“I swear,” I said and raised my right hand. Ryatt did the same. Cece stuffed her arms through the holes. The vest hung to her knees. She took off down the stairs.
Cruz rushed to the window to watch her. “Your sister rocks.”
The three of us stood at the window as she climbed onto the Harley, pretending to ride, flipping off the goats, and making faces. “She’s a menace,” I said. A damn cute one.
Cruz crossed the room, grabbed his boots, and sat to put them on. “Can I stay?”
My heart took a little hiccup. Cruz was uncomfortable with my family. I recognized his request for what it was. He was trying. “You don’t have to.”
Cruz glanced at Ryatt. “Are you staying?”
“Don’t you think Linda and Lane are going to find it awkward?” Ryatt asked.
Both guys turned to me.
“Baby, it’s up to you,” Ryatt said.
“Ah fuck, you’re calling her baby.” Cruz gathered his hair and slipped it into a ponytail. Then he stood, closed the space between us, and rested his hands on my hips.
Ryatt grumbled and rolled his shoulders. This was already getting messy.
“I’m starving,” Cruz said, “but I’ve got daddy issues.”
“You won’t have to talk to him if you sit next to Cece. She never stops talking.”
“I can’t stay long,” Ryatt said. “I told Kiss I’d be at the meeting.”
“Will I see you later?” I asked.
“I’ll text you.” He smiled as he slapped his hands on his pockets.
“Fuck. No phone. I’ll just retrace the route I took last night,” he said as we went down the stairs and out the garage doors.
“Maybe I’ll get lucky and find it on the road.
Worse case, I’ll be without it for a couple days while I donate blood to make some money. ”
“You just need a phone, right? Because I have an old one that only needs charged. It still works. You can have it if you don’t mind a cracked screen. You’ll need to switch your service to it, too.” Because not only would I miss not being able to text him, but he had to have a phone to work.
“Thank you.” He grabbed me and kissed the side of my neck. “You saved my ass.”
Cece’s brows pinched, and she jumped off the bike. “No kissing her,” she said to Ryatt and sandwiched herself between us. “Cruz will beat you up.” She gave Cruz a wide toothy grin.
“My bad.” Ryatt smiled, and Cruz laughed.
“Do you think you should take off the cut before Dad sees you wearing it?” I asked her.
“No. I like it.” She flung open the screen door and entered the kitchen.
Breakfast scents and coffee permeated the air. My stomach growled. My mom manned the griddle, alternating between piling pancakes on a platter and turning the sausage patties in the skillet next to the pan of scrambled eggs.
“Ryatt, will you grab the strawberry jam out of the refrigerator?”
I stood next to Cruz as my mom put Ryatt to work. Since he’d first come to dinner, my mom had been on a mission to feed him.
“McKelle, I set a place for Cruz and Ryatt.” She set the pancakes on the table.
My dad came into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. “Take the cut off,” he said to Cece.
“Why? I look mean.” She smoothed her hands down the leather.
My dad grumbled but let it go. I hope that meant he wouldn’t be critical of Cruz and the MC. At least, during breakfast.
“I heard you all ride in last night,” he said to me.
“We went to Chrome. Levi needed a night out.”
“Coffee?” I asked Cruz.
He nodded.
“I got it.” Ryatt stood next to my dad by the coffeepot. He grabbed two mugs and filled them. Then he handed one to me and one to Cruz, before filling a third cup for himself.
“We need a fresh pot,” my mom said to Ryatt and pointed to the filters and coffee grounds.
I smiled and pulled a chair out. Cruz looked at me. Insecurity pulled at his mouth. I indicated the chair next to me. It would put Ryatt at the end of the table next to my dad.
Cece snatched my mom’s usual spot so she could be next to Cruz. As soon as she sat down, she started chattering. “I got a ribbon for a hundred on my math.” Cece piled strawberries on her plate.
“You’re going to fill up on more than those.” My mom plopped a pancake on her plate then set the platter on the table.
My dad ambled over and took his seat.
“Remember when you showed me the shortcut for the fractions and decimals with the power of ten,” she continued without a pause in her story. “I showed my teacher. She said I had to write out the long division, but I got the ribbon anyway because my answers were right.”
“I reserved some private track time with Jay. You still planning to ride the Ducati?” my dad asked Ryatt.
Ryatt’s gaze shifted from my dad to Cruz. “Absolutely.” He filled his plate with pancakes and eggs. “Although, I never thought I’d be in the market for a Harley.”
“You are?” My dad spread butter on his pancake, shifting his gaze between Ryatt and Cruz. “You two riding together?”
“Looks like it.” Ryatt smiled.
“How’s that working out?” he asked me. “Are you taking turns on the back of their bikes?”
“Lane, she’s fine. She’ll ride her own bike.” My mom smiled at Cruz.
“Oh, no.” Strawberry jam dripped down the front of Cruz’s cut. Cece pulled up the leather and dragged her tongue over the jam, licking it off.
I slapped a hand over my mouth to hold in my laugh.
She lifted her remorseful gaze to Cruz. “I’m sorry.” Pink tinted the white of his name patch.
“You’re good. I might get hungry on my way home.”
She giggled.
My mom scooted her chair back. “It’ll stain. Let me try to get it out.”
Cece shrugged out of the cut, and my mom disappeared down the hall to the laundry room.
“I didn’t want you wearing it anyway,” my dad gruffed.
I hated this. I knew he worried about my relationship with Cruz.
No dad wanted to see his daughter hurting.
But he didn’t know the same Cruz I did. The one who never turned his back on a friend, the one who would ride or die for his Heller brothers, the one I’d fallen in love with because he tapped into the part of me that needed his kind of love.
A wildness and recklessness that breathed life into me.
Whereas Ryatt had become the calm place in the storm that I needed.
“You know how I feel about you running with Hellers.” My dad didn’t lift his head as he spoke to me, just took another bite of eggs.
It wasn’t just the Hellers he didn’t like me running with. He’d latched onto Ryatt as a potential boyfriend for me, but I didn’t need him to alienate Cruz even more.
“You know she’ll be safe,” Ryatt said. “There’s a reason I’m picking up a Harley. I want the patch.” He smirked at Cece. “But you’re not wearing my cut while you eat.”
She snickered and popped another strawberry into her mouth.
“You sure that’s a good idea?” My dad grimaced. “How is your PO going to feel about you prospecting for a motorcycle gang?”
“It’s a club,” Cruz mumbled, and Ryatt said aloud at the same time.
My dad’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Question remains.”
“I’m working it out,” Ryatt said.
My dad’s gaze shifted between the three of us. “I don’t think I want to know anything else.”
Mom returned with the cut and handed it to Cruz. “It’s the best I could do.”
“Thanks.” He inspected the patch, then twisted to drape the vest on the back of his chair.
My dad stared at me for a moment. I pleaded with my eyes for him to ease the thickening tension in the room.
“Next track day is two weeks from Saturday,” he said, but the statement was directed toward Cruz.
Cruz leaned back in his chair. “Are you still looking for volunteers?”
“I’m always looking. If you tell me you’ll be there, I need you to show up.”
“I can’t commit until I check in with my boss. I have a new job working private security.”
I snapped my gaze at Cruz. “Really? Why didn’t you tell me?”
He arched a brow. True. How could he when we haven’t really been talking?
“Right now, I’m in the probationary period so my schedule fluctuates. But the money is good.”
My dad sipped his coffee. “Are you working events, or is it more like a night guard for businesses?”
“Personal security for a wealthy, private family.” Cruz’s knee bounced under the table. I rested my hand on his thigh. With a steady exhale, he visibly relaxed his shoulders. “I’m working with a lot of ex-military.”
“Is it dangerous?” my mom asked.
My dad chuckled. “Linda, the kid rides with Hellers.”
“I know, but I’ll still worry.” She smiled at Cruz.
Ryatt glanced at the clock above the kitchen sink. He wiped his mouth on a napkin. “Mrs. Dixon, it was delicious. I hate to eat and run, but I have an NA meeting this morning.”
“I should head out, too.” Cruz stood and shrugged on his vest. “Thank you for breakfast.”
I scooted my chair back. “Mom, I’ll take care of the dishes.”
“Thank you. I need to check on Dollop. She’s putting weight on that leg again.”
“I’m going to run up to my room and grab that phone,” I said to Ryatt.
“We’ll meet you outside,” Ryatt said, and he and Cruz walked out the door together.
“We’re going to need to have a conversation,” my dad said before going to the coffeepot to refill his mug.
“I know.” But not yet because I wasn’t sure what to say to him. None of my feelings for Cruz had changed, but I’d definitely fallen for Ryatt.