Two
S he didn’t fucking come back before I was discharged, and yeah, obviously I was pissed, but also I was kinda hurt by it. I knew that she was resistant to me, or maybe what I represented as a biker, but she’d flirted a little, even if sometimes it seemed like she hadn’t meant to.
The second frustrating as fuck part was when I got outside and realised I had to go back to the clubhouse in a fucking van. Where was my bike? Oh yeah, still being repaired after my accident, and not prioritised because I was laid up.
“You’re fucking serious, man?”
Ryder groaned, running his hand through those floppy fucking locks of his.
“Yes, you know there’s been shit going on, man. Yours wasn’t the only bike tampered with, or damaged in an accident recently, plus you know, there’s a fucking serial killer attacking the club.”
“Yeah, I think I found his knife at one point,” I muttered snarkily, knowing that me getting stabbed and left for dead was probably not quite at the joking point yet. Maybe another week.
“Not funny, asshole. I thought you were fucking dead. I swear, you do that to me again, and I’ll kill you myself,” Ryder snapped, climbing into the van and waiting for me to join him.
“Just saying, I was looking forward to riding my baby out of here.”
He smirked as he started the engine in this heap of crap.
“The way I heard it, you wanted to ride the ‘baby’ you met back in there.” He jerked a thumb back at the hospital building, as he headed out of the car park.
Yeah, fucking right, I did. I still couldn’t believe she’d stayed away, and not said goodbye. Didn’t I mean a fucking thing to her?
“Torch?”
I scratched at the stubble on my head, looking forward to it being shaved again, as soon as fucking possible.
“Yeah, I mean, she was hot. You saw her, but she’s playing hard to get right now. Doesn’t mean I’m giving up.”
He kept shooting me this weird look, and eventually when we were stopped at a red light, I’d had enough, punching his arm to get him to look at me.
“Just fucking say it, man.”
He offered me the same look again before he spoke.
“It’s just… if she’s not into you, man-”
“She is. She’s just caught up in some bullshit about not fucking a patient, that’s all. It won’t be an issue now, will it?”
“Man, I’m just saying. If the lady says no-”
“Don’t fucking pretend like I’d ignore that word, man. You know I don’t need to force women just to get my dick wet. I have plenty of women who want a piece of this. She’s just… I dunno…” I stared out of the window, watching a scantily dressed woman crossing the road, while my dick played hard to get now too.
“She’s different.”
Ryder snorted, waiting at a crossing for some kids to cross. What kind of bikers were we anyway, weren’t we supposed to be the guys everyone was scared of? Not anymore, not that it bothered me as such. It just wasn’t what I’d imagined when I joined a club. I’d expected more crime, more violence, and more sex. Okay, the sex was easy, but the rest was a bit dull, sometimes.
“You sure it’s not just because she’s literally not jumping into bed with you, man?”
Honestly, I was kinda insulted by that. I’d known Ryder for fucking years, and this was his impression of me, and the woman I think could be something really fucking special?
“I’m that shallow, huh?”
He frowned as he pulled up at the gates for the clubhouse, waiting as the prospects hauled them open.
“That’s not what I meant-”
“Yeah, hearing ya loud and clear. Nice to know that’s how you see me, brother.” Before he could start moving again, I shoved the door open, and hopped out of the van, wincing at the shockwave my heavy landing sent through me, reminding me of the wounds that nearly took my life.
“Torch!”
I slammed the door and started walking, waving off the prospect who stepped in my direction. I wasn’t a fucking invalid, and I didn’t need help to cross a fucking car park.
I stepped inside the clubhouse as the familiar scent of leather, oil, and stale beer hit me, sinking into my pores, and easing a little of my frustration. Home. Just how it should always fucking smell. So why was it, that suddenly I was wondering what an uptight doctor would think of it, and if I’d even get her inside the place?
Grace
I ’d stayed away when they released Danny, but it was so damn hard, because I wanted to be there to see him get up and walk out of the hospital on his own steam, healed by the other doctors and me. To know that my efforts had aided his recovery. To see it with my own eyes. Had I ever felt that way before? Yes, in the early days of my career, every healed patient sent a ripple of pride through me, when I watched them leave far more healthily than they’d arrived in my hospital.
This guy though? This insanely frustrating biker, this man who could definitely lead me down the wrong path, and get me into all kinds of trouble? It was more than pride at his recovery. It was a burning need to see him strong again. To know that he was back to his primal masculine self. To know that he was out there again, wild and deadly, and still too much of a bad boy for me.
Why was I so into his type? Why was I so tempted to risk everything I’d worked for, just to see him again outside of the hospital? I’d stayed away, but I’d ventured to the windows to watch him leave the building at least. I watched as he cast his gaze around him, before he followed his brother biker into a dark unmarked van. The way he walked, with barely restrained predatory threat, the thought of being approached by him in such a way… it was all I could think about.
“Grace?”
I turned to find one of the nurses, Shelley, watching me closely. We were friends outside of the hospital, but within the walls, we stayed professional. Mostly.
“You like him, don’t you?” Like I said, mostly .
“I can’t like him. I mean, I can’t, right?”
She pressed her palm against the window, as she watched the dark van drive away, looking at it as longingly as I felt.
“I’d do that other guy, the one with the dark hair, who was driving.”
Okay, not even mostly. “I should not be eyeing up bikers, Shel, be firm with me. Remember what happened last time I fell for the wrong guy.”
She rolled her eyes as she turned to lean against the glass.
“Yeah, he was an asshole, and he took you for everything you had, but, so? That doesn’t mean every guy is going to rip you off, right?”
I knew, deep down, that she was right, but I couldn’t take the risk. It had taken me six months to try and rebuild my life, and my credit rating, and another wrong decision could destroy everything again. I’d moved to this hospital to take a higher paid job, with the added benefit of working alongside a good friend, but I had to be smart.
“He’s a mistake. I mean, he’d be a huge mistake.”
She smirked then, wagging her eyebrows.
“If it’s huge, you should definitely go ahead and make it with that uh… mistake .”
“Shel! This is exactly what you need to be advising me against! So he’s hot, so what? He’s a biker, so he’s definitely bad news. He’s exactly what I should be avoiding right now.”
She turned to stare out of the window again.
“I’m just saying, if he’s as good a ride as he kept suggesting, maybe it’s worth the risk. Just don’t give him access to your bank accounts, right?”
Ugh. Like I was dumb enough to do that again. Why the hell did I trust Ashton with my life like that? He’d literally cleaned out every account, and left me not only penniless, but with debts he’d accrued in my name. I couldn’t risk making a mistake again, and trusting a criminal.
“No. I need to get my head out of my underwear-”
“His underwear, you mean,” she sniggered, even as I glowered at her. She’d never been intimidated by me, but maybe that was because there was nothing intimidating about me at all. Unless I was in doctor mode, and then I could scare everyone off. Especially a sexy biker, who’d probably destroy my heart, and my future, all for a ride on his, uh, bike.