Chapter Seventeen
Master
IT’S BEEN A week since I’ve laid eyes on Taleah.
She hasn’t been to her store and when she was supposed to go to physical therapy, she never showed up.
Yes, I was there waiting for her because I wanted to make sure she was okay living in her parents’ house all alone.
That place holds so many memories of our childhood and her brother.
I’m not sure I could stay in a place where so many memories, good and bad, were made and still linger.
It’s bad enough going to see my parents because Taleah and her brother spent a lot of time at our house.
Almost as much as we were with them at their house.
I’ve been at the ranch for my shifts, shorter ones since she’s no longer there, and I still haven’t seen her.
I’m going out of my damn mind and ready to go find her at her parents’ because I need to make sure she’s okay and not losing her mind in an empty house.
Today, I’m out riding to keep a clear head so I don’t do something I’ll regret when I finally lay eyes on Taleah.
I pull over and park along the side of the road a short way down from her bookstore where she’s currently standing with a drink in hand as she looks up and down the street.
Getting off my bike, I start walking toward Taleah.
My eyes are locked on her as I drink in the sight of her.
She’s wearing a short black skirt that displays her toned, tan legs and makes them appear so much longer than they already are.
A black tank top covers her chest showing off just the right amount of cleavage with a suit jacket over top.
She doesn’t have it buttoned right now and I wonder who she’s dressing up for.
Especially when I get to her feet and find her wearing a pair of dark red heels I want to fuck her in.
She’s sexy as hell right now. There’s no make-up on her face and her long hair is pulled back in a loose braid.
“Hey!” a woman says, stepping up in front of me when I’m less than five feet from Taleah. “It’s been a while since I saw you last. How about you take me for a ride on your bike to somewhere more private where I can ride you.”
I honestly don’t remember ever seeing this woman before.
She’s got blonde hair that’s an obvious dye job with her dark roots showing.
A fake tan coats her thin body and her clothes leave nothing to the imagination.
Make-up is caked on her face and I know whoever she fucks will end up wearing half of it when it melts off of her face.
“I don’t know who the hell you are,” I state, trying to move around her to get to Taleah.
My girl is glaring in my direction and I have a feeling I know exactly what’s on her mind in this moment.
This woman just asked me for a ride on my bike and that’s something I never allowed Taleah to do.
I always came up with one excuse after another.
It wasn’t because I didn’t want Taleah on my bike, her body wrapped around mine.
My main reason was because I didn’t feel I was an experienced enough rider and refused to be in an accident with her.
I wouldn’t have survived hurting my girl because I made a stupid decision in order to keep her from getting her feelings hurt.
Yes, I did put other girls on my bike, but I didn’t have the same beliefs back then and I was gaining experience with a passenger on my bike so I could feel confident once I finally put Taleah there and made it her seat no one else ever got a chance to sit on again.
Her brother is the one who took her and my sister for rides on his bike.
I remember Taleah talking about getting her own bike so she never had to ask for another ride from someone again. I have no doubt she got one.
“Don’t act as if you don’t know me now. I’ve been at the clubhouse a few times and have asked you every single time for a ride on your bike.
You always just walk away from me without an answer.
I know you guys love to ride and I want to go for one.
Now!,” she demands, wrapping her hand around my arm and digging her fake nails into my skin.
If I pull away from her, I’ll have marks on my arm and that’s not about to happen as I reach up and pry her fingers from me.
“I’m sure he’d love to take you for a ride.
He has no problem putting women on the back of his bike.
Just a word of caution, you’re one of many and it’s not special for him.
You’re not special and will just be another notch on his bed and bike,” Taleah says, her voice hard and cold as she continues to glare in my direction for a minute before disappearing into Fantasy Realm.
“What a bitch! Like she has the right to talk about you like that,” the woman says, trying once again to latch onto me.
“You call her a bitch again and I’ll make sure you go through hell.
That is the only woman who deserves to talk to me and about me any way she chooses.
You’re the one who has no right to talk to me, look in my direction, or try to make demands of me.
I will never put you on the back of my bike.
None of the guys in the club will. In fact, I hope you enjoyed yourself the last time you were at the clubhouse because you’re banned from showin’ up there again.
I see you even close to the compound, and I’ll run you out of town for good.
You hear me?” I ask the woman as she starts to shake in fear while looking up at me with wide eyes like she didn’t just insult Taleah with her petty games of trying to claim me in public.
“You can’t do that! No one will let you keep me away from the clubhouse,” she says, her voice shaking as she takes a few steps away from me.
“Yeah, I can. I’m an officer in the club and one of the foundin’ members.
My word will always carry more weight than anythin’ you try to say to the guys.
One conversation is all it will take for you to be run out of Glendale permanently.
Fuckin’ try me. And just so you know, no woman has ever been on the back of this bike and they never will be.
That seat is reserved for the woman you just ran off with your bullshit,” I growl before turning and heading back to my bike.
There’s no way in hell I can talk to Taleah today after this shit show.
I sit on my bike and watch the woman race down the street away from Fantasy Realm. My mind instantly goes to the first time I denied putting Taleah on the back of my bike.
It was a gorgeous day out and all I wanted to do was ride my bike and spend the day exploring.
I’m currently at Taleah’s house in her room watching a movie with her wrapped in my arms as she dozes once again.
We can’t ever get through an entire movie without her falling asleep.
Even the ones she chooses. I know my sister is in with Taleah’s brother and they’re also watching a movie.
We didn’t want to watch the same thing so we split up.
Honestly, I just wanted some one-on-one time with my girl and I know my best friend wanted to hang out with my sister on his own.
A knock on the door sounds before it opens to reveal my best friend.
“What’s up?” I ask him in a whisper so I don’t disturb Taleah.
“Wanna go for a ride? Elara’s asleep in my bed and it’s too nice today to stay inside when we could be goin’ for a ride.
We’ll be back by the time they wake up and can figure out what we’re doin’ for dinner,” he asks me with a large grin on his face.
We both get excited to go for rides and today is no different.
“I’m always down to ride, you know that,” I tell him as I begin to untangle myself from Taleah. Our legs are entwined and her head is resting on my chest with her arm wrapped around my waist. Even her hair is wrapped around my arm somehow.
“Are you leaving?” Taleah asks, her voice full of sleep as she lifts her head just enough to look at me with eyes that are half closed.
“Goin’ for a ride with your brother. We’ll be back in a while. Elara is asleep in his bed,” I inform her as she immediately becomes wide awake and sits up faster than I thought possible next to me.
“I want to go for a ride with you. You’ve never taken me on one, Rex. Am I not good enough to sit on your bike?” she asks me and I can see how upset she is. “You know I have all the riding gear and I’ve been on the back of Bhodi’s bike before. I know how to be a passenger.”
“It’s not happenin’, Doll,” I say, getting out of her bed and looking down at her.
“Why will you put every other girl on your bike and I always get turned down? I thought you’d want me, and only me, there since we’re together now.
Instead, it’s just one more time you treat me like I’m nothing to you.
If that’s the case, maybe we need to rethink this relationship,” she says, breaking my fucking heart because that’s the last thing I want to happen.
“Look, Taleah, I’m goin’ for a ride with your brother. No one else will be with us,” I say, trying to make her happy with this information but we both know things change in a heartbeat.
“Like that means something. Just go, Rex. I don’t want to see you so don’t bother coming back today.
I need to rethink if I’m willing to remain with you when you treat me like I’m nothing but your best friend’s little sister,” she says, the first tears spilling over her lashes and rolling down her face.
I reach out to wipe them away only to have Taleah slap my hand away. “Go!”