Chapter 10 Leo #2
Alessa raises an eyebrow. “And you are?” she asks, and I can tell she legitimately doesn’t know who this girl is.
Victoria throws her blonde hair over her shoulder. “I used to date Gage. Like you didn’t know that”
Alessa slowly looks at Gage, and his mouth hangs open. “We fucked one time.”
Alessa shakes her head and turns back to look at Victoria. “You can go now.”
Victoria huffs. “You can’t tell me what to do.” She reaches for Gage again, and he takes a step back. “You know I can make you feel good, Baby.”
Gage laughs. “Right.” He slings an arm over Alessa’s shoulder, letting her know she doesn’t stand a chance. “Now. Fuck. Off.”
Victoria’s eyes zero in on his arm. “You guys are a thing now? Is that why you never called?”
“Oh, honey,” Alessa says and shakes her head. I can almost guess why Gage never called the next day, and Alessa picked up on it, too.
Victoria bristles, and her eyes land on me. Does she think she has a chance with me? I follow Gage’s lead and slide my arm around Alessa’s waist.
Victoria laughs a little too loudly. “Both of them? So, you really are a whore?”
“Call her a whore again, and I’ll slit your fucking throat,” Dex threatens, walking up behind us. Victoria shrinks about two sizes, causing Gage to laugh. I find myself chuckling with him.
“Let me tell you something, Victoria,” Alessa sneers the name, taking a step forward.
“The next time you want to start shit for no reason, just know you won’t have to worry about Dex.
” Alessa pulls a knife from the sheath on the back of her pants, the same one she threatened me with, twirling it around her fingers. “You will have to worry about me.”
Victoria’s eyes widen, and she hustles back to where she was standing, half hiding behind a tall bald guy.
“Well, that was fun,” Gage chuckles. “But it’s almost time.” He slings his arm back around her shoulders, looking over his shoulder. “Meet us at the track.” He leads Alessa away and back to their bikes.
“Come on.” Dex jerks his head for me to follow him. He leads me to where the riders are starting to line up, and I see Gage’s white bike pull up with the purple one right in front of him.
“She’s racing?” I ask in concern. What the fuck?
Dex looks at me like I’m a complete fucking idiot. “Yes. She does every time.”
“They underestimate her,” Ryder says, stepping up on my other side. He gives me a look. “A lot of people do.”
“I never underestimated her,” I argue, knowing he meant me.
“You still are. You think just because you fucked her, she won’t kill your ass at the drop of a hat,” he replies, and I’m fucking done with this shit.
I turn towards him, and I don’t give a fuck if he kills me. “You think that’s all this is?” I scoff. “I love her, you fucking asshole.”
Ryder’s face goes blood red, and I see him reach for his Glock. Shit. “Enough,” Dex barks. “She’s up.”
Ryder gives me a stern look. “Fuck this,” Ryder says and storms off.
“Do you have a death wish? Close your fucking mouth,” Dex warns, and I jerk a nod.
That was stupid, and I know it, but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I’m not after her for a piece of ass. I love her.
My feelings for her were never a lie, and I don’t know if she will ever give me a chance to explain myself.
I take a breath and focus on the track right as Alessa is doing a burnout, warming up the back tire.
“Two thousand says he wipes the track with her,” a guy says to my right.
“Four thousand says your pussy friend goes home crying,” Alexey replies, holding his hand out for the bet. They shake hands, and I don’t miss the twitch of Dex’s lips.
The light on the side of the track blinks red, then yellow, and finally green. Alessa takes off; the guy never even stood a chance. She handled the bike like she was born to, and I start cheering with everyone else.
Dex chuckles and leans forward. “Pay up, asshole.”
Large amounts of money start switching hands everywhere, including cash getting slapped into Dex’s hand, and he grins, the massive scar on his face twisting his lip evilly.
It runs from his hairline through his eyebrow, down through his top lip on the right side, and sits so close to his eye that it’s a wonder he didn’t lose it.
Gage pulls up to the line after his burnout and flips the other guy off with a white-gloved hand, making me shake my head with a smile.
I really can’t help but like him. He’s all over the place, loud, and sometimes he can’t carry a conversation to save his life, but he’s fun to be around. And he doesn’t treat me like shit.
Gage dusts his opponent, too, and more money gets passed around. When someone hands more to Dex, Dmitri laughs. “That’s fucked up. You know what they can do on those bikes.”
Dex shrugs. “It’s not my fault they choose to bet with me against them.”
I laugh. “He has a point.”
Me, Dex, Alexey, and Dmitri make our way to Gage and Alessa coming off the track.
They pull their helmets off, laughing like crazy, and I get lost in the sound of Alessa’s carefree laugh, the one she used to use around me.
They hop off the bikes. Dex hands them the wad of cash he collected, and Alessa fans her face with a smile before they hand it back to him. I love her like this.
One of the guys from their race roars beside us, ripping his helmet off. “What the fuck was that?”
“Uh. A race?” Alessa answers like the guy is stupid.
His buddy pulls up on the other side. “There is no way those bikes beat these.” I don’t even know what kind of bikes they’re on; my knowledge only goes so far. The only reason I know Alessa’s bike is because it’s my dream bike if I ever get a chance to learn how to ride.
Alessa laughs. “It’s not just the bike. You have to know how to ride.”
“Dude, she had you out the gate.” Gage throws his arm around her shoulders. “You ride like shit.”
“No one’s talking to you,” the one guy sneers. “We are talking to this cheating cunt.”
Everyone’s demeanor changes. Alessa and Gage’s faces drop all teasing simultaneously; it’s fucking eerie.
“Shit,” Dex mutters when he sees more people coming up behind them, backing them up.
“Who are you calling a cunt?” Alessa says in that deadly voice she used on me.
“You, you cheating bitch.” The guy puts his kickstand down, hopping off the bike.
Does he have any idea who he’s talking to? Who the hell talks to a woman like that? I look at Dex, and he doesn’t seem like he’s going to step in.
Alessa tilts her head to the side. “You really want to be that stupid?”
“We have you outnumbered. I’d say we aren’t the stupid ones,” the other guy says, getting off his bike. He isn’t wrong; there are at least twenty of them and seven of us.
“If you fight like you ride. I’m not fucking worried,” Gage laughs, but it has a weird edge. “Let’s fucking go!” Gage yells, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Goddamnit,” Dex mutters under his breath, then all hell breaks loose.
Alessa jerks her leg up and back before kicking it forward, smashing the one who called her a cunt right in the face, blood spurting everywhere.
Fists and feet start flying around, Alessa right in the middle.
What the fuck? Why doesn’t someone grab her?
I go to step forward, and a hand hooks into my shirt and jerks me back.
“Stay back,” Ryder barks and disappears into the madness. More people are gathering around and pushing me back, some joining either side and some to watch.
I hear someone howl like a fucking wolf, Gage’s manic laughter following it.
Crazy fucker.
Between the two sides, they finally get everyone separated, and I’m relieved to see Alessa standing right in the middle in one piece and even have to admit I’m relieved to see Gage too.
Alessa spits blood from her split lip. “You have anything else to say?”
The one she kicked in the face glares, but it’s ruined by his hand against his bleeding nose. “This isn’t over.” They all start leaving the way they came in, and I walk back over to Alessa and Gage. Ryder jerks Alessa’s face up, looking at her lip.
She swats his hands away. “I’m fine.”
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Ryder grinds out.
Her mouth pops open. “Me? What the fuck was I thinking?”
“Yes,” he says between clenched teeth. “Starting a fucking fight.”
She spits more blood, and it lands right beside his boot. “Fuck you,” she says sweetly before swaying her ass back to her bike, Gage following. “Come on,” he says to me, so I go to follow, and Ryder grabs my arm.
“You stay here.”
“Let him go,” Alessa barks, and he squeezes my arm harder than necessary before he drops it.
Gage nods to the back of his bike. “Get on.” I raise my eyebrow, and he rolls his eyes. “Your weight on the back of her bike will throw her off balance.”
Alessa shrugs. “He’s not wrong. We’re just riding over there.” She points to the other side of the lot, where I see bikes lining up.
Gage waggles his eyebrows. “Come cuddle me, Leo.”
I shrug because why the fuck not. He climbs on and I get on behind him. Dex thrusts a helmet into my hands. “If you are going to be stupid, at least be smart.” I put it on when he gives me a hard look.
Alessa swings her leg over hers, shoving her helmet on; she lifts the face mask with a grin. “Go the long way.” She slams it closed, and they fire the bikes up.
I have never been on a bike, much less a crotch rocket.
Gage grabs my arms and jerks them around his waist, so I have to lean against his back.
“Lean when I lean. You will get used to it,” he says, and I realize they can talk to each other through the helmets, so the one I’m wearing is either Dex’s or Ryder’s.
My money is on Dex. Ryder is probably hoping my brains will splat everywhere if we go down.
“You guys look hot as fuck right now,” Alessa laughs, her voice filtering through the helmet.
“I’m not usually a bottom, but I could get used to this,” Gage quips, and I pause. Does he mean what I think he means?
Alessa’s laugh filters through again; they kick their kickstands up and pull away from the group.
“Hold on,” Gage instructs, and I tighten my arms around his waist. I might look weird as fuck snuggled up to another guy on the back of his bike, but I don’t feel it.
I don’t know him well, and he is undoubtedly off his rocker, but I feel safe with him, as weird as that is.
But it also makes me want to examine some things I’m not ready to examine yet, like how I like my body pressed against his or how his hips are lodged between my legs.
We do several laps around the airstrip, and I feel myself getting lost in the ride. All too soon, we are pulling up to the group again and climbing off the bike. Gage pulls his helmet off with a weird look on his face before shaking his head like he’s shaking away a thought. What the hell is that?
Alessa pulls away from us on her bike and pulls up beside the Lambo Alexey is leaning against. She pulls her face mask up and says something to the passenger, who I assume is Dmitri, and I could have sworn she asked how much they trusted her.
She slams her mask down, and they ride side by side until they are away from the crowd.
Alessa keeps riding ahead, and I frown. What is she doing?
She drives about twenty feet in front of his car before I see her headlight swing around to face him.
“You think the race was hot? Watch this shit.” Gage bumps my shoulder while pointing at Alessa.
She starts moving forward before putting one knee in the seat and hooking her other foot behind her into a foothold I just noticed before pulling it up on the back wheel, riding a wheelie forward straight toward Alexey’s car.
She drops it right in front of the car, and I can imagine he is shitting his pants right about now.
“Damn,” I mutter because he isn’t wrong. It is hot as fuck.
She does several more wheelie tricks, and the crowd is eating it up. But I don’t think she did it for that. She just seems to love the bike, and I didn’t even know she rode. Did I know Alessa, as I thought?
She takes off in the opposite direction before spinning the bike around, flying back towards Alexey’s car.
Gage pulls me around until we can see the front of the car.
She stops suddenly, putting the bike up on the front tire, stopping just when the tire kisses the front bumper.
When the back tire drops, Alexey jumps from the car.
“What the fuck?!” he exclaims, running to the front of the car. She pulls her helmet off, grinning from ear to ear. He slides his hand between his bumper and her bike tire. It barely fits, and that’s when I see how close she came to it.
“You look a little pale, Alexey,” Alessa purrs, and he jerks his head up from staring at his car.
“Fuck you,” he laughs. “I thought you were done for.”
“What a shame,” she tsks. “No faith.”
Dmitri calmly steps out. “You didn’t see that from the inside. This dude pissed himself.”
“Fuck you too,” Alexey says, flipping Dmitri the bird.
Alessa hollers her goodbyes to them and rides the bike back to us. “Done?” she asks, and Gage nods. “Let’s go. Dex, we’ll see you back at the house.”
My heart sinks again; they are all going to ride off and leave me with Dex.
Gage thrusts the helmet back into my hands. “Want to ride some more?”
“Really?” Does he want to carry me around when he can ride freely with her?
“Yeah,” he replies, throwing his leg over his bike and firing it up. “We know this awesome place.”
No way I’m saying no. I put my helmet on and swing my leg over, wrapping my arms around him.
Who knows what the night will bring now?