The Wilde Stranger

Chapter 24

twenty-four

. . .

Colin

Iwinced as I pressed the ice pack against my ribs.

Sadie kneeled on the couch next to me. "You poor baby." She kissed my forehead. "Those chocolate chip cookies are almost done."

I had to admit, this recuperation was far nicer than the knee one. "I think I have some other pains that you can take care of later, when we're upstairs, Nurse Honeybunch."

Sadie smiled. "That's a good nickname, and yes, I will tend to those injuries at a later time." She leaned down and whispered in my ear. "That is when I turn into Nurse Lovesacock."

"Oh man, cannot wait to meet her." I winced again. "I hate bruised ribs. I've had every other part of me bruised. Well, almost every part, but ribs are the fucking worst. Just breathing is a chore."

The oven timer rang, and Sadie hopped off the couch. "Cookies will help. They always help." She returned a few minutes later with a plate. "They're gooey, but too hot to eat."

I reached for one anyway and immediately had to drop it. "Ouch."

"Yes, that is the meaning behind too hot to eat." She sat down next to me again. "I can't believe what a badass your dad was last night in the barn."

I looked over at her. "He was the badass? What about the guy who took on six morons with meaty fists?"

She picked up the plate. "Of course, you were the biggest badass of the night. I mean six against one, holy shit. Try one now."

I picked up a cookie. It was hot but edible. "Hmm, delicious. And it was really six to three. I had help from a horse and from a madwoman with a mucking fork."

"I hope Zander isn't too mad about his broken fork. And I hope your dad isn't too mad about the fact that I brought trouble to his ranch."

I laughed but cut it short with a groan. I adjusted the ice pack against my ribs. "Trouble and this ranch go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly." Right then the back door opened and Dad walked in with his dog. Lenny came right in and plopped down on his pillow, and Dad plopped in his chair.

"How are the ribs?" he asked with an old man's sigh.

"Hurt like shit."

"Serves you right for taking on six at once, but you held your own." A flicker of a grin followed. He rarely gave out compliments, so I was going to savor that one.

"Finn, I'm really sorry about last night." Sadie handed over the plate of cookies to help sweeten her apology.

"What were those fools after?" Dad asked, then shoveled in a cookie.

"I took a photo of something that will no doubt cause great scandal in the UFC world."

Finn nodded. "Impressive. Well done."

The front door opened. All of us were still on edge enough that we shot to our feet. Although I didn't really shoot, and Dad took a few seconds to get up.

"Just me," Nate called from the entry.

Dad's face lit up, like it always did when his youngest came home. Nate was always on the road with his band, so we hardly saw him anymore. "Nathaniel, is that you?"

Nate walked in and dropped two duffle bags on the ground. "Shit, it's good to be home."

Dad walked over. He wasn't the hugging type, but he did give Nate a hearty pat on the head. "Good to see you, son."

Nate looked at Sadie. "I'm Nate, since Colin is too much of a caveman to introduce us."

I pointed to the ice pack and then my fat lip. "I'm on the mend. Sadie, this is the youngest and so obviously most spoiled Wilde brother, and yes, you can say it. We all know he's fucking adorable."

Sadie shrugged shyly. "Oh, is he? I hadn't noticed." She giggled—a usual reaction when a woman met Nate. "Nice to meet you, youngest Wilde brother. I hear you're a rock star."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Nope, just a singer in a band. Not always rock and definitely not a star. And right now, a burned-out singer in a band. Are those home baked cookies?" He made a beeline to the plate without waiting for an answer. He sat on the spare chair.

"What happened? Barroom brawl?" Nate asked.

"More like barnyard brawl but forget that.

Why the hell are you home? Thought you were in New York.

" I picked up another cookie. There hadn't been many homemade cookies in our house since Stevie, Nate's mom, left.

She stuck around the longest of all the moms, so we all considered her our second mom.

She was awesome, but even she could only stand Finn Wilde's charms for so long.

Nate stretched his legs out and crossed his ankles.

"Raider and Kyle were getting on my nerves.

You know how it is when you're stuck on the road, in close quarters and always in each other's space.

We needed a break. Our last two gigs were pure shit.

Instrument and sound equipment problems, and it was like none of us were on the same page about anything and that threw off the music.

So I'm home for a few months, rethinking everything. How about you and that knee?"

"I'm rethinking shit, too."

"Seems like all of us are," Sadie said.

"Speak for yourselves," Dad said. He was on his third cookie. "I'm done thinking. I'm just going to sit here in this house until I'm dead."

Nate looked at me. "Well, on that cheery note, I was hoping to get the dirt bikes out, but seems like you aren't really in shape for a ride."

"Yeah, not sure."

"I am," Sadie said enthusiastically. "We could wrap your ribs to hold them steady and you can avoid jumps."

"What's a ride without jumps?" I asked. "But I could probably putter along with you guys like an old man."

"Think there's some medical wrap in the bathroom," Dad said. "I was using it when I twisted my ankle last year."

"So now I'm going to wrap it around my body?" I asked.

Dad shrugged. "Don't care what you do. Are there any more cookies?"

Sadie picked up the empty plate. "I'll get a refill, and I think we can make the wrap work."

Nate picked up his bags. "I'll go change and meet you guys out at the shed."

I walked to my room and pulled off my shirt. The bruise had gotten bigger, but the swelling had gone down. Sadie came in holding the roll of gauze, but she was wearing a sort of horrified expression.

"Is it all gross with old man feet smell?" I asked.

"This? No, it's fine, but I had to rummage through some bathroom drawers to find it, and there were all kinds of things in there that I might never stop thinking about. Your dad's?"

I could feel my skin heat with embarrassment. "Yeah, he never hid any of that crap, and he's holding onto it, apparently thinking he'll be well enough and virile enough again one day to use it. Try to block it out."

She shook her head. "Not sure that's possible. Well, Nurse Honeybunch is back."

"Damn, where's her alter ego, Nurse Lovesacock?"

"She only comes out at night and when your brother is not waiting for us to ride with him. Don't want to be rude." She leaned over and kissed my chest. "Otherwise, we'd be doing other kinds of first aid right now." She lightly kissed the bruised skin.

"Yeah, you've already been bitten by the Nate bug. No woman is immune."

"No, I just don't want to be rude." Sadie wrapped my chest slowly. Her fingertips grazed me as she moved the wrap into place. She leaned her whole body against mine as she brought the wrap behind me and around. She peered up at me. "Too tight?"

"A little."

"Good. It's supposed to be tight." She kissed my chest again then placed a long trail of hot kisses up my neck.

I wrapped my arms around her. "Maybe we can skip the ride. I think this tight wrap has given me all kinds of powers to do other things."

She kissed my lips. "I wanna ride."

I blew out an exasperated breath. "Fine. Let's ride. But I'm expecting to pick up where we left off."

Zander had been keeping the bikes up pretty well, but I rode Slow Betsy as we called it, because on anything faster I wouldn't be able to pass up a jump.

Sadie took off ahead of Nate. She jumped like a pro, leaning her tiny self down over a bike that was far too big for her.

Her small size and the power of the bike made her jump through the air like a cannon ball coming out of a cannon.

She laughed wildly as she rode up and down the dirt trails that we'd been carving out with our bikes for years.

She leaned all the way to the side as she effortlessly took a sharp curve.

That same curve had taken Nate out once, leaving him with a collarbone that was jutting clear out of his shoulder.

Nate slowed down to ride alongside me. "She's amazing. How did you two meet?"

I shook my head. "It's a wild story. I'll tell you some other time, but yeah, she's amazing."

Nate looked over at me and lifted his sunglasses on top of his head. "No way, not you, too? I'm still having a hard time believing that Ro has settled down with one woman … and a kid. And now you? Fuck, that just leaves me."

"It's still early, and you know how I am always wondering when the next shoe will drop? Like out on that mountainside that day I crashed—something kept poking at me. I thought my runs were going too well. I was on top. I knew the other shoe would drop." I rubbed my knee absently. "And boy, did it."

"I never got any of the details. What took you out?"

I held my breath as Sadie hit a lip on a jump and arced through the air. The landing was rough, but she stayed on two wheels. She disappeared into a cloud of dust. "Crazy chick. Fucking adore her. Anyway, this took me out." I pointed to my head.

"Your head?" Nate looked confused.

"My ADHD. Something, something yellow flickered wildly between two trees. It grabbed my attention just long enough for me to lose focus. Hit a rut just right, and it launched me."

"That sucks. Will you be ready for the next season?"

We stopped the bikes and set down our feet to hold them. "Not sure. I'm off the team. My good friend Ace stabbed me in the back."

"Really? Never liked that fucker. Was he afraid you'd whoop his ass next season?"

"Nope, it's not that. After all, I'm way behind on training. He's pissed because I'm dating his sister."

"What do you mean?"

I motioned to the woman riding like a petite Hell's Angel through the ranch's dirt track.

"That's Ace's sister? Huh, never would have guessed. So, he's being the big protective asshole brother warning her to stay away from the Wildes."

"Yep, that pretty much covers it."

"What about you, Nate? Not like you to stop a tour short. What's really going on?"

"Fuck, I don't know. I was loving the whole thing, singing for a living, fans following us around, and the women, shit the women."

"Yep, I get that. But …?"

"Not making me happy anymore. We keep thinking we're going to bust through that barrier, the one that lets you step into the big time. We'll get on the charts for a week or two, but nothing holds. I don't think we've got what it takes, and I'm not sure I want to keep going."

"Maybe you just need a new band. That's like me—looking for a new team, but it's not easy. That crash fucked up my knee and my career."

Sadie rode past us and blew a kiss. She was having a blast.

"Where the heck did she learn to ride like that?" Nate asked.

"The Philippines, apparently."

"Seriously? Cool. I guess you're back home because things aren't going well with sponsors.

Things were pretty sweet for a while, weren't they?

" Nate pulled his sunglasses back down. Our dirt trails didn't have much shade.

Turned out shrubs and trees didn't like to grow in the middle of a dirt bike track.

"Yep, things were going well. Ace kicked me in the ass on that, too. Anyhow I'm thinking about asking Zander and Jameson if I can join them. They've got the business running well. What about you?"

"Don't know. Just needed to come here and clear my head." Nate laughed. "Wow, was that a statement we all thought we'd never hear. Going to Dad's place to clear my head."

"Fuck, guess I'm doing the same thing. Sadie thinks Dad is cool."

"Yeah? Then you better hang on to her cuz she's a rare bird. Although I guess the old man is getting a little more likable in his old age."

"He'd already mellowed when you were young," I said.

Nate looked over at me. "I know I didn't have it as bad as you guys, but that doesn't mean life wasn't a mess growing up. Think we're all doing OK considering."

"Yep, I think your mom gets part of the credit. How is she doing?"

"Mom? She's good. She came to my show when I was in Michigan. Don't like her new boyfriend though. Kind of a dick. One of those know-it-alls. Guess she's not great at picking mates."

The phone buzzed in my pocket. I'd been hoping to hear back from a team. I pulled it out. It was an image from Ace. I slid my thumb over and opened it. "Fuck."

"What's going on?" Nate asked.

Ace had black eyes and a fat lip. He was staring at the camera with the barrel of a gun pointed at his head. He looked plenty scared. There was a text with it.

Don't call the cops tell Sadie we need to talk.

"It's a long story, but I need to catch up to Sadie. I'll tell you later."

Sadie was at the far end of the track. I raced toward her, each bump jarring my ribs painfully. The wrap wasn't helping much, but the adrenaline pumping through me took the edge off.

Sadie turned with a big smile, then saw my expression. Her smile faded, and she rode toward me. "What's wrong?"

I hesitated, almost not wanting to show her. "I got a text from Ace … with a picture. He's in trouble. Those assholes must have found—"

"Show me," she said frantically. Again, I paused.

"Damn it, show me, Colin."

I lifted the phone. She grabbed it to get a good look at the picture. Her face had been a dusty pink from the ride, but the color drained.

She handed me back the phone. "I'm so done with this. I need to get to my phone." She turned the throttle and took off in a cloud of dust.