Bad Boys of Romance - a Biker Anthology (55 page)

Chapter Four

Cole trembled with fury. His own mom set his girl up for a racing future. She set her up to find him, and when Rylan found him, she didn’t even have the balls to tell him. He didn’t know what to think about his mom helping Rylan. He didn’t know what to think about anything. He needed a drink, bad.

He didn’t want to face Brant and Jamie. They’d want details
, and he wouldn’t have been able to deliver the story without punching something. It was late or early, however you wanted to look at it. Two in the morning meant the bars were shut down, and even though he wanted a drink, he didn’t quite feel like sulking in a bar. Straddling his bike, Cole sped out of the parking garage. Needing to feel the freedom of riding, he hit the freeway and opened up his bike. The rumble between his legs settled his racing heart. He made his way back to the speedway and his bus.

Opening the door, he hollered out for Dom
. With no answer, he closed the door and headed toward the sound of music. He was almost positive that the he would find the music coming from Aidan’s rig. Sure enough, as he stepped closer to Aidan’s bus the music got louder and he could see the crowd of people. This is exactly what he needed—to let loose and forget for a bit. It was time to forget Rylan and celebrate his win.

Three shots and several beers later, Cole was wrapped up in Heather’s arms. “You ready to get out of here?” She cooed.

“Yeah.” He clutched her hand, pulling her back toward his bus. Cole looked down at Heather and for a moment saw Rylan under his strong arm. Without thinking, he bent his head and kissed Heather before opening up the bus and slapping her ass as she walked up the few steps.

“
Oh! Wanting it rough tonight, baby?” She peeked over her shoulder at him.

Grabbing a handful of butt cheek, he squeezed
, causing her to spin to face him. She placed her hands on the hem of his shirt and tugged it upwards, wanting it off. He bent his knees and raised his arms, helping her. As he passed through the kitchen area, he grabbed the bottle on the counter. With blurry vision, he saw it was flavored vodka.
Perfect,
he thought as he planned to sip it off her body.

Heather’s eyes blazed with desire as she reached for the button on his jeans. As soon as she had the button undone, Cole gripped her shirt
, yanking it over head, and fumbled with the bra hook in the back until he finally got it unhooked. She wiggled the straps down her arms, and it fell to the floor. He took in her body, thinking that she was no Rylan but she had a nice small figure. He met her eyes as she unzipped and jerked his pants down, leaving him standing in his boxers and with no sign of an erection. She looked down, tilting her head to the side.

“You don’t expect me to be hard after one kiss do you? Maybe you should suck me to get it started.”

“You’ve never had an issue before. Even Brant called you a teenage boy walking around with a hard-on.” She shrugged her shoulders and dropped to her knees. Taking his limp dick in her warm mouth, she preceded to bob her head up and down.

Thoughts of Rylan in that same position clouded his mind. Squeezing his eyes shut, he grasped her hair, pulling and pushing her head faster. When nothing happened
, he growled and pulled out of her mouth. “Just go. It’s not happening.”

Heather slowly undid her shorts and slid them down her thin legs. Standing in only her thong she spun around and bent over before lowering
it too. Cole stood still with a scowl on his face as he watched her offer herself on the bed, legs spread wide.

“Don’t leave me hanging. I know what you had planned for that bottle
—put it to use.” She smiled up at him.

“I don’t think so. Get out.”

Heather shot out of bed, and her voice trembled as she spoke. “Nice, Cole. Real nice. I’ve been there for you, available only to you for years and this… this is how you treat me.” Her bottom lip pushed out in a serious pout.

He gathered up her clothes and shoved them into her chest. “I said go. Dress and get out of here. I can’t
fucking do this.”

He heard a whimper break free as she shoved out of the cramped bedroom. Pulling up his boxers and pants, he sat on the edge of the bed. That’s when he heard the hoarse scream.

Chapter Five

Cole lurched out of bed and pulled the door open, searching the dark bus he saw two figures close to the door. Fingers shoved into his hair, he took a tentative step toward them. Heather stood naked, facing not one other person as he originally thought but three. “Fuck.” He dropped his head.

“Fuck is right buddy.” Brant called from just outside the door.

“Screw off Brant. Heather, get dressed already! Ry…”

“Don’t you dare
‘Ry’ me. I came over her to fix this shit, and I find her.” Rylan threw her hands up and let them slap down against her thighs before spinning around and pushing her way through Jamie and Brant.

Heather still stood in their living area with her clothes clutched to her chest. Cole glared at her before trudging back to the bedroom and slamming the door
, causing the bus to rattle.

He fell back on the bed thinking of how royally he just messed everything up, but in reality, it was already a mess. He could hear the threesome talking in the front room. Wondering where Rylan had taken off to
, he passed out with his hands covering his face.

Cole was dreaming about Rylan
; he went after her in his dream and caught her. When they sat down and rehashed everything, it ended in the sweetest session of make up sex ever. He could smell her and taste her as his mouth mapped out her body. His own body was shaking with desire.

“Wake up Sunshine.
Time to hit the road.” Cole came to and realized it was all a dream. The trembling was from Dom shaking him awake. He groaned, grabbing his head that throbbed in a dull ache.

“My head hurts, shut off the damn light.”

“That’s the sun. I can’t turn it off.”

“Then close the damn blinds.”

“Nope. I need you up. Hangover or not, we have to go.”

“Get Fred, he drives, not me. You don’t need me up. You want me up. Now leave me alone and go the fuck away.” Cole threw an arm over his eyes to protect them from the glare of the sun.

“There is a very pissed off manager of the MJL race team on board, and we can’t pull out of here and head to the next city until you handle her.”

That got his attention. Jamie was in the living area. He grabbed a shirt out of the miniature closet. He pulled it over his head and made his way to the front. Jamie stood near the door
; Brant sat to her right in the captain chair with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. Both looked as if they didn’t sleep all night and wore angry scowls. As soon as Brant saw Cole, he shot up, coming toe to toe with his best friend. “She’s
gone
. You
stupid
prick, the only women you ever
loved
, and you
pushed
her away minutes after reconnecting with her.” He poked his finger into Cole’s chest with every word he wanted emphasized.

Stepping back, Cole gripped Brant’s finger and twisted before shoving Brant’s hand away. “You have no clue about anything.  Did she tell you about my mom and MJL racing?”

“Yeah, you fuck face, she did. She told me exactly how your mom set her up to find your sorry ass. I wish my parents gave two shits enough to find me, but they don’t. You’re a lucky bastard and all you can think is ‘poor Cole, I need to get laid and forget about the girl that just fought through hell to find me.’ You know you’re in the wrong. Think about shit for five minutes with a clear damn head and you’ll regret everything that happened.”

“Shit, she did see Heather than?”

“Don’t pull that ‘I can’t remember’ card on us, West.” Jamie finally spoke up, snapping at him.

“I hoped it was a nightmare. I remember. You know her better than anyone right now Jamie, where would she go?”

“I checked everywhere I could think. You need to call your mom and see if she’s spoken to her. I know she called McKenna when we first got to Daytona and she realized she found you.”

Cole paced the area from the captain’s chairs to the door of the bedroom. He’d run his fingers through his hair and then laced them behind his head just to drop them and repeat the motions. He hadn’t talked to his mom in five years
, and now he had no choice but to call her. He knew if Rylan had already talked to her, she would be mad. He wasn’t sure this was a conversation he was ready for, much less one he wanted to share with three other people. He grabbed his phone off the counter before making his way off the bus and down to the now nearly empty parking area. When he got to the entrance of the pit area, he turned down it and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

When Cole changed his name, he had gotten a new phone. The old phone
, that he knew was still activated, was in a drawer in his bus. It always charged and always on silent. He knew his mom had tried to call a few times, but at the time he didn’t care; he was hurt and living his life they way they had pushed him to. He loved racing and loved that fact that they were able to provide him with the means to get started. At the same time, he felt that they had pushed him away. It was a hard pill to swallow.

He scrolled through his phone, searching for his mom’s
number that he knew he put in there when he switched phones. Finally, he found her information. After bringing the contact up, his thumb hovered over the call button. His stomach twisted with nerves. His palms were slick with sweat and beads of moisture formed on his top lip. Taking a deep breath and running his left hand through his hair, he exhaled and hit send.

“Hello?” His mother’s voice caressed his ears. Her smooth, sweet voice sounded the same after all these years.

Cole fought off the burning in his eyes and swallowed down the lump in his throat. He had pushed her away long enough. It was time to reconcile with his mom.
“Mom.”

“Oh my goodness, Christopher.
Son, I’ve missed you.” Her voice broke on the word “son” and it wrecked Cole’s heart.

He could hear her sobs and sniffles. “I’ve missed you too. How are you?”

“Rylan found you.”

It wasn’t a question, so he didn’t answer. “Thank you for that. There’s so much to talk about
. I really want to see you.”

“Where are you now?”’

“We’re leaving Daytona today, and we have two weeks down time before we head to Georgia. If you’d like, I’ll fly you to South Carolina. My shop and home’s there…” He trailed off, not sure why he so eagerly offered to fly her out. Deep down he knew exactly why: he missed his mom. He had always been a momma’s boy until his father got in between that. It didn’t seem to matter to his father that he was successful at racing. He still didn’t want anything to do with Cole, as far as he could tell. His mom still hasn’t said a word about his dad.

“I’d love too. I can buy my own ticket
, Christopher. What day is good for me to fly in and what airport?”

“Mom, I’ll take care of this. I’ll email you your information. Can you text me your email address on this number?”

“Yeah, thank you, Chris.”

“Mom, two things
: it’s Cole now. Can you call me that?”

“Oh, sure.”
He could hear the disappointment in her voice. He felt like shit. Gripping his hair, he gave a tug before asking her about Ry.

“One more thing, Mom, have you heard from Rylan today or last night?”

“No, why?”

“Well, we had an argument
, and she took off.” Cole was pacing around the pit area, with everything cleared out the place looked like a ghost town. The single form coming at him from across the track had his heart speeding up in anticipation. He started for her. Her luscious curves and dark hair with green tips gave her away immediately. “Never mind, Mom, I found her. I’ll call you back. Don’t forget to text this number your email.”

“
All right, Chris, make things right. I love you.”

“Bye.” He hung up the phone as Rylan approached. He knew he should have responded to his mother’s sentiment
, but he was a ways off from repeating those words back to her, or anyone, including Rylan.

He ran his eyes over her body, regretting last night in its entirety. He knew he needed to say something
, but she stole his breath. Cole took every inch of her in. Starting with her green Chucks, his gaze trailed up her toned legs to her jean shorts that rested low on her hips. His mouth watered at the smooth sliver of skin revealed between the top of her shorts and the bottom of her t-shirt. Her lime green V-neck t-shirt looked soft and fit her perfectly, shaping her lovely breasts. He lingered on her full soft pink lips; the arch in the bottom one gave her a constant semi-pout. His smile widened as he picked up the diamonds sparkling in the morning sun. Her already big eyes widened further when he finally looked into them.

He wasn’t sure what she saw in his stare
, but something had her shaking her head with a small smirk on her face. “Cole I…”

“I didn’t…” They both started at the same time. Rylan paused
, and Cole took his chance and spit out the most important thing first, “I didn’t fuck her.”

“I know.”

His eyes narrowed at her. How the hell did she know? Letting it go, he moved on to the next important piece of information. “I called my mom. She’s coming to Charleston.” He dropped his head. He wanted to ask her to come too. He was afraid of rejection.

“That’s great
, Cole. I’m glad you called her. Your mom has missed you. I know this isn’t going to automatically make everything okay, but it’s a step in the right direction.” She stepped up to him, throwing her arms around his waist. Burying her face in his chest, she tipped her head up to look at him. He dropped his gaze to her as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders soothing his hands up and down her back. “Heather found me and told me nothing happened.”

“Hmm,” it was the only thing that would come out. “Would you… This is harder than I thought. Hell, Ry would you like to come to South Carolina with us? I’m not done getting things back on track with you. If not
, we won’t see each other until the next race.” He had dropped his head back to look up at the sky before asking her, and he took a huge breath, acknowledging how afraid of rejection he was.

He hadn’t noticed he was trembling until Rylan mentioned it. “You’re shaking. Cole, I would love to come to South Carolina with you
…
”

“But…”

“
But
I have to think of my crew. I won’t have anywhere for them to stay, and nowhere to get the bike ready. I wouldn’t want to impose on you and your men.”

“You’re not imposing. I’m inviting you. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t have space for everyone. There’s room to park the RV, room for the guys to sleep and space for them to work on your bike. Don’t worry about that.”

She twisted out of his arms, pulling her hair up off her neck. Piling it up on top of her head, she turned back toward him letting it fall to her shoulders once again.

Seeing Rylan do that again reminded him of how she used to do it as well. It brought up one of his favorite memories
: the first time they met.

Christopher was walking home from school. It was the second week, and he was already over being in high school. So far, it hadn’t measured up to his dreams. His best friend became a jock and stopped hanging out with him because he was a racer who didn’t play sports. All the girls were too stuck up to talk to a lonely freshman. He was kicking the rocks on the dirt road he used to get from his house to school and back. Most of the road was shaded by huge trees, and a creek ran along side the road. It was peaceful, and it was the place where Christopher practiced riding. He started the bend in the road, looking off to the creek, and not really paying any attention where he was headed.

“Hey!”
a feminine voice hollered.

Christopher snapped his head in the direction of her voice. A girl his age was a few steps in front of him
, holding a rock. She was beautiful, though not in the way the head cheerleader Megan was or in a supermodel-gorgeous way, but her looks had him sucking in a breath. Her green eyes held his with a question of rebellion to them. Her long blonde hair fell down her back, and her chest bounced as she stomped closer to him. She was pissed and looked hot as hell.

“You kicked this and hit me, asshole!” She threw the rock at his head.

Christopher ducked, laughing. “Easy, sweetheart, it was a mistake. I was having a shitty day and just taking my frustration out on some rocks. I didn’t mean to hit you. I didn’t see you.”

“No one ever does. And don’t call me sweetheart. The name’s Rylan.”

Christopher stuck his hand out. “Christopher, but you can call me Chris. I’m really sorry.”

Rylan gathered her hair in her hands and swirled it around before piling it on top of her head to let it fall back down to the middle of her back. Christopher smiled, earning a smile in return. Rylan shook his hand. “I’m new to town
, and I’d rather have a friend before an enemy.” Christopher nodded, and they headed over to a rock by the creek.

“Cole! Have you heard I word I said?” Rylan nudged her shoulder against his.