Cole (The Ride Series) (11 page)

“Okay,” she mumbled, and my heart
broke for how crestfallen she seemed.

We walked silently for a while as I
let her collect her thoughts. “What happened?” I asked finally.

“Nothing new since I talked to you
earlier--he basically didn’t acknowledge me all night,” she sighed, and I could
hear the quaver in her voice. “It was so embarrassing,” she groaned. “I feel
like such an idiot! I thought with how great the other night was and with him
inviting me tonight that something was happening between us. God, I sound like
such a cliché,” she groaned again.

“You’re not an idiot or a cliché,
sweetie,” I assured her as we neared Cole’s place. “I would have thought the
same thing. It sounds like maybe he’s just a bit clueless and closed off,” I added.

“I just felt so exposed all night,
vulnerable. And you know how I hate that.”

“I do,” I agreed, using the key Cole
had given me to let us into his place. I waved briefly to Hank to let him know
we were okay.

“Nice place,” she said distractedly as
we put our purses down.

I grabbed us two beers from the fridge
and we sat on the couch. “Yeah,” I agreed, looking around in appreciation. He
clearly took care of his home, kept it neat for a bachelor.

“So what are you going to do?” I asked
her quietly as she slouched on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee
table.

“Nothing to be done except to assume that
I was just another one-night stand and that I won’t hear from him again. I’ll
be damned if I’m
gonna
reach
out to him,” she said with a grimace.

“Good for you.”

“I just really liked him, you know?”
she practically whispered. “I know you warned me, but I haven’t felt that
excited about a guy in a long time. He was different than what I usually go for,
but I liked it. I liked him.”

“I know,” I replied sympathetically as
her phone dinged.

“What the fuck?” she asked, her brows
knitted when she looked at the text and then showed it to me.

“Where’d you go?” It read from Sal.

I couldn’t help but laugh, but I bit
my lip when she glared at me. “Clearly clueless sweetie,” I laughed again.

“God, is he serious?” she exclaimed. “I
was at his house for
four
hours. He
barely talked to me, but then twenty minutes after I leave he wants to know
where I went! He’s probably just bummed he’s not getting any tonight,” she
glowered.

“Maybe, maybe not.” I shrugged. “How
are you going to play it?” I wondered, genuinely curious.

She bit her lip thinking for a minute
before typing out a response and showing it to me.

“A four hour brush off was more than
enough for me. Have a good one.”

I smiled. Kat and I certainly didn’t
lack in the feisty department.

“Well at least you know he noticed
where you were even if he wasn’t talking to you,” I offered, trying not to
laugh.

She snorted. “Well he’ll have to do a
hell of a lot better than that.”

“For sure,” I agreed readily.

We sat drinking our beers and chatting
for a while. Kat’s mood had lightened some with the knowledge that he at least
cared that she’d left, and we giggled and talked as we always did.

We heard the rumble of bikes not an
hour later. “Hmm, that’s more than one bike,” I mused.

Kat’s eyes widened in shock and we
looked at each other, listening.

“Maybe he pulled his head out of his
ass,” I said as I laughed.

Sure enough, Cole and Sal walked
through the door seconds later. I took a moment to study Sal. I wondered what
in his history made him so aloof with women. I couldn’t help but notice again
how handsome he was. I was glad to see that he only had eyes for my girl as he
walked into the room.

“Let’s talk outside,” he rumbled at
Kat. Obviously bossiness ran rampant in this club.

“Fine,” she huffed with irritation.
She was
gonna
make him work for it for sure. She
followed him out front and I bit my lip to stop from smiling.

“What’s
goin
’
on there?” Cole asked gruffly, sitting down next to me and hauling me into his
lap to kiss my neck.

“He’s
gonna
have to step it up if he likes her,” I replied with a shrug.

“Sal’s not used to
havin
’
to work for it,” he replied immediately.

“Well neither are you,” I pointed out
with a small smile.

“Point taken,” he muttered, making me
laugh outright.

“Seen you laugh so much tonight,” he
observed, his expression soft as he regarded me.

“I’m happy.” I shrugged.

“Glad to hear it,” he replied quietly.

“I feel like, when I’m with you that I
have a place in any given moment – wherever we are,” I admitted softly, hoping
I wouldn’t freak him out. “Thank you for that,” I said.

His eyes flared as his grip around my
waist tightened and I saw raw emotion flash across his face.

I leaned in and kissed him
passionately,
unable to contain myself despite the risk that
Sal and Kat could walk back in at any moment.

“Bed,” Cole said gruffly, standing
with me still in his lap and beginning to carry me out of the room.

“But Sal and Kat…” I protested.

“They’ll figure it out,” he cut me
off.

I giggled helplessly at his exuberance
as he threw me on the bed and kicked the door shut.

“Oh God, Cole,” I breathed sometime
later as he pounded into me, his mouth at my neck. I could barely feel my limbs
as I clung to him. He bit my shoulder gently and it was enough to hurl me over
the edge, with him following shortly thereafter.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his voice deep and
strained as he put some of his weight on me. I loved the feeling of his strong
body over mine and I squeezed him tighter still. I was so tempted to let the
words slip that I knew to be true, but I held them in.

“They’re gone right?” I asked quietly
after a few moments.

Cole burst out laughing and rolled off
of me. “Yeah babe, you didn’t hear Sal’s bike?”

“I don’t think I would have heard a
marching band,” I muttered. He continued to chuckle and pulled me to his chest
as he lay on his back, still breathing hard.

“My pop agreed to meet with Henry
tomorrow,” he informed me after we’d been quiet for a while. His fingers
stroked through my long hair leisurely.

“Good,” I replied simply. “Despite
everything, I still trust Henry and it would seem that I have a good sense for
these things,” I added.

“So it would seem,” he agreed, kissing
my head briefly.

“What was that situation with that Parker
guy tonight?” I asked curiously.

He sighed. “Allen Parker. The guy is a
worm. He used to hang around more, we even thought at one point that he’d
become a prospect. But he screwed Axel’s girl at the time… big mistake. Then he
tried to skim off the top of one of the projects we gave him. He hasn’t been
welcome since then,” he stated.

“Yeah but why do you have such an
issue with him?” I pressed, knowing that wasn’t the whole story.

“I’m just pissed that I was a poor
judge of character. I liked the guy, trusted him even. My pop had my balls for
vouching for him,” he grumbled.

“Ah,” I nodded, finally understanding.
All of the Sinners had always prided themselves on being able to judge character.
Trust was a huge variable. If you were wrong about it, or about someone, you
could be seriously fucked. “It’s happened to all of us,” I said and shrugged,
hoping he’d brush it off.

“Yeah,” he agreed. I could tell he was
deep in thought.

I left him to it and got up to get
ready for bed, padding over to the bathroom. I’d packed a few overnight
essentials just in case, and I was grateful to be able to wash my face and
brush my teeth.

After I crawled back in bed with Cole,
he pulled my back to his front, he wrapped his arm around my waist, and we both
fell asleep.

Chapter Eight

Cole surprised me the next morning by
asking me to come to the club with him after we finished breakfast. “I want to
keep you close,” he said simply when I asked why.

“Okay,” I agreed, grateful that I
brought a change of clothes with me.

We hopped on his bike and I was
surprised at how many of the guys were there, including Sal. I was thrilled
when I saw Kat, too.

I hugged her. “It’s a big deal he
brought you here you know,” I whispered in her ear.

“I know,” she replied.

“You okay to hang out while we meet?”
Cole wanted to know.

“Yeah, we’ll catch some rays,” I said
as I smiled at him. He leaned down to kiss me tenderly. God, he was awesome. I
couldn’t believe my badass biker was willing to be openly affectionate with me
in front of his guys. My stereotypes definitely didn’t apply to him, in most
ways anyway.

Kat and I got comfortable on the
chairs out front where there was more sun, and sunned ourselves as the guys
took care of business inside.

“So tell me everything,” I demanded,
my face upturned to the sun as I sighed in contentment. It was a beautiful day
and I was in love. Couldn’t get much better than that.

“He apologized,” she said. “Sincerely,”
she added when I looked over at her. “I don’t think he realized what an ass he
was being.”

“Told you.” I grinned.

“He’s got some work to do but I think
he likes me, at least enough to apologize, which I have the feeling he’s not
used to doing,” she said with a smirk.

“Definitely not,” I said, as a black
SUV with tinted windows came screeching to a halt at the curb.

“Let’s go inside,” I said immediately
as the hair rose at the back of my neck. “Go!” I shouted more desperately when
I saw Jake and two other men jump out of the car and race toward us.

We were up and running for the doors
of the club when a strong arm wrapped around me and I saw Victor fucking Cross
grab Kat.

“No not her!” I screamed angrily as
they dragged us quickly to the SUV. I couldn’t believe they had the balls to
snatch us in front of the Knights’ headquarters. Clearly they were sending a
message.

“Cole!” I screamed as loud as I could
as I kicked and struggled with everything I was worth. I was shoved into the
backseat with Kat. I saw Cole and the rest of the guys come hurtling out of the
doors, murder in their faces as we tore off from the curb.

“Why the fuck did you take her?” Jake
demanded gesturing to Kat, his eyes blazing as the SUV swerved through traffic.
I didn’t recognize the driver. It had been eight years since I’d set eyes on
Jake and the years had not been kind. His dark, wavy hair was now shaved close
to his head, making his already hollow face look more so. His dark brown eyes
looked wild, and
they were framed by dark circles
as
he glanced around the truck with a hysteria that I’d never seen him exhibit. He
was either on something or was just that deranged. There was nothing left of
the Jake I remembered from my youth, though that fact had already been
confirmed during our last encounter.

“I don’t know, she was just there so I
grabbed her,” Victor replied as both men tried to subdue us. Neither Kat nor I
was making that easy, as I bit down hard on Jake’s forearm.

“Mother fucking bitch!” he bellowed,
punching me hard in the face. Kat screamed.

Damn that hurt. Especially with that
fucking ring he was wearing. I saw stars briefly but it only served to piss me
off more. “Do you have a fucking death wish?” I screeched.

“Not as much as you do,” Jake sneered.
“Now calm the fuck down,” he barked.

“Let Kat go, she has no part in this,”
I demanded.

“She does now,” he answered sharply.

Fuck.

I heard the roar of Harleys behind us
and realized that Jake really had lost his mind. How had he figured he’d snatch
us without swift and violent retribution? I hadn’t known Cole long, but I knew
Jake would be lucky to escape with his life after this stunt. You did not fuck
with another man’s woman, especially on his turf.

“You tell your new boy toy that this
is only a taste of what I’m going to do,” Jake demanded, pulling my already
bruised face close to his. “You tell him they better start giving me some
goddamn respect,” he added before he kissed me roughly on the mouth. I fought
back the urge to gag. “Missed you babe, look forward to having you back where
you belong,” he said with a cruel smile. “But until then…” he trailed off as
the door was swung open.

My heart raced as I realized his
intention--what his intention had been all along. This was simply a stunt
designed to scare me and fuck with the Knights, and it was one that Kat and I
would pay for with blood. “Don’t toss ‘
em
too hard
Vic, I need her in one piece,” Jake called casually as Vic made a grab for Kat
and hauled her out of the SUV to the pavement. I heard her scream and bit back
a sob, caring far less what happened to me. Kat was just an innocent bystander
in this mess.

“I hate your fucking guts,” I seethed
while looking at Jake straight on.

“We’ll see,” he said, watching as I
met the same fate as my best friend.

Pain seared over the exposed skin of
my legs and arms as the pavement came cruelly up to meet me. It sliced through
my hip and side as I came skidding to a painful halt. The SUV had slowed some
as we were tossed out, but not enough to prevent injury. I heard a screech of
tires and voices shouting as I tried to ascertain if I was still in one piece.

“Mother fucker!” I heard Cole roar as
he came crashing to my side.

“Kat?” I asked desperately.

“She’s okay,” he bit out, looking down
at me with an expression so angry I could barely see the blue of his eyes.

“Where else are you hurt?” he demanded,
his eyes taking a quick survey of my body. “Is anything broken?”

“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly.
“Just give me a second.” I breathed, lying on my back looking up at the sky. My
whole body throbbed, it was impossible to tell what kind of state I was really
in.

“Where’s Kat?” I asked after her
again.

“She’s sitting up, Sal’s with her.
She’s okay baby,” he soothed, his voice gruff with emotion.

I nodded as tears welled up in my
eyes. “It’s my fault,” I said hoarsely, feeling so insanely guilty for what had
happened to her.

“Baby, this shit is not your fault,”
he said angrily. “Put that out of your head and let’s focus on getting you up
off the road okay?” he asked.

I nodded, glancing around. We were out
in the middle of nowhere. Jake’s SUV had quickly and purposefully headed
directly out of town, not hard to do since the club was already on the
outskirts.

“Do you need an ambulance?” he asked,
his voice tight with worry.

“I don’t think so,” I said as I shook
my head. I took a deep breath and made an effort to sit up. Cole brought his
hand to the back of my head helping me carefully. I sat up looking around
dazedly until I located Kat, sitting not fifteen feet away. Sal was hunched
over her but she looked okay. I sighed in relief.

“Pop’s
bringin
’
the truck, then we’re going to the hospital,” Cole said firmly.

“I think I’m okay,” I argued.

“Baby, I don’t want to freak you out,
but you’re in shock. Trust me we need to go to the hospital,” he answered
firmly.

I squinted up to look at him, the sun
streaming behind his emotion stricken face. “Okay,” I agreed quietly.

We were soon surrounded by Harley’s
and Cal’s SUV.

“Come on, baby,” Cole coaxed, picking
me up off the ground and carrying me carefully in his arms to the backseat. Sal
was depositing Kat gently in on the other side.

“Shit, we’re back in another SUV,” I
groaned over to Kat. And despite ourselves we both burst out laughing. Maybe we
were both just completely hysterical, or maybe it was just really funny. Cole
looked at me like I had completely lost it before he shut the door.

“That mother fucker is dead, do you
hear me?” I heard him demand of his father. The words were muffled through the
door but there was no mistaking his rage.

“Not
disputin
’
that shit, son, but you need to lock yourself down,” Cal ordered.

“Did you see her?” Cole roared. “Did
you fucking see her face?”

I winced at the raw emotion in his
voice.

“I said, lock that shit down. Come
here,” Cal commanded, pulling Cole out of hearing distance.

Kat and I regarded each other for a
moment.

“If you even think of saying you’re
sorry I’ll blacken your other eye,” she warned tersely as Sal hopped up into
the passenger side. “This isn’t your fault,” she reached a hand over to mine,
squeezing gently. “Love you, Scar.”

I simply nodded swallowing back my
tears, unable to speak, and laid my head back and closed my eyes. The pain was
getting worse now that the shock was wearing off. My skin felt like it had been
torn off in certain places and my face and joints throbbed.

Cole returned quickly and hopped into
the driver’s seat, peeling out and gunning it for the hospital.

“What’s the story?” I asked hoarsely.

“Story?” Cole asked, peering at me
through the rearview mirror. Even in my state I had to admire the color of his
eyes as they locked with mine.

“Well, I assume telling the hospital
that a rival motorcycle club kidnapped us and threw us from a moving vehicle is
out,” I replied dryly.

“Right, that story,” Cole muttered.

“We’ll just tell them we were fucking
around trying to learn how to ride motorcycles and ditched them,” Kat answered,
her voice weak with pain.

Sal twisted in his seat to look at
her, his face full of concern, “What about her face?” he asked turning to look
at me briefly before his eyes found Kat again.

“Best to stick with one story,” I
said, my own voice growing more and more quiet. “They won’t push too hard.” I
sighed.

“How do you know so much about this?”
Cole barked at me. He clearly had a fairly loose hold on himself.

“You have got to chill, Bud,” Sal said
quietly but firmly.

The lump rose again in my throat at
what my past was doing to the people dearest to me. Cole was clearly torn up
inside while Kat was quite literally torn up. I gazed out the window thinking
about how much easier it would be if I just removed myself from both of their
lives. I was confident that with me out of the picture, any twisted interest
Jake had taken would fall to the wayside.

Cole nodded briefly, his jaw set
tightly and the rest of the short drive was silent.

Both Sal and Cole carried us into the
emergency room while barking orders at the staff. Words were exchanged, but I
was in too much pain and too overwhelmed by the day to pay attention.
Everything went relatively smoothly until the nurses asked Cole to leave the
room.

“I’m not
leavin
’,”
he scowled with his feet planted firmly, arms crossed over his formidable
chest.

“Baby, it’s okay,” I assured him. “I’m
sure these nice women are just doing their jobs,” I said quietly from the bed
they placed me in. I knew they just wanted to question me in private about my
story, something I was sure from Cole’s expression that he knew as well. I also
felt it prudent that he didn’t witness the extent of my injuries, at least not
at the moment, when he clearly didn’t have a handle on his anger. He was still
visibly seething, which wasn’t helping the nurses to believe my story.

“Fine, ten minutes. No more,” he said
firmly before turning on his heel and stalking off.

The nurse turned to me, concern in her
eyes as she began to gingerly remove my clothing with scissors. They already gave
me something for the pain and I focused on the ceiling, not wanting to see the
extent of my injuries.

“Are you safe at home?” she asked
quietly when she had me situated with a gown covering my naked body. “You can
tell me, I swear it won’t get back to him,” she added. Her eyes brimmed with
sincerity, and I knew had the situation called for it that I would have trusted
her.

I turned to her with a small smile. “I
promise I am. I was just reckless and he worries about me,” I assured her. “I
have no doubt I’d be safe to confide in you, but there’s no need.” I smiled and
gave her hand a small squeeze. She studied me for a moment before nodding
briefly. I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not. If I
was
her I probably wouldn’t given the circumstances.

After that, Cole never left my side.
He kept a forced lid on his anger when the doctor discussed how to care for the
terrible road rash that I sustained on my left side, but he didn’t lose it. I
knew he wanted to, but he didn’t. Even after everything Jake had done to me, I
still couldn’t believe that the boy I’d lost my virginity to was capable of
such violence against me. He had no compassion, no remorse, and no soul. It was
true that I was never in love with him, but I certainly felt something for him
– we’d known each other our entire lives. And now I was just a vessel of
vengeance in his sick mind. He wanted to hurt me badly, but even worse, he
wanted to hurt the people I cared about. I was grateful when they got me into a
hospital bed, administering pain medication that quickly knocked me out. I
needed a mental and physical break from it all.