Crash (Black Ice MC Novella Book 2) (9 page)

“I’m going to clean up.
 
Make yourself at home.”

Danni nodded, eyeing the door.
 
Cruz caught her.

“Don’t fucking go anywhere.
 
Just sit your ass on the couch and watch this shitty TV.
 
When I get out of the shower, I’ll call Doc and see how it’s going.
 
As soon as they’re done, I’ll take you back.”

He went into the bathroom and closed the door, but it didn’t latch and came back open a few inches.
 
From the couch, she could see Cruz, but his back was to her.
 
He took off his dirty, bloody t-shirt and dropped it to the floor.
 
His torso under the shirt was a lighter tan from lots of time in sun on a motorcycle in a vest.

She could see scars down his back.
 
Old scars, faded, but definitely still there.
 
They were paler still on his skin.
 
She had no idea what they were from, but guessed that a life of violence in motorcycle gangs was the cause.
 
She wondered how many scars Mercer was going to have now.
 
He had one along his rib cage, but she’d never thought much about it.
 
It had always been there, at least since he’d come back to her as an adult.
 
It was just a part of who he was.
 
Brown hair, brown eyes, big scar.
 
Now she wondered where it came from.
 
She felt disappointed in herself never asking about it.
 
It was a part of his history and she had never even bothered to find out.

There was a thud of clothes hitting the floor in the bathroom.
 
Danni instinctively looked over and saw that Cruz had stepped out of his jeans and tossed them to the floor.
 
His back was to her and he was wearing deep blue boxer briefs.
 
Then he pulled them down and Danni was looking at his tight ass.
 
Cruz turned and realized the door had come open, then saw Danni staring.
 
A small grin came over his face, then he shut the door.
 

After a while, Danni heard the water shut off and Cruz came out wearing a towel.
 
He said, “I need to get dressed.
 
Can you turn around or close your eyes or something?”

“Seriously?
 
Get dressed in the bedroom,” she said.

“There’s only this room and the bathroom and all my clothes are out here.”

Danni closed her eyes and put her hand up to ensure she didn’t see anything.

“Unless you want another look,” teased Cruz.

“Oh come on!
 
I was staring into space and then your ass was there.”

“Sure,” said Cruz.
 
Danni could hear the smile in his voice.

She heard the towel drop, and even though she couldn’t see anything, Danni was very aware he was in the room naked with her.
 
She kept her arms close to her body, as if she might accidentally reach out and touch something.

He said it was fine to look, but she still opened her eyes slowly.
 
He was wearing a new pair of jeans, but was still shirtless, bent over, and digging through a hamper looking for one.

“How’d you get those scars?” she asked.

Still looking for clothes, he said, “My father thought a belt was better than talking.”

Danni was shocked.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I figured it was from an accident or a fight.
 
I didn’t…”

“He’s dead now.
 
World’s better off.”
 
He found a shirt and pulled it on.
 
It had the logo of a band Danni had never heard of.
 
He found a pair socks as well, and as he was pulling on his boots, he added, “That’s how I came to know Doc.
 
He was always Uncle Larry to me.
 
He and my old man were in an MC together out in Southern California.
 
My old man was a mean son of a bitch.
 
He’d get drunk and start beatin’ the hell outta me.”

“Sorry,” said Danni.
 
She didn’t want to keep saying “sorry,” but she didn’t know what else to say.
 
She hadn’t been through anything like that.
 
Her parents had been loving, even if they weren’t the most patient.

A sad smile came over his face.
 
“It’s OK, really.
 
It was a long time ago.”

“It can still hurt,” said Danni.

Cruz didn’t say anything.
 
He went to the fridge and pulled out a couple of beers.
 
He opened them and handed one to Danni as he made a call.
 
He hung up without saying anything.

“Doc’s not answering.
 
Must still be busy.
 
Mercer’s going to be OK.
 
He was hurt, but he’s getting attention now.”

Danni took drink of beer.
 
“You don’t think he’s... he’s going to…”

“No, he’s not going to die.
 
He would’ve died if the Rattlers had kept at him, or he might have died if he hadn’t gotten back to the club in time, but we acted fast.”

“You mean you acted fast.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“Seems like you’re always showing up in time.”

Cruz got a strange look on his face. “Guess I’m just lucky.”
 
He jumped up from the couch. “Let’s get out of here.
 
Take our mind off things.
 
No sense in in sitting around worrying.”

As they walked from the small apartment back to the car, Danni got the feeling Cruz was avoiding something, but she couldn’t tell what.
 
His normal brashness seemed to have turned to embarrassment about coming to the rescue.

They got into the car.
 
Danni was again in the passenger seat with Cruz behind the wheel.
 
They drove out east, farther than Danni had been before.
 
They didn’t talk.
 
Instead of being awkward and strange, Danni found it peaceful and calming.
 
She had to admit Cruz was growing on her.
 
Some of that MC attitude was fading.
 
Danni had to admit that underneath it all, he was actually kind of charming.

They left the limits of town and followed the state highway a few miles out.
 
The sun was setting behind them and the sky before them was darkening.
 
Not too far out, Danni could make out a large structure, but the closer they got, the more she realized it was several small groupings.
 
Cruz slowed and turned into an old parking lot with most of the gravel washed away.
 

They had pulled into an abandoned carnival.
 
From the car, Danni could see that the rides were peeling and rusting, the tents were full of holes and falling down.
 

“What is this place?” she asked, as they got out of the car.

“I found this when I was out riding one day.
 
Just sitting here falling apart.
 
I asked some people what it was and they said it belonged to this guy by the name of Carl Benson.
 
He owned this traveling carnival, used to travel all around the country with it.
 
One day he decided to stay here.
 
Nobody really knows why, but he made the place permanent right here.”

“What happened?” asked Danni.

“People stopped coming.
 
The novelty wore off, maybe.
 
I guess that’s why they move, no one wants to go to them year round.”

They walked inside the gates.
 
The place had a creepy feel to it, like a haunted house, but Danni was fascinated.
 
Nothing had been taken down or removed.
 
It looked as though all the people had just disappeared from it all at once instead of shutting down over time.

Cruz ran his hand along the Tilt-a-Whirl.
 
He stared into space, remembering something, lost in thought.

“I took a girl to a place like this once,” he mused.

He kept running his hand over the rusted metal.
 
Danni wasn’t sure why he was telling this story, but didn’t want to interrupt.
 
It seemed important to him.
 

“I never felt normal.
 
Dad was a biker and a drunk.
 
Mom left when I was little, don’t know if she’s alive or dead.
 
Don’t really care.
 
I was sixteen years old and I brought her to the carnival on a date.
 
Her name was Georgia.
 
We rode some rides, ate some corn dogs.
 
We were just a couple of kids, doing kid things.”

There was more silence until Danni asked, “What happened to her?”

“We went out a few times.
 
Her parents were nervous because I was a poor kid living in bad part of town.
 
Everyone knew my old man was in a gang.”

“So they made you split up?”

A wry grin crossed his face.
 
“No, believe it or not.
 
Her parents thought everyone should get a chance.
 
They treated me good when I came around, and I did my best to respect them and their daughter.”

He picked up a rock and threw it against a small metal box.
 
There was just enough paint on the side to still read the word “Snacks.”

Cruz continued, “No, we stayed together until I couldn’t explain away my bruises anymore.
 
At first I said I got into a fight at school or I fell, something like that, but eventually they figured out what was up and made Georgia stop seeing me.
 
Said they couldn’t have her around that kind of violence.
 
I understood.
 
I knew they were right.
 
No matter how good I tried to be, I’d never escape where I came from.”

He threw another rock, harder this time.
 
It hit the building with a loud clang.

“That’s why when my old man told me to join up with the MC, I did.
 
I hated it because he was there, but I did it anyway.
 
As soon as he died, I left, but it turns out there was nothing out there for me but more motorcycles.”

Danni put her hand on Cruz’s shoulder.
 
He didn’t move he just kept staring at the carnival rides, though Danni didn’t think he was really looking at them.
 
He was staring through them, piercing time and staring into the past, back to a place where his potential was greater, not locked into a life he’d never wanted.
 
His hand reached out and grabber hers.
 
She didn’t resist.

“You can leave, you know,” said Danni.
 
“Your father’s gone.
 
Try something else and see what you’re good at.”

He shook his head.
 
“This is what I’m good at.
 
This is all I’ve ever known.”

He turned and grabbed her.
 
Before she knew what was happening
,
his lips were on hers.
 
Her hands slid up his back as his tongue slipped into her mouth.
 
They kissed passionately until Cruz’s phone rang.
 
They broke apart and he answered it.

“Cruz here.
 
Yeah.
 
OK, we’re on our way.”

“Mercer’s coming out of it.
 
He wants to see us.”

It hit Danni what had just happened.
 

“Oh my God.
 
What did we do?
 
Jesus, what is wrong with me?
 
My boyfriend is fighting for his life and I’m making out with some other guy.”

“It was an accident,” said Cruz.
 
“We weren’t thinking.”

They started back towards the car.

“Goddamn right we weren’t thinking.
 
I’m such an asshole,” she said.

“Hey, if you’re an asshole, so am I,” protested Cruz.

“No arguments here.”

They got into the car and sped back to town, neither of them saying a word.
 
Danni hadn’t meant to treat Cruz that way, but she was mad and disappointed in herself, so she took it out on him because it was easy and he was around.
 
The truth was, if it hadn’t been Cruz she kissed, it might’ve been someone else.
 

Danni had been lonely since moving to Rawlins, and even though she knew Mercer was busy getting the club running again, being apart from him so much had taken its toll.
 
It wasn’t a lack of sex, even though Danni wanted more, it was the emotional distance Mercer had put between them.
 
Moving was hard enough, but losing her anchor had been too much.
 
She had felt lost, and Cruz, despite what Danni had thought of him in the beginning, was actually a decent guy with more depth than she had given him credit for.
 

She put it out of her head for now.
 
Later, she would need to deal with it, but for now she just wanted to make sure Mercer was safe.

And as she soon found out, he was safe.
 
Safe, but looking worse off than she had ever seen him.
 
He was pale and covered in dried blood.
 
He had black stitches running up his arm and across his torso.
 
He was still lying on the kitchen island when Danni came in.
 
She stood beside him, doing everything she could to hold back the tears.
 
He put his good arm around her.

“The doctor said he can go home,” said Doc.
 
“Whenever you’re ready to take him.”