Jase (Kings of Korruption MC Book 3) (8 page)

We motor down
the road, passing trees, lakes, and fields of corn. The simplicity
of it all is something I feel like I’ve needed. I mean, when was
the last time I’d just gone for a ride to clear my head? Far too
long.

After about
forty minutes on the road, Ellen leans forward to call into my ear,
“I need to get home now.”

I do what I
need to do to get the bike moving in the right direction. Twenty
minutes later, we’re pulling up to her front door. Ellen slides off
the bike, looking slightly bow legged.

I point down
to her thighs. “You need to ride more.”

“
I really do. God, that was exactly what I needed. Things have
been kind of crazy for me lately, and I didn’t know just how much I
needed to escape for a little while.

“
Crazy how? Charlie mentioned the other day that you were
going through some stuff.”

Ellen presses
her lips together and shakes her head before reaching to undo the
chin strap on her helmet. “Don’t you worry about it. Just know that
I really enjoyed myself.”

Sliding off
the bike, I take a step towards her. “Don’t do that. Don’t blow me
off.” Reaching out, I hook my finger under the chin strap and use
it to pull her face to mine, my lips mere inches from hers. “In
case you haven’t noticed, I want to be around you. I want to know
all about you, El. But I can’t do that if you keep pushing me
away.”

“
Mom? What’s going on?”

Our heads whip
to the side, and standing in front of us is one pissed-off looking
kid. I can tell just by looking at him that he’s Ellen’s. He has
her eyes.

“
Bryce! What are you doing home? I thought that you
were—”

“
Jimmy had a doctor’s appointment.” He waves a hand in my
direction. “Who’s this guy?”

I watch as
Ellen stands there, mouth hanging open in shock, so I take a step
forward and stick out my hand. “Hey, man. I’m Jase, a friend of
your mom’s.”

The kid’s eyes
narrow on my outstretched hand longer than necessary before
wrinkling his nose at me in disgust and storming back inside the
house.

Ellen’s hand
flies up to cover her mouth. “Shit. I’m sorry, Jase. I gotta go.”
Whipping the helmet off, she thrusts it into my arms and runs after
her son.

All I can do
is stare after her, one thought running through my head.

Ellen has a
fucking kid?

Ellen

“Bryce, we
need to talk,” I call through his closed bedroom door. The response
I get is the sound of his music being cranked up even louder to
drown out the sound of my voice. I twist the doorknob and find that
it’s locked.

Using the heel
of my hand, I pound on the door loudly. “Bryce Alexander! You open
up this door or I will take it off its hinges!”

Down the hall,
the phone rings, distracting me from screaming at my kid. Worried
that it might be work, I hurry into the living room and scoop up
the receiver from where it lays abandoned on the couch. It’s
Julie.

“
Hello?”

“
Hey, girl. How’s it going?”

“
Not so good at the moment.”

Julie’s voice
rises. “What? Why not? And what is that awful noise? It sounds like
you’re at a concert, for God’s sake.”

I sigh and
move out onto the front step so I can hear myself think. “No
concert. Just Bryce throwing a tantrum.”

“
Bryce?” she says, surprise dripping from her voice. “My
Bryce? I don’t believe it. What’s he so upset about.”

I sigh again,
this time heavier. “Yes, your Bryce. He’s not the angel you think
he is, you know. Anyways, he was supposed to be at his friends
after school until suppertime, so I went—” Crap. I don’t know how
much to tell her. I hadn’t mentioned my recent encounters with
Jase.

“
Spill it, girl,” she says, suddenly all business.

“Fine. I
went for a ride with Jase on his motorcycle.” Julie’s loud squeal
pierces my ear. “When he dropped me off today, we were talking out
on the sidewalk. I think he was about to kiss me, but Bryce walked
out, and he was
not
happy.”

“
Who cares what Bryce thinks? Has he even met
Jase?”

“
No,” I reply, “but that’s not the point. The point is, Bryce
obviously isn’t ready to see me with a man.”

“Oh
please,” she scoffs. “Look, I love Bryce like he’s my own. You know
that. But Bryce isn’t ever going to be ready to see you with a man
because he’s never
seen
you with a
man. He needs to get over it and learn to share his mommy. It’s
different if he doesn’t like him because the guy’s an asshole or
something, but to not like him simply because you do? Well, that’s
just selfish.”

I chew my lip.
She’s right. It’s not that I’ve never dated since Bryce was born,
it’s more that I’d never let Bryce see me dating or meet my dates.
I have no intentions of introducing him to someone until I know
we’re serious. And so far, that hasn’t happened.

“
Look, Ellen. You’re a strong, successful woman. Not only
that, but you’re gorgeous. Any man that meets you is going to want
you. But Jase isn’t just any man. I saw the way he looked at you
that night in the bar. He likes you.”

I roll my
eyes. “Of course he likes me. We’re friends.”

“No, I
mean he
likes
you, likes
you. That man has no interest in being just friends. Let me ask you
a question.”

“
Okay.”

“
Do you like him?”

“
Of course I like him. He’s funny, he’s gorgeous, and he
smiles all the time. But he’s also a slut. I don’t like that part
about him. I have a son to raise, Julie. I don’t want to get caught
up in biker whore drama and regular STD exams.”

Julie laughs.
“Biker whore drama?”

“
I’m serious, Julie! The club has women that hang around at
the clubhouse, without any panties, waiting to “service” the guys.
It’s disgusting. Not only that, but they get all territorial if
someone like me comes around. Charlie and my friend Laynie have had
their share of biker whore drama. It’s a real thing.”

“
Whatever.” She chuckles. “You need to do what makes you
happy, Ellen. And if that means hooking up with Jase on occasion,
so be it. If that means a serious relationship with a sexy man
whose eyes scream “fuck me,” that’s even better. Either way, Bryce
doesn’t need to know the dirty details, and he doesn’t get a say.
He’s your kid. You’re his parent. Besides, Bryce isn’t going to be
around forever, you know. In about seven years, he’s going to go
off to college, meet some chick, and only be back for Thanksgiving
and Christmas. By then, your tits will be saggy and your pubes will
be grey. It’ll be too late to find a man then. You willing to take
that risk?”

“
My pubes will not be grey in seven years. Besides, I’ll shave
them off if they do.”

“
Whatever. Give that poor muscled biker a chance, okay? And
who knows, maybe he can take care of your little Paul problem. Make
him swim with the fishes.”

“
I think that’s what gangsters say, Jules, not
bikers.”

“
You get the picture.”

I can’t help
but laugh. “You’re an ass.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Jase

I
’m leaning over
the partially built motor in the garage, wondering how the fuck I
didn’t know that Ellen had a kid, when Gunner walks in. He stands
in the doorway and looks around at the mess of parts lying all over
the floor. I put down my wrench and grab a rag, standing up as I
attempt to wipe some of the grease from my fingers.

I motion to
the floor. “It doesn’t look like much, but it won’t take long to
have this baby up and runnin’.”

He nods and
takes a step inside. “Looks like you’ve come a long way in just a
couple of days. Didn’t you just start this one?”

I look over at
him, surprised. I haven’t been keeping Gunner up to speed on my
work out here, intending to tell him when my quota was met so he
could see how hard I’ve been working. “Yeah, but I finally got the
rest of the parts in yesterday. It’ll go fairly quick if all goes
according to plan.”

Gunner walks
over to the motor and checks out the different parts, kneeling low
to get a better look. His finger runs along one of the cylinder
heads. “She’s gonna be a fast one,” he declares.

“
I’m countin’ on it.”

He stands and
heads over to the work bench where he leans his large frame against
it. Gunner is a big man, and his presence in the room, though
welcome, is still commanding. “Reaper told me you sold your first
bike.”

I toss the rag
on the pile in the corner. “Looks like Reaper doesn’t know when to
mind his own business.”

Gunner
chuckles. “He told me because he thinks I’m being a dick about all
this. He’s proud of you, and wanted me to know.”

“
He said that?” I ask in disbelief.

“
Fuck no. He just told me that you already sold a bike, and
that it was pretty fuckin’ amazing. Said you would’ve kept it for
yourself, but were tryin’ to prove somethin’ to me. Told me I was
too hard on you.”

“
We are talking about Reaper here, right? Big, hairy fucker,
with hands the size of dinner plates?” I can’t imagine that grumpy
bastard saying any of that in my defense.

“
Yeah. Fucked with my head too.”

I don’t say
anything. What is there to say?

“
Look, Jase. I want you to know that I think you’re an
incredible mechanic. I’ve seen your work, and it’s always the best.
I’m proud of you too.” My chest gets tight as I stare back at him.
“I know your old man didn’t have much to do with raising you, and
you had to figure out a lot of shit on your own. I watched you grow
up, and I know it wasn’t easy for you. I just wanted you to know
that I see you workin’ your ass off out here, and I see how hard
you’re tryin’ to prove me wrong. Keep it up.”

I blink. “I
plan on it.”

He grins. “I
know you do. And I’m countin’ on you to prove my ass wrong.”

His phone
rings. He pulls it from his pocket and grumbles down at the number
before tapping the screen. “Yeah?” I watch as his expression goes
from annoyed to alert, then settles on cold and angry. With his
brows drawn low, he barks into the phone, “When?”

His jaw ticks
as he listens to the caller. “Get them back here. I’ll call
Reaper.”

With that, he
shoves the phone back in his pocket and stalks towards the door.
Just as he’s about to leave, he turns to me. “Need you at the
clubhouse in fifteen minutes. Send out a text and let the others
know, and tell them it’s an emergency.” He jams his fingers through
his hair. “Fuck,” he shouts. “I was supposed to go to my daughter’s
tonight. She’s gonna fuckin’ kill me. It was a big deal for
her.”

“
Sorry, Prez,” I murmer, not sure what’s going on. He waves me
off and stalks across the parking lot to the clubhouse. I activate
my phone and send out a group text to every brother, telling them
to get their asses back to base.

Ellen

I’m at work,
enjoying my lunch in the break room when my phone rings. It’s an
unknown number. I hesitate, wondering if I should answer it, or let
it go straight to voicemail. Even with the impending court date
tomorrow, I still have to screen my calls at all hours of the
day.

Paul won’t
stop. I never answer his calls, but he leaves messages for Bryce,
as if Bryce is hearing the messages himself. They’re long, and
unbelievably creepy.