My heart squeezed.
For the first time in my life, seeing my hometown didn’t make me feel relieved.It made me nervous.The closer we got, the more it felt like returning to enemy territory.
The bike rolled past familiar exits.Familiar businesses.Familiar neighborhoods.
Everything looked the same, and none of it felt the same.
The illusion was gone.
I knew what lived underneath it now.
Eventually, we reached downtown, and the streets were quieter than normal.
Most people had gone home hours ago, but a few bars still had lights on.A handful of people wandered the sidewalks while the city was settled into the strange calm that only happened after midnight.
State Street appeared ahead.The familiar storefronts.The restaurants.The bars.The college-town energy that somehow survives at every hour of the day.
The bike turned until we went a few more blocks, and then into an alley, into a parking area behind the clubhouse.
Wheels slowed, and Nugget pulled in beside us.
I climbed off the bike, and my legs immediately protested.
Two hours riding wasn’t exactly comfortable.Before I could fully straighten, a door opened and three men stepped outside.
All of them wore cuts and looked dangerous.Not in a criminal way, more in a don’t-start-problems-you-can’t-finish kind of way.
The first one had a patch that immediately caught my attention.
Prez.
President.The guy in charge.
Twister.The name stitched onto his cut matched what I’d already figured out.
Beside him stood Swift and Gramps.All three of them looked tired.Really tired.The kind of tired that came from a long night.Considering someone had shot up their clubhouse earlier, that made sense.
Twister looked directly at Wheels.“What the hell took so long?”
Wheels pulled off his helmet.“Goldie’s a pretty good driver.”
I blinked.What?
He pointed toward me.“Think she should consider a career change.Race car driver, maybe.”
Nugget laughed.“Absolutely.”
I stared at both of them.
“I hate both of you.”
“See?”Wheels said.“Natural competitor.”
Twister rubbed a hand down his face.Even he looked like he was trying not to laugh.
The tension eased slightly.
Then Twister’s attention shifted to me.He stepped forward and held out his hand.“Twister.”
