Page 64 of Contracted to the Bikers

I swallow. Part of me, a bigger part than I expected, agrees. Should I throw caution to the wind? I open my mouth to respond.

My phone rings. The sharp, abrupt sound cuts clean through the moment. Reality snaps back into place. I tear my gaze from Rook’s, toward the sound. With a sigh, I pull my cell from the blanket beside me, glancing at the screen. My stomach tightens. “It’s Alvarez,” I say.

Rook’s expression shifts immediately, the softness fading into focus. “Take it.” Anyone else I could have ignored, but not this.

I nod, pushing myself up, brushing sand from my hands as I step away from the blanket, away from the warmth of the moment, toward something colder. The future can wait.

I answer the call. “Alvarez?”

Chapter 25

Boone

The engine dies with a low, rattling growl beneath me, the vibration fading through the bike’s frame and into the gravel beneath the tires. For a second, everything feels still in that strange way it only does after a long ride, like my body hasn’t quite caught up with the fact that we’ve stopped moving.

I swing my leg over the bike and plant my boots on the ground, rolling my shoulders once as the tension from the ride loosens in slow increments. The late afternoon heat lingers, but it’s softer now, the sun dipping lower, casting long shadows across the compound.

I look at Jessy, fast asleep in the sidecar, lulled by the motion of the drive, unafraid and fearless. Her small body is curled into itself, helmet tipped slightly forward, chin tucked down in that way kids do when they fall asleep somewhere they weren’t supposed to.

The tightness in my chest loosens as I watch her innocent, sleeping face. I crouch beside the sidecar, my movements slow, careful, like any sudden shift might break her fragile, peaceful slumber.

“Come on, kiddo,” I murmur softly, even though I know she won’t wake.

I slide my hands under her, one at her back, the other beneath her knees, lifting her out in one smooth motion. She shifts slightly against me, her arms instinctively curling inward, her head dropping against my shoulder. So trusting. That feeling never gets old.

Behind me, I hear Cruz cut his engine, the sharp, familiar sound fading into silence. Gravel crunches under his boots as he dismounts, and a second later I hear Sloane’s soft laugh.

“She didn’t even stir,” Cruz says, looking at Jessy.

“She’s exhausted,” Sloane replies, her voice warm, threaded with something softer now that I don’t hear as often as I used to. She’s relaxed.

I glance over my shoulder. Sloane’s just swung off the back of Cruz’s bike, one hand still resting lightly on his shoulder for balance, the other pushing her hair back from her face. The sun has left its mark on her skin, a faint flush across her cheeks, the bridge of her nose just touched with pink, her shoulders slightly warmer in tone where the sun caught her despite the sunscreen.

She looks lighter. Not untouched by everything we’ve been through, but not weighed down by it either. Alive. Happy. Relaxed in a way I haven’t seen in weeks.

Cruz grins at her. “You’re getting good on the back,” he says. “Couple more rides, and we’ll have you riding your own.”

She huffs a soft laugh, raising an eyebrow. “That’s optimistic.”

“It’s true,” he insists. “You’re a natural.”

She glances between him and Rook, who’s just cutting his engine a few feet ahead of us, already scanning the compound out of habit. “I don’t know about that,” she says. “I’m still pretty sure I’m going to fall off and die, especially when I ride with you.”

Cruz chuckles, well aware of his tendency to ride too fast. “You won’t,” Cruz says easily.

“We’ll teach you,” Rook adds, his voice calm, certain.

Sloane’s eyes flick to him, then back to Cruz, and something like excitement sparks there beneath the hesitation. “Okay, but I am a little terrified,” she admits.

“Good,” Cruz says. “Makes it more fun.”

She laughs again, shaking her head. “Of course you’d say that.”

I shift Jessy slightly in my arms, adjusting her weight so she settles more comfortably against me, her breath warm against my neck.

“This one will be riding before you know it,” I say quietly. “Never known a kid so unafraid in the sidecar.”

Sloane’s gaze softens when it lands on Jessy. “I don’t doubt that.”