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Chapter Six
Landon
I’ve been trying my best to distract Ricki from everything going on with her dad and what she wanted to figure out about her mom. It hasn’t been easy, especially with her dad running his mouth all over town looking for Ricki.
He acts like the doting father, who just wants his little girl home, but most people can see straight through that bullshit. I pull my bike up to our designated spot in the school parking lot, helping Ricki off my bike as my brothers pull up beside us. Half of the brothers are helping their girls off their bikes, while the other half are pushing and laughing with each other. I look at Alec and give a small nod, indicating I need to talk to him.
“I’m going to go take a small break before class starts,” Ricki tells me, kissing my cheek before going to pull off my Leather Rejects jacket to hand to me. She’s been wearing it more than I have since we got the damn things. She never understood the significance of it. That it was my own personal way of making sure everyone else knew she belonged to me. She didn’t get it until the other girls started coming into our group.
“Oh, we’ll go with you,” Bailey says sweetly while pulling Lexi and Rissa behind her, smiling. Ricki smiles at them nervously, but before they turn the corner to the school building, I can see them all talking and laughing with each other. Thankful that they seem to be getting along, I turn back to Alec.
“Do you know if Bailey’s dad was able to find anything out about Ricki’s mom?” I ask him the moment the girls are out of sight. Bailey’s dad and Alec have become close. Closer than close, the man is a big-name lawyer in this town. If anyone could find out any type of information, it would be him.
“He’s looking into it a bit more. There were some… concerning things he found, but he hasn’t found anything concrete yet. He’s still looking brother, he won’t give up. You both will get the answers you are looking for,” Alec tells me, slapping me on the back.
“What do you mean by concerning?” I ask, needing to know whatever details before I break it to Ricki.
“There were some reports from back then about a missing woman. No concrete evidence, but like I said, we are still looking,” he tells me again, and I decide to let it go for now. No way was I bringing all this shit to Ricki’s attention until I had all the details and facts.
Still, I couldn’t get his mind off everything Alec had said as I went throughout the school day. What was this big mystery surrounding Ricki’s mom? Was she missing? Why did she leave, or did something really terrible happen to her? I wanted to find out for Ricki’s sake, but what if the answer actually destroyed her? She’s been holding onto thoughts of her mom for so long; what would happen if she was forced to give up on it now?
I was still worried, and these thoughts haunted my mind as I climbed on my bike with Ricki holding onto me that afternoon. A bad feeling started settling in my gut and only got worse as we drove back to my house. By the time I had to leave for work, my mind and gut were screaming warnings at me. I might just be a paranoid fucker, but I didn’t want to leave my girl alone. Just need to sort this shit in my head once and for all.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here? You can get some rest while I work? It’s going to be a long night for me,” I tell her, knowing she’s still going to come with me. She used to come to work with me all the time, enjoying learning everything she could about what I do and my skills. It’s been a while since she came by, and it just makes me realize just how much I was pushing her away. Okay, maybe not pushing her away. I don’t think that is at all possible, but I have eased back. I thought I was giving her space to be without me, to see if that’s what she wanted. I didn’t want to force myself into her life if she truly didn’t want me there.
“There is nowhere else on this earth I’d rather be,” she tells me, wrapping herself in my leather jacket and hopping on my bike. We take off toward the junkyard and, when we get there, my boss is waiting.
“Ricki, good to see you again. It’s been a bit,” he says, smiling at her warmly. He gets a soft look in his eyes when he’s dealing with Joey and me, but nothing compares to the softness he shows with Ricki. The old man is like a big teddy bear when it comes to my girl.
“Hey, Pops! I’ve missed you too. This fool right here was avoiding me,” she tells him, winking, and I roll my eyes because they both know how obsessed I am over my girl.
“Something tells me you’re leaving something out,” he says, laughing lightly.
“Still okay if I give him a hand, Pops? I promise I won’t be a distraction,” Ricki asks, batting her eyelashes, already knowing the answer. She has him wrapped around her little finger almost as much as she does me.
“Just try to stay out of trouble. Ya hear?” he says, trying to be stern and hold back his grin. Ricki smiles and nods enthusiastically, turning back to me and grabbing my hand.
“Fucking finally! It’s about damn time you both pulled your heads out of your asses. I thought it was going to take hell freezing over or pigs flying, or some shit, for you kids to finally see you were made for one another. Never in my life have I seen two old souls find their other half like I have with you’s,” he says, staring pointedly at our joined hands.
“Had to make sure she was ready,” I say, smiling at Ricki, knowing she’s finally mine. I can finally let all those fears go and just be happy with the girl I love. Now I just have to convince her to leave this town behind and run away with me. Would that be as easy?
