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The roar of a motorcycle made me still before I could reply. I listened, waiting for it to fade away, but it didn’t. In fact, I was willing to bet it stopped in front of our place.
Did Storm find me?Wishful thinking. I hadn’t heard a peep from him since the park. Not like he had my number to call. But he could’ve been more persistent. He could’ve interrupted my morning runs. I didn’t change my route, hoping he might be on the same bench waiting for me. But he never was.
I was lying on my stomach with my bathing suit top undone to avoid tan lines, facing the front porch. All I could do was look over my shoulder and see if it was him.
Not happening.I wouldn’t put in any effort for Storm. If he wanted to talk, it was going to be all on him. He had messed with my head and heart. No chance in hell I’d make this easy for him.
“Afternoon, lovelies,” a raspy voice called.
Lovelies? That didn’t sound like Storm. The hairs on my arms prickled, uneasiness clogged my throat.
“Hi,” Tara chirped, flipping over and sitting upright. She had on a bandeau top and didn’t care about tan lines. “Are you lost?”
“Ah, yeah. Think you’d like to show me around?”
“Tara,” I whispered through gritted teeth. “Don’t.” I still hadn’t turned around to see the face of the man who made my skin crawl.
“Sorry, but I’m hanging with my friend.” Tara paused as if considering him. “You one of the Knights? I’d think you’d know your way around these parts.”
Jesus, this guy was a biker? Had Storm sent him to check on me? Nah. Why would he be lost if he was a Knight?
“The Knights are a bunch of pussies. I’m a Dirty Hunter.” He clicked his tongue.
Bile rose into my throat. My pulse whooshed in my ears, feeling exposed and vulnerable. If a biker stopped at our place, it meant he wanted something. Shit, this was bad. I was too afraid to turn around, not wanting him to see my face. Were there more coming? The hairs on the back of my neck prickled like a porcupine at the thought.
“Whatcha doin’ in Winters then?” Tara poked around. I wanted to know what they were doing here too. This was Knight’s Legion territory. Everyone knew it. From what I knew about MCs, which wasn’t much, they didn’t like other clubs on their turf.
He cleared his throat. “Just checking it out.”
“Then what?” Tara grabbed her Diet Coke off the small plastic table between us.
Okay, Tara. Let it die so he’ll leave.
“Not sure. Maybe I’ll see you around.” The sound of his bike roaring to life sent a wave of relief over me.
“Bye.” Tara waved all smiley and shit. She took Minnesota nice to a whole new, dangerous level. Not me, though. I wasn’t from Minnesota. I was born and raised in South Dakota, where an outlaw MC ruled the area. Hell, there were a lot of MCs. Sturgis was several hours west of my town and hosted the largest motorcycle rally in the world. From an early age, I’d learned to keep my mouth shut and my eyes down.
I slowly peered over my shoulder. The dude was ginormous. Like the Jolly Green Giant statue in Blue Earth. Except this guy didn’t look so jolly with his bald head, pitted face, and leathery skin. The man must’ve had a severe case of acne back in the day. He was covered in ink from his neck down to his hands. From what I could see, even the sides of his head had tats.
Yeah, he looked nothing like Storm and his brothers. They were drop-dead gorgeous biker gods.
I wanted to see the emblem on the back of his cut, but he went too fast as he rode off. The Dirty Hunters didn’t sound nice. I also didn’t appreciate him calling the Knights a bunch of pussies.
“Damn, I hope those guys are just passing through town.” I flipped onto my back, holding my top to my chest.
“Why? He’s just another biker. What’s the harm?” Tara guzzled her pop.
“Not all bikers are created equal. There are some horrible clubs out there.” I’d seen a couple growing up. People went missing or wound up dead in a creek. I remembered a time when tensions were thick in my small town. Silence had befallen our mostly joyful community when a menacing group of bikers wreaked havoc for months on end. The local MC, which I couldn’t recall their name for the life of me, had their hands full. They had lost a few members too.
I wished I’d known about the Knight’s Legion running Bastion and Winters before I’d signed my teaching contract. I wouldn’t have met Storm, for starters. I wouldn’t be, once again, stuck in the middle of a potential club war in my own backyard.
“You sure talk like you know a thing or two about them.”
I stood from my chaise, cupping my breasts to hold my top in place. “A little, I guess. I’m going inside to shower before I get sunburned.” I bit my bottom lip. “Just stay away from the Dirty Hunters. I have a bad feeling about them.”
“But, the Knights are okay?” She narrowed her eyes as if trying to draw a connection.
“Didn’t say that either.” I retreated inside to wash off the grime of sunscreen baked onto my skin. Washing thoughts of Storm down the drain sounded good too.
