I take the helmet from him, giving him a scowl of my own as I pull it onto my head. “I didn’t need to see that. I get it.”
He shrugs, kicking his leg over his bike. He nods over his shoulder. “Just keeping you informed. Let’s go. I’ve got something I need to check on.”
“Fine,” I say, sliding on behind him.
He grabs my hands and pulls them around his waist. When he flattens my palms against his solid stomach, I try to pull them away, but he holds them there. I take a few deep breaths, trying to regulate my nervous system. I’m mentally calmer than when Cole dumped me on his bike yesterday, but my heart seems to be racing faster.
“Don’t take your fucking hands off me until we’re completely stopped, got it?”
I nod, unable to speak as his warm hands hesitantly leave mine.
The second the bike roars to life, I curl my fingers into his soft t-shirt. Before we roll out onto the street, he stops abruptly, sending my ass sliding across the seat and forcing me against his backside. “Oh!” I squeal embarrassingly.
I feel his body shake.Is he laughing?
There’s no time to wonder about it because we’re moving again. I try to scoot back a little, but every time I do, he brakes, keeping me right where he wants me.
I dig my nails into his mid-section, letting him know what an asshole he is, but it gets zero reaction from him.
Soon we’re headed out of town. It should scare me, but it doesn’t. However, I do have a weird feeling in my stomach. It doesn’t feel good, but it doesn’t necessarily feel bad either.
At least the scenery is beautiful here. Rolling hills, high plains, and mountains on the horizon. Everything the west has to offer. Eventually I begin to relax. That is until he turns off onto a country road, leading us into the middle of nowhere. To make matters worse, he pulls right into a grove of trees.
My hands instantly fly off of him when he stops the bike, but he grabs my wrists. “Just chill the fuck out, will you?”
He takes his helmet off and dips his head, looking through the trees. My gaze follows his to see a run-down trailer. It’s surrounded by a bunch of old cars with weeds growing up around them.
Rage pushes a button on his phone before bringing it to his ear. “You didn’t call this morning. What did you find?” he asks the person on the other end.
His jaw clenches, and I swear his eyes turn an entire shade darker. He doesn’t like their response. How you can get darker than black I don’t know, but it is frightening.
“You said you would check on her first thingthismorning.” He grinds his teeth as he listens. “If you guys can’t get your asses over here, I’ll go in and check on her myself.”
I don’t know what the person on the other end says, but the growl from his chest makes me regret my decision not to drive away from this place. This feels like a mess I don’t want to be involved in.
A man comes out of the trailer followed by a woman. Instantly I’m repulsed. I’d swear it was my mother if I didn’t know better.
A shiver runs up my spine, and Rage looks back at me.
Did he feel that?
“If I don’t hear from you by the time I get off work tomorrow, I’ll be on Janet’s fucking doorstep,” he says.
The woman’s laughter filters between the trees, grating on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.
The way she’s feigning over the man with her makes me want to vomit in my mouth. They look like they haven’t showered in a long time. They’re both dirty and disheveled. Neither have control over their limbs. The constant state of motion tells me everything I need to know about what goes on inside.
“Don’t tease me with a good time,” Rage says before hanging up.
The woman stumbles into her man almost knocking them both off the porch, so he flicks his cigarette and hauls her back inside.
“Fucking CPS,” Rage grits out, running his hand through his hair.
My head snaps back, and I scramble off the bike. “There’s a kid in there?” I ask, my gaze roaming over the property. Just the state of the yard tells me it’s not a safe place for a child to be.
He grabs my arm, keeping me close to him. “I can’t go in.”
“I’ll go in,” I tell him.