“...and then Dawg said the damned dog’s name is Chicken Nugget.Can you believe that shit?Hang on, lemme get that phone.Hello, this is the tattoo shop.What do you need?”
Riley realized the buzzing she’d thought was in her ears had been the phone ringing.She grinned and watched as Dan’s smile traveled from his mouth to his eyes.
Damn.I might be in trouble here.
“Told you, Rocker.”She twisted and pulled the phone from his hand.“Uninterruptible.Hello, this is Riley, are you looking for an appointment?”
She dealt with the client, who was indeed ready to book an appointment to finish up a leg piece, and turned to look at Dan again.He was smiling still, the expression brightening his whole face.
“Are we staying at the clubhouse again tonight?”Riley held her breath waiting for his answer.
She hadn’t thought he could smile wider, but he proved her wrong.
“Hell yeah we are.”
Chapter Six
Riley
At the end of the day, their ride back to the clubhouse was uneventful.On the long straight stretch, Riley twisted her throttle and pulled closer to Dan, leaning near enough she could rest an elbow on his thigh.She held her throttle steady and front wheel straight and glanced up at him.He stared at the road ahead, reaching across with his left hand and covering hers.He looked like they could ride forever like that, and she would.Riley would trust him with her forever.I can see that.
They rolled through the gate, and she listened to the rattle of metal as it closed behind them.She parked next to Dan, farthest to the right on the front row, same as they’d done last night.Riley followed him into the clubhouse and went immediately to the room she’d been given, not wanting to cause trouble in the main room.Enough eyes had scanned her from boobs to ass and back again that she thought pulling herself away was the better of all options.
The room looked exactly as she’d left it.Even the tricky parts Riley’d set up to know if anyone messed with her stuff.No one had bothered anything, and that left her feeling warm, like a slow hug of relief.
She untied her boots and toed them off, leaving them tumbled next to her bag of clothes.The room didn’t come with a dresser, so in her bag they stayed.She sat on the edge of the bed and brought both feet up so her arms were around her knees, and she stared out the small window at the stars.
A while later, there was a knock at her door, and she was off the bed in a flash and pulling the door open fast enough to startle Dan, who barked out a laugh.
“Just me,” he said softly.“Nothing to be afraid of.”He moved inside the room and closed the door behind him.
“Oh, Raggedy Dan, you’re not so scary.My response was more that I was hoping it’d be you.”
She stepped close enough to smell leather and the faint trace of their ride home still on him.Riley reached up, hooked a finger under the edge of his bandana, and tugged it down slowly.
His scars looked so much worse up close.She thought they were beautiful in a brutal way, like lightning frozen mid-strike across his jaw and cheek.She traced one ridge with her thumb, eliciting a shiver from him.