Cody dropped Mariah off at the mechanic’s the next morning. The mechanic called to say the car was available for pick-up. Nelson had cut the break lines but they had been fixed. Mariah arranged with the other band members to meet at Lenny’s bedside. Lenny was still in ICU. His injuries were healing, but he had a long road of rehab ahead of him. It was not likely he would be playing music again. Or at least in the near future.

It broke her heart that this happened because of her.

Mariah arrived earlier than her bandmates. She had not had any private time with Lenny since the fight. She broke down as soon as she sat beside him. Lenny lay asleep, machines still hooked up to his body. She pinched the bridge of her nose and wept quietly. She stirred when she felt a quiet but firm hand on her shoulder.

Mariah jolted, looking up and assuming it would be a nurse or doctor. She almost screamed when she saw who it was.

Nelson Primeaux. His face was badly bruised and swollen.

“Quiet,” he said in a low, gruff voice. “Remember where you are.”

“Why the hell won’t you leave me alone?” she hissed.

“I just want to say a few things to you,” he said coolly. “Some things you need to know.”

“You’re in violation of your restraining order,” said Mariah helplessly.

“You want to play that card?” he scoffed. “I want to tell you something and I’m going to say it. Now shut the fuck up. What I saw in you I’ll never know, but you have to know I fell head over heels in love with you. Crazy. But whatever. You think I’m a low-life scum? Your boy Cody is no better. Robinson Street bikers have the rep of being the most powerful club in Baltimore.”

Even though it was warm outside, Nelson wore a leather vest and, every so often, Mariah smelled its sweet scent.

“Your boy Cody kept saying over and over again, as he pummeled me, how he couldn’t wait to be king of the streets. There was a rumor he just happened to be at the scene of your car accident a couple of weeks ago. He knew I was hot for you. Then there was the rumor that he was going to go after you just to spite me. Show whose ho you were.”

“You’re saying Cody went after me just to spite you?” she asked incredulously. He had some nerve!

“I had someone tamper with your car, I admit. I went nuts for you. You stop and think. Don’t answer. Just think. Where does he live?” asked Nelson.

She lurched as though she was going to answer him out loud, but he stopped her.

“So you think of where Harry’s is and where his place is. You tell me how on earth he just happened to be right behind you,” he pressed.

Mariah had never considered that. “He might have been…” her voice trailed off. It was kind of weird, but it didn’t matter. Mariah knew how she felt about Cody, and the feeling was mutual. That couldn’t be faked. “How do you know this?” she asked with a hint of doubt. “Did he confess it?”

“Bikers tend to hang out in the same joints. He has a pal named Adam who blabbed. They had a discussion that, now that you were Cody’s, the streets were as good as theirs.”

“So what? He’s still with me.” Mariah glanced at the hallway, wishing the other band members would arrive.

“For now. But Cody Dallas likes his women. You gotta know a guy like that has had quite a lot. He knew he could get you if he wanted. He goes after what he wants.”

“So did you,” she said spitefully. “Look how that worked out for you.”

“Bikers have their own code. As soon as he knows he has the position he’s after, he’s going to drop you,” he laughed. “I hope you haven’t fucked him yet.”

She stood. “Get the hell out,” she hissed. “You’ve said what you had to say. Go away. Keep your promise. Stop hurting my friends.”

“He shouldn’t have embarrassed me in front of my men,” said Nelson matter-of-factly.

“You’d better get out before my friends see you,” she said, wanting to throw up.

“Aw,” he said facetiously, “I didn’t know you cared.”

Just as he was about to make an exit, he turned around. “By the way, I understand you attempted to spread a rumor about my masculinity.”

“Whatever,” she turned her attention back to Lenny, wishing he would wake and tell Nelson to get the fuck out.

“Whatever this, baby,” said Nelson. “If I hear it again, I’m likely to insist on proving otherwise. Keep your slut mouth shut.”

The other band members appeared and crowded behind Nelson. They were no match for him, Mariah knew. They knew that. Even injured, Nelson knew that. But at least the two of them gave him a good scare. They stepped aside to let him pass.

“What was he telling you to keep your mouth shut about?” asked her guitarist, Charlie.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, though she was very worried.

The tension in the air could not have been good for Lenny.

She sighed and forced a smile. “The main thing is that Nelson said he’s leaving us alone. We won’t have any more trouble from him,” she said.

“Oh, great; now that he’s ruined our friend’s life, I guess he can stop now,” said the guitarist sarcastically.

“You sit with him,” she said. “I’d better go. I don’t want my vibes bringing Lenny down.”

“We have to talk about a temporary player just until he gets better,” said Charlie.

“Are you well enough to sing?” asked the bass guitarist, Ben. “I need to get playing again. I need the money.” He shrugged. “Sorry, guys; I can’t wait.”

“Why don’t you guys come to my house for dinner,” she suggested, feeling like she had the flu. “I don’t really think we should talk about this in front of Lenny.”

“He can’t hear us.”

“You never know what people hear even if you think they can’t,” she replied.

Mariah meant Adam, Cody’s friend. Maybe she was blowing all of this out of proportion. She was trying to do the math and figure everything out without talking to Cody about it.

In fact, her solution felt like it should be not talking to Cody at all. She recalled him saying something about being Robinson Street’s rivals. That Dark Riders would be the most powerful bikers in Baltimore if Nelson’s club caved. Should she even bother to believe Nelson?

It was a dumb thing to get worked up about. And maybe the fact that she had just suffered a mild concussion had something to do with how easily Nelson got her worked up. Cody called her his girlfriend. If he was just using her, he didn’t need to do that. It was awfully soon. There was plenty of time to do that. He wasn’t doing it to claim her. He was doing it because he cared. She knew it in her heart.

Or did she?

If she did, she wouldn’t be so torn. She went straight home. She needed to rest. She sent a text to Cody so he wouldn’t worry about her, but she wasn’t sure what she was going to do about the two of them. There was no peace in her now that Nelson Primeaux had planted the seed of doubt.

If it weren’t for Nelson promising that he wouldn’t bother her anymore, she would have sucked it up and stayed with Cody. When she entered the house – a place she had lived in alone for years – she was a little nervous. Naturally Cody came to mind. She clutched her cell phone.

She sent him a text: Hey, sweetie. I’m at home. My house. I’m meeting the band later to go over options. But I’m a little spooked.

Why? Cody replied.

Just cause. Silly stuff. I need a bath. Care if I bath-text you?

Yes, please.

Something about connecting did away with her fear. She felt okay enough to go upstairs to her room and to draw a bath in the master bathroom.

You haven’t been upstairs in my bedroom before.

Send me a picture.

She stripped down to her underwear and laid flat on her mattress. She took a selfie.

Sweet. Now I’m hard.

She stepped into her bathroom and locked the door behind her. She drew a bath. She slicked herself up with body wash and took another picture. She isolated her breast and nipple dewy with soap. She sent it.

I’m going to climb through the phone now.

She dunked and washed her hair. Her head was filled with such confusion. Her body and her heart wanted him. But she was numb because part of her believed Nelson’s spin that Cody had just used her to create chaos with the Robinson Street bikers. Mariah wrapped up her hair up and curled up in bed.

No more texts? asked Cody.

Sorry. I’m rushing now to make dinner for the band.

It was a lie and she hated it. She avoided talking to him for the rest of the afternoon. She worked on the band’s calendar. The band members came over, and together they figured out the gigs they could make. She ordered a pizza. Someone opened a bottle of wine. Mariah had none of it. No pizza either. She couldn’t eat. They noted when her phone buzzed, and she ignored it.

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked. “I thought you were into this guy.”

“The asshole who had Lenny beat up, who’s bugging me nonstop, and tracked me down at the hospital… you saw him there. He promised me he would leave me alone if I just heard what he had to say.”

“Which was?” Charlie refilled his wine glass.

“That Cody was just using me to piss him off and make him look stupid in front of his biker club.” She couldn’t look up. It sounded like more of a possibility than an improbability.

“Using you?” he said.

“I hate it, but it makes sense.” She shook her head. “When my car first broke down, he was right there and helped me out. He called the cops and everything.”

“That son of a bitch,” Ben said facetiously.

He and Charlie busted up laughing.

“I’m serious,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “It’s too much too fast. He acts like he’s really hot for me.”

“Is that impossible? Hello? Have you seen yourself in the mirror? Are you not a nice person?” Ben stared at her like she was crazy. “You’re hot. Deal with it.”

“Nelson said he was a really skirt hound. Likes the ladies,” said Mariah lamely. Why was she telling them?

“First of all,” said Charlie with a chuckle. “I like ladies. Would I settle down if I found the one? Shit, yeah.”

Mariah tried to let his words feel like they were Cody’s.

“Second of all,” he said. “Nelson Primeaux is fucking with your head. Unless you find these things out from Cody himself, don’t listen to any of it.”

“That’s really good advice,” Ben elbowed him. “I ask you about women all the time. Why don’t you tell me good shit like this?

“Shut up, Ben!”

Mariah shook her head. “I think Cody has said some things that make me think what Nelson is saying might be true.”

“Don’t be foolish. None of us has been lucky in love. We meet a lot of people in our line of work, and if you’re lucky enough to meet someone…” Charlie began.

“I hear you,” she said, cutting him off. “But for now, I don’t want to see him.” She grabbed the bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. She took a sip. “Now I feel a lot better.”

“Thanks to a guy who nursed you back to health. All because he wanted to fuck over Nelson Primeaux. Not because he cares.” Charlie held his ground. He wasn’t going to give up.

“If you like him so much, you go out with him!” she snapped.

They froze and looked at each other. They had never had a fight amongst themselves.

Mariah sighed. She was exhausted, and these head games were messing everything up. “I’m so sorry. Can we just change the subject? Let’s talk about a temporary drummer.”

The sound of a Harley rolling up the street interrupted their conversation. It was a bittersweet sound. It used to be one that filled Mariah with terror. Nelson took no measures to even disguise the fact that he was there to pester her. But now the sound of a bike was something she associated with her beautiful biker.

There was a knock on the door. It definitely wasn’t Nelson.

“I don’t want to get it,” said Mariah.

“You chicken,” scolded Ben. “No, we’re not co-signing this shit.”

The knocking came again.

Charlie threw his hands in the air and got up to answer the door. Cody stepped in, completely unaware of Mariah’s dilemma. She felt like a jerk. His face was so sweet and bright and eager. If he was an actor, he was a really good one. He brushed past Charlie and kissed her.

“You guy haven’t been wearing her out, have you?” he asked.

“No. More like the other way around,” mumbled Charlie. “You wouldn’t happen to know a good drummer, would you?”

“Actually, my friend Adam plays,” said Cody.

“For real?”

He and the guitarist exchanged glances. Mariah’s face flared with alarm, but they disregarded her.

“Did you get a chance to rest?” Cody asked softly.

“Yes,” she answered. It pained her to be near him. It made it so much worse that he was being so nice. She avoided his gaze.

“What’s the matter?” he asked her.

“Why? What?”

“You can’t look me in the eye.” Cody lifted her chin with his hand. “What’s going on?”

“Tell him,” Charlie sighed and dropped onto the couch.

“Oh,” said Cody. “Do we need to have a talk?”

“Yes, you do.” Charlie crossed his arms.

Cody wrote down Adam’s number. “Here is my friend’s number. He’s the real deal,” said Cody, not taking his eyes off of Mariah.

Ben patted Cody on the arm and nodded at Charlie. “We’re taking off,” he said to Mariah.

“Mariah,” Charlie and stood, slamming down the rest of his wine. “Cody’s the good guy. You banged your head harder than you thought.”

Ben opened the front door and let Charlie through first. “We’re calling this dude,” he announced.

“Whatever, you guys.” Mariah shook her head. Her band wouldn’t have left her alone with Cody if they didn’t trust him one hundred percent.

“What the hell happened today?” Cody asked once they were alone.

She looked down to the floor again. He touched her chin and dropped his head so she had to look at him.

“I saw Nelson.”

Cody’s eyes widened. “You took all day to tell me that?” He poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all down in one gulp. He was mad. Furious.

“I don’t think I like your temper,” she whispered.

“Don’t turn this around on me.” He set the glass down.

“Nelson said you followed me that night my car broke down.” She couldn’t believe she told him that right off the bat.

Now Cody was searching the floor, then he looked her dead in the eye. “I did,” he confessed. “I heard him bragging about what he did to your car, and I followed you.”

“So I guess neither of us told the other something right away,” she said, the pit of her stomach sinking.

“I guess so,” he said, but he didn’t sound upset like she felt.

“So has this whole thing been like he said?” she asked, not quite believing that it was.

“What do you mean?” Cody’s body stiffened.

“Was this all about fucking him over and being the baddest bike club in Baltimore?”

“What the hell?” Cody began to pace, like a lion stuck in a cage. “We were shooting the shit at Harry’s and I heard this loud-mouth bragging about what he had done. I thought you were a nice lady. I followed you. I didn’t know about the stalking stuff, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. Being connected to bikers is better than the Internet. I guess the word on the street was that he was weak for you.”

“Weak for me?” Seemed a funny thing to say for a biker.

“It’s kind of a term. When you’re trying to be tough. You find someone’s weakness,” said Cody, in a voice that was barely audible.

Mariah staggered and reached for the arm of the couch. “So he was telling the truth. You went for me because he was weak for me.” She swallowed, her heart breaking. She wanted to cry. “I think I feel worse that you did that than when he stalked me.”

“No! I didn’t go after you because he was weak for you,” he said his tone serious. “I went for you because I’m weak for you.”

“Whatever,” she said wrapping her chest tightly. The pain in her heart burned to anger. After tonight, maybe she needed to be done with bikers.

“I saw you on stage and I thought you were gorgeous. But when I saw you in the car and you were playing possum, I don’t know. It started from there. When I called you my girlfriend, I meant it. I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”

“Good for you,” said Mariah coldly. She needed to stay away from bikers. Forever. “Please leave.”

“Just like that?”

Whether he was genuinely wounded or just a really good actor, she didn’t know. But she couldn’t afford to look at him, because the expression on his face got to her.

“I don’t know how often you’ve come across the kind of connection you and I have, but I sure haven’t,” he said. “I could have lied and denied it all. But I trusted you and I trust what we have.”

He sounded so sincere, and she really wanted to believe him. She was mad he had lied to her, but maybe his original intentions hadn’t been pure and then they had changed. People changed. She really believed that. “Give me a little time.” She sighed. “I’m hurt. I’ve been through a lot and some of which I’ve gotten through, is thanks to you. But I need to process a little bit.”

“That’s fair.” Cody looked like a wounded puppy when he left.

Mariah resisted her urge to rescue him, to say ‘screw common sense and thinking things through,’ and to drag him upstairs to her bed. Her bed which had not had a man in it in a million years, and never like the one she thought, at one time, he was.

She thought that asking him to go and give her space would ease some of the intolerable ache his confession gave her. But it made it worse. She tossed and turned in her bed, which she was starting to resent. She had to sleep but she couldn’t. Drinking wasn’t the answer, though it was starting to beckon her. She checked her phone to check the time and saw a text from him.

Fuck rules. I love you and this is killing me. I’m sorry if I fucked up. But none of this has been a trick.

Mariah turned over onto her side and stared out at the night. It was clear and, despite the city lights, the sky was dotted with stars. Fuck rules indeed. She didn’t just want him; she craved him.

You know what I want? she wrote back.

What? he responded right away.

To go for a ride. Do you ever go riding in the middle of the night?

It was absurd, but she wanted to feel the wind on her face and his body against hers, with the engine revving below her.

Best time to sometimes… U wanna?

She grinned. I wanna.

As Mariah dressed in the tight jeans she’d changed out of to go to the art museum, Cody sent another text to remind her she needed to wear something with a heel, so she put on her little boots. Pegged jeans, half boots, and a dangling tank top covering a bustier completed the outfit. That ought to do it, she thought.

The sound of Cody’s Harley made her breath rise. Her heart beat in her ears as she dashed down the stairs to open the door. She threw her arms around him, mauling him before he could say hello.

Mariah’s tongue was busy, sweeping every bit of the inside of his mouth, tasting his sweetness. He held her with his massive arms and lifted her back inside. He braced her in the entryway, devouring her passionately. She broke the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“I’m sorry back,” he said. “I meant to hurt Nelson, not you. I dropped all that I–”

She cut him off with another kiss.

“If we stay here, I mean in the entryway, we’ll never make it to the bike,” she whispered. “And I really wanna ride. I wanna hold you as you drive us to wherever.”

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too.”

“We aren’t being ridiculous, with this all happening so fast?”

“A wise man once told me, fuck rules.” She smiled.

He laughed heartily. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s ride.”

Mariah put on her helmet as he put on his.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “I forgot something.”

She had no idea what he was talking about until she felt his hand glide all over her back pockets and dip down in between the gap of her legs.

“There,” he said, “for now.”

He threw his long, muscled leg over the bike and she followed. He grasped the back of her knees and made her fit snuggly against him. Mariah felt like she truly belonged to him. There was something beyond magical about riding on the back of a gorgeous man’s bike at night.

Cody knew all the cool places to go. It was more than a little exhilarating to sneak through the super bad parts of town when those parts were finally asleep. It was sort of like driving through a painting.

Mariah liked watching how the ends of his longish hair wafted in the breeze below his helmet. She loved the way the street lights played on the hard curves of his broad shoulders. Cody was all man.

He maneuvered the bike to park just outside the vista at the harbor. They removed their helmets and held each other as they admired the ocean. The hot summer air was soft as it gently blew around their hair. The smell of the saltwater filled her nose as she rested her head on Cody’s warm body.

“Hey,” he said. “You hungry at all? Wanna go over to Broadway’s and eat some chocolate chip pancakes?”

“Chocolate chip pancakes? Does someone have a sweet tooth?” she asked with a silly huge smile. She couldn’t get her lips to stop curling upward.

“I just might,” he chuckled, and winked at her

She was torn between taking him up on his idea and seducing him. Ditching the diner and making him crazy until he got her home and bedded her. But this felt like a once in a life time moment. Mariah had no doubt that she would have the best of both worlds if she was patient. She would enjoy to no end the sight of her big, brawny biker eating his kiddie meal as he fueled up to burn off every last calorie inside of her.

“Fuel—I mean; food is a fabulous idea.” Mariah was pretty sure that she had hearts coming out of her head as she put her helmet back on her head, once again straddled the bike, and rode over to Eastern Avenue to the twenty-four-hour diner.

They pulled out the menus, even though Cody already knew what he was having.

“Please just don’t get a salad,” he said in playful voice.

“Oh no, I’m not having a salad. It’s nearly morning.” She grinned at him. “I’m having the peanut butter shake!”

“That’s my girl,” he said boisterously. They grew quiet and he reached for her hand. “You’re my girl, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” she said, “I am. And if I ever have any doubt or question planted in my head by anyone, I’ll check these things out with you first.”

“He’s lucky I don’t go over and jump his ass,” said Cody, a glimmer of his bad-ass self on his face. “But I’m not letting him wreck this moment.”

“Good,” she said.

Their food arrived.

“I liked the art museum,” she began after she stole a bite off his plate. “But this is way more my speed.”

“I’ll let you in on a secret.” He smiled and offered her another piece. “Mine, too. I just heard that the museum had a fancy restaurant. I always had a hankering to take a date there and, when I met you, I jumped at the chance.”

“Nelson said you were a ladies’ man.” She flushed when she said the words, but she really didn’t care anymore.

“You wanna know?” Cody asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I don’t think I need to. Not anymore.”

“The thought of you with another man drives me absolutely insane, but I know you’ve had other boyfriends and I guess that’s the way it goes,” he said. “Let’s stay in the present.”

“Oh, why doesn’t that answer make me feel better?”

The waitress came by and Cody turned over his cup for her to fill it with coffee.

“Coffee at this hour?” asked Mariah innocently.

Cody leaned closely into her. He had the wickedest expression on his face. “Yes,” he said. “I’m gonna need it.”

She took his meaning. She gazed at his erotic expression as she sucked on her shake. A little too long. Mariah got sidetracked with a major ice cream headache. “Oh!” she said as she tilted sideways. “I’m suffering. Can you save me?”

They both giggled. He scooted over to her bench and huddled beside her. “They’re going to throw us out,” he murmured.

While he spoke, he kissed her gingerly and slipped his hand between her thighs, pressing and caressing her core.

They both sat up straight before they were admonished. Cody cut a bite of pancake with his fork and fed it to her.

“Tell me that’s not good,” he said with a very excited expression.

Mariah made a face. “Meh,” she said. “It’s okay.”

The look on his face was priceless. She burst out laughing.

“Psych,” she said.

“Oh you are so going to get it,” he said, grabbing for her underneath the table again.

The waitresses and the line cooks all looked their way since they were just about the only people in the place.

He grabbed her shake and helped himself. She sipped some more when he finished and got another brain freeze.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding,” he admonished. “We’re going to have to cut you off.”

They shared some more of the pancakes, and polished off the shake. He poured some of it into his coffee and fed that too her as well.

“You’re going to need your calories,” he teased.

“I am?” she said in a pretend-pitiful voice.

“Definitely need to hydrate.”

She laughed. “Coffee’s a diuretic.”

He dropped his head and laughed. When he finished, he leaned over and kissed her. The waitress stopped by the table to remind them she could take their check any time. Mariah and Cody took that as their invitation to leave. The timing was really good. They were ready for bed.

He held up the fork they had been sharing. “I feel like I should have this bronzed or something to memorialize what I’m about to do to you,” he said boldly.

Mariah’s insides fluttered. With a word, the man could make her positively melt. He tucked her hair behind her ear and beamed at her.

“You have great rock and roll hair,” he murmured.

“It’s just because I never learned to style it.”

“It’s perfect.” He reached again for a strand to tuck behind her other ear.

“Ahem,” the waitress made a noise.

Cody left a tip and, with Mariah in hand, the two sauntered out to the bike. A homeless guy was on the street.

“Hey, bro,” he said. “You hungry?” He handed the guy a twenty-dollar bill. “Go in there and order the lucky pancakes.”

“Lucky pancakes?” asked the homeless guy.

“Yes, I just ordered them,” said Cody and then leaned forward and spoke, this time for Mariah’s ears only. “And I’m about to get super lucky.”

With that he hoisted her off of her feet and hoofed it to the bike. It was a silly move; one that had Mariah laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. It was harder than she knew to be carried while someone was running like they were trying to make a touchdown and laugh at the same time. Cody set her down.

“Your place or mine?” he asked her once he finally set her down.

“Which is closer?”

“Great answer.”