Merciless Ride
(Coming Fall 2014)
Chapter One
Unexpected
~Tessie~
No, no, no. Don’t die, dammit. Fuck my life.
It’s two in the morning, and I just got off work from the bar. Tonight was a long damn night.
We’ve been busier since the Desert Ghosts have been in town, working with the Hellions on something. Staying in this small place, they only have two options for a place to grab a beer. Tiny’s where a man that’s far from tiny will be serving them or find me at Ruthless. Since they are in business with the Hellions, they come to Ruthless. Although not Hellion owned, it’s their place to grab a drink and unwind.
I am on my way to pick up Axel, my son, when my little Honda Civic’s dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree. I have just enough time to pull it safely to the side of the road before it cuts off completely.
No! This isn’t happening, I think to myself as I try to restart the car.
Click. Click. Click. Nothing.
Looking over at my cell phone, I think of my limited options. Who can I call at two in the morning to come give me a ride?
I don’t want my mom to have to get dressed and get Axel dressed to come out here. Plus, I still have to get the car towed. I knew I should’ve signed up for triple A, but damn, that’s just another bill. A bill I can’t afford.
Picking up my cell phone, I dial the one person I know can help me get a ride and get my car towed.
“Hey, Doll, sorry to call so late.”
“No problem. What’s wrong, Tessie?” she asks, the sleepy tone in her voice reminding me normal people don’t keep my kind of schedule.
Shit, I woke her up, but she’s one of the few friends I have. Plus, she will come get me no questions asked since Tripp and Rex are away on a transport. If they were home, Rex would have been at the bar tonight either to troll for fresh pussy or give me an orgasm in the stock room before the night was over. Rex and I have a fucked up history, one centered on sex; sometimes a little more, but mostly, it’s just about getting off. I’ve stopped hooking up with him. It’s not easy to keep pushing him away, but it’s necessary. It’s time to move on, he’s not going to change. He’s certainly not going to give me what I need.
“My car broke down out on Miller’s Hill Road. It won’t start back up, and I need to get home. I’m sorry for bothering you, but I didn’t know who else I could call,” I say as I hear noise in the background.
Doll is mumbling something, but I can’t bring myself to focus on her as my blood runs cold when I hear Tripp’s voice say his name. Rex. Shit, he can’t come get me. No. No. No. He can’t come with me to get Axel.
Panic is setting in as I run through how this night is going. He will ask me where my son is. He always asks me about Axel. My plan was to get Doll on her way and call my mom to keep him overnight. If Rex is too close, I won’t have time. He will wonder why we can’t go get him.
“No worries, Tessie; Rex will be there shortly to get you,” I hear her say his name, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Rex? I th-thought they were on a transport,” I stammer, questioning why he’s back.
“Oh, they got back about an hour ago, it didn’t take as long as they originally planned. Tripp heard you talking, so he called him while we’ve been on the phone. He’ll pick you up and get your car taken care of. Do you need a ride tomorrow?”
“No, Doll. Thanks, you’ve done so much already. I gotta go. I need to call my mom so she’s not expecting me right away for Axel,” I try to quickly get off the phone.
With that, we hang up. Making a quick call to my mom, she agrees to keep Axel overnight for me. Since he’s already asleep, this works out better anyway for him. Regardless of who comes, none of the Hellions need to lay eyes on Axel.
Knowing he’s settled, I have to prepare myself to see Rex. I seem to lose all self-control when he’s around. I always have. I have given myself mental boundaries with him, knowing he’s never going to grow up; I’ve stopped holding out for that. He is also never going to commit to me or anyone else for that matter, so I have also given up on that dream. I need to set the boundaries for my body more firmly.
Rex is sex walking, period, end of story. He has blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, a body that has defined muscles and ink, making you want to lick every inch of his skin. Yet the thing about Rex is he knows he has the whole package. He knows he looks good. He is confident in his bedroom abilities, as he should be. He also has an edge to him. The same edge that all the Hellions carry. The thing that draws the barflies to them like a man lost in the desert to water.
Headlights come my way, drawing my attention just as the wrecker pulls up in front of my little car. I hold my breath as the driver’s side door opens, but my mouth drops when it’s not Rex who climbs out.
At six feet tall, broad shoulders and all muscle, the man coming towards me is another example of the edge all the Hellions carry. His long sleeved, black t-shirt pulls tightly against his well-defined chest, abs and arms. His short, blonde hair is hidden under an old, worn out, baseball hat. His jeans are well washed and fit him like a pair of broken in shoes, comfortable perfection. His black motorcycle boots stop in front of me.
“Hey, Tessie. Let’s get you loaded up and home to your boy.”
“Shooter,” is all I manage.
“Yeah, you get me. Rex called. He couldn’t make it but didn’t want you on the side of the road.”
This is a moment my heart should sink a little that Rex isn’t coming to help me. What surprises me is I don’t feel short-changed. I don’t feel let down. For once, I feel nothing for Drexel ‘Rex’ Crews.
~Shooter~
Damn him! Brother or not, right now, I want to kick his ass.
I swear I heard him as I answered the phone, say “Suck it harder, bitch.” Instead of dropping the barfly, he calls me to pick his woman off the side of the road. Only Tessie isn’t his ol’ lady, she’s just his back-up pussy. The pussy he doesn’t want to hold onto but won’t let go of, either.
Tessie is beautiful. She deserves so much better than Rex or any man such as the likes of us. She’s petite, maybe five-feet-four. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes that dance when she smiles. Her perky breasts are what most may consider small, yet they fit her body perfectly. She has an ass that is round, but not overly large, just enough to really grip as she rides you. With Tessie, though, it’s more than that. She’s genuine. She’s caring. She’s sweet. She’s loyal. She puts up with a lot of shit, not only from our club, but all the guys going into the bar.
I won’t lie to myself; I’ve watched her for years with Rex, envious as hell. Tessie accepts him as he is—whatever he gives her. I have never met a woman who can easily understand and take a man truly at face value the way Tessie does, not only for Rex but all of us.
I have been a patched member of the Catawba Hellions MC for five years now. My boss, Ryder, introduced me to the club after he patched in with the Haywood’s charter. His wife’s father was an original.
I make the almost hour commute daily to work at Ryder’s Restorations, painting cars for him. The pay is good, business is good, and the guys at my shop are good. I could relocate to a place closer to work, but I don’t want to be in the city. I like being close to my club and not having neighbors.
I move through the routine of hooking up Tessie’s car to the wrecker. My buddy here has a towing and recovery business, so he said he would come get her, but I couldn’t send a stranger to get Tessie. She’s a single mom, by herself, on an old road in the middle of nowhere, and it’s late. A familiar face might make things a little better, especially since I don’t know how disappointed she is over Rex not coming personally.
Glancing over my shoulder, I see her watching me.
“Need help?” she asks, sticking her hands in her jean pockets.
“Nah, baby. I got it. Go ahead and get in. I’ll be a few minutes and we’ll get you home.”
She nods at me before proceeding to get in the vehicle. The 1993, silver Honda Civic she’s been driving certainly has seen better days.
Once we get this to the shop, I will give it a complete overhaul. She has a kid to get home to. Jobs here are few and far between, and the bar is really the only place she could go right now, not without leaving her mom. It’s a small town, people talk, therefore I know Tessie hasn’t had an easy life.
The car secure, I climb in behind the wheel to tow it back to my place. Looking over at the passenger seat, I see she has fallen asleep against the door already. Reaching over, I buckle her in and she startles awake.
“Shooter, thank you.”
“Anytime, baby. You need me to take you to your mom’s or your place?” I ask, wondering if she needs to pick up her son.
“My house, please. Mom didn’t want me to wake Axel.”
The exhaustion is written on her face, but more than that, there is a loneliness in her eyes. I don’t know why, but I feel the need to apologize that it’s me that came to get her.
“I’m sorry Rex couldn’t make it.”
“I’m not,” she says, gazing out the window into the dark night.
How do I respond to that? Rather than involve myself in another man’s business, I stay quiet. Her phone rings from her purse.
“What, Rex?” she answers with a dull tone. There is a pause for him to speak. “Yes, Shooter came. I’m on my way home.” Her brows draw together in frustration, but her voice remains impassive. “No, you can’t come over tonight.” She sighs deeply. “Rex, I told you, no more.”
Another pause while he speaks. “You couldn’t come get me because you were doing who knows what to some barfly. Rex, I told you, I’m done. Besides, the fact that you want to come over tonight after not coming to get me yourself shows the complete lack of respect you have for me. We’re over and have been for years. Hell, we weren’t even really together, so there is nothing to be over.” Her voice never raises, never sharpens. She’s calm, cool and detached as she continues after allowing Rex to reply. “Move on, Rex. I’m going to. Goodnight.” And with that, she swipes her thumb across the screen to end the call.
She lightly bangs her head against the window as we pull up to her house and she starts to unbuckle. Quickly, I reach in my back pocket and get my business card out of my wallet.
“Look, Tessie, you need anything, I don’t care the time, call.”
When she looks at the card then up to me, a slight smile crosses her face. “Andy ‘Shooter’ Jenkins. You look like an Andy.”
“What?”
“In all the years you’ve been coming to the bar, I’ve only know you as Shooter and Jenkins, never Andy. You look like an Andy.”
The Desert Ghosts MC was used with permission from . They are from her upcoming novel Ricochet, releasing late 2014. Keep reading for Chapter One of Ricochet.