Someone was following her. Again.

It was a perfect day. A warm, early summer day in the middle of June. The sun was shining, the birds were singing.

And she was being followed.

She felt like a deer being stalked by a wolf in the woods. She knew they weren’t there to hurt her. But she didn’t understand why they were stalking her if they weren’t going to pounce.

Kaylie picked up the pace and hurried down the hill toward North Avenue. She had just been to school to collect her diploma. She had missed the ceremony but she’d formally graduated.

Now she was carrying the pretty blue folder home, along with the contents of her locker. She'd missed the last few weeks of high school due to mono but her grades had carried her through.

Mono. What a joke. They called it the kissing disease.

As if anyone ever kissed her.

The boys in her school had never even tried in years. All around her people were partnering off and hooking up. But she was alone, with only her mom and a few friends to keep her company.

It wasn't like she was unattractive. Kaylie knew she was cute. Hot even. With long dark hair and big brown eyes, she knew she had a pretty face.

Her body was curvy too. It made her look older in a way that belied her innocence. And she was innocent.

Painfully so.

Halfway through her Sophomore year, all the boys in school had abruptly left her alone. They didn't just stop flirting with her or trying to get her to go out with them. They started avoiding her gaze, even ignoring her.

It was like they were pretending that she didn't exist.

The entire male population of her high school flat out ghosted her. Overnight.

It was weird.

That was around the same time she'd started noticing the bikes. Wherever she went, whatever time of day, it seemed like there was always a bike behind her. Not just a bike, either.

A bike.

It wasn't so crazy to see hogs around. She did live in California, and everyone knew the Riders ran the town. But still. It was weird.

It had all started when she was working the counter at Mae's, the old school diner that most people still called ‘the soda shop.’ She'd worked there since the age of fourteen when her mother had insisted she get a job. Her mom had been true to her word, helping Kaylie save her money for school and making sure the bare necessities were met.

But it wasn’t really enough. It never was. Even with the baby sitting jobs Kaylie took when she wasn’t on the schedule. Even with her mom working two jobs.

There they were, both of them working their tails off. They had what they needed. But Kaylie couldn’t afford to wear all the cute outfits that some of the girls at school wore. It hadn't stopped guys from asking her out, not until Sophomore year anyway.

She'd never let any of them get past first base though. She’d been too shy and too young. Plus none of the scrawny teenage boys she went to school with had been tempting.

And now, nada.

What was even the point anyway? She hadn’t noticed even one boy since she’d laid eyes on the gorgeous biker with the blue eyes. Not even on TV or magazines.

None of them were him.

Devlin McRae.

It had taken some doing, but she'd found out his name. He was a regular at Mae’s, but apparently only when she was working. In fact, he came in every time she worked a shift. She knew because Jeffrey, the short order cook, had told her.

She felt a shiver go down her spine at the memory. The moment she’d realized he was coming to see her.

The mysterious, ridiculously good looking guy with tousled dark blond hair and green eyes. He filled out his worn in jeans perfectly, not to mention the black leather jacket. He looked rough, like he had a past, but he was always polite and left her absurdly large tips.

Huge tips. Sometimes well over 200%. The guy tipped twenty bucks on an eight dollar ice cream sundae. Every single time.

In fact, his tips alone probably made up at least a third of her entire college fund.

Oh yeah, he was a mystery, alright.

Devlin looked like a bad boy and tipped like a billionaire. Plus those eyes of his seemed to stare right through her.

Of course she’d wanted to find out everything she could about him. What girl wouldn’t? But she hadn’t liked what she heard.

First, he was older. A lot older. He was in his mid twenties and she was just a teen. Then there was the whole ‘outlaw biker’ thing.

No one had wanted to talk about him at first. Getting his name had been hard enough, but finding out that he was the President to the local MC club had taken even longer.

Devlin was a rebel, riding the edge of the law. Way beyond being just a bad boy. He might as well be on the moon for all intents and purposes. He was most likely a criminal and definitely the leader of a bunch of criminals and soon to be criminals.

Off limits to someone like her certainly. Her mother would never approve. Kaylie wasn’t so sure she herself even approved, and that was while she sighed dreamily over his brooding eyes.

Devlin was dangerous.

But, oh so tempting. He was fun to daydream about. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t put on extra lip gloss when she heard the rumble of his bike outside Mae’s.

Right after she first waited on Devlin was when she started noticing the bikes. It never felt threatening. It always felt more like they were… escorting her. Not that that made a lot of sense either.

They didn't stare or cat call. One guy with long curly hair nodded at her now and then. That was it. They were just… there.

She turned around and saw the dark haired guy who was often behind her. As soon as she turned the corner to her block, he was gone. Well, not gone, but waiting politely around the corner. Kaylie lived on a cul de sac so it's not like she could get past him.

Not unless someone hid her in the trunk of their car.

She almost laughed. The whole situation was bizarre. It's not like she could call the cops on them. 'Um, yeah officer? There's this guy-well it's not always the same guy- but anyway it seems like there's always a biker half a block behind me. No, they don't actually do anything…'

Yeah, that would go over great.

And for some reason, she didn’t want to get her escort in trouble.

She wasn't sure she even wanted to call the cops. Not if the crazy thought she'd been having was… true. The crazy thought she hadn't even admitted to herself or the two girlfriends who had noticed the bike.

The crazy idea that just felt like it must be true.

In her deepest heart she knew she was right. That they were keeping an eye on her.

Because Devlin told them to.

Not that he'd ever asked her out or said anything remotely flirtatious to her. But the way he looked at her whenever he came into Mae's… she'd caught him watching her a few times and had eventually learned not to flinch from the heat coming off the man.

He was smoldering. For her.

Kaylie ran to her house and got dressed for work. She had a shift tonight and as usual, they needed the money. Especially now.

She was attending state school starting in the fall. She could commute from here but ideally she'd be able to get an apartment on her own closer to campus.

School itself was expensive. Never mind books and bus fare back and forth every day. Besides, once school started she wouldn't be able to work as many shifts at Mae’s.

She knew she’d miss it. Mostly because of Mae, of course. But if she was honest with herself she'd mostly miss bumping into him.

I wonder if they'll follow me onto campus?

She giggled at the thought of bikers sneaking into her lecture hall and slipped into her pink rayon uniform. Mae's was old school. She didn't mind though. The retro waitress uniform did look pretty cute on her.

She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and smiled.

At least she knew she’d get to see him tonight.