****
Mona and Ryan didn’t know quite what to do. There was no evidence of foul play on the bike, largely owing to the fact that the bike was nearly destroyed. There were likely no fingerprints because all of it had been engulfed in flames. It was a carefully plotted out scheme.
That didn’t stop them from filing a police report. At the next race, they would also be sure to have at least two people standing guard by the bikes beforehand, to keep any delinquents from manhandling the motorcycles.
Mona was in a state of panic. Her first race had ended in fire and fear. They raised a considerable amount of money, but a large chunk of it was going to go into fixing Weasel’s beloved Night Rod Special. That and helping him pay off some of his large medical bills. The young rider had broken one of his leg bones as well as sliced up several of the tendons in his arm. He was going to be out of the running for quite a while.
Mona kicked the trashcan in her garage, causing it to clang loudly and tip over, knocking its contents to the floor. She put her head in her hands, crying in angry frustration. Thank goodness Ryan was there with her.
He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry against his broad chest. She’d been working so hard and was even close to riding herself. Now, she was too afraid to get on the back of her bike, just in case some asshole had tampered with it while her back was turned.
“It’s going to be okay,” Ryan told her soothingly, gently rubbing her back. “We’ll catch the creep who did this. We won’t live in fear.”
“Maybe not you,” she said sadly, looking up into his eyes. “I’m the one who’s got to worry about this. I’m the one who’s already—”
She cut herself off, but he already knew what she was going to say. “Scared?” he suggested.
She looked down. “On-edge, I would say… Can I just say something?”
He put his hands on her shoulders supportively, looking at her with care and concern plainly written on his face. “You may.” He didn’t want to prod her, but he had been able to sense for a while that something was not fully right with her. That was why he’d asked how she was holding up in the first place, the other evening.
Returning her gaze back to his caring blue-green eyes, Mona sighed and wiped at her wet cheeks even though it didn’t do much to remove the tears that had slid into position there. “I feel like I’m losing it,” she said. “I feel scared and alone and pretty depressed, actually. I’ve been working so hard to keep it together for the Riders. I just… Can’t always. And now, with this, I’m starting to feel like maybe it’s a bad idea to even try and keep this up.”
“Hey…” Ryan said. He gently lifted her chin with an index finger and leaned down towards her face, kissing her softly. “Don’t give in to Lance. Don’t let one bad apple spoil the bunch. We will deal with this together. You’re not alone. Do I look like a ghost to you?”
She smiled and chuckled a little then. “No,” she said. “Definitely not a ghost.”
They kissed again.
“Now, what about that date?” he asked her. “Nothing will take your mind off of things better than a date with this guy.” He pointed both thumbs at himself and grinned. “Dinner? Movie? Dinner and a movie?”
She thought it over. “Arcade.”
Ryan beamed at her, impressed. “Niiiice.”
They went back into the house and out the front door. She pulled out her keys for the Mini, but he shook his head at her and gestured to his CopyCat. Mona eyed the sleek black motorcycle nervously.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Come on, Myers. You can trust me. No one touches my baby without my say so.”
He took a spare helmet out of the storage compartment and tossed it to her. Mona caught it and put it on, a look of trepidation in her blue eyes. Ryan smirked a little at her and put on his helmet, buckling it and kicking one leg over the big bike. He patted the seat behind him. “You’re safe with me, Mona,” he said. “I promise.”
With a long, deep sigh, she got onto the back of Ryan’s bike and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He took off down her driveway and turned down the street. Before long, with the wind on her face and the world zipping past her, she forgot to be scared and she was flooded with excitement.
When they got to the arcade, the place was popping. There were so many flashing lights and sounds. Mona felt like a kid again. She rushed to a shoot-em-up game involving zombies and gestured with her big, plastic zapper gun for Ryan to come over and join her.
They worked together to annihilate as many zombies as they possibly could in three minutes. When it was over, a little paper ticket came out of the machine.
Mona cackled. “Aww, we even get a token for participating! Oooh, I wonder what sort of ridiculous prizes we can even win.”
He smiled at her. “I’ve already got my ridiculous prize.”
She giggled. “Oh yeah?”
Wrapping his arms around her, the walked along – albeit slowly – checking out the games. He was more concerned with kissing her neck and enjoying being with her than actually playing any games. However, her enthusiasm was infectious and any time she “aww”ed or “ooh”ed one of the games, a piece of him felt electrified with adoration. Probably it was his heart.
“Mona,” he said to her as they were tossing skee-balls side by side.
She smiled but kept her attention focused on the holes she was aiming for. “Yeah?”
“I think we should move in together.”
She let loose and her ball went flying… backwards. “Oh shit!” she said, laughing and watching as the small but heavy white ball went sailing through the air, hitting one of the games about ten feet away. “Sorry!” she called to everyone around.
Mona turned back towards him while the attendant was bringing back the wayward ball. “What did you say?” she asked.
He blushed. Now that he had her full attention, he was a lot more nervous about the proposition. “I think we should live together.”
Mona stared at him. She didn’t know what to say. The idea was a pretty good one. Ever since her dad died and she’d moved into the old house, she’d felt lonely. Perhaps this was the best solution.
Especially if she factored into the equation the fact that she loved Ryan. Not just as a member of the club.
“I think that sounds like a great idea!” she said, leaping into his arms and hugging him tightly.
Just then, the attendant handed Ryan the wayward skee-ball. He chuckled. “Thanks.” He turned his full attention back to Mona. “Really? I know that living in your dad’s place has got to be kind of nice for you. You get to feel close to him there, at least, right? I don’t want to be in the way of that. I just don’t want you to feel alone. And I want to be around you more… is that okay?”
“Aww,” she said, touched. She planted a kiss on his lips. “That’s more than okay. In fact, now that you’ve come up with this idea, I insist that we go through with it.”
If anyone could keep Lance away from her, it was Ryan. She trusted that he would be able to protect her from harm, including the harm that sadness sometimes did to her late at night. She’d be able to rest easy now, she thought.
But that soon changed.