Chapter One
Hendrix
Six Weeks Prior
Walking through the bar, I make my way outside into the bright desert sun. Last week, I became an official member of the Wayward Saints motorcycle club; it was the best day of my life. It felt like I had been waiting forever to become a patched member and now that I finally am, I can’t wait for what the future holds.
This club has always been my dream, and the moment I got a prospect slot, I knew that I would do everything I could to become one of them.
As I make my way toward Ryder and Brant, I notice a beautiful girl walking toward them. Her dark hair flowing over one shoulder and I can’t help but stare at her. Long legs, tiny body. Shit. She has that pixie look that I love and a pair of Ray-Bans covering her eyes.
A huge grin appeared on her face as she walked right up to Brantley and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her tightly, and I look over to see the pissed off expression on Anslie’s face. One thing I knew about Anslie was that she got pissed when girls would try and hang all over her man. Just as she starts toward them with Braxton on her hip, one of the twins went running to Brantley.
He pulls away from the girl and picks his son up before continuing to talk to her, introducing her to his little guy.
I make it to them just before Anslie, and I give Brant a nod in her direction when our eyes meet. He turned slightly wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his side. “This is my ole’ lady, Anslie. Ans, this is Sydney, Ryder’s sister.” Her tension fades instantly, and she reaches her hand out to shake Sydney’s.
“I had no idea Ryder had a sister!” She looks to Ryder and gives him a dirty look causing him to hold his hands up in the air.
“My bad, she’s been out of state the last five years, and we never let her around the clubhouse when she was younger.” Ryder’s eyes meet mine, and I can’t help but continue to stare at her. She puts her Ray-Bans on top of her head and reaches out a hand to me.
“Hi, I’m Sydney.”
I grin at her and take her hand in mine. The electricity hits me like a damn freight train. She looks down at our hands before looking back at me with a look of intrigue. I don’t know if she felt what I just felt, but fuck me.
“Hendrix,” I reply, staring into her gray eyes. She looks nothing like her brother, but I can see the love he has for her. I don’t have a doubt that he would do anything for her.
“Nice to meet you, Hendrix.” My name rolls off her tongue and fuck if it doesn’t do things to me. I finally release her, and she just grins up at me like I wasn’t just holding her hand hostage while I eye fucked the shit out of her.
She turns back to her brother and punches him in the shoulder before asking him, “So where are my future sister-in-law and that other sexy twin?” I narrow my eyes at that, and she just winks at me in response. I don’t like knowing that she thinks the Brantley and Jase are sexy, but I know they probably have no feelings like that for her.
They are both happy with their ole’ ladies, and I don’t see either of them dropping their families for her. That makes me feel a little better about her wanting to see them. It still means that I have a chance with her.
“Yeah, he should be here somewhere with his ole’ lady, Wynter, and their daughter,” Brant says giving his little boy a kiss on the forehead. He puts Severye down, and we all watch him run to where his twin is sitting in the grass playing with a toy truck.
People crowd around us, but nothing takes my eyes off Sydney. She is nothing like the other women around here, and that is what pulls me in more. I watch her as she runs over to Ryder’s ole’ lady, Danielle, and wraps her arms around her, kissing her cheek. They both talk animatedly for a few minutes and a hand lands on my shoulder, forcing me to take my eyes off of her.
I look over to Brant, and he’s got a stupid smirk on his face. “I suggest you find a new piece of ass to chase. Ry isn’t going to let you anywhere near her, especially now that he just got her back.”
I can’t help but grin at that. “She looks like a big girl that can make her own choices.” I turn my attention back to the brunette and see her staring at Jase as he comes out of the bike shop. Her eyes light up at the sight of him.
She practically bounces over to him, and the moment he sees her, he grins and wraps his arms around her. I can’t hear their conversation from here, but it’s probably the same one that Brant and she had.
It doesn’t take long for her to flit through the crowd, taking her time to walk around and talk to some of my brothers as well as a few of the ole’ ladies before coming back over to Brant and me.
I take a pull from my beer and watch her sway her hips as she stops in front of me. Her dark hair is now down her back, and I have to force myself to not reach out and pull her body into mine.
Something about her is calling to me, and I want so badly to see if whatever that was between us a few minutes ago is still there. I need to know that it wasn’t just some fluke thing that doesn’t mean anything.
“So Hendrix, how about you buy me a drink.”
I hear Brant snicker from beside me, but I ignore him. I don’t even want to hear him warn me away from her because I don’t think I would be able to if I tried.
“You realize they are free, right?” Brant grins. “I still can’t get over that you are all grown up.” She pushes her sunglasses up on top of her head again and puts her hand on her hip.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, Brantley.” She narrows her eyes at him, and I can’t help but grin. She’s got a feisty side, and I love that.
“Yeah, you no longer have the braces or the dorky haircut.” He winks at her, and a blush starts to creep up her neck.
“Don’t make me tell your girl about all the dorky things you did as a kid.” She has one of that cat ate the canary looks, and I can’t help but just stand back and watch them.
Brant just shrugs off her threat and wraps a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. “Anslie knows more about me than anyone else. Trust me, your brother had a field day with that shit already. You don’t have anything that she hasn’t heard yet. Unless you want to tell her that you were in love with Jase and me for years.” He winks at her again when she pulls away and grabs my hand, pulling me away from him while flipping him the bird.
“I don’t know why you would want to hang out with my brother or the twins,” she mutters under her breath as we head toward the clubhouse.
“They are more like family now. More family than I’ve ever had.” I pull the door open and let her walk in front of me before following her inside.
“You grow up around here?” She eyes me up and down before continuing toward the bar where a bunch of my brothers are gathered.
“Nah, California. Moved here a few years ago,” I answer, resting my hand on her lower back as I steer her toward the end of the bar that doesn’t have anyone crowding it. I motion to the new prospect, and he slides a beer in front of me, and I turn to Syd and ask her, “What will it be?”
“Whatever you’re having.” A grin toys at the corners of her lips and the prospect slides another beer toward me. I hand her one and lean against the bar.
My eyes rake over her body as I study her. She’s fucking breathtakingly beautiful, and I have no fucking idea how she can be related to Ryder. They seem like polar opposites, and I wouldn’t doubt that they had nothing in common even now.
“So where have you been hiding? I’ve been here for three years and have never once seen you. Ryder doesn’t even mention you.” She flinches, and I feel like an ass, but I don’t let it show. I want to know more about her.
“College. Ry and I had a falling out when he and Danielle split up. I wasn’t allowed near the club when all that went down and my parents moved me with them instead of letting me finish out my schooling here. Fast forward to today, I am now back in town and loving it.” She looks down at the bottle in her hand, fingers starting to peel the corner of the label.
“You graduated?” I question. Part of me is wondering why she came back, but I don’t ask because it might be the same story as me. Starting over or hell maybe she just wants to make things right with her brother. I wish I could say the same about my brother.
He’s a piece of shit that I wish I never met. He is the exact reason I moved here. The club knows my past and has never once held it against me, and I’m fucking grateful for it. He’s a sick son of a bitch, and I know that it would have been easier for them to just put me out on my ass instead of bringing me into the fold, but they trust me. They know that I would never betray them no matter who my family once was.
“Yeah, with honors. I’m secretly a nerd.” She winks at me, and I can’t help but smirk.
“A beautiful nerd,” I murmur. She blushes slightly and takes a swig from her bottle and sets it back on the bar before taking a seat close to me.
“I didn’t expect a biker like you when I got here.”
I raise an eyebrow at that.
“A biker like me?” she nods her head but doesn’t look at me. Instead, she’s looking over my shoulder at something. Turning my head, I see her watching her brother and his ole’ lady. He’s got her pressed into the wall, his hips keeping her right where he wants her.
“What kind of biker am I?” I ask, curious what she even means right now.
She turns her attention back to me and grins shyly. I highly doubt this girl has a shy bone in her body. “A biker who is sexy as hell and holds the door open for a woman.”
I can’t help but chuckle. I lean in so I can whisper in her ear, “I am no saint. I may hold a door open, but that’s only because I wanted to watch your ass as you walked in.”
Her breathing hitches before I pull away from her. When our eyes meet, I can see the heat in them. Her lips are slightly parted and fuck if I can’t help but imagine what they would look like wrapped around my dick.
She reaches a hand out to me and runs her fingers down my chest. I can feel the bite of her nail as she runs it down my tee before she gets to the bottom, stopping on my belt buckle. She’s playing with fire, and she doesn’t even know it.
I wasn’t lying when I told her I am no saint. Growing up on the streets forced me to learn early in life that I had to take what I wanted, and right now, the only thing I want is standing in front of me looking like a beautiful disaster. One wrong move that I will likely regret, but don’t care enough to keep my distance from.
She could bring me to my knees in a way that no one else will ever do, and I know this with just a few words. A few moments of just being in her presence and she will hold all the power in her hands. Her finger will be on the trigger.