Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel (4 page)

"Key word: were." Jim's voice had softened even
though he was still frowning. "Looks like we've made our choices,"
and waved a hand towards Dare's cut. "We're on different sides of
the fence."

"Yeah, I guess we fuckin' are," Dare admitted, still
shocked as shit to be standing in a parking lot in Billings talking
to the brother he hadn't seen for twenty-odd years.

Jim took off his hat and smoothed his short cropped
brown hair before looking at his long, lost sibling again. "Nice to
know you're alive, Josh. Looked for you when I got out of the
military. No trace after you turned fourteen."

"Dare. I call myself Dare now."

Jim snorted and the smile, the grin that had helped
Dare identify him, made a reappearance. It was a movement of lips
and cheeks that hadn't fuckin' changed in all the years they'd been
apart. "It fits."

Dare just stared at Jim, wondering if the other man
really wanted to know what had happened to young Josh. About the
intervening years after he ran away from Oregon's solution to a
homeless, orphaned kid. But he didn't think he was ready to talk
about it and especially not to his
so-straight-you-could-cut-your-fingers-on-him brother.

"I need to get back to my boys," Dare said, unsure
how to wrap up their conversation. It was evident by the way Jim
maintained his distance, by the wary look in his eyes that whatever
he was doing was as much as he was willing to give. "It was fuckin'
good to see you."

"Yeah you too," Jim mumbled before turning away and
going to his truck. Dare saw the woman inside watch his brother as
he moved to get into the cab, and they exchanged a few words before
her eyes shot back to Dare in shock.

Dare's dark gaze didn't waver while he watched the
truck as it backed up and then out of the parking lot, throwing up
small rocks and dust as it moved.

Jim, though, never once looked back at the brother
that had been lost to him so many years ago.

*.*.*.*.*

Each year, even as I made them, I had to admit to
myself…I hated runs. Always had and probably always would.

The last one I'd done east was when I'd been fifteen
and had been, just like this recent time, ordered to attend. And it
had been to the same destination. Which was only three and half
hours away from the Hellion - Spokane chapter's place.

But three hours on the back of someone else's bike
would've driven me batty. Which is why I'd decided to drive the
club's 2012 Cadillac Escalade. At least if I was steering a car
that held suitcases and other shit that couldn't be stored in the
panniers of a bike, I felt more like a Honey and less like a
tag-along. Plus, it kept me off the back of March's bike which,
considering our destination, was a good thing.

But, if I'd had my goddamn way, I would've been my
riding 'Agnes', my 2004 Harley Soft Tail Heritage!

The motorcycle my dad didn't know I owned, much less
proudly rode without his consent.

My pops was an old skool biker and didn't believe
women should ride alone. And especially his one and only daughter
who even at twenty-five wasn't allowed to make her own decisions
even if the law said I could.

Agnes was definitely something daddy didn't and
wasn't gonna know about if I had any say in the matter. Because
there'd be hell to pay. There was a very long list of things I kept
from my dad and I knew his version of hell. It was a deep
multi-layered place, each descending tier even worse than the last
depending on how bad I'd fucked up.

Milk, who was riding shotgun and so named because of
her white creamy skin, pointed to the road sign. We were just
coming up to Look Out Pass, Idaho, elevation 4,100 feet and just
this side of the Montana border. A pre-planned stop in order to
give my pop the rest his hip would surely be needing by now. After
laying his bike down last year to avoid a collision with a semi,
his hip had never been the same.

As I parked, I saw Leif and Jimbo reach to open the
back of the Escalade to get at the cooler pre-packed with soda and
the bag of snacks. Which was my contribution to try and cover for
Pop's need for a break. Glancing over at my old man, I saw his
mouth was a tight line and his eyebrows were furrowed. A sure sign
of pain. I saw him reach to rub the hip that still gave him trouble
even as he tried to walk it off.

I went to where March stood with Ant and Rio. Without
stopping his conversation, March lifted and arm and tucked me
against his side. It was his little moves like that which gave me
hope that things would turn out well between us. But, they were
very few. And very far between.

"Hey, baby," he said as he bent to kiss my forehead.
"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just worried about my dad."

"He was starting to get antsy just after Kellogg.
This rest stop will help, hellcat. No need to worry." I found
myself wishing March could hold on to that sweet and remain
comforting but I knew that it wouldn't last. Feeling a presence
come up next to us, I looked over to see the man in question had
joined our little group.

"Everyone okay? No problems with anyone's ride
because now would be a fine time to take care of the things that
need doing," Dad announced, using his Hellion president voice and
assuming the Hellion don't-fuck-with-me stance of hands crossed on
chest with feet solidly planted. He turned to me and gave me the
once over. "How 'bout you princess? You holding up okay?"

Considering he was in obvious pain, I found his
question strange but my pop never asked questions just because.
There must've been a reason behind it.

"Yeah, dad. Doing good but anxious to get there," I
replied with a smile. A smile that faded with the searching look he
gave me.

"You just remember who you're with now," my dad
warned on a low tone, causing my heart to begin to jack-hammer in
my chest. I'd been wrong to use the word 'anxious' and should've
stuck along the lines of 'ready' instead. "Don't want no repeat of
the last time you made a Missoula run."

Shit!

"You've done the run to Missoula before, Rye?" March
questioned from my side and I felt him pull back in order to look
at me. Smart man. Because I couldn't lie for shit and always gave
myself away by some kind of look my face took on. Or so I'd been
told. By many people. And often.

"Once," I admitted but wouldn't look at him directly,
finding the uneven parking lot a much safer view. "A long time
ago."

I saw my pop open his mouth but his words died when
Leif called me over to where he stood, still at the back of the
Escalade. I walked towards my long, lanky brother, wondering what
he had that specifically needed my attention. We'd been close when
we were younger but had grown different directions in the
subsequent years.

Putting his head close to mine, his voice was low as
he said, "the old man has his boxers in a wedge thinking there
might be a repeat of last time. Don't give him cause for worry,
sis."

"But I haven't done anything," I blustered.

"You better make sure you don't either," Leif
cautioned with a frown. "Remember what dad threatened to do
then
? Don't think even think for a minute he won't do it
now, Rye!"

Double shit!

This run, which had just started, was turning out to
be a problem before we even landed. All based on the past. My
past.

Our group didn't stay at the rest stop long and I was
glad to be back on the road (and away from all the testosterone)
although driving didn't provide enough distraction. And, as usual,
without distraction, my mind wandered.

It had been a couple of years since I'd last seen
Dee, Carly and Lock. Too long even though we yakked on the phone at
least once a week. Particularly with Lock. Me and my girl were
tight. She rode too although she didn't have to hide it, not like I
did. But as a Honey, she still wasn't allowed to ride with or for
the club. Something I found ridiculous in that day and age.

I reined in my thoughts, knowing the track they were
on were only gonna piss me off, and I didn't want to arrive at the
clubhouse scowling.

I wondered if the boys I'd met the last time were
still with the Missoula club. I knew Trey held the gavel now for
their chapter although I couldn't imagine him in that position of
power. Not the tall, broad but skinny kid with the wonderful laugh
and cute dimples from my youth. I'd heard Bishop's name bandied
about a few times when I was at our clubhouse so he must've stayed.
He'd been ten years older than me but since he and Trey had been
brothers for life, we'd hung out.

Who the hell are you kidding?
my mind butted
into my ruminations, not quite as loud as it had been previously.
You really want to know about Dare.

It was true, I did. Wickedly funny and always up for
a good time, Dare had been my 'run-crush'. Something I now knew
happened a lot but I didn't know it then. With only two years
between us in age, we'd been a couple of the youngest of the group
and tended to gravitate towards one another.

At least, that's what I told myself from my adult
point of view.

But the younger version of me didn't believe it for a
minute.

He'd called me 'gorgeous' and I knew it wasn't just a
nickname by the way he'd sneak glances at my boobs and ass. But it
was the color of my eyes that he said did it for him, and even I
had to admit they were unusual. Aqua colored irises are definitely
not the norm and when combined with my brown hair and thick
eyelashes tended to be startling, bringing me way too much
attention even when I didn't seek it out.

If he'd just kept calling me gorgeous, giving me
compliments and checking me out, I probably would've forgotten all
about Dare in the subsequent years. Would've moved on and allowed
the thought of him at seventeen to become just a distant memory.
But he hadn't kept it so innocent, not the second-half of the week
before our group left to go back to Spokane.

And at fifteen, I fallen head over heels in love for
the first and only time in my life.

Something people said, and continued to say, it
wasn’t possible citing I was too young to know my own heart. That
it was simply a crush between two teenagers that would soon be
shelved as pleasant memory. Not a loss you lived through every day
for nine years, seven months and three weeks.

But in my heart of hearts, I knew they were
completely and totally wrong.

Again, I forced myself away from certain memories.
Not because they were gonna piss me off but because they would
cause that sharp pain in my chest. The one that I thought of as the
place where my heart had been welded back together. Not so much
healed but more like a repair that had been forced, required in
order to get through each day.

I looked through the line of bikers that rode in
front of the SUV, zeroing in on March who rode next to my dad at
the front and wondered how the upcoming week was going to go down.
And considered the man who was so not my choice but that I'd agree
to marry. In any other circumstance and in any other country, our
betrothal would have been called by the name that it really and
truly was. An expression that had more than a few people scrunching
up their faces when they heard it.

An arranged marriage.

How was Dare going react to all that was my life
now?

Or was he already caught up in someone else? Someone
he'd found a better connection with than the naïve teen-aged girl
who'd cried her eyes out as she'd climbed up behind her older
brother and ridden away. Ridden away from a boy-man that she still
valued.

Still fantasized and dreamed about.

My heart gave a painful thud at my admittance.

I saw the ribbon of bikes in front of us slow as our
group began to change lanes in order to exit the 90 freeway.

Almost there and I could feel my heartbeat pick up
its pace.

But I told myself it was only because I was anxious
to see my friends again.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the nervousness
my teenaged self was feeling at the thought of seeing Dare
again.

Chapter Five

"Need you to go to the Rosemont and reserve the top
floor before you check back in at the club." Trey's voice was
lighthearted as it came through Dare's speakers of his Chevy
Silverado. Dare fuckin' loved the blue-tooth feature that allowed
him to use the hands-free option in order to touch base with the
club or his brothers. "Spokane has arrived and there's not enough
room at the compound."

"Shit! How many fuckin' came out?"

"Eighteen including the Honeys."

Dare's heartbeat made its presence known with a
double-bump.
With
Honeys? Did that mean that Ryley might be
with them?

"Will do but am gonna fuckin' drop Burleson off at
his place first," Dare advised, trying to keep a handle on the
emotions that were building. It had been, he admitted, an emotional
day. "We doin' din-din at the club?"

"Dallas's meatloaf, so don't be late or you'll be
shit out of fucking luck," Trey advised with a laugh. It seemed no
matter how much of the fuckin' stuff Trey's fiancé made, there were
never any leftovers. The brothers had decided that it was the bomb
and almost as good as Reese's biscuits.

After disconnecting the call, Dare went back up
inside his head where he'd spent most of the time on the ride back
from Billings. Only now, he had a different focus than the one from
before.

Ryley
.

He was aware of the voices of the other men in his
truck and of the beauty of the late spring mountains they were
traveling through on their way back to Missoula, but he wasn't
paying attention to any of it. His mind was remembering the most
amazing eyes he'd ever seen that came attached to the most
wonderful girl he'd ever encountered.