Bad Boys of Romance - a Biker Anthology (32 page)

She handed me the forms to sign and a paper that had all of the instructions for the next few days. Thankfully they used the type of stitches that would dissolve so I wouldn’t have to come back later to have them removed. As I got up from the exam table, the nurse helped to steady me when I was having difficulty getting my bearings. She forced me to sit in a wheelchair, saying something about hospital policy. I could only guess, based on my looks that she thought I would argue, but I was too tired to give a shit. The sooner she got me to the waiting room the sooner I could get back to my room and lie down. Pushing through the double doors, I saw Ryann and Kaden waiting for me. Immediately they came over.

“How is he?” Ryann asked the nurse, who looked at me for confirmation that she could reveal any information. I nodded not wanting to waste energy on speaking.

“He has a mild concussion and bruised ribs. He’ll need to be monitored for the next twenty-four hours for additional symptoms. If you see anything on the list of things I’ve given him, bring him back
in.”Except, I hadn’t wanted the nurse to tell her that part. I just knew what was going to come next.

“We’ll take good care of him,” Ryann agreed. “Kaden, do you think you could pull up the truck?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

She handed her keys to Kaden and looked back at the nurse. “He’ll be staying with me.”

I could see Ryann’s black Chevy 2500 pull up right outside the exit. “I’ll wheel him out to the car,” offered the nurse. I was sure she told me her name, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember what it was. Whatever her name, she wheeled the chair out through the exit to the waiting truck. I was still having trouble standing, so Kaden hopped out and came around to help me in the truck. Once we were all in and pulled away from the hospital, I looked back at Ryann, even though it made me dizzy to turn my head that fast, I did everything I could not to let it show.

“You guys can just drop me off at the motel. I’ll be fine, I just need some sleep.”

Ryann scoffed. “Um…no. You heard what the nurse said, you need someone to stay with you.”

“I did, but I’ll be fine.”

“The answer is no.” She leaned up from the back. “Kaden why don’t you stop by the bar and grab your truck, then meet me at my house?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “There’s no point in arguing with her.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out,” I said tuning back around to lean my head on the cool glass of the door. The numbing medication was starting to wear off and my head was beginning to throb. Before I could continue the argument about where I was staying, my eyes drifted shut and I fell asleep.

When I woke up again, it was to Kaden and Ryann helping me up a set of stairs that definitely did not lead to my motel room. “Where are we?” I asked, my words sounded slightly slurred.

“My house,” answered Ryann. “I told you in the car you weren’t staying alone. You couldn’t even stay awake long enough to argue with me. So forget the grief you’re about to give me. Keep your mouth closed and we’ll have you set up in the guest room in no time.”

I wanted to argue with her, but it just felt like too much effort. All I wanted was to sleep and from what it sounded like, that option was only a few more steps away. We moved down the hall to the first room on the right. Ryann opened the door, letting me pass by, using Kaden as support. Ryann pulled down the covers and they helped me into the bed.

“Go to sleep,” Ryann said. “I’ll check on you later.”

Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I closed them and let myself drift off to sleep. I could deal with everything else later.

I hear pounding on the door.

“Open the door Jonathon. You have some explaining to do.”

Looking over at the clock, I realize that it’s the middle of the night. Groaning, I throw my legs over the side of the bed. I keep my door locked so my brother can’t get in. After what I found, I don’t trust him at all. Trudging over, I flip the lock, but before I have a chance to reach for the handle the door comes crashing open. It almost came crashing into my face, but I am able to jump out of the way in time.

“What is this?” my father roars at me, holding up a sheet of paper that looks very familiar.

I take the document out of his hands and instantly recognize what it is. “This is the paperwork I gave you earlier to prove my suspicions about David.”

“Oh really?” he sneers.
“Then how come the more I dig into this the more the evidence points to
you
and not your brother.”

That isn’t
right, I’d checked and double checked to make sure I was right. David is the one, not me. I can’t do that to my family

“I’m not sure. He must have done something to change it.”

“I don’t think so. You’re always looking for a way to bring him down, to make yourself look better than you are. This is just another example of that. Except this time you actually caused our family a world of pain and suffering.”

“Dad, I would never do something like that.”

He takes a step towards me. “Don’t lie to me. You’ve always wanted to be better than your brother, but you could never measure up and you never will. Yet you concoct this scheme to get your brother in trouble. You have always been the trouble maker.”

“Dad I swear to you on my life that I didn’t do it.”

“Right. And I’m supposed to believe a sniveling little rat like you, who only ever looks out for himself. You could never be half the man David is.”

“David is the cause of all of this. I’ve worked my butt off for you—”

A hand wraps round my throat cutting off my air, as I feel the wall slam against my back. A pain sears down my side and I can’t get a breath. Eyes the color of my own look at me with hatred and a desire for murder flashing in them. My whole body starts to shake, only making the pain stronger.

“Ryder,” a voice yelled next to me, startling me out of the dream.

My eyes snapped open, searching around the room. There was nothing familiar about it, but that was normal for me.
Where the hell am I?
I sat up, realizing instantly that was a bad idea. My head spun so fast, I felt like I drank an entire bottle of cheap whiskey. Then again, the pain in my ribs whenever I took a breath far outweighed any discomfort from my head.

“Lay back down, you’re going to make it worse.”

My eyes looked for the source of the voice. A beautiful brunette was sitting next to me on the bed. Her blue eyes were full of concern.

“Where am I?” I asked, completely confused as to how I got there and why the hell I felt like shit.

“My place. You don’t remember the fight.”

“Not exactly.
If I did, do you think I’d be asking?” I knew I sounded like a dick, but I couldn’t control my reaction when I was in pain.

“You don’t need to be an asshole. I’m trying to help.”

“Then don’t give me ridiculous answers.”

“Whatever. You have a mild concussion, which I’m going to use as the excuse as to why you’re being a dick at the
moment, and a set of bruised ribs.”

I closed my eyes at the frustration. My brain was so fuzzy. “And what did I do to deserve those, this time? The last thing I remember was my bike breaking down and Kaden giving me a lift. He dropped me off at the
motel, I showered, changed, and went to grab something to eat.”

“At least you remember something. You came into my bar for dinner when those two assholes showed up again. When things got loud you tried to intervene and the jerks threw the first punch. Eventually you got the upper hand, but not before the damage
was done. Kaden and I took you to the hospital when you were having trouble standing up and breathing.”

I had a few little flashes of what she was talking about but nothing concrete. “Well that sounds like it makes sense, except for
the me getting involved part.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Her voice got a bit louder.

The sound made my head throb even more. I cradled my head in my hands. “Please don’t yell.”

She sighed.
“Why don’t you go back to sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning when your heads clear.”

Figuring the pain would go away with
sleep, I agreed and laid back down. My eyes closed and I was back into a dreamless sleep in no time.

             
When I awoke next, the sun was up and I was alone in the room. Flashes of the night before paraded across my mind. Parts of the fight, a visit to the hospital and then Ryann waking me up in the middle of the night. Surprisingly, I could remember her name when most everything else was one big blur. But for some reason I was able to remember my dream, maybe because it wasn’t exactly a dream. Just the thought of the last time I saw my father made my blood run cold. The look in his eyes before he let me go and I fled the house for the last time still haunted me. It had been a long time since the memory assaulted me at night, but the concussion probably had something to do with that. Groaning, I threw my legs over the side of the bed, I needed to go find Ryann and get the hell out of there. I could hide in my room until the part came in and just order delivery.

I looked down and my shirt was missing, but I still had on my pants from the night before. A search around the room produced nothing. Frustrated, I left the room and went to look for Ryann.

Chapter 4

The smell of coffee led me downstairs to the kitchen where Ryann was sitting at the small table with a cup of coffee in front of her and another waiting at the empty seat across from her. Her eyes roamed from the top of my chest down to my abs, flinching when she took in the bruises on my side. Letting her eyes wander back up, she looked me in the eye.

“I heard you up, so I poured you a cup of coffee. I assume you drink it?” she said , gesturing to the cup already sitting on the table.

“Yeah,” I said, dropping into the chair. “What happened to my shirt?”

“It was covered in blood, so I took it off you to wash it. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out. I’ll get you a new one.”

“It’s fine. I just need you to take me back to the motel.”

She scoffed. “That’s not gonna happen. You’re stuck with me for the next twenty-four hours.”

“
Wh—” I started to yell before I realized how much it made my head pound. Lowering my voice I tried again. “What?”

“I guess you still don’t remember much from last night?”

I went to shake my head and thought better of it. “Not really.”

“You have to be monitored for the next twenty-four hours.” She looked over at the clock on the stove. “Well I guess fifteen hours.
Until later tonight you aren’t going anywhere without me.”

This woman was going to make me crazy. “I’ll be fine on my own. This isn’t my first time with a concussion.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “All the more reason you need someone to watch you and make sure there are no lasting symptoms.”

“Why do you care anyway?” I groaned.

She looked down and watched as she swirled her coffee around in her cup. “It’s my fault you got hurt in the first place.”

“Not exactly, it’s mine for getting involved. What did they want anyway? I know you said they use to own the place, but if they sold it, then it doesn’t make any sense that they’d be bothering you.”

She sighed. “The bar the sold me was a bankrupt piece of shit. They had no choice to sell it ‘cause they didn’t have the money to run it anymore.”

“Okay. Well of course you would sell something you couldn’t afford.”

”Yeah, but it doesn’t end there. I bought the bar five years ago and worked my ass off to ditch stigma the place had from them. Their food was inedible, the service was sucky and the drinks were expensive. So no one bother with it. Took me a good two years to get people to start coming back into the place on a regular basis.”

“That still doesn’t explain what they wanted.”

“The bar is successful now and they think I owe them more money. In their warp, twisted little minds, since I got a deal on the place because of the condition it was in that I should pay them more now that I’m making more money.”

“That’s really fucking stupid.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Why haven’t called the cops.”

“I have and they both have restraining orders on them. Not like that helps. Usually Jimmy call Kaden when they show up and they throw them out.”

This time, I guess it was my turn. I should have just let her handle it. In the end it would have been better for me. At that point, it didn’t matter, what was done was done.