Trinity (29 page)

I scan the mob of motorcycles on the lookout for Riley and Knight. It’s dark, but the numerous five-gallon drums of fire shed enough light to see into the distance. The air smells like a campfire mixed with burning rubber while the roar of racing exhausts howl in the distance. Outside the hospital, this is my life, my family. A motley crew of men and women riding carbon fiber horses in the middle of nowhere, free as a bird.

Reese asked me why I came back. This is why. This community. This privilege. This easy abandon. I missed it. Missed my feral side. Here, I can express who I am, both personalities, the professional and the tempestuous.

The land is littered with brightly colored Yamahas, Ducatis, and Hondas, so it catches me off guard when I see a white custom Kawasaki part the crowd like the Red Sea. What surprises me even more is that he has a girl on the back.

Reese pulls up next me, a small group of people flocking to us once he parks. We don’t even exchange a hello before the barrage for autographs begins. For a solid five minutes, Reese works the crowd, taking pictures, signing helmets, shirts and boobs all while the girl on the back clings to him shyly.

“Okay! Okay!” I bellow. If no one steps in, he’ll be trapped here all night. “Let the man breathe already! This isn’t a fuckin’ celebrity appearance!”

Reese signs a few last items before the horde dissipates.

Vultures.

I clasp my brother’s hand as he gets comfortable in the clearance.

“Who’s your friend?” I address the girl. When she removes her helmet—the blacked-out lid with pink racing stripes—I nearly fall off my bike. “What the . . .”Kayla?”

“Hey.” She actually has the decency to look guilty.

What’s going on here?
My eyes jump furiously between the two of them. Am I in
The
Twilight Zone
? The woman who proclaims publicly she doesn’t like bikes—or bikers—is currently sitting comfortably on my twin’s back seat, looking like she belongs there. Or at least belongs on the back of someone’s bike. I notice the way Reese touches her thigh, and I instantly become defensive, like a predator just moved in on my territory. How did this happen? What am I missing? Before I can erupt, Kayla flies off the back of Reese’s monster.

“Holy shit!” she nearly squeals. “Hold this.” She slams her helmet into Reese’s gut then takes off jogging into the distance.

Reese and I are both left perplexed until we see her nearly knock down another woman. It looks like an ecstatic reunion. You know, one of those girly ones where they jump up and down, hugging and carrying on.

I use this as the perfect opportunity to pounce.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I nearly rip Reese’s jugular out.

“What the fuck do you mean?” he snaps back.

“I mean what the fuck are you doing with Kayla?” I speak slowly, punctuating my words, hoping they stab him right in the dick.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“It looks like you’re fucking around. What are you doing back here anyway? Shouldn’t you be gallivanting across Europe right now?”

“I’m taking a break.” He situates his helmet and Kayla’s on the gas tank.

“A break from what?” I’m completely confused.

“Racing.”

“What?” I’ve never heard anything so preposterous fly out of my brother’s mouth. “You don’t take breaks from racing.”

“I do now.” Reese keeps his gaze focused on Kayla, which only infuriates me more.

“She’s a good girl, Reese.” My tone is threatening.

“I know she is.” His response is indifferent, which makes me want to rip my hair out.

“Then what are you doing with her?” I press.

“What do you think?” He leans forward and squeezes the grips.

“The last thing Kayla needs is for you to sink your teeth into her.”

“She hasn’t complained about my mouth being on her yet.” He smirks darkly.

Rage flares inside me. “I fucked her the morning after you left.”

That gets his attention. His blue eyes narrow, sharpen.

“I fucked her the night before I left.” That information makes me nearly blow a gasket. “And an hour ago.”

I glare at my brother, exhausting every ounce of control I have to keep from punching him dead in the face.

“You going to tell her?” I seethe. “You going to make her fall in love with you and then break her fucking heart? Because that’s the only future the two of you have.”

Reese breathes heavily. “That’s speculative.”

“No, it’s not. It’s a fact with your lifestyle.”

We stare each other down, blue eyes to blue eyes, but no glowering intimidation tactic is going to change the cold, hard facts. He’ll end up leaving her one way or another.

“Why the fuck do you care?” He lashes out before the realization hits. “You love her.”

I turn away from him. Love may be a strong word. But care? I definitely care. Too bad she’s already made her choice. I now understand the radio silence. And goddamn does it hurt. It fucking stings like a swarm of angry hornets.

I feel sick.

Karma. It’s a motherfuckin’ bitch.

I hear Reese sigh loudly, but I can’t bring myself to look at him. I’m too . . .
wounded.

“Do you remember Cassie Hawthorne from high school?”

That gets my undivided attention.

“How could I ever forget?” She was a girl we shared the summer after graduation. Three drunk, young kids exploring their sexually ambitious side. We fucked her the entire summer. Right up until our father died and Reese went pro. I think that was the last real “relationship” he ever had with a woman.

Reese raises his eyebrows communicating his silent thought.

“Are you for real? She’ll never go for it.”

“I think she will. I think that’s what she secretly wants.”

“How could you possibly know that?” I challenge.

“Because what woman would say no?”

It’s official; he’s gone completely insane.

“Your ego defies gravity.”

“How do you think I got her on the back of my bike?” Reese smiles shamelessly. “I didn’t give her an ultimatum and neither should you.”

He’s got me there. He’s been able to beat me to the punch with Kayla in every way.

“So, what? One of us is just supposed to throw her over our shoulder like a caveman and declare her ours?”

“Why not? I want her; you want her. She wants us. Seems like simple math to me.”

I scrutinize my brother.

“Don’t look at me like that. You know this is a win-win for everyone.” He crosses his arms and stares off into the sea of people mingling, drinking, showing off their latest mods, and plain old shooting the shit.

My brother is a supremely complex individual.

It makes me frown. Win may not be the right word. Short-term solution sounds more like it. A bandage. A quick fix. Definitely not something permanent. But if Reese is cool with it, so am I. Because I want Kayla any way I can have her. I want her back in my bed, underneath me, begging to come. Even if that means I have to share her temporarily.

I’m willing to deal with the repercussions.

And there will be repercussions.

There always are.

I
haven’t seen Tammy since I graduated high school. We were always close, but after she enlisted in the Air Force and I left for college, we lost track of each other. Hugging her is like slipping into a well-worn pair of jeans or walking straight back into an old life.

It’s a consoling familiarity.

“Kayla Kincade! What are you doing here?” She squeezes me so tightly, my back cracks. “I thought you walked away from this scene forever ago?”

“I did.” I strain to breathe as heartbreaking memories pelt me like bullets. “It’s sort of a long story.”

“I got the time, girlfriend.” Tammy’s twang springs off her syllables.

Tammy grew up on one of the most rural farms in the area. She’s a tall, thin, country girl with five overprotective brothers, who shoots straight from the hip. She can also ride anything with two wheels and has no problem showing you up while she does so. I remember when she schooled her oldest brother on a dirt bike. It was then and there she earned the respect of every man in her family. She was a sore winner, kicking up mud right in his face. But I guess when you’re the only girl swimming in a sea of testosterone, you need to make your statements where you can.

I angle my face away from her, determined to suppress the toilsome emotions. Tammy turns my cheek, sweet compassion gushing out of her big hazel eyes. Just being in her presence teleports me back to the past.

“All feels real again, huh?”

“For a minute.” I try to smile, fighting off the sadness before it drags me under. Before the guilt swallows me whole. It only takes a split second before I’m suffocating.

“So don’t think about the past, and tell me what you’re doin’ here! On the back of Reese Dane’s bike, no less.” She shakes me excitedly. “You’re every woman’s target tonight. Including mine!”

I turn red, restraining a smirk. “It just sort of happened. I was his nurse when he got hurt.”

“His nurse?” She puts her hands on her hips.
“That’s it?”

“Yes, his nurse. That’s it.”

“And what are you now?” she pries.

Tammy’s no idiot. Neither am I, and neither is Reese. Showing up at a rally with a girl on your bike says something. Specifically,
she’s mine
.

I glance back at Reese and Dev, both glaring at me in completely different ways. Reese looks like he wants to eat me alive; Dev looks like he wants to murder me. Who can blame him? At the moment, he probably hates me. And why shouldn’t he? I slept with him, then ignored his every phone call and text. And trust me, there were numerous. I drilled it into his head that I want nothing to do with bikers, and then have the audacity to show up at a rally, of all places, an hour after I fucked his twin brother in broad daylight.

I’m a walking fucking contradiction. Truth is, I was so ass backward after what happened with the two of them that I didn’t know what to do. I needed time to sort things out.

Dev is the dangerous one. Plain and simple. I know when he looks at me, it’s more than just physical attraction. I felt it when he touched me, when he kissed me. It was emotionally charged. Being with Dev felt final. Being with Reese felt free—no strings attached. No chance to get hurt. I knew he never planned to stay. He was an easy out. At least, that was my impression until he showed up clear out of the blue. I’m in the worst possible situation. Caught between two men I yearn for equally. Desire equally.

“Now, we’re . . . friends?” I try to simplify it.

“You asking or telling?”

“I’m not really sure, to be honest.” I laugh. “I’m just trying to let it all sink in.”

“I understand that. Reese Dane is definitely one fine piece of man. I’d let him
sink
in
all night long. Mmm.” I snap my head toward Tammy as a stab of jealousy punctures my gut. “Hell, I’d even take his brother as a consolation prize.” She jokes as I glare at her. Once she peels her eyes away from Reese and Dev, Tammy looks at me, startled. “Why you shootin’ death rays? You can’t lay claim on both of them.”

Says whom?

I know that thought is preposterous, but still. In my warped little world, they’re both mine.

Before I get a chance to tell Tammy hands off, someone hollers my name.

I turn to see Knight stumbling toward me.

“What’s up, girl?” His voice pitches as he puts an arm around me. “I thought you didn’t show face at these things.”

I’m momentarily stunned. One, because he’s never touchy-feely, and two, I think that’s the most he’s spoken since I met him.

“Um . . .” It takes me a second to reply.

“No worries. No explanation needed.” He cuts me off. “The important thing is you’re here, and I have moonshine.” He holds a large Mason jar up to my face. Now, I understand the source of his loose mood.

“Why do I have a feeling that you and that ‘shine are a dangerous combination?”

He grins and nods. “Like a Molotov Cocktail.”

“I like cocktails,” Tammy chimes in coquettishly.

“Oh yeah?” Knight still hangs on me but centers his full attention on the leggy brunette. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Tammy.” She flashes him a flirty smile, and I swear up and down he gets hard instantly.

“Knight.” He slips off me and cozies up to Tammy. She doesn’t seem to mind one bit. You cannot only see the instantaneous attraction, but you can feel it. I glance behind me at Dev and Reese, who are still hanging back on their bikes. Despite being identical twins, they each portray their own persona. Reese is flashy, where Dev lays in wait. He’s methodical. Even his sleek black sports bike screams discipline and control. A quiet domination.

I know just how dominant he can be. I shiver from the mere memory. Jesus. I need to get a grip and stop thinking about Dev when Reese is the one I came here with. Who made me come an hour ago.

Too bad that’s easier said than done. Truthfully, it’s fucking impossible. Not with them both ingesting me like that.

“Drink, Nursie?” Knight shoves the moonshine under my nose. “You look like you’ve got way too much shit on your mind. It’s a party! Lighten up.” His arm is around Tammy now. When did that happen?