Ride Wild

  “Yes. Ben will want you there.” And so do I. Because he wasn’t sure what he was walking into, or how bad it was going to be. Jesus, the thought of his boy being hurt made him want to vomit. “Get dressed,” he said, manhandling her toward the stairs.

  “But what about meeting Sam off the school bus?” she asked, peering up at him as they raced down. “He’s gonna be freaked out.”

  She was right about that. “I’ll get one of my brothers to bring him to the hospital,” he said, hoping someone would be willing to do that for him after Slider had pretty much gone ghost on the club after Kim’s death. They all thought that was because he was wrecked with grief, when really it was because her cancer had made it so he could never reveal all the ways in which she’d given him cause to grieve. And the more he’d dwelt on her lies, the more he hadn’t known who or what he could believe in—even the club. And that had killed him even as he hadn’t been able to stop himself from pulling away from his brothers.

  Nothing like betrayal to shut you down and make you unsure who or what in your life was true, was real, was worthy of your trust. Sonofabitch.

  “Okay,” she said dashing toward the laundry room. “I won’t be thirty seconds.”

  True to her word, Cora returned quickly, dressed again in the same clothes as before, his white T-shirt hanging out under the sweatshirt as if she hadn’t wanted to take the time to change out of it. “Ready,” she said, stuffing something into her purse.

  The hospital was only a fifteen-minute drive across town, but it felt like a fucking lifetime until they were pulling into the lot at the emergency department. Slider cut the engine and jumped out in one frantic motion.

  And then they were inside, waiting in the line to talk to someone while Slider lost his ever-loving mind. The smell. The fucking smell. It took him right back to Kim’s illness. The countless visits. Those final days when her death was simply a matter of when not if. His sons’ heartbreaking good-byes.

  And now Ben was here all by himself. Was he remembering all of that, too? The thought made Slider want to tear down doors and walls to get to him.

  But he could hardly blame the tall, bald guy in front of them for being in the way when his blood had soaked through bandages he wore around his left wrist. “Got bit by a dog,” he told the intake nurse. “Pit bull.”

  “Was animal control involved, sir? Do you know if the dog had rabies?” she asked. It was the first of about a half-dozen questions she asked him, and Slider’s patience significantly decreased with every one.

  Finally, it was their turn. “My son, Ben Evans, came in by ambulance from his school,” Slider said before he and Cora even made it all the way to the counter. “He’s only six.”

  “Of course, Mr. Evans,” the woman said, her fingers flying over the keyboard. “You can come right back.”

  Finally. Thank fuck.

  The receptionist’s gaze cut to Cora. “Are you family, too?”

  Slider saw it. The little step backward Cora was about to take as she bowed to the hospital’s rules. But he wasn’t having it. Not for a second, not when Ben might need every bit of combined strength they had to offer. So Slider took Cora’s hand in his, and the tiny catch in her breath just made him hold tighter. “Yes,” he said. “Now, please take us to him.”

  Chapter 3

  As bad as Slider’s earlier words had made Cora feel, his actions now made her feel more important than anyone else ever had. Except Haven, of course, who never once let Cora believe she was anything less than her best friend in the world. Slider’s behavior was confusing as hell, but Cora went with it, because she was worried out of her mind over Ben.

  And given how scared she was, she couldn’t imagine how Slider was feeling. Not after having lost a wife.

  So Cora was determined to be there for both of them. In whatever ways and for however long they might need her. Because it was good to be needed. And no one else seemed to need her except the Evans men. Not even Haven anymore, who now had a man who was absolutely devoted to her. After everything she’d been through, Haven deserved that devotion—and every bit of the happiness she’d found with Dare Kenyon.

  But it left Cora more than a little adrift in her own life.

  “The doctor will be in to see you soon,” the nurse said as they arrived at a curtained exam room.

  Slider nodded, and then his pale gaze cut to Cora like he was looking for something from her. But she didn’t know him well enough to do more than squeeze his hand in reassurance. “I can wait here until you’ve had a chance to see him.”

  “I want you with me. He’s, um, going to want to see you, too.” His hand still around hers, he pulled her inside.

  Whatever pleasure she’d felt from those declarations quickly fell away when she took in Ben’s little body, looking so small in the big hospital bed.

  Slider’s face was a stone wall, but she felt the jolt of his reaction where they were connected. “Hey, Benji,” he said, his voice strained.

  The boy’s eyes swam open and finally focused. And even though his forehead was bruised, bandages covered the side of his head and one arm, and an IV ran into his other arm, the kid’s face still managed to light up when he saw his father. “Dad, I got to ride in an ambulance,” he said with a hint of his usual exuberance.

  Slider managed a chuckle as he eased onto the edge of the mattress and took Ben’s hand. “Yeah? Did they turn on the siren for you?”

  “It was loud,” Ben said, eyes wide. “And everything inside was shiny. And the man told me knock-knock jokes the whole way here.” Cora heaved a relieved breath. Hearing the kid talk gave her hope that he’d be okay. “He was almost as funny as you, Cora.”

  She smiled at the sweet compliment. “No one’s as funny as me, Bean. No one.” Even though, just then, humor was eluding her in favor of bone-deep relief. This kid had lost a mother at the age of four. The last thing he needed was any kind of permanent injury at the age of six.

  He rolled his eyes. “Coowa, it’s Ben!”

  Happy tears threatened. “Yeah? Well, Ben, how’s that noggin feeling? Is it true you dented the monkey bars with it?”

  “Noooo,” he said with a giggle as he nodded toward the bed opposite from where Slider sat. Even though the man had made it clear he wanted her there, she couldn’t help but feel a little like she was intruding, so she’d hung back. But now she made her way to Ben’s side. “I have a headache. And my elbow hurts. And I might need a case on my arm. But I didn’t break the monkey bars. Or, at least, I don’t think I did.”

  “I think it’s called a cast, buddy,” Slider said.

  “Oh, yeah. And they said I could pick the color of it,” Ben said. “Isn’t that cool?”

  Slider nodded, his eyes suddenly blinking fast. “Really cool,” he managed.

  Seeing the normally stoic man struggle with emotion almost brought tears to Cora’s eyes. “Definitely the coolest,” she added, admiring the kid’s positivity. He’d been hurt, taken a probably scary ride by himself in an ambulance, and been poked with a needle, yet what he focused on was how fun the ride was and that he’d get to choose the color of his cast. She pulled a stuffed animal out of her purse. “Brought someone for you.”

  “Blue Bear!” he exclaimed, grasping his favorite toy, lumpy and misshapen, into his hands. Belying its name, it was more gray than blue from being washed and loved on again and again.

  “I knew he might worry about you,” she said, “so I thought he should come.”

  “Yeah, he does worry sometimes,” Ben said, rubbing the bear’s face against his own. “But I’ll make sure he doesn’t get scared.”

  Just then, the doctor came into the room and detailed more specifically exactly what Ben’s condition was. He had a broken elbow, for which they were waiting for the orthopedist before they set it and put on the cast. His bandage hid a cut on the forehead, which had already received five stitches. And he had a concussion that required some scans and overnight observation because Ben had briefly los
t consciousness.

  But he would be okay.

  That left Cora feeling like she might float right up to the ceiling. She’d known him only a few months, but she’d become really fond of Ben. Of all the Evans men, if she were honest. Even Slider. For all his brooding reserve, he was a good dad. And the way he’d come after her this morning proved that, on some level, he cared about her, too. Even if it was just because he valued her as a caregiver for his kids.

  That was more than she’d ever gotten from most people.

  When the doctor left, a nurse ducked in. “Your other son is here, but only two visitors are allowed in the room at a time.”

  “Oh, okay. I’ll go so he can come back.” Cora pressed a light kiss to Ben’s forehead. “You just concentrate on getting better.”

  “Don’t leave,” Ben said.

  She smiled. “I’ll just be in the waiting room. Don’t worry.” Cora made her way around the bed, surprised when Slider reached out and grasped her hand.

  “Thanks,” he said, pale green eyes peering up at her from underneath the long strands of brown.

  Nodding, she left and found Sam waiting at the desk with Haven and Dare, along with Dare’s cousin and the club’s vice president, Maverick Rylan, and his girlfriend, Alexa. Phoenix and a few other Ravens were there, too. They weren’t all related by blood, but this was still every bit Cora’s idea of what a family was. People who cared. People who showed up. People who claimed you, no matter what.

  In his agitation, Sam looked like he might vibrate right out of his skin. “How is he? They wouldn’t let me ride with him, Cora. It was so unfair.”

  She grasped his face in her hands. “He’s going to be fine. He was super brave. But he’d love to see you.”

  Swallowing down his fear, Sam nodded. “Are you gonna leave now?”

  “No. I’ll be right out here.”

  His shoulders relaxed. “Good. Okay.” He went with the nurse through the double doors.

  And that left Cora alone with a whole lot of bikers wearing their leather-and-denim club cuts covered in patches and the Ravens’ colors.

  “What happened?” Dare asked, expression fierce. Everyone else gathered around.

  “He fell off the monkey bars at school and broke his elbow and hit his head. He’s going to be fine, but between the tests they have to run and his concussion, they have to keep him overnight,” she said. Their collective sighs of relief mirrored the way she was feeling herself.

  “This is the last thing Slider needs,” Dare said, raking his hand through his dark brown hair. Ruggedly handsome, her best friend’s man looked older than his late thirties, as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. And in a way, he did. The weight of the Raven Riders’ whole community, and the responsibility for the people they helped in the club’s mission to stand up for and defend those who couldn’t do it for themselves. Given the way Cora and Haven had arrived on the club’s compound, and knowing all the Ravens had done—and been willing to do—to protect them and try to give them new, safer lives, Cora knew firsthand exactly how great a responsibility that was.

  And it made her feel fiercely loyal to the Ravens, even if she didn’t belong to that community the same way her bestie now did. As the club president’s girlfriend—not to mention as a fantastic baker who’d baked her way into most of the men’s hearts—Haven unquestioningly belonged with the Raven Riders.

  But Cora? She wasn’t sure she belonged anywhere. One more thing to figure out about her life.

  “What can we do to help?” Maverick asked, standing at Dare’s side. With blond hair and deep blue eyes, Mav was almost pretty in an utterly masculine way.

  “I don’t know,” Cora said. “I guess Slider will need to stay here overnight with Ben. So maybe nothing in the short term.”

  “Is he supposed to work tonight?” Mav asked.

  “Yeah,” Cora said, glancing at the wall clock. Hard to believe it was only two o’clock in the afternoon. Standing on that rural road in the rain with Slider seemed like a million years ago. “He’s on at seven. We were going to go grocery shopping beforehand,” she said, her brain slowly recalling what the day’s plan was supposed to have been.

  “Who knows exactly how long Ben will end up in here,” Haven said, looking from Dare to Cora. Once a pale blond, her friend now wore her hair in a wavy light-brown-to-warm-blond ombré that looked so pretty with her blue eyes. Watching Haven come out of the shell built by her past these last couple months had been like witnessing a butterfly unfurl from its cocoon. And it made Cora so damn proud. “Make me a list and I’ll do the shopping. That way everything they need is there when they get home.”

  “I can help you with that,” Alexa said.

  “You sure?” Mav asked, tucking a strand of Al’s brown hair behind her ear. “I don’t think you should be carrying heavy bags yet.”

  Alexa glanced down at her hands, mostly healed now from having been burned in a fire that had nearly killed her and Maverick and left her mother comatose in a long-term rehabilitation facility. “I can at least drive and help shop,” she said.

  Cora watched the couples interact with more than a little envy curling through her belly. She hated feeling jealous of women she considered her friends. Not just Haven, whom she’d known forever, but Alexa, too. All in their early twenties and having recently survived harmful relationships of one sort or another, the three of them had discovered a lot in common and become close over the past couple of months.

  “Phoenix, would you be willing to help them?” Cora asked. “Slider kinda needs a lot of stuff from the store and Alexa really shouldn’t be carrying anything.”

  “What am I, the manservant?” he asked with a smirk.

  She gave him a once-over. With his short brown hair and always-mischievous brown eyes, there was no denying he was cute, even with the jagged scar that ran from his eye to his ear. They’d hit it off right from the start, their sarcasm and sense of humor good for sparring and banter. Once, Cora thought she could maybe even be into Phoenix. But the more time they’d spent together since she arrived, the more Phoenix had started feeling like the big brother she’d never had. Which meant she lived to give him a hard time, and he gave it right back. “Yes, Jeeves. Exactly.”

  He rolled his eyes and feigned annoyance. “Fine. Whatever. But I’m gonna make that manservant shit look good.”

  Mav slapped him on the back. “You keep telling yourself that, Creed.”

  Everyone laughed, then Cora typed out a long text message of groceries for Phoenix and the girls. Finally, they took off, but not before Haven made Cora promise to call and catch her up on everything that’d been going on. No doubt, had she returned to the clubhouse this morning, Cora would’ve been due for a full-on grilling for calling for a ride when Slider had never before failed to bring her back and forth.

  But that would have to wait, because just then, Cora was focused on taking care of the Evanses. “Can one of you call the garage and let them know what’s going on?” she asked Dare and Maverick.

  “I’ll do one better than that,” Mav said. “I’ll cover his shift for him. I know the owner well, and I’ve helped out over there before.”

  “Wow, okay. I’m sure Slider will really appreciate that,” Cora said. Maverick was, as far as she could tell, a pretty well-known custom motorcycle builder, and she’d heard him talk about growing up in his father’s auto body shop, so no doubt he knew his way around cars, too. But it was still impressive to watch everyone pitch in the way they were doing.

  When all those arrangements were straight, Dare turned to her. “And how are you?” he asked.

  “Me? Oh, totally fine,” she said.

  He tilted his head and stared at her. That dark gaze always felt just a little too observant, too perceptive for her liking. “Yeah? Then why were you calling from the side of the road this morning, Cora?”

  She shifted feet and resisted cupping her hand to her ear and saying, Oh, I’m sorry, I think I hear Ben ca
lling for me . . . Yeah. No. That wasn’t going to fly. “How about this,” she said instead. “It’s all over.”

  His eyebrow arched, just a little. Enough for her to know he was calling bullshit even if he wasn’t vocalizing it. “Haven worries about you, so that means I do, too. Actually, I would anyway, because you’re part of the Ravens’ family now.” He kept going, as if that declaration wasn’t absolutely huge for her to hear. “And I won’t let anyone treat you bad, Cora. Not even one of our own. You hear what I’m saying?”

  She gasped. “Slider doesn’t treat me badly.” Cora hated that Dare might think that. Sure, Slider was often withdrawn, distant, and quiet as a heart attack—and not just toward her. She’d overheard enough chatter around the clubhouse to know that Slider had, for the most part, dropped off the face of the earth where the club was concerned, despite once being an active member. The guys seemed to understand that Kim’s death had shattered Slider, but there was a little resentment and disappointment there, too. Still, that didn’t mean he was ever out of line with her. Even with what he’d said this morning, he’d tried to backpedal away from how harshly it’d initially come out of his mouth. “He doesn’t, Dare. Not ever.”

  He gave her another penetrating stare, then nodded. “Okay, good. Glad to hear it. But don’t forget that there are people who have your back now. You’re not out there anymore. You’re here, with us.”

  Her gaze traced over the letters spelling out PRESIDENT on a patch on Dare’s chest because it was suddenly too hard to meet his eyes. If she did, she was afraid she might tear up. “Got it,” she managed.

  “Good, then let’s settle in,” he said.

  They did. All that afternoon, and well into the evening. Dare sat with Cora awaiting any news Slider might be able to share about Ben. Doc, Bunny, and Bear—Dare’s grandfather, great-aunt, and great-uncle—joined for a while, as did Haven, Alexa, and Phoenix when they returned from their shopping expedition. And a variety of other Ravens dropped by one by one until they’d taken over nearly a whole corner of the waiting room.