Rough Rider 1: Bad Boy MC Romance (Fast Life)

  I would definitely be careful. Careful not to get too involved with a person as dangerous and sexy as the one I’d met the night before.

  Sure, he was hot. Hot enough to make me shiver. But not hot enough to distract me from my goal.

  I had to find out who killed my sister. Somebody had to pay.

  Since the police didn’t seem interested in tracking down the person responsible—even though they knew it probably had something to do with the gang—I would have to do it myself.

  Chapter 4 - Tyler

  I was bouncing up and down. I heard the bedsprings creaking. An earthquake?

  No, just hurricane Gigi.

  “Get up! Get up! Get up!”

  How could a person wake up with so much energy?

  I wished I could bottle whatever it was she had. I could make millions, and we could move out of this shitty neighborhood.

  “Geeg, you’re killing me,” I muttered, rolling over.

  The four-and-a-half-year-old who was using me and my bed as a trampoline fell on top of me.

  “Oh, come on! Have a heart! You’re a monster!”

  She knew I was kidding, and when I pulled her over me and tickled her, she giggled like crazy.

  I only wanted to sleep, but it wasn’t happening. I forced my eyes open.

  “Good morning!” She kissed my cheek. “Ooh, rough.”

  “I need to shave,” I said.

  She ran a hand over my face. “Brussels! Gross!”

  “What’s gross?”

  “You, Brussel face, Brussel face!” she said, as she continued to jump on my bed and me.

  “Brussels? You mean bristles?”

  “Yeah, brussels.”

  “Better be careful, or I’ll rub them all over your face!”

  She squealed when I grabbed for her and bounced off the bed, lingering just out of reach.

  “Get up! You’ve been sleeping forever!”

  She waited at the door for me to get up. I knew she wouldn’t leave me alone until I did. I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my hands over my face.

  I looked at the time. It wasn’t even seven yet…ugh! And she thought I’d been sleeping forever?

  Didn’t seem like forever to me. She was too much.

  “Where were you last night?” she asked.

  I’d gotten a few minutes to myself to use the bathroom and grab a quick shower, but then she was back in my world again.

  She sat on the edge of the tub while I shaved. “I was out. You know. Just out.”

  “What’s out? What do you do, is it fun?”

  “Stuff. Nothing you need to worry about.”

  “Why don’t you take me?”

  I looked at her in the mirror. “Because you’re always asleep when I go. And you should be, it’s late.”

  “You’re no fun!”

  “I have a great idea,” I said, and I turned to her. “Let’s trade places. I’ll go to preschool and take naps and go to bed early and learn things all day, and you go to work in the garage for me. And you can stay out all night. And then I’ll wake you up every morning.”

  “Good! I wanna be a grown up!”

  I shook my head. She was too much sometimes.

  I took her to the kitchen and groaned when I saw the empty fridge. I had totally forgotten to buy food. Then, I was surprised by a knock at the front door.

  “Hey, guys!”

  Gigi ran to open the door, her blonde curls bouncing with every step. “Sabina!”

  Sabina smiled at me from the front door, and I could have kissed her when I saw the paper bags full of groceries in her arms.

  “I saw you guys were running low last night, so I went out early to get you a few things before work.”

  “You’re a lifesaver…as always.” I gave her a quick hug before fixing breakfast for Gigi and me.

  “It’s no problem,” she said, unpacking the rest of the food.

  “Just leave me the receipt,” I said. “I’ll have the money for you when I get paid today.”

  “No rush.”

  The thing was, I knew she meant it. She and her mom had been helping take care of Gigi ever since Mom died and I was left alone with her.

  Her dad, my asshole step-father, had been gone since she was born.

  It took a lot of convincing, but the judge had finally agreed to let me keep her—as long as I got help from the neighbors, and let the state check in with us every once in a while.

  I knew if that had been a Social Services employee at the door instead of Sabina, I’d have been screwed when they saw an empty fridge.

  I had to stay on top of things.

  While Gigi chattered on and on about school, I watched Sabina. She was making coffee. If I didn’t know her, I’d probably think she was hot.

  She had a great body, a cute face. Her skin was like caramel. Big, dark eyes. I’d fuck her, easy.

  But I did know her so it was out of the question. We grew up together.

  She was like a sister to me and I was protective of her, but not because I wanted her.

  And I knew she had a crush on me. She had since middle school, when she and her mom moved in next door.

  I didn’t like girls back then—it took a minute for me to catch up, but once I did, I never stopped trying to get laid.

  By that time, I had known her too long and she was always gonna be in the friend zone.

  She brought me my coffee, and I sent Gigi off to get dressed.

  “Can’t wait to see what she chooses today,” I mumbled, as I gulped down my coffee to wake me up.

  The shower hadn’t quite done it for me.

  “It’s cute that you let her choose her own clothes,” Sabina said. “She’s proud of herself. It makes her feel like a grown up.”

  “Did you want to be grown up as bad as she does when you were that age?” I couldn’t remember how I felt.

  She nodded, musing, “I think so. Doesn’t every kid?”

  I frowned. “She needs to stay a kid as long as possible. I wish I could freeze her like this.”

  Sabina laughed and patted my arm. “So does everybody who has a kid in their life, I think.”

  I noticed the way she left her hand on my arm a little longer than she needed to. I knew I was gonna have to let her down easy at some point.

  I couldn’t lead her on, and of one thing I was certain. It was never gonna happen for us.

  Then Gigi came bouncing into the room and I couldn’t think about Sabina because my sister was wearing the tutu I’d bought her for Halloween.

  Six months later and she was still wearing it.

  “Again with the tutu?” I asked, as I put on her jacket.

  “It’s my favorite thing!”

  She was wearing jeans underneath it, at least. That didn’t always happen without me forcing her to put pants on. Maybe she was finally getting it.

  I walked her to school and then headed over to work. It wasn’t far from home, which was helpful.

  I didn’t have to be far from the preschool if anything happened, and it didn’t take me long to get home if Gigi needed me.

  Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to just be normal, and not have to worry about a little kid at my age.

  But when she kissed me goodbye, or ran to me and wrapped her chubby little arms around me when I came through the door after work…it was okay.

  I got right to work as soon as I hit the garage, pulling on a set of coveralls.

  It was a light day, all basic tune-ups, so it gave me plenty of time to think while my hands took over and I worked, practically on auto-pilot.

  All I could think about was Trinity.

  What was it about her?

  She was a brat, maybe even a bitch. I knew she thought she was above me, and she was probably right.

  Even without seeing her house, I knew from the part of town she lived in that she was a rich girl.

  It was probably fun for her to come to one of the parties my friends held, just to get a little thrill out of h
er boring, snobby life.

  But then she would go back to her “real” life and forget about me and the night she slummed it.

  I grazed my knuckles and hissed when I felt the pain. But it was good. It got my mind off her and had me thinking clearly again.

  She didn’t matter. None of it mattered. It was just one night, and tonight would be another one.

  Only she wouldn’t be there.

  I thought again about her body, how warm and soft it had been. Those tits pressed up against me, and her mouth so close to mine.

  I had wanted to taste her. I still did. I wished she had kissed me on the mouth, instead of the cheek. She wouldn’t forget me so easily once that happened.

  I wanted to see her again, no matter how many times I told myself it would never work out.

  I wasn’t used to girls arguing with me. I usually had to dumb down my conversation for them.

  I was never bad in school, I just had other things on my mind and didn’t care much about what my teachers wanted me to do.

  I just wasn’t that interested…but I wasn’t stupid.

  Neither was she. She didn’t fall all over me, or flirt and act easy.

  I suppose it was the challenge that got me thinking about her. She kept me on my toes.

  She made me want to break her down, and if I was honest with myself, I really wanted her to scream my name.

  “Yo! Tyler!”

  I lifted my head and turned. Vic, my boss, was staring at me.

  He was a tough guy to please, and he didn’t look happy with me.

  “I’ve been callin’ your name over here. Where’s your head today?”

  “Sorry.”

  I had to stop daydreaming about her. It was acting like some school kid. This wasn’t the first woman I’d ever met. She was nothing to me.

  Before I knew it, I was thinking about her again. Damn it.

  I wondered where she lived, specifically. It was smart of her not to show me where her house was.

  Otherwise, I might go back to find her. Wish I’d hung around and watched where she went.

  It was almost time for me to leave. I had a lot on my mind besides Trinity. The later it got, the closer it got to the race.

  Racing was a big part of my life. Not just because I loved it, but because it made more money for me in one night than I sometimes made in a week at the garage.

  It helped me keep a roof over our heads and clothes on Gigi’s back. I wanted her to have nice things, too. Birthday presents, Christmas presents.

  I knew the older she got, the more things she’d wanna be involved in. Activities, sports, and all that stuff. It added up.

  But, she wasn’t going to want for anything, if I had my say.

  And I was good—better than good. I’d never lost a race.

  I was finishing up my last car and thinking about the race when Vic called out to me again.

  “Somebody’s comin’ up. Take care of them, okay?”

  Damn.

  Just as I was ready to leave, too. I sighed and told myself not to let them see how irritated I was.

  I couldn’t afford to lose this job. I turned…and there she was.

  Trinity.

  Chapter 5 - Trinity

  The subject of my car kept weighing on my mind throughout class.

  I’d been putting off taking it in, just because I was busy with school and it was convenient to ride back and forth with Maggie.

  I could walk to work. Making that sort of adjustment was a slippery slope, especially when I depended on someone else.

  What if Maggie got sick? Or I needed something at night while Dad was at work?

  Odds were, he would be, too. That’s where he always was these days.

  I had two morning classes, and would normally eat lunch at the library and spend a few hours studying before my third class.

  During my break, I used my phone to look up garages in the immediate area.

  I could walk there it if was close enough, then have them pick up my car, and get it done.

  The closest one closed its office at four, and my third class didn’t end until four-thirty.

  I considered waiting, but knew I needed to just get this done.

  Otherwise, my car would be sitting in my garage forever, and I’d be getting rides everywhere from someone else.

  The garage was four blocks from school, and it was a nice day. As usual, my thoughts went to Angela.

  They always did when I wasn’t busy thinking about something else.

  At school, at work or while I was studying, I could think about something else.

  While walking four blocks, there wasn’t much else to do.

  When did I first find out she’d been sneaking around with that damned motorcycle gang?

  A few months before she died.

  She had been secretive for the first time in her life, but normally, up until that time, she’d been the poster child for “too much information.”

  But then, she’d had nothing to hide. She was the purest, sweetest soul I’d ever known.

  When Mom left, Angela had tried so hard to hold everything together.

  Always cheerful and optimistic, she was the one who took care of Dad then, even though she was only ten.

  Making sure he ate and encouraging him to rest. I was the older sister—at thirteen—but the baby of the family was keeping things in line.

  I had too much anger toward Mom to care much about whether Dad ate dinner or not.

  I tried to take care of him, now that Angela was gone.

  I tried to do it for her, the way she did back then.

  She should have been starting her freshman year of college, not rotting in a grave. She was too young and too special. Too loved.

  How could she be gone?

  I was still thinking about her when I arrived at the garage, and quickly blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill over.

  I had no idea where to go—Dad had always done this stuff for me.

  I met the manager of the garage who sent me to one of his mechanics. He had his head under the hood of a car, so I walked over to explain my problem.

  He stood, turning to face me. My jaw nearly hit the ground, and my face instantly flushed red.

  Never in a million years…

  “It’s you,” he said, smiling. I was too stunned to reply at first.

  All I could do was process the fact that he was standing there in front of me, looking good enough to eat.

  Stop that! My brain screamed at me. This was wrong…he was bad.

  But he looked so good. He was wearing a dirty pair of coveralls with his name embroidered on a patch on his chest.

  Tyler. I finally knew his name.

  Tyler was a mess.

  He took off his cap, running an arm over his sweaty forehead. His hair was matted and sweaty, too.

  I could see a bit of his bare chest under his coveralls—it looked like he wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath.

  There was sweat there, too, and a smudge of grease on his cheek. My stomach did a slow somersault. My mouth watered.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Sorry.” I shook myself. “Surprised to see you…that’s all.”

  “I’m surprised, too.” He looked genuinely glad to see me, and I wondered why.

  “So, you work here?”

  The minute I said it, I wished I could reach out to grab the words and shove them back in my mouth. I felt so stupid.

  He shrugged. “Nah. I get all gross and dirty just for fun,” he said with a smirk, looking completely smug.

  “Funny.” My cheeks went hot, and his smile widened.

  “So why did you come over? It probably wasn’t to apply for a job,” he said, looking me up and down. “Though I wouldn’t mind seeing you bent over the hood of a car.”

  Blushing furiously now, I stammered, “My car needs work.”

  I looked at the ground, my arms crossed over my stomach. I didn’t know how I felt about his flirting.
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  It made me uncomfortable, but not because I didn’t want him to. I just didn’t know how to respond.

  Part of me wanted to giggle and come up with a sexy reply, but the rest of me remembered he was bad news. His friends were bad news.

  “Hey, I’m sorry. I was only playing around.”

  I looked up, unsure. He was serious.

  “It’s all right.”

  I hoped he wasn’t always going to be like that, because I could only resist so much of his charm.

  I was already holding myself back from touching him. He pulled at me without a word.

  “So what’s the problem?”

  He leaned against the car he’d been working on, pulling a rag from his pocket to wipe grease from his hands.

  I shrugged. “Not to be a typical girl about this, but I have no idea. It just…conked out on me. I was driving, smoke started coming out from under the hood, then it stopped. I was on my block, at least, so one of my neighbors helped push it into my garage.”

  “Is that where it is, now?”

  I nodded.

  “How long ago was this?”

  I felt like an idiot again. “A few weeks.”

  His eyebrows went up, and he shook his head. “Not in much of a hurry to find out why it happened?”

  “It’s not that. I just got busy.”

  “It’s not the money, is it?” he asked, frowning.

  “No, I’m fine with that.” I had plenty in savings.

  “I was gonna say, if you couldn’t pay…”

  “I’m fine.”

  I appreciated the thought, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what method of payment he would suggest if I didn’t have the money.

  He shrugged. “All right. I’ll have to take a tow truck out there to pick it up.”

  I grimaced, and I knew he read my mind because that smirk appeared again. He was so full of himself.

  I had knocked myself out trying to keep him away from my house when he dropped me off, and now I had to take him there in broad daylight.

  I had to laugh at myself.

  “Fine, fine. When can you pick it up?”

  “Right now, if you want.”

  I looked at the car he was working on. “Don’t you have to finish up here?”

  “Nah. Anybody can do this.”

  He stood straight, smoothing a hand over his hair before sliding on his cap. Even that was sexy.

  I dug my nails into my palm to keep myself thinking straight.