Page 26 of Bowser (Dragon Riders MC 2)
Over, and over, and over.
Until she begged me to stop.
“Bowser!” Link exclaimed.
I emerged from my place and locked all the doors.
“The hell you yelling for?” I called out.
“Ready to head out? We’re ten minutes late leaving.”
Sly snickered. “Wow. Ten whole minutes. What will we ever do?”
Ash grumbled. “Shut up.”
I locked the wrought iron door. “We’re ready. You guys ready?”
Link rolled his eyes. “We’ve been ready for ten damn minutes.”
Hope furrowed her brow. “Is Joanna not coming on the ride?”
Everyone fell silent before they all looked at me with dumbfounded looks.
“It’s not really a pleasure ride, Hope,” I said.
She looked over at me. “I know that. But I figured you guys would want a lawyer as a witness or something to what’s about to happen. In case this goes to court?”
Sly hissed with laughter. “Yeah, nothing we ever do gets to court.”
I shot him a look. “Because we make it a point to deal with our issues as a group.”
She furrowed her brow. “So, why are you guys keeping her on retainer?”
Ash spoke up. “We’re doing what?”
My eyes settled on Link, his face turning bright red.
“We can discuss it once we get back. Hope, Bowser, get ready. We have to go,” Link said.
Now look who’s in hot shit, asshole.
I stuffed our bags into the storage compartments on my bike before handing Hope a helmet. While we got ready, the guys cranked up their bikes and revved their engines. Some people outside of the bar waved at us, and a couple of the prospects running the place in our absence came out to wave us off. They waved their rags around in the air in circles, whooping and hollering as I helped Hope onto the back of my bike.
And when she wrapped her arms around me, everything else faded away.
I was proud of her and the way she stood up for herself a couple of nights ago. She was strong, mighty, and immovable. But the situation we were riding into had changed and worry still stewed in my chest. It was more imperative that I pay attention. I had to know where she was every second, we were on the road. I had to keep her at my side and make sure she wasn’t in harm's way while we charged our asses into the lion’s den to settle this, once and for all.
At some point in time, I’d have to inform Hope about the conversation that took place to override the initial plan.
And I wasn’t sure how that would go.
“If we take too long to put this plan into motion and Skeleton finds out? They’re going to hit us faster and harder than we ever imagined,” Link said.
Ash sighed. “So, what do you suggest we do?”
I spoke up. “I think the plan we have right now in place is still solid. And if it’s being found out that we’re scared about—”
Sly hissed. “No one’s scared, idiot. But this plan was a bit hasty. You two certainly didn’t bring any of our opinions in on the matter before that meeting yesterday, either.”
Knuckles pointed at him. “Bowser came to me with an issue and I helped him fix it. How the hell is that any different from what Link and Ash do on a regular basis with this crew?”
Link held up his hand. “The difference is that I’m the one that runs this show, and you guys aren’t. And I’ll admit, the plan is a good one. You and Bowser did a damn fine job. But we’ve got one shot at this. And I really don’t think we should be wasting it doing this damn thing in pieces. If we already had the girls lined up for the bait-and-switch, that’s a different story. But to take a trip out of town just to gather them and risk being seen as a group by Skeleton’s patrolmen? The fuck kind of sense does that make?”
I snickered. “And where the fuck was this attitude last night when we were having church?”
He looked me dead in my eyes. “Trying to figure out how deep you’re really into this with Hope.”
The guys fell silent as I glared at our president.
“So, what do you have in mind?” I asked.
Link nodded. “I’m glad you asked. I think we should use this trip to go ahead and hit Skeleton where it hurts.”
I blinked. “We drive out of town just to attack someone in town?”
“No. We drive out of town to make it look like we’re heading on a crew retreat or some shit. Put our travels off a day and do it this weekend. We pack up, head out as a crew, get a place for the night. Really make it look like an authentic journey. Then, while we’re there, we talk to Hope about using her to—”
I puffed out my chest. “No.”
