Page 16 of Riot

I rubbed my sternum like massaging would help. It didn’t. Not yet. The throbbing sensation expanded. It didn’t hurt anymore. I just felt it wrapping around my upper torso. The pulsing was gradually fading until it settled under my ribs. My wolf felt it too.

It wanted our mate. My beast would have to wait. You’ve got lousy timing. I couldn’t bail on this run. It was too important.

“I like the guy,” Merk said.

My wolf snarled so deeply even my bones felt the vibration.

“Just said he was cool.” Merk’s left shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Fits right in without even trying. I mean only a blind person couldn’t have seen the inevitable.”

Mayhem and Merk laughed.

“Now Reaper owes me fifty.” Mayhem made a ka-ching sound. “Knew you’d go down fast.”

Merk wiggled his fingers in front of his own face, his mouth curled into a shit-eating grin. “Y'all had this googly-eyed expression every time either of you stole a glance.” He picked up the keys to his bike. “Calvin won the number of glances by a landslide.”

And I’d felt every single time he’d looked my way.

“You two hecklers done being assholes so we can roll out?” I asked.

I grabbed the coffee cup off the floor and tossed it then followed them out back. Merk was taking the van. Bigger cargo space. Tinted windows. Less attention than three bikes rolling out together with business to handle. He popped the rear doors while I checked the sidearm at my back and made sure everything sat right. Mayhem did the same without comment.

The cash was already packed in a locked case. Clean and simple.

“Glad I’m riding my bike and not with you,” I said. “Your driving gives me anxiety. Want a better chance at surviving.”

“Keep talking shit and I’ll crash into you on purpose,” Merk said with a bite that hadn’t been in his voice a moment before.

“You in a mood?” I asked.

He slammed the doors closed. “Just trying to hear if your bullshit changes pitch.”

“The hell?” I narrowed my eyes, taking a step toward him. My canines threatened to punch through my gums. “Talk to me like that again, motherfucker. I dare you.”

Mayhem stepped between us. “Both of you kill the bullshit before we leave town.” Mayhem glanced at me. “He woke up looking like that. Don’t push him.”

“Then he shouldn’t have called me princess. Fuck him.” I headed toward my bike, blowing out a breath. We talked shit to each other all the time. Part of pack life. No one took offense. If Merk had woken up foul, he should’ve kept his mouth shut.

* * * *

Route 9 stretched empty ahead of us, long strips of asphalt washed gold by the rising sun. I rode easy at the front left, Mayhem a few yards over on the right, the two bikes cutting through the quiet while Merk’s van stayed steady behind us without falling back once. Engines rolled low and constant beneath the morning air. No traffic or people, just miles of open road and the hum of another routine run.

The supply pickup itself wasn’t shit to worry about. Same contact we’d used for years. Cash exchanged, crates loaded, everybody gone before most people had taken their first sip of coffee.

Calvin kept sliding back into my head every couple miles, taking over my thoughts but not distracting enough to pull my eyes from the road.

My thoughts changed with each quarter-mile. Calvin standing beside me near the picnic tables with that lemonade cup in his hand, condensation running over his fingers. Drifting back toward me all afternoon without making it obvious. The brush of his arm when he leaned closer to hear me over the music. That small smile he kept trying to hide every time I said something that landed.

The morning wind pushed against my cut while the bike ate up another long stretch of highway. Sunlight flashed across chrome and mirrors. Somewhere behind me the van hit a rough patch in the road for half a second before smoothing back out.

I thought about the way Calvin had looked down at his crushed cup after I’d asked him out. Like he needed a second to get himself together before answering.

“I’d like that.”

My fingers flexed once around the throttle.

Tomorrow night.

Well, tonight now.