Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection

chapter 18 ~ Ryder

Over the years Max and I had led very different lives—and I was happy that Max had made something great of his life. He was right, I was smarter than the average biker, but I was content with the life I’d chosen. At the Scorpio Stinger MC, I was somebody—my smarts had helped us survive against rival clubs and random gangs, time and again. We’d outwitted a few hostile takeovers with my strategies over the years.

My team needed me as much as I needed them. We looked out for one another in the man-eats-man jungle others called life. Yeah, the guys teased me about being a philosopher and a strategist—I took it all in my stride.

Why waste a good brain?

Yet Max and I had chosen to use our smarts in different ways. We would never see eye to eye on it, but we’d respect one another’s decisions. Live and let live.

Just before Max decided to leave the compound, the day of his fourteenth birthday, he came to my room and sat on the bed. I could tell by his face that it weighed heavily on him to leave me behind. But he’d decided to take his chances in the outside world, to give himself up to the authorities as a minor. It took a lot of guts to do what he did, I admired him for going after a better life than what Marianne had left us to live.

“What's up, brother?” I asked, looking up from the magazine I was reading. No, it wasn’t porn. I'd had enough of the real thing that I didn't need to read that shit—I had p-ssy on call nearly twenty-four-seven. I was young, strong and horny. Even girls older than what I was threw themselves at me. I took what I wanted, when I wanted. Sometimes three of them at once, proving that I was indeed a stud that could satisfy eager p-ssy.

I was reading a music magazine. Music had been in my blood since I was in the womb, so I allowed myself this one small pleasure that was only for me—to keep up with what was happening in the music industry, and follow my favourite bands.

Max’s face was serious. “Ryder, I've thought a lot about our childhood. How you saved my life—”

I knew where he was going with this conversation. F*cking Tiny.

Guilt wracked Max that I'd had to go to the detention center and nearly lost my life in the process—all because I'd killed Tiny— out of self defence and to save my brother’s life.

What Max still didn't understand, was that I'd do it again, in a heartbeat. I hated Tiny. There was no connection between us. If he had indeed fathered me, I didn't feel it in my gut. I hated the f*cker for what he’d done to Marianne, to Max—and to me. I actually wished he'd died a slower and more painful death for all the agony and suffering he’d caused my family. Yes, I hated Tiny with every breath in my body.

“It’s history, Max. Let it go.”

I'd never told him the gory details of the day in the bathroom, but I didn't doubt for a second that he knew the whole truth. The other boys would’ve filled him in.

“Well, before I go, I want us to do something together.”

My eyebrows rose. What did he have in mind? He wasn’t one for threesomes, although I’d invited him to join in several times.

Max chuckled, breaking his serious tone. “I know what you’re thinking. No, it’s not about p-ssy. It’s about us—being brothers.”

He had my full attention now. I put the magazine down and waited.

“You know how we have been through hell since Marianne left?”

Unable to speak, I swallowed hard and nodded, blinking faster than normal.

“Well, I've figured we’ve risen from the ashes. Like the phoenix.”

Where was Max going with this?

“Hammer helped me to do an internet search. There’s this mythical bird, called a Firebird, that just like the phoenix, has overcome great hardship to rise above it all.”

I sucked in a breath. That sounded just like us. I nodded, indicating that I understood what he meant.

“Hammer also found a guy that can do a tattoo of a Firebird for us—right over our hearts.”

“Max. F*ck.”

“I want us to have identical tattoos, Ryder. So that we can always be reminded of one another. Every day when we look in a mirror, no matter where we are, we can remember where we came from—and how we overcame the f*cked up childhood we were thrown into.”

I blinked a few times more. My throat was tight and I struggled to breathe.

I nodded. “F*ck yeah. Let’s do it.”

Max grinned. “It’s all set up, brother. The guy’s waiting. No time like the present.”

I had to give it to Max—he was tenacious. A fighter. My brother.

I loved the prick.