Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection

chapter 19

Madison

Friday flew by, and before I knew it, it was the afternoon, and I was waiting at the clubhouse for Serena to arrive. It had been a long and at times hard week, and I was so grateful that Serena was coming to visit. The funeral for Bec and Georgie had been this morning, and it had been tough to sit through. Thinking about the lives that had been needlessly taken, and watching Crystal deal with her loss, was an awful thing to have to do. She was a strong girl, but I worried about her and probably always would. Brooke seemed to be coping well with Crystal, and I surprised myself, but I was happy that they had each other.

After the funeral, J had to do some club work. When I asked him what it was, he got shitty with me and said that I had to trust him, and stop asking those types of questions. This had, of course, led to an argument, because all I had been trying to do was show an interest in what he did. We hadn’t resolved it before he left, so my afternoon had been spent stewing on it.

I checked my watch. It was just after four o’clock and I still hadn’t heard from Serena. I decided I needed some fresh air, so I took myself outside and sat on the hood of J’s Jeep. Going over and over my conversation with him this morning was not helping me; it was just making me angrier about the whole situation. And that was not good for our relationship.

I heard the rumble of a bike, and turned to see J pulling in. He parked his bike and walked towards me, a grim look on his face. “Babe, what are you doing out here by yourself?” he asked, coming to a stop just in front of me, but making no move to kiss me hello.

I slid off the car to put myself closer to him, and put my hand on his chest; our bodies almost touching. “I’ve been thinking about stuff. About you.”

He frowned, “What stuff?”

I took in the way his body tensed up and the irritation that flitted across his face, and knew that this was a conversation he did not want to be having, but I was determined to push him on this. “J, I want to know about things going on in your life. I hate that you won’t talk to me about your work.”

Pulling away from me, he was visibly annoyed now. “Madison, I thought we had agreed not to do this.” There was a warning tone to his voice that I didn’t like.

“We had, but I’m asking you to talk to me about this stuff.”

“Do you trust me? Trust that anything I do is done for a good reason?”

Shit, now he had me. “I do, but - ”

He cut me off, “Either you do, or you don’t, babe.”

“Okay, I do.”

He nodded. “Right, so you need to trust me on this one,” he said, like it was a black and white choice, when it was so far from that for me.

We stood, eyeing each other while I weighed what he had said. Finally, I agreed, “All right, I will.”

“Good,” he muttered, and pulled me to him, wrapping me in his arms. He laid a kiss on the top of my head, and then said, “I love you. Love what you do for me.”

“I love you, too.” And I did. But f*ck this was hard; fighting against all my instincts to need to know what he was doing. I just hoped that over time it would get easier, and that we would find a happy middle ground where he would share some things and I would be able to let some things go.

“What time is Serena arriving?” he asked, letting me go and reaching in his jacket for a cigarette.

“I thought she would have been here by now,” I replied.

Lighting his smoke, he suggested, “Why don’t you give her a call while I go in and see Scott. But, I don’t want you out here by yourself so come inside to do it.”

I furrowed my brow. “Why?”

He shook his head, mild frustration crossing his face again. “Just do what I say for once, please.”

I threw up my arms, “Oh, for f*ck’s sake. Fine!” I snapped, and started walking towards the clubhouse. I could hear him muttering something under his breath about women and death as he followed me in.

***

I hung up from Serena, disappointed. One of the girls she worked with had been in a car accident and was stuck in hospital, which meant that Serena had to cover all of her shifts. This meant that I wouldn’t get to see her anytime soon and that sucked. I had been looking forward to girly time this weekend, especially some deep and meaningfuls about my relationship with J. Serena had a way of helping me see situations from a different angle, and I felt like I really needed her insights at the moment.

“What’s got you all sad, sweet thing?”

I looked up to see Nash settling onto the stool next to me. We were sitting at the club bar which was starting to fill up. Friday nights were usually busy here. I smiled at him and answered, “My best friend was supposed to be visiting for the weekend, but can’t come now.”


“Ah, I see. You wanna hang out with me instead?” he winked at me, “There’s cock in it for you if you want.”

I shoved him hard enough that he had to balance himself to stay on the stool, but we were both laughing while I did it. “Oh my god! You never stop, do you?” I said.

“What can I say... you inspire me,” he grinned.

“Tell me, Nash, why don’t you have a girlfriend? You’re a good looking guy and you’re fun, and I’ve seen the way the ladies are all over you.”

He shrugged, “I don’t need the hassle that would bring, sweetheart. Not when all I want is a bit of p-ssy, and like you said, that’s easy enough to get whenever I want it.”

“How old are you, Nash?”

“Thirty-five. Why?”

“Do you want kids? Maybe a wife one day?”

“F*ck, no!” he was emphatic.

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “Really?”

“The world’s got enough f*cked up people in it. I don’t need to add to that, and as far as a wife goes, I don’t want to be tied down to anything or anyone,” he answered me, the joking tone of the conversation replaced with total seriousness.

I cocked my head, “But you are tied to Storm, aren’t you?”

“Sure am, and that’s the only family I’ll ever be tied to,” he said, with absolute certainty.

I didn’t get his decision, but there was no point pursuing it because who was I to tell him what to want, so I simply said, “Fair enough. It’s your life.”

He flashed his cheeky grin at me again, all seriousness gone. “You and J talking babies yet?”

I whacked him again. “God, no!”

He pretended to shield himself from me. “Settle down, darlin’, I’m just teasing you.”

Of course it was at this point, when Nash and I were mucking about and smacking each other that J should walk into the room. I saw him stalking towards us. I took in the shitty look on his face, and instantly pulled away from Nash. It was an instinctual move; probably the right one given J’s current mood.

“Nash,” he growled when he got to us, “Keep your f*cking hands off Madison.”

Nash stood up and stepped into J’s space so they were head to head. His grin and laughing eyes had been replaced with a menacing glare as he said, “I didn’t have my f*ckin’ hands on her.”

Oh, god. That was my cue to leave these two alone. “I’ll be back soon,” I said, but neither of them really acknowledged me. Shaking my head I walked in the direction of the ladies room, hoping that they had sorted their issues out by the time I came back.

***

When I returned ten minutes later, Nash was gone, and J was downing a beer. He didn’t drink often so he must have had a bad day. As I reached him, I settled my hand on his lower back and asked, “Did you rip his head off?”

He turned to me, annoyance in his eyes, “I don’t like the way he flirts with you.”

“He’s harmless and he knows where I stand.”

“Well, I don’t think he’ll bother you again. I’ve sorted that out now,” he grunted.

“Mmm, I’m sure you have,” I mused.

“Did you get hold of Serena?” he changed the subject which was probably a good idea. I think we were in unsafe territory talking about Nash.

“Yeah, she’s not coming. She can’t get out of work.”

“Sorry, babe. Looks like you’re stuck with me for the weekend,” he said, a wicked look crossing his face. “Can’t be a bad thing. I’m sure we’ll think of things to pass the time.”

I moved closer to him and moved my hand down to his ass. “Promise?” I asked.

He leant towards me, and brushed my lips with his, grinning at me afterwards, “Absolutely. Now, let’s get you home. I need to get inside you.”