Knuckles (Dragon Riders MC #4) - Savannah Rylan Page 0,6

up, I wasn’t just her protector, though. I was her biggest supporter. Her best friend. A shoulder she could cry on and someone she could always come to and ask for help. Every day that passed by, I missed her like hell. Every day that went without communication, I worried about her that much more. And after the days turned into years, I gave up hope that our lives would merge again, even though I still dreamt about it.

Dreamt about the day she’d come walking back into my life for good.

And now that she had, it burned me to know why. It stoked a fire in my angry gut to know that the reason she came back was because someone had her afraid.

I was ready to kill them, and I didn’t even know who—or why—yet.

Seeing her had dredged up a lot of feelings, though. Feelings I had stuffed down for years. Simone had been my first crush. The first set of boobs I ever saw from around the corner of a door whenever I grew curious when I was a child. She was my first kiss under a blanket in the middle of a storm because neither of us could sleep. And when the two of us became interested in the opposite sex, we both went out on a date with one another to “get the first one out of the way.”

I loved that girl in more ways than one.

And I hadn’t realized until she popped back up that I never did stop loving her.

But the second I turned eighteen, my foster parents were ready to kick me out. They never did like me. Simone was the angelic child, but even she got the brunt of a lot of their bullshit. After I aged out of the system that handed them money every month for us, they kicked me out with nothing but my clothes and my shit in a trash bag. And I bounced around for a while, sure. Working under-the-table jobs and trying to carve out a path for myself that didn’t require sleeping inside of dumpsters whenever it rained and begging for scraps on the fucking street.

Finding the Dragon Riders was a godsend in my life at the time. And when I had the money, I sent Simone postcards.

You know, after Bowser helped me track down her constantly changing addresses.

Maybe that has something to do with why she’s so scared.

“Knuckles!”

I turned around, my hand on the front door handle of the Iron Horse, as I watched Simone slide her helmet off her head. Her beautiful blonde hair tumbled down her shoulders, disheveled and a bit sweaty as the sun grew in intensity above us. And yet, she was still the most gorgeous girl I’d ever laid eyes on.

At this point, I also knew that would never change.

“Yep?” I asked.

“If he says ‘no’, maybe I could stay at your place until you get back?”

I yanked the door open. “Trust me, you’re coming. Just give me a few minutes.”

She smiled. “Okay, JayJay.”

My heart warmed at the nickname. No one had called me “JayJay” in years. Fucking years. And she was the only person ever in my life that called me that. I could’ve smiled, it made me so happy to hear. But I was more focused on other things.

Like convincing Link to let me take her.

And figuring out how to keep her safe when it almost felt like she was on the run.

“Knuckles!”

I followed the sound of Link’s voice and found him in a corner booth with a broken overhead light, sipping a beer.

I eased into the booth without a second thought.

“So, I take it the girl outside is what’s got you all knotted up?” he asked.

“Nice looking out,” I said.

He leveled me with a stare. “She can’t go with you, Knuckles.”

“She’s my foster sister, man. And she’s in trouble.”

He blinked. “Wait, that’s Simone out there?”

I nodded slowly. “In the flesh.”

He set his beer down. “What kind of trouble? Something we can work on while you’re gone?”

I grinned. “I knew you’d change your tone once I told you who she was.”

“She’s family, and we take care of family. Hands down, no matter what.”

“I really appreciate it.”

He sipped his beer again. “Got any idea what’s got her spooked?”

I shrugged. “No fucking clue. But I know Simone. I grew up with her. She’s good at facades. A bit too good, honestly. And hers is cracking right now. So, whatever it is?”

He paused. “It’s bad.”

“And she was way too quick to jump