figured this was your first time on a bike, and the first ride can leave you shaky.”
He’s right. My legs tremble beneath me as if I were a newborn foal. Dust swings his leg over his bike then leans against the seat, crosses his arms over his chest and stares at me. I stare back because it’s obvious he’s waiting on me, and I don’t know what he’s waiting for.
Breanna has mentioned Dust before. She doesn’t know too much about him other than he’s one of the youngest members of the Reign of Terror. He has a nice build. Not the overpowering type, and not too lean. Just the right amount of muscle in his arms. He has brown hair that makes me think of the sand down at the lake, and he looks relaxed in his black biker vest, jeans, and brown work boots.
“What do you do for a living?” I ask.
Surprise flickers over his face. “What?”
Okay, sure, that was out of nowhere, but I’m curious because he’s in the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and Breanna keeps going on and on about how they don’t do illegal things. I want to know if the guy I just ran from the police with is a felon. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a welder.”
Wow. That was…unexpected.
“I also fix cars part time. Will that do, or would you like a more formal resume in order for me to walk you to the clubhouse?”
Hardy har-har. “So, you don’t work for the security company?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like guns.”
Yep, that brings me up short.
“Can we go now?”
I start walking along the gravel road, toward the lights and the laughter, and Dust keeps step alongside me. The woods surrounding us are dark, pitch black, an eerie sight that makes me uncomfortable.
When I reach Breanna, she’ll have questions, plenty of questions, and I won’t know how to answer a single one. My lips purse as I realize none of what’s happening is making sense. “Do you know why I was at the bus terminal?”
“Do you?” he counters.
“Yes.” I graduated today and decided I couldn’t take living in my house with my abusive father one more second. I wait for Dust to level me with the millions of questions people typically ask, but there’s only stark silence and I don’t know if I like it. “You aren’t going to ask for specifics?”
“I figure if people want you to know something, they’ll tell you. Otherwise, leave them alone.”
“Why were you at the bus terminal?”
“Because Pigpen told me to follow you.”
That’s creepy and causes me to go slower. Breanna has mentioned that Pigpen is this hot, twenty-something guy in the club who is super close with Razor, and it’s weird that this Pigpen guy knows me. “Why?”
He shrugs. “Ask him.”
“Do you always do what you’re told to do?”
“No.”
“So why did you follow me?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“Because I have a lot of questions,” I press. “I’m someplace I don’t know with a complete stranger. Questions will happen. At least they should. Why did you follow me?”
Dust halts and stares down at me. “Do you want me to take you back to the bus station? Is that where you want to be?”
I don’t know where I want to be. I just know that I don’t want to be home. His question makes me feel small, and when it’s clear I’m not going to say anything, he starts walking again. I follow and speed up until I’m by his side again. “Are you sure Breanna’s here?”
“She was earlier, but if she’s not we’ll have Razor hook you up with her somehow,” he says. “And in case you’re curious, I don’t think you should go home with her. I realize that familiar would seem safe, but it won’t be. If you’re trying to stay under the radar, you can’t do what’s expected of you. Running to your best friend’s house? Expected. My advice is to crash here for the night. Eli’s daughter Emily is in town, and Violet’s staying the night with her. I bet you could stay in the cabin with them.”
“Why are you helping me?”
He stops walking again, stares up at the stars in the sky then down at the ground. “Eli and Pigpen once picked me up from a bus station. Doing so saved my life.”
“How?” I whisper, desperate to know if he understands the line of crazy I walk on a daily basis. Because that would be a comfort—to know I’m not alone.