“How well do you know this Jesus?” she whispered when he brought the car to a standstill.
“I’ve met him a few times. You’re safe, Ginny; he’s a Last Rider.”
Gavin gave her a surprised look at her sigh of relief. “You trust him just because he’s a Last Rider?”
“Shouldn’t I?”
“Most of The Last Riders aren’t sterling citizens.”
“Most sterling citizens have feet of clay.”
Looking over her shoulder as headlights came up behind them, she wasn’t aware of the penetrating way he was watching her.
“Is that him?” Turning her head back to Gavin, she found his gaze on her.
“Yes. He has Neon with him.” Taking leather gloves out of his jacket, he put them on before reaching for the door handle and getting out of the car, leaving her alone inside.
With the music playing, Ginny couldn’t hear what they were saying as she saw two men get off their motorcycles, wearing Last Rider jackets and black gloves. One of them went to the gas pump next to her car and slid a key into the side. Taking the nozzle from the pump, he handed it to Gavin, who was standing by her tank.
As Gavin pumped the gas, the men returned to their bikes, taking out plastic bags that they placed on the trunk of her car.
Ginny felt the car move when Gavin removed the nozzle from the gas tank. She watched the entire interaction between the three men, noticing how Gavin didn’t speak two words to the other men and the space they kept from him.
Gavin took the bags from on top of the trunk as one of the men placed his key back into the pump. Then Gavin waited until the two men were riding away before opening the door. Inside, he handed her the bags before starting the car.
Sorting through the bags, Ginny divvied up the contents. Placing two bottles of water into the cup holders, she took out one of the prepacked sandwiches, a bag of plain chips, and a chocolate bar, giving the rest of the bag to Gavin.
“I thought you were starving?”
“I am.” Opening the sandwich, she took a bite as she opened the chips.
“There’s more sandwiches and chips.”
“I’ll take what’s left after you pick.” Taking a chip, she opened one of the bottled waters.
“What if I wanted the turkey that you took?”
“There are two more in there. You can have them.”
Gavin took out the only club sandwich that was easily twice the size of the one she had taken. Breaking it apart, he handed half to her.
“No, thanks. I—”
“I know you like subs. Take half.”
“How do you know I like subs?”
“Dirty Dan’s isn’t the only place you frequent. You like Geno’s Subs.”
“I take it Shade filled a notebook of everywhere I went in Nashville?”
“In Queen City and Treepoint too.” He opened a bag of barbeque chips and gave them to her.
Setting the rest of the plain aside, she took the barbeque chips.
“It sucks having everyone know so much about you.” Another swirl of heat hit her stomach at the sweet gesture of his unknowingly revealing he had observed something so mundane as her chip preferences.
“Yes, it does,” he agreed.
“Could be worse,” she said, digging for another chip.
“How?” Scrunching the empty bag of chips he just devoured, Gavin took the half-eaten ones away from her.
“The advantage is none of the sandwiches have cheese or onions, which I hate. I also got my chocolate fix for the day.”
“Do you have to look on the bright side of everything?”
“Better than being a Gloomy Gus, like someone who will remain nameless. Especially since neither of us will be breathing in onion breath for the rest of the night.”
Gathering the remains of their meal in one bag, Gavin placed the uneaten items in the other one. Gavin took a shiny object from the bag and handed it to her. “You need a pit stop before we leave?”
Ginny glared at him. “You knew there was a bathroom here?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. “You were going to ditch me in the woods, weren’t you?”
“Neon and Jesus were behind us. One of them would have given you a ride.”
The big jerk wasn’t the least embarrassed at being found out.
“What made you change your mind?”
“Ohio’s finest.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“How long are you going to stay mad at me? You haven’t spoken a word in over an hour. While I’m enjoying the peace and quiet, it’s getting old with you staring daggers at me.”
Ginny pressed her lips together, determined to give him another hour of silent treatment.
“Okay …,” he drawled out. “Can you at least hand me the bag from the back seat. I saw a bag of candy in there.”
Reaching behind Gavin’s seat for the bag, she held it open for him to take out what he wanted. When he pulled out everything but the candy, he took the bag from her, taking his eyes off the road to see it was empty.