CHAPTER TWO
Bryce
I paced restlessly in the airport. I was in front of Emily’s gate, waiting for her to exit the plane. I felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement at the thought of seeing Emily again. I hadn’t seen her since we were twelve and I was being escorted out of school in handcuffs.
By the time I got out of the juvenile hall four years later, she was gone. In a town like Newbury, that usually means trouble. I spent a good several months trying to find her, thinking the worst had happened. But eventually, I found out the truth: she had run away from her parents. She was finally free of them. Free of Newbury.
I had decided not to contact her. I didn’t want to drag her back here. But now I had no choice.
I recognized Emily immediately as she left the gate. She was older, but a lot of her looked exactly the same. Same dark curls and bright blue eyes. She was just as beautiful as I remembered her. Somehow, she still looked innocent and sweet even after being through hell. Maybe it was because her hair was braided into two pigtails. Maybe it was the wide-eyed look she had as she looked around the gate as I approached her. “Emily?”
She took a step back as she looked at me and fear flickered across her face for a second. “Bryce?” She said timidly.
I nodded, relieved she recognized me. “It’s good to see you,” I said. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
Her eyes traveled over my body. I was almost a foot taller than her and I was built with muscles that were apparent even under my leather jacket. “You’ve changed a lot.” Her gaze focused on the insignia on my leather jacket, and I knew what she was thinking. I moved the jacket to better show the insignia. “I’m not part of the Demon biker gang,” I said. “I belong to the Hell’s Renegade motorcycle club. We don’t traffic women or deal drugs.”
She flushed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just had to make sure.”
“I understand.” She had every right to be suspicious of me. I wasn’t exactly a stand-up guy and it was better to be suspicious than stupid in a town like Newbury. “Do you have any luggage?”
She shook her head. “Just my carry-on.” She held up her backpack for me to see. “I’m ready to go.”
I nodded and we started to walk out of the airport.
“I didn’t realize there was a new gang in Newbury,” she said as we left.
“A lot’s changed in the past few years. And the Hell’s Renegades isn’t a gang.”
“Still, I’m surprised the Demons allowed them to move onto their turf.”
I smiled grimly. “Trust me, they didn’t go quietly.” The Hell’s Renegades had burned the Demon’s headquarters and effectively destroyed it. I had watched it from a block away. It was one of the most satisfying times of my life. As I watched the Demon headquarters burn, I decided right then and there that I needed to join the Hell’s Renegades. Luckily, they were recruiting.
“So, the Demons are gone?” A note of hope entered her voice. I hated that I had to dash it.
“No,” I said. “The Hell’s Renegades scattered them for a bit but the Demons regrouped. We’ve been fighting them ever since.”
We went out to the parking lot and I took her to my motorcycle. “Have you ever ridden on one of these?” I asked.
She grinned as she looked at the sleek, black Harley Davidson motorcycle. Her eyes lit up like they used to whenever she was feeling mischievous. “There’s a first time for everything.”
I grinned and handed her the bike helmet and got on first. “Hop on and hold on tight,” I said.
She put on the helmet and got on behind me. I could feel her small body curled around mine. She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I felt myself getting hard in response. I wanted her so fucking badly. I always had. Keep it together, Bryce. You didn’t drag her back here to satisfy your desires.
Emily didn’t belong here. She was always too good for this town and definitely too good for me. The sooner Emily was out of Newbury again, the better. For both of our sakes.
I drove us out of the airport and to the town of Newbury which was close by. I drove us to my house first.
We parked in front of my house. It was my childhood home, although it looked a hell of a lot different now.
The house used to be dilapidated with a crumbling foundation, peeling paint, and rats in the walls. The front yard used to be permanently overgrown, which was a blessing because it hid the beer bottles and cigarette butts that littered the ground.
The bank foreclosed on the house when I was in juvenile hall and my dad moved away, never to be seen again. Real estate wasn’t exactly a booming industry in Newbury so the house was left to rot until I saved enough money to buy it and I spent the better part of a decade fixing it up. It was closure for a shitty childhood, I guess.
Emily looked around, wide-eyed. “Wow,” she breathed. Even though she didn’t say anything else, I knew she recognized the place, at least from the outside. She looked at me with a furrowed brow. “Why did you stay here?” she said. “You could have gone anywhere.”
I shrugged. “Newbury is my home,” I said simply. “Besides, it’s not so bad anymore. Not with the Hell’s Renegades moving in and fixing things up.”