“Dex doesn’t regret anything. That’s why he doesn’t actuallytry,” Frank growled, ignoring him.
His words hurt more than the slap had. “You have no fucking idea! I regret all the shitty things I do! And you just remind me about them over and over. I do try! I just fail all the fucking time. Just like when I missed the chance to see Mom before she died. YouknowI tried. YouknowI cared. And this is me trying to get my life in order, even if you think I’m making a mistake.” He shook the vest in his hand. “This is what I want. I’m not some soft boy. I can handle shit. Didn’t I pull my weight at the junkyard? Well, now I want to prospect with the club, and I wanthim. And maybe I’ll fail, and maybe he’ll dump me, but I’ll do my best so things work out this time!”
“Well, so far your best hasn’t been good enough, and I owe it to my sister! I need to keep you safe whether you want it or not,” Frank said, showing his teeth like a dog intending to guard the door with its own life.
This wasn’t fucking happening.
Shane, who’d come here to troll and laugh at Dex, had changed his tune and was now talking in a sane tone, advocating for Dex. “You cannot dump this on him, man. I see what you’re trying to do, but this has gone too far.”
Dex squared his shoulders. “You know what? My mind was already going to the same old pattern. ‘Fuck it, I’ll just go out the window in the evening’. But I’m not gonna. You can’t ground me. I’m not a child, and I won’t be sneaking around. I told you what I want, and I’m going out that door whether you like it or not. And yeah, maybe it means you’ll kick me out. I’ll have to deal with that. Like an adult.” He took a step forward, challenging Frank. His uncle could break him in half in a physical fight, but that would never happen. Frank might have left his cheek stinging, but was probably already ashamed of the slap.
Frank shook his head and faced away, as if he couldn’t stand the sight of Dex anymore. “Fine. If you’re so grown up, go and let him put you through the meatgrinder. You always got attached to the ones who treated you like trash.”
“Come on, Frank,” Shane muttered before glancing Dex’s way. “He doesn’t mean it.”
Dex clenched his lips and put on the vest, which felt like a warm hug keeping him safe from Frank’s anger. “You don’t know the first thing about what I share with him. Thanks, Shane. I appreciate it. I don’t know when, but I’ll be back. Maybe we can talk then.” He had to bump his shoulder into Frank to push him out of the way, but the bull of a man did move, despite watching him as if he wanted to set Dex on fire with his gaze alone.
Dex regretted not taking his jacket as soon as he was out of the door, but he couldn’t turn back when the house already erupted with yelling. This time between Frank and Shane.
The sight of Hammer was like a soothing balm to Dex’s battered heart. Parked close to the road leading to the exit from the junkyard, he was a dark shape that would have been hard to spot if it weren’t for the small bright glow trailing up as he raised a cigarette to his mouth.
Dex ran his way.
Hammer dropped the cig and squashed it with his boot. In the dark, he was a silhouette looming among murky hills of junk like some post-apocalyptic warrior, and Dex wanted to feel his strength right-the-fuck-now, because his heart could barely take the bitterness of Frank’s rejection.
Hammer sat on the bike, put on his helmet, and offered Dex another, as if he’d known how the conversation with Frank might end.
Dex was on the verge of saying something but when he sensed an oncoming sob, he just put on the helmet and jumped on the back of Hammer’s ride. The moment he snaked his healthy arm around Hammer and felt that strong heart beat against his, relief washed over him like a warm wave. His mind kept circling back to all the things he should have said to Frank instead of the ones that had been voiced, but when the engine came to life, even those thoughts dispersed as his focus narrowed to the sturdy presence in front of him and not falling off.
Chapter 18 – Dex
Themotorcyclecutthroughthe air like a knife, but as the beast between Dex’s thighs roared, carrying them down the highway, the wind rushing past them was turning his skin into ice. He was still warm where his front pressed to Hammer’s back, but every other bit of him felt as if it was being speared by needles of frost.
Dex tried to keep his teeth together to keep them from chattering, but it was becoming less possible with each regretful thought about not taking his jacket. Still, he didn’t want to stall Hammer, or prevent him from taking Dex wherever he meant to so he didn’t alert Hammer.
Back at Frank’s home, Hammer had shown incredible restraint, but even that hadn’t been good enough. Dex had jumped off a cliff and only had this man and his bike to keep him from crashing against the rocks below.
He wasn’t sure if his injured arm hurt less or was just going numb, but by the time Hammer pulled into a large truck stop, Dex was ready to take it out of the sling to make sure it was still there.
The sprawling building contained everything from a store with local souvenirs to a diner, but as they dismounted, Dex was hit by the realization that he didn’t know where Hammer was taking him. Then again, he didn’t care as long as they were together.
“Sorry I didn’t take my bike, but I can’t with the arm right now,” he said to the black goggles staring back at him from the handsome face of his savior.
Hammer smirked and squeezed Dex’s arm with a gloved hand as the bright lights shone above, changing the shade of his skin with their unnatural glow. “I see you were so eager to ride off with me that you forgot about decent clothes. We need to get you warmed up.”
Dex let out a nervous laugh and rubbed his face, hoping the slap hadn’t left a mark becausethatwould have been embarrassing. “Yeah, kind of a spur of the moment decision, sorry.”
Hammer removed his goggles and put his hand on Dex’s back, nudging him toward the main building. “I’m getting used to it.”
Even through two layers of leather, Hammer’s touch evoked a strange mixture of calm and excitement. But even that wasn’t enough to keep Dex’s teeth from clattering. He wasn’t the Noodle Master, he was the Bad Decisions Master.
“Are we going out of town?” he asked as Hammer led him to the back of the building, toward the restrooms.
“You’re on your very first job, Prospect. And we’re hunting down Ryker,” Hammer said in a tone so velvety no one could have doubted the pleasure he’d get from this upcoming assignment.
“Fuck yes!” Dex said so loudly a big trucker who’d just left the place they were headed stared him down with disapproval. “He’s going down for what he did. All of it.”
The relief of seeing that the questioning at Frank’s hadn’t put Hammer off pursuing him was like whole bundles of steel chains falling from his shoulders. He followed his man’s lead without question as they entered the newly refurbished bathrooms with fancy light fixtures that changed color. He turned toward the urinals without thinking, but Hammer dragged him down a different corridor. The soft whisper of falling water coming from behind one of the mysterious doors had Dex smiling even before they reached the end of the hallway, and Hammer used the little touchpad on the door.