Authors: Jade Allen
****
After the slow ride back to Hog’s Grogs, Mona
dismounted before bouncing excitedly up and down. She was so proud of herself.
“You did it!” Ryan said, stopping his bike a
careful distance away from The Duke. She hadn’t even bothered to take off his
helmet, and she looked so cute as she wore it, dancing around like a child
who’d just learned to ride a bicycle on their own.
“That was exhilarating!” Mona exclaimed, beaming.
“But how are we going to get it all the way back to our house?”
Our house
. Ryan liked the sound of that. “I
have an idea. You wait inside here. I’ll keep my bike parked in the lot and
ride The Duke back home and make sure it’s safe there. Then I’ll come back and
get you. Does that sound good?”
She nodded, still smiling. “Okay. That’s a good
idea. Ride carefully.”
Mona removed her helmet and handed it over to
Ryan, who swiftly put it on and mounted The Duke. She was sad to watch it ride
away again, but she knew that it was in good hands. She gave the CopyCat a pat
before heading into her bar.
With everything that had been happening in the
past few days, Mona hadn’t really checked in on the place. She was happy to
see, once she was inside, that it was as rowdy as ever. She smirked and sidled
up to the bar, ordering herself a whisky sour from the bartender, Lenny.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” he said. “Are
things still cool with you?”
She nodded a little and gave a sigh of relief.
“Things definitely have gotten better, finally. I think everything is going to
be pretty much back to normal soon.”
“Anything I should be aware of?”
Mona thought about it. “In about two years, if
some guy by the name of Lance shows his face around here, show him to the door.
He is no longer welcome.”
Lenny gave her a thumbs-up. “You got it, boss.”
He brought her the drink she’d asked for and she
took a long sip of it, feeling smug that she had solved the issue that her club
had been having. Finally, she could relax.
She just needed Ryan to come back.
Once her whisky sour was finished, she tipped
Lenny even though she technically didn’t have to and headed back outside to
find her boyfriend.
Was he her boyfriend now? They had not actually
discussed it yet. Things kept getting in the way…
Just then, she realized that Ryan would need to
walk back to the bar from her house. That wasn’t a long drive by any means, but
on foot it was probably less fun.
She pulled out her cell phone and called him.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” she said. “I just realized that you could
probably use a friend on your walk back. I’m sorry that I didn’t think of it
before. I’ve just been so…”
Ryan chuckled. “I know. It’s okay. It’s really not
that far. Besides, it’s a nice evening. Especially now.”
“I told Lenny not to allow Lance into the bar ever
again. He is officially blacklisted.”
“Good thinking. Hopefully, once he’s out of jail,
he will have lost interest in trying to be in our club.”
Mona laughed bitterly. “Trying to sabotage our
club, more like… How big of a dumbass can he be?”
“Apparently a rather large one.”
They both laughed.
“Hey,” Ryan suddenly said, “when I get back there,
do you want to go out with me again? I saw this restaurant downtown while I was
riding.”
Mona smiled. “Ooh, a restaurant. Things are
getting serious.”
The call ended and she decided that she would
rather just wait beside Ryan’s bike. Ten minutes later, she saw him strolling
along into the parking lot.
“Hey, stranger,” he said.
She ran over to him and gave him a hug. “How was
your walk?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “It wasn’t so bad. How is the bar?”
“I had a whisky sour,” she told him. “I’d offer to
buy you one, but you probably shouldn’t drink if you’re going to take me to
dinner.”
Ryan laughed and put his arm around her as they
walked back to CopyCat. “I’ll drink at dinner.
Responsibly
.” They got on
the back of his motorcycle and sped away back towards downtown Detroit. As he
drove, he pointed up ahead at this little hole in the wall place called Diesel.
Mona raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t ask him
about it because he wouldn’t have been able to hear her very well over the engine
anyway. They pulled in front of the place and he parked his bike in one of the
street parking spots.
“I hate that that asshole’s got me paranoid about
your bike getting stolen now,” she said to him once they had dismounted and
stored their helmets away in the space under the seat.
“Don’t give that asshole the time of day,” Ryan
replied. “You know, like before.” He smirked at her and took her hand.
The restaurant was not as fancy as he had made it
out to be at first. Perhaps she had just assumed. It seemed to be decent
enough, though. The smell of wood-fired pizza greeted them upon entry and they
were quickly seated by the restaurant’s large, street-facing window.
“So, what are we going to do now that all of this
is behind us?” Ryan asked as they waited for the pizza they were going to
share. “I for one wouldn’t be opposed to becoming more discerning about who we
let into our club.”
Mona smiled at him. “I think the people we have in
with us now are enough. We’re a good bunch, now that we’ve weeded out some of
the bad apples.”
Ryan smiled back at her. “Your dad would be really
proud of you.”
She felt a blush creep over her cheeks. “I know,”
she said. At last, she knew and truly felt that Benny would be happy about the
decisions she had made.
“Does that mean you’ll race with us next time?”
Ryan asked, grinning cheekily and waggling his eyebrows at her.
Mona grabbed a rolled up napkin and threw it at
him, laughing.
He ducked and it hit the wall behind him before
falling to the floor. “Hey, there was a knife in there!” he shouted. But he was
laughing, too.
****
They could barely keep their hands off of each
other on the ride home. As soon as Ryan and Mona made it inside and shut the
front door to the house behind them, they started kissing each other deeply. He
held her, back pressed against the door and they made out, tongues getting
reacquainted with each other, before he finally swept her off her feet and
carried her upstairs to their shared bed.
The way her body responded to him was astounding,
and as he slid inside her, she knew he’d never want to be with anyone else. Mona’s
legs locked around his waist as he hilted himself inside her velvety wetness,
pulsing against her most sensitive place as he planted soft kisses on her neck
and breasts. It was hard for him to pace himself at first, what with the fervor
of the alcohol still running through his veins, but Mona locked her thighs
around him and bucked her hips in time with his strokes, keeping his motion
from breaking the slow and steady rhythm that brought her cries to a
high-pitched frenzy.
After that, she flipped him over onto his back and
braced herself on the thick muscle of his chest. Ryan was mesmerized by the way
her body moved smoothly as he pushed his hips upward, her ecstasy written in
the lines of her body and the melodious notes of her moans. She looked like a
living work of art, her eyes sparkling with joy and need as she lowered her
hips down the rigid length of his shaft. Ryan’s body was shivering with pleasure
beneath her, his hands moving to cup her small breasts and pinch her erect
nipples until her cries started to get higher and more breathless. Her energy
seemed boundless, her strokes were fast and rhythmic—and she soon brought both
of them to a screaming, spine-tingling orgasm that was quickly becoming the
norm. Both of them would be more than happy to get used to this norm.
Mona slumped forward as his hands slipped down her
back, his legs tensing as his pleasure neared its peak. Her lips covered his,
and she pulled back to look at him just as her walls started to clench and
spasm around his slick shaft. Ryan exploded inside her, and his vision had
nearly faded to black as his body finally stilled underneath her, his breathing
ragged and shallow.
Mona slid off him and started laughing. It took a
while before Ryan’s breathing had steadied enough for him to ask what she was
laughing about.
Smiling at him and resting her head against the
tops of her knees as she held her bent legs up towards herself, she gazed at
him with all the bliss the world could possibly contain. “I’m so glad you asked
me out,” she said simply. Her tone sounded like she wanted to say more.
Ryan smiled so wide his cheeks started to hurt.
“Is that so? You’re glad I asked you out?”
Mona nodded and kissed his cheek. “Ecstatic.”
She got out of bed and wrapped one of the white
sheets around herself before heading out of the bedroom. Ryan put his boxers
back on and followed her curiously. They padded down the hardwood stairs and
went into the kitchen. He thought at first that she might be planning a snack
before bed, but instead she opened the door to the garage.
Cautiously, Mona went down the steps. They were
less smooth and safe for uncovered feet due to the fact that they were built of
unsanded wood and there was a chance of nails jutting out from them. Benny had
added the garage steps onto the house, and he was not exactly a carpenter.
Ryan flipped the light switch on and she jumped a
little before turning around and smiling at him. He smiled back. “Hi.”
“Hello.”
They walked down to The Duke together and Mona
gently touched its shiny teal frame. “While it was gone, it was like he was
gone, you know?”
Ryan nodded slightly. “But it wasn’t really gone.
And neither is he. You’ve done good, kid. Everything is going to be fine now.
You’ll see. I think the Running Hill Riders have finally turned a corner
towards getting back on track.”
She tilted her head a bit, gazing at her father’s
bike. Then she shook her head. “Not yet. There’s still something I have to do
before things will really get back to normal.”
Slowly, she straddled the motorcycle and lay down
atop it as though she was hugging it. She closed her eyes. “We need to find a
way to be more inclusive. I don’t want anyone to be out of the loop again for
so long, just because they got hurt. That’s a rotten way to run things. No
offense, Dad.”
Ryan chuckled a little. “Being out of the loop
wasn’t so bad. It would have broken my heart to hear about everything and not
be able to participate.”
Mona sat up and smiled at him a little. “That’s
not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about finding a way to have our injured
riders in attendance at least. After all, wheelchairs still have wheels.”
Ryan wasn’t quite sure what she was saying. Was
she planning to start racing players in wheelchairs? “This doesn’t sound safe…”
She laughed. “It would be perfectly safe. They
could work the merch table or control the numbering system. Just because you’re
in a wheelchair or a neck brace doesn’t mean you can’t do anything anymore. I
know I still want Weasel around.”
He thought about it. “I don’t know. It might scare
people who come to see us race.”
She shrugged. “It would be a silent warning about
the fact that there are risks.” She got up off the bike then and wandered back
to the steps before turning her head towards Ryan. “Are you coming, vice
president? Or need I conduct everything entirely by myself?”
Laughing, Ryan followed her. “Hey! Who got your
bike back?”
****
The following day, Mona and Ryan went to visit
Weasel. He was laid up in bed with his broken leg and banged up arm, but his
spirits were obviously lifted at the sight of his friends coming into his
bedroom. “I was beginning to wonder if you guys had forgotten about me,” he
teased.
Mona sat on his bed, tisking. “Oh, don’t even say
that.”
“How are you feeling?” Ryan asked.
Weasel smiled. He had cuts and bruises on his
face, but seeing him smile still made them glad; it worked to brighten up his
expression and make him look much less wounded. “I’m definitely feeling better
now.”
“Great,” Mona replied. “We hoped so. We’ve been
thinking… Would it help you if you were able to come to races, even though you
can’t race in them?”
She was hesitant to say ‘can’t participate’
because what she was planning involved participation from everyone who was
willing and able.
Weasel didn’t even pause. “Yes!” he said with a
nod. “I’d much rather be out there with everyone than holed up in here with
nothing to do except reading and watching motocross on TV.”
Mona beamed at him. She had guessed correctly.
“That’s what we thought! Ryan and I were thinking that it might be a good idea
to have you at games, working our merchandise table or taking bet money, or
anything you feel like doing. What do you think?”
Sitting up in bed, Weasel favored his left arm so
as not to jostle his injured right arm and scooted himself up into a sitting
position in his excitement. “I think that sounds great! I’d be more than happy
to help you guys out, no matter what.”
“Of course, the number one way you’ll help us out
is by getting better.”
Weasel smiled and gingerly touched his leg. “I’m
working on it.”
****
After the calamity of their last race, Mona wasn’t
sure if anyone would want to show up for another one, but when she arrived at
the track with Ryan on the back of CopyCat, she smiled when she saw all of the
club members assembled. They were laughing and talking together as they set
everything up. She could not have been more proud to see them there. She also
felt more than a little touched. Maybe no one saw her as a screw-up after all.
“Hey!” Arthur said when he saw them, waving them
over. “There you two lovebirds are. Weasel was just wondering whether or not
you were going to race, Mona.”
She smiled and blushed a little bit, both at
‘lovebirds’ and at the question of racing. Although she had been learning how
to ride The Duke, she still was not good enough to want to ride a far distance,
let alone be very fast about it. “I’d better not,” she said honestly. “I’ll be
your fearless leader behind the scenes while Ryan is your fearless leader on
the track.”
Ryan placed his arm around her, smiling fondly.
“Every team needs a mastermind, after all.”
As promised, Weasel was there behind the table
with the merchandise and the wagers. He was sitting there in his wheelchair
looking rather like a king. Mona was sure that he’d be able to be a part of
things like that, instead of sitting at home or merely watching from the
sidelines.
After affixing his number to his helmet, Ryan
turned to Mona and gave her a kiss. “See you at the finish line?” he asked her.
She grinned back at him. “I’m already there.”
He put his helmet on and got atop CopyCat, riding
it to the starting line in the track. Mona got a seat close to Weasel, to help
him out at the table and keep him company. They had some awesome shirts, totes
and mugs for sale that were designed by the wives of some of the Riders. As the
racers got on their marks, she wondered if someday
she
was going to be a
wife of one of the Riders. Number nine on the back of the shiny, black bike
specifically.
A shot was fired and the motorcycles took off down
the lanes. The roaring engines were now all that could be heard over the cheers
as the line of twenty bikes went around and around the track. This was the
first race of the day and they had scheduled four more. Mona hoped that they
would all go smoothly and they wouldn’t be sending any more riders home on
stretchers.
She got up onto her chair when she realized that
Ryan was in the lead. He hadn’t been riding in so long that this would be a
major comeback. He just needed to last three more laps…
Two more laps…
One more lap…
And he sailed over the finish line as if it was
nothing!
Mona screamed and jumped up and down, nearly
forgetting that she was standing up on a chair until she almost toppled over in
her excitement. Then she hopped down and cheered loudly with Weasel.
“Don’t fall down,” he teased, holding her hand and
shaking it giddily. “We don’t need you in a wheelchair now.”
She laughed and wished that she could rush out to
Ryan, but she didn’t want to interfere with the races or leave Weasel alone at
their table. There’d be plenty of time for celebrating later.
Together, Weasel and Mona watched the next few
races, cheering on their team and politely applauding if another team’s member
won. These races were all for fun, so there wasn’t really any competitiveness
about it. That was something that Lance could never stomach.
“We – well, I guess
I
– should tell you
something that we didn’t want to bring up before,” she told Weasel. “Lance
Olsen is the one who messed with your bike. He must’ve tinkered with it while
we were setting things up…”
Weasel did not look surprised, just tired of the
whole affair. “How do you know?” he asked.
“We don’t one hundred percent know,” she admitted.
“But he stole The Duke from my house and we caught him red-handed. There’s no
one else who would have stooped to such childishness, or anyone else who had
such a vendetta against our club. But it’s okay. He won’t bother us again,
because he was arrested after stealing The Duke.”
Weasel smiled a little then. “I guess we can
finally put all of that behind us then…”
She smiled back at him, but then she remembered
how battered his bike was in that race. He was healing, but his bike still
needed a lot of repairs. She was going to have to speak to the rest of the club
about that. Maybe they could surprise him by repairing his bike, too.
Weasel and Mona sat side by side and watched
excitedly as the bikers careened past them in another race. In the interim
before the final race of the day, a line of people came over to place their
money on Ryan. Mona felt so proud and happy for him. She couldn’t have picked a
better leader for her dad’s club. Not only was he kind and diplomatic when it
came to their meetings, he was also an inspiring rider on his own.
They watched the race, supporting all of their
teammates while Mona silently hoped that Ryan would win this race, too. Today
certainly seemed to be his day!
The roar of the engines as the bikes whizzed past
was enough to make her rethink her opinion about racing herself in one of
these… As long as everyone was following the rules, they didn’t seem quite so
dangerous. Mona thought that, going forward, she would not rule out anything.
She stood up in her chair again as Ryan made his
final laps. He came in second this time, which was still very exciting. She was
so excited for him. Second place still earned their team a lot of money for
their charity of choice.
Now that the races were over, she ran out to where
Ryan was standing, shaking hands with his fellow riders and congratulating
them. Mona tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to her, grinning.
She threw her arms around him and gave him a big
kiss. “That was amazing!” she told him. “You really did us proud. Especially
me.”
He chuckled into her ear. “I did it for you.”
Several of the other members of their club came
over to congratulate him with pats on the back. They all got on their bikes
and Mona hopped on the back of Ryan’s, ready to ride off to a victory
celebration at Hog’s Grogs.
However, she made sure that they all helped Weasel
pack up their table and that he got safely into his car before they took off.
“You’ll meet us at the bar, right?” she asked him.
“Are you kidding?” he asked, wheeling around to
look at her, smiling. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”