Read Ryker (The Ride #4) for Free Online Page A

wordlessly.
    “What are the fucking odds,” I heard Mack mutter to himself as they all mounted up.
    Ryker tugged a helmet over my head, his jaw clenched tightly as I swung my leg up behind him.
    I hadn’t ridden with Ry since high school, but it felt as natural as breathing. I pulled my body close, wrapping my arms around his middle as we took off at an alarming speed.
    We drove for a while, though I’d lost track of time, consumed with the feel of Ryker under my hands and the unexpected turn of events that evening.
    He pulled off into a gas station parking lot behind Cole, followed by Mack and Wes.
    “We lose ’em?” Mack asked as Ryker helped me dismount before doing the same.
    “Yeah,” Cole answered definitively. I hadn’t seen Cole in years and he’d only gotten more handsome. As VP of the club, he seemed to have settled in to his leadership role. The men clearly respected him.
    “What’s happening?” I exclaimed, feeling stressed and something beyond tired.
    Ryker looked down at me, his expression tortured, which I didn’t fully understand. “You rode right into the fucking Black Riders’ territory like a little lamb.” He shook his head, chuckling darkly. “Christ.”
    My brow crinkled. “Who? What?”
    “We’ll explain later,” Cole cut in. “For now—you’re dead on your feet.” He looked at Ry. “You need to crash for the night. Make the rest of the ride tomorrow. We’re far enough out of Riders’ territory.”
    Ry nodded while my gaze shot from one man to the other as though I were watching a tennis match.
    What the hell was going on?
    “Glad you’re okay, Pipe,” Wes spoke up sternly, his dark eyes assessing me carefully.
    “Thanks,” I replied, still reeling from how the night had ended. I got chin lifts from the other men as they prepared to make the long journey home.
    I watched them ride off as Ry spent a few seconds on his phone, before we followed, rocketing off into the night.
    “You want to share a motel room?” I asked incredulously, after we’d gotten off the bike in the parking lot of a Best Western.
    “Didn’t say I wanted to, I said this is what we’re doing,” he clarified, walking ahead of me as I rushed to keep up.
    “I can make it home,” I argued.
    “You most definitely can not ,” he growled, clearly irritated with me. Again .
    After checking us in, he stalked up the short flight of exterior stairs, his boots slamming on the concrete. He didn’t turn around, just expected me to follow.
    Well, fuck that.
    Instead of following, I went down to the front desk and paid for my own room. I’d be paying for two rooms for the night, one far more expensive and going unused in Vegas, but it was worth it if I didn’t have to spend the night feeling punished—again.
    “What the fuck are you doing, Piper?” he demanded when I left the lobby, headed for my own room.
    “Going to bed,” I answered, hefting my bag over my shoulder and walking up the stairs. My room, ironically, was two doors down from his.
    “What the fuck?” he growled, when we were halfway up.
    I spun to face him, the whiskey still coursing through my veins making me brave. “I don’t even know what I did wrong, Ryker! I went to visit some boutiques, hoping it would help me make the store a success when I reopen!” I exclaimed. “But you’re so angry with me. Again.” I swallowed and took a deep breath, as he regarded me without comment. “I can’t bear how angry you are. I just can’t,” I choked, shaking my head and looking down at my boots. “I know you don’t believe this, maybe you can’t believe it, but I left because I cared for you so much that I did the one thing I thought I never could. I gave you up. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do. But I never dreamed that would be the end. You made that choice. I didn’t,” I whispered vehemently. “And maybe I deserved that. Maybe I still do. But I need to make it through this, and I can’t if you keep looking at me