One Step Too Close - Coffin Nails MC Louisiana (Gay Biker Stepbrother Romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 6) (11 page)

Jed frowned. “I don’t
know… Maybe I should end things with her first?” In a week’s time, everything
would end, and none of this would matter anyway. Either he’d turn out to be too
much of a coward, lie to the club, and possibly get a bullet in the face, or
Dana would show his brothers a video that proved Jed wanted a guy to suck him
off. Either way, he was dead. If he had one wish, it was spending his last days
with Ryder. The three months Ryder had been away drained a lot of Jed’s energy,
and he wanted to recharge on being together so bad he’d drink the fucking
smoothies and flirt with girls if necessary.

Ryder shrugged. “Fair
enough, but since when is a bit of flirting cheating?”

Jed took a deep breath
and forced a smile. He wanted that glint of approval back in Ryder’s eyes. “I
suppose it never hurt anyone…” He walked up to the woman’s bike and leaned
against the handle. “You into motorcycles as much as bikes?”

The woman blinked and
pulled out her earphones. Her face was as pretty as her backside. “What?”

“The gym’s Coffin Nails
property. Thought you might be into motorcycles as well. Unless you’re here
‘cause if you drive outside you cause accidents.” Jed grinned, surprised
himself about just how easy it was to flirt. If only he wanted to pound her
pussy as much as Ryder’s ass, he’d have been okay.

A smile teased the
woman’s slightly flushed face. “Why? Do you want to offer me a lift?”

“I just might. But only
if you ask me real pretty.” He laughed and took a mandatory look down her
cleavage.

One peek at Ryder
revealed a keen interest in what Jed was doing. All of a sudden, the scrutiny
had Jed nervous. What if Ryder was just taking his time to assess if Jed was a
fag? What if he had been just too shocked to realize the truth yesterday?

The woman laughed.
“Today, I have things to do, but if you ask me
real pretty
, I might let
you buy me a drink sometime.”

Jed nodded with a smirk.
“I won’t ask you your name, ‘cause mystery turns me on. I’ll see you around
here soon, babe, and you better be ready for that drink.” He pulled away from
the bike, and she winked at him.

They didn’t speak later,
because there was no way Jed would waste his time on going out with her. Ryder,
however, seemed very pleased, even though the exercises he asked Jed to do were
quite punishing in Jed’s still slightly hungover state.

He lay back on a bench,
panting after some heavy lifting, and enjoyed the view he shouldn’t be
interested in. Ryder doing pullups. He had to bite the inside of his cheek so
hard he drew blood to not grin like a maniac at the way Ryder’s muscles worked.

It was the ring of his
phone that provided the necessary distraction. He picked up the call without
looking at the screen, but the moment Dana’s icy-cold voice streamed into his
ear, he broke in more sweat than throughout the whole cycle of exercise.

“Where are you? Have you
finally made the next step in your cruise to gayness?”

Jed curled his toes.
“No,” he hissed into the phone. “I’m busy.”

Dana chuckled, and it
was the least pleasant sound Jed heard in a long time. “I hope it’s my problem
that’s keeping you busy, because your time is ticking. I’ll make sure Ryder
gets the front seat for the screening of your movie if you don’t obtain this
information for me.”

Jed found it hard to
breathe, so he got up, trying to retain some ground. “Stop fucking with my
life.” He looked away from Ryder, afraid of what his brother would think of him
if he knew the dirty details on Jed’s arrangement with Dana.

“Get it done. Tick tock,
Jed. Tick tock,” she said and broke the connection, leaving Jed with the flatlined
signal in the receiver. For a moment, Jed thought it was his heart monitor. His
brain was pulsing to the rhythm of Ryder’s pullups.

Jed took a deep breath
and turned his phone off. “I’m going out,” he said, and kicked one of the
sturdy machines.

Ryder frowned. “Who was
that?”

“Dana! She’s pissing me
off. I need a break.”

Ryder sighed, not even
stopping his exercise. “Fine, but be back in fifteen, all right? We’ll do some
cardio.”

Jed waved his hand and
walked off. If only he could share any of this with Ryder, the weight would be
easier to carry. He was a wolf with a muzzle on and his balls cut off. He was
born all twisted up, and his mother had known it. She was the smart one to get
out before he became a wreck.

He went into the locker
room to pick up his guitar, and took it to an empty room with mirrors, one they
used to rent out to a dance group before Dark got too greedy and they lost the
deal when the group couldn’t pay the new rent. He lit himself a cigarette and
sat down on the wooden floor, eager to forget the world, including Dana, Tom’s
hands on his dick, and a life that was going to shit. He would go down as a
virgin to gay sex, but he didn’t want just any guy, and the one he wanted, he
could never get. He’d rather just be close to Ryder than waste time on chasing
dick.

He played some of his
favorite music, shutting down everything and focusing on melodies and words
that were quietly leaving his mouth. The sound of the door opening left him
stunned.

“What are you doing?
You’re late,” hissed Ryder, storming inside. There was a damp patch at the
front of his shirt, and the flush on his face told Jed the bastard had
exercised all this time.

Jed shrugged. “So? You
were busy on your own. What does it matter?”

Ryder leaned down and
propped his big hands on Jed’s knees, looking him straight in the eye. The
scent of fresh sweat rendered Jed mute when Ryder spoke, “It’s for your own
damn good. Told you to come back in fifteen minutes, and it’s been twenty more
than that.”

“Am I in the Army now?”
Jed groaned, but didn’t budge from the touch. He’d soak up anything he could
get, even if it was so wrong.

Ryder smirked. “You’re
on probation. With me. You told me you’ll go with my help, and I can’t do
anything for you if you just walk off and don’t even pick up your phone.”

“I’m getting a rough
deal here. My last probation officer was a chick,” Jed said, but he’d take
Ryder over her any day. A silly fantasy popped into his head where Ryder really
was his probation officer and taught him a lesson in obedience after Jed broke
the law. He had to look away from Ryder, because his face was getting hot.
Ryder had such intense stares. As if his mind never wandered off, and he was
completely
there
, focusing all of his attention on any topic at hand.
And Jed was now the most important topic.

Ryder hung his head and
laughed. “You’re unbelievable.”

Jed snorted and sent him
a mocking kiss in the air. Ryder stilled for a moment, and then leaned forward,
bathing Jed in his masculine scent as they hugged.

“You can’t focus anymore.
Let’s shower and go to see how the clubhouse looks like after yesterday’s
party.”

Jed was so surprised by
the touch that he didn’t know what to do with it at first, but then lingered in
the hug, squeezing Ryder back with a deep exhale. It wasn’t about perving on
Ryder either. It just felt so good to feel the strong arms and chest against
him. As if he wasn’t alone for at least this moment. As if Ryder could help
carry some of the weight on Jed’s shoulders. He took a deep breath after having
to stop himself from groaning in pleasure at Ryder’s scent.

“Thanks. I’m having a
tough day.” Only the understatement of the year. Seeing his situation without
beer goggles wasn’t helping.

Ryder gave him a faint
smile and pulled away. “Let’s get going. I can’t focus anymore either.”

Jed was sorry to have
Ryder leave his arms, but he knew he couldn’t allow more than a few seconds of
touch. They changed, showered, and Jed had to make the washing quick to not get
a hard-on when all of Ryder’s body was on show, including the barbell above his
cock. Jed was slowly losing it, he was sure of that much. Putting on Ryder’s
clothes after the shower wasn’t helping either, as all he could think of was
that he was wearing a pair of jeans that normally hugged Ryder’s ass.

When they got to the
club, he couldn’t have been more distracted. The world was too crisp after the
exercise and without a morning beer. Even the loud rock music seemed too real
as they walked through the mess of a front yard, trying not to step on broken
bottles and other trash that tumbled with the wind. But from the look of it,
most of the club members were still going at it inside, their bodies stretched
out on sofas and chairs in the laziest of afterparties.

Mikey looked up from
between the open thighs of a naked hangaround and grinned at them before going
back to work as the girl moaned and rocked her hips against him. Jed wasn’t
really willing to be a spectator, but Ryder took his time looking, so he did
too.

Two girls were helping
out Jo with some cleanup, but other than that, the place was wrecked. Even
though Grease was supposed not to get drunk, he was sleeping in the
kitchenette, as if he were a guard dog in front of the restroom door. After the
healthy breakfast, Jed was actually kinda hungry for Grease’s specialty—Deep
Fried Everything.

“Has this been
continuous since yesterday or did you guys sleep at some point?” Ryder asked,
walking between all the taken seats. He winced as he came across Dark, who
snored loudly, despite his face being smeared with something that looked
suspiciously like sick.

Brain cleared his throat
and slowly got up, gently untangling from two women who slept against him on
both sides. He zipped up his pants, closed his belt, and smoothed out his
sideburns. “I think everyone did at one point or another.”

Jed considered clearing
a bit on the counter, so he could sit there, but when he noticed broken glass,
he changed his mind. Jo had her hair twisted into a messy bun and clipped,
which was probably a good idea considering her long locks could get into some
disgusting spillages when she was cleaning.

“Maybe we could hire a
professional? This is… I mean, it’s too much even for me,” Jed said, suddenly
unnerved by a clock on the wall.
Tick tock, tick tock
.

Ryder sighed. “This is
the worst I’ve seen so far. Ripper wouldn’t let anyone make such a dump of the
clubhouse,” he said, lowering his voice so that even Brain wouldn’t hear him.

Jo stepped closer and
looked up at Ryder. “It was out of control yesterday.”

A few louder moans and
grunts suggested Mikey and the girl were done. Mikey patted her ass before
walking up to them, wiping his face with his sleeve as if he just finished a
tasty meal.

“Didn’t you enjoy the
celebrations that you disappeared halfway through?” he asked, approaching Ryder.

“I need to change my
habits again. It was way after my usual bedtime in jail,” said Ryder with a
grin, but his eyes were already on Brain, whose face had this nervous look Jed
hated. It always meant trouble.

“I don’t have receipts
for half the stuff, Jed. I mean, the stuff that was actually
bought
.”

With the attention
suddenly on him, Jed’s ears went hot. “I’ll look for them.”

Jo fortunately changed
the topic. “Is Wolver anywhere? There’s… I mean, maybe it’s nothing, and you
guys planned it, so I thought I’d talk to Wolver first. I don’t want anyone
getting in trouble for no reason…”

Ryder cleared his throat
and stepped forward. Jed wondered how he felt about having his ex’s sister
still around, but his hate of Jess didn’t seem to extend to Jo. “You can talk
to me.”

Jo swallowed, looking
between Ryder and the other guys. “There were ten kegs of beer for the party,
and five boxes of vodka. There’s nothing left. I’ve seen a group of people take
some of it away in a pickup truck. Maybe you just asked them to do that for
some reason. I don’t want to be sticking my nose into your business.”

Jed’s eyes went wide.
“You’re saying someone stole the fucking booze I
paid for
myself?”

Ryder took a quick
glance at Jed, and then his low, breathy groan filled the air. “Who were they?
Do you remember?”

Jo nodded quickly.
“Hank, the one with the big birthmark on his chin, and his girlfriend. I
just... They hang out here all the time, I didn’t think they’d do something
like this.”

Mikey growled and looked
toward the kitchenette, where Grease’s body was stretched out on the dirty
floor. “Fuck. Prospect was there to be sober and deal with things like this.”
He stepped closer, and Jo immediately moved away, her eyes wide. “Why didn’t
you tell anyone as it was happening? It’s not hard, is it?”

Ryder grabbed Mikey’s
shoulder and pulled him back. “And who’s the fucking enforcer, huh?”

Jo gasped. “I didn’t
want you guys to go after them drunk and have an accident.”

Brain sighed and nodded
at her. “Don’t worry about it. We will sort this out.”

Ryder nodded. “Wake up
all those drunk idiots. We need to have a talk. And don’t overdo it. You can’t
possibly sort this whole mess out on your own,” he told Jo, with a shake of his
head.