Puck's Property

Chapter 2

2

Ava parked her bright orange compact Nissan near the front entrance of her father’s Harley Davidson dealership for her weekly outing with Kat. Having been born in the bosom of the Renegades MC, her little sister derided her Nissan as “the Clementine.” She was here to see said bratty sister for their long-standing Saturday afternoon date. Since Kat spent as much time at the dealership as she did at home, it was a natural meeting point.

Stepping into the shop, Ava inhaled and then released a simple, quiet breath. The one downside of meeting Kat here was the risk of bumping into her father. Seventeen years after he’d dumped her and her mom to go off with a biker chick, a needle pricked her heart whenever she saw him. She loved him. Of course she did…but his serial cheating had changed the course of her life at the ripe old age of twelve. Although she’d made the best of it—like her relationship with Kat—she couldn’t let go of how he’d ruined her childhood with his betrayal.

Stomping the residual dust of snow off her sturdy leather boots, Ava took in the place. She may be ambivalent about her father, but she loved the shop. The dealership was literally as large as a church. The vaulted ceiling was made of cherrywood, and broad windows graced the four walls, blazing with bright sunlight. It was as ostentatious as a cathedral, only with Harley Davidson posters and emblems adorning the walls in the place of saints. A hundred bikes in perfect rows, like pews, displayed the popular Softail, the Sportster, the Touring, and the Street lines.

Strolling past the bikes to her left, her hand caressed the handlebars. Riding was the one aspect of bikers that she had no reservations about. Once upon a time, when her life had been free, she’d ridden a Sportster 883 Super-Low. She’d owned a refurbished one that her father had gotten her, one of the few gifts she’d accepted from him. It felt like a lifetime ago.

“So, when are you going to buy one?” a feminine voice came from behind. Ava whirled around and smirked at her sister, who had her arms folded across her budding chest and her hip cocked out to one side. Sassy. Ava always took a moment to herself to enjoy the bikes when stepping into the shop, and her sister almost always stomped on her little moment of peace.

“When you turn eighteen and can ride along with me.”

Re-crossing her arms, the girl tapped her toes and hmphed. “This isn’t about me. You should get one for yourself.” Oh, but she was getting a tad too big for her panties, this one.

“You get a few piercings and you think you’re a badass. How many are there, hmmm?” Ava counted off as she flicked gently at the teenager’s eyebrow, nose, and lip. “Only three, but you’re already rude as can be.”

Face bright and open, the girl flung a wave of blue hair over her shoulder and gave Ava a fake punch. Grabbing her fist, Ava scooped her up and swung her around in her arms.

“Ava!” she shrieked. “Put me down before I scratch your eyes out. I’m too big for this!”

Ava dropped her to her feet, arched an eyebrow, and swatted away the teenager’s pointed, manicured nails.

“What your father lets you get away with,” she said with a soft shake of her head.

Kat’s lips pursed up in a little moue. “He’s your father, too.”

When he became a single dad, Ava had stepped up and they’d essentially co-parented Kat for the past seven years. She sometimes envied her sister’s easy camaraderie with their father. Meanwhile, her relationship with him was either distant or strumming with underlying tension, punctuated by rare moments of appreciation. He was the cause of some of the worst times of her life, but he’d also showed up to take care of her bills for rehab and college. Expenses her single mom could’ve never swung on her own the way he did. And he’d done it without recrimination or complaint. She begrudgingly respected him for that.

Breaking through her thoughts, Kat announced, “Hey, I wanna show you the new ones that came in.”

“What’s the rule when I come through the door, Kat?”

Her bottom lip jutted out in a disgruntled pout. “I leave you alone.”

Ava might be torn about her father and keep the brothers of his club at a distance, but bikes? No need to cut off her nose to spite her face.

“You make me sound like a monster. Girl, I’m going to take a little time for myself and meet up with you at the counter.”

“I want to go with you,” her sister whined. Ava reached out and stroked back a rogue wave of electric-blue hair. Her dad may indulge her, but it didn’t make up for her lack of a mom.

“I need a breather, sweetie. Give me a little bit of time—”

“Kat!” a baritone voice rang from out of an office behind the counter.

The girl’s chin dropped to her chest, and she groaned. “Fantastic. He’s found me.”

Ava rolled her lips inward and stifled a chuckle. “Go on. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

Escaping, she zigzagged through aisles until she reached the secluded back and ended up near the 48s. She caressed a line of them. The big, fat front tire, the gleaming chrome, the Harley logo branded on the tank. She slipped onto one in a natural riding position. Closing her eyes, she was on a country road, her thighs vibrating from the motor, butt soaking up the bumps. The shocks on this model were nonexistent, but no matter. She liked a rougher ride, the way the engine opened up with a loud rumbling that reverberated through her core.

The only time she let herself go, the only time she felt free, was when she rode. Although she rarely had the time nowadays, riding was freedom from worries, emotions…everything. Bowing her head, she strained against the shoulders of her jacket. Remember, freedom and lack of rules haven’t been your friends.

Hopping off, Ava paced away from the bikes and toward the front, where Kat waited impatiently. Chatting and joking with Kat, Ava gathered up her belongings and was halfway to the door when a massive hand wrapped around her upper arm. “Ava.”

She stilled and blinked down at the four-inch-wide fingers banded over her skin. She sucked in her stomach. Dad. He rarely made an appearance on the floor.

“Get back here soon, y’hear?”

His hand quickly slipped away, but her gaze remained on where his fingers had been. He was rarely demonstrative. It simply wasn’t their way.

Peering up at him with a frown, she mumbled, “Yeah, okay.”

She’d come for a dose of solace, but there was always a tightrope of tension between them. Circling an arm around Kat’s shoulder, she inhaled the sweet scent of bubblegum lip gloss. It settled her frazzled nerves.

Outside, in the crisp winter air, she released the girl’s body and clicked her fob to open the car doors. “Come on, let’s get some bubble tea.”