BREAKER (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 14) Read online

  “What’s going on, Tyler?” she asked him as she moved closer and looked him straight in the eye. “You forget I know you better than anyone. And I can tell something’s bothering you.”

  He clicked his teeth and rubbed his eyebrow with the tip of his thumb before he shook his head and sighed.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I’m being an asshole.”

  Ashley raised her eyebrows and nodded her head with a smirk.

  “Things have been tough,” he dragged in on his cigarette again. “I had to come down here to make amends.”

  She nodded and then waited for more.

  “But there’s nothing for you to worry about,” he continued. “Trust me, it’s all just politics, you know?”

  He exhaled and the smoke billowed out between them.

  “And you’re back?” he asked. “Must mean it’s all ended with Mr. Perfect?”

  Tyler had always hated Ashley’s boyfriend, Matt, and now she could give him perfectly good reason to. But she didn’t want to add to his list of dramas.

  “Yeah,” she said with a nonchalant shrug. “It just didn’t work out. I’ll be fine.”

  And now she was the one lying. She had been heartbroken by him. Matt had chewed her up and spat her back out as if she was nothing. And now she was trying to make it out in the world again with nowhere to go and no one to help her. All she had was her big brother. But she couldn’t tell him how desperate things were, he would only get mad and go off on a rampage to get revenge.

  “I can tell there’s more to that story,” he said.

  “Well, I can tell there’s more to yours too,” she said sternly.

  “Okay,” he held up his hands. “Let’s not push either way. We can talk when we’re both ready.”

  Ashley nodded her head and smiled.

  “I saw Mom and Dad,” she said, changing the subject. “They looked just the same as ever. They were both so wasted they didn’t even realize I was there. I left without speaking to them.”

  “That bad, huh?” Tyler had a sadness behind his eyes that Ashley was more than used to seeing.

  “I’m afraid so,” she said as she looked down at the floor.

  “Do you have anywhere else to go?” He looked up suddenly as if the thought had only just dawned on him.

  Ashley didn’t want to be a burden, but she also knew she didn’t have a whole load of options.

  “No,” she admitted. “I don’t.”

  Tyler jumped to his feet, crossed the room and stubbed out the smoking cigarette in the already full ashtray.

  “Don’t worry, sis,” he said warmly. “I’ll sort it for you.”

  He grabbed his leather jacket from the back of a chair that was already covered in mangled clothes and he threw open the door.

  “Make yourself at home,” he said. “I’ll go and speak with the old girl in the office.”

  He winked and slammed the door behind him as he went. She could have called after him and told him not to bother. She could have chased him down the walkway and insisted that she was an adult and could take care of herself. But she was tired and was beginning to feel defeated, and it felt damned good to be around a familiar face. Especially when it was family. Tyler was all she really had in that department. Even if he was an outlaw with a fiery temper and a terrible attitude. She was going to let him act like her brother for once and make sure that she was okay. After all, they weren’t back in their hometown. Being in Slate Springs was kind of like an adventure, and she was looking forward to being there and living a new life. It was even better to know that Tyler was by her side after all of the time they had spent apart, and even more so after all she had gone through in the city.

  She looked around the darkened room again and tried not to gag. She was going to have to clean it up for him. The place was an absolute pigsty and just seeing how he was living was beginning to depress her even more.

  As she started to clear away some of the take-out boxes and toss them into the trashcan it wasn’t long before she heard footsteps coming quickly down the walkway and the door swung open, letting in a stream of sunlight.

  “You’re a lucky girl,” he said as he tossed a room key down onto the desk in front of her. “Last one.”

  “You got me a room?” she asked, impressed.

  “I did,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t worry about paying for it, the club will sort it out. We have an agreement with the owner.”

  She frowned and looked at him suspiciously.

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  She had hoped he would give her somewhere to crash for a couple of nights and maybe some money to get her back on her feet. But the last thing she had expected was for him to sort her out with her own room right there in town and act so cool about it.

  “Of course I am,” he smiled. “You’re my kid sister, Ashley.” He said it as if it was a no brainer. “I know I’m not always around but I’m not going to see you out on the street.”

  “But this town,” she said. “Isn’t it weird staying here?” She scratched the side of her arm and looked around uneasily. She had had it programmed into her since she was a kid that Slate Springs was off limits to most of the people of Iron Hill. And now there they were, right in the middle of it, just chilling out as if everything was normal.

  “Times have changed.” He reached out and touched her reassuringly on the shoulder. “And when I get a chance, I’ll fill you in properly, okay?”

  Ashley nodded and smiled.

  “This place isn’t so bad, you know?” he shrugged. “In fact, I can tell you’ll probably like the town, and Main Street here, a whole lot more than home.”

  It wouldn’t be hard for another small desert town to take first place in her heart over Iron Hill. In fact, that town had never held court anyway. She hated it. She was beginning to like the idea of being a Slate Springs girl.

  “Now go on and check out your room. I’ll be out in five to give you a hand moving stuff in from the car.”

  Ashley gave him a mock salute and stepped toward the door.

  “I’ll come back and clean for you,” she said. “As a thank you. You can’t stay here with the room like this, it’s disgusting.”

  “Okay, okay.” He held up his hands before he began to shove her out the door.

  Ashely laughed and stepped out into the sun as she looked around, up and down the walkway and back toward the car. The key jangled in her hands and she was relieved when she looked down at it and it said it was number nine. That meant she was pretty much as far away from Tyler’s room as she could possibly be, and they wouldn’t be bumping into each other every time they opened their doors.

  She started to walk across the parking lot and toward her new home. She had no idea how long she would be staying or what would come of it. But suddenly, she felt optimistic. She was starting out on an adventure and she was free as a bird. Surely, things could only get better from there…

  3.

  Tyler grabbed what bags she had in the trunk and hauled them inside for her, dropping them down onto the tiled floor with a slap.

  “That’s the last of them,” he said as he cricked his neck and reached for his cigarettes again.

  “No, no,” Ashley wagged her finger. “You know I can’t stand it.”

  Tyler narrowed his eyes and gave her a snarl before she shrugged and grinned like a schoolgirl.

  “My room, my rules,” she winked.

  “Ha, even if I’m paying for it?” Tyler said meanly.

  “Please?” she said. “You know it brings up bad memories.”

  Tyler thought about it and slid the cigarette back into the packet and then tucked that back in his jeans.

  “Fair enough,” he said softly. “Anyway, I better get going. I have a meeting this afternoon.”

  “What kind of meeting?” she asked with wide eyes.

  For some reason, Ashley had the crazy little hope that now that they were out of their hometown and reconnecting, maybe T
yler would tell her more about the motorcycle gang he was a part of. But from the look on his face, she could tell he wasn’t going to be that easy to break.

  “Nice try,” he said. “You know I can’t talk about it.”

  She rolled her eyes and pouted.

  “When will you be back?” she asked eagerly. “Maybe we could grab some food? I noticed there’s a diner across the street.”

  Tyler shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the next.

  “I have no idea when I’ll get back,” he said as he scratched the back of his neck. “But I know it won’t be until very late. You should just go ahead without me.”

  She felt a pang of disappointment but she couldn’t claim to be surprised. He had always been flighty and noncommittal. Why would this time be any different?

  “Okay,” she said. “Catch you later then.”

  Tyler loitered by the door as if he could tell he had upset her and wanted to put it right but didn’t quite know how.

  “It’s fine,” she said without turning around to face him. “I get it. I’ve crashed your life and you just need to carry on as normal.”

  “I didn’t say anything,” he declared as he slammed his palm down on the edge of the doorway.

  “You don’t have to,” she retorted bitterly.

  “Oh come on,” he laughed. “You get in touch out of the blue saying you’re back home and wanting to know where I am, I tell you, and then I sort you out with a place to stay here, and now you’re blaming me for this situation?”

  She knew he was right, but she couldn’t help pouting and standing her ground.

  “Your life, your mess,” he said as he took a step further outside. “I’m glad you’re here, Ash, but don’t make this difficult.”

  He closed the door behind him and she felt her shoulders sag with relief. How did they always end up having such ridiculous fights? Even if they were all each other had when it came to family links, they still knew how to piss each other off to the max.

  “Moron,” she said as she looked around the room and walked to the door, locking it behind him so he couldn’t come storming back in. “Well, I don’t need him anyway. I’ll explore town perfectly well on my own.”

  She turned back to the closet and started to unload all of her clothes that she had brought with her, but she instantly knew they wouldn’t be worth hanging up or putting away. They were all creased and dirty. When she had returned home to her parents’ house, she had been planning on taking advantage of their laundry facilities, but of course, she had fled before she had gotten around to even thinking about it.

  “Great,” she sighed. “So, first exciting thing on the agenda is find a laundromat.”

  She shivered at the thought of having to sit amongst people while she waited for her goddam clothes, but what other choice did she have? She shoved all of the clothes back into one of her bags and hauled it up onto her shoulder.

  “May as well go exploring,” she said to herself. “No time like the present and all that.”

  She crossed the room and when she reached the doorway, for a moment, she faltered and turned back to look at her new digs. She felt guilty for picking a fight with Tyler, he had come through for her this time. Even if it was only temporary. She would have to cut him some slack whenever it was that he finally returned to the motel and she got a chance to catch up with him properly. She opened the door and stepped outside. The heat hit her instantly and she shielded her eyes from the sun with her forearm as she crossed the parking lot and threw her wash bag into the back seat.

  When she climbed in the front and started the engine, she was momentarily nervous, though she had no idea why. She had traveled before and she had moved to the city all on her own. Why was she so worried about driving into the middle of Slate Springs and having a look around?

  “Because your confidence has been knocked,” she whispered to herself. “And now everything feels like a battle.”

  She rubbed her forehead and sighed. She hated herself for being so weak and feeble. She was going to have to pull herself together and just face life head on.

  She put the car in drive and accelerated slowly forward. She pulled out onto the highway and began the next phase of her new journey.

  “Operation Clean Clothes,” she laughed to herself as she headed toward Main Street. “And if I’ve got time, some coffee and a bite to eat.”

  She realized she hadn’t eaten in twenty-four hours and she was suddenly starving. She rubbed her stomach as she drove on and gripped the wheel with the other hand. As she passed the diner, she groaned as she imagined all the things that were being served up in there and that she was missing out on. But she knew she had to keep on going and get herself to town. There would be plenty of time for her to find something to eat once she had set everything in motion at the laundromat.

  It wasn’t long before she was approaching Main Street and she sat forward in her seat so she could eagerly be closer to the action. She smiled as she peered out of the front windshield and flashed her eyes from side to side, taking in all that the town had to offer. She didn’t know what she had been expecting when she arrived in Slate Springs, or what she had even thought about the place before this point, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise.

  Slate Springs was nothing like her home town of Iron Hill. It wasn’t as grimy or stark, and the vibe was generally welcoming and friendly. It was a proper small town. The kind where you could make a ton of friends in a short time and settle in with ease. She smiled from ear to ear as she pulled up at the side of the road and put the car in park. She could see rows and rows of cute looking shops on either side of the street, and there were lots of people out and about, some of them drinking coffee, some of them reading in central park, and some of them window shopping as they carried on with their daily routine.

  When Ashley thought back to her time in the city and to the years she had spent growing up in Iron Hill, she became instantly aware of how much nicer Slate Springs felt to either of those places she had called home. This place felt real. It felt welcoming and gentle. It didn’t have the intimidating aspects that came with life in a rough and ready environment. Even though she had always been led to believe that was exactly the kind of town Slate Springs was.

  But whoever had let her think that was wrong.

  This town was a community. Old men and women sat outside in the sun drinking their coffee and chatting to passersby. A man was out on the sidewalk sweeping outside of his storefront, and it instantly reminded her of a movie she had seen long ago. She remembered loving the look of the small town and wondering if she would ever find somewhere like it. And now that she had stumbled across this place, she couldn’t believe it had been right under her nose all along.

  “I could get used to this.” She smiled to herself as she opened up the door and stepped out onto the curb.

  She grabbed her bag from the trunk and heaved it up and over her shoulder as she began to walk down Main Street. The streets were filled with people taking lunch and running errands, and it felt good to be anonymous, but also a little intimidating. She stopped briefly in a vacant store’s doorway and took stock of what was around her. She scanned up and down, looking for something that even remotely resembled somewhere she could clean her clothes and she sighed with relief when they caught on a broken sign swinging off the side of one of the buildings across the street. It was so badly damaged she couldn’t make out what it read, but she could see the bubbles and what looked to be a washing machine.

  “Bingo,” she said as she started to walk toward the crossing so she could get to the other side.

  As she pushed open the door, her heart sank as memories of city life came flooding back to her. Her and Matt’s apartment had been so small they barely had room for a bed, never mind laundry facilities, so it had become common place for them to venture to the place down the road and spend long, boring hours waiting on their loads of underwear and t-shirts. There wasn’t another person in there, which she was grat
eful for, and she made her way to the first empty machine, opened it up and started to load in her clothes.

  When it buzzed to life and started to spin, she looked behind her and toward the front door. She could sit there and be certain that no one came in and touched her stuff, or she could brave the outside world and get the hell out of there and do a bit of exploring. Would anyone really be that bothered to pry open the laundry machine door just to grab some soggy pairs of jeans? She certainly hoped not.

  She laughed to herself at the thought as she stepped back out into the desert sun and started to walk toward the intersection that seemed the most bustling and alive. Her stomach was aching with hunger and all she could think about was a shot of espresso to wake her up even more. It had kind of felt as if, since she had left the city and gone back to Iron Hill, she had been walking around half asleep. As if her breakup had turned her into some kind of zombie.

  She saw a café in the distance and picked up her pace. As she reached the doorway, she felt her whole body relax with relief as she could see it was quiet in there. She stepped inside and instantly felt the welcoming blast of cool air. She swept her hair around the side of her neck, letting it drift down over her back and side.

  The counter was deserted except for the barista and she took a moment to glance up at the menu before she smiled and caught his attention.

  “What can I get you?” he asked as he peered at her through his wide, circular, black rimmed glasses.

  “An espresso and a muffin,” she said as she reached for her wallet.

  “Sure, pick a table I’ll bring it over,” he smiled back and Ashley turned and realized she pretty much had the pick of the place. There was only one other customer in there sitting in the darkened corner and they were immersed in a book, not paying any attention to what was going on around them.

  “Such a lovely day,” she whispered to herself. “No one wants to be sitting in a dark coffee house. Even if they do have amazing air conditioning.”

  She went over to the window to a small table where she pulled out a seat and sat looking out over Main Street. This way she could people watch and properly view everything within sight.