Ride Or Remember

CHAPTER 11

LIORA

The biker whose name I am yet to know pulled over outside a club. He steamed the bike while waiting for me to get down. Pulling off the helmet, I handed it over to him.

He got off the bike right after me, hooked his helmet onto the handlebar, then turned to face me fully.

“Stay close to me,” he said flatly. His eyes flicked over the crowd already spilling outside the club entrance. “And don’t look any dude in the eye for too long.”

My brows pulled together immediately. “And what happens if I do?”

“It will be taken as interest,” he answered. “As in you want them.”

I blinked at him. “I can just say no.”

He clicked his tongue, clearly unimpressed. “You don’t have a vest. You don’t have a patch. You’re not marked. So your ‘no’ doesn’t carry weight here.”

That made no sense to me. “What are you even talking about?”

His jaw tightened, like he didn’t enjoy explaining it.

“Sweet butts,” he said after a pause. “They’re usually women who hang around clubs like this. Some are into certain… arrangements, so when they say no, it is assumed they are actually saying yes, and that assumption is never wrong.”

My stomach twisted. “Sweet butts?” I repeated slowly. “What kind of name is that?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he muttered, already done with the conversation, and before I could ask anything else, he reached for my hand.

I didn’t pull away, not because I agreed but because I was completely lost in whatever world I had just stepped into.

“Just stay close,” he said again with a sigh before leading me through the entrance and straight into chaos.

The air smelled like alcohol, smoke, sweat, my eyes struggling to adjust as we moved deeper inside.

This wasn’t like any club I knew.

It was darker. Rougher. Unfiltered.

Evans had never liked places like this. He used to say they were “trouble dressed up as fun.” Because of that, I stayed away most of the time. The only reason I ever came near anything close was when Ricky dragged me out every once in a while, but even then, nothing had ever felt like this.

As we passed between tables, I saw men slouched like they owned every inch of the room. Some had cigarettes hanging loosely from their fingers, others were openly smoking weed.

And then there were the women.

Some were sitting on the men’s laps. Some were kneeling between their legs, taking turns to sink their d***s.

My throat tightened.

They looked like they wanted it, so who am I to judge?

“Hey! Logan!” a man called out suddenly from the sofa.

He wore black from head to toe, except for a vest stitched with Raven’s Club across the chest.

“A new sweet butt?” he asked, smirking.

Logan’s grip on my hand tightened immediately.

“f**k off,” he snapped without even slowing down.

We kept moving, weaving through tables and bodies until the noise started to fade off behind us.

And that was when I saw him.

Ahead, through the shifting crowd, my eyes locked onto a familiar pair of cold, unreadable ones, the same ones I had seen earlier in the stairway.

I almost stopped walking completely when my eyes met the blonde-haired man again.

There was something about him, something dark and heavy about him. It wasn’t just his stare. It was the aura around him, it makes my skin prickle in a way I didn’t like at all.

“You brought the chick home?” a female voice cut in.

The sound pulled my attention away from him immediately.

My eyes shifted, landing on the woman who had spoken.

I scoffed before I could stop myself. “I thought you swore you haven’t seen him before.”

Her lips curved into an easy smile, slow and unbothered. “Depends on who’s asking, love.”

That answer made no sense at all.

“Don’t you have drinks to serve, Gladdie?” Logan asked, arching a brow.

Without waiting for her response, he tugged me forward and led me into a room off the main space.

The moment we stepped inside, the sound from outside dulled instantly.

The room was simple, with a black oak desk, a single chair in front of it, and the walls covered in stickers of bikes and biker patches.

“You can sit and wait for him,” Logan said, letting go of my hand. “He should join you shortly.”

I stared at him, confused. “Are you leaving me alone?” I blurted out, eyes widening. “Didn’t you tell me to stay close to you?”

He opened his mouth like he was about to argue, then paused and shook his head. “Just sit your ass down, Liora.”

Before I could protest again, he turned and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Slowly, I walked toward the wall covered in bike stickers and leaned closer.

At first, I thought they were just designs, logos, patches, decorations, but then I realized they weren’t.

They were photographs of Evans, and around him… were men I recognised, at least some of them.

Without thinking, I lifted my hand and pressed my fingers lightly against his image, my throat tightening immediately.

“If only he would stop playing pretence with me…” I whispered under my breath. “Then everything could go back to normal.”

“Why did you lie to the cops?”

I jolted so hard I nearly stumbled back.

My hand flew to my chest as I spun around. “You scared me.”

“That’s not exactly the answer I was expecting,” Ryder said flatly, stepping further inside.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

His brows lifted slightly. “If you’re going to ask a question, be direct.”

A dry laugh left me before I could stop it. “You could take the same advice for yourself.”

I moved away from the wall and walked toward the single chair facing his desk. “The officer said someone didn’t want me to go to jail. Was that someone you?”

“I was calling us even,” he said, settling behind the desk.

He sat forward slowly, placing both elbows on the table before interlacing his fingers.

“I know you saw the blood on Kane’s sleeves.”

“Blondie?”

A lips moved faintly, almost a smile, but not quite.“Don’t let him hear you call him that.”

“So he’s the one you’re talking about?”

He stared at me without blinking. “What I want to know,” he said slowly, “is why you lied to the cops about not seeing anything suspicious when you clearly saw the blood on Kane’s sleeves.”

“Because he happens to be close to my fiancé,” I said, shrugging. “And a friend of my fiancé is my friend too.”

His eyes narrowed. “I beg your pardon?”

Rolling my eyes, I leaned into the chair and stared him straight in the eye. “I don’t know why you faked your death, or why you’re acting like you don’t know me. But I’m patient.”

A small pause.

“That’s how much I love you, so I’m going to hang around until you get tired of lying.”

He blinked slowly, his tongue pressing against the inside of his cheek. “I’m going to say this as nicely as I can.”

I smiled widely, then nodded, encouraging him.

That clearly made things worse.

“Can you f*****g stop smiling?!” he snapped, eyes flashing as he glared at me.

I let out a soft chuckle. “Why? Does it bother you? Does it make you want to break character?”

I pushed the table slightly with my palm and leaned forward, closing the space between us just enough to make my point.

My smile widened.

“Does pulling your attention to my lips remind you of our kisses?”

His gaze dropped, just for a second, straight to my mouth.

He stared longer than he should have, jaw clenching as if he was physically restraining himself. Then he shut his eyes, exhaled through his nose, and muttered a string of curses under his breath.

“You know what?”

I shook my head lightly, answering anyway, even though I knew it was a rhetorical question. “I don’t, Evans.”

His jaw tightened immediately.

“I don’t care why you f*****g lied to the cops,” he clipped, “but I believe we are even. You covered for Kane, and I protected your ass and stopped you from going to jail_”

“And that’s because you can’t bear to see me suffering?” I cut in.

“You will shut your f*****g mouth!” he barked, slamming his hand on the desk. “And stop interrupting me.”

I pressed my lips together, barely hiding the smile tugging at them. “Sorry.”

He dragged in a long, frustrated breath, clearly trying not to lose his temper completely.

“We are even, Liora. I don’t want you going around searching for me, or showing your face around me. Try it again and I will hand your ass over to the cops for stalking.”

I clicked my tongue dramatically, then slowly stood up.

Still facing him, I placed both hands on his desk and leaned forward, invading his space just enough to test him.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

His brows pulled together slightly. “What the f**k did you just say?”

A slow smile spread across my lips as I studied him, every line of his face, every flicker of irritation he didn’t even try hiding.

God… I’ve missed this man.

“I am not giving up on you, Evans,” I whispered. “I have lost you before, and I am not about to lose you again. So you had better brace yourself.”

I leaned in just a little more, my eyes locked on his.

“Because I am going to be all over your life.”