Chapter3
951 Words
Scarlett POV
My phone alarm went off, loud and annoying. I sat up and looked around, confused for a second about where I was.
Oh right. My new apartment above the shop.
The curtain on the window was thin and didn’t block out much light. There was a streetlight right outside my window, shining bright. I’d need to get better curtains soon.
I took a shower and got ready for work. The water pressure was actually pretty good. But then I realized I’d woken up way too early. I lived above the shop now. I didn’t need to ride across town anymore.
After eating breakfast and cleaning up, I still had half an hour before work started.
I had two ways to get to my apartment. One was through the back stairs. The other was through the shop itself. Since I had the alarm code, I decided to go downstairs and start work early.
I turned off the alarm, made coffee, turned on the radio, and headed to my workstation. There was a bike waiting for me that needed to be finished by this afternoon.
I rolled my stool over to the bike and got to work. The radio was playing loud rock music, and I sang along while I installed new spark plugs and checked the oil.
It was an easy job, a simple service. When I finished, I started the bike up and let it run while I poured myself some coffee. Then I came back and revved the engine a few times.
It sounded perfect. That deep, throaty rumble that made my heart happy. I loved that sound.
“That’s the sound I love to hear when I walk into work,” Rick said from behind me.
I turned off the bike. “It’s ready to go. Unless you want to test ride it. Coffee’s fresh if you want some.”
“Sure, I’ll take it for a spin. You make the coffee.” Rick grinned and grabbed the bike keys.
I opened the garage door and watched him ride off down the street. Then I went to pour us both coffee.
I grabbed a broom and started sweeping the shop floor. I didn’t usually work out here, but I tried to clean at least once a week. There was another apprentice who was supposed to do most of the cleaning, but he never came in on Saturdays.
When Rick came back, he had a huge smile on his face.
“Great job,” he said, taking the coffee cup from me. “You’re our best mechanic. But don’t tell anyone I said that.”
I worked on the next bike, which needed a complete rebuild. The owner had been in an accident, and I had a few weeks to fix it while he recovered from his broken leg.
The customer came to pick up his bike around two o’clock and was really happy with the work I’d done.
“I hear you got invited to the club party tonight,” Rick said as he rang up the sale.
“Yep.”
“You can leave now. We don’t have any more customers coming today. Good work.”
“Thanks, boss!” I practically ran upstairs before he could change his mind.
I took a quick shower because I didn’t want to smell like oil at a party. Then I put on my black skinny jeans, a black shirt with red flames on it, my black boots with chains, and pulled my hair into a ponytail.
I’d get helmet hair anyway, so there was no point doing anything fancy with it.
I put on some mascara and strawberry lip gloss. That was it. I didn’t like wearing a lot of makeup. My mom used to complain that I wasn’t like Emma, who spent hours on her appearance. But I liked being myself.
Mom wanted me to be more girly, but that just wasn’t me. She eventually gave up and left me with Grandpa. He was the only one who really understood me.
When Grandpa died three years ago, it broke my heart. He’d left me his money and his motorcycles. Dad got the house and business. Mom was furious that I inherited so much money.
I grabbed something to eat and put more of my stuff away before my phone buzzed. Lily was on her way to the party with the other girls.
I pulled my bike out of the garage and started it up. The clubhouse was half an hour outside of town, set back from the road on a big piece of property.
Ten minutes later, I caught up with Lily’s car on the road. She waved for me to pass her, so I did.
The turnoff came up, and I rode up the long driveway. Trees lined both sides of the road. There was a big steel gate that was still open, and I was glad there was enough light to see clearly.
Men stood by the entrance, watching us arrive.
“Hey,” I said to the biggest man I’d ever seen. He was huge and scary-looking.
“Who invited you?” His voice was deep and rough.
“Crusher,” I answered, trying to keep my voice steady.
He pulled out his phone and made a call. I guessed he was calling Crusher to check.
“Scarlett?” he asked, looking at me.
I nodded.
He said something into the phone and hung up.
“Come in. Are those your friends in the car behind you?”
“Yep.”
“Alright then.”
He waved us through, and I rode up to the clubhouse.
It was not what I expected at all.
- Writer
