Rebel on the Run Read Free Page A

messing around with Holden or Carver or whichever of his garagemates might be impatient to play when the ladies were otherwise occupied. Meep gave damn fine blowjobs. Enjoyed doing it too.
    Who was Bryce to reject an offer like that?
    Group sessions in their living room had become a regular occurrence. Something he anticipated. It helped ground him. Made him feel almost whole. Settled.
    The Hot Rods’ open-minded arrangement had been a lifesaving compromise, which he’d never dreamed possible. It allowed him to feel as if he hadn’t betrayed the memory of the girl he’d pledged his soul to while granting himself some comfort. Non-traditional intimacy filled the emptiness within him. Dark loneliness had been eating him alive, rotting him from the inside out.
    Finally, he had battled back.
    Shit, these days he even had a dog. Sure, Buster McHightops was a tiny runt of a thing, not much to look at yet. But he was fierce. A survivor. He loved unconditionally. Like the rest of the gang. Speaking of the pup, he trailed hot on Bryce’s heels, whining as if he could possibly be as concerned about the lady Bryce held as Bryce was himself.
    Carrying Kaelyn DuChamp up the open-backed metal stairway to his home, he couldn’t help but wonder how her presence would alter his future. Rock the foundation of his newly expanded happiness. There wasn’t a question of if she would shift his course. No, it was more like how much she would bend his trajectory through this new life he’d created.
    Because the woman he held was even more amazing than the girl he’d left behind.
    Stunning. A fighter, yet vulnerable. He attempted to work the ache out of his jaw—both from clenching the damn thing and from where she’d bopped him—as he studied her lax features. Gorgeous. Though he wondered about the puffy redness of her face. Had she been crying? What had brought her out this way if she really hadn’t known he was here? And why hadn’t she had anyone to call for help when that damn tire blew?
    He’d checked it quickly while loading the car on the flat bed. They were the same fucking set he’d put on the car himself, far too long ago for them to be road worthy.
    He had to know more about the fear he’d glimpsed in Kae’s eyes before shock had paralyzed her. It hadn’t been entirely a product of seeing a man she’d thought long vanished that had derailed her from her usual patrician serenity. At least he didn’t think so. His blood boiled at the thought of someone trying to hurt her. Fuck, hadn’t he given up everything to keep her safe?
    Like hell would someone threaten her now.
    Maybe there was such a thing as fate after all.
    In one morning, two worlds had collided. Bryce had yet to see through the glare to determine the damage that had been done. Even once they untangled the snarl of deceptions he’d perpetrated, how would she react if she found out about his new lifestyle?
    Too many unanswered questions clogged his mind. The safe haven that grew closer with each step attracted him like a bug to a flickering neon light. With the help of the Hot Rods, they could fix this. He trusted the gang to make things right again. It was what they specialized in. Alanso, Sally and Kaige had each had recent run-ins with their pasts. Bryce refused to break their winning streak. He’d conquer his demons too. He hoped. The alternative was unacceptable. Raining danger on his pseudo-family wouldn’t be tolerated.
    Tom, the guys, Sally and Nola… People who cared would rally around him. Extending that same protection to Kaelyn would be second nature. Grateful as ever, he hoped that what they would learn about him today wouldn’t change that fundamental tenant of his life. Please don’t let them kick me out.
    He couldn’t survive without them. Maybe Kaelyn couldn’t either, given her panic over going home.
    For her, he’d come clean.
    As he approached, the door to the apartment over the garage opened. Holden ushered him inside, peeking at