Ryker’s POV

I wanted to cut ties to everything in my old life, all of the gang and violence. Everything but Rae and LP. That’s why I was currently hiding behind a palm tree.

It had been a year, a long year at that. I didn’t have much money to start out with, but what I did have was trucks to sell and two motorcycles. When I visited Rae at Warped Tour, I was unsure of what to do or say in case she called the police. It was a daring risk, but I had made a promise to her mother to check up on her, and I wanted to see if she still accepted me.

In the past month, I sold all of the old gang members’ trucks to spot me a little cash. The only vehicles I had kept over the years was Zero’s motorcycle and my own truck. It was as good bike, fast and able to travel long distances. This was the first part of letting go of the old life.

Two years after the encounter between Rae, Austin, LP and the gang, I had changed my name to Ryker. Instead of holding on to Stryke’s bad feelings, I wanted the good times that went with Ryker. I never visited the old safe houses like Trapper’s or Trevor’s bar. They were long gone and off my list.

I had completely detached myself from the old world.

I took odd jobs at different places, but could never accept something over the summer. I usually waited at a restaurant, was a clerk at a grocery store, or even helped at a tattoo parlor. The tattoo parlor was my favorite, and I think I would have to stick with this one for a while. The people there were cool and let me take days off when I wanted to. The agreed to let me have the summer off if I wanted to, as long as I worked later in the fall and spring. The shop was owned by a man named Korvin, but everyone called him Crow.

I guess that’s why the place was named Crow’s Nest Ink.

Crow had gladly taken me to be part of the team. Right now I worked at the front desk and didn’t do much inking. I helped the three other employees on occasion, but I otherwise didn’t have too much to do with the gun. Crow was the head inker here. We got a mixed crowd that came through, but when a lot of rock stars came through here. They preferred Crow to do their ink, but occasionally some rocker would come in here to have Viper do their ink. They hit on her a lot.

But that was fifteen miles to the south. I was here, drawn like a moth to a bright flame of the new child’s birth. I hadn’t talked to Rae since last year, but I couldn’t help but feel the pull of an invisible string to her and her family.

I had made a promise to keep her safe, so I had to stay close.

LP was near the window with Alan. It would be risky and I could get caught, but I desperately wanted to see the child. Taking a step out, I was on the edge of the tree line but just able to see the kid through the window. Her eyes gleamed like newly polished sapphires with frosted highlights in her light blonde hair. She looked like her mother.

That’s when LP saw me. I locked eyes and held them for several seconds until she looked away. It seemed like she hadn’t recognized me, but I couldn’t be so confident. When she glanced over her shoulder, I slipped through the palms and back to where my truck sat on the road.

Maybe it was stupid to come here this late in the afternoon-in broad daylight, no less! This was what I was doing on my “lunch break” at the shop. The seat was warm from the relentless sun as I hopped into the driver side. Pushing on the gas, I vroomed out of the road and scurried through traffic to the ink shop.

“Hey, Ryker!” Viper called to me. No one was in the shop right now. We didn’t have an appointment for another hour or so, but people could always drop by for touch ups or looking at designs. The inside of the room was fairly large, with three tattoo stations and a large wall dedicated to design suggestions. Customers could bring their own ideas in, of course.

“Hey, Viper.” I answered. The other boy, Wolf, was cleaning up his station. He was the youngest, at about twenty one years old. Viper was thirty, Crow was thirty five, and I, of course, was thirty four.

“How was lunch?” Wolf asked. Going to sit behind the desk, I cleared an area so I could work on some documents.

“Oh, normal. Delicious as always.” I responded. Wolf grunted and finished cleaning up his area. Viper lounged back on one of the seats.

“So do you have any plans Saturday?” Viper asked. Wolf grinned and I already knew they were trying to include me in on any of their devious schemes.

“Hmm…No, I shouldn’t have anything.” I responded without looking up. Someone sent an email that pinged on the laptop. It was something about having a rose tattoo redone.

“Well, then you are coming with us to go out to the Chaos Club.” Wolf announced while settling in beside Vipe.

“You guys are addicted to that place.” I sighed. Young and foolish, they loved the Chaos Club. It was a place for twenty one and up and they enjoyed being drunk at the bar. Apparently they had a beer there that tasted different every time, depending on how drunk you were.

“Just moderately so, but you’re coming along.” Viper finished for me. I sighed and agreed. It was hard work trying to maintain a job and keep an eye out on Rae, but I would assume that the kids would be fine and she would stay in the house. A fan overhead scattered some papers on my desk. As I gathered them, I put the date on my mental calendar.

“Deal.” I grinned at my co-workers.

Notes

So we get a little insight on Ryker :)

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