Free Desire: Big Bear Outlaw MC Romance Book 1 by Charlotte Byrd Page B

Motorcycle Club on the
back.
    “ Hey, you made it! ” Carter wrapped his arm around
Delilah ’ s neck and gave her a big friendly kiss on the cheek. I
knew why Delilah liked him. Carter had dark jet black hair, pale
skin, razor-sharp cheekbones, and a pronounced jaw. His hair
wasn ’ t as long as the others ’ , but it was
straight and fell into his face in a mesmerizing way that drew
attention to his bright green eyes.
     
    “ This is my friend, Emma, ” she said.
    Carter introduced his friends. Kyle Hart had deep
chocolate hair and earnest eyes, and Danny had long stringy hair,
soft doughy features, and kind eyes. Danny was a tall guy who
towered over the others, even though they were all about six feet
tall.
    I faintly remembered Danny from
high school. He had been a
few years ahead of me. Kyle also went to my high school, but I
didn ’ t remember him at all.
    “ I graduated six years ago, ” he said.
    “ Me and Danny dropped out, ” Carter laughed. “ We got suspended for
fighting. ”
    “ I got my GED, afterward, ” Danny added.
    Carter was proud of dropping out,
but the tone of Danny ’ s voice showed that he was
embarrassed.
    It was probably wrong, but I felt
myself judging. Some girls wore dating drop outs as a badge of
honor, but to me, it was just sad. Right now, these guys had more
money than most of us in college. They had time to work and make a
good income and supplement it with who knows what else. In a few
years that would all change. Everyone knew that dropouts
didn ’ t have many prospects.
     
    “ So, how does all this work? ” I finally asked
during a brief lull in the conversation about how much they hated
school.
    “ Emma, that ’ s rude, ” Delilah hissed.
    “ Oh, I ’ m sorry, ” I said. “ I just
don ’ t know how this works. ”
    “ What exactly? ” Kyle asked.
    “ This whole gang, whatever you all do here. What is this
exactly? ”
    “ It ’ s a motorcycle club, ” Kyle said. “ This
isn ’ t a gang. My father started it with his friend in the early
80s. It ’ s a brotherhood. ”
    “ Like a religious order? ” I laughed.
    “ We ’ re not religious, but we do believe in this club. I guess
Big Bear is our religion. ”
    “ And what does the Big Bear Motorcycle Club
do? ” I asked. “ Besides, drink, party, and hang out with really
young girls? ”
    “ Emma! ” Delilah shook her head.
    “ What? I ’ m just joking. ” I said quickly, trying to laugh it
off.
    A part of me was joking, but only
a part. Kyle stepped closer to me, so close I felt his breath on my
cheek. Maybe I had stepped over the line, I wanted to step back,
but I didn ’ t dare give way to him.
    “ You see that guy over there, ” Kyle said, pointing
to an older man with deeply set eyes and large overhanging brows
that made him look like a villain.
    “ He ’ s my stepfather. He ’ s the president of
the club. He runs the show. And that ’ s my
mom. ”
    He pointed to a beautiful woman with long dark hair
and thick blonde streaks. Her jewelry jingled as she laughed, and
though she was in her fifties, she dressed as if she were in her
mid-twenties. She wore tight jeans that accentuated her curves and
a tight black wrap tank top.
    “ The Big Bear MC isn ’ t anything sinister,
Emma. We ’ re a family. Just a group of guys who work at the Hart
repair shop and ride motorcycles and hang out on the weekends. Yes,
we like pretty girls, and they like us, so what? ”
     
    Kyle had an intensity to him. He was serious and
standoffish, and it drew me closer to him.
    I shrugged and nodded. “ I was
just wondering, ” I said quietly. He held my gaze without looking away,
and a knot formed at the bottom of my stomach. My heart skipped a
beat, and I tried to catch my breath. Finally, I looked away, and
he turned back to Delilah.
    I took a sip of the beer that Danny had handed me
and tried to join in the conversation. I nodded and laughed along
with everyone else. And then out of the corner of my