Ride Free by Debra Kayn

Sunflower smiled and winked at Remy.
    He turned toward Margarine’s husband. “What would you have to say about me? You still owe me for taking you to Margarine.”
    Remy held up his hands. “I didn’t say a thing. Promise.” He grinned.
    Reefer raised the mug to his lips.
    “When are you going to give me another grandbaby?” Knuckles asked.
    Coffee spewed out of his mouth, over the table, and down his chin. “Where the hell did that come from? I ain’t having no baby.” He brought his shirt up to wipe his face. “Jesus, you don’t have anything else to talk about? A baby’s not in my plans.”
    Everyone around the table sat with stupid, shit-eating grins on their faces. He shook his head in disgust. All of them, except Remy, knew what he’d grown up with. Shit! I’ll never leave the pavement in my lifetime.
    “Where is Harley? I need the little man out here to take all the attention off of my life.” Reefer pushed his mug to the middle of the table and leaned back in his chair.
     
    ***
     
    Sarah sat up in bed. She listened for any sound coming from the bathroom and found none. She got out of bed to investigate. The room was empty. Where had Reefer snuck off to, this early in the morning?
    She padded into the corner of the main room that qualified as a kitchen. A piece of paper lay on the counter.
    Sarah,
    Gone to Margarine’s for coffee with family. Sleep. Junior wore you out. Be back later (with Junior).
    Reefer
     
    She laughed. Such a serious guy, but he did have a sense of humor. How did she get so lucky?
    She showered, dressed, and straightened the room, then walked to the motel office and bought a few postcards. Although she was still in Oregon, she wanted to tell Ellen all about her new family and how easily they had accepted her into the fold.
    She returned to the room, and sat down at the small table to write out a message. She tapped the pen against her lips. She’d have to write tiny, because the postcard lacked the space she needed to tell her everything that had happened. In the end, she’d crammed enough of the highlights of her life so far onto the square piece of paper to satisfy her excitement over sharing her life with her closest friend.
    The clamor of a motorcycle drew her to the window. At the sight of Reefer parking, she hurried and put the postcard in her bag to mail later, and rushed off to the bathroom to run the brush through her half-dried hair. With a giggle, she ran back to the bed, stood on top, and waited.
    The door swung open. Reefer took a step inside, and Sarah jumped through the air. The force of her throwing herself at him knocked them into the door.
    “Welcome home.”
    Her legs wrapped around his waist. Her arms clasped his neck. The expression on his face—priceless. She laughed.
    Reefer’s hands cupped her ass. “Miss me?”
    “Mm, yes I did, King Kong, and did you bring the Mighty Chimp with you?” She wiggled her butt.
    He groaned. “You’re really bad at picking out names, you know that?”
    She kissed him and drew out a moan from him that melted her insides. She pulled back, and smiled. With his eyes half closed, he appeared sexier than ever.
    “I dropped the bag.” He leaned in for another kiss.
    “Mm.” She grabbed his bottom lip between her teeth and nipped. “What does that mean, Howler Monkey?”
    He dropped her to the floor, snarled, and picked up the brown paper bag from the floor. “Better be careful with those names of yours. I might have to come up with something different for you, Sarah.” He wagged his finger in her face and handed her the bag.
    “Ooh, cinnamon rolls.” She sat on the bed and pulled out a pastry covered with icing.
    “Margarine sent them to you, said she missed you this morning.” He shrugged out of his jacket and sat in the chair.
    She swallowed. “Are we going back to her house today?”
    He shook his head. “Not us. Knuckles and Sunflower will spend a couple days with Margarine, but we’re all on our own for