Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 3

I stood in the apartment doorway with one hand resting on the grocery bag with all the food inside it, and even a packet of my favorite chocolate biscuits sat neatly tucked inside.

For several long seconds, I simply stared because nobody had ever left groceries outside my door before.

My first thought was that whoever lived nearby had accidentally left them outside the wrong apartment. It had to be a mistake. But that didn’t make any sense because they had to climb over a chain-link fence to get to my apartment and get onto the property around the garage.

I knew one thing for sure. People didn’t just buy food for strangers. At least, nobody I knew ever had.

I carried the bag inside anyway, mostly because I didn’t want someone stealing it before I found its owner.

The apartment felt even smaller with the groceries sitting on the kitchen bench, and I unpacked everything carefully before stopping.

There was no receipt, no note at the bottom of the bag, nothing.

“This is weird.” I frowned.

After making another cup of coffee, I spent nearly twenty minutes convincing myself the groceries couldn’t possibly be for me.

There had to be another explanation. There always was.

Growing up in the Lawson household had taught me one thing better than anything else. Nothing came without conditions.

Every compliment came with criticism, every gift came with an expectation, every mistake somehow became my fault.

Charlotte had learned that lesson differently. She’d figured out how to make every situation work in her favor.

If she broke something, I’d somehow end up apologising. If she lied, my parents believed her before I ever had the chance to explain myself.

If she wanted something I owned, my mother would smile sweetly and tell me sharing built character.

It never seemed to build Charlotte’s. Only mine.

I remembered one birthday when Uncle Will had spent weeks rebuilding an old minibike for me. It wasn’t expensive, but it was beautiful.

Charlotte had decided she wanted it the moment she saw it. And by dinner that night, she’d convinced our parents that I didn’t appreciate it enough.

Three days later, the minibike sat in Charlotte’s room.

Nobody asked how I felt or cared. Uncle Will had quietly taken me out for ice cream instead.

“Sometimes people show you exactly who they are, kiddo. Believe me.” He smiled at me.

I’d believed him, and that was why I was living above an old motorcycle workshop instead of inside a mansion.

The apartment upstairs might have been tiny, but every single thing inside belonged to me.

Nobody could take it away. The thought made me glance back toward the grocery bag.

No. There had to be a catch.

I locked the apartment and headed downstairs, and Lawson Customs was already busy.

By mid-morning, I’d nearly forgotten about the groceries until Hunter wandered into the office carrying paperwork.

“Wrench,” I said, and he grinned.

“You remembered,” he said.

“I remember everyone who brings me six motorcycles at once,” I said.

“Fair,” he said, and he leaned against the counter.

“So…” he said.

“So?” I asked.

“You like bananas?” he asked, and I looked at him, confused.

“What?” I asked.

“The bananas,” he said.

“What bananas?” I asked.

“The ones Jace bought,” he said, and I stared at him.

“Excuse me,” I said, still confused as f**k.

“You didn’t know?” Hunter frowned.

“Know what?” I asked.

He immediately realized he’d said something he probably shouldn’t have.

“Oh,” he said.

“Oh?” I asked, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I thought he told you,” Hunter said.

“Told me what?” I asked, and Hunter smiled nervously.

“I should probably go,” he said, and he disappeared before I could stop him.

I stood frozen for a moment. Jace. Of course. I looked around the workshop before grabbing my keys.

Ben wasn’t working yet, so locking up for half an hour wasn’t exactly difficult.

The Iron Vipers’ clubhouse sat only fifteen minutes outside town.

I parked outside the large timber building and looked around.

It wasn’t anything like I’d imagined. There weren’t motorcycles scattered everywhere or men yelling at each other.

Children were chasing footballs across a large grass area, and several women sat together on picnic blankets while chatting.

Someone was cooking on a barbecue, and the smell of grilled sausages drifted across the yard.

It looked… normal.

A little girl noticed me first, and she couldn’t have been more than seven.

She smiled brightly before running toward the building.

“Paige’s here,” she sang out, and several heads turned.

Great. Exactly the attention I’d been hoping to avoid.

Wait. How the f**k did she know who I was?

When I looked up, I saw Hunter coming outside first.

“You found us,” he said.

“I came to return something,” I said, and he smiled.

“I figured,” he said.

Jace walked out a few seconds later carrying a mug of coffee, and his expression remained as calm as ever.

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