Ride or Die

Brutus

I can’t believe I let Matt and Roy throw this shitty party. My birthday had been three months ago. What was the use of celebrating it now?

I knew they only wanted the excuse to throw a party. “C’mon Brutus, it’s just for one night! I want to see if I can finally find my Ride or Die,” Matt whined. He put his chin on my desk, pleading.

“That’s what you keep saying. And in your quest to find her, you’ve slept with almost ninety percent of the female population,” Roy argued. He held a pile of papers in his hands.

“Oh, shut it. You don’t care, because you already have a Ride or Die,” Matt shot back to Roy, who was the oldest of the three of us. Matt and I were both twenty-six years old, while Roy was twenty-nine.

We had all taken the roles we were assigned early in life, after the Great Clash. After most of the leaders, including my father, the late president, his second-in-command who had been Matt’s father, and Sergeant at Arms Crowe, had all died in fights against freeriders. Honorable fist fights had turned into knife fights which eventually became shootouts.

“Having Zion has nothing to do with it. I want a moment of relaxation as much as you do, Matt, but our obligations come first,” Roy argued.

“But I wanna find my Ride or Die!” Matt whined, sounding like a little kid. Sometimes, I wondered how the hell he’d gotten the title of Vice President.

“You’ll find her in due time. Right now, we need to figure a way to get rid of that freerider Jack, and his lackeys,” Roy countered.

“Ugh. We’ve been chasing those assholes for a year straight! One night off won’t hurt us. Plus, you might finally find your Ride or Die too, Brute,” Matt said, waggling his eyebrows at me.

“Not interested,” I answered. And it was the truth. The last thing on my mind was finding myself a Ride or Die—to have to worry about her, and my children’s safety. All I wanted was to catch that bastard Jack and put an end to this war.

“What do you mean, ‘not interested!’ You know, I’m starting to think that you might not be interested in women,” he said with a grin, earning a glare from me.

“Might I say, sir, he is right. No one has ever seen you interested in a woman. We’ve never even seen you speak to one,” Roy added. I glared at him too as Matt snickered at my side.

“Fine! I’ll allow the stupid party at the end of the month,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “But afterward, we go straight back to finding and annihilating Jack.”

“Yay!” Matt jumped up in delight.

“Yes, sir,” Roy said. “We’ll start preparations then for the party.”

That was how I’d ended up here today, at this party I didn’t even want to be at. Now, the leaders—the president from the Winterborn club and his daughter Taylor, Roy and his Ride or Die, Matt and myself—stood outside the door of the main hall, waiting to be announced.

One by one, they entered as their names were called. My name was called last. I went in, not bothering to look at the people who stood around me. Not until I reached my table.

The party went on slowly, to my displeasure. I was soon bored out of my mind by having to constantly reject girls asking me to dance with them. Even Winterborn MC’s president’s daughter, Taylor, came up to me, batting her eyelashes as she tried to seduce me.

“Hey, Brutus,” she said in her sweetest tone. I only nodded at her as I stood with my arms crossed.

“Nice party you’re throwing. I didn’t know you were the kind to have parties like these,” she said.

“I didn’t do shit. Matt and Roy pulled this off. I only authorized it,” I said, already losing what little patience I had. At that moment, I was tackled by a drunken dumbass.

“Hey, birthday boy!” Matt slung his arm over my shoulder as he tried to keep his balance.

“You know, my birthday was months ago. This was just to get you off my back,” I answered.

“Oh c’mon, party pooper. You can’t possibly be bored,” he slurred as he drank his beer.

“As a matter of fact, I am. I’m only here because I’m the host.” I glared at him. “Have you found your Ride or Die yet? Cause I want to end this party soon.”

I regretted the question the moment it came out of my mouth. Matt started tearing up as he threw his hands around me.

“No! I’m starting to believe I don’t have a Ride or Die. Oh, Eternal Rider! Is it my fate to be alone forever?” he cried, holding onto me.

“Let me go, you idiot!”

But he had an iron grip on me. “No. Comfort me! I’m heartbroken, because I haven’t found my Ride or Die.”

“Take a walk, Matt, calm down.”

He whimpered away and I was left with Taylor. “You think she’s here?” Taylor asked.

“Who?”

“Your Ride or Die. Lots of bikers in one place,” she smiled.

It would make a lot of sense for Taylor and I to be together. We could strengthen the bonds across our clubs. But we had already checked, years earlier, and we weren’t a match.

“I’m just concerned with protecting our borders.”

She smiled again, trying to get something out of me.

Andi

“You really think he could be here?” I asked my fellow house chick. I looked around at all the beautiful women in flowing dresses, and back down at my uniform. If only I was wearing a pretty dress like them…

“Don’t worry about that,” she assured me. “Your Ride or Die will think you’re beautiful no matter what you’re wearing…or if you aren’t wearing anything at all.”

I gasped, my cheeks turning bright red.

“It’s true! That’s the beauty of the Ride or Die bond. Our Ride or Die will love us unconditionally for the rest of our lives…and we will love them back with all of our heart and soul.”

I sighed, getting caught up in the moment. It sounded so wonderful. Every little girl’s dream. My heart skipped a beat.

Oh God.

It was President Brutus…and he was heading straight for me. I didn’t know if I had another interaction with this man in me. He was so intense. He made me feel so…what did he make me feel?

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