Ruin (Red Ridge Sinners MC Book 1) Read online

  RUIN

  RED RIDGE SINNERS MC BOOK ONE

  CAITLYN DARE

  CONTENTS

  1. River

  2. Diesel

  3. River

  4. Jax

  5. River

  6. Zach

  7. River

  8. Diesel

  9. River

  10. Jax

  11. River

  12. Zach

  13. River

  14. Jax

  15. River

  16. Diesel

  17. River

  18. Zach

  19. River

  20. Zach

  21. River

  22. Zach

  23. River

  24. Zach

  25. River

  26. Diesel

  27. River

  28. Jax

  29. River

  30. Zach

  31. River

  32. Zach

  33. River

  34. Jax

  35. River

  36. River

  About the Author

  Also by Caitlyn Dare

  SAVAGE ~ Sneak Peek

  Copyright © 2021 by Caitlyn Dare

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Edited by Pinpoint Editing

  Proofread by Proofreading by Sisters Get Lit(erary) Author Services

  1

  RIVER

  “I don’t understand why we have to spend Thanksgiving at their compound,” I grumble as Ray’s truck rumbles down the street.

  “I already told you, Dane and Crank thought it would be a nice thing to host, and well, sweetheart, I’m not going to turn down that offer.” He gives Victoria, his girlfriend, a toothy grin.

  I guess you could call Ray ‘Razor’ Dalton, the president of the Savage Falls Sinners MC, my stepdad. After my mom overdosed and he took me and my brother Rhett in earlier this year, he’s the closest thing I have to a father.

  He’s family.

  But he’s also on my shit list right now—not that he knows it.

  He doesn’t understand why I’m so against celebrating Thanksgiving with the Red Ridge chapter. After all, my stepsister and brother will be there, along with my friends, Kat and Quinn.

  But he’ll also be there.

  Diesel Walker.

  Kat’s older brother.

  The guy I’ve been trying to avoid since Halloween weekend.

  “River?” Ray says, and I shake all thoughts of Diesel from my head.

  “Yeah?”

  “I was talking to you and you were ignoring me.” He eyes me in the rearview mirror.

  “Sorry.”

  “What’s gotten into you lately? I know you’re missing Sadie Ray, but she’s still around a lot.”

  “I’m just tired.”

  “You’re a good girl, River,” Victoria says, glancing at me over her shoulder with a soft smile, “But remember there’s more to life than studying.”

  If she only knew.

  “It’ll be nice to all be together today,” she adds. “The guys have really gotten the place straightened out.”

  “Damn right they have.” Pride coats Ray’s words. He’s talking about Dane Stray, my brother’s best friend and newly appointed president of the Red Ridge chapter of the Sinners MC.

  He and my brother are in a relationship with Sadie Ray and Victoria’s son, Wes. It’s a whole thing, but they make it work.

  I can’t even make it work with one guy, let alone three.

  Everyone keeps telling me that I’m young, that there’s plenty of time to meet guys. But it’s not so easy to accept their advice when you’ve been burned twice by people you thought you could trust, people you shared a connection with.

  It’s only a thirty-minute drive across the border into Red Ridge, and the second we pull into the compound, Sadie Ray bursts out of the clubhouse, making a beeline for us. I’m barely out of the truck before she’s pulling me into her arms.

  “You look pretty,” she says, fussing with my hair.

  “Uh, thanks.” I swat her away and fold my arms over my chest.

  “Riv.” Rhett stalks toward me and wraps me in his arms.

  “Why are you being weird?” I glance between them.

  “Not being weird, just happy to see you.” Sadie Ray smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

  “I saw you yesterday at school.”

  “Yeah, but… forget it, you’re here now, and there’s enough food to feed the whole town.”

  “Where’s that boy of mine?” Victoria asks.

  “He’s inside, helping get everything ready.”

  “I’m going to find him.” She leans up and kisses Ray’s cheek. “I’ll see you in there.”

  “I’ll come with you,” I say. “I want to find Kat.”

  Rhett clears his throat. “I was hoping we could—”

  “We can talk later.” I shoot my big brother a weak smile and follow Victoria. But I don’t miss Sadie Ray’s words as I walk away.

  “I’m worried about her.”

  “She’s a good girl,” Rhett says. “She’s just going through a phase.”

  A phase?

  I scoff. As if I’m some… some child throwing a tantrum.

  They don’t understand.

  Nobody does.

  Well, that’s not true. I thought I’d found someone who did.

  Jax Pitman—or Pitbull, as everyone calls him—one of Ray’s prospects. We’d hit it off when I first moved here. He became my friend.

  My best friend.

  And then he became more.

  But the thing about bikers is, they’re rough and they like to fuck. Especially club whores who will ride anything with a dick.

  I made the vital mistake of thinking Jax was different. That he wasn’t like the rest of them.

  But he proved me wrong.

  And he broke my heart in the process.

  “River,” Kat heads over to me the second she notices me arrive, “thank God you’re here.” Lacing her arm through mine, she guides me away from the chaos and toward a quiet table in the back.

  “It smells good.” I can’t deny the rich scent of turkey makes my stomach rumble.

  “Yeah, Dee and Rosita have been at it all morning.”

  “Is Quinn here yet?” I scan the room for our other friend.

  “No, she and Crank are out picking up extra dessert after my brother dropped one of the pies. Although if you ask me, they’re just using it as an excuse to go have sex.”

  Like Sadie, Quinn has also recently gone to the dark side. She swore she would never get involved with a biker until Crank swept her off her feet, and now they’re disgustingly in love.

  “Good for her,” I murmur, finding Diesel across the room. He looks up, catching my eye, and I immediately drop my gaze.

  If Kat notices, she doesn’t say anything. Not that she’d ever suspect something between me and her big brother. He’s older and wiser and completely gorgeous. And despite being seventeen and a half, I’m a high school junior. Not to mention Rhett Savage’s little sister.

  I’m off-limits to a guy like Diesel. Too innocent and inexperienced.

  Just a girl when he’s all man.

  My stomach knots at the thought.

  “Ugh, look at them.”

  My eyes follow where Kat is looking at Sadie surrounded by her guys. I didn’t understand it at first, how one girl could be in love with three men, but you only have to watch them together to see how deepl
y they care about each other. And I’m happy for them, I am. But the house isn’t the same since she moved out.

  Now I’m all alone, just like I was before Mom died and Rhett used to spend all his time in Savage Falls just to get away from our toxic home life.

  “Girls, a little help,” Sadie’s aunt Dee calls us over.

  “Guess that’s our cue.” Kat stands up and reluctantly goes to help, but I linger, taking in the scene before me.

  Most of the furniture has been cleared to one side to allow for a big makeshift table to fill the center of the room, chairs of all shapes and sizes squeezed around it. Someone—one of the old ladies, no doubt—has covered the three lengths of wood in Sinners flags. And those are covered in a mishmash of plates and bowls and containers. Nothing matches or fits quite right, but I wouldn’t expect any less from this group of people I’ve come to know as family.

  “Okay, I think we’re almost good to go,” Rosita calls. She’s one of the old ladies from Savage Falls, a mother hen type. I like her. She doesn’t mince her words and takes no shit from the guys. “Dane, round everyone up.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He shoots her a grin and heads outside to call in the stragglers.

  “We should probably grab a seat before the rest of them come inside,” Kat says, grabbing my arm.

  We pick two chairs near the end of the table, and it isn’t long before bikers start filing into the clubhouse, laughing and joking.

  “Smells good, ladies,” Bones says.

  “Hey, asshole.” Dane pins him with a dark look. “I helped cook.”

  “Peeling a few potatoes doesn't count, Stray,” Diesel chuckles.

  “Tell him, Sadie, girl.”

  “It was tiring work, peeling and chopping all those vegetables.” Her eyes twinkle with amusement.

  “Oh, it’s like that, huh?” Dane dives for her, nuzzling her neck.

  “Break it up, children,” Rhett growls. “We’re about to eat.”

  “Fuck yeah, I’m starved,” someone says, but I’m too busy watching Diesel out of the corner of my eye.

  “Sorry we’re late!” Quinn bursts through the door looking a little flushed, carrying two pies.

  “Told you,” Kat whispers, and I fight the urge to snort as Crank follows, also looking a little disheveled. “Everyone’s getting some,” she murmurs. “Sucks to be us.”

  She isn’t wrong, but I don’t answer.

  I don’t want her to know that I tried to kiss her brother. She wouldn’t understand, and besides, it’s something I would rather forget ever happened.

  “You know what we need? A night out.”

  “I don’t know,” I say. “You know how my brother gets.”

  “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Do you still have your fake ID?”

  “I think so.”

  “Good. There’s this club across town, they’re having a party tomorrow night. We should totally go.”

  “I don’t know, Kat.”

  “The answer you’re looking for is, ‘Yes, Kat.’ It’ll be fun. We can find some cute guys and make ourselves feel better.” She stares at me expectantly, but a commotion over by the door draws my attention.

  “What’s going on?” I whisper, watching as Crank and Diesel talk with Dane and Ray.

  “Don’t ask me, he never tells me anything.”

  I like Kat. She gets it.

  She understands how suffocating it is, having an older brother who thinks he knows best. And who thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants but expects you to stay his baby sister forever.

  “Oh shit,” Kat breathes, and I look up to find the source of her surprise.

  No.

  God no.

  Jax stalks into the room, shaking hands with Ray and Rhett and a couple of the other guys.

  “What is he doing here?” I hiss, clutching the edge of the table.

  “I-I have no idea. I didn’t think he was coming.”

  His gaze finds me almost immediately, and his expression softens.

  “Awww, he looks like someone kicked his puppy.”

  “I don’t care.” I turn away from him.

  This cannot be happening.

  I’ve done my absolute best to avoid Jax ever since I saw him all over one of the club whores a few weeks ago.

  To my relief, he sits at the other end of the table.

  “Hey, I think my brother has some Miralax in his room. We could totally lace his meal.” Kat flashes me a devious grin.

  “And let him think I care?” I scoff. “Forget it.”

  “Seriously, babe, you’ve been moping for the past month. I think everyone and their dog knows you care.”

  “I have… fine, maybe I’ve been moping a little.”

  “Okay,” Ray booms. “Let’s get this show on the road.” He ushers everyone to their seats, and Dee and Rosita and Victoria start bringing out the food. Everyone claps at the sight of the huge turkey, praising the ladies for their efforts.

  But I don’t have it in me to join them.

  “Fine, I’ll come,” I blurt out.

  “What?” Kat frowns.

  “To the club. I’ll come.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. I need to get out of my head.”

  She shrieks with approval. “This is going to be so much fun. I’ll work on our cover story.” Kat starts talking about outfits and plans, but I barely hear her over the thud of my heart.

  I don’t want to be here.

  I don’t want to be anywhere near Jax and Diesel.

  The boy who broke my heart and the man who refused to fix it.

  2

  DIESEL

  My eyes are firmly locked on River as she stares down at the full plate of food in front of her. Every other single person here is currently distracted, stuffing their faces with the incredible meal that the old ladies—and Dane with his veggie-chopping expertise—prepared for us.

  This isn’t the first Thanksgiving we’ve spent here at the compound, but it’s certainly the biggest, seeing as we’ve got both the Red Ridge and the Savage Falls Sinners chapters together under one roof.

  This time last year was very, very different.

  Our old prez, Nolan Archer, was fighting a losing battle with his health, while his old lady and son, our VP, tried to put on a brave face.

  This club has been through so much in the past twelve months. We’ve seen so much death, so much unnecessary loss. But despite all that, right now, there’s a buzz of hope and happiness around the room. The holes that our lost brothers have left will always be there, but we’ve managed to find something I feared this club didn’t have at one point.

  A future.

  I thought for sure that the Red Ridge Reapers were about to become extinct. I never imagined that we’d end up patching over to the Sinners and donning new cuts with a brand new prez leading things.

  I’m not sure Dane Stray saw it coming, either.

  But I can’t deny that he and Crank make a fantastic team, and I have every confidence that they—us—will be able to carve out a new path for the club in the coming months and years.

  With the Savage Falls chapter watching our backs, and ours theirs, we’re stronger than ever.

  It’s nice not to have to worry about this place for once. It’s just a shame the same can’t be said for the girl at the other end of the table.

  When I first met River Savage, she was just my little sister’s sweet, innocent and shy friend. But the more she was around the house, the more I started noticing her.

  Really noticing her.

  Like just how hot her innocence actually is. How soft her hair was when it once brushed my shoulder. How her scent would make my mouth water whenever she was close. All the kinds of things I certainly should not be feeling about my sister’s friend, a high school fucking junior, no less. Even if she is older than Kat, thanks to getting held back a year in grade school.

  My grip on the knife and fork in my hands tighten as the pull I always feel to her
keeps my eyes on her downcast face and slumped shoulders. I know I’m half the reason for it. But the other half is the prospect sitting a few chairs down from me.

  Jax Pitman, or Pitbull, to our brothers, is a bit of an enigma. According to Dane, he and River quickly connected after she moved to Savage Falls earlier this year, and despite Rhett’s obvious distaste about his little sister hooking up with a biker—which I totally get, of course—the two of them became tight.

  When I first saw them together, I thought they were a couple. But it turned out that they’d never stepped over that line. I don’t know the details of why—I’ll save that kind of girly gossip for my sister to deal with—but I do know that Pitbull, the stupid motherfucker, screwed up whatever they might have had the second he stuck his end in some cheap club whore a few weeks ago.

  Ever since that night, River’s been walking around like a shell of the girl she usually is.

  Apart from that one moment on Halloween.

  The one time I regret more than anything else in my life.

  My eyes drop to her lips as I remember just how they felt against mine. How soft, warm and inviting they were.

  I lost myself for a beat and I kissed her back. The temptation was too much to deny until her tongue brushed my bottom lip. That move was like a harsh, cold bucket of reality tipped right over my head. After that I pulled back, putting some much needed space between us before my mouth ran away with me in my attempt to right the situation.

  I’ll regret the words for the rest of my life because of the way they made her face fall and tears fill her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, River. I just… I like my women more… mature. You know how it is.”