One of Us

AVERY

Avery was tired—actually, it was more like exhausted.

She had survived her fifth day as the new kindergarten teacher at Middleton Academy, and she had two more days to go this week before she could sleep in.

Starting last Thursday gave her a false sense of hope about how much work the class was going to be. Working full time was totally different from substituting, that was for sure!

“All right everyone, it’s time to put away the Australia packet and pack up to go home. We have ‘show and share’ in five minutes!” she said, hoping she sounded happy and cheerful.

She watched as her students quickly listened and did what they were asked.

Their former teacher did a great job establishing routines and having them follow instructions. It was such a shame about her stroke; she seemed like a nice lady from what others had told her.

Avery’s eye caught one little girl helping a little boy that was next to her put his things away. He had a deformed arm from birth, and the little girl seemed very protective of him.

She checked her seating chart and remembered that the little girl’s name was Alexis and the boy’s name was Ryan.

She watched a few more minutes, feeling her heart smile at the pair of them, then met everyone at the carpet.

“Today for ‘show and share’ we have Alexis first,” Avery said, sitting on the little chair next to the kids.

Avery watched and noticed that the little girl had a maturity about her that she hadn’t really experienced before in a child her age and found herself becoming curious about her.

She stood up tall next to Avery and pulled out a black vest and held it up. “This is my new MC cut. Daddy got it for me for Christmas. It has my name on it, and look at all the sparkles!”

Avery was confused. An MC cut? What the hell was that? She let Alexis continue talking about the vest and tried to figure out what the little girl was talking about.

She said she got to wear it when she was at the clubhouse and when she started riding with her dad.

“And Daddy said that I’m a true MC Princess!” Alexis said proudly to finish.

Avery watched as the kids looked at her with awe. She was going to have to ask Lily, the other kinder teacher, what all this was about.

“That is really beautiful, Alexis. Thank you for bringing it for us today,” Avery replied, smiling.

“Thanks, Miss Harper!” She beamed and lovingly put the leather back in the bag and sat next to Ryan.

Ten minutes later, the kids were ready to go and she dismissed them as their parents came by the fence.

She watched a tall, sexy man strut up wearing a long-sleeve shirt and a leather vest, much like Alexis’s.

She felt her heart skip a beat as he picked up his daughter after she ran to him and threw her into the air, making her squeal in delight.

She kissed him, and he turned to walk back to the large truck he was driving.

Avery saw that he had a name and picture on the back of the vest.

‘Devil’s Reign’ was written in a half circle, and an intricate design of a menacing-looking grim reaper holding onto the reins of skeletal horses with flames coming out of their noses.

Just as she was going to turn around and go back inside, the man turned and looked straight at her, sending shivers up her spine. He smirked, winked, then went back to walking to his truck.

“What the hell was that?” she whispered to herself.

That man made her feel weak and idiotic, something that had never happened before. At the same time, she was hot and turned on; it truly was the most ridiculous combination ever.

“Hey Avery!” she heard Lily say as she poked her head into her classroom a few minutes later.

“Hi Lily,” Avery said, taking her shoes off to stretch her toes.

“Do you want to go out Friday night? A bunch of us are going out to a great bar after the final bell. Want to come? I’ll even buy your first drink as a welcome,” she offered.

Avery thought for a minute and nodded her head, remembering how her aunt had told her to go out and meet people and make friends. “Sure, that sounds great.”

“Perfect! Bring clothes to change into, never know who might be there,” she said with a wink.

Avery giggled. “Fine. Hey, Lily?”

Lily turned back to her. “What?”

“Do you know anything about Alexis Mariner and an MC?

“She brought something for show and share, a leather vest, and she said her dad got it for her and she can only wear it on rides or at the clubhouse…”

“Oh yes, Justin Mariner,” Lily purred. “That man is so delicious. He would make a dead nun jump up and ride him!”

Avery’s eyes went huge at her new friend’s statement.

“Oh, stop! I saw him at pickup today and I KNOW you saw that fine ass walking! He is the president of a large motorcycle club here in town.

“They practically run the town even though they aren’t in office or anything. They are a 1% club,” Lily explained, sitting on a desktop.

“What is a 1% club?”

“Oh, one-percenters are naughty!” she said with a gleam in her eyes. “They are true bad boys, doing illegal things.”

Avery was shocked. “Really?! Why haven’t the cops stopped them?”

Lily chuckled. “Man, I love you, Avery, but you are so naive! They help keep the really bad shit away from Middleton, have several cops on their payroll or so the rumor mill says.

“They give lots of money to charities and things around town. People look the other way.”

Avery was stunned that things like this happened and chewed her lip, trying to think how her father would have reacted.

“But Justin Mariner is one of the most eligible men in this city and women line up to sleep with him, hoping to be the one to change his mind about settling down.

“Hell, I would line up and climb him like a freaking tree! And the rumors about him in bed? Damn! I would LOVE to see if even half of them are true. He really is sex walking,” Lily gushed.

Avery was so confused and was thankful that Lily got up to leave so she could go to the yoga studio.

Avery thought about what Lily had said all night, trying to get the thoughts in her head to make sense without success.

She was no better the next morning after having a vivid dream about the man who had simply picked up his daughter yesterday.