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ONE

NOAH

I ju no tiine My hand jerked the throttle as thebeneath me The smell of exhaust immediately filled the humid summer air while the bike idled in neutral

I’d been riding since I could walk It was part of being a Jameson, and my old man wouldn’t have it any other way He’d shit a brick if he ever saw any of his three sons on anything other than theels icked horsepower Re us all too often that ere Jah and hard So until the day h to have our own Harleys, like our oldest brother Creed, dirt bikes would have to do

I leaned forward, gunning the engine a fewdown the accelerator and front brake to do one hell of a burnout Finally releasing it and hauling ass off of school grounds Making sure to leave a nice little trail of dirt and rubber inout of the building in my mirror

“Noah, you get back here right now! You hear me?!” he shouted in the distance

I lifted esture in response There was nothing I lovedthere, especially now because it was su told what I could and couldn’t do, and I already had no say in in with I learned early on that if I raised hell at school, I’d get suspended or expelled, and I wouldn’t be allowed to step foot on school grounds, period Which was exactly what I wanted

You see, I was born into a world where noIt was the answer to every question, the solution to every problem, the consequence to every action delivered by none other than my father I sure as hell blame him for the man I would eventually become

I was born into this s

o-called family

I was born to the devil’s son

The President of the mother chapter of Devil’s Rejects Motorcycle Club in Southport, North Carolina I’d be twelve-years-old in a feeeks, and I was already such a little shit with a sharp tongue and wise-ass attitude Feeling and looking much older than I actually was I may have only been a kid, but you sure as shit couldn’t tell me that Bred to not take shit from anyone, it was beaten into us and the only way of life in my father’s eyes The only way to survive There were no other options Surrounded by a family, a brotherhood of ruthlesstheir 1 patches proudly like I would have to wear one day

Whether I wanted to or not

My last name, Jameson, made sure of it

Raising hell while we ride or die was our only code growing up and living in the MC life

I sped through the grass, busting a sharp right onto one ofto the motor accelerate up and down, faster and faster, around and around Tracking fro but mud and debris froh the tree clearing, showing e that crossed over the Cape Fear River nearass current, and if you swaest ot its na, but that didn’t stop people fro out in the murky water without a care in the world

I rode up to the edge of the bridge to judge the distance across the vast space and to look around for any cops that ine when all of a sudden I overheard a voice singing, “The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet all those dollars that toht and happiness Just thinkin’ about toe

My eyes instantly shifted to the girl floating on her back in the water, wearing one of those two-piece bathing suits all the girls wore on the beach Hers was hot pink I don’t kno long I stared at her, but it was the calm look on her face as she belted out the lyrics, “Just thinkin’ about tomorrow Clears away the sadness, the rain, and the elost in her peacefulness and her raspy, distinctive voice, it was an expression and sound I’d never experienced before

The low pitch in her tone soared its way through my core, the same way the motor of ing, “So just hang on ‘til toh the pain Tohts of tomorrow! You’re al, crystal blue eyes suddenly found h she felt me too The intensity of her stare ain Instantly proceeding hy I was at the bridge in the first place

I pulled back the clutch, shifting into first gear, revving up the engine for a few seconds before slowly letting the clutch out Once it caught up with the RPMs, ht back on the seat Hanging on while controlling the wheel so I wouldn’t get tossed off, keeping the balance of e I didn’t usually take this way ho I could ride out a wheelie over this bridge

Being an adrenaline junkie, I lived for theelse h et hurt doing it, then I pushed every boundary just to prove that I could conquer it Co home bloody, bruised, cut up—you name it, I’d probably broken it Mymore clothes than I cared to count

After thirty-five seconds of riding outfor weeks to beat Right when I was about to revel in as to set ain and she was still staring right at me

“Shit!” I shouted, accidentally accelerating the throttle, causingcontrol of hed nothing at all My body skidded and rolled across the wooden planks, along withbeside me With one last hard thud, we finally caroaned, instantly feeling the sting everywhere, and it wasn’t froe

I don’t think I could’ve been anyat the girl, and then ht in front of her Before I could even try to save face, I heard loud laughing froeta hit

“Well, lookie here, boys! If it isn’t big, bad Noah Jameson! Last time I checked your ass should be on the seat, not the pavement, dumbass!” Billy hollered over at me