Faith: Biker Romance (The Virtues Book 2) by Davida Lynn Read Free Book Online Page B

fill of life.

    This night was different for some reason, though. Before I could turn to head to the truck with Eddie, my dad grabbed my arm and excused us back inside. He didn’t say anything to me as he led me by the arm into the basement where my Bible study had just finished.

    My heart raced, thinking that somehow my dad knew what we were up to on Wednesday nights. Eddie never had me home late, and I really thought my parents were blind to our lives outside of Bible study. At that moment, though, I was ready to confess every Wednesday night sin.

    My dad let me go, only to grab two folding chairs and slam them down. I sat without needing to be told. He stared at me for a long moment before speaking.

    “A man’s desire is a demon that he must pray hard about to keep in check. That demon is fighting to steal your purity and innocence. It is stronger than a man. You understand that?”

    I knew he didn’t actually want an answer. We weren’t having a conversation; I was listening to his lecture.

    “Only with the help of God Almighty can that demon be silenced and destroyed. I’ve prayed so hard, Faith. So hard for your purity and innocence. I’ve spent late nights up praying to rid myself of demons, as well. I am a man. I am a sinner. I have demons, too, Faith.”

    I could see sweat forming on my father’s brow, and his eyes were turning wild in front of me. I was getting an uneasy feeling that made the hair on my neck stand up. My dad was getting more personal than he ever had during his religious rants. I wanted to back away. There was something about it that rubbed me wrong.

    “Living at home with two women is a burden. I carry that burden and those sinful ways every day of my life. Your mother understands. I hope you do, too. I pray it away every night.” He was getting more and more incoherent, and I wanted to be sitting across from him less and less.

    “Faith, I need you to understand how hard it is for me. Without the Lord... Without Him, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t know what that demon inside of me is capable of. I just want you to know that the Devil works in every man. He works in Eddie, whether you can see it or not.”

    After a few seconds of awkward silence, because I had nothing to say, my dad stood up and headed for the stairs leading back up to the congregation. Worry, confusion, and anger swirled in my head. I had no idea how to interpret that one.

    After my dad had made his way upstairs, I waited a minute longer, then went up to meet Eddie. His truck and motorcycle felt more like freedom than ever before. There was safety on that bench seat beside Eddie. It was my home away from home.

    I was now keeping spare clothes in the back of Eddie’s truck. A torn up sweatshirt with some old band’s logo on it waited for me behind the seat. I usually changed in the truck while Eddie pulled the motorcycle out of the garage, but we both knew that winter would be putting that to a stop.

    I sat in his truck silently. As we pulled away, he was the first to say it. “I think we’d better stick to four wheels. What do you think?”

    Despite my haze, I nodded in agreement. “I’d say so.” Even as he hit the headlights, I could see tiny flakes of snow making their final descent. Our nights on the Harley had come to an end. It may have been getting cold in Colorado Springs, but the West Coast was still perfect and warm, more tempting than it had ever been before.  

    I’d learned more about motorcycles in the last month than I’d ever known. Eddie’s 1985 Softail Custom was our freedom machine, and if I could convince him, it would carry us to the Pacific Ocean.

    Trying to decipher what my father had said only made things worse. He hadn’t said anything specific, but I’d read between the lines and understood he was making threats. They were disguised as “demons,” which I didn't buy for a second. My father had demons, all right, but they had nothing to do with Lucifer. He