I was so intent on escaping, I didn’t see the body in my path, and the moment my chest collided with his, I knew who it was. The ringing in my ears was so loud by that point, I just stared at him with as much contempt as he was staring at me with. The sudden flash of heat down my front was what told me I was too close, and I jumped back as though he’d burned me. I was about to excuse myself when he cut me off, his request to talk sounding more like an execution order than a request.
Hoisting my bag up on my shoulder, I moved my eyes to my feet. “It’s going to have to wait, I’m afraid. I have to get home.”
For a moment, I actually thought he was going to stop me. The darkness in his eyes was focused directly at me, while mine were desperately trained on the door behind him. I was now desperate to get the hell out of there. It was going from agood day to a bad one in just a few interactions.
“The bitch has got to go home, put her moo moo on and watch some Golden Girls reruns,” a female voice said from the darkness of the bar.
As far as insults went, it wasn’t that dire, but it provided me with an escape as it pulled Drew’s attention away from me. Those green blue pools darted into the darkness, the anger now aimed at the disembodied voice.
I moved quickly, weaving around another guy who was standing by the door, before breaking out into the fresh evening air and the fading light. I hadn’t seen the sun all day and as I rushed toward the gate and my freedom, I actually mourned it. I needed my vitamin D. I wanted to feel the sweat on my skin dry in its rays. But all that was left was the insufferable humidity closing in around me, teasing beads of sweat from my top lip and forehead as I rushed toward the gate.
I knew something was wrong the moment I made my way through it. My car, generally well balanced, was now leaning to one side, looking sadly pathetic and forlorn. It wasn’t some amazing car or even a rusted out classic. It was a generic Japanese model that worked well and didn’t drink gas like it was going out of style. It was, however, mine.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me?” I ground out, throwing my purse to the ground and covering my face with my hands. Like I could afford two goddamn tires on top of everything else.
My body dropped into a crouch as I stared at the rubber melting into the concrete below it, my hands now gripping my knees like it was going to save me or something. It was just never ending. This day just wouldn’t stop, and that was all themore relevant when I felt Drew’s presence behind me. The ‘well it looks like you’re gonna have to talk’ went unsaid as he stared at the back of my head and his shadow blocked out the last of the light.
What was I supposed to say to that? How on earth could I convey how unappealing talking about anything with that man was in that moment? I couldn’t seem to say anything right. Every subject was off limits and I just seemed to piss him off by breathing in his direction. What good could possibly come of it?
“I just want to go home,” I said, peering up and over my shoulder at him. He couldn’t possibly subject me to anymore… could he?
Chapter Twenty
Drew
“Ican take you home,” I muttered quietly. The words just sort of escaped me without thought. I could feel the sadness rolling off her in waves as she crouched down on the ground, and I knew that the last thing I needed was a crying woman on my hands.
At least that’s what I told myself.
The stones beneath my feet crunched as I took two steps towards her before stopping in my tracks and crossing my arms over my chest.
“I can take you home.”
Her hands pushed down on her knees, her body straightening as she swiped for her purse on the way up. She didn’t look at me. Her eyes stayed on her feet and for a moment, I didn’t think she was going to respond at all. In the end it came out as a whisper. “Thank you.”
There wasn’t much more for me to say after that. I could have stood there and questioned her as to how she was going to get around. I could have gone down the cocksure route of making her feel like an idiot, but I didn’t want to. She looked how I felt in that moment: a little broken and a lot lost.
The fact that I understood made me want to help her rather than be a hindrance. All of which was brand spankingfucking new to me.
Nodding slowly, I watched her quietly before I turned away and dropped my chin to my chest as I made my way back over to my bike and waited for her to follow. The sounds of my own thoughts were drowning most things out, so I wasn’t even sure she was behind me until I made it to the side of my wheels and finally took a glance up through narrowed eyes.
Ayda’s small feet were sliding across the ground like it was taking more effort than she really wanted to show. It was obvious this girl was a survivor. The only question was how long could she survive around me and this life of ours? We had a way of bringing the strongest men to their knees without trying. My head fell to one side as I studied her some more. The sun was setting on the horizon behind me and the colors it threw out onto her face made her look more attractive than I’d noticed before, even if she definitely needed to sleep for three days straight and take a few hot baths to wipe all the club’s toilet shit away. I started to imagine what she’d look like with fewer worries and less stress in her life.
It was when those thoughts started to creep in that I forced myself to turn away. Coughing, just for something to do, I lifted my fist to my mouth, pointing to the bike next to mine with my free hand as she approached.
“Grab Kenny’s helmet. You can’t ride without one. Not on my watch.”
Reaching out with trembling hands, she fumbled around for it, her eyes studying the thing as though it was an alien rather than a safety measure. Reaching up to pull the tie from her bun, she shook back her hair and pulled the overly large helmet over her head, seemingly comfortable with the feel ofit as she waited for me to climb on. “Thanks for doing this.”
I had to look away again, throwing my own helmet over my head to distract myself as I swung my leg onto the bike and frowned. “No problem. Get on.”
Her body moved quickly, her legs sliding into place on either side of mine. There was an awkward pause when she didn’t seem sure of where her hands should go, and rather than her front pressed against my back, all I felt was air as she gripped the seat below her. “Where… I mean, what would you prefer I, um, hold onto?”
“As tempting as it would be for me to tell you to hold onto my dick, I think you’d be safer gripping the seat or wrapping your arms around my waist. It’s up to you. I don’t have a problem with either,” I said casually, backing the bike away with my feet again without waiting for her to figure out what the hell she wanted to do. I wasn’t sure which I would have preferred—for her to hold on or for her to stay away. Blowing out all the air I could, I started up the bike and curled my fingers even tighter around the handgrips, closing my eyes briefly before opening them again. “I’d make your mind up quickly.”
Her arms folded around my waist, but her hands locked on her wrists. There wasn’t anything between our bodies as she pressed against me, her hips shimmying forward, her cheek firm against my back. The only sound she made was a chirping as though she’d chosen wrong.
Before she had time to move another inch, I let the bike growl to life beneath us both and set off slowly through the yard. It took me a moment or two to really think whether or not I needed to turn left or right. Harry had done the driving the other night and I was about eighty-seven percent full ofalcohol at the time. I could practically feel Ayda behind me, desperate to give me the instruction, when a memory of the roads we took came flooding back and I made a left out of the gates.
