Heavy Hogs MC

by Elias Taylor

  She’ll love it, Brent promised himself, repressing nervousness. This would be the first time he really tried to plan a sweet, cute date for Natalie, and he hoped she liked it. He never put much stock in the idea that making someone else happy could make him happy, and then that fateful weekend in Vegas had changed everything. Now he had feelings that he hadn’t felt in a very long time, and they were all for Natalie. Her smile made him smile and her laugh was contagious. Brent couldn’t take his eyes off her when they were together or his mind off her when they weren’t.

  Brent spotted Natalie sitting on the top stair of her front porch, the legs of her dark blue jean shorts crossed over each other with her motorcycle helmet on top and her dark brown hair drawn back in a neat ponytail. He pulled into her driveway and kicked the kickstand down so he could leave the bike idling and meet her halfway for a hug.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, am I? You didn’t tell me where we’re going, so I couldn’t really dress for it.”

  He took her face in his hands and planted a tender kiss on her lips. “You look perfect.”

  “I’d better,” she warned, the serious words softened by one of those smiles Brent liked so much. “If we get wherever we’re going and I don’t have the right clothes—”

  “It’ll be my fault, and you can blame me. But it won’t happen, I promise. I’ve figured everything out.”

  “Okay.” Apparently deciding to trust him, Natalie slid a leg over the bike and took her now-familiar place behind Brent with her arms wrapped around him—a feeling he’d come to love. Locked safely together, they zoomed off and hopped onto the road heading south.

  “Are we going to the beach?” Natalie shouted over the whistling wind. “Because I didn’t bring a bathing suit!”

  “You’ll find out.” Brent shouted back. She had guessed it—sort of—but there was more to the surprise.

  “El Matador?” Natalie asked when they reached the top of a hill and the sea rose into view, gold, red and yellow in the brilliant sunset.

  “Yes, but... hush. You’ll see.” Brent pulled into the parking lot for El Matador Beach, stopped the bike and waited for Natalie to get off before doing the same.

  She started to walk toward the wooden steps that led down to the ocean, but Brent pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Come on, let’s go!” she urged, casting a longing gaze over the water.

  “One sec.” Brent typed a quick text and quickly overtook Natalie, forging into the lead. “Let’s go.”

  Brent could tell Natalie’s curiosity hadn’t abated at all, but she let him keep the secret he was on the verge of revealing. They trudged across the sand along the gently-washing waves, past the beachgoers catching the last of the sun’s rays and further down the beach where the rocky coves began and fewer people occupied the beach. They rounded one last rocky corner, and—

  “Wow,” Natalie breathed, her impatience entirely gone as she beheld the two chairs, wooden table with various picnic supplies spread across it and lit candles bathing the rocks in flickering light. “Did you do all this?”

  “I masterminded it, but I did have a friend keep an eye on it while I went back to pick you up. I didn’t want seagulls or people running off with our picnic.”

  “This is awesome,” she smiled, touching the pristine white cloth on the table.

  “I thought you might like it.” Brent’s his heart sang with triumph. “And you don’t have to worry about the bathing suit.” He rustled through a beach bag and pulled out a slim, simple black two-piece bathing suit with tastefully-placed pink flowers. “I borrowed one from your house this morning. I figured you wouldn’t mind if you didn’t mind about the coffee.”

  “Where am I supposed to change out here?” Natalie laughed.

  “Well... maybe we’ll figure that out after dinner.” Brent swept Natalie into a kiss.

  The picnic was the hit that Brent had hoped for. Natalie loved this chance to get away from traffic, city noises, people, and just kick back and relax. Luckily for Brent, he wasn’t one of those people she wanted to get away from.

  Their conversation dwindled when they dug into the food. Brent let it happen. He could enjoy her company in silence almost as much as he enjoyed talking to her.

  “So how was lunch with your mom?” Brent asked when they finished eating and started nibbling at chips and dip.

  “Great. We went out for pizza. I’m honestly really glad you didn’t take me to a restaurant,” Natalie said with a smile of approval and a long look over the ocean. “Since my mom and I went to one earlier, I mean.”

  Brent gave himself a little mental high five. They both liked to save money by doing things other than eating out sometimes, and Brent knew Natalie hated to eat out twice in one day. Besides, out here he had Natalie all to himself. No babble of restaurant voices would drown out the tiny huffs of air she made when something amused her. No wait staff would interrupt their conversation. Instead of savoring a five-star meal, Brent would feast on the pleasure of Natalie’s company. “How’s she doing?”

  “Good, but we mostly talked about me. About us, actually.” Natalie’s gesture encompassed both of them.

  “Really?” Brent popped a chip into his mouth, careful not to give anything away through his expression.

  “Yeah. This isn’t the weirdest thing she’s seen, trust me.”

  “This meaning our, uh, shall we say... marital status?”

  Natalie drew shapes in the sand with her bare toes, and Brent knew she was thinking about those divorce papers neither of them had bothered to print yet. “Yep. We didn’t talk about it that much, though. My lunch break isn’t that long.”

  “I know. You spend it with me most of the time, remember?”

  “We might be husband and wife, but she’s my mother,” Natalie pointed out with a giggle. “This is a very sweet date, but you’ll have to do even better to come between me and mom.”

  “I don’t want to come between you,” Brent promised. “I do want to swim, though. Shall we figure out how to get you changed?”

  That turned out to be quite easy. They were at the far end of El Matador Beach and most people had gone home for the evening, so all Brent had to do was stand at the entrance to their little cove and keep watch while Natalie quickly tossed on her bathing suit.

  Brent’s heart beat faster when she emerged in the black-and-pink bathing suit, but he covered the reaction with teasing. “Wow,” he started as if to compliment her, looking at her from head to toe. “I have great taste.”

  “Oh, yes. You picked this out all by yourself. I definitely didn’t buy it and put it in my closet, where you found it in a pile of bathing suits that all suit me.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic with me. You’ll make the sunshine go sour.”

  “What?” Natalie stared at Brent. “I’ve never heard that—” She cut herself off with a shriek as Brent charged her like a bull and scooped her into an effortless fireman’s carry.

  Brent waded deep enough into the warm water to set Natalie down gently. They sat on the sandy ocean floor, the water tickling Brent’s chest and lapping against Natalie’s jaw. The sun was setting and the beach faced south, so they could gaze out across the ocean without fear of the sun’s last blinding rays.

  When the breathtaking beauty of the ocean set afire by the sunset grew old to the two native Californians, a splashing war commenced. Brent admired Natalie’s moxy and creativity in using every inch of her 5’6” frame to shower him with salt water, but he could match her best efforts with just one splash of his arms. Eventually she realized she was outclassed and pounced on him, trapping his arms by his sides and submerging them both for a playful second.

  They came up gasping for air amidst gales of laughter and agreed to a truce. Natalie pulled her elastic band out of her ponytail, letting her soaked hair hang against her shoulders. They were extremely sexy shoulders and bare except for thin bathing suit straps, so Brent gave each one three gentle kisses.

&nbs
p; Before things could go from sweet to heated, they agreed to head back to the beach. The candles still burned, providing a beacon for them to follow in the onset of dusk. The flames flicked wildly in the beeeze from the towels as the two dried off, then pulled their chairs to the edge of the water and sat close enough to hold hands.

  “You know,” Natalie said, breaking a pleasant silence, “I feel like I have a lot of goals, but no real, concrete plans to get me to them.”

  “Are you talking about your job?”

  “Yeah. I want to open a mechanic shop, but I don’t really know when or where.”

  Brent gave her hand a squeeze. “Then make a plan. Start with doing some research and spreadsheets in your spare time. Ask your boss some questions. In the meantime, learn everything you can.”

  “And what about you?” Natalie crossed her legs underneath her comfortably. “You want to open a gym.”

  “A dietary health and fitness center, technically, but yeah. I’m pretty much doing what I suggested you do. I have a folder on my computer with a ton of spreadsheets for things like projected incomes, costs, clients... all that stuff. I even made a full business plan once, but that was for a college class.”

  “Really? What was in it?”

  Natalie sounded genuinely interested, so Brent launched into an explanation of his business plan. He knew it had a lot of flaws—it had only been for an introductory business class—but it was a start, and the class had opened him up to a lot of new ways of thinking about owning a business. Sharing his plan made it more real—less of a dream and more of a vision.

  Natalie didn’t just nod and say ‘that’s nice’. She asked questions. She pointed out flaws and complimented aspects of the plan she liked. She helped him sort out his thoughts and present things more clearly.

  She seemed like she genuinely cared about his goals and believed he could achieve them, and that only made the yearning in his heart for her stronger. She was someone he could lean on and trust to give not only her honest opinion, but also real advice that could help him push his way through the daunting planning process. Her positivity brightened his outlook, and he knew how rare it was to find a person like her—someone unafraid to ‘do’ rather than ‘say’. He didn’t just like and admire that quality. He loved it.

  They talked for hours, sharing their business knowledge and talking about family. They got into the deep topics, too, although they steered mostly clear of relationship talk until the beach went fully dark and the candles only illuminated slivers of water.

  When both their faces were half hidden by shadows, Brent finally couldn’t take it anymore. During a lull in the conversation, he leaned against the arm of his chair and took both of Natalie’s hands.

  “You’re incredible, you know that?” Brent started. “I don’t know how I didn’t see that until just a few weeks ago. You’re fun, amusing, spontaneous, beautiful and driven. And maybe a little stubborn.”

  Natalie giggled, but the uncertain fidgeting of Brent’s fingers in her hands made it clear he wasn’t finished.

  “I’ve really liked spending time with you, and I realized that... well, I really like you. And not just as a friend.”

  “Wait until you tell Gideon the reason you stopped hanging out with him was his little sister,” she joked.

  Brent knew what this was. This was her defense mechanism, and he knew that because he was the same way. When he didn’t know how to respond to something, he played it off. “Eh, he’ll get over it. It just means that when he gets one, he gets both.”

  “We work pretty well together, so that should be easy enough for him to deal with.”

  Brent had a feeling that ‘we work well together’ was all he was going to get this evening, but it was enough for now. That’s like... that’s like half saying that she likes me back.

  Natalie changed the subject, and Brent let it happen. He’d said his piece about how he felt. That was what he really wanted, and he didn’t intend to ruin this perfect evening by pushing her too hard. He knew how closed off she could be, and he knew that if he wanted her to feel about him the same way he felt about her, he would have to earn her trust.

  They weren’t there yet, not for her—but by the way Brent caught Natalie looking at him sometimes when she thought he wasn’t paying attention, he knew they were getting close. He just needed to be patient and give her time and a reason to trust him.

  Chapter Fifteen: Natalie

  She’s me, Natalie realized, kicking her feet up on a basket stool with her phone in her hand and watching the lady who lived across the street do nearly the same thing. She’s just a little older. But why should Natalie not sit on her front porch and talk on the phone? It was a nice day and Natalie wanted to be outside, but Brent wasn’t home to sit out here and talk to her in person. Usually he was, but today he had to go to the gym early and skip breakfast with Natalie.

  “Natalie? Still there?”

  “Yeah, sorry.” She cradled her phone against her cheek, wishing it was Brent’s strong, calloused hand. It was silly to miss him so much when he was just up the street at the gym where he worked. “Saturday. Saturday Fun Day.”

  “Yes,” Brent agreed. “I guess we’ll have to watch our drinks at the club if we’re going to do that late-night ride after.”

  “So are you actually part of the Road Warriors now?” she asked.

  “Not yet. Not formally, at least. I keep thinking that I’ll join and then suddenly get swamped with clients again.”

  “I don’t think you will. Besides, you have me to tell you when too much work and no play is making you a dull boy.”

  Brent’s laugh warmed Natalie’s heart. God, she loved his laugh. Some people laughed from their heads and made nasal, high, airy sounds, but Brent laughed from somewhere deep in his chest.

  “Well, either way, no one will mind if you tag along. You can use that friend-of-a-Road-Warrior status to ride as long as you want.”

  “I think I’ll join formally soon. I just want to make sure I have time first.”

  Joining the Road Warriors might seem like a simple decision for some, but Natalie knew that Brent hated letting people down. The one time he had to cancel on Natalie, he had sent her flowers to apologize. Very sweet, but totally unnecessary. Natalie had been disappointed, but not in him—just that she wouldn’t get to see him.

  “If I have time, you have time,” Natalie pointed out. “We can make time together. Everyone in the Road Warriors has a career. I mean, look at Gideon. He has his own video game company and he still gets out and rides every other week.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Hey, I need to get ready for a client, but I’ll see you for dinner, okay? And I’m excited for Saturday. It’ll be awesome to go somewhere new.”

  “It’ll be tons of fun,” Natalie promised. “See ya.”

  Natalie stood up and deposited her phone in her back pocket, even more psyched for this weekend after hearing how Brent felt about it. He never hesitated to show his enthusiasm for trying new things or going new places. His cheerful, let’s-do-this attitude rubbed off on Natalie and made everything twice as much fun.

  She still had a couple days to wait, though, and she had responsibilities in the meantime. Today was Wednesday, so she had work today, but she also had something else planned. There was a reason Brent had told Natalie he would see her at dinner, not lunch.

  Natalie had met her mother for lunch last week, and this week she was meeting Jasmine. Her best friend was having some boy problems, and Natalie owed her a good long best-friend therapy session. Jasmine had spent more than her fair share of time lately listening to Natalie talk about Brent—not because there was any tea to spill, but just because she could never get her mind off him.

  Before she did anything, though, she needed to make a call that she had been putting off for a while.

  “Hey, Gideon,” she greeted her brother when he answered the phone. “What’s up?”

  “Patching some code. You?”

  “Getting ready f
or work. I wanted to talk to you real quick if you have a minute, though.”

  “For you?” The typing on the other end faded into silence. “Of course. What’s up?”

  “Uh, I just wanted to ask you—or let you know, I guess—that Brent and I have been hanging out lately.”

  “On purpose?”

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “Yes, on purpose. After you ditched us in Vegas we kind of hit it off. He lives right next door, so it makes sense to have dinner together occasionally.” Or every day. But Gideon doesn’t need to know that.

  “Dinner?” Surprise tinged her brother’s voice. “Like dates?”

  This question was the reason Natalie had waited so long to call Gideon. “Not exactly,” she said. “We’re just hanging out.”

  “Soooo you’re telling me why?”

  That gave Natalie pause. She didn’t need Gideon’s permission to hang out with Brent. “Uh... Brent just told me that he turned down hanging with you to do something we had planned to do, so I wanted to let you know.”

  “Well, if you decide to upgrade any of these ‘dinners’ to dates, that’s fine with me. Just so you know.”

  “Great. Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. Anyways, gotta go get ready for work. Good luck patching things.”

  Natalie hung up, tossed her phone on the bed and went to look for some work clothes. She hadn’t expected her brother to have a problem with her dating Brent, but she also didn’t feel comfortable calling it dating yet. ‘Dating’ sounded like ‘relationship’ to a lot of people, and Natalie was still just getting to know Brent.

  “Whoo,” Natalie murmured after she got changed for work and was greeted by a blast of hot air as she hit the button to open the garage door. It was late June, which meant that Thousand Oaks had lost the cool breeze of spring and submitted to the sun’s burning heat. She pulled out of her driveway with the familiar double thump as her front and back tires hit the pavement of the road, and she knew that when she got home from work, she would be a sweaty, gross mess.