by Deja Voss
“That’s sweet. No wonder you turned out so good.”
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s get you to work. The guys and I are going to go riding for a little tonight, but I’ll be back to help you close.”
“You’re probably going to have to carry me outside,” she laughs, shaking her head. “Thirty years old and I still don’t know any better than ice cream for dinner.”
“Just you wait ’til you meet Connie. She’ll make sure you always have a well-balanced meal, an umbrella in case it rains, and a freshly ironed handkerchief in your pocket.”
“Seriously,” she says, wide-eyed, “we come from two different galaxies.”
CHAPTER 22
Olive:
“Hey, boo,” I say into my cell phone. Things are pretty quiet at the bar tonight. It was busy before we got here, but the place cleared out really fast when everyone heard Tank finished his most recent bike build. I can tell how proud he is of that thing, and it makes me proud too. “Sorry I missed you earlier; it was super busy.”
“It’s ok, girl,” Red says. “I just wanted to see if you want to fly out to Vegas with me tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? No, I can’t just fly out to Vegas tomorrow. I have to work all weekend.”
“Come on, Ollie. I have to go meet some agents and sign some papers. It’s going to be fun. You can bring Tank. I don’t care. I just really want you there with me.”
“Red, I love you, babe; I’m going to miss you dearly, but you know how important my job is to me. I can’t screw Gavin over like that. You give me a week’s notice and I’ll go anywhere in the world with you, but I can’t just drop everything and fly all the way across the country on a whim.”
“You don’t need that job anymore, Olive,” he whines.
“I do need this job. If I was a millionaire I would still need this job.” This job is my sense of purpose. This job is my sanity. This job is what keeps me from being a drunken shit show twenty-four seven. Some days it’s the only reason why I wake up in the morning. The money is awesome, but my mental health is riding on me keeping this job.
“I know,” he says. “I like that you take your work seriously. I just really don’t want to do this alone.”
“You won’t be alone. Your coach has your back, and I will video chat with you every night. When do you think you’ll get home?”
“Hopefully Saturday.”
“Well hopefully Saturday we will be doing some celebrating. I’m so proud of you, babe. I have to get back to work, though.”
“Alright,” he says. I can tell he’s disappointed. I don’t know what to tell him. On one hand, I feel bad, but on the other, this place is my home. Going into this relationship, he knew the main thing I wanted was to keep it that way. My employer might be fine with me banging two dudes at the same time, but just not showing up for work is a totally different story. “I love you. I’ll call you when I get off the plane.”
“You better. And if you’re planning on sampling the local cuisine, you better promise me that they’re at least ten times hotter than I am.”
He chuckles and I feel better. “Well for one, that’s probably impossible, and for two, you know I’d never do that to you.”
“I know,” I sigh. “You’re a good man. I love you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning.”
I step out of the office and back behind the bar just in time for the club to get back. I kiss Tank on the lips and everyone whistles like a bunch of nerds.
“What’s wrong with you guys?” I tease. I start setting up bottles of beer on the bar top, feeling like I’m in my element more than ever. These guys are my family, and being an old lady only brings me that much closer to them.
“So, Red’s in Vegas the next few days,” I tell Tank once I get everyone served. “He asked us to come but I need to stay here and work.”
“I swear I won’t be upset if you go. It’s really important to him,” he says.
“That thought didn’t even cross my mind. I was more worried about what that dipshit would say if I blew off my shifts for the next couple of days.” I shoot Gavin a wink and he just shrugs.
“If you really want to go…” Gavin says, rolling his eyes.
“It’s fine. This is where I belong. Besides, Vegas on your period isn’t all that fun.”
“Get out of here with that nastiness,” he says, scrunching up his face.
“Aw, come on, Gavin, you should be happy. Do you really think we need a little two-headed Red Tank baby running around here right now?”
“You do know that’s not how biology works, right?”
“I personally think that’d be freaking awesome,” Austin says. “I’d support that cause.”
I know I shouldn’t laugh at the thought, and I know that’s not how things work, but it still amuses me. “Looks like you’re stuck with me for the rest of the week, Tank,” I say. “Sorry.”
I can tell by the way he’s grinning at me, licking his lips, that he’s not too mad about that fact. Neither am I. I am beginning to realize that I appreciate spending time with each of these guys alone as much as I do together. Besides, now that I’ve dropped the guilt, I feel like Tank and I are really starting to click.
The rest of the night is fairly quiet, and around midnight I call last call. He helps me with my closing duties, and we finish up in record time.
“No Buzzy tonight, thank God,” I say, taking one last look around before I turn out all the lights. “Maybe he found some other bartender to harass.”
“I don’t know why you just don’t let me take care of him.” He holds my hand as we walk out into the parking lot to his bike and I put on my helmet.
“People like him get bored easily. I’ve been bartending long enough to know that all guys like that want is attention, even if it’s negative. When they realize they aren’t going to get that, they just buzz off.” I laugh at my stupid pun, but he looks at me with a serious glare.
“I guess so,” he says. “Where to now?”
“Well, I know a guy whose roommate is out of town,” I say with a wink. “Maybe we could start there and see where the night goes.”
CHAPTER 23
Tank:
I don’t think it’s unfair of me to say that spending time alone with Olive, having a ‘normal’ one-on-one relationship, has been good for the two of us. Sure, she’s been video chatting with Red every day, and while it doesn’t bother me, it’s what I signed up for ultimately, when she hangs up that phone and all her attention is back on me, it’s almost like he doesn’t even exist.
I sit in the driveway, revving the engine on this Kawasaki for about five minutes until she pokes her head out the front door. It’s not much to look at. It’s not fast. It was my first motorcycle and it’s been sitting in my parents’ garage for the last twelve years, but I spent all afternoon at the shop getting it cleaned up and making sure everything is running smooth.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” she clucks. “Whose bike is that?”
“It’s a starter bike,” I tell her.
She looks a little confused for a minute until she comes running into the driveway in her bare feet.
“You still want to learn how to ride?”
“I didn’t think you were serious!” she squeals. “Yes! Yes! Oh thank you!” She kisses me on the lips as I step off the bike and show her what all the controls do.
“Go put some shoes on,” I say. “And probably some pants.” I don’t ever mind her running around in a t-shirt and underwear, but in the interest of worst-case scenario, she’s probably going to at least want to learn in something a little less risky.
She comes back out of the house in less than five minutes in jeans and boots and a leather jacket, as if she’s been planning for this day for a long time. She puts on her helmet and stands there staring at me, waiting for the go-ahead.
“Go on,” I tell her.
“Really?” she asks.
“The best way to learn is by doing it.” The smile on
her face as she straddles the bike is priceless, and I get on behind her, adjusting her in the seat.
“Where to, boss?” she shouts as she revs the engine.
“How about the end of the driveway?” I suggest. Up here on the mountain is a great place to learn how to ride. Not much traffic besides us and the deer, and the ruts and bends in the dirt road will make things that much easier when we put her out on the highway. That’s a long time away though. The way she screams as I help her pop this thing in drive is enough to let me know that up and down the road in front of the house is going to be more than enough for the day.
She picks up pretty quickly on the basics, and once I’m confident she knows her way around the controls, I hop off and let her do a loop by herself. When she comes back, her face is flushed bright red under the visor of her helmet. She parks the bike and gets off, running across the driveway to hug me.
“Thank you! Thank you!” she screams over and over, like I just gave her a box of diamonds. “You don’t know how much this means to me!”
I wrap my arms around her and grip her tight ass. “Why don’t you pull that thing into the garage and come inside and show me how much it means to you?”
“I think I can do that,” she says with a nod. I watch her walk the bike into the garage, my pants growing tighter by the second. It’s not so much the fact that girls who can ride are on a completely different level of hotness, but the idea that she’s everything I ever wanted. It’s one more thing we have in common. It’s one more thing I can share with her. She’s perfect in every way, and this just enhances that.
“I’m serious, Tank,” she says, when we get inside. I’m already unbuttoning her jeans before we can even make it to the bedroom. I prop her up on the island in the kitchen, pulling her pants down to her ankles. I kiss the insides of her thighs until she starts with that sweet giggle of hers. “It’s like you get me,” she says. “Nobody else would want me driving their bike. They think I’m dumb. Or fragile. I don’t know. You have faith in me that nobody else does.”
“Of course I get you. I’ve spent the last few years watching you handle everything at the bar like a pro. You’re not dumb, that’s for sure. Although, have you met my friends? You don’t have to be a genius to operate a motorcycle.” She shrugs and smiles at me, and I reach for the top of her pink thong, pulling it down as I kiss her belly button.
She sighs deeply, her flesh quivering under my hands. I kiss down lower and lower, feeling her squirm as I grip her hips, stopping just shy of her perfect mound.
“I love you, Tank,” she whispers as I dart my tongue over her clit, teasing her until her hips begin to tilt, her body begging me for more. “Oh, Jesus,” she groans, tilting her head back while I part her folds with my mouth. It turns me on knowing that I know exactly how to rub her, exactly how to make her scream, and how to make her cum in thirty seconds flat if I so choose.
I could do this all night, bring her right to the edge until she’s pleading for release and then letting off the gas while she pulls my hair and curses my name. I could, but I don’t want to. I want to make her cum on my face because being inside her, having her all to myself, even if it’s just for tonight, is the only thing I have on my mind.
I press my palm into her stomach as she explodes, her moans vibrating through my body, waking up my cock. This woman makes me harder than I ever thought possible. I flip her over on the counter while she’s still blissed out and begging, and slide into her, filling her quaking pussy as her wetness runs down her thighs.
Neither one of us needs to say a word. Her screams echoing through the house are enough to let me know I’m doing everything right. I squeeze her breasts in my hands, pulling at her nipples as she jams her ass into me to meet my thrusts. As I explode inside her, pressing her tight to my cock, pumping everything I have into her, she slides my hand to her clit, using my fingers to push her over the edge once again.
She catches her breath as I cover her shoulders in soft kisses. I don’t want to let go of this, of us, right now, drunk off of each other, lust melting into that intense love I feel for her every time she’s in the same room as me.
I carry her to the bedroom, wanting nothing more than to spoon up next to her, hug her close, prolong this perfection, the quiet. She wraps her fingers in mine and I feel her breath get deeper as she falls asleep in my arms. I feel myself dozing off, when my phone begins to ring.
I silence it, trying not to disturb her. It’s Red, and although I could probably just ignore him until later, we have all been anxiously awaiting news about Vegas and what it could mean for his career. I want to be here for him to celebrate.
I cover her with a blanket and go into the living room to answer the call.
“Hey, how’d it go?” I ask in a half whisper.
“Are you fucking stupid?” he shouts into the phone.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You gotta be kidding me with the bike lessons. You’re out of your damn mind. You know that’s not safe.”
“She’s not an idiot, Red. She’s fully capable.”
“It’s dangerous. It’s just dumb. She has no reason to be riding.”
“How do you even know she was riding?”
“I saw the pictures she put online. Super smooth move, dick. I see what you’re trying to do here.”
“I’m not trying to do anything. She said she was interested in learning so I started to teach her. We didn’t even leave the road. Don’t get all weird about it.”
“You’re supposed to keep her safe. You’re supposed to protect her.”
“I’m supposed to be the wet blanket and you swoop in and be the fun boyfriend? That’s fucked up. Get over it, Red. She’s fine.”
We aren’t supposed to fight over her. It’s not part of the deal, but right now I realize exactly what he’s been trying to do all along. He’s been trying to stack the odds in his favor. He gets to have all the fun, and I’m just here to clean up the messes.
That’s not how it’s going to be anymore, though.
“Who are you yelling at?” she asks sleepily from the bedroom door.
“I gotta go,” I say.
“Put her on the phone,” he growls. “Right now.”
“You call me back when you get your shit squared away. Unless it’s about your deal, I don’t want to hear from you.” I hang up the phone, and I can tell by the way she’s staring me down, she knows something is up.
“What did he want?” she asks.
“Don’t worry about it, Ollie. It’s not your concern.” As much as I want to tell her what a jerk he’s being, I’m not going to do that. I’m a better man, I’m an adult, and I’m not trying to fight with my best friend from across the country. I hear her phone ringing from the countertop, and realize that he, however, is.
“Should I answer it?” she asks, knowing exactly who it is.
I shrug. “Go ahead.”
“You guys are fighting,” she says, looking up at me with sadness in her eyes. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Never,” I promise her. “There’s nothing you can do to make us fight.”
“Should I answer it?”
“You probably should.” I figure maybe he’ll just out himself as an asshole and I won’t have to say a word.
“Hey,” she says into the phone cautiously. “Oh my God, that’s great, Red. I’m so proud of you!”
They talk for a little bit and it doesn’t sound like anything out of the ordinary. When she brings up the topic of her bike experience, I see her face go from gorgeous to furious in the matter of a second.
“I don’t need you to tell me what I can and can’t do, Red!” she yells. “I’ve been living my life just fine on my own.” There’s some more yelling, a lot of swearing, and by the time she hangs up, she’s pacing around the living room in circles, her hands shaking and her face bright red. She throws her phone on the ground and groans.
“He’s nuts!” she shouts. “Absolutely out of h
is damn mind.”
I could’ve told her that a long time ago. Sure, he’s my best friend, and most of the time his goofiness is charming, but when it involves him not getting his own way, he makes it his personal mission to make everyone around him as miserable as he is. True colors and all that shit.
“I’m sorry,” she says, cupping her head in her hands. “I know that’s your friend. I shouldn’t be doing this in front of you.”
I follow her back into the bedroom and watch her as she gets dressed.
“What are you doing?” I ask. She grabs her purse from the hook on the wall and slips on a pair of flip-flops.
“I’m going to Esther’s.”
“Just like that? You don’t have to go. You can stay here. You can talk to me, it’s ok, Ollie. I get it. I know how he can be.”
The flash of anger in her eye shows me this is not going in my favor whatsoever.
“We’re not playing that game, Tank. I’m not getting in between you two, and I’m not ganging up on him with you. I just need to go talk to my girlfriend and blow off some steam.”
She pecks me on the lips and I don’t know what else to do but roll my eyes.
“You just expect me to wait around here until you feel like coming back?”
“No,” she says, slipping out the front door and shutting it behind her.
That didn’t go at all how I expected it to, or how I wanted it to. What started out as one of the best days is now just one of those irritating ones. The door swings back open and she looks at me and smiles.
“Hey, I love you,” she says, before slamming the door again.
I guess I got that going for me. I guess it’s not even about me, even though I’m the one getting punished for this dumbass doing dumbass things.
