Something For The Pain

by Victoria Ashley

  By the time I get to the rec room, Alex is standing up beside the huge weight bench, wiping sweat from his face. My eyes trail down, following the beads of sweat dripping down his heaving chest, wetting the front of his tight briefs. My breath catches in my throat as I notice the shape of his dick moving beneath the fabric with the rhythm of his heavy breathing.

  He notices me standing here and smiles as he pulls the towel away. “I’m getting in the shower now. Am I holding you up?”

  I watch as every muscle in his body flexes to his movements as he reaches up to dry his hair with the towel. Shaking my head, I respond. “No. I was just making sure you were about to jump in the shower. I only have two hours before I need to leave for the bar.”

  He tosses his towel aside and walks over to me, throwing me over his sweaty shoulder. He walks us out of the room, down the hall, and sets me down at the bottom of the steps. “Well then, we better hurry up.” He turns around to walk away and my eyes land directly on his firm ass. “Meet me by my truck in twenty minutes.”

  Mmm. . . . so perfect. Too perfect . . .

  “Alright.” I jog up the stairs and quickly strip myself in my room before closing myself into the bathroom and turning on the shower water. I shake my head, trying to clear it. Living with Alex is just too damn much.

  I’m going to be in a world of trouble with this boy . . .

  TWENTY MINUTES LATER, I’M FOLLOWING Alex outside and to his truck. He opens the door for me and grips the back of my thighs, boosting me into the seat. “Hold on, Firecracker.” He winks and shuts the door, before jogging around the truck and to the driver’s side.

  Turning to me, he notices that my seatbelt isn’t on, so he reaches over and secures it before slamming his door shut and buckling his own. “You know . . . I think I can manage to put on my own seatbelt.”

  He laughs while turning the key in the ignition and shifting the truck into reverse. He turns to me. “Nah, you definitely can’t handle that.” He starts backing out of the driveway while still talking. “Don’t think that I haven’t taken notes of the times I’ve seen you driving without a seatbelt. That shit won’t happen on my watch, Tripp.”

  Turning red, I look away, embarrassed. I sometimes forget when I’m in a hurry, but I hadn’t thought that anyone else noticed. That’s just another reason that Alex will feel the need to take care of me now. I hate making him feel that way.

  “I’ll make sure I buckle up every time I get in a vehicle, okay?” I turn back to him as he concentrates on the road. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

  “I try not to,” he mumbles. “But I find it hard as shit.”

  I know that feeling well, because I feel the same way about him.

  When we arrive at Tara’s, me and Alex jump out at the exact same time and meet at the front of his truck. He places his hand on my lower back as we walk to the door.

  Tara is standing by the TV on her tippy toes, attempting to hang a picture when she notices our entry. “Tripp.” She inches a little higher, still struggling to get it hung. “Glad you’re here. How about some help?”

  I hear Alex chuckle before walking up behind her and helping her hang it and straighten it. “Good thing she brought a man along,” Alex says.

  Tara turns around and greets Alex with a warm smile. “And I was starting to miss this man.” She squeezes his arm teasingly. “These muscles come in handy.”

  Alex flashes me his dimpled smile. “Told you,” he says in a cocky tone.

  I throw my arms up. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You win. Apparently everyone misses you when you’re away.”

  Laughing, Tara walks over to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Jealous much? Don’t worry . . .” She pinches my cheek. “I missed you too.” She turns away and whispers to Alex. “Not as much as I missed you though.”

  Nudging her with my arm, I move past her and make my way into the kitchen. “Did you make my favorite brownies? I need a stash for work today.”

  I start looking through her cupboards, not finding what I’m in search of. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see Tara open the oven and pull out something wrapped in foil.

  “Oh calm down. You know I always have some ready for you when you ask.” She tosses the brownies to me and reaches to pour herself a glass of wine. “You’re just lucky I was in the baking mood last night and that I was bored out of my mind.”

  Tara was only twenty when my parents disappeared, leaving her to watch over me. She wasted all of her young adult life raising me as her own and I can never be more thankful to her. I owe her so much. She just turned thirty-three a few weeks ago, but she doesn’t act a day over my age. I guess she’s making up now for all her lost years.

  Not even two seconds after Alex walks into the kitchen, Whisper—the cat that Alex gave me when I was fifteen—runs up to Alex’s leg and digs her claws in, asking to be picked up.

  I swear that cat is in love with him. Even though I raised her, she always clings onto Alex whenever he’s around. I find it to be adorable and sickening at the same time.

  Without hesitation, Alex picks Whisper up, burying his face into her fluffy, white fur while rubbing under her chin. “Hey girl. You missed me too, huh?”

  I roll my eyes, but laugh to myself. I love seeing Alex so happy and full of love. He’s in a much better place than he was over six months ago, before his brother Memphis returned. I wouldn’t trade seeing Alex happy for anything else in the world. He deserves it more than anyone.

  He’s been through more pain and suffering than anyone I know and he’s still open to happiness, always thinking of others first. I, on the other hand, get abandoned by my parents and can’t even manage to let anyone in. Well, besides Tara and Alex. Trusting just doesn’t come easy to me. That’s why Lucas and I have the arrangement that we do.

  It’s worked well so far . . . I guess we’ll see if we can make it past this year mark.

  “How’s the living arrangements working out,” Tara asks while sipping on her wine. “Must be nice living with two guys. I really need to find myself one of those.”

  I laugh while shoving the brownies into my purse. “It’s fine. Too bad you missed our party last night. There were plenty of hot guys there. You just need to get out more.”

  “Had to work. I always have to work. It doesn’t leave me much time to go looking for dates at a party.” She turns to Alex. “Don’t you have an older brother or something?”

  Alex gives her a little smile. “You’re a little late on that. He’s taken now.”

  “Well shit.” Tara refills her wine glass. “Oh well. I’ll find me a hunk sooner or later. I get a vacation in a few weeks. Maybe you two can hook me up.” She raises an eyebrow. “As long as he’s over the age of twenty-five and looks half as good as Alex, I’ll be happy. Oh and he has to have a job too. I won’t be anyone’s sugar mama.”

  Alex flashes his dimples, but doesn’t say a word while he pets Whisper.

  “I’ll get right on that.” I tease.

  We hang out with Tara for the next hour, talking and having a good time before saying our goodbyes and heading back to the house.

  I have to be at work in less than twenty minutes now, so I need to be able to grab my apron and throw my hair up.

  Alex stops at the bottom of the staircase, yelling up at me as I dash into my room. “I’m going to be at the parlor until around six. How about I just drop you off and then I can meet you at Dax’s when I get off?”

  Dax is the newest bar here in Crooked Creek. It opened up about four months ago and Dax, the owner, asked me if I wanted to start out as a cocktail waitress and work my way up to bartending. It seemed like a fun time, so I said yes. I love getting to interact with the customers, and just have a good time so it seemed perfect.

  “Yeah, sure.” I scream down to him while tossing my hair into a loose bun. “I’ll meet you at your truck in five. I just need to find my . . .”

  I look up at my doorway from shuffling through the pile of clothes o
n my floor, to see Alex holding my apron. “This? I saw it laying in the bathroom last night, so I threw it in the washer with my clothes this morning.” He tilts his head to the side. “Let’s go. My truck’s running and ready to go.”

  Grateful, I jump back to my feet and grab my apron out of his hand. “Always thinking ahead. You’re too damn good to be true, Alex.” I throw an arm around his neck, in a quick hug, before jogging down the stairs. I need to be at the bar in time to do all of the opening procedures and we’re really starting to push for time. The night waitresses never leave the station stocked, so I end up spending most of the time refilling sauces and crap.

  I beat Alex out to his truck and quickly hop in, buckling my seatbelt before Alex can say anything. He hops in about two seconds behind me and quickly backs out of the driveway.

  He groans when we pull up at the bar to see Dax leaning against his black Mercedes, most likely waiting on me. “What a fucking douche.”

  “He’s not that bad, Alex.” I lean over and plant a quick kiss on Alex’s cheek. “I’ll see you later. Stop worrying about Dax, and thanks for the ride.”

  I hop out and slam the door, right as Alex mumbles bye back. He waits until Dax and I are walking in the door before taking off and heading to the tattoo shop.

  Overprotective much?

  Dax raises an eyebrow, while flipping on the light switches. “I guess your boyfriend is worried I’ll make a move on you?”

  I shake my head and walk past him. “We’ve already had this discussion. He’s not my boyfriend.” I laugh and set my purse down. “But yes. He probably thinks you’re going to make a move. He’s just really protective of me, and for some reason . . . he doesn’t like you.”

  “Yeah, well if you ask me, he might as well be your boyfriend.” He opens the door to his office and stops to look back at me. “He already acts like it anyways. And by the way . . . if I knew that you wanted me to, I would.”

  “Good to know.” I tease. “You would know if I wanted it, but I’m good.”

  “Alright. Just pointing it out,” he says teasingly. “Let’s get things ready and fast. I have a feeling that we’ll have an early rush today.”

  Without another word he disappears into his office, leaving me to set up the waitress station.

  My boyfriend. Alex as my boyfriend.

  My heart skips a beat at the thought.

  If only it were that easy . . .

  I’M SITTING IN MY ROOM at the shop, cleaning off my equipment, when I hear someone clear their throat from the doorway. It doesn’t even take me looking to know who it is. I’ve heard that annoying sound for far too many years of my life.

  I smile from my seat, but don’t bother looking up. “Memphis . . . what’s up, big bro? Miss me already?”

  I hear his footsteps as he enters the room, stopping behind me. “Fuck no.” He squeezes my shoulder, causing me to look up from my cleaning. “Lyric is busy at the studio, so she asked me to stop in and check on you.”

  I can’t help but to grin. “So she misses me . . . is what you’re getting at?”

  He slaps me on the back of the head before taking a seat in the other chair. “Surprisingly so.” He flashes me a smile, before getting serious. “I suppose I do too. It’s going to take a while before I can trust that you won’t just fucking take off somewhere.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, man. Chill.”

  It’s silent for a few moments as I finish putting my things away, before Memphis speaks again. “You been staying away from the alley?”

  Standing up, I look down at him while leaning against the table. “I’ve stopped in to watch a couple fights. That’s it. Nothing big.” I nod my head toward the door, letting Memphis know that I’m ready to get going. It’s been a long, stressful day, and all I can think about is relaxing with a nice, cold beer.

  He stands up and follows me to the door. “Have you been to any of Trevor’s fights?”

  “Yeah. I caught the end of one a couple nights ago. He’s getting pretty damn good. Won by KO.”

  “Yeah,” Memphis says. “Maybe we’ll have to stop by one night and watch a few fights for old time sakes. As long as we’re both on the outside of that ring, that’s all that matters to me. We don’t belong there anymore. Don’t forget that.”

  I nod my head while locking my door behind us. It’s been over six months since either of us has been in a ring. I’m not trying to go back to that shit.

  I slap the front desk. “I’m out, Styles.”

  Without looking up, Styles mumbles something as we walk past and outside.

  Memphis turns to me and grips my shoulder. “I’ll tell Lyric that you’re doing fine and that you’re just as annoying as ever.”

  “That’s my best quality, brother.” I walk backwards, giving Memphis the middle finger with both hands, before jumping into my truck and starting the engine.

  He stands there and watches me the whole time that I back out and pull off.

  He’s exactly who I got my protective nature from, and just like me . . . he never backs down.

  I pull up at Dax’s a little earlier than expected. Tripp still has about thirty minutes left before she gets off, but I decided to just show up early and kick back with a few beers while waiting. I could use a little unwinding before heading back to the house and seeing her and Lucas together.

  The bar is pretty packed when I walk in, but I easily spot Tripp over at one of the tables close to the bar. It’s a pretty full table, so not wanting to add to her pressure I make my way up to the bar to order a beer. I smirk at Harley as she looks up at me from wiping down the sticky mess in front of her.

  “Harley. Just the girl I’m looking for.”

  Harley smiles from ear to ear and her face instantly turns red. Of course she knows that I know. Ace can’t keep his mouth shut for crap. “Don’t even say it, Carter.” She points at me as she reaches below her for a beer, already knowing what I’m after.

  I shrug my shoulders, trying to hide my grin. “I wasn’t going to say shit about you and Ace fucking. I promise.” I laugh and she tosses the beer cap at me, hitting me on the nose.

  “Alex! I want to strangle you sometimes.” She leans over the bar, suddenly interested, looking around to see if anyone’s listening. “Tell me what he said. Don’t leave anything out or I’ll choke you.”

  Standing up, I grab the bottle of beer and lift it up, chuckling under my breath. I love screwing with her. “Cheers, Harley. I’ll see you later.” I walk backwards, smiling while tilting back my beer.

  “You dick!” Harley shakes her head while giving me the evil eye. “I’ll get it out of Tripp. Trust me.”

  Tripp appears beside me out of nowhere, so I wrap my arm around her neck and pull her to me. “No you won’t. Tripp doesn’t tell anything that I ask her not to.”

  Harley bites her bottom lip in annoyance. “True . . . and I hate you for that.” She slaps her towel down onto the bar before crossing her arms. “Dammit! Fucking men! What are they good for?” She tilts her head in thought. “Oh yeah. Well double damn.”

  Turning around, I pull Tripp with me as I find an empty seat away from all the noise and Harley’s man-hating ass right now. “Hey, babe.” I kiss her forehead before sliding into a booth. “How’s work?”

  She rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated breath. “Oh you know . . . busy as shit. And for some reason, Dax has only me on the schedule for another thirty minutes.” She holds up three fingers. “Then he has three girls coming in. He expects me to hold the joint down by myself, but can schedule three girls for the late shift. He’s lucky he left over two hours ago or I’d be choking him in a corner somewhere.”

  Getting lost in how damn cute she looks when she’s mad, I let my teasing come out, unable to stop myself. I might just get punched for this, but it’s always well worth it. “I’d let you choke me in the corner. Anytime and anywhere.” I take a swig of my beer, before setting it down. “As long as it involves rough, dirty sex afterwards.�
��

  Her face flushes red, but she doesn’t say anything, because some people from a few tables over start yelling her name annoyingly, trying to get her attention. “You’re so damn lucky, slick.” She pinches my nipple, hard, and then walks away, leaving me with a near hard-on.

  She’s lucky, because if she did that when we were alone, then I’d have a really hard time not bending her over and fucking her. Best friend or not.

  I’m trying to keep my thoughts in check, but I can’t when she does things like that to me.

  I’m sitting alone for about five minutes, just enjoying my beer, when a petite blonde scoots into the booth across from me. She’s cute, but I’m not interested in more than a short conversation. My head is somewhere else.

  She holds out her hand and smiles. “Mandy.”

  Flashing her my dimples, I reach for her hand and shake it in mine. “Alex.” I nod down at her drink when I notice that it’s close to empty. “Let me buy you another drink.”

  Tripp walks past just as I’m about to get up and go to the bar, so I grab her wrist to stop her. She looks down at me about to say something, but stops when she notices the blonde sitting across from me. She stiffens for a second, before clearing her throat and smiling. “Hey.”

  “Mandy . . . this is my good friend, Tripp. She’s also the sexiest waitress I’ve ever seen.” I wink at Tripp with a smile, hoping to ease the tension.

  Mandy flashes a small smile before reaching for her hand and shaking it. “Nice to meet you, Tripp. My name is Mandy.”

  “Mandy.” She nods her head. “Let me get you two some new drinks. What will it be?”

  I grip Tripp’s waist and squeeze it. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll just go up to the bar.”

  Tripp looks down at me and pinches my arm. “Why are you so stubborn? This is my job, Alex. I can manage to get you some drinks.”

  Before I can say anything, Mandy holds up her glass, interrupting us. “A Vodka and lemonade will be good.”