“You can either do it yourself, or I’ll be forced to take a page out of Logan’s book and do it for you.”
I cringe as I look over at the beast of a dirt bike. I mean, the thing looks scary as hell. “Are you sure? I mean, I’m fine just sitting here and watching.”
“Nope, sorry, Gigi. You’re going to learn to ride a dirt bike today, whether you like it or not.”
“Damn it,” I groan as I get up.
I stand next to the stupid dirt bike and find it’s practically bigger than me. Sean joins me and starts going over all the basic thing I’ll need to know. “Can you drive a stick?” he questions as I get completely confused by his explanation.
“No,” I grin.
“Well, that explains a lot,” he teases before explaining what a clutch is and why I need one.
“I think I’ve got it,” I tell him after his third explanation of the gears.
“Alright, get on,” he says as he holds the dirt bike still. I do my best to climb on the damn thing and have to hold onto his shoulder for balance as my toes can hardly reach the ground. I’m momentarily distracted by how big and strong his shoulders are before pulling myself back to the daunting task I’m being forced into.
“Is this safe?” I question.
“Probably not,” he grins before kickstarting the dirt bike.
“Holy shit,” I curse as the nerves take over me. The bike roars to life under me and I feel the vibration right through the seat. Wowza. That, I was not expecting.
“Ok, remember, slowly release the clutch and give it a little go,” he instructs.
I concentrate as hard as possible before releasing the clutch and hitting the accelerator. The dirt bike instantly jolts forward before stalling. “Shit,” I screech as I grip onto the handlebars for dear life.
“You’re fine,” Sean laughs as he quickly grabs the dirt bike to stop me from falling to my death. “You just released the clutch too fast,” he says before starting it up again. “Give it another try.”
I try my hardest, ignoring the vibration under my lady taco and concentrate on the stupid clutch. I slowly release it and somehow manage to coordinate myself enough to twist the accelerator. The bike pushes forward and I find myself completely on my own, so I keep it slow.
Shit. I’m riding a fucking dirt bike. My hands clench down on the handlebars, scared for my life as I try to navigate through the grass and dodge the rocks as well. I look up ahead and see the stupid muddy puddle and instantly freak out. I’m not ready for that shit.
I try to turn to avoid it, but it’s too late, I go straight through but with my speed so slow, the bike slides through it, throwing me completely off balance. I lose control of the dirt bike and end up tipping to the side. I have to throw myself off to avoid it coming down and crushing my leg.
I look up and find Sean running towards me. “Are you ok?” he questions before helping me up and checking me over.
“Yeah, I think so,” I tell him, holding up my hands to show him my palms. “Just a few scratches.”
“Shit,” he curses. “I brought you here to try and thank you, not to kill you.”
“Don’t stress, I’m fine. I’m actually having a really good time,” I tell him as he picks his dirt bike up off the ground. “Sorry,” I say, indicating to the muddied bike. “I hope I didn’t scratch it.”
“Don’t worry,” he smirks. “This dirt bike has seen worse falls than that.” He kickstarts it again and indicates for me to get back on. “Are you going to give it another try?”
I cringe and really don’t want to, but at the same time, I don’t want to be perceived as a pussy. “Ok,” I sigh as I throw a leg over and get comfortable. I grab hold of the handlebars and gasp in pain as I give them a squeeze.
“What’s wrong?” he asks as I pull my hands back.
I flip them over and study the scratches on my palms. “They sting when I squeeze,” I tell him.
“Shit,” he sighs before pressing his lips together as if he’s deep in thought. “Move forward.” My eyebrows furrow but I do as I’m told before mentally freaking out as he climbs on the dirt bike behind me.
Oh, my.
His chest pushes up against my back and my ass is practically squished against his junk. Oh, God, what I wouldn’t give to be in my birthday suit right now.
He reaches around me to grasp the handlebars and the strangest feeling flutters through me, one that feels positively magical. “Hold on,” he murmurs with his breath tickling the skin of my neck and sending goosebumps all over my skin.
Before I can get a hold of my emotions, the dirt bike shoots forward and I scream out as my hands launch forward to grip the handlebars. I suddenly don’t care about the stinging in my hands or the feel of his strong body pressed up against mine as I’m positive I’m about to die. I focus on the sound of Sean’s chuckles to keep from thinking about my imminent death, even though, I’m well aware that his chuckles only exist out of my fear.
He zooms past his family and down the dirt road that quickly disappears into the grass. “Relax,” he tells me. “I won’t let you get hurt.”
His words instantly soothe me and I relax my body against him, taking absolute pleasure in it as I let out a slow breath. Instead of freaking out, I take in my surrounding and find myself in awe. The place is beautiful, well, it’s a bit rough around the edges, but beautiful nonetheless.
He drives around for about ten minutes, showing me the land before pointing out a small creek that runs right through the center of the land. He brings the dirt bike to a stop beside it and climbs off before helping me down.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” I tell him as I take it all in and listen to the sound of the running water. I step right up to the creek and look down into the crystal clear water to see the pebbles beneath. “Wow, it’s kind of beautiful.”
I bend down and stick my hand in the freezing water to scoop out a perfectly smooth pebble. I straighten out to find Sean right by my side and wonder if this is classified as a date yet.
“I kind of like it here,” he tells me as I rub the pebble between my fingers. “We actually had no idea the creek was here the first few times we came but once we found it, I find myself coming down here every time.”
Holy cow. I don’t even know how to respond to that, but I don’t really care, I could die a happy woman just listening to him talk. “It’s very peaceful down here,” I muse.
“Exactly.”
I feel there’s more to the story about why he comes down here, but I don’t want to pry. “So, um, I have something to tell you,” I say surprising myself with the set of steel balls I just happened to grow.
He looks at me curiously, clearly wondering what the hell I could possibly have to tell him when we were perfect strangers not five hours ago. “And what’s that?” he questions, keeping his eyes on mine.
“I, ah… shit, this is embarrassing,” I cringe. His curiosity quickly turns into interest and I search around for the balls of steel that I must have dropped somewhere.
“Go on,” he encourages.
Shit, rip it off like a Band-Aid. “So, last Friday night,” I start before cringing again. “I sort of found you on Tinder and swiped right on you.”
Booming laughter instantly rips out of his body as the embarrassment completely overtakes me. “I knew I recognized you,” he grins. “Fuck, that’s so funny.”
Well…. I certainly don’t think it’s that funny.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and dread takes over me. I start shaking my head. “No, no, please don’t,” I practically beg but there’s no stopping him.
He finds his Tinder app and brings up my profile. “There you are,” he laughs, turning his phone to point me out.
I narrow my eyes and cross my arms over my chest, waiting for his laughter to run its course. “You done mocking me yet?”
“Not quite, but I’ll stop,” he grins as he drops his phone back into his pocket. “Why didn’t you say something in the hospi
tal?”
I give him a blank look, I mean, isn’t it obvious. “I was embarrassed,” I admit.
“Why?” he questions. “Because I didn’t swipe you back?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Don’t be. Logan put the app on my phone, I had no intention of using it,” he explains, “but I’m flattered,” he adds with a wink that melts my panties right off my body.
I resist the urge to groan. Seriously? Would it have killed him to confirm if he would have actually matched with me or not? Now I’m left wondering.
He looks down at me with a smile that quickly becomes a little more serious as his eyes become hooded and travel down to my lips. Oh, please, God, take that little step to close the distance and kiss me.
If I was a brave woman like Mel, I would do it myself, I’d throw my body into his and crush our lips together.
He starts to lean and I find myself holding my breath, only he doesn’t come any further. His eyes flick away and his lips pull into a tight line. “We should go,” he says, crushing all my hopes and dreams. “Georgie worries when I’m gone.”
I try to school my features and pretend like I’m not dying inside.
“Oh, sure,” I say.
So. Fucking. Close.
I walk back over to the dirt bike while pocketing the smooth, white rock and climb on the death machine, wondering what it is about me that repulses men. With disappointment heavy in my heart, Sean throws his leg over to straddle the dirt bike before kickstarting it. He gets comfortable behind me and takes off at the speed of light, both of us in a very awkward silence.
We get back to the rest of his family and I hop off the dirt bike. I walk over to where the kids are playing on the ground and feel someone watching me. I look up to find Tom’s eyes flicking between me and Sean in distaste, making me wonder what the hell it is that I did to make him not like me.
I join the kids on the ground and enjoy watching them play while everyone else sits around laughing and enjoying their afternoon in the Denver sunshine. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I find a text from Mel.
Mel – Have you been thoroughly fucked yet?
I roll my eyes but I’m not really feeling it right now, usually, she’d have me in stitches but right now, all I can think about is the almost kiss.
Gigi – I got my action from the drt bike between my legs.
Mel – Shit, that bad?
Gigi – Yeah, it’s not going great.
Georgie grabs my attention and I discard my phone to give the little angel whatever it is she desires.
Twenty minutes later, Sean comes and bends down to speak to Georgie. “Daddy is going for a ride with the boys, okay,” he informs her.
“Okay, daddy,” she says.
“Be a good girl.”
She ignores his comments and continues on with her game and I have to grin at the scowl she manages to put on her father’s face.
With the boys gone, I grab my phone off the floor and join the girls. “So,” Elle smiles the second the boys disappear out of sight, making me realize I’m about to be drilled. “Is something going on between you two?”
“I don’t know,” I sigh, honestly. “I don’t think he’s interested.”
“No?” Cassie questions.
“Nope,” I confirm.
“How do you feel?”
A smile comes to my lips and my answer is given away before I’ve said a single word. “I’m not going to lie, I feel something there but I don’t really know him well enough to make up my mind.”
“He’s a great guy,” Cassie says, making both Elle and Bri agree eagerly.
“Yeah, I see that,” I sigh as I hit the home button for my phone to check the time, only I’m not looking at my phone. It’s Sean’s. My eyes widen as I take in his wallpaper picture of himself wrapped around a blonde woman on their wedding day.
I’m a fucking fool. How could I fall for this shit? The guy is married and I’m here acting like a love sick puppy and completely embarrassing myself. What am I doing? I need to get out of here.
I get up and quickly search around for my phone and find it right where I was sitting before and realize that Sean’s phone must have fallen out of his pocket when he was talking to Georgie. I’d picked up the wrong one.
I turn back to the girls with a cringe and pull out my acting skills. “I’m so sorry,” I say. “I’d hate to do this to you guys but would it be possible for someone to give me a lift back to my apartment? There’s an emergency at home.”
“Oh, of course,” Cassie says, jumping to her feet. “Is everything alright?”
“I don’t know,” I cringe, feeling like a backstabbing bitch lying to the nicest girls I’ve met in a long time. “My roommate just said I need to get home.”
“Ok, sure,” she says before turning to Elle and Brianna. “Can you guys watch Max? I should only be a half hour.”
“No problem,” Brianna says.
Cassie and I pile into Jax’s truck and she turns to me with a grin. “I know this is a bad situation for you, but I’ve been desperate for an excuse to drive this truck.”
“I’m glad I could be of service,” I smile.
With a wicked grin, she starts it up and gets me out of there. Fifteen minutes later, I direct her to my apartment and she brings the truck to a stop. “Hope everything’s okay in there, let us know if there’s anything we can do.”
“Thanks Cassie. I’ve had a great day, you have an amazing family,” I tell her.
She gives me a proud smile and I step back to close the door. She waves to me through the window before taking off.
I let out a sigh, finally able to show my disappointment. I trudge up to my apartment and push my way through the door. Mel is sitting on the floor with her iPad before her and her makeup kit scattered around. She looks up at me and I see the question in her eyes.
I jut out my bottom lip. “He’s married,” I almost cry.
“Oh, hun,” she sighs, knowing just how hard this one has hit me. “Go get your makeup, I’m just about to hit play on a winged eyeliner tutorial.”
“Ok,” I sigh. I go about the house, taking my sweet ass time and return to the living room to find a glass of wine right beside me and the bottle in the center of the table, ready and waiting to be emptied.
“Thanks,” I tell Mel.
“Don’t worry about it, there’ll be others out there.”
I give her a tight smile before turning to her iPad, ready to master the winged eyeliner.
Half an hour later, Mel and I look like the worst kind of raccoons. I mean, no one tells you just how hard this shit is. I guess it’s going to be plain old mascara and eye shadow for me.
A text comes through on my phone, vibrating loudly on the table and scaring the shit out of both of us. I grab my phone and open the text.
Sean – Cassie said you had an emergency. I hope everything’s okay. Thanks for coming today.
With a sigh, I hit delete on the message. I will not allow myself to be played again.
Chapter 9
Sean
I trudge up the stairs with an exhausted Georgie slumped over my shoulder. It was a massive day for her after all the riding, the running around, the games with her cousins and uncles, not to mention, she insisted on helping me wash her ATV before bailing when it was time to do my dirt bike.
I lay her down in her bed and flick on the baby monitor before kissing her forehead and heading back downstairs. I grab two beers out of the fridge and hand one to Tom before falling down into the opposite couch.
Tom watches me with curiosity but doesn’t say a word, and it’s absolutely killing me. “Dude, what the fuck?” I question.
His lips pull into a thin line and I can see him debating with himself if he actually wants to ask me whatever the fuck is on his mind. With a breath, he lets me have it. “What’s the deal with this chick?”
“Which chick? You mean Gigi?” I ask.
“Yeah, her,” he grunts. “Is there something
going on between you two?”
“No,” I laugh at his ridiculous line of questioning. “Logan invited her out so we could thank her. I told you what she did for Georgie, right?”
He nods. “So, there’s nothing going on then?”
“Nope,” I lie, knowing that after a lifetime of friendship he can see right through me.
“Dude,” he grunts, “You doubled with her on your bike, you disappeared for half an hour, you looked like someone kicked your fucking dog when she left, and then you watched your phone all afternoon, hoping she’d text you back.”
“It’s not like that,” I defend.
“That’s fucking bullshit,” he says, “Then what’s it like?”
“I don’t know, she’s a cool chick.” I shrug.
“Really?” he questions, not buying my casual attitude about it.
“Really,” I confirm. “She’s just… I don’t know, she’s cool, a breath of fresh air.”
“Ok,” he scoffs, giving in and leaning back into the couch. Tom was great friends with Sara, they loved each other like siblings, so it’s damn clear where all this bullshit is coming from.
I lean forward and rest my elbows on my knees. “Relax, alright. Yes, I think Gigi is pretty cool. Yes, I might be attracted to her, and yes, she’s the first girl to make me smile in a long time, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about Sara. I’m not replacing her and I never will.”
“Better not,” he grunts under his breath.
“Look,” I say, deciding it’s best to be up front with him. “Logan’s been talking about me starting to date again and I think it’s not such a bad idea.”
A scowl instantly settles onto Tom’s face and I hate that I’ve put it there. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” he says with a shake of his head, clearly making his opinion of the matter well known. “So, because Logan thinks it’s a good idea, you’re just going to go along with it?”
“Don’t give me that shit,” I snap. “This isn’t fucking easy for me. Sara was my wife, the only woman I’ve ever loved and now she’s gone. I’ve been a shell of the man I used to be since the second she passed, don’t you think it’s time for me to start living again?”
Sean: Denver Royalty (Book 3) Page 6
