by A. J. Downey
“You want to talk about this!?” I shrieked.
“God fuck you, you fucking jerk!” the girl pulled on a tight fitting red top and grabbed up her panties and her purse from the coffee table. “I’m out of here.” She muttered and I closed my eyes.
“God, yes, please… get out.” I said, swallowing hard to keep my gorge from rising.
She made a derisive noise.
“Shit maybe if you were a better lay he wouldn’t have had to come to me.” Was her parting shot as she brushed past me and went out the door. I crumbled a little on the inside but I would be damned if I would let it show.
“Seriously Jerry!?” I demanded. He leveled me with his unremarkable brown eyes and ran a hand through his sex mussed dark hair. I closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see him standing there shirtless and barefoot but closing my eyes just brought the image of the woman with the long dark hair riding him on my couch. I shuddered in revulsion.
I so needed to get tested.
“Babe it’s not like that, I was weak I mean, she has a point, I have needs and it’s not exactly like you’ve been there to meet them.” Cold laughter filled the small apartment and I realized it was pouring out of me. I snapped my mouth shut.
“For the last two or three years I’ve been getting up at three o’clock in the morning to go to work Jerry! To keep us in this shitty apartment, when I’m not working my ass off to make ends meet, I’m in school! I’m fucking tired and it’s not like you do anything to make it better! You sit on your ass playing video games and live off your daddy’s money! So excuse me if after putting in sixteen hour days for weeks on end my fucking panties won’t drop for your half assed notion of foreplay!” I crossed my arms more to hold myself together, hold myself in, than anything. I felt blasted apart, angry, hurt and exhausted like a piece of rope frayed to its last string and that last string was at its limit.
I stared across the small space at the man I’d loved since high school and wondered when and where it all went wrong.
This was easily the worst day of my life so far.
Chapter 2
Dray…
I watched Everett Moran slide behind the glass door and take the stairs to her apartment two at a time like she couldn’t get away from me fast enough and felt myself frown. She was the kind of pretty I could get used to looking at despite the drowned rat look she was sporting right that second. Long, light brown hair with golden highlights braided over her shoulder, the end curling tantalizingly over her full breasts. Wide steel blue eyes and a lush mouth… Shit, the girl was hot!
I’d fully expected her to be gone by the time I’d closed up shop and the rain had really started. It had surprised the Hell out of me seeing her standing there soaked to the skin by the time I’d gotten out and fired up Sadie. I racked my neck back and forth to pop it and listened to and felt a satisfying crunch in either direction. She’d gotten nervous and tense all of a sudden and I’d caught her eyes roving my jacket and cut.
Wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know any better. A lot of people look and see biker and it’s like their brains shut off or something. Once upon a time Sacred Hearts were in among the one percenter’s but that was a long time ago. We were firmly in the top ninety-nine now but you wouldn’t know it by the uniform.
I gave my passenger seat where she’d been sitting a cursory going over and spotted something rectangular, plastic, and electronic looking on the passenger side floor board. The gray case barely standing out against the black carpet and mat. I bent over and picked it up. I slid it apart and my eyebrows went up. A graphing calculator. Hadn’t seen one of these since high school.
I sighed. She’d probably need it for whatever classes she was taking. I couldn’t say I was entirely disappointed that I had a chance to look her over one more time so I shut off my car and ducked out into the downpour. I dashed for the entrance she’d disappeared into.
She was in apartment 2A. I have what they call a photographic memory. The scientific term is eidetic. Once she had shown me her driver’s license it had been all over. Couldn’t forget it if I wanted to. Everett Mary Moran, born November first nineteen ninety-three. Twenty, a little under two years younger than me. I’d turned twenty-two over the summer. Her twenty-first was coming up in just a few weeks. A leggy brunette crashed down the steps and knocked into my shoulder on her way out as I was going in. “Watch it Jerk!” She cried before she dashed down the sidewalk in her stripper shoes. I glared after her and wondered where the fucking fire was at.
I heard it as I headed up the stairs.
“Come off it Evy!” a male voice scoffed. I heard a choked incredulous noise.
“Oh you are not putting this off on me!” Everett shouted, “You’re the one that couldn’t keep your dick in your pants Jerry!”
“And I’m telling you I wouldn’t have to have gone elsewhere if you weren’t such a frigid cunt!” he shouted back. I cleared the doorway, scowling and looked into the small, dilapidated apartment. Everett stood, back to me, arms crossed over her chest, hugging herself, she was dripping onto the carpet and from the looks of where it was saturated hadn’t moved from that spot since she’d gone through the door.
“How long?” she demanded and the cheating bastard smirked at her.
“Long enough.” He said and his voice was haughty.
“You son of a bitch.” Everett whispered and he scowled, took me a second to realize he was scowling at me.
“Who the fuck are you?” he demanded and Everett whirled. Her face was a study in raw naked pain. Tears slid from her too-wide steel blue eyes and she looked like she was ready to fly apart any second. Water dripped from the end of her not quite blonde, not quite brown, braid and tendrils of it stuck to her face and clung to the side of her neck. She was shivering but I couldn’t tell you if it was from shock, the cold, anger or a combination of all three. Our eyes met and I felt my lips thin. Her mouth hung open slightly in surprise and then she closed it and her eyes. Her shoulders dropped slightly in defeat and when her lips parted again it was to say,
“He’s Dray.” Her voice hollow and empty…
He’s Dray.
Not, ‘he’s the mechanic’, or ‘he’s nobody’ or ‘just the guy that gave me a ride home when your punk ass wouldn’t answer the phone’… I don’t know why, but her acknowledgment of my name gave her a few points in my book.
My eyes cut back over to her boyfriend and my lip curled in derision. His dark brown hair was sticking up at every angle and he was shirtless and barefoot, the button on his jeans undone. His narrow chest spoke of a lack of time spent at the gym and in a split second I had his measure.
“You mind? My bitch of a girlfriend and I are trying to have it out over here.” He said and I felt my lips curl into an unfriendly smile. I put some heat and purpose into my gaze.
“Go ahead. Call her a bitch in front of me again. See what happens,” I said tonelessly and I swear the fucker flinched. I was a scary man when I wanted to be. I was shit-your-pants terrifying when I needed to be. I settled somewhere in between for this particular ass clown.
“Dray I’m so sorry you had to see this… What… What can I do for you?” Everett asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“You forgot your calculator, fell out of your bag.” I held it out to her and captured her eyes with my own. They widened, again, too much white around those baby blues for my tastes.
“You want to stay here with this ass clown?” I asked her softly and he choked incredulously and started spouting off. I ignored him and kept her eyes pinned with mine. I could see it all over her face. She was a hurtin’ unit and she didn’t want to stay.
“Are you fucking kidding me Everett!?” he yelled at her when she’d been silent too long.
“Do you even know this guy!?” he railed at her and that snapped her out of our silent exchange. She jerked as if she’d been slapped and turned on him slowly.
“Up until I walked in here and saw that hooker riding your cock on my couch I th
ought I knew you. Turns out I didn’t know a god damned thing!” Her voice was level and low and I smirked at the ass clown. I felt a little thrill of pride at her words.
“Everett.” I said and she turned back to me.
“Go pack your shit. I’ll take you out of here.” I crossed my arms and leaned a shoulder against the door frame and nodded at her to go do what needed doing.
“This is fucking unbelievable.” The douche-du-jour uttered and I hit him with another scary look.
“I’d G-T-F-O if I were you. At least until she’s done.” I said. Everett hadn’t moved yet, he was standing between her and their bedroom. Place was a fucking one bedroom. He crossed his arms and looked smug.
“You’re going to have to come back sometime.” He told her. I took a step into their space and watched as she raised her eyes to meet his, a look of steely determination crossed her face.
“Did you fuck her in our bed?” she asked him and his nasty smile was pretty much all the answer she needed.
“When I get back you need to have your shit out of here.” She said, voice cold.
“Uh you’re forgetting something Baby. My name’s the one on the lease.” He crossed his arms over his narrow chest and had the balls to look smug.
“You’re forgetting something too… I was the one paying the majority of the rent and bills.” She made to go past him and he caught her by the upper arm. She recoiled and I took a step forward. His eyes cut to me and he let her go. She passed him by and I heard her rummaging through her closet and drawers. I saw her fling a suitcase open on their rumpled bed and she started stuffing things into it, a laptop, a photo album, some yearbooks… I sighed. This was going to take a minute and fuck if I knew if Sadie was going to hold it all.
She tossed clothes into the suitcase, zipped it closed and went into the kitchen returning with one of those white garbage bags. The rest of her clothes went into it. She turned to me and tears tracking unhindered down her smooth cheeks said, “Thank you for getting me out of here.” Her eyes swam with gratitude as well as moisture and I nodded and took her suitcase from her. The thing was heavy but not too bad.
She stooped and picked up her back pack which was falling apart, giving it a bit of a boost with her knee like you would when picking up a small kid. She hugged the mess to her chest with the trash bag dangling forlorn from her hand. I stood aside and let her go ahead of me. I followed her down the stairs. I didn’t want him trying anything and if he came after me I could beat the brakes off him and neatly claim self-defense.
I watched Everett’s tense shoulders, her head held high as she went down the stairs in front of me. I wasn’t in the business of taking in strays but what the hell why not? I mean, look how it had turned out for Trigger.
She ducked into the pouring rain and I went out behind her. I opened up Sadie and put the seat forward shoving her shit into the back. She got into the passenger side when I put the seat back down and I got into the driver’s seat. Her boyfriend didn’t even try to come down stairs and stop her or to even argue. Fucking little cock bite. I scowled and fired Sadie up.
“Where can I take you?” I asked her, and she turned wide and frightened eyes to me. Scared, sure, but I didn’t think it was of me, more of the unknown.
“I don’t know, just… just away from here please.” She got onto her phone and was doing something. I scowled and pulled out onto the street. I glanced over and caught her swiping at the tears leaking out of her eyes. She was still soaked to the skin so really she was just smearing the wet into other wet on her face. I felt a twinge of sorry for her.
“Texting a friend or relative?” I asked.
“Transferring money from the checking account he has access to, to the savings account he can’t touch.” She said quietly and my eyebrows went up. Smart girl.
“Where your folks live?” I asked her.
“Mom died giving birth to me, dad passed from a heart attack last year.” She murmured.
“Grandparents?” I asked.
“Dead both sides.” She said.
Shit.
“Who’s your BFF?” I asked her. She looked at me, sky blue eyes clouding with some undefined emotion.
“Can you pull over?” she asked.
“What?” I frowned.
“Pull over!” she cried and I jerked the wheel toward the curb. She jerked on the door handle and stumbled out of the car landing on her knees in the mud and grass between the curb and the sidewalk. She heaved and whatever she’d eaten that day came up.
I totally appreciated that she did not just puke in what I considered my second born. My first being my bike until the day I ever really had children of my own. If I ever had kids of my own. I sat as patiently as I could while she puked and cried and let my thoughts wander in every which direction I could that would keep my mind off of her pitiful heaving. I so did not do puking well, be it from the boys, or pretty lost orphan girls who wandered into my garage.
It was about this time it hit me.
Oh my fucking god what was I doing!?
I sighed and scrubbed my face with my hands. Shit. In for a penny in for a pound, whatever the fuck that even meant. I frowned. My head was all over the map since meeting this chick. I wondered vaguely if Trigger felt half so panicked or confused when he’d picked up his Sunshine girl on the side of the road last March.
My thoughts were wrenched back to the present when she dry heaved loudly a couple of times causing me to wince in sympathy. I opened up the glove box and pulled out my emergency toiletry kit. Had one in here and one on the bike. It held the bare minimum. Travel toothbrush, mini tube of tooth paste, mini thing of mouthwash, those little hotel bottles of shampoo and conditioner and a sliver of a foil wrapped bar of soap.
She was in luck, I’d never actually had an occasion to use this one, but if I had a mouthful of puke going on, I wouldn’t care if the toothbrush had been used by someone or not. Not sure if she held the same principle. Everybody was different when it came to their toothbrush habits. I was trying really damned hard to concentrate on anything other than the sounds of her retching and thankfully, by the time I rounded the front of my car, she seemed to be over it for the most part and was staggering to her feet. I fished out the toothbrush and loaded it with paste.
“Here, never been used. Promise.” She took it from me and stuck it in her mouth, swishing it around. She spit on the ground and I gave her a half smile and a few more points for not being embarrassed about getting the job done. She tilted her head back and opened her mouth wide for some rainfall, swished it around in her mouth and spit again. I uncapped the mouthwash and handed that to her too. She poured a slight mouthful past her lips, swished it and spit.
“Thanks.” She said eying me speculatively.
“Yeah.” I crammed everything back into the little clear vinyl case and zipped it shut. I shrugged and handed it to her.
“Yours now.” I said and she took it with shaking fingers.
“I don’t have any place to go.” She blurted. I’d never been in her position, I never would be with the MC at my back, but I could see where it would take paramount concern over just about anything else she’d be thinking. I gave her a grimacing smile.
“I guess I kind of figured as much when you started puking.” I said and she barked a harsh laugh that was so much bitter broken glass. It almost hurt to hear it come out of her. I grimaced a little harder and smiled a little less. Man no one deserved to be in her position. Nobody.
“Get in the car.” I told her.
“I already told you I don’t have any place to go.” She said steadily.
“Fine.” I said and shrugged. I wanted to help her, but I didn’t really know how to do it gently and fuck, if she didn’t want to go, there wasn’t anything I could do to make her. I got into the car, my hair plastered to my skull and turned on the defrosters full blast to clear the steam from the inside of the windshield. She got in quickly.
“You have my stuff.” She said hollowly. I lo
oked over my shoulder at the meager pile of possessions in my back seat.
“Yeah.” I said and with a check to make sure nothing was coming and pulled back out onto the rural street.
“Um, I guess take me to a hotel?” she said.
Yeah… what had been seen could not be unseen, leastways not by me. She barely had enough to afford the diagnostic I was supposed to do on her car, let alone any repairs that would need to be made for her to live in it. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and huffed out a harsh breath. This was so not my usual M.O. but fuck it…
“Stop worrying about it for right now. I’ve got a spare room at the house.” It was a total lie but my dad was out on a run and she didn’t need to know the particulars. I could at least give her a place tonight, get her dry and let her get her shit straight. She was staring at me unabashedly now.
“Why are you doing this for me?” she asked and it was like her true blue eyes saw right through me so I didn’t try to bullshit her.
“I don’t know.” I said honestly, and truth was I didn’t. The man I was a year ago, hell, of a little more than six months ago, would have been like ‘sucks to be you!’ and would have driven right on by while she stood in the rain waiting for a man that would never show.
I flashed back onto the spring memorial lake run, of Ashton Granger’s wide frightened eyes as I’d forced that kiss on her. On the naked disappointment in my father’s eyes when he’d had to intercede. That’s what killed me. The look on my dad’s face. A man that had always looked on his only son in pride. I’d fucked that up. Dashed it upon the rocks and choked the ever living shit out of it and I’d realized that he was the only parent I had left and fuck, if he was disappointed what would my mom have thought? That had been a turning point and a half for me.
“Uh Dray?” Everett’s husky voice interrupted my thought pattern and I glanced at her.
