Pipe

by Winter Travers

  “Well, you’re right on the first part. You really did fuck up.”

  Great, Nikki had told her too what had happened. “Look, in my defense, I had no idea what the hell I was doing.”

  “So you did the typical male thing and decided to sleep with whatever slut tried to throw themselves at you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “I don’t know what the heck you are doing here, but I can tell you right now, Nikki is my friend, and I have no plans to go behind her back for you.”

  “I don’t want you to go behind her back.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “So Nikki knows you are here talking to me?”

  “No, I thought she could find out when she actually learns I moved here.”

  Alice tossed her hands in the air and stood up. “Oh, hell no. She doesn’t even know you are here?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. I got into town yesterday, and she didn’t get off of work until late last night.”

  “So why didn’t you go over there this morning?”

  “Because I may have only spent one night with Nikki, but I know she doesn’t do anything ‘til after nine in the morning.”

  Alice scoffed. “If that ain’t the truth. She always sticks Bev and me with the early mornings. Although I don’t really like working the night shift, so I’m good with that.”

  “I just came in here to let you know I’m here, and I have no plans of leaving unless Nikki is with me.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at me. “And why the hell do you think I should believe that? You tossed her aside like she was nothing back in Weston. I really doubt you’ve had that big of a change of heart in a month.”

  “Look, I’m not going to explain this to you before I even talk to Nikki, but just know I’m not going anywhere. I don’t need you on my side, but I just wanted you to know and hope you won’t bash me too hard when Nikki tells you I’m here.”

  “I’m the friend. It’s my job to bash the guy who broke my friend's heart.”

  I reared back. “Broke her heart?”

  Alice rolled her eyes. “You really are a man,” she mumbled. “Look, I’m gonna lay this out for you only in the hopes you’ll leave, terrified. That night may have been fun for you, but to Nikki, that was a whole lot more than one night. She came back to you that night because she wanted to be with you but instead you had a slut in your room but you were a dumbass and were more concerned about getting your dick wet in the nearest hole. If you’re only here to reenact that night and then leave, I would just leave right now. You hurt Nikki before. You do it again, and I’ll cut your nuts off.” She made a snipping motion with her fingers and flounced off.

  Well, that was not how I expected that to go at all. My plan to possibly get Alice on my side had backfired. Now she was just more pissed off then she had been before.

  I tossed a five down on the counter, grabbed my keys and cigarettes, and left the diner. I was hungry, but I was afraid Alice would spit in my food before she brought it to me.

  I shoved a cigarette into my mouth, lit the end, and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Yo,” I said when Maniac answered.

  “I’m about to leave. Is there anything else you need? I got all the shit you messaged me this morning.”

  “That should be it. You think you can stop and get some breakfast?” My stomach growled, and I glanced back at the diner. Alice was standing at the door, guarding it from me. Dammit.

  “Yeah. What do you want?” Maniac asked.

  “Breakfast burrito or something like that.”

  “Can do,” Maniac mumbled. “Anything else I can pick up?”

  “Nah, that should be it. I’m headed back to the house. I’ll see you when you get there.” I ended the call and shoved the phone in my pocket.

  I swung my leg over my bike and inhaled deeply. The nicotine traveled through my body, and I relaxed a little bit.

  I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Winning over Nikki’s friend was going to have to happen later because right now, Nikki was my only concern.

  Once Maniac got here, unloaded the rest of my shit, and had breakfast, I was going to figure out my next move.

  That move was going to involve Nikki, and I couldn’t help but be a little wary of how she was going to react.

  I finished my cigarette, and tossed the butt on the ground, grinding it with the heel of my boot.

  This wasn’t going to be easy, although nothing worth it ever was.

  Nikki was definitely worth it.

  *

  Chapter 12

  Nikki

  “Night, Bos.”

  “You sure you don’t want me to follow you home?” he asked.

  I shook my head and pulled my keys out of my pocket. “Nah, I’m fine. Richard would be dumb to kidnap me today. I look like hell, and I feel like crap.”

  “Well, get on home and get some rest. It’s probably for the best you have the next three days off.”

  I slid into my car, and Bos waited ‘til I started the car and pulled out of my parking spot before he headed around to the back of the restaurant. Work had been slow tonight, and about mid-shift, I started getting a scratchy throat and stuffy nose. I was not in the mood to get sick. Although, was anyone ever in the mood to get sick?

  I navigated the short trip home and parked in front of my garage.

  A bike and pickup truck were parked on the other side of the driveway, and there was a guy sitting on the porch. I couldn’t see his face because it was dark, but I could see the end of his cigarette light up.

  Well, this was going to be interesting. I sat in my car, trying to look like I was searching for something while I tried to catch a glimpse of my new neighbor. I’m sure he was probably seventy, smoked six packs a day, and smelled like an ashtray. I just hoped his smoke didn’t blow into my open windows because I hated smoking unless it was a certain someone doing it.

  I highly doubted this guy had anything on Pipe. God didn’t make two men like that.

  I gave up trying to catch a glimpse and decided I was either going to have to pull up my big girl panties and introduce myself to my new neighbor, or just haul my cookies in the house. “Get out of the car, Nikki,” I mumbled.

  Wallet in hand, and a takeout container of leftover chicken noodle soup in the other, I pushed open my door and decided I was just going to get this over with. “Evening,” I called as I slammed my door.

  The cigarette glowed in the dark, and I squinted trying to get a glimpse of the man. He shifted in the dark and came into the light.

  Son of a gun.

  Pipe Marks stood on the porch, cigarette in hand, looking like he had just stepped off the page of some motorcycle magazine.

  And dammit to hell if my first thought was me wishing I was that damn cigarette.

  “Evening, sugar.”

  *

  Pipe

  Well, she at least didn’t look pissed off. Shocked was a better word for it.

  “How was work?”

  Her jaw moved up and down, but no words came out.

  “Hey, I’m gonna head out, man. I gotta be up early for a run, and I don’t feel like working off of a few hours of sleep.” Maniac walked out the duplex and slammed the door shut behind him. He skidded to a stop when he saw Nikki standing on the other side of the driveway. “Oh hell,” he muttered.

  I didn’t need him to see whatever the hell was going on with Nikki and me. “Sounds good, brother. I’ll be rolling in around noon tomorrow, I think. Wrecker said he had some shit I need to take care of.”

  Maniac nodded and clapped me on the shoulder. “See ya tomorrow then.” He ambled down the steps, nodded to Nikki, and backed out of the driveway.

  My gaze fell back on Nikki, and I could tell she was struggling to figure out what was going on.

  “What…why…what in the hell are you doing here?” she finally got out.

  I looked up over my shoulder and shrugged. “As of yesterday, I live here.”
/>   The bag she had in her hand dropped to the concrete, and her jaw dropped. “You live here? As in, right next to me?”

  I ran my fingers through my hair and inhaled deeply. The smoke curled around me as I exhaled, and I shrugged. “I’d have to say that was the main selling point.”

  “Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”

  “Last I checked, no.”

  “Well, you better check again because if you moved here because of me, you better get back on your bike and get the hell out of here.”

  I shook my head. “Not yet.”

  Nikki snatched the bag she had dropped off of the ground. “Well, then I better be the one looking for a new place to live.” She stomped to her door, fumbling with her keys in one hand, and stabbed the key into the lock. “I don’t know what the hell you’re up to, Pipe, but I can tell you right now, I don’t want any part of it.”

  “You didn’t say that before when I wanted a part of you.”

  She laughed, but it was flat and annoyed. “Oh, you definitely got a part of me last time, Pipe, and I can tell you right now, I will never make that mistake again.” She shoved open the door, glared at me over her shoulder, and slammed the door shut.

  “Well hell,” I mumbled. I inhaled deep on my cigarette and watched her lights come on through the window. She hadn’t shut the curtains before she went to work today so I could see straight into her living room.

  We were going to have a talk about her closing up the house when she went somewhere. For now, though, this was working in my favor.

  Nikki was working herself up into a tizzy as she slammed the white bag she had down on the counter and raked her fingers through her hair.

  God damn, she was gorgeous. Even in that hideous uniform she wore, she was still sexy as fuck. Long, auburn hair flowed down her back, almost touching the curve of her ass. I remember grabbing handfuls of her hair when I slammed into her from behind, and her gasps and mewling each time I hit bottom. Fuck, she was the best I ever had.

  Her fingers went to the buttons on her top, and my heart stopped. Holy fuck, she was taking off her shirt with the whole neighborhood watching. I should go pound on the window, or her doorbell to tell her to shut her curtains, but my feet were cemented to the porch.

  She slipped the shirt off her shoulders and down her arms, dropping it on the floor. Her fingers went to the waistband of her skirt, and she tugged it down, kicking it off to the side.

  Fuck me running. Nikki was standing in her living room in black panties that molded to the curve of her ass and a black bra. She had her back to me so I couldn’t see her sweet tits, but I knew from memory what they looked like, and how soft and lush they were.

  I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was the only pervert watching. I looked back in the window, and Nikki was crouched down on the floor next to the skirt she had kicked off and pulled her phone out of one of the pockets. She put the phone to her ear and plopped down on the floor.

  I shouldn’t be standing there watching her, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. This was the Nikki I wanted. Uninhibited, doing whatever she wanted, and looking like a fucking angel doing it.

  “Karmen,” she shouted into the phone. Obviously, the soundproofing on the duplex was less than stellar. I could hear her conversation word for word.

  “Did you know he was here?” she demanded. She stopped talking for two point five seconds before she went off, ranting. “Pipe fucking Marks is living in the duplex right next to me. You’re telling me you had no idea this was happening? I find that hard to believe since you’re having his best friend’s baby.” She glanced out the window, but I was standing far enough off to the side to where she couldn’t see me. “I call bullshit, Karmen.”

  Nikki stood up, moved to the window, and I took a step further into the dark losing my view of the window, but I didn’t want Nikki to see me. I sat back down in the rickety chair that had been left on the porch and tossed my cigarette butt onto the driveway. It smoldered on the ground, and I pulled another one from my pack.

  “I don’t know why he is here. This doesn’t make any sense. I walk in on the man getting his jollies with some other woman, and now bam, he’s moved in right next door to me. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”

  Thankfully, I could still hear her talking. I lit the end of my cigarette and inhaled deeply as she continued to tell Karmen every reason why she thought me moving here was a bad idea.

  “What the hell is he going to do here? There aren’t any jobs for an MC badass.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at her words. Nikki always had a funny way putting things.

  “Why are you laughing? I'm dead serious.” Obviously, Karmen thought Nikki was pretty funny too. “No, this isn’t what I wanted, Karmen. I wanted to live far away from the man and never see him again. This is the exact God dang opposite.”

  I kicked my feet out and leaned back in the chair. Nikki had just confirmed the fact she had moved because of me. If that didn’t make me feel like a piece of shit, I didn’t know what would.

  “Look, I’m going to go to sleep and wish like hell this is all a nightmare, and I’m going to wake up with Pipe living in Weston and me in Kales Corners where our paths will never cross again.” Nikki’s voice faded, and I knew she had moved away from the window to another part of the house where I couldn’t hear her.

  I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. It was only half past nine, and I knew there was no way in hell I was going to be able to go to sleep yet.

  Living in Kales Corners was going to be a huge adjustment for me, but as long as Nikki was here, I wasn’t going anywhere.

  *

  Chapter 13

  Nikki

  “How does she sleep like that?”

  “You would think she’s suffocating herself.”

  “Oh my God, what if she did suffocate, and we’re talking to her dead body.”

  “Did you really just say that? You can see her back going up and down. She’s alive, dumbass.”

  Ugh. Waking up to Karmen and Cora fighting was not how I wanted this day to begin.

  I had three pillows piled up on top of my head, and I had been sleeping like the dead ‘til the Banger Sisters had shown up.

  “Go away,” I mumbled.

  “Oh hell. She’s not dead,” Karmen exclaimed. “Thank God. I didn’t want to have to deal with a funeral.”

  I grabbed pillows, pulling them off of my head. “That was the thing you were most concerned about? Not the fact your supposed best friend was dead.”

  Cora laughed and flopped down in the bed next to me. “How the hell do you sleep with a shit ton of pillows on your face?”

  I yawned and put my arm over my eyes. “I need pitch dark to sleep.”

  “So, you need three pillows on your face? Don’t you think one would be more than enough?”

  I turned my head and glared at her. “Did you two wake me up just to ask why I had three pillows?”

  “Of course not.” Karmen dove onto the bed between Cora and me and burrowed under the covers. “We woke you up because we’re hungry, but now that I’m laying down, I could totally go for a nap before we scavenge for food.”

  Cora grabbed one of my pillows and tucked it under her head. “I’m down with that. You dragging me out of bed at the ass crack of dawn sucked.”

  “Did you two really drive here just to take a nap?”

  Karmen yawned and tucked her hands under her head. “I didn’t plan on it, but I think it’s the best idea ever. I wanted to make sure you were okay after your frantic call last night about Pipe.” She closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

  Ugh, Pipe. I had actually forgotten he was just next door. Maybe sleeping longer was a good idea. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand. “I’ll set the alarm for an hour for now. If we sleep any longer than that, we’ll never get out of bed.”

  “Make it two. It’ll only be nine o’clock then.”

  I shook my head and reset the alarm. “I sti
ll think you’re both crazy for getting here so damn early.”

  “Shh.” Karmen patted my arm. “Sleep.”

  “Yeah, stop talking,” Cora mumbled.

  I set my phone back on the nightstand and pulled the covers up to my chin. “You’re both crazy, and you better be thankful I don’t yank that pillow back from you guys.” I grabbed my pillow, smacked it over my head and closed my eyes.

  “You love us,” Karmen replied, already half asleep.

  I did, even if she drove me crazy.

  *

  Chapter 14

  Nikki

  “Stop looking at me like that. The baby needs food.”

  Cora rolled her eyes and slipped the wrapper off her straw. “You really think he needs four eggs, sausage, bacon, a short stack of pancakes, and sourdough toast?”

  Karmen took a sip of her coffee and winced. “I don’t even know why I drink this anymore. Decaf blows.”

  I lifted my cup, inhaling the wonderful aroma of my fully caffeinated coffee and grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll drink your share of coffee for you.”

  “Oh, you’re so noble,” she scoffed.

  “Wooly fuck,” Cora gasped.

  “Wooly? What the hell?” Karmen asked.

  Cora nodded her head to behind Karmen and I. “Wooly fuck.”

  We both turned around in the booth and saw Pipe taking a seat at the counter of the diner. “Why, that bastard,” I growled.

  He nodded to us but didn’t come over.

  “What do you think he’s doing here?” Karmen asked.

  I turned back around and unwrapped my fork and spoon from the napkin. “Tormenting me.”

  “Or ordering coffee.”

  I rolled my eyes at Cora and glanced over my shoulder. “Fine, ordering coffee while he torments me.”

  “You want me to put Ex-Lax in his coffee?” Alice topped off my coffee cup and set a carafe of syrup on the table.