by Nicole Fox
“Oh, stop. You can just stay here.”
“Are you sure?” The amount of relief was overwhelming. I shouldn’t have been thrilled to stay in such a pig sty, but anything was better than going home. “I don’t want to burden you. Or Steven.”
“Steven won’t care, you know that. And we all have a time when we need to be picked up and set back on our feet again. Just stay and get yourself back together.”
I came around the counter and wrapped my arms around her. Relief washed over me and weighed me down, making me realize just how tired I was. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Don’t thank me too much yet,” she warned. “All I have for you is the couch, and it’s not super comfortable.”
“I’m sure I can make it work,” I assured her.
That night, I tossed and turned on the couch. Misty had left for work a few hours ago, and I thought with the house being empty I would be able to finally get some sleep. But it creeped me out a little to know that I was all alone in an unfamiliar house in an unsafe neighborhood. What would I do if someone tried to break in? I had no weapons, and nobody to protect me. Would Snake and his gang track me down, angry that I had misled him? Yanking the scratchy blanket up to my shoulders and rolling over to face the back of the couch, I tried to wipe the awful thoughts from my mind.
I must have finally dozed off, because the sound of the kitchen door opening and closing woke me. I lay stiffly on the couch, too terrified to investigate or even to hide. Holding my breath, I listened carefully for signs of the intruder coming in the living room.
Instead, he flicked the kitchen light on. I saw the square of light on the ceiling from the doorway. The refrigerator door opened and closed, and then came the rattling sound of a plate being set on the counter. Whoever had come in was making themselves a sandwich.
Remembering what Misty had said earlier that day, I sat up. “Steven?”
The noises from the kitchen stopped. A moment later, a wide figure appeared in the doorway. “Who’s there?”
I reached over to the end table and turned on the lamp. “It’s Bambi.”
He stared at me for a moment, his wide face shocked as he took in the sight of me in Misty’s shirt on the couch. “What are you doing here?”
“I, um, I’m having a bit of a rough time and Misty told me I could stay here for a little while. I hope that’s okay with you.” I suddenly felt like such an idiot. It had been easy to tell Misty about my troubles, but I wasn’t going to go into detail with Steven. He didn’t need to know how dumb I had been.
“Oh, sure.” He gave me a smile. Steven hadn’t changed at all since high school. A former football player, he was a muscular guy with a blond buzz cut. It was odd to see him in a uniform shirt from the factory, but other than that he was the same guy who had changed my flat tire in the high school parking lot. “You want a beer?”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
“Mind if I watch TV? That’s always what I do to wind down when I get home from work.” He fetched his plate and a beer and sat down in the recliner.
“It’s not like I’m getting much sleep, anyway.” I would have preferred to try to sleep again, but who was I to kick him out of his own living room?
He turned on the TV. For a little while, I watched the old reruns he turned on, but eventually I began to drift off. I was vaguely aware of him returning to the fridge a few times during commercials.
“Hey.” Steven was standing over me, gently shaking my shoulder. His breath stank of beer. “Hey, wake up.”
“What is it?” I blinked rapidly. Steven was backlit against the glow of the TV. “Is everything all right?”
“You know, Bambi, I always thought you were hot. I used to dream of you coming over to spend the night at my house, but I never thought it would happen. And now here you are. It must be destiny.” His words were slurred, and the most recent can of beer was still in his free hand.
“Um, I appreciate that, but I’m not really on the market right now.” I was suddenly wide awake. I tried to glance at the clock, hoping it was almost time for Misty to get home, but Steven’s big shoulders blocked my view.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not looking for a relationship, just a quick fuck. Let’s go down the hall to my bedroom, and I can show you what I’ve always wanted to do to you.”
“No, thanks.” I pulled the blanket up a little further, hoping to somehow shield myself with it.
His grip was hard on my shoulder now. “Is that how it is? I let you come here, into my home, to stay on my couch. I give you shelter and safety, and this is how you repay me?”
There was a repeating theme here that I didn’t like. “Listen, Steven. You’re drunk. Just go to bed and we can talk about it in the morning.” I knew he never would be talking to me like this if he didn’t have alcohol in his system. Steven had always been a great guy. I felt like I was stuck in a nightmare where all my friends had become my enemies and I couldn’t move.
“Just kiss me and you’ll see. You’ll change your mind.” He bent toward me.
I pushed against his chest, but he was too strong. He kept coming at me, his breath hot and smelly on my face and his body heavy. He was leaning on me instead of putting his weight on the couch. When I tried to squirm out from underneath him, he grabbed me by the shoulders and pinned me against the cushions.
“Come on, baby. It won’t take long.” Steven was completely on top of me, fighting with the blanket to get it out of the way. “I have needs, you know.”
If he had been sober, there would have been no way for me to overpower him. I knew how strong he was, even though he no longer had regular workouts with the football team. As it was now, he was still much bigger and stronger than I, but I couldn’t let this happen. Panic rose up in my chest and closed my throat. I flailed and thrashed, trying to get a good shot at his face. He was too close, though, and I had no room to put any power behind my hits. I lurched underneath him.
“Oh yeah, baby. You just keep doing that and we’ll get there.” He pressed himself against me.
Lurching once again, I tried to push him off me. He suddenly stiffened, his eyes wide and his lips pursed, and he rolled off the couch clutching his crotch.
“You kicked me in the balls, you bitch!” His voice was a strangled whisper as he rolled around on the floor.
It wasn’t what I had meant to do, but I would take it. I leapt off the couch and headed for the door, but I realized I didn’t have any shoes other than the high heels that had gone with my dress. Shoving my feet into a pair of flip flops nearby, I flung open the door and bolted out into the night.
Chapter 7
Snake
“You should have seen her. She was absolutely wild. She didn’t even care about foreplay.” Moose shook his head and leaned against the side of the building. “Still made me wear a condom, so I lost the bet, but I don’t even care. I’m keeping her number in case we ever ride through here again.”
The five of us stood a little apart from the rest of the club members. We would be riding out that day for a different town. Johnson City hadn’t been very welcoming, and several of the men had already landed in jail for a night here or there. “It’s best we just move on,” Bruiser had told us the previous night. “I don’t mind a little trouble, but the bail money gets expensive.”
“That’s nothing,” Axle said, his face confident. “You should have seen this little country chick I banged last night. She snuck me out to the barn and we climbed up on top of all these hay bales. I thought I’d just be giving her a quick poke under that little denim skirt of hers, but she wanted to do something a little more dangerous. She was completely naked, and we spent the whole night doing it. I bent her over a bale of hay and gave it to her good.”
“Yeah, right.” Rubble looked grumpy as he packed the last of his things in his saddlebags. “I bet the only thing you fucked last night was your left hand.”
“Don’t be jealous. It’s not my fault you in
sisted on that waitress. Not very smart when she wouldn’t even look at you or give you your beer.” Axle leered at the other man, clearly feeling like the victor.
“It’s not like any of it matters anyway until one of them is knocked up,” Rusty reminded us. His red hair gleamed in the morning sunshine. “Besides, the only one of us who I know had a girl in his room was Snake. How did it go, man?”
They were all watching me so closely. It was tempting to tell them what they wanted to hear, but they would call my bluff if they had any reason to doubt me. I shook my head. “Nothing yet, man.”
“You’re kidding! She practically threw herself at you.” Moose’s eyes were wide with surprise. “I thought she was some horny little beauty queen.”
“I guess she changed her mind.” I thought once again of our encounter in my motel room. I’d hardly been able to think of anything else. She had been so sweet, so luscious under my hands. If I had another chance, I wouldn’t let her get away.
“It’s not like you to play the gentleman,” Rusty reminded me. “You feeling all right?”
The men laughed, and I laughed along with them. I got the joke, but I didn’t appreciate it. I knew women liked me, but I never made them do anything they didn’t want to. I’d been put in that position far too many times myself, and I had vowed a long time ago that I would never be like that. “Don’t you worry, boys. I’ll win this bet before you know it, and I promise I’ll rub it in your faces when you have to give me all your money.”
“Right,” Rusty said with a nod. “I’ll be sure to take note of that.”
“You’re so confident, Rust, but we haven’t heard anything about your adventures.” I watched his face carefully. This whole thing had been his idea, after all.
Moose nodded. “Yeah, I think it’s time for you to spill.”
He ran a hand through his ruddy beard. “Don’t you worry about that. I’ll let you know if I get her pregnant, and that’s all you need to know.”
The rest of us exploded with laughter. “So what you’re saying is you haven’t been with anybody,” I said. “That’s a pretty lame trick, man. Don’t you think we know better?”
Rusty looked smug. “As a matter of fact, I have. But she’s a businesswoman in the area, and she probably wouldn’t want me dragging her name through the mud.”
“Who is it?” Axle pushed. “You’ve got to tell us. We’ve all been open about it. You started the bet, so you can’t keep it a secret.”
The redhead looked around before leaning in a little closer. “All right. But you can’t say anything.” He pointed to the motel sign. “The manager. Last night.”
We gaped at him for a moment. “Really? That woman behind the desk last night?” Rubble ran a hand through his stubble. “I wish I had thought of that.”
“It wouldn’t have done you any good. She might run a dumpy motel, but she wouldn’t have paid any attention to the likes of you.” Rusty’s back was a little straighter now, his chest puffed out. “She’s an older woman, but she has standards.”
“Got yourself a cougar,” Moose remarked. “Not a good path to getting her pregnant.”
He smiled, a twitch of his beard. “I said she’s older, not that she’s dead. She’s still got plenty going for her, and they say older women are at their sexual peak. Based on the night I had with her in the supply room, I tend to agree.”
“Maybe we should make the same bet in the next town,” Rubble mused. “It could be a standing bet every time we land someplace new. It would certainly keep things interesting.”
“And it would give you time to recover from your major flop here,” I reminded him. “I think you’re just trying to redeem yourself, but we aren’t stopping in Uglytown for a few months.”
He glared at me, and for a moment I thought he might come after me. But Rubble wasn’t much of a fighter unless he knew he could just throw his weight around and win. He might have weighed more than me, but I could hold my own much better than he could. “It’s not like you got any, either. Maybe you can go find a girl in a tiara in the next place and not fuck her, either.”
“At least Bambi was willing to get on my bike with me and come to the motel room. Your little waitress would have just as soon shot you as screwed you.” I stepped forward, suddenly enraged. Rubble had always been such a pain in the ass, and it was time someone put him in his place.
“Bambi? You got a girl with a stripper name like Bambi into your hotel room and she still didn’t let you inside her? Dude, you’re worse at this than I thought.” Rubble stepped up to me as well. His head only came to my shoulders, but he had a fire in his eyes. Angry men often fought well.
“Boys, boys! Just stop! We don’t have time for this nonsense. We’re almost ready to go. Saddle up.” Rusty swung one long leg over his chopper and looked at us expectantly.
He was right, and none of us could argue with that. We turned for our bikes and did as we were told.
Just then, a taxi swung to a stop in the parking lot. We all turned to look, and my gut dropped down into my boots when I recognized the passenger who got out. She looked completely different than the last time I’d seen her, having exchanged her beautiful dress for a ratty T-shirt and a pair of black yoga pants with a splash of paint on one thigh. Traces of her eyeliner still clung to her skin even though she had washed the majority of her makeup off, and her hair hung limply around her shoulders. Still, she was gorgeous.
Bambi kept her eyes on the men around us as she slowly crossed the parking lot toward me. I could feel the gang holding its collective breath, most of them wondering what was going on. Rusty, Rubble, Moose, and Axle already knew who she was at least, but even they were watching with curiosity.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said meekly. “And I’ve changed my mind.”
There was no telling what had happened to her over the last day, but it was clear that she’d gotten the change in her life she had been looking for. I mounted my bike, scooting forward on the seat to make room for her. I didn’t say anything—the wrong words would ruin the moment—but I looked up at her expectantly.
I was ready for her to change her mind once again, or at least to hesitate, but she strode forward confidently and swung her leg up. She was behind me once again, her arms wrapped around me. Despite the fact that she had been so stubborn and difficult the previous day, I had to admit that it felt good to have her body pressed up against mine once again. Whatever had made her realize she wanted to be with me, I was grateful for it.
Rusty and the others were ready to go, and we rumbled out of the parking lot and into the road. Bambi didn’t ask where we were going, and I didn’t volunteer the information. I wasn’t even completely sure. All I knew was that we were leaving town, and I had a hot woman on the back of my bike.
Chapter 8
Bambi
I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek against Snake’s shoulder, feeling the wind through my hair. I didn’t know if I was any safer with him than I had been at Misty’s house, but the unknown danger seemed a better bet than the one I had already been through. For a moment, when I had left Steven lying in pain on his living room floor, I had considered going home. But I knew that just wasn’t an option anymore. Mother had made it clear. It was just as well. I would find a different way to be free.
Eventually, the bikes began to slow down as we approached another town. It was a much bigger one than Myrtle Creek or Johnson City, and I recognized Millville when we passed the huge shopping mall. The other bikers pulled off to the left, but Snake nodded at them and headed to the right.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked. I had been content to just roll with the punches, but separating from the rest of the group seemed odd.
Snake didn’t answer, but he threaded his way off the exit ramp and down a frontage road until we were at the mall. He pulled to a stop in the parking lot and signaled for me to get off. He stood there studying me for a moment before he spoke. “You don’t have anything with you.”
Confused at first, I finally looked down at myself. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He had seen me all dolled up in a beautiful gown, and now I looked like I had crawled out of a dumpster. I hadn’t even had the chance to get my cell phone or my wallet, since my purse had been left safely at home when Mother and I had left for the parade. “No, I don’t.”
“That’s not going to work for very long. Let’s go.” He headed toward the entrance.
I trotted to catch up with him. “I’d love to get a few things, but like I told you before, I don’t have any money.”
