by Amber Burns
I shrugged a shoulder, “How about you let me come over to your house this Saturday and I show you?”
“We just met and I’m not having sex with you,” she said with a sense of finality.
I chuckled, if I was going to arrange something like that it would take some work and effort to make sure I could get it up and ready for that. I knew it would take some planning. I shook my head, she didn’t know that though.
“Not what I was implying. We’re out here in the open for all to see. You’re not going to cuddle up to me in a restaurant. Let me come over and we can watch a movie. Let me get close to you and we’ll figure it out together. I’ll be a good boy and keep it in my pants,” I raised a hand like I was a boy scout. “I promise.”
“You mentioned earlier that you wanted me to cook you dinner.” She seemed to be caving, I had her interested. “I guess I could do that Saturday. Do … do you want anything in particular?”
“I spent a long time eating crap food provided by the military,” I smiled at her. “Cook whatever you want, I bet it’ll be delicious.”
“You’re easy to please?”
“Yep,” I shrugged. “Doesn’t take much to make me happy. What about you?”
She shrugged, too, pulling out her wallet after the check was brought to the table. “A good book and a cup of coffee, I’m happy.”
“I will remember that,” I plucked up the check the waitress had dropped and eyed it with a grimace. It wasn’t too bad, the food was alright but I wouldn’t have guess it would been twenty five dollars worth though.
“I thought I was buying lunch,” she protested as I got my wallet out.
“What the hell kind of boyfriend do I look like?” I put one of the hundreds that Jimmy gave me earlier into the little book. “Already said I wasn’t going to take advantage of you then dump you. That shit starts now, darlin’.”
She flushed, “Does that mean you're my boyfriend now?”
“I’d like to be if you’re offering and there’s no protests,” I couldn’t help but wink at her.
She floundered for a moment, mouth opening then closing without saying anything. That flush was pretty on her and I found myself wondering just what else I could do to get her to that. Surprisingly, my pants became tight and I even looked down at the fact that despite the pins and needles in my leg and the throb of my back I’d still managed to get it up. This chick was magic.
“I guess,” she stood and I managed to get up to follow. We hadn’t gotten our change yet so I was gonna hang. “I guess I could be okay with that. I’ve got to get back to work though or I’ll be late.”
I nodded, “Sid by the way I dunno if I mentioned it before.” I shifted closer to her. “You need anything you got my number. You know what I mean by anything, right?”
I got a nod and she suffered from a bout of bashfulness. I was pushing it, but I wanted to kiss her. I reigned it in and went with just brushing my lips against her cheek. I think I had the same affect on her that she had on me, because she looked up at me with those big green eyes and leaned forward to brush a kiss on my cheek in return.
“I’ll see you when I get off work,” her voice was soft and uncertainty was there. I’m pretty sure she liked me.
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” I stayed standing as she walked to the little gate to the opened up the outdoor eating area.
Of course there was a fucking gate. She gave me a few glances over her shoulder as she trekked back to work. I think I got her attention like she got mine. I sat back down to wait out getting change and watch her until she disappeared. She probably didn’t realize it, but she already had my undivided attention.
4
I got back to the club to see Jimmy and another guy unloading what looked like a piece of shit off of a trailer into the yard. I sat on my bike watching them work and tried not to voice my disgust. I couldn’t tell the make of the bike, but it looked like it had been more than dropped. Like someone had taken the damn thing through the ringer.
“You know I don’t do body work, right? I just do shit with the engines.”
“Yea, yea,” Jimmy and his friend stopped with the bike in the middle of the damn lot. “All you gotta do is fix the engine.”
“I got a friend that’ll help with the body work,” the unnamed man said in response. “I know it looks like a lot of work, but I think once it’s running at least it’ll be worth the effort.”
I carefully eased in around the truck and trailer, I was going to have to set my bike up somewhere else because my usual spot was occupied. I went to the side of the building before I got up and put my bike on its kickstand.
“Where did you find it?” I asked with a frown.
“In a rotted out shed,” he shrugged and offered me a hand. “Anthony. Jimmy said you were a wizard with engines and you were the man to see if I wanted to get it running again.” He patted the molded leather seat with a hand and I could already see the guy had big dreams in mind for the bike. “You think you can handle it?”
I took his offered hand and gave it a shake.
“Sid. I can check out the engine, we’ll have to see if we can get it started to see how bad it is,” I looked at Jimmy. “Go get some gas, would ya?”
With that we started work. The Anthony guy hung around as we tried to crank the thing up and failed. I wasn’t looking forward to doing a whole engine rebuild, but it looked like that was what I was going to do. The next few hours was spent with me sitting on a tarp and working on piecing out a fucked up engine. I lost track of time and the company I had as I worked, it was something I did. I would get wrist deep in oil and forget everybody else was there.
It was dark when the stuttering rumble of Madi’s car rolled into the lot. I had forgot to clear her out a space with the work I was doing and I immediately felt like an ass. I set down the part I was working on cleaning out and I stood with some effort. The pins and needles having shifted to outright numbness; as bad as it sounds it was something of a relief. When she got out of the car I couldn’t explain how or why I was happy to see her.
“Hey,” I started wiping my hands clean on my jeans and shirt, not caring about the fact that I was making a bigger mess, as I sauntered over to see her.
She got out of the car, though she kept it running, and looked around the loaded lot.
“So, there’s not a lot of room to park my car,” she looked at me. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
“Second thoughts already?” I raised an eyebrow. “Are they about me or are they about me working on your car?”
“Both?” she threw her attention to the rest of the lot then back to me. “It’s also getting dark. How are you going to be able see what the problem is?”
“Lights, baby, they have ‘em so you can work at night. Pop the hood, but don’t turn it off.”
I didn’t bother trying to get close to her. I was a mess. I had wanted to see if she’d let me steal some sugar, but if she was going to have second thoughts I might not want to press my luck. She did as I asked and I hefted the hood up, there wasn’t any burning smells that I could detect it was just a noise.
“Turn it off,” I instructed and I waited patiently for her to kill the engine. I gave it a beat to cool before I start checking fluid levels. “When was the last time you had the oil and filters changed?”
When she didn’t answer I looked up to find her fidgeting next to me. She looked embarrassed, “Maybe a few years ago?”
“So,” since she was close to me I gave her a nudge, there was a temptation to throw my arm around her but I was more than a little grubby. “That might create issues. Get me a couple of cartons of oil and an oil filter for Saturday. I’ll come over, you’ll need to text me your address, and take care of your problem. We can take a ride and see if that’s the issue.”
She nodded as she listened, looking at the engine with me. I watched her pull her phone out then and go the extra measure to text me. My phone vibrated in my pocket.
“You
’re probably looking at about twenty bucks for all of that,” I informed her. “That okay?”
“You are busy,” she turned away to look at the mess of a bike I was fucking around with.
“This is what I do,” I nodded. I grimaced and looked at her, “You gonna tell me you got something against greasy hands?”
She smiled when she looked up at me, her face was flushed and she took a step closer so when she spoke it was low. “I don’t. I guess I just didn’t know what you did so I assumed you stayed here all day and drank beer.”
I put a hand to my stomach. Ya, it was flat; I worked out. The physical therapist emphasized the importance of remaining active as I recovered from my injuries.
“Do I look like I got a beer gut?”
She took the time to look me up and down, it was probably the first time she really looked at me. And I suddenly saw something other than fear or embarrassment on her face. She looked like she liked what she saw. I threw my arm around her, now, pulling her so she was against my side.
“No,” she blushed when she looked up at me. Her hand came to pat my stomach and it paused as if she tried to assess just what I was packing. “I guess you don’t,” she admitted.
“Well, see you go say something like that now I gotta do something like this,” I tipped her face up with my free hand and leaned down to catch her lips with mine. I restrained myself enough to not overwhelm her, kissing her gently and holding back the desire to taste her so I didn’t go shoving my tongue in her mouth.
She didn’t push me away, she didn’t pull back. She tensed, the hand that had been on my stomach fisted my shirt. I kept it brief and chaste, though even with just the brush of her lips against mine I knew I wanted more.
“Okay?” I had to make sure that I hadn’t crossed a line and made her uncomfortable.
She nodded, not at all looking embarrassed but like she might’ve liked the fact that I kissed her.
“I’ll see you Saturday?” She confirmed.
Yea, I had her attention now like she had mine. I nodded, considered kissing her again but I pulled away. We had an audience, after all, and I wasn’t going to do anything dumb to wreck my chances with this girl.
“I’ll be there. Remember, oil and oil filter. I’ll come by early so I can get to work.”
She nodded and went to get into her car, I cleaned up the small mess I had made and closed the hood. I watched her pull out, not bothering with Jimmy and his friend until she was out of the lot. I had a day to wait, but already I was antsy for Saturday.
5
I spent all of Friday trying to work on that damn bike Jimmy brought me. It was a mess that held up my entire day. I shouldn’t bitch, because it was money that I could use plus something to occupy my time, but it was a bigger pain in the ass than keeping Wilson’s bike running. I was in a hurry though, I wanted the damn thing running and out of my way so it didn’t fuck with the rest of my weekend. But, it was damn near ten before we got the bike to successfully crank. Jimmy spent the majority of the time working on it with me. Though he mostly did running for parts and whenever my aches got too much he’d bring me a water and my pills.
“I got some good stuff,” his friend, Anthony, said to me when I was aching and pretty much stuck on my ass. “Percocets, they’re good for pain.”
“Can’t,” I didn’t even look at the idea. But I figured out then that this guy and Jimmy were probably running something more serious than the weed that Teddy and Wilson dealt.
“You’re helping me out man,” he said in response. “I’d cut you a good deal to help you out.”
“I get drugged tested once a month,” I looked up at him then. “I test positive for anything that I’m not prescribed and I get in a shit ton of trouble.”
“Fucker’s on disability,” Jimmy said from behind me, he tossed me a bottle of water with my bottle of pills. “He can get away with smoking pot here and there, but anything else they’ll stop paying him for being a bump on a log.”
“This bump on a log did more than you did, Chair force,” I didn’t pause from working the bottle open and popping pills into my mouth. I chugged the bottle of water down then.
“It’s a pity you guys don’t let civilians in,” Anthony rolled a shoulder. “I could sure help you guys out with business. Get some serious income in for guys like you,” he nodded at me. “I don’t imagine that disability pays much.”
“I got a roof over my head, food to eat, and a bike to ride,” I gestured for a hand up and with a little effort was hefted to my feet by the both of them. “That’s all a guy needs.”
“Plus a little pussy never hurts,” Jimmy gave my arm a punch. “When you’re done with that girl lemme know. I’d like to give her a ride.”
“Fuck off, Chair force,” I shook out my numb leg and looked an Anthony. “It’ll run now. You just need to clean the rest of that shit up. You’re probably going to need a whole new gas tank, though. You’re gonna want to get that before you try taking it for a ride.”
“I buy one and bring it here you’ll put it on for me?”
I nod, “Tomorrow I’ll be out though so you’ll have to wait.”
“Thanks,” he offered me his hand and I shook it, then he pulled into one of those one armed hugs that were always awkward from strangers. “If you change your mind about the other stuff Jimmy has my number. I’ll remember to cut you a deal.”
I nodded, but didn’t comment. There were red flags here. I watched as Jimmy and Anthony loaded up the piece of shit bike into a trailer before he pulled out. When it was just me and Jimmy I felt the need to reach out to the guy.
“You getting into trouble here?”
“Fuck no,” he didn’t wait for me as he walked back to the bar. “I’m just making extra money. Not all of us can live off the government.”
I stayed outside, my pills in one hand and the bottle of water in the other. I didn’t think Teddy and Wilson would be keen on Jimmy making extra money depending on what he was dealing in. A shit storm was brewing and I hoped to God that guy wasn’t going to bring the cops running in here. The club had it’s front as a way for helping vets, I was proof of that. But to make money they also trafficked pot and CBD oil to people that could use it, people that needed it for treatment. Hell I was fairly certain Cindy probably made the eatables. And while all of it would get them long prison sentences, they felt like they were helping people out. Plus, they did all they could to keep me out of it.
I had to think about what to do about my hunch, whether to let it be or bring it up to Teddy. I distracted myself with cleaning up the lot, there was a lot to think about and it would weigh on me the rest of the day.
6
I got to Madi’s place by ten, mostly because I didn’t want to be an ass and be too early. I was happy to find out she lived in a quiet neighborhood in a little house that seemed appropriate for her. At first I found myself kind of worried that she lived with her parents. However I only saw her car and there was no garage. No old man came barging out of the house when I pulled up, my bike announcing my presence. I got up, leaving my bike close to her car, because I had tools in the saddle bags, and went to knock on her door. I hoped I wasn’t too early. What if she went out the night before? She didn’t look like the partying type, but I could always be wrong.
My nerves got settled when she opened the door and smile at me. She was wearing a simple tshirt and a pair of what I thought were yoga pants.
“Good morning,” she said, she had a cup of coffee in hand. “Do you want some breakfast? Or coffee?”
“I’m good thanks,” I nodded towards her driveway. “You got the things I asked you to get?”
“I did,” she stepped aside, leaving her door open, and went to fetch a bag that she had left on a small blue couch. The inside of her house looked quaint, cozy; it was apparent quickly that she lived alone. It was clean, but she looked like she catered only to herself. She came back to me with the bag and her keys in hand, “You could’ve come inside.”
I lingered in the doorway, “I will later. But I like to get work done first.”
I took the bag and her keys from her and stepped off the small porch. She followed me at a length as I went to her car.
“Do you need help?”
“Nah,” I unlocked it then popped the hood. “You’re more than welcome to keep me company, though.”
She seemed to decide just that, taking the time to help me by getting tools that I asked for and asking questions about what I was doing. We built a good banter and the more we spoke the more she seemed to relax. I had just finished putting the oil filter and I was starting to put the fresh oil in when I felt her slim arms come around me from behind.
