BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset)

by Parker, Kylee

  Leda

  “Are you excited about coming home for break?” Mom’s voice whined in my ear. I closed my eyes and sat down on the bed, next to my suitcase. “You know Judith is going to be home this summer, too.”

  “That’s great, Mom,” I said. “I’m packing now, so I should get off the phone and finish.”

  “Oh, Leda, can’t you multitask?” My mom snapped. “We haven’t caught up in months and now you want to rush me away!”

  “Probably because I’ll be at your house in a few hours,” I pointed out. “And then we can catch up for hours.”

  “But you won’t talk to me then,” my mom snipped. “You’ll go into your room or leave me alone and go out with Judith. I get so lonely, you girls don’t realize that.”

  “Mom,” I said through clenched teeth. “I really have to go. I’ll see you before dinner. I love you.”

  My mom hung up the phone without saying goodbye and I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe that I was ready to spend another summer under her roof again. Silently, I cursed my luck. All I wanted to do was stay in Charlottesville for the summer but I knew Stratton wasn’t going back to Germany and Tyler had moved back in with Megan. So there I was; stuck at home for another couple of months, listening to my mom guilt trip me at every possible turn.

  As I looked around my room, there was a lump in my throat. Things felt so different than they had a few days ago. I’d planned on avoiding Stratton as much as possible but he’d been icing me out ever since that day Megan got engaged. Matthew had sent me approximately twenty emails and six texts but I hadn’t answered any of them. Each one that I read was more pathetic than the last, and not a single sentiment that he expressed made me feel guilty. If anything, I was angry at myself for falling into his trap and not seeing it before. People like Matthew were emotional vampires, always looking for their next victim.

  And as for Stratton…. I truly had no idea what was going on. It was more than he was just avoiding me; he seemed truly angry with me for something. I thought it was just an attempt to keep me away, but he’d never been actively upset with me before. Stratton was one of the most laidback people that I’d ever known. What could I have done to upset him so deeply?

  I zipped my suitcase and dropped it onto the floor. Wheeling it into the hallway, I grabbed my two favorite jackets and an umbrella from the coat tree. The windows were open and I could hear birds chirping outside. It was unpleasantly warm and humid and there was already a thin film of sweat clinging to my skin. At least my parents have air conditioning, I grumbled to myself. That was one net positive.

  Stratton was standing shirtless by the front door, kicking a soccer ball up in the air. I tried not to look at his sculpted chest as I dragged my suitcase out the front door.

  “I’m leaving for the summer,” I said quietly. “I hope you have a good one, Stratton.” I forced myself to look up at his face. He was staring at me. Sweat was beading his forehead and his luscious brown hair was even darker with perspiration.

  He looked up at me with no hint of friendliness on his face. “You too, Leda,” he said in a neutral tone. “Have a great time with Matthew.”

  Before I could protest, Stratton had pushed past me and jogged out the front door. I called after him and he didn’t respond, and by the time I’d dragged my suitcase to my car, he was gone.

  TO BE CONTINUED...

  Prologue

  Just like that, everything had changed.

  Since I married Stratton so he could stay in the country, it felt like so much had changed. We’d made love, we’d become closer. But then, for no reason, he’d started to ice me out yet again.

  I didn’t think I could handle any more of the stress. Between my best friend getting married and keeping my own sham marriage a secret, I was feeling more thinly stretched than ever before.

  What was I going to do? Could I really spend another year under the same roof as the man who always knew how to get under my skin?

  Little did I know, things were about to get even worse…

  Chapter One

  Leda

  “He’s the best, Leeds, I can’t wait for you to meet him,” Judith gushed. She looked radiantly happy: her eyes were shining and her heart-shaped face was stretched wide with a grin. “He’s just so yummy and he makes me feel all floaty and weird.”

  I shook my head dismissively. “Didn’t Mom tell you that you’re supposed to be focusing on your studies?”

  Judith narrowed her eyes. “That’s rich coming from someone who practically followed her college boyfriend around like a puppy,” she replied. Her eyes flicked downwards over the table and I swallowed uncomfortably.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled. “It just seems a little premature to be moving in together.”

  “Leda, don’t pull the same shit as Mom,” Judith grumbled. “Besides, you live with guys. They’re not that bad, right? They’re good roommates!”

  “We don’t share a bed,” I said tartly. Except for Stratton, sometimes, my mind corrected and I shook my head to rid myself of the image. “They’re just housemates.”

  “But they’re responsible, right? Mom doesn’t really care if I have sex, Leda,” Judith said disapprovingly. “Come on, it’s the twenty-first century. Everyone does that now.”

  I frowned. “Not everyone,” I said carefully. Stratton and I hadn’t slept together before marriage. Of course, not everyone was married for a student visa. “And Judith, listen, don’t waste all your time on one guy. That’s not a good idea. I really regret not making more friends in college.”

  Judith’s pink mouth fell open. “Seriously? You’re trying to convince me to sleep around more?”

  I shook my head. “No,” I said, with more force than I’d intended to. “No, I didn’t say that. Just… please be careful, okay?”

  Judith took a long drink of water. She kept her eyes trained on me the whole time and I felt myself start to sweat under her gaze. Even though she was younger than me by three years, my little sister always knew how to make me squirm.

  “Let’s just drop it,” she said coolly. “So I heard Matthew and his fiancée split up.”

  “God, why can’t you just unfriend him? We’ve been broken up for years.”

  “So? He dumped you, not me,” Judith spat. A pain went through me and I looked at her. “Sorry,” she apologized carelessly. “I didn’t mean that. But did he contact you?”

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “We went out to lunch and it was horrible. He’s desperate and sad.”

  “He’s thirsty,” Judith said, rolling her eyes. “You had to have always known that about him. He just craved approval.”

  I suppressed the urge to laugh. Judith was a psychology major and she never missed the chance to armchair analyze anything. “I’m sure,” I said. “When are you going back?”

  “As soon as I can,” she gushed. Her eyes took on that dreamy look again and I knew she was thinking of her new beau. “Are you sure you don’t wanna meet him? He’s coming to pick me up sometime next week.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t, I need to get back. I haven’t seen Megan all summer and she’s asked me to go dress shopping with her like three times.”

  “I can’t believe she’s getting married,” Judith said. “She’s so wild.”

  I shrugged. “I think it’s what she wants. I can’t really judge her anymore.”

  “You can still judge me, though,” Judith said sarcastically. She stood up from the table and stretched. “I’m going to the ladies. I’ll be back.”

  Checking my phone, I had an email from my landlord asking me when I’d be able to send the deposit for this year. With a sinking feeling, I realized that I still hadn’t asked him whether or not Stratton was staying for another year. I’d spent the last week of summer vacation looking for another place to live, but everywhere else was too expensive. I was as sick of having four roommates as the next woman, but I still couldn’t afford to live alone. Not when my stipend would barely stretch through nine months as i
t was.

  “Hi Mr. Holmes,

  Is Stratton Müller staying for another year? I have a friend who may want to take his spot.

  Thanks,

  Leda”

  Pressing send, I watched as Judith picked her way across the crowded dining room and flopped down into the seat across from me.

  “Are you excited about finishing up?” Judith asked me coolly. I watched as the drank the last of her water. “It’s your last year in grad school.”

  And then I’ll be a divorcee, I thought to myself. “I guess,” I said finally. “It doesn’t really seem like three years.”

  Judith nodded. “Are you going to get a job?”

  I shrugged. “Not a lot for me to do unless I want to teach community college,” I said. “I’d have to get a PhD to really get any use out of this degree.”

  My younger sister frowned. Even when she looked angry, she was still beautiful. I thought I’d gotten over being jealous of her looks ages ago, but apparently not. She didn’t reply for a long time, and when she did, it was to change the subject. I felt guilty; I knew on some level, she resented me for letting Mom and Dad pay for my master’s degree.

  We left the restaurant and drove home in silence. I decided I was going to leave for Charlottesville that night instead of the next morning. I’d already done most of my packing but I still had a lot of stuff left to go.

  “Leda, are you going to go away for another year and not call home again?” I tried to ignore my mom’s voice but I knew if I listened, she’d suck me back in with her guilt.

  “That’s not fair,” I protested. “I called home!”

  My mom shook her head. “Not nearly often enough, young lady,” she chastised me and I winced. “Especially now that Megan is getting married. I assume you’ll need some help planning the bachelorette?”

  I cringed, thinking of my mom’s idea of a perfect bachelorette party. We’d sit around drinking apple cider and watching old Disney movies—those live action ones—and be in bed before midnight. Megan would kill me; I knew that she wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than a blowout. Hell, she might even want to go to Vegas.

  “I think Megan wants a big party, Mom,” I said carefully. “She’s not really into the idea of doing things quietly.”

  My mom shook her head. “We’ll talk when it comes closer,” she said, as though I hadn’t even spoken up. “Call me more often, Leda, you know how much I miss you!”

  “Okay, Mom,” I relented. She released me from her tight grasp and I blinked. “I’ll call you—or text you—when I get there, okay?”

  My mom frowned. “You always just have to get away from us as soon as possible,” she commented blithely. “Judith’s not like that at all.”

  “Judith’s nineteen,” I groaned. “Most people my age haven’t stayed with their parents in years, do you know how embarrassing this is?”

  My mom rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I wish you’d turn into one of those boomerang children I read about in the news,” she said calmly. “Then I could have you home all day.”

  Shuddering, I threw my last bag in the backseat of my car and climbed in behind the wheel. My mom watched from the front door and I saw her reach up to wipe a tear form her face. I tried not to roll my eyes as I waved back. Judith definitely took after my mom—dramatic and impossible to deal with. I was more like my dad, cool and distant and unable to be too close to people. My mom didn’t get that being around her was so stressful, but it was almost better than dealing with her constant guilt. I couldn’t wait until I graduated so I had an excuse not to visit more often.

  The drive back to Charlottesville seemed to take almost no time. As I neared home, there was a knot growing in my stomach. Between Stratton and Megan, I knew I was going to have to work harder this year. I vowed quietly to treat both of them with more respect. The way Stratton had talked to me (or rather, not talked to me) before I left for the summer was puzzling, and I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to upset him so much. One day he was his usual teasing self, and then…

  “Shit,” I muttered out loud. “It couldn’t have been because of that.” My mind flashed back to our last encounter, in bed, when I said I loved him. But after that, I was the one who felt hurt. How would something like that have made him so icy? I’d understand if he’d been awkward (and he was), but freezing me out because I had feelings for him?

  Reaching down, I dialed Megan’s number and pressed the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel. Soon, her scratchy voice pumped through my speakers.

  “Yo,” she greeted me. “What’s up?”

  “I’ve missed you too,” I said after an awkward pause. Over the summer, we hadn’t spent as much time talking as usual. I chalked it up to my bitchy attitude over her engagement, but sometimes I wondered if she was getting sick of being my friend.

  “I’m sorry about the spring,” I said, biting my lip. “And I’m really sorry we weren’t closer this summer. I miss you, Megan. I feel really bad. I think I was just jealous and I was acting out.”

  There was a crackling silence. “It’s fine,” Megan said. “I’m sorry if I was acting crazy. I know I probably went a little nuts before we got engaged.”

  I rolled my eyes. A little nuts? I thought about Megan throwing herself at Stratton, on the night of her disastrous party. “I probably would have done the same,” I lied. “Have you decided when you actually want to go dress shopping?”

  “Finally!” Megan’s yelped loudly through my speakers. “Can we go tomorrow? Please? I’ve been waiting all summer!”

  I laughed, in spite of myself. Laughing felt surprisingly good and after I took a moment to breathe, I saw my happy grin reflected in the rearview mirror. “Sure,” I replied. “Come over and pick me up after lunch. I don’t have class until Monday.”

  “Yay!” Megan squealed. We said our goodbyes and hung up. Now, I didn’t have nearly as much of a bad feeling as I had before. At least Megan and I were on good terms.

  Now, all I had to worry about was Stratton.

  Chapter Two

  Stratton

  “Stratton, are you listening to me?” My mother’s eyes flashed in anger.

  “Yes,” I said automatically. We were in the car; she was driving me to the airport. Just a few more minutes, I told myself. Just a few more minutes and then you’ll be free of her for months.

  “What did I say?” My mother turned in the car seat so she was facing me. Nervously, I flicked my eyes to the road.

  “You want to watch the road?”

  “Fine,” she snapped, wriggling around in the seat. Her heft made the car move from side to side and I looked out the window, feeling carsick.

  “Stratton, you can’t keep acting like a juvenile,” she lectured. “The fact that you were allowed to go back last year after getting arrested like some kind of thug should have really woken you up!”

  “It did,” I said, trying to maintain a straight face. “And this whole summer was without incident, was it not?”

  My mother glared at me. “If you can call staying out until the wee hours and coming home intoxicated without incident, then yes,” she answered me primly. “I think it you benefit you to reexamine your priorities, Stratton.”

  “Stop treating me like a child,” I whined. “I’m twenty five, for fuck’s sake!”

  My mother gasped at the use of profanity and resumed her frantic, white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. I took a deep breath and counted to twenty.

  The whole summer had been like this. It was like nothing I could ever say was good enough. I was getting all As in my classes? Her response would be, ‘too bad, why didn’t you decide to have a career in law?’ No matter what I did, she looked down on me. I hadn’t told her the truth about why I was allowed back in the country. She thought that I had friends in high places at the embassy. Every time that I’d left the house, I panicked at the thought of her finding the marriage certificate. It was in the same bunch of paperwork as my student visa, and I didn’t thi
nk I’d be able to lie my way out of that one.

  Even though my mother was getting on my last nerve, I wasn’t that enthusiastic about returning to the States. I’d had a great summer; some of my mates from primary school and I reconnected and worked as tour guides. It was the same standard fare, but this time I knew that it would be the last. Next summer, I wouldn’t have the same freedom. I’d be working somewhere, with a real job, and bills. I wondered how much the divorce with Leda was going to cost me; even though we’d signed a pre-nup, I still had a feeling that it wouldn’t be cheap.

  We pulled up at the departing gates and my mom gave me a hard look. “Don’t make me worry so much this year,” she chastised. “And stay on top of your grades. You’ll never get into law school with such poor marks.”