by Hazel Parker
I thought about the fight, the fiery kisses, and the ping pong of emotions I felt for both brothers. “Nope. Yours?”
“Nah,” she said wiping her mouth. “I wish. There’s a new doctor in dermatology. I’m think about getting on his rounds.”
“Ugh. Dermatology. You know all the derm docs are full of themselves and obsessed with being pretty.”
“I know,” she sighed, “but this guy seems different.”
I shook my head and smiled. “For your sake, I hope so. You’re a nice girl.”
“I am a nice girl,” she said, biting into her cookie. “I’m also a smart girl, so trust I won’t just run head first into this guy.”
She was right. Serena was a smart girl. She was the first person I went to when I had any questions in the hospital. “Hey, let me ask you something.”
“Mhm?” she said, chewing quickly.
“You ever heard the word Bandito?”
“Sure have.”
“What does it mean?”
“Well, around here when you hear that word you’re usually referring to the Los Banditos, that’s the name of a motorcycle gang, or club, however you like to call it. The Bandits. They’ve been around since my great grandfather can remember.
I tried not to show how shocked I was, but I never had much of a poker face. Serena just barely swallowed before laughing out loud. “You should see your face.”
I tried to compose myself.
“Not what you were expecting?” she asked.
“No way. I didn’t even know motorcycle clubs were a thing.”
“Oh they’re definitely a thing, honey. I forget that you aren’t from around here.”
As soon as my ex-husband signed the divorce papers, I‘d moved. I let him have everything in Maryland and before the ink was dry, I’d started a new life in Arizona.
“You’ve got a lot to learn, love. Los Banditos are as legit as the Skulls.”
“What are the Skulls?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know anymore.
“Not what. Who.”
“Okay, who are the Skulls?”
“A rival motorcycle gang.”
“They’ve got rivals?” I’d practically squealed.
“Of course. How do you think they’ve gotten their bad reputation? Someone has to lose so there can be a winner.”
“Are they dangerous?” I asked, testing the limits to Serena’s curiosity.
“Depends on how you define dangerous. To some, the answer is a definite yes. To people like their friends or significant others, I’d be willing to bet they’d say no.”
She studied me for a moment as she called up her napkin. “Why do you ask?”
My phone buzzed on the table loudly. It was Ethan texting me.
Five o’clock.
I’ll be ready, I texted back.
“I got to go, girl. I’ll see you later,” I said, disposing of my trash before going back to my rounds.
My day ended with less excitement than it had begun with. I left the hospital at 4 PM, and I knew that with driving time and prep, I’d be cutting it close. I got home and in a matter of thirty minutes, I’d cleaned and redressed myself.
Want to tell me where we’re going? I texted.
Somewhere fun.
I stood in front of the mirror smoothing down invisible wrinkles until Ethan knocked on my door. I’d decided on jeans a loose blouse. Knowing Ethan, we’d be cruising on his bike again.
“Hey,” he said, smirking like he had a secret.
“Hi,” I answered, willing my butterflies to settle.
“You ready?”
“Yeah,” I said, turning to shut and lock the door. I turned back to find Ethan inches from my face.
“Let’s start this date off right,” he growled. I froze when his big hands clamped both sides of my face.
His lips were the electricity I needed to jump start my delayed response. Ethan’s lips were like honey: sweet and thick with unspoken lust. I could feel the scab on the side of his lip from the fight, and it turned me on even more. The ruggedness of his lips and his raw power over me, there was nowhere to go but with him. I opened myself up to him, taking cues from his passion, pulling his hair while the other held tightly onto his shoulder.
“Now, let’s go,” he said as pulled back and walked confidently down the stairs.
I could already tell this date was going to leave me breathless.
Ethan
I couldn’t wait to see her face. That little angel had a devil on the inside of her just waiting to come out. She’d asked for a date and I was going to give her one—the most exciting date of her life.
“You brought me a helmet this time,” she grinned.
“I borrowed it from the garage,” I shrugged. It’s not that I can’t be thoughtful, I just don’t like people to know that I could. That’s how you get people thinking you’re a nice guy, and nice guys always finish last. Just look at my brother. “Plus, it’s the law.”
Riding a motorcycle is the human equivalent to flying. It effects every one of your senses. You smell, and subsequently taste everything. The air is full of smells from grass to burgers to smoke, and every hint of cow manure you might pass. You could smell everything. You could see everything. Riding is the IMAX of real life. No windows or pillars to block your view. Everything pours into your senses with no limitations. You could feel everything: the wind, the sun, and that small two percent drop of the temperature when you pass through tree lined sections of the road. Rain feels like tiny bullets. You hear white noise. You touch greatness.
Riding makes me feel equally immortal and human. I am never more myself than when I am going for a ride. The combination of fear, exhilaration, relaxation, and pleasure leads to this moment when everything comes together. I stop thinking about the next turn. I stop focusing on the details. I become a machine and there I find Zen. It settled over my head first, lifted my shoulders, and glided through my feet and to the wheels that keep me on earth. It’s godly. It’s superhuman, and that is why I ride.
I rode almost entirely on autopilot to the track.
“Where are we?” Kaylen asked as she took in the burnt rubber of the road, the revving engines, and the crowd.
“We’re at a drag race.”
There was a track with two separate lanes. From where I was standing, I could see a girl in a skirt not even long enough to be called a skirt, holding a sign in her hand. She walked around hoisting it in the air before prancing off to the side. In the middle was a board with lights. As soon as it turned green the bikers took off, leaving trails of dirt behind them. You couldn’t see a thing from behind, but the view from the side was beautiful. Surrounding the track were bleachers for the troves of onlookers. The crowd cheered loudly as the bikers revved their engines.
Kaylen’s eyes was big as bottle caps, and I couldn’t help laughing.
“Let me guess. Never been to one of these before?”
She bite her lip and nodded no.
“Well that’s what dates are for, right? To experience new things.”
“I am not getting on one of those.”
I liked how feisty she could be. It came out in spurts, but it was there nonetheless.
“No, you’re not. I am.”
Those facial expressions of hers, really, they were my favorite thing about her. You would have thought I’d said I was going to jump off a cliff from the way the blood drained from her face.
“You can’t,” she whispered.
I leaned down, taking her helmet from her hands and set it on the bike without looking. I could smell her perfume. Her eyes roamed down to my lips and I smiled. She wanted me.
“I can and I will. I’ve been doing this for years. I have a race and you’re going to sit in the audience and cheer for me, then afterwards,” I said, leaning closer to her lips, “I’m going to make good on my promises.”
I felt her shiver and I couldn’t help feeling cocky.
“Now,” I said, rubbing my thumb over her
lip. “A kiss for good luck.”
I liked owning things. I liked being in control. Kaylen had such a beautiful mouth. It would look even better swollen from kisses, I thought, sucking on her lips. She moaned in appreciation. I pulled her closer to me, holding her firmly by her pert ass. She wasn’t going anywhere unless I let her. She was shaking with need when I let her go, just the way I wanted her to be.
Her cheeks were flushed as she panted.
“You go sit over there.” I pointed. “In the highest bleachers, so you get the best view. I’m going over there to check in, and the race will be in about five minutes.”
She stood there in a daze, only moving when I smacked her on the ass.
“E-Man,” Shawn said, smacking me on the back. “I see you’ve got a new plus one.”
“Mind your business, man,” I chuckled.
“As you wish. You still only running one tonight.” He always spoke like a butler.
“Yeah, man. Got other things to take care of tonight.”
“Or someone.”
I shook my head as I parked my bike in the back. “Just check my name off for me. Okay?”
“Consider it done.”
I’d been racing for a while. The goal of drag racing is pretty basic: cross the quarter mile first and snag a lower time than your opponent. I knew I could do that, no problem. I would do that.
It didn’t take long before it was time. I rolled my bike out and looked to the bleachers to make sure Kaylen was safe. She sat in the tallest bleacher, legs and hands clamped tightly together. It was cute how nervous she was for me. Her pink shirt billowed softly in the wind only the highest seats could feel. The Arizona heat beat down on me and I gave her a thumbs up before pulling the visor down.
Clutch. Throttle. Shift. Brake.
Clutch. Throttle. Shift. Brake.
That’s all that I could focus on—all that matters. It was the difference between me winning and being a loser. I didn’t lose.
Silence ebbed into my world in slow motion. The crowd, the hum of my bike, the announcer’s voice; all gone. All I saw were the four large incandescent bulbs counting down to the final green light. Red, two yellows and a green. Did you know that the perfect human reaction time is about 0.4 seconds? I did. That’s why you never watched for green. You leave at the green light, and you’ll leave too late. I always watched the bottom yellow light.
Red.
Yellow.
Yellow.
My hands shifted and I flew forward.
Green.
I’ve done this enough times to fight the natural urge to raise my feet as the bike lurches forward. I know riding the first couple of feet with your legs down keeps the bike steady. Every bike has the perfect launch RPM. It depends on the engine in the bike, but without knowing it, taking off will cause a wheelie. I didn’t do wheelies on takeoff. I knew my bike.
I couldn’t see anything but what’s in front of me. You go, feeding in the throttle and gradually releasing the clutch. The point is to make the bike stay at the launch RPM. Hold it. Hold it—steady. Until the road speed matches the engine speed. The clutch is the modulator for a powerful delivery and as I crossed the finish line, I just knew—as I’ve known every time before—that I’d won. The sounds came back like a slap to the eardrums. They’re screaming for me. I was the winner, and as I drove slowly off track, I pumped my fist in the air.
I found Kaylen looking lost beneath the bleachers.
“Looking for me?”
She throws her arms around me and wraps her legs around my waist.
“That was incredible!”
“So you liked it?”
“I loved it,” she said, heat rushing to her cheeks.
Her looking like that, wrapped around me like that, was enough to make me take her on the ground where we were standing.
“Time to go home,” I said, carrying her to where I left my bike.
She nodded and together we mounted the bike like we’d been riding together for years.
I pulled into the parking lot of Whataburger and turned back in time to see Kaylen’s eyebrows raised.
“What? I have to feed you. We’re about to burn major calories and I don’t know about you, but I could go for a burger.”
Her face flushed again as I walked to the door, holding it for her as she walked in. I was definitely an asshole on my best days, but my mother’s nagging about being a gentleman was ingrained too deep for me to ignore.
We ordered, and I sat happy to see Kaylen didn’t any waste any time biting into her burger. A woman that can eat was a woman who would l work out tonight. I didn’t need to worry about whether she would be dehydrated or pass out. We sat in silence for a few moments, chewing.
“What else do you do besides race your bike?” she asked, wiping her mouth.
“I work on cars. I’m a mechanic.” I said, dipping my fries into her hot sauce.
“So you build cars too?”
“Yup. I race to win money to buy parts and build better bikes.”
“So, it’s a never ending cycle,” she smirked as she stole a fry from my tray.
I chuckled. “You could say I have an addiction.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being addicted to something that’s not harmful.”
I couldn’t say for sure that it wasn’t, so I said nothing. “You done?”
“Let me wash my hands first.”
We rode back, and instead of zoning out, I zoned in on the heat of Kaylen on my back. I could’ve been imagining it, but I could acutely feel the heat between her legs on me. Her hands around my waist felt like a tease, and when we climbed off the bike at her apartment, I was ready to strip her naked.
“You live alone?”
“Yeah,” she said looking up at me as she walked.
I wasn’t so engrossed in talking to her that I didn’t miss the white and green motorcycle parked in front of her building.
What the fuck?
“My brother’s here.”
“What?” she said looking at the bike like it was a snake that could bite her. “Why?” She asked me like I knew.
“Only one way to find out,” I said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her forward.
Chapter Six
Kaylen
When would I learn? Was I ever going to learn? Twins are dangerous. Evan was going to think I was a floozy. What am I going to say? What could I say?
Evan stood on my doorstep with flowers. How sweet was he?
His jaw clenched when he saw Ethan behind me and then shockingly, he laughed. “I don’t know why I didn’t expect this shit from you. I’ll admit, we ain’t shit for lying. I should have known better.”
Ethan chuckled and nodded. “True. Nice flowers.”
“They’re for you,” he said extending them to me.
“Thank you,” I said breathing them in. “They smell wonderful. Here, let me open the door so I can put them in some water.”
his was beyond awkward. I didn’t turn to look at either of them until I’d found a vase. It was best to pretend everything was alright. After filling the vase with water, I stuck in the bouquet of flowers in and turned around. The boys were still waiting in the doorway, leaning against opposite ends. They looked like mirror images of each other.
I stood there awkwardly, unsure what to say.
“Well—”
”Look, babe,” Ethan said cutting me off. I guessed it was Ethan, because Evan took the time to listen. “You gotta choose.”
“He’s right,” Evan said, his face neutral. I wanted so badly to know what was going on in his head. “I’m not about to compete with my brother.”
I stood there, frozen. What could I say? I couldn’t choose. How could I choose? I opened my mouth and closed it. I couldn’t say it out loud.
Well?” Ethan was so impatient.
“Don’t rush her,” Evan snapped, leaning forward menacingly.
“I… I…”
You what?” Ethan was practically foa
ming at the mouth.
I looked at them. How could they look so similar but be so different? To anyone who was looking, really looking, they could see. Ethan had a mole on the right side of his cheek. Evan had the same, but on his left. While they both had dimples, only Ethan smiled often enough to show them. Evan was more observant; Ethan was a wild boy prone to leaping before he looked. They were two completely different people, incapable of being interchangeable, and for that, I wanted them both.
“I can’t choose.”
‘Why not?” Ethan asked, fuming.
“Because…”
I couldn’t actually admit it out loud. Could I?
“Because what, Kaylen?”
I could feel my skin burning. I was probably red from head to toe.
Evan pushed off the doorway and leaned forward until we were eye to eye despite the countertop between us. “Tell me why, Kay.”
I could tell Evan. I could trust Evan with my truth. “Because I want you both,” I whispered.
I could see the desire burning in Evan’s eyes. The scent of his cologne drifted through my nostrils—a scent I was quickly becoming addicted to, and I knew he could see that reflected in my eyes. I was caught in his web, and the desire was outweighing the fear of rejection.
“You heard her, bro,” Ethan said from behind me. I hadn’t heard him move at all. “Can we put away the fighting and give the lady what she wants?”
As if compelled by some unseen sign, Evan stepped away and leaned against the counter. I could feel both their gazes like fingers caressing my needy swells. I could feel my cheeks flush crimson with heat and embarrassment.
A small half-closed smile played on Ethan’s lips. Evan pushed his fists in his pockets and licked his lips. “Alright. Take off your clothes.”
Both twins rounded me again until again they were both leaning against the kitchen counter, watching me.
My hands trembled as I grabbed the bottom of my blouse and pulled it over my head. I watched the fabric puddle on the floor before glancing up. Their eyes darkened with lust. My legs barely support me as I unzipped my pants and pushed it down until I could climb out of each leg.
Two pairs of blue eyes drank in my body in my black lace underwear. I wanted to turn away for courage, but I couldn’t look away from their intense stares. The kitchen lights were so bright, they could see everything. There was nowhere to hide. My full breasts, my stretchmarks, my scars, and my desire. The hunger in their eyes propelled my arms backward to unhook my bra, and I let it fall to the floor. My heavy breasts dropped and looking in their eyes, I let one hand trace the length of my collarbone and down until both hands explored my warm body. The cool air soothed my aching breasts, puckered with excitement. Squeezing and pinching my nipples set both men on edge. I could see Evan’s jaw clench and Ethan’s nose flare as I rubbed a pink nipple between my fingers.
