“You need a ride?”
My eyes widened, remembering the matte black motorcycle he rode to the hospital on. That thing was a beast. Was he on crack? Actually, that was a possibility with someone in a biker gang, club, I guess.
“On your bike?”
“Unless you wanna walk, but don’t this the wrong way, but you were like Bambi on your feet when you ran from the hospital there is no way in hell I could let you get behind the wheel.”
“Big Disney fan, are we?”
“Who doesn’t like Disney films?” Scoffing, he dropped the butt of his cigarette onto the ground, grinding into the asphalt with this black boot “Not anyone I want to associate with, that’s for sure.”
Laughing, “Whatever you say,” I was finding this guy, man, confusing. He looked like the stereotypical bad boy on the outside, danger oozed from him, but when he spoke, he sounded like the complete opposite.
“So, ride or walk?”
“Uber” I waved my cell phone in the air before opening up the app, shaking my head at him in the process. There was no way I was going anywhere with this complete stranger. Especially not on a god damned motorcycle.
Suddenly, reality hit me that in all honesty, I was probably the safest, being alone with him than with one of the people I should feel the most protected by. My mom. That thought alone made me regret saying that I wanted to go home, my numb fingers froze over my cell phone. There was no part of me that wanted to be anywhere near that woman right now.
Rolling his eyes at me, he asked, “You sure you wanna go home, Peaches?”
“Not even a little,” I admit. “But where else am I going to go, can’t stay here all night. There are all sorts of weirdos that could be hanging around.”
“Did you just call me a weirdo, Peaches?”
“I simply made a statement. However, you chose to interoperate it is your problem.”
Busting out another loud laugh, catching the attention of a couple walking past us, I smiled. I am sure we were a sight to behold. He in all of his hugeness, and me sat in my Hudson High cheerleading uniform.
“You’re actually pretty funny.”
“Well, don’t sound so surprised about it:” Feeling almost carefree, sitting on this bench with this stranger felt almost nice. It felt comforting.
“You could come to the clubhouse.”
“Sorry?”
Pointing to The Unholy Confessions tattoo on his forearm that matched the patch on the back of his leather vest. An antique looking cross and a skull surrounded by the clubs’ name.
“Clubhouse,” The name Stag was sown on the right side of it. I remembered noticing it when I had been on the ground. After the first time, I had passed out. Why did they call him that?
“I don’t know if that’s…”
“You worried about slumming it, Peaches.”
Why did I like it when he called me that?
“Shut the fuck up,” I shoved his shoulder with mine “I just meant, I don’t think they would be too impressed with me turning up in their space is all” The rest of his gang, club.
“The crew won’t give two shits,” he smiled. “Plus, some of them will probably think you’re a hooker or something in that little cheer outfit” his eyes began to roam my body, and for the first time around him, I felt like he was violating me, in the best kind of way. I liked the way he was almost undressing me with those cold, pale blue eyes.
“Excuse you?” Unable to stop myself from crossing my arms over my chest, I just looked up at him. “And you accused me of being the one with the bad mouth,” I couldn’t help but snicker.
“I mean it, we have spare rooms and shit, if you don’t want to go home, you have a place you can crash.”
“Thanks,” looking down at my sneakers, I added, “But, I think I probably need to go home. Why delay the inevitable fight that is going to happen?” Just then, my stomach rumbled, making me lurch forwards. It hurt so much.
“Yeah, you need to eat something, Peaches” throwing an unlit cigarette on the ground, he held his hand out to me as he stood up. “There’s a diner across the street, come on.”
“I don..”
“My treat come on, don’t make me carry you, again.”
Again?
Swallowing the excessive saliva in my mouth, I weighed my options. Go home and confront mom or go with this stranger. Ashby, who was in a motorcycle gang, club. Ashby, who was hot as hell and possibly get murdered or something.
“Fuck it,” standing up, I swayed a little, causing his eyes to pull together in concern.
“Yeah, you need to eat something quick, Peaches.”
What the hell was I doing?
Losing my damned mind. That is what my best friend would be telling me right now if he could see me. Hell, anyone in my crew would say the same damn thing, yet I couldn’t stop myself from doing exactly that. Being right here, with her.
Watching as those pale green eyes gazed over the menu, I couldn’t fathom how her mom could do what she had done to her. Her own flesh and blood.
It was fucked up, in every way.
Parents were the God damn worst, and I should know. I had the first-hand experience of them, of just how shitty they could be. How selfish they were, and I wouldn’t wish even a third of what I had been dealt with on her.
There was every chance, though, that this was just one thing that this girl had dealt with, and that made me both angry and sad. Angrier than anything. Fucking parents.
Those light green eyes kept glancing over the top of the menu she held in her small shaking hands as if she was avoiding looking directly at me.
I could tell that she wondered what I was doing here, with her, and if she asked me, what would I even say?
When I saw you this afternoon, I thought you were pretty fucking beautiful?
Yeah, I’m sure that doesn’t sound at all like something a shady motherfucker would say.
I was a lot older than her, and she was clearly a teenager, even if the cheer outfit didn’t give it away. Way too fucking young to be sat here, with me.
“What do you want?” I ask. Clearing my throat in the process as the waitress came to a stop between the two of us, in her pale pink shirt and way too tight black skirt.
Unlike the girl I was sat with, her eyes were glued to the side of my face, completely ignoring that someone else was even sat at the table with me.
No matter where I went in this godforsaken town because I wore the club leather vest and had more ink than the average dude, the looks were always the same.
What is he doing here?
Will he mug me?
Attack me?
Hurt me?
How many people do you think he has killed?
Will he fuck me, hard?
The trouble was yeah, okay, so my hands weren’t the cleanest, and some shit did happen in the club, but we did a lot to keep this town safe, and they would never even know about it.
This place could be as riddled with drugs as Los Angeles if we didn’t stop it at the source. We had driven him out a long time ago, but there were still people here who tried, who he had on his payroll. Weston was a dead man walking if he showed his face around here again, especially after what happened last year.
“Pancakes, with bacon and water, please,” Peaches finally spoke, moving her eyes from me to the waitress who was chewing her gum, continuing to stare at me the entire time Peaches spoke. With these big eyes, yeah, it didn’t take a genius to guess what this waitress was thinking about. Sex.
They all wanted a bad boy that could make them scream between the sheets. That was until they realized just how bad they those bad boys could be, and then they soon ran the fuck away, as fast as they could.
“And you, what can I get you?” Pushing her chest in my direction as she spoke, I turned my own eyes back to Peaches as I gave my order.
“Black coffee and come peach cobbler” I couldn’t help but wink at Peaches, who flushed, making me smirk further.
As the wai
tress finally left our table, Peaches spat out, “That your favorite fruit or something?”
“Seems to be that way, doesn’t it?”
“So, how old are you, Ashby?”
“Thirty-one” Thirteen years older than you and should know better. Yet here we are.
Having been surrounded by an abundance of women being in the club, I had never been shy of female attention, ever. But in all honesty, I never wanted anything outside of a quick fuck. It was why I was known as Stag in the crew. Always craving to be alone, even if I never was, a sour taste filled my mouth at that thought. Being alone with her here, though, there was something about being around her that pulled me in, and I didn’t know what to fucking make of that.
“You go to Hudson High?” Asking her as our plates of food were finally placed in front of us after she had gone silent, after hearing just how much older than her I was.
“Obviously,” she pointed at her sexy as sin red and black cheer outfit. That thing was shorter than it should be considering teenagers wore them. Fucking shoot me for getting turned on by it. I dare you.
“I was only making conversation. Want me to stay silent? Can do, Peaches.”
Narrowing her green eyes at me, she let out an annoyed huff that made my jeans tighten further.
“Why do you call me that?” Because as soon as I was close to you, it was all I could smell. It was like she had bathed in it, and I fucking loved it. That and her hair looked like a peach as well, one that I wanted to bite into.
Ignoring her question, I just dug into my cobbler, “Eat, before you pass out” again.
“Fine,” giving me another annoyed little huff, she did just that. “God, these are good.”
Snorting “That’s because you’re hungry, I know better” Why the hell did she think I was eating a dessert?
“Bullshit,” she said through a mouthful of pancakes and bacon.
“There’s that bad mouth again,” shooting her a wink, I added, “pancakes happen to be my specialty.”
“Right,” rolling those intriguing eyes right at me, “That why you ordered, that?” pointing her fork at my cobbler, which actually tasted like ass. For the record.
“Mainly ordered it to mess with you, Peaches.”
“Jesus,” she blew out a breath, blowing a strand of hair out of her face, “Why did you stay, at the hospital?”
“My uncle Daryl, the pres of our club, is with Marilyn. I was waiting for her to finish her shift that should have ended hours before” Daryl would have pissed if I had left her to get the bus back. Which is what she had probably done while I was with Peaches right now. Pinky had gone back to the parlor while I had waited outside for her, and then when Peaches came running out like Bambi on ice, I couldn’t stop myself from following her.
“Pres?” Her eyes squinted as her button nose scrunched in confusion.
“President” Clarifying, I held the steaming black coffee in both hands. Watching as confusion continued to fill her eyes.
“Like, of the Whitehouse?” now that made me laugh, loudly.
“All MC’s have a president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer keeps everyone in line and accountable.”
“MC’s?”
“Motorcycle club.”
“So, it is like a gang?”
“It’s not a gang,” I repeated my earlier statement. What was with this chick and me being in a gang?
“Sure, sounds like one to me,” raising the glass of water to her lips, she asked, “Do you have to be initiated into it?”
“We have prospects, yeah.” There was no way in hell I was going to tell her what those fuckers had to do if she asked me. She would one hundred percent be convinced it was gang if she knew.
“See, it is a gang.” For the love of God.
“Whatever you say, Peaches, but I am going to prove you wrong.”
“Is it good?” Huh? “The peach cobbler?”
“Honestly, it tastes like ass, I’m sure there is something that tastes much better” unable to help myself, the innuendo was clear in my statement. I bet you taste better. Sweeter.
“Jesus Christ,” she whispered but not quiet enough that I didn’t hear her say it. The smile on my face let her know that I had indeed heard what she had muttered under her breath.
“So, this boyfriend of yours got a name?” I don’t know why I was so bothered by the fact that she had one. She was fucking beautiful, why wouldn’t she have someone who got to call her his?
A solid minute passed before she answered me, “I didn’t say I had a boyfriend,” giving her a raised brow, she sighed at the look on my face, “Brandon.”
As that one little name passed her delicate lips, my stomach dropped slightly. “As in Brandon Matthews?” His father was well known in this city but unfortunately known to me for another reason altogether. The thought that he had been near her, that Brandon’s hands had touched her, I could feel the anger begin to bubble, turning my blood to lava.
“Yeah, you know him?”
Attempting to calm myself down, I pressed my curled fists into my thighs, that lava felt like it could erupt at any moment, “In a way.”
“And what does that mean?”
“What did you mean when you said it was debatable that he was your boyfriend?” I had known precisely what she had meant out on that bench, even she hadn’t said the words out loud. She wouldn’t look at me. Instead, she kept those eyes on her plate. Like it was the most exciting thing she had seen all damn day. “Peaches?”
“Let’s just say he doesn’t really have much interest in me, outside of school” what the hell did she mean by that and why the fuck was I getting so angry at the prospect that he didn’t treat her the way she should be treated? The way that she deserved to be treated.
“Sometimes I think he just wants me because of our parents, and I’m also ninety-nine percent sure he has been sleeping with someone else on the squad, and the thing is, I should have been bothered about that, right? The fact that he is sleeping more than likely with Camila, because I won’t, but I’m not” She wouldn’t sleep with him? Did that mean she was a virgin? No way.
“You love him?”
“No,” she answered instantly, and that one word began to dilute the anger. “I don’t think I even really like him all that much.”
“So, why are you with him?”
“I’ve been asking myself the same question a lot lately” Sighing, she began to run a hand down her face. “Our parents pushed us together when we were younger, we used to have fun when we were kids, but now, I guess even when we first started dating, it was nice. I don’t know, I guess it feels like I’m being suffocated by all sides.”
“What do you want, in life?”
“I just want to be happy” her sad eyes looked like she was the furthest from that than she possibly could be, “and free of the…. free of the bullshit that my life feels like its full of right now.”
“I can understand that”
“You know, today I was feeling off and lightheaded and instead of asking if I was okay, or hell even noticing I wasn’t right in the first place. He called me an embarrassment because I didn’t hear someone ask me a question,” fucking piece of shit. “And then he accused me of taking drugs.”
When she continued to look down at her half-empty plate, I couldn’t keep my damn mouth shut. “You can have anything you want in life, Peaches, you have just got to fight for it. Sometimes you have to fight even harder than you think you can. But if you really want something, you can do it. I know you can do it, Peaches” Fight for it.
When she stayed silent, I knew that I had probably said way too damn much, overstepping the fucking boundaries.
“Come on, time to call that Uber” before I drag you back to the clubhouse, lock you in my room and never let you back out.
“Your offer not good anymore?” for a split second, I thought I had said that last bit out loud “A ride?”
“Oh, trust me, Peaches. That offer is always open to
you. There is nothing I would like more than having your body wrapped around mine as we feel the vibrations of the hog beneath us. But you’re still shaky on your legs, and I don’t want you to fall off and hurt yourself” I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened because of me and my need to be close to this girl. This teenage girl who I should not want to be with at all. It was every kind of wrong. But was it?
My need to be near her was getting stronger than it should be, especially knowing myself as well as I did.
Peaches: MC Romance (The Unholy Confessions Book 1) Page 4