Wrecker

by Winter Travers

  “I don’t want to do this, Wrecker. Please let me go,” she said quietly.

  I never force anyone to do something they didn’t want to do, but I knew the only way Alice was going to get past whatever the hell was going on inside her head was to talk about it. “Not until you tell me why, Alice.”

  I felt the change in her. She went from happy, to sad, and now pissed the hell off. She laid her hands on my chest and leaned down on them. “Why what, Wrecker? Why don’t I want to see my friends? Because I have to tell them where I’ve been. Why I haven’t been around. Why don’t I want to tell them where I’ve been?” She took a deep breath. “Because then I have to talk about my mother. My mother who died exactly eleven days ago. My mother who was my absolute world and is now gone.” She gritted her teeth and fought the tears that were clogging her throat. “I had one person left in this world who cared about me, and now they are gone. I don’t want to go to Weston because then, I have to think about her, and when I think about her, all I want to do is cry.” She dissolved into a mess of tears and sniffling. I pulled her down to my chest and wrapped my arms around her.

  There wasn’t anything I could say to make her feel better. She had to go through it. She had to feel the loss. There wasn’t rhyme or reason to how she should feel or what she should do. Some people surrounded themselves with people when they felt a loss. Others, like Alice, didn’t want to be with anyone. They felt their world had been tipped on its axis and sank into that.

  She was wrong saying the only person who had cared about her was gone. She had Nikki, Karmen, Cora, and Wren back in Weston who were her friends. All the guys in the club thought she was crazy, but they didn’t want anything to happen to her.

  I cared about her. I hadn’t been in her life for long, but I cared about her more than she knew. After spending the last week or so with her, I got to know her for more than her crazy ass and one-liners. “Just breathe, babe.”

  Hiccups rocked her body, and she wiped her face with the back of her hand. “This is wh-why I don’t want to talk about this, Wrecker. I’m a hot m-m-mess.”

  “You gotta get it out.”

  She laid her head back down and shook it back and forth. “I don’t want it out. I don’t want anyone to know. It’s mine, Wrecker, and you can’t make me talk about it.”

  I would give her more time, but she wasn’t going to keep that grief bottled up for forever. “You don’t have to tell anyone, babe, but you can talk to me about it whenever you want. I’ll listen.” I didn’t want her to think I would preach at her or tell her to get over it if she talked about it. A loss like the one she had wasn’t one she would ever get over.

  “You do a lot of listening to me, don’t you?” she whispered.

  “I do.” I brushed my hand down her back. “But I think we should go to Weston today.”

  Her body tightened, and she shook her head. “No, Wrecker. I just told you all the reasons why I don’t want to. I can’t talk about my mom today. I can’t be a blubbering mess all day.”

  “You don’t need to tell them today, babe.”

  “They’re gonna ask where I’ve been. Why I haven’t called or texted.”

  “You can tell them I’ve been keeping you too busy to do anything but work and stay in bed.”

  She lifted her head and looked at me in disbelief. “You’re crazy. You know that’s just going to open up a whole other can of worms. All they’re gonna do is ask who, what, when, where, and how. Mostly the how. I wasn’t on your radar before this.”

  No one had been on my radar before her. I had chicks I would sleep with occasionally, but there wasn’t anyone I went back to time and again. I had noticed Alice before, but I knew she was the kind of light someone like me didn’t get to stand in. “Just tell ‘em it happened and the details aren’t any of their business.”

  “That only works for you, Wrecker. All you do is scowl at someone and they wouldn’t ask you where the fire extinguisher was if they were on fire.”

  That was a good skill to have. Sometimes, you didn’t have time to tell people to fuck off. A look was all you had to get the point across sometimes. “You need me to give that look to your girls, just let me know.”

  A giggle bubbled from her lips. “I think if I did that, they’d never talk to me again.”

  “Your choice, babe.”

  She sighed and laid her head back down on my chest. “You’re gonna make me go even though I don’t want to, aren’t you?” she mumbled.

  “I am.”

  *

  Chapter 12

  Alice

  I needed a drink. A big one.

  We had pulled up to the clubhouse, and my heart was beating a mile a minute. “Oh darn, doesn’t look like anyone is here.”

  Wrecker shook his head. “Never mind the seven bikes and four cars,” he mumbled. “Hop off.”

  Argh. Damn him for driving us here. I slid off the bike and waited off to the side as he stood up. I unhooked the helmet and held it out to him. “Is there a reason why I have to wear a helmet and you don’t have to?”

  He grabbed it and hung it on the handlebars. “Precious cargo, babe.”

  I tried to act like his words didn’t melt the ice I had formed around my heart on the drive over here. I was mad he had decided we were going to come here even when I had told him I didn’t want to. I had even given him some pretty darn good excuses too. I hadn’t even fed him a line of bullshit either. “Precious cargo you delivered to a place it doesn’t want to be.”

  He grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the front door. “You’ll thank me later.”

  “Wait.” I tugged on his hand, and he surprisingly stopped. “I really don’t have to tell them. Anything?”

  “They ask where you been, tell ‘em you’ve been with me. They got any more questions, send ‘em my way.”

  This is where the man confused the hell out of me. He was making me do something I didn’t want to, but he was making it bearable. More than bearable. He was going to take all the heat off me. “I don’t want to lie.”

  He reached up and cupped my cheek with his hand. “You haven’t been with me the past week?”

  It had been more than a week. “Well, for some of it, I have been.”

  “You think they are going to ask for a detailed timeline of what you have been doing, babe?”

  “Well, no.” That would be ridiculous if they did. “But I know they are going to want to know more than just you and I have been hanging out.”

  His thumb brushed against my cheek. “Just tell them whatever you feel like. They’ll accept anything you have to say as long as you don’t keep shutting them out.”

  “You make this so easy.”

  “Stick with me, and I’ll take care of you, babe.” His lips brushed against mine, and I wished for a few moments of silence between Wrecker and me.

  “Can’t we just sneak into your room? Kind of interested in what it looks like.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Especially your bed.”

  “Play nice with your friends, and maybe I’ll give you a tour.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “You’re always doing that to me. Giving me something but only if I do something else.”

  “And yet you keep agreeing with everything,” he whispered against my lips. “Let’s go.” He turned around, but I didn’t budge ‘til my arm was outstretched and I had no choice but to follow him.

  I fell in step next to him and sighed. “I’m only doing this because once we get in your room, I’m going to have my way with your beard.”

  “I’m afraid to ask what all that entails,” he murmured.

  He pulled open the door, and I ducked inside. “I’m also getting a shirt that says ‘I did it all for the beard.’” I looked over my shoulder and winked.

  “You’re only wearing that shirt when you’re with me. Lord knows all the weirdos you’ll attract with that plastered over your chest.”

  I batted my eyelashes. “It sounds like you care, Wrecker.”

  He wra
pped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. It didn’t matter where we were or who was around us. When Wrecker put his hands on me, everything disappeared. “I care more than you know, babe.” His hand slid up my arm and up my neck. His fingers threaded through my hair and tugged my head back.

  Whoa.

  He brushed his lips against mine but I wanted more than a brief kiss. I raised up on my tiptoes and followed his retreating lips. “More.” Yes, I wanted more.

  “Holy fuck.”

  Shit.

  Everything came flooding back. Where we were. Who was here.

  Double shit.

  “Can’t you see I’m fucking busy?” Wrecker growled. He rested his head against mine and closed his eyes. “Maybe we should do that tour of my room first.”

  Now we were talking. I was so down with that plan.

  “Oh. My. God.”

  And just like that, we were both completely jerked out of the moment. Of course, Pipe and Nikki would be the ones to see Wrecker and me together.

  “Pinch me, Pipe,” Nikki whispered loudly.

  A grin spread across my lips, and Wrecker raised his head. “Can’t you both see I got something cooking right now?”

  I stood on my tip toes and glimpsed Nikki with her jaw dropped and Pipe standing next to her. Might as well get the fifty questions over with. “Hey,” I waved.

  “Alice!” Nikki shouted.

  “Holy hell,” Wrecker muttered. He took a step back right before Nikki ran straight into me and wrapped me up in a hug.

  I could have sworn Wrecker mumbled something along the lines of “I told you so,” but Nikki was talking a mile a minute and it was hard to keep up, let alone listen to Wrecker’s mumbling.

  “What are you doing here? How did you get here? Did you come with Wrecker? Was he just kissing you? How is that with a beard? I need to call Karmen to tell her to get here with Cole. How’s Bos? Why haven’t you called me? How did Wrecker get you?”

  My head swam at all the rapid-fire questions. “I can’t even answer one of those questions, Nikki, cause I can’t even remember one of them.”

  She released me from her tight hug and took a step back. “What are you doing here?”

  “Uh, Wrecker and I were kind of in the neighborhood and decided we should stop.” That was kind of the truth. Wrecker had been the one to decide we come, and I was just forced to go along with it.

  “That also answered my question of did you come with Wrecker. Was he really just kissing you?”

  I looked over my shoulder to see Wrecker had walked over to Pipe and they were deep in conversation. “Uh, yeah, he was kissing me.”

  Nikki clapped her hands together and squealed. “That is awesome!” She leaned close. “What’s it like to kiss him with all of that beard going on?”

  Awesome was the word that came to mind. “It’s good.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Just good?”

  “Really good?” I laughed.

  She pulled her phone out and typed out a quick message. “I’m sure Karmen will be here as soon as she sees my message.” She shoved her phone back in her pocket and continued her questioning. “How’s Bos?”

  “Uh, good. We went out last night. Almost got arrested.”

  Nikki’s jaw dropped. “You got Bos to go out with you? How the hell did you manage to swing that one?”

  “I made him.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Sounds about the only way you can get Bos to do anything.”

  That was the truth.

  “Why haven’t you called me lately?”

  This was the question I didn’t want to answer. I didn’t want to tell her, but I knew that as soon as I opened my mouth, everything was just going to rush out.

  “I’ve kept her a little occupied,” Wrecker called.

  Nikki wiggled her eyebrows. “Now that sounds like a good reason not call or text your best friend.”

  Wrecker was totally getting a blow job when he showed me his room.

  “But how did that happen?” Nikki asked.

  “Jesus Christ, Nikki. What the hell kind of question is that?” Pipe asked.

  “A valid one,” she countered.

  “Yeah, well, sounded like you couldn’t believe that Wrecker would be interested in Alice.”

  It had, but I knew what she meant. “Someone has to put up with my crazy, right? At least, for a bit.”

  Nikki tilted her head to the side.

  “You call Karmen?” Pipe asked.

  Nikki was looking at me weird. She was thinking about something, and I didn’t want to know what it was. “Uh, yeah. I texted her,” she replied absently. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Ack! Abort, abort. “Never better.” I plastered a huge smile on my face and took a step toward Wrecker. I was going to have to keep the damn man plastered to my side if I wanted to make it through the rest of the day.

  “You seem different.”

  “She’s probably tired. I kept her up most of the night.”

  Nikki’s jaw dropped again. “My sweet Jesus.”

  She really did seem shocked by the fact Wrecker and I were bumpin’ uglies. I mean, it had only happened twice, and it was still pretty new, but I didn’t think it was all together that shocking.

  “So, what are you guys up to? Come to check in on us? It hasn’t even been a full damn day since you left,” Pipe asked.

  Wrecker nodded to the bar. “You want a drink, babe?”

  The man was a mind-reader. A drink sounded fucking fantastic. “I’m a little parched.”

  Nikki laughed. “I was just about to run to the store to get champagne for mimosas. Pipe was giving me shit saying I couldn’t bring something that fancy into the clubhouse.”

  I had been craving a mimosa, but I would have to ride along with Nikki alone. There wasn’t a way for Wrecker to come with me without looking like a complete nutbag. Nikki was my friend. We used to hang out all the time when she lived in Kales Corners, and even when she had moved back to Weston to live with Pipe, we stayed in touch. Now I was a fucking weirdo who freaked out about hanging out with her alone.

  Wrecker moved toward us and grabbed my hand. “Have Freak run and get it. No reason you two need to get it when we have a perfectly good prospect to run and get shit.” He squeezed my hand, and I couldn’t ignore the peaceful calm that came over me from his simple touch.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. The beard and crazy one hooked up.” Cora stood by the end of the bar with her hands on her hips. “Tell me I’m not the only who is completely and utterly blown away by this.”

  “You still here?” Wrecker asked.

  She flipped him off. “I’m here ‘cause you guys can’t seem to get shit figured out.”

  “You have your brother to thank for all of that, Cora. I’m the one trying to get it straightened out without anyone getting a bullet between the eyes.” Wrecked parked me onto a stool, and now, I was the one with my jaw dropped.

  “Uh, bullet between the eyes?” I croaked.

  Cora spread her arms out. “Welcome to the Fallen Lords, Alice,” she laughed. “Though you really don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to bullets. Your beard, on the other hand, isn’t so lucky.” I looked at Wrecker, who was glaring at Cora.

  “You got anything better to be doing right now other than scaring my girl?” His voice was flat, with a menacing tone. He wasn’t happy. I had hung out with Cora many times, and I knew she didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut even when it was in her best interest to do so.

  Cora sat down next to me and draped her arm over my shoulders. “Don’t look so pale, Alice. Wrecker is good at dodging bullets.”

  Wrecker shook his head. “Maybe coming here wasn’t the best idea,” he mumbled.

  “Is anyone going to find Freak to have him go get me champagne?” Nikki was still standing by the door with her hands on her hips. “I need to know if I have to go or if he is.”

  “Freak!” Pipe yelled.


  “Because we don’t have phones where you can message or call him.” Wrecker shook his head and moved to the other side of the bar. He picked up a container of orange juice and shook it. “Tell him to get orange juice, too.”

  “Oh, my bad. That was totally me last night. I was drinking screwdrivers while I watched some murder mystery show.” Cora reached over the bar and grabbed a glass. “They were going down like water while I tried to figure out who would kill the kindergarten teacher.”

  “Who did it?” I asked,

  “Not a fucking clue ‘cause I passed out from too many screwdrivers.” She cackled and held her empty glass out to Wrecker. “You playing bartender?”

  “Not for your ass.” He grabbed two glasses, dropped some ice cubes in them, and filled them with water.

  “Uh, I think you’re forgetting something.”

  He looked up at me.

  “Booze,” I whispered.

  He set the glass in front of me and shook his head. “Drink that.”

  Uh, what?

  “Is he like this in bed?” Cora asked.

  I turned my head to look at her. “Makes me drink water?”

  She scoffed and shook her head. “No, dumb-dumb. I mean, is he this bossy.”

  Oh. That was a definite hell yeah.

  “You need to rehydrate from last night before you start drinking again,” he cut in before I could reply.

  I lifted the glass to my lips. “The answer is yes, Cora. Though it’s much sexier when he doesn’t have any pants on.”

  “Drink,” he growled.

  “Someone yell for me?”

  I looked around Cora and saw a guy peeking his head into the common room. He looked like your normal, average guy but he had a cut on like Wrecker.

  “Champagne and orange juice,” Wrecker called. “Take longer than fifteen minutes and you have to wash my bike.”

  Cora laughed, and Nikki came to sit next to me. “It’s really amazing that you guys manage to get prospects to stay. The liquor store is five minutes away, and I doubt he’ll be able to get orange juice there.”

  I drank half of my water and set it down. “He can. Most liquor stores have common mixers stocked. At least in Kales Corners they do, and Weston is more than twice the size. Though, I have to agree that your way of being an ass doesn’t seem to be a good motivator for ‘ol Freak.”