by Blair Grey
“So do you not want to get drinks or what?” I asked slightly impatiently.
“No, I do!” Grant hurriedly said. “Let me just put my shoes on.”
He followed me to the bar, mostly silent along the way. “I just know that you don’t really want to hang out with me,” he said as we were getting close to Sunshine. “But I’m glad you changed your mind.”
“You’re not terrible,” I said gruffly, not sure what else to say in response. He was right; I didn’t exactly want to hang out with him. But at the same time, it wasn’t like he was a bad kid. We just were two very different people.
Not for the first time, I had to wonder why he thought that joining Red Eyes was a good idea. Being desperate for friends and wanting that camaraderie and that sense of family was one thing, but if you had to change your whole personality to fit in and make friends, was it really worth it? There had to be easier ways for him to make friends.
Especially since for all the time that he’d been in Red Eyes, he apparently still felt like an outsider. At that point, why not just give it up and be done with it?
The questions were still with me as we sat at a table with our beers. Sunshine was pretty dead that night, not unusual for a Tuesday. Mia and Candice were laughing together behind the bar, and I wished I could join their conversation. That maybe I could have Mia all to myself for the night. But that wasn’t the way things were, and at least asking Grant about his reasons for being with Red Eyes was one way to distract myself and keep the conversation rolling.
“Did you grow up here in Las Cruces?” I decided to start with. Grant was an open book, though; ask him that one question and he went off telling me all about his childhood here.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding his head. “Been here my whole life and probably will be until I die.” He shrugged. “I mean, where else am I supposed to go? I’m a high school dropout, so it’s not like I have many college prospects, and I don’t have any family. I’m an orphan. Before I joined Red Eyes, I was just working trade labor jobs. Paving driveways and stuff like that mostly.”
I was surprised to hear echoes of my own story in his. I hadn’t known that he was an orphan before, and I wondered how it had never come up. Or maybe it had, and I just hadn’t been listening. Landon was always the listener out of the two of us.
Regardless, I knew how tough the system could be. I nodded at him. “Yeah, Landon and I were in and out of foster homes growing up,” I told him. “Definitely wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
“You’re lucky then. I guess. In some ways.” Grant looked like he thought he might have said the wrong thing, and he hurried to continue, “I was stuck in the orphanage for most of my life. I wasn’t the cutest kid, you know. Kind of scrawny, with these big ears. No one really wanted me. And then I was too old for anyone to be interested in. So no foster homes for me, just the orphanage. I know things with foster families aren’t like what you see on TV, either, but at least you had, you know, a home.”
“At least you had other kids around,” I pointed out. I’d always been secretly jealous of the kids that weren’t bounced around from family to family. Some of the places Landon and I had lived had been crazy, overflowing with kids. But there had been other times when we’d lived on the outskirts of the city with no one near us who was even remotely close to our age. It was times like that that I’d been glad to have my twin with me.
In fact, I still had to wonder how we had managed to stay together through all those years. Maybe it was different since we were twins, but most of the sibling sets I knew had been split up from a young age. What would things have been like if I hadn’t had Landon with me?
Now that I knew that Ray was our father and that he was keeping tabs on us the whole time, I wondered if it was something that he’d had a hand in, keeping us together. He had to know the right people, and he definitely knew how to grease palms to get what he wanted. Maybe I should ask him about it sometime, but I didn’t generally like to talk about those years in my life. They were over now, and good riddance.
I’d make an exception with Grant, though. It seemed like this was something that he needed to talk about if the slightly haunted look to his eyes was anything to go by.
He shrugged. “There were plenty of other kids, sure,” he told me, looking down into his beer. “But none of them ever liked me.” He took a healthy swallow, and I could tell how bitter he was about that fact. And suddenly, his whole personality made a lot more sense. As well as why he was here with Red Eyes. He literally didn’t have any other prospects, and he didn’t actually expect that he was going to make friends with anyone. Poor kid.
I knew he wouldn’t want me to pity him, though, so I made sure to keep those thoughts off my face. “Well, I’m going to do some work with you to help you fit in with Red Eyes,” I told him. “Sure you’ll be unstoppable once you have a little more confidence.”
Grant grinned at me, and it was hard not to picture an excited puppy in front of me. We had a lot of work to do with him, but I was starting to understand what I needed to do. Maybe Ray had been right, and he just needed someone to take him out for drinks a few times to get him feeling like he actually fit in with the rest of the guys.
It was still a struggle to come up with things to chat with Grant about as we worked our way through a couple beers, but it wasn’t impossible. The more I got him talking, the more he opened up about not only his past but also about what he liked to do in his free time. We started talking about bikes eventually, and he actually knew quite a bit about maintenance and rare bikes. I let him prattle on for a while, trying not to make it obvious that I was looking over at Mia every so often to make sure that she was still there behind the bar.
Because even as I was listening with half an ear to Grant, I was picturing Mia naked and bent over one of the tables, her ass gloriously round and pale as I pounded into her from behind. I could see her back arching, her fingers scrabbling for purchase against the old wood. I could hear her moaning and whimpering for more, because she had been noisy the night before, in such a deliciously wonderful way.
Eventually, Grant got up to go to the bathroom, leaving me in peace for a moment, and I turned my full attention to Mia, watching as she scrubbed at glasses behind the bar. She lifted her eyes to meet mine when she must have felt my gaze on her, and a slow grin spread across her face.
She set her glass and her rag down and came out from the bar, sashaying over to me. “How’s it going?” she asked, leaning against my chair.
I craned my neck to look up at her. “Better, actually,” I told her. And that was the truth, not just because she was standing close enough to make the hairs at the back of my neck prickle with the increased sexual tension between us.
“Good,” Mia said, smirking like she already knew that I was mentally undressing her. “You know, I was thinking that maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you’re not such a dick after all.” She lowered her voice when she said it, like this was some secret between the two of us, and I had to laugh.
Before Grant returned from the bathroom and caught us chatting, she turned and went back to the bar.
12
Mia
I had kind of wanted to go home with Braxton on Tuesday night when he was in the bar with Grant, but I also didn’t want to make it a thing. And going home with someone two nights in a row was kind of a thing. Instead, I played it cool, chatting with him just enough to let me know that he was thinking about having sex with me again, but not enough that Grant got suspicious about us.
Or so I hoped.
The other person I was trying to keep from getting suspicious was Candice, but that was a lost cause.
“You were looking out for the Red Eyes guys again, weren’t you?” Candice asked on Friday night as we were closing down the bar.
I gave her a guilty look, knowing that my look of disappointment must have been pretty transparent. She laughed. “Yeah, pretty much every time the door opened tonight, you were looking at it.”
<
br /> “I always do that,” I told her. “Good to see if you can figure out what the customer is going to want before they even have to tell you. Makes the transaction that much smoother. That’s how I get all my tips.”
“Fair enough,” Candace said. “But usually you’re just looking to see who it is. Tonight, you were looking for a specific someone.”
“I was not!” I lied.
She laughed. “Come on; I saw you with Braxton the other night. Leaning against his chair and everything, your hand on his shoulder. You couldn’t have been more obvious.”
“We’re not dating,” I said.
“I didn’t think you were,” Candice said sounding amused. “But you’re sleeping together, aren’t you?”
“Once,” I told her. I paused and then shrugged sheepishly. “With the promise that we’re probably going to do it again sometime.” Hopefully soon, my mind added, but I didn’t say the words out loud. I kept waking up wet and wanton that week, though. I tried to tell myself that it was just that the sex had been good. And that it had been a while since I had been with anyone. Only natural for my body to crave his so badly.
But I knew it was probably more than that too. Still, I wasn’t about to start a relationship with him. And he didn’t seem to want that from me either. He had been pretty quick to agree that it was just sex. Why complicate things?
“You’ve got to get your priorities straight,” Candice groaned. “Just sex? The guy’s practically a god, and he’s got a good personality to boot. Unless it’s just that you don’t want to get tangled up in the MC stuff?”
“Nah, it’s not that,” I told her, shaking my head. “And he is a good guy. Surprisingly good actually.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “To be honest, I expected him to be more of your stereotypical player. You know, kind of a douchebag. But he’s better than I thought.” I knew that he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be hanging out with Grant, but the two of them had seemed like they were getting along surprisingly well the other night. Like they were having a good heart-to-heart, almost.
Add that to the fact that Braxton and I had been texting back and forth all week. Nothing too major, just a few messages here and there. He was surprisingly sweet when I told him about the long shift I’d pulled the other day when Candice hadn’t been feeling well, and he’d even gone so far as to offer to bring me dinner. I would have taken him up on it, too, if I hadn’t already packed up the previous day’s leftovers to bring to work with me.
“So if he’s a good guy and he’s got a good body, remind me again why you’re not jumping at the chance to be in a relationship with him?” Candice asked.
I snorted, “You know it’s not that simple,” as I stacked chairs on top of tables. “Don’t get me wrong, I like him, and I do think he’s going to make some girl very happy someday. But for me, it’s just not a possibility right now.” I paused, biting at my lower lip. “I just don’t know that I could really open up to him in the way that I would need to in a relationship,” I admitted. “I don’t know if I could trust him. And that’s not fair to him.”
Candice sighed. “You have to get over all that shit at some point,” she said, but I knew she didn’t intend to sound mean when she said it. She was my biggest supporter. If anything, she just felt sorry for me.
But I didn’t want her feeling sorry for me. I shrugged again. “We’re having fun together, and that’s all that I care about. He took me on his motorcycle last weekend.”
“Took you or took you?” Candice asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.
I laughed. “We went for a ride,” I clarified. “And not a sexy one.” Although now that she mentioned it, there was definitely something appealing to the idea of him bending me over his motorcycle and fucking me. Maybe even somewhere in public, in some deserted scenic pull-off. I tried not to shiver at the thought of it, knowing I didn’t need to give Candice any more ammo against me.
“Well, I’m glad you’re having fun,” Candice said. “That, at least, is good.” She paused, and I could tell what she was going to say before she even said it. “You haven’t had any more problems with Darren, have you?”
I shook my head. “Nah,” I said. “I haven’t even seen him since he came to the bar last week. And you saw him; he left almost immediately. I think maybe he’s finally sick of me.”
“Good,” Candice said, looking relieved to hear that. “And he’s not still calling you either?”
“Nope,” I said.
“Awesome. But you should still be careful. Maybe he’s planning something.”
I laughed and threw one of the cleaning rags at her. “You’ve been watching too many horror movies,” I told her. “Maybe he really has just moved on. I mean, I know I’m a catch, but there are plenty of other attractive women in this city. Ones who would be more than happy to actually go home with him.”
“Just be careful,” Candice reiterated. “You’re one of my best workers, remember? Gotta keep looking out for you.”
I looked around the place, keen to wrap up this conversation. “Anything else you need me to do tonight?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
That wasn’t the way to end that conversation, though. It was clear from the way that Candice smirked at me. “Why, you have a hot date waiting for you?”
I rolled my eyes. “If I had a hot date waiting for me, I wouldn’t have been looking expectantly at the door every time someone walked in,” I pointed out. “I would have already known exactly when I was going to see him again.”
Candice laughed. “Touché,” she said. She looked around. “Nah, everything looks pretty good. Thanks for getting those back mirrors cleaned yesterday, by the way. I’ve been wanting to do that for ages, and they looked way better tonight. But yeah, go ahead and get out of here. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” I agreed, heading out.
I frowned down at my phone as it started buzzing. Strange that someone would call immediately as I walked out. For a second, I wondered if Candice was right and if Darren really was planning something. Maybe he was stalking me. I peered out into the darkness, but I didn’t see him anywhere. And when I looked down at my phone, it wasn’t his name and number on the screen.
Instead, a slow smile spread across my face as I saw who it really was. Braxton. Of course he would call me right as I was leaving because he knew what time we finished up at the bar. He had probably been out at some other place and was just leaving there now too.
“Hey, sexy,” he said immediately when I picked up. I had to laugh at the mischievous note to his voice. I had a feeling I knew exactly why he was calling.
“I would have expected you to come by the bar tonight,” I told him.
“And risk distracting you?” Braxton asked. “Nah. For the sake of the other patrons, I figured I’d let you concentrate.” He paused. “But I was also thinking that maybe I could come on over to your place now.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, my blood already running hot at the thought of it. It didn’t help that he was practically purring the words. He knew exactly how to play me.
“I’m already hard,” Braxton confessed, his voice dripping with lust. “And all I can think about is how much I want your hands on me right now.”
“My hands or my mouth?” I asked teasingly, and I smirked when I heard his sharp intake of breath. Oh, he was so going to get it. “I’m just leaving work right now, but I’ll be home in a few minutes,” I said, “and you’re welcome to join me.”
I hung up before this could go too far. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to be too keyed up to drive over there. And although there was certainly some appeal to finger-fucking myself in the car with him on the other end of the line, the idea of having him over to my house again and letting him work me over himself was infinitely preferable.
Especially given the sight that greeted me when I got to my car. I stared at the driver’s side window. It was totally busted, a huge and jagged h
ole in the glass. This wasn’t a bad part of town, and it wasn’t like I left much of anything in the car. Besides, it didn’t look like anyone had tried to actually get in the car. They had just busted the window. A warning, more than anything else.
I didn’t know who did this, but I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I remembered what Candice had said about Darren planning something. Just because I hadn’t seen him around the bar lately, it didn’t mean that he had given up on me. Or that he wasn’t stalking me.
No, I didn’t know for sure who had broken my window, but I definitely had an idea. Now that question was, what did I do about it? For now, I used the snow brush to wipe most of the glass off my seat, laid down some paper bags that were in the back of the car for when I did my grocery shopping, and got in my car to drive home. Braxton would be waiting for me after all.
13
Braxton
I had done my best to stay away from Sunshine for a few nights, not wanting to seem like I was too desperate to see Mia. With most women, I wouldn’t have been quite so worried, but Mia had been so quick to let me know that she wasn’t looking for a relationship that I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea of what I was looking for.
Better to wait until Friday and then booty-call her, I’d decided. So that was just what I had done.
I pulled up in front of Mia’s house, smiling when I saw the lights were already on. I had given her a little extra time to get home, just long enough to make sure that she was there before me. Again, I didn’t want to seem too eager.