by Turner, Xyla
“I'm Razor, President of the Guardians. This, here, is Bronx, he's the VP and you met, Apollo, my Sergeant of Arms.” He held out his hand, gesturing for me to be seated.
“I'm Goliath, I live over in Lily,” I said.
“Good.” He nodded.
“You're not from around the area, are you?” Bronx asked.
“No, I'm from Onley. I moved here after I was discharged.”
“Well, you picked a good area. The Guardians are a bike club that does a whole lot more. We have people from all over who are Guardians and they are in different professions and contribute in various ways. Some are doctors, lawyers, etc. A lot are ex-military or police and that's because of the type of work we do. It's not just all about our club but also what’s right and wrong. You know? As you can see, we’re family men; we don't hit or abuse women or children but we stop people who do. We can be hired and Guardians get paid for the work they do. We also train our members in various forms of combat because of the type of work we do, it may be necessary. We don't go looking for shit but we’ll end it.” All heads nodded around the table. “Just so you know what I'm telling you now is what it is. There's no secrets among us, these are my right hand men and I trust them. What you also need to know is that when we’re on a job, we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure no harm is done. However, if we need to settle a threat then that will be done by any means necessary. Some call us vigilantes but we’ll argue self-defense. In the history of my tenure, we’ve only had one instance of that and it was a life or death situation.”
He banged on the table and said, “That's us! Now who are you?”
“Fuck, right now I'm just a patron at a bar trying to clear my head from some shit I fucked up.”
All the men laughed.
What was so goddamn funny? That shit reminded me of Phoebe. Everything was fucking funny.
“Well, you've come to the right place. This is The Guardians bar and you're welcome any time. If you want to talk about membership, you can always find a Guardian here.”
“Is everything legit?” I asked.
Razor looked at me in the eye and said, “Abso-fucking-lutely. I don't deal in illegal shit. We can't afford it. My old lady’s about to have my second child and they are trying to make one. My members have businesses, professional careers, real estate, stocks and shit that need to be maintained. We’re about building capital the right way. We have no need to fuck with illegal shit and frankly, that's not us. We’re protectors and we do it well.”
I nodded my head and asked, “It's sounds good. Recruits? Are they hazed?”
“To a certain degree. We’re not dealing with kid recruits, so no hazing of that sort, but there's a process,” he answered.
“You don't have to kill someone to get in but a recruit would probably take over my mailbox runs, if that gives you any idea,” Bronx told me.
“Yeah, that helps,” I nodded towards the man.
“Well, what shit did you fuck up?” Razor asked.
Apollo laughed and said, “Yeah, these men know all about fucking up.”
Bronx turned towards Apollo and said, “Yeah, you would know too if you'd own that shit?”
“Fuck you, man. I'm working on it.” Apollo snapped back.
“Since when?” Bronx challenged him.
“Since talking to my man, Goliath, here.”
All eyes turned to me and I shrugged my shoulders. “I feel like I missed a story.”
“Oh, that story is on its way. Believe me!” Razor smiled.
“Fucking, right!” Bronx joined him.
Apollo simply looked hopeful which seemed to please his brothers.
All of whom seemed to be pretty cool guys.
We talked for another two hours and then Bronx’s lady came over, whispered in his ear and he wished us farewell. The woman was pretty and her curves were in all the right areas, that was for sure.
Next the singer came back over, sat in Razor’s lap and his hands started roaming around her belly and once they got higher than that, she dragged him out of there. Apollo and I exchanged numbers and I left as well. Watching those guys and their women reminded me that there was a life outside the one I was living and Phoebe taught me it was attainable.
* * *
For once in a long time, I woke up alone.
I didn't like that.
Instead of going to Phoebes, I knocked on my neighbor’s door for the first time since I moved in. He was an older man, lived below Phoebe and she loved him. She saw him every day and sometimes would stay there for hours.
The woman was really doing the work of a public servant and this notion that she'd been an CEO was almost absurd. I found it so hard imagining her as that person.
“Hello Mr. Neighbor who I've never met. Nice of you to stop by after a year.”
The side of my lip turned up in a smirk as I nodded at the old man’s candor.
“Nice to finally meet you, too.”
“I would ask what brings ya here, but I know it's my girl Phoebe.” He tried to laugh but it turned into a cough. “She done turned ya inside out didn't she?”
Now, it was my turn to laugh.
“Yeah, how'd ya know?” I finally said.
“Ha! Well, now you can come in.” He moved slowly to let me enter his identically shaped apartment except everything was on the opposite side.
“Ya need anything?” he asked. “Phoebe always says I need to be a good host to all guests, not just the ones I like.”
I laughed.
“No, I'm good. But, I could see how that can be a problem,” I agreed with the man.
“Glad someone sees it my way.” He sat down. “Now what can I do you for?”
Straight to the point.
“Well, I have this friend and I cherish our relationship and I never wanted to cross the line with them, but I did. Now how should I fix it?”
The older man leaned forward and said in a whisper, “You and Phoebe finally had sex?”
My lips pulled back as I nodded my head.
“Well, hallelujah!!” he exclaimed. “Bout damn time.”
“What?” I asked.
“Man.” He glanced at me out the side of his eyes. “What took so damn long. You guys were sleeping in each other's beds. Hugging, she was sitting her sexy ass in your lap and kissing each other on the head. That foreplay lasted way too long for a young man like yourself. I'm an old man, so you know it had to have been bad if I say it went on for too long.”
“Foreplay? No, it wasn't like that,” I clarified.
“The hell it wasn't! You sound like her. ‘It's nothing. We’re just friends.’ Let me clue you in on something, son. Friends don't have sex. I guarantee that.”
Fuck.
“Y’all been playing a dangerous game. I don't know if it is because you’re both scared to commit or scared that either of you'll be hurt. But I'll tell ya this much, that girl up there deserves the best. She's a goddamn angel and if you hurt her, I'll die trying to hurt you. I don't sense that's what you want but don't put her through unnecessary bullshit if you're not sure what you want. All that bullshit about friends and then fucking. No.” His head made a sharp movement, then he leaned forward again. “It’s fine that she doesn’t know. It's your job to make her know. After what's she's been through, she's a fighter in her own right. Courageous beyond what most people would do. Gave up everything and moved here. Sold everything but that car. She deserves good things. A good man. A good life.”
He gave me a side-eyed glance and said, “Are you that good man? That's the question you need to answer.”
This was not what I was bargaining for. I wanted to make it right. I wanted us to go back and be friends but it seemed that's not what I needed to do and I also didn't feel quite ready to make such a huge commitment.
I knew I was still fucked up in the mind and it was because of Phoebe that I'd made any progress at all. I couldn't let her go. I wouldn't.
“I can't let her go,” I looked at him s
quare in the eye. “I won't.”
He nodded his head, then said, “Well, if that's the case. You do right by her. Ya hear me. You best do right by her.”
Almost as soon as he finished that statement, the front door opened and Phoebe walked in yelling, “Ollie, what's for breakfast? Did you cook my favorite?”
When she looked up, she stopped in her tracks and muttered, “Goliath?”
“Hey,” I said and stood up to meet her.
“Hey, yourself,” she said looking very uncertain.
I held my arms open and she came just like she always did. Her head on my chest and arms wrapped around me. I leaned down and whispered, “Missed you last night and this morning.”
Her head jerked back as she looked me in the eyes.
“I missed you too,” she said.
“Let's not do that again.”
Her head nodded, then she said, “Wait, not do what again?”
“Sleep in different beds,” I said.
“Okay,” Phoebe nodded her head.
My head descended and I kissed her forehead.
“What's on your agenda today, it's Tuesday, so I know you're going out to the nursery? Then what?” I asked.
“I wanted to go to Bella and attend this class on glass making. It starts at three.”
“Okay, dinner at my place. I'm cooking your favorite.”
Her grip tightened on me and she said, “Yes!!! I love your sauce. I'm going to find out the secret.”
“No, babe. I'll have to kill you.” I smiled.
“So be it!” She raised an eyebrow.
Ollie cleared his throat.
Phoebe let me go and said, “I'm sorry, Ollie. Can't ignore you.”
I turned around and saw that the old man was grinning at me like the cat that got the canary.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing, y’all just look like that couple everyone hates. Hugged up, kissing, caring, loving! I wish I had a camera, so y’all could see the way you look at each other.” He held up his hands when Phoebe started to say something. “I know, I know. Just friends, right! Keep telling yourself that lie. Y’all are in love and apparently I'm the only one in this room that knows it.”
“On that note,” I started, “see you later.”
Phoebe was glaring at Ollie but eventually turned to face me and said, “See you later.”
“Thanks again,” I called to Ollie. “I'll see you around.”
“I'm sure of it.” He laughed.
In love, huh.
I wondered if we looked anything like Razor and his lady or Bronx and his lady. If so, then I was completely fucked.
* * *
I made my special jumbo shrimp, pasta and sauce for dinner. Phoebe moaned throughout the entire meal, which normally made me laugh but now it made me hard as hell. I wanted to tell her to stop but I didn't want her to feel like things between us had changed. She was being semi-normal and I was trying hard not to be weird. But things had changed.
We watched some television, talked more about the last episode and then Phoebe awkwardly looked at me.
“So, I told Rose, about what happened with us the other night and she suggested that we talk, then either agree to have sex or not have it ever again,” she blurted all of that out.
“That so?” I asked.
She nodded as she made her eyes wider than they normally were.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Well, what do you need?” she asked me in return.
“What does it matter what I need?” I was confused by the question.
“It just does.” She wouldn't answer my question.
I went to the bedroom, sat down on the bed and started taking off my clothes. Phoebe appeared in the doorway, then she said, “You didn't answer me.”
“I am answering you.”
I stripped until I was in my boxers and climbed in bed.
Her eyebrows rose as I stared at her and waited.
“So, is this an invitation to join you or a hint it’s time for me to leave?” she asked.
“It's an open invitation,” I said as I pulled the other side of the covers back. “You choose.”
“Hmm,” she noted as the smirk grew on her face. “I see how you are playing this. I accept your challenge and I'll beat you at your own game.”
Phoebe slowly took off her shirt, shorts, bra and panties. Then she climbed into the bed and stayed on the other side. Usually she went to bed wearing bottoms and a top and she always let me hold her. I reached for her but she moved away.
“Do you choose to touch me, now? I need to know.” She was mocking me.
“Fuck, Phoebe,” I was about to pounce on her ass. “Come here.”
“Okay, but only because you chose.”
She scooted over and I pulled her the rest of the way so her ass was in my crotch and my mouth was to her ear.
“Don't want to hurt you, babe,” I said. “I want it all and I want you in my life. I don't want to complicate things. Sex does that. Believe me.”
“Goliath, I don't disagree with you, sex does complicate things. However, we should un-complicate them. You and me,” Phoebe murmured against my forearm.
“How?” I asked.
“Well, I’m not sure.” She sighed, then moved her face around so she could see me. “We’re grown, right? We have been friends and there for each other in hard times or desperate moments. You think I’m totally funny, even though you rarely laugh. I think you’re hilarious, even when you’re not trying to be. We had a moment and we both needed each other in a sexual way. Does that mean our relationship should be sexual? Well, not really. We could have needed each other sexually at that moment, right?”
She didn’t look convinced herself.
“I see where you’re going but Ollie is concerned one or both of us is going to get hurt. He may be fucking right.”
“Goliath, please don’t start a sentence with Ollie is concerned or Ollie thinks. He’s shared his thoughts with me and I told him I love him, but no. We’re not doing that.” She scooted to sit up and then she straddled me. “We got this.”
“Do you?” I asked. “Because babe, I have no fucking idea about this. I just know I need you in my life.”
“We do. Listen to me. I know what I’m talking about. I’m a genius. You’ll see.”
“Phoebe, shit. I’m serious. I won’t lose you,” I pleaded with her. “I can’t.”
Her face descended towards mine that rested on the pillow. Then she whispered to me, “You won’t.” She took my lips in a kiss.
It was sweet, soft and with just the right amount of pressure. That move had my hands moving to grab the back of her neck so I could hold her and take over. My other hand moved down her body and rested on her ass in order for her to really feel what she did to me.
Who was I kidding? Who were we kidding? She was everything to me and I needed all of her.
Turning us over so that I was on top, caused our mouths to disconnect and Phoebe to laugh. I pulled my briefs off, spread her legs and entered my own personal heaven. She needed to know.
When I looked at her face, her mouth was open, her eyes were wide and forehead was scrunched up. The woman was fucking beautiful, even in that moment.
“Phoebe, this is all mine,” I told her as I pulled out and pushed back in. “All mine. Nobody else gets this, babe. Got it.”
“Yesss,” she sighed.
“Nobody,” I uttered when I pushed in again. “So fucking tight.”
Her nails were scratching the shit out of my back and I didn’t give one fuck. I was hers too and her marks would be just as visible as mine.
My hands grabbed both of her breasts and I held on while I rocked in and out of her. Phoebe’s legs were bent back and wide open; inviting me inside of her. Her hands were on top of mine while I massaged her nipples with my thumbs and I powered into her tight pussy like a man depraved.
Fuck, I had been.
For years.
“O
h God, Goliath,” she moaned. “I’m coming.”
“Fuck.” I went faster as she started to shake all over. “Come baby! Come all over me.”
Phoebe’s body jerked as she tried to close her legs but I held them open so I could take her like I wanted. Her face lit up when she came which spurred me to my own finish. As much as I wanted to stay inside, I knew I couldn’t because I hadn’t worn a condom.
“Oh, fuck. Baby!” The bolt of lightning came down my spine reminding me to pull out of her.
“Yes, Goliath,” she said and grabbed her breasts with both of her hands.
“Holy shit.” I pulled out and came all over her stomach.
Pushing it all out by jerking on my cock and watching my cum hit her body was so fucking hot.
Phoebe started to twirl it around her fingers. Then she collected some on the tip of her finger and put it in her mouth.
Goddamn.
“Next time, I want it in my mouth.” She licked her lips.
“Granted.” I nodded and fell beside her so I could reach for the tissues.
Once Phoebe was clean, she crawled into me and said, “I want this too, Goliath.”
Yeah.
I grunted and squeezed her tight.
Before I completely dozed off, she rubbed my chest and whispered, “All yours.”
Chapter 9
The Parents
Phoebe:
Goliath and I were back to normal. Well, not normal as in no sex, but normal as in we still did what we did before and there was sex. Lots and lots of sex and it was awesome sauce.
He was so good in bed, I kept thinking it was a dream. It wasn’t just that he pushed my boundaries further and further and I loved every moment of it but it was because it was him.
Only he could do that.
I’d swear I was falling in love.
Crap, who was I kidding, I was in love. I even told my dad about him which resulted in Dad wanting to meet him, but I wasn’t ready to have that conversation with Goliath. He barely knew what he wanted, forget the introduction of the parents. He didn’t even mention his parents to me, but I knew they were alive because I overheard him talking to them on the phone one day. When I tried to talk about his parents, he changed the subject, so I went with it.