“Shit,” I whispered.
“What?” Victoria asked.
“I forgot my charger. I’m having a real crappy day. I slept like hell. I literally poured orange juice into my coffee. And I didn’t realize until I took a sip of the coffee. I was in a rush and now I forgot my damn charger.”
“Why’d you sleep bad? Do you miss me? Can’t sleep alone?”
“Hardly,” I said. “The jerk off next to me…”
I snapped my mouth shut.
“The jerk off?” Victoria asked. “You’ve got a nickname for him?”
“He had a woman over. And they were…”
“Fucking?” Victoria asked with a smile.
“Yeah. And she was very loud.”
“A screamer, huh?”
“Yeah. His name. Over and over and over.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
Victoria leaned in. “Why are you blushing right now?”
I hadn’t realized that I was. I touched my cheeks. “I…”
“You like it,” she said. “You want that to be you.”
“No,” I said. “Stop. It was really annoying and distracting.”
“You know… it’s really good. Sex. Like really, really good.”
“I don’t need you to talk to me like we’re in high school.”
“But you’re acting that way,” Victoria said. “You’re seriously missing out.”
“Then I’ll just knock on his door and tell him to do me,” I said. “How’s that sound?”
“Sounds perfect to me. Then you’d have one hell of a story.”
“Okay, this conversation is over. If we’re done talking business…”
“You forgot your charger,” Victoria said. “I’m just killing time.”
“Why don’t you tell me what you did with my old bedroom. Are you okay living alone?”
“It’s different,” she said. “But it’s easier when I’m bringing someone home. I don’t have to worry…”
My phone vibrated on the table. The name Mason popped up and my attention went right to it.
I found something you’re missing
I figured it was some smart ass thing he was getting at. I typed back a few question marks. Victoria kept talking. I was focused on my phone.
Mason sent a picture of a key.
Found it in the hallway. Tested it. It’s your key
I grabbed for my keys. I looked at Victoria. “Sorry. I think I…” I looked at the key rings. One was slightly bent. I had a turtle keychain barely hanging on. There was supposed to be a key there, but it was gone. “Shit. I lost my apartment key.”
“Oh no,” Victoria said.
You there, babe?
I put my keys down and grabbed my phone.
Yeah, I’m missing my key. Where are you? I need that key
“Who are you texting?” Victoria asked.
“Sorry,” I said. “It’s my neighbor. He found the key.”
“He? Is it the jerk off?”
“Very funny,” I said. “But, yes, it’s him.”
My phone vibrated.
Come get the key. You’ll have to earn it back though. What panties are you wearing?
I shut my eyes and cursed Mason to hell and back. He was so disgusting and I really hated him. So freaking much.
I’m not answering that question, Mason. Tell me where you are.
I waited and he didn’t respond.
“I’m screwed,” I said.
“You could be if you play this out,” Victoria teased.
“No, you don’t get it. This guy is no good.”
“Those are sometimes the best ones. No strings.”
“He’s evil.”
“Evil is sexy.”
“Victoria… I hate him. And I mean, hate him. Everything he does. Says. Even this. He finds my key on the floor and instead of just being nice about it…”
“He did text you,” she said.
I sighed.
Mason replied.
I’m at my shop. Come visit. I’ll let you through the backdoor … only if I can go through your backdoor
A second later an address popped up.
I half considered asking Victoria to come with me. But I decided against it. She would just stand there and make flirty remarks to embarrass me and entice Mason. Better yet, she’d probably end up in his apartment tonight, screaming his name.
Now I hated her.
I stood up and told myself to get control of the petty jealousy feelings.
I didn’t want Mason. I didn’t need Mason. I didn’t like Mason.
I was going to get my apartment key and that was that.
If only it were that easy…
I was actually surprised when I saw that his shop was something legit. I expected it to be some rundown shithole that he used as an excuse to sit around all day and drink and scroll through his phone to find his next target to fuck.
But this place was amazing.
A massive parking lot with a line of motorcycles that were really cool looking. There was another line of motorcycles that weren’t as cool though. They were old and some of them really beat up. There was a huge sign that read RN Custom Rides. The building had a sense of coolness to it. And I was definitely the only woman there. There was a garage bay wide open with the sound of heavy metal music blasting. That was joined by the sounds of tools grinding and whirring. Someone was welding, and large yellow and white sparks flew into the air, seemingly to match the music that was jamming in the background.
I pulled open the door to the office and it wasn’t any normal office at all.
It was big with black leather couches. The walls were lined with framed pictures of motorcycles, parts, and old looking diagrams. It had the mixed smell of dude, leather, and grease. And something really clean.
Another door opened and there was Mason, filling the doorway with his wide shoulders and massive frame. He lifted his hand and showed me my key on a new key ring.
“Thank you,” I said. “If I got home and that wasn’t…”
“You don’t get it that easily,” he said.
“What?”
“Come on, let me give you a tour.”
“Mason…”
“Violet,” he said.
“I have to go.”
“No you don’t. This key is more important than anything else.”
“So just give it to me and I’ll go.”
Mason grinned. Those dimples. “Give it to you. Keep begging, babe.”
I groaned. “You’re such an asshole, Mason.”
“Come on,” he said. “Check out the shop with me.”
What choice did I have?
I followed him.
Truthfully, it was all pretty cool. Mason sort of surprised me by how organized he was with his business. Every person knew what they were doing. They all stopped to say hey to Mason and Mason made sure to shake hands and-or hug everyone. He was the commander, that was for sure.
There was stuff everywhere, though. Parts, motorcycles, designs. It was overwhelming to me, but a well-oiled machine, designed by a man that was sexy and a man that I didn’t like at all. Seeing his business, though, at least gave me a sliver of respect for him.
“So back here,” he said and opened a door to another office, “is all mine. We have a design room, a lunch room, and the back room. Most of it out back is our personal junkyard, but nothing like the people we deal with, though. Taking old shit and making it look amazing again.”
He held the door and I slipped into his office. It was like being in an outlaw executive’s office, if that made sense. The aura of power and control, yet it still had his personality of total bad ass.
He shut the door and then tossed my apartment key to the desk. “There you go. You’re lucky I found it.”
“Yeah. I’m having one of those days. Everything that can go wrong, will.”
“We all have them. Enjoy the free keychain, too, babe.”
&nb
sp; I looked at the neon green keychain. “See, I don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“The name of your business. RN?”
“Stands for real nice,” Mason said. “Every time I fucked up, someone would say real nice to me.”
I saw something flash in Mason’s eyes. Something I’d never seen before.
“I get it,” I said. I held up the key chain. “Real nice.”
“See, it’s catchy.”
“So what kind of bad things did you used to do?”
“Used to do?” he asked. “I still do bad things. Want to see?”
“Does everything come back to sex with you?”
“Have sex with me and then we’ll find out.”
“Meaning?”
“It’s win-win, babe. I fuck you and chances are I’ll never want to talk to you or see you again. I get laid and you get rid of me. Just like that.”
“Is this how you talk to your customers?”
“You’re not a customer. Unless you want a custom ride, we’re just two people in my office. I can clear this desk in two seconds and make you come even quicker.” He made fists and put them to the desk. He leaned forward. His arms were flexing, beautiful veins throbbing. So sexy. So bad. “Do we have a deal?”
My body was on fire. My insides were melting, rushing down, everything pointing between my legs. I was so uncomfortable my toes started to curl. The room suddenly had no air at all.
“Thanks for the key,” I said. I swallowed hard, trying to get my mouth wet.
Other places were wet.
Stop… stop thinking that stuff… he’s staring at me… he knows I’m thinking…
“You owe quite a bit, Violet,” Mason said. “I keep saving your ass. And all I want is a piece of it.”
“Never going to happen,” I said. “So just stop.”
“You know, that’s the same thing about fifty people told me when I wanted to start my own business. And I kept at it. I fucking did what I want, when I wanted. And now look at my little empire. So, babe, guess what? You’re the princess trapped in the castle and I’m coming for you. The only thing… you’re not sure if I’m the knight in armor or the fucking monster…”
I had to go. Run.
I tore open the office door and showed myself out.
My face was burning as hot as my insides.
There was no way I could let him talk to me like that and get away with it. And there was definitely no way he would ever get a chance to touch me.
Distance.
That’s what I needed.
I went home and started to look for a new apartment…
11
Drunk Text
(Mason)
I put the beer bottle to my lips, but wasn’t exactly having it.
“You’ve been nursing that thing for a while,” Hunter pointed out.
I leaned against the two-seater round table and took a look around the bar. There was action everywhere, but I wasn’t in the goddamn mood.
“What the fuck is on your mind?” Hunter asked. “That thing with Malley?”
I looked at Hunter. I didn’t say a word.
“Brother, we can fix the situation there. One of the new guys fucked up the fuel line. Yeah, it sets us back, but not much. I know the artwork was a little sketchy, but that was a risk with what he wanted. Trying to get that black on deep black look… man, that’s always…”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I called and talked to him.”
“He was pissed. I know it. I see it on your face. Fuck that guy. He’s always pissed. And what happens? We do the work, we get it right, he pays, and he comes back.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Right.”
“So what’s the deal with you?”
“Nothing,” I said.
“Fuck yourself, then,” Hunter said. He walked away from the table, throwing me the finger.
I gave him a wave.
He and I fought like brothers. Shit, he was my brother. Closest thing I had to family. Every piece of my family had been ripped apart a long time ago. And then if it couldn’t get deeper, I lost someone else. The only one. Not the one.
I threw the beer bottle back and drank the piss warm beer.
That’s when someone showed up at the table.
Pretty little thing with a beer and a wink.
“You’re Mason,” she said.
“You caught me.”
She put up her finger into a gun and shot. “You don’t know me.”
“Does that matter?”
“You worked on a friend’s motorcycle. I was there when he picked it up.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Ex.”
“That’s the problem with boyfriends,” I said. “They always become ex’s. Don’t they?”
“Only the wrong ones,” the stranger said.
I turned and leaned against the table. “Let me buy you a drink.”
“Took you long enough.”
“You have no idea how long I can go.”
“Maybe I’ll find out,” she said.
“Oh, you will.”
There were two cures for whatever the fuck was wrong in my head.
Cold beer and a woman.
I now had both.
It wasn’t working.
She flirted. She drank. The little curls in her hair were cute. Her eyes were bright. She was more than willing for anything I wanted. Fuck, I could have taken her into the bathroom right there in the bar and put her up on the sink and went to town on her.
Yet I was still sipping what once was a fresh beer.
She made fifty comments about drinking faster than me. I had fifty comebacks about her being drunk and me being sober and in control. Stupid fucking comments, but the shit worked like gold.
Finally, she threw an arm around me and kissed me.
I never let a woman make the first move. That was amateur shit. You fucking wait that long then you’re better off paying your tab and going home to jerk off into the sink and feel ashamed as your jizz goes down the drain.
My hands grabbed her hips and I pushed her away.
“Something wrong?” she asked.
“You stole my move,” I said.
“I’m only getting older.”
I nodded. “Then we should get out of here.”
“That sounds like a plan.”
She turned and I grabbed her wrist. I made her look at me again. “Listen. You got that one by me. That’s one. It doesn’t happen again. The second we leave this bar I am in control. Don’t fuck with me. You want to see my dark side and you will… but you don’t want to go any darker than you have to.”
“Jesus, you’re half terrifying,” she said.
“You haven’t seen a thing…”
My back pocket vibrated.
I let her go and looked around the bar, figuring it was Hunter texting me. We always had an agreement to give each other space. If he left, he’d shoot me a text. If I left, I’d do the same.
It wasn’t Hunter.
It was Violet. Texting me.
U home?
Two words and I studied like it was ten pages of Chinese.
“Give me a second,” I said to the woman without looking at her.
I turned.
What’s wrong?
I hated text messaging people. Those two words I wrote back could be taken in many ways. A general question or perceived as me being haste because I fucking cared.
Fuck that.
Violet texted back what felt like two hours later.
Nothing. Just hanging around. Was wondering if you wanted to have a drink
Now that text came as a surprise.
“Hey, Mason…”
I looked over my shoulder and nodded to the woman. I’m sure she dropped her name at some point that night, but I was going to break my neck trying to catch it - or her.
My thumbs went to work.
What do you need from me, babe?
There was something wrong. And I was c
oncerned enough to let the world pause all around me while I waited.
That… well, that pissed me off.
Violet shot back at me with one word.
You
That was good enough for me.
I was on the move, breezing right by the woman like I didn’t even know who she was.
She grabbed at me, thinking I was making some kind of joke.
I froze and looked at her. There were an easy fifteen excuses that I could have given the woman to ease the sting of rejection.
But I didn’t give a shit.
“I’m leaving without you,” I said bluntly. “I have somewhere else better to be and possibly someone else to be with.”
Her jaw dropped and I thought she was going to slap me. Which I definitely deserved.
I got out of there before she could hit me.
A few minutes later it finally hit me.
I just bailed on guilt free wild sex… for Violet.
12
Confession
(Violet)
Once upon a time there was a girl who fell in love. Like true love. Yeah, it started maybe in middle school, but what the heart knew it wanted, it wanted, right? The girl wrote love letters, trying to process her feelings. And the boy was simply perfect. He was so good at sports. Each season that went by he looked more like a man instead of a boy. And that’s when she started to feel some changes in her own body. They held hands at school. They sat together at lunch. When the boy was caught trying to pass her a letter, their civics teacher made him read the letter out loud to the class. Guess what? He read the entire letter without a care.
It was real beyond real. So much so that the girl’s parents got nervous. But then they met the boy. They understood it. It was almost too good to be true. Years they were together. Years they were in love. Years… he wanted something she didn’t give him. One thing that was left hanging out there, something that seemed so important, but soon became a cross to bear.
The boy finally did become a man. The man then decided it was easier to break the girl’s heart instead of just waiting a little bit longer…
I hurried to copy all that text and delete it. I shook my head and shut the laptop. After a few hours of working on the app and starting the daunting process of turning Victoria’s drawings into full color beautiful pictures, my mind started to travel. I ended up in my room, listening for Mason. I then stood at the window and wondered what the world was doing. My apartment felt like a prison for a few minutes as I debated on calling Victoria to go out with her.
HATE ME: a bad boy romance novel Page 7