Built For A Tank

by Belle Winters

  I wasn’t going to though, and I tried as best as I could to break free. His grip on me tightened, and I raised my knee to knock out his balls. Due to the position, he had me in, however, it was damn near impossible, and he caught me. The next thing I knew I was being tossed down onto the bed and was struggling for breath as he followed me down. His entire body pinned me down and resumed his position of holding my hands hostage above my head.

  I never stopped my struggle until he spoke again, and that shit pierced me. “Danny, I don’t want to hurt you and I won’t. You may not like what I do, but I know what the fuck I’m doing. I don’t think you’re weak… far from it.” He dropped his head down to the empty space on the bed above my shoulder, and I could feel his breath against my shoulder as he took in a deep breath. “I’m looking out for you. It ain’t about you being able to do it… the last thing you need to worry about right now is assholes being their normal dick head selves and looking for someone to pick on. Even if you stood up to Jagger, he would keep going. You know how many times I put him on his ass, and he knows I wouldn’t hesitate, but he still tries me? He’s not a normal mother fucker, but he’s used to being beat on so it doesn’t phase him. But that’s my fucking brother so I can’t just put a bullet in him to shut him the fuck up permanently. He’s a hard-fucking learner… and he thinks twice when he fucks with me.” He took a shaky breath which surprised me, and I went completely still. “I get it… you’re a man, but you gotta get me too. I know what I’m talking about.” He released my hands and brushed my hair back from my face. “You gonna cool it?” he asked.

  I let my entire body relax. He made sense, and I knew I was pushing other things onto him… but besides everything else I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin. “I hear you… I just… I need this too. I need to show myself that I could protect and stand up for me.” I confessed.

  He nodded but didn’t speak. That’s when the weirdest thing happened to me. I felt something unfamiliar in my stomach, and it made me both very uncomfortable and warm. In a matter of seconds, everything came into crystal clear focus for me. I was currently laying on the bed with Tank’s body fully covering mine. Tank, whose body was muscular and very impressive. Tank, who wasn’t at all bad looking.

  I looked into his eyes and for the first time realized they were a beautiful shade of green. Almost like gems that you only see on TV and never would believe actually existed but if they did… they would never live up to the fantasy. His ink black hair, disheveled and damp from working out but not long enough to actually be considered messy. His arm that was hovering over me a bit to my side which was almost a full sleeve of dark tattoos that help outline the muscles on muscles that make up his arm. Tank, the man who protected and took care of me. Tank, who looked at me as a little brother.

  I felt my face flush, and I don’t know if it was more from embarrassment or arousal because, for the first time in a very long time, my cock got hard naturally. If he knew of my sudden attraction to him, everything between us would change. I tried to shift to hide what would give away all of my current thoughts. Great idea that was. I moved my hips, and all that caused was for my cock to brush against his crotch, and it excited the head without the brain. Oh, my God. There was no way he could’ve missed that.

  I cleared my throat and diverted my eyes praying that he would think it was me moving or something and not what it actually was. I tried to stay as still as possible because he was too close, and any movement would cause more brushing and probably more awkwardness.

  “Danny?” Tank asked.

  I took a gulp and looked up at him taking as much time as I possibly could. “Yea?” I asked.

  He was frowning, confused. If I could run away and hide forever, I would. “You alright?” he asked.

  I attempted a shrug. “Yea… I mean sure. You know… cooling down like you suggested and all.” I was rambling, good lord.

  “Alright. I need to call Prez back so he can find out why Jagger called him crying. How about you start getting your shit ready to get out of here.” He said as he hopped off me.

  I watched him in confusion. I knew for sure that he didn’t miss what happened… there was no way. So, he was just ignoring it? I watched as his eyes glanced down and stayed there for a brief minute before he turned and left the room. I waited until the door was fully closed before squeezing my eyes shut mortified and then looked down. Sure enough, there was no missing that I had a stiffy. If he doubted what happened before, there was no question now. He for sure is going to hate me now. No one wants nothing more than to be lusted after by someone who they live with and they have no interest in.

  Chapter 6

  Tank

  It’s been a few weeks since the whole Jagger incident took place. I never spoke to Pyscho about the whole incident, but from what I heard, he ripped Jagger a new asshole after knocking him out himself for his bullshit and practically suspending him for the club for a while to get his head on right. He’d been showing his ass more than usual, and no one knows why. He ain’t talking, and that type of reckless bullshit was a liability. Danny, on the other hand, was a whole other matter.

  I know he was embarrassed by what happened after the whole altercation and I think the fact I never addressed it has been keeping him more on edge. I mean, I got it. His adrenaline was pumping… I mean the fuck hit me. Ballsy move though, I’d give the kid that much. But he’s into men… he was vulnerable and had a grown ass man pressed up against him. Hell, if he wasn’t who he was, my dick would’ve been twerking. Plus, this is unchartered territory for me, and I didn’t know how to address the elephant in the room without making him more awkward. I mean, what would I say? ‘oh hey, I get why you got hard… I was literally on top of you… any move was like dry humping when ya think of it, don’t sweat it.’ Yea. That ain’t sound good… not even to me.

  So here we were. Moved into my new place and dancing around each other like prepubescents. It was getting on my fucking nerves. I’m pretty sure I knew what his issue was, he thought I was grossed out by it, but I wasn’t. Shit happens. It’s not like he tried to make a move on me or anything. It was just something that happened. I knew though, to him it was a big fucking deal. The way we were living though, wasn’t how I could continue on, so I needed to put an end to it. With that said, I told him we were going out tonight… and this time, we were going to Romanos. It’s a place we practically own, but it’s a nice joint. We go there when conducting business with the hoity-toity crowd and I know that would make him more uncomfortable then what happened. He had no idea, but I knew I was about to get my first glimpse of his freak outs for the night. Fine by me, those I could handle.

  I knocked on his bedroom door. “Open it!” he shouted through.

  I went inside, and he was sitting up in his bed with a book in his hand. I stood with my shoulder against the door jam. “What’s up?” I asked.

  He shook his head and gestured to his book. “Reading… we’re not leaving for another hour or so," he said nonchalantly avoiding looking at me as much as possible. I wanted to toss that damn book out the window.

  “I got something for you,” I said.

  That for sure got his attention. He folded the page and softly closed the book before putting it down beside him. “Yea?” he asked confused.

  I nodded. “Yep. Let me grab it.”

  I went back into the living room to gather the items and sauntered back into his room and dropped it all onto his bed. “This is what you’re wearing tonight,” I informed him and turned to leave.

  Just as I was making my way out of the room I heard him scrambling and a sharp inhale. “Tank!”

  “Danny?” I replied not stopping my pace.

  “What is this? Where are we going?” he asked in a panic.

  I shrugged knowing he could see me as I made sure to move slowly. “Out.”

  I heard him fussing behind me, but I made no attempt to acknowledge him. I continued about my business with a smile on my face. I didn
’t like the idea of making him frantic, but it would serve its purpose.

  Danny

  I was freaking out. Actually, that’s an understatement… I was a second away from hyperventilating and as each minute passes it just keeps getting worst. I’ve been on edge since I realized what Tank told me to wear to go out tonight. There was no way he put together an outfit for me, and we were going to Wendy’s. I’d gotten over my fear of how I look eating in public, but I still couldn’t stop myself from clamming up. I wasn’t sure if it was just being out and around people or something that cranked up my anxiety or if it was something even deeper, but I couldn’t stop it.

  I’ve been twisting my fingers around for the past five minutes when Tank rapped his knuckles on the door twice. “Ready?” he asked.

  I was strongly considering playing sick, but I was sure he’d see right through me. I don’t know how he was so good at it, but he read me like a book. I sighed, “Yea.” But I made no attempt to move.

  “Let’s go then.” He shouted through the door, and I listened to his footsteps as he walked away.

  I gave myself two minutes to try to calm myself before making my way out. I grabbed my jacket and just as I was putting it on, I noticed Tank. Everything stopped for a full ten seconds before my brain resumed functioning.

  So, the thing is, ever since I had a reaction to him I haven’t been able to not notice how hot he was. I was crushing on him big time, and I was doing everything in my power to hide it. Today, however, that would probably be impossible. He had on a pair of fitted straight leg black jeans that just taught me how incredible his ass was. How hadn’t I noticed that before? But then again, I wasn’t exactly ever checking him out until lately. He paired those jeans with a grey Henley shirt and topped the look off with his signature boots. It wasn’t overly dressed up or anything it was just… something.

  You know what I mean. A person could look the same way they do every day but there’s just some days where it just looks like more? This was definitely one of those times… not to mention I never saw him outside of a t-shirt – or shirtless. I snapped out of my daze just in time before I was caught ogling him. I snatched up my jacket as he opened the door and I followed him out. When he walked to his bike, I had to suck in a sharp breath. I was already mildly turned on from looking at him, there was no way I was going to be able to make it on the back of his bike pressed against him without going full mast on him, and there was not enough space on that bike for me to be able to hide it.

  “Can we not take the bike?” I asked.

  He turned to me and frowned. “Why? What’s wrong with my bike?” he asked defensively.

  I rolled my eyes. “Nothing, I’m just nervous… I’d be able to calm down on the way there better if we were in the car.” He groaned and rubbed a hand through his hair. Then, he stomped off to the car pouting like a child. It was pretty cute, and I really needed to stop thinking like this.

  We pulled into a parking lot, and the place in front of us looked nice. Nicer than anywhere we’ve been to. Hell, that I ever been to. When we were ushered inside, I was able to let out a breath of relief when I saw that it wasn’t as formal as I initially thought. I was worried we were underdressed and everyone in the room would stare at us as if we were out of place.

  As soon as we entered a woman approached Tank with familiarity. “Tank. Good evening, just the two of you today?” she asked giving him a warm smile.

  He didn’t seem to notice, or he just didn’t care. “Yea. Something in the back.”

  Her smile didn’t falter. “Of course. This way.”

  I didn’t miss the curious stares from people who appeared to be waiting for a table. Questions popped into my head, but I didn’t voice them. It wasn’t my business why he was apparently getting special treatment. Maybe he was just a regular whose business they wanted to keep. Or they were scared of him because of his patch showing his title and affiliation to the club.

  The table was pretty far in the back which kept us out of view of most of the tables in the open space. Tank gestured for me to take the seat that would leave my back to most of the restaurant – which I was thankful for. He took off his jacket before taking a seat, and I followed his lead. The woman gave us a brief nod and Tank a lingering gaze that I could now see was lust then said, “the waiter will be right with you.” Before walking off.

  Almost as if hearing his cue, a waiter approached the table. He placed a basket of toasted garlic bread on the table then handed us each a menu before pouring us two full glasses of water. Next, he extracted a notepad and pen from the pocket of his apron. “Can I get you two something to drink?” he asked.

  I bit my lip as I looked at the drink menu. I didn’t have a clue what half of this crap was. What the hell is a Shirley temple? Tank stared at me for a minute before looking up to the waiter. “We’ll take a bottle of the 2003 Dom Perignon Rosé.” He ordered.

  The waiter smiled before retreating. I waited until he was out of sight before I leaned across the table and said in a low voice. “Is that liquor?” I asked.

  Tank smiled. “It’s champagne. Not as hard as the stuff we normally drink, I don’t need you in here drunk off your ass.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve drunk before.” And it’s true. I’ve had a bit of cognac at the club before. Not much… but I have.

  Tank snickered. “A sip of liquor doesn’t really qualify in my book as having a drink, but it’s alright.”

  I had the urge to stick out my tongue at him for teasing me. “Whatever.” I conceded.

  He gestured to the forgotten menu lingering in my hand. “What are you going to have?” he asked.

  I began scanning the menu wishing it was as easy as a burger and fries, but this didn’t seem like the place to even serve that. It was a lot faster than I expected that the waiter returned. He opened the bottle and placed down two glasses. He looked between the two of us before asking, “are you ready to order?” he asked.

  I didn’t even make it through half the menu, and I had no idea what to choose. I immediately felt pressured and found myself retreating. I felt my leg begin to bounce from nerves and then Tanks boot tapping against my ankle. When I looked over at him, he gave a subtle shake of his head as if to say stop or relax but I couldn’t. I felt like I needed to have an answer right away and I didn’t have one.

  “We’re not quite ready, can you give us a minute?” Tank asked.

  The guy nodded and walked away not at all put out by us not being ready. My breath left me in a whish and Tank shook his head. “If you wasn’t ready, you wasn’t fucking ready. They can wait. You’re paying for the service… they can give you enough time to make up your mind. Don’t let that shit stress you out, you hear me?” he ordered.

  It made sense, but I wasn’t used to being the one in control. All my life, I was the person that was being told what to do and when to do it. “Ok,” I said to placate him. What he was insisting was easier said than done for me.

  “Now, check it out and let me know when you found something you want.” Tank said before returning his attention to his own menu.

  I read through it three times and couldn’t make up my mind. Some of the things eluded me. Like what is foie gras? Eventually, I gave up and put the menu down. “Can you order for me?” I asked Tank shyly. Honestly, I made up my mind after the first look through I just didn’t have the courage to ask. Frustration finally pushed me to do it.

  He nodded. “I can.” He lifted his hand a fraction and made a gesture, and it was like magic that the waiter was back at the table.

  “Are you gentlemen ready?” he asked.

  Tank nodded. “We’ll have the seared scallops with the jalapeno vinaigrette for appetizers.”

  The waiter jotted it down then nodded. “Sure, and for the main course?”

  “We’ll both take the lobster stuffed beef tenderloin. For the appetizers, we’ll take grilled asparagus and roasted red potatoes.”

  The waiter offered a nod and walked off. Wh
en he left, Tank took the bottle of champagne and poured some into both glasses. He picked his up and took a sip. I reached for the water and took a sip. “Don’t want champagne?” he asked.

  I shrugged and picked up the glass and took a sip. “This is good,” I told him honestly and took another sip.

  He grinned. “I know my drinks.” He put down his glass and leaned in a bit. “How're things at the garage?” he asked.

  It was my turn to grin. “It’s fantastic. I’m going to be working on a ford by myself. Just came in yesterday, something up with the engine. I can’t wait. I learned a lot.” I took another sip and remembered the question that’s been plaguing me. “So, what’s Marks deal?” I asked him.

  He smiled knowingly, but instead of just telling me he toyed with me first. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “You know… the man doesn’t speak! I know he’s not a mute. He did speak to me that time when I first met him, and he spoke to you. Why doesn’t he talk though? It was like learning sign language in that garage. He wants people’s attention and he just whistles. You have to learn what each sound he makes means. Sometimes it feels like we’re trained puppies or something.”

  Tank chuckled. “Uh… I don’t really know what to tell you. There’s ain’t nothing wrong with him, he just don’t like talking. Talking makes him antsy.”

  I frowned. “That’s so weird. Who doesn’t like talking?”

  Tank arched an eyebrow. He took his time taking a small sip from his cup before speaking up again. “Is that right? For a while there, I thought you didn’t like talking.” He said.

  I felt myself blush and I squirmed in my seat. I was nervous earlier that he might bring up what happened although I happened to totally forget about the whole incident since we been here. Until now. Thanks a lot, Tank.

  “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to play it off.