“That could be fun, but no dog.”
“Agreed. Now, about this skinny dipping thing…”
“Yeah, I was thinking we could start with the motorcycle thing. It’s too cold for the swimming thing.”
“Oh, don’t be such a wimp.”
“Okay, let’s go skinny dipping. How sexy do you think it will be when you walk into the cold water and your little friend gets even smaller when it shrivels up from the cold?”
“Ouch, you’re hitting below the belt. Well, I guess we’ll just have to think about some of these other things another time. But I’ll teach you to drive the bike tomorrow. Just promise me you’ll be nice to her.”
“I promise,” I said and leaned down to give him a kiss.
He pulled away for a second, and smiled. “Now, time to be nice to me.”
***
I was sitting on top of Shane’s motorcycle with a heavy helmet on my head, and the new leather pants Shane snuck out this morning to buy me. I felt like a badass, but then again, my feet were still firmly on the ground.
“All right, let’s go over this again,” Shane repeated for the third time.
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “I know all of this.”
“Well then, it won’t matter if you say it again.”
“Fine, the hand clutch is on the left and I’m supposed to use it to when shifting gears. But the shifter is by my left foot. On the right handlebar is the accelerator and the front tire brake. The rear brake is by my right foot. So left is gears while the right is stop and go.”
“Fine, but last thing, you don’t drive a motorcycle, you just ride it.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Sorry, I don’t make the rules.” He climbed on the back of the bike and grabbed my waist. It helped settle me a little knowing he was there. At least if we crashed, I wouldn’t die alone.
“All right, let’s give it a little and try to go really slowly.”
I did as he said, and after a few kicks on the clutch, I felt the resistance give way, with a hit to the accelerator, we were off. Sure, we were off in the parking lot of a nearby elementary school and there were no other cars around, but I was doing it.
We went around in circles for a few minutes, and as I navigated the turns, I felt Shane’s grip start to loosen a bit. I was getting it, so I upshifted, speeding up a little and then a little more. It wasn’t long before I felt the adrenaline pumping through my system and I upshifted again.
“Okay, we’re just in a parking lot. Slow down a bit,” he yelled at me.
I downshifted and slowed down, hitting the brakes. My feet hit the ground again and I let out a yell. I’d actually done it. Shane slapped my thighs and cheered too.
“Right, now I want to hit the highway,” I told him.
“Um, maybe let’s just hit some back roads first. I built this bike from the ground up and your lead foot is making me nervous.”
“Said the race car driver.”
Shane laughed and I started the bike up again.
We made it around the block a few times with minimal issues, but it wasn’t enough. Ignoring Shane’s yelling, I pulled onto the highway and really let the bike loose. We were flying. Luckily, it was still early on Saturday morning, so there weren’t a lot of other cars on the highway. I watched the speed limit come and go on the bike’s display screen and I pushed her harder as the adrenaline from earlier was back, stronger than ever.
My mind emptied and I just had to focus on Shane and the road. It was the most peace I think I’d ever experienced in my life. After another hour, my fingers were starting to freeze and I made a mental note to invest in some riding gloves. Reluctantly, I headed back to Shane’s apartment and parked the bike.
“I told you not to go on the highway. What if we’d crashed? Are you crazy?” Shane yelled at me as we climbed off the bike and took our helmets off.
I smiled at him and grabbed his jacket, pulling him to me. “I trusted you.” Then I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck, pressing myself against him, urging him to take advantage. With only a second of hesitation, Shane grabbed my ass and gave me the response I’d been looking for. A make out session hot enough to set a house on fire.
Shane stopped the kiss, and looked at me for a few seconds, not saying anything. Then he gave me that wicked smile. “Watching you ride that bike was quite possibly the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, once I got over the fear you were gonna kill us. That was crazy dangerous.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” I said, my voice a little raspy. I pulled Shane into the apartment and then up into his bed.
***
After another round together that quickly moved into the shower, we were both famished. I walked into the kitchen, wearing only Shane’s t-shirt, and started making us lunch. Apparently, Shane’s mother was consistently afraid he would go hungry, so she kept his kitchen stocked with food. He even knew how to cook some of it. But now, it was my turn to do something for him. Well, another something. What happened earlier in the shower didn’t count.
I was browning some ground beef when he strolled into the kitchen, basketball shorts hanging loosely on his hips. His abs took my breath away and I quickly looked down at the food before I jumped his bones again.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and gave my neck a little kiss. “Mhmmm, what’re you making?”
“Tacos.”
“Sounds good. Afterwards, I need to go see one of my boys about a couple repairs on my car before the race. You’re welcome to stay here though. I can pick you up before I head over.”
“No, I need to get home. Take a shower, change clothes, assure my parents that I’m not dead in a ditch, that kind of thing.”
“They worry about you, that sounds familiar.”
“Oh yeah, your parents are controlling too?” I asked him as Shane handed me the skillet to brown the meat.
“You have to have heard about Asian parents, right? My parents feel like all of their accomplishments mean nothing if I’m not even more successful than they are. But they define success as being a top notch doctor, or engineer. They might even be happy if I wanted to go into business and I got my MBA. My life has been planned out for years.”
“Sounds familiar,” I repeated, a little dejected that we both had to deal with the same kind of pressure.
“Yeah, I guess it does. But you got out of yours. I’m still dealing with mine.”
“It sounds like you’re kinda making it your own.”
“Well, there are some benefits to it all. Like this apartment, my parents bought it for themselves almost more than me. It’s a big deal that they were able to buy it for me. They are so successful that they were able to buy me this fancy place and still vacation to the islands every year. It’s a great story for them to tell at hospital fundraisers and cocktail parties.”
“At least they let you live on your own. My parents shut down the idea of me even applying for colleges that were more than fifty miles away from our front door. Forget living on campus. Did you know that rapists and murderers troll college campuses every night?”
“Oh, shit, guess I’ve got to be more careful.” He laughed and sat down at the breakfast bar while I finished cooking.
I gave him a plate and we started in. “So, how did you get out last night if your parents are so strict?”
“Homecoming is next weekend. I’m in the club that sponsors it, so I told my mom I was working on the decorations with my friend Annabelle. She’s met my mom, so I’m allowed to crash at her place as long as I promise not to go out past ten.” I was trying to eat my taco without making a giant mess, but I’d stuffed it too full. So much for looking like a lady.
“Seriously?” Shane asked as he shoved more taco in his mouth, looking as classy as I did.
“Oh, yes. Some people say nothing good happens after midnight, but my mom strongly believes you should be home at ten. Don’t even risk being out around eleven.”
“Well, I guess it’s good she
doesn’t know what we were doing at like one in the morning.”
“Yeah, definitely for the best. Anyway, I’m going to head home, change, and tell my mom that we aren’t done and I’m spending the rest of the weekend getting ready.”
“So you just assumed that you’d be staying here?”
“I can think of a thing or two that might convince you to stay,” I suggested, raising my eyebrows at him.
“Down, woman! I gotta get the car in shape.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead and we finished eating.
“All right, I need to get ready to leave this apartment or I’m going to lose the race tonight and it will be completely your fault.” He grabbed my plate, putting it in the sink. “I’ll handle the dishes later, but I gotta get dressed and head out.”
“I can do them. I’m in no rush,” I said and walked over to the sink.
“Be careful, woman, keep doing things like this and I may just have to wife you up before you finish that list.”
“Haha, you’re so funny.” I rolled my eyes and continued washing the dishes.
Shane headed out and gave me a key. “Lock up before you leave. Head back here when you’re done and I’ll pick you up. Thanks again.” He kissed me on the cheek and then headed out.
I stared at the door after he walked out, a little shocked about the key. Then I placed it in my purse, refusing to think too deeply about it. He needed me to lock the door. Guys don’t get too intense with things like this. I needed to turn the girl brain off. So, naturally, I finished the dishes, cleaned the stove, and made the bed before heading out. I grabbed my purse, locked up, and attached the ring to my keys with the intention of giving it back to him tonight. I’m sure that’s what he wanted anyway.
Chapter 12
Mom didn’t question me about Homecoming, in fact, she was really excited about it. Dances and things like that excited her. She’d chaperone if she could. Plus, Annabelle sent me some pictures of decorations she was working on as long as I promised to stop by on Sunday and help out. When I showed the shots to Mom, she practically screamed and ran from the room.
“Mom,” I called after her. She had run to the ladder that led to the attic.
I waited for her at the bottom and she climbed down with a giant Eiffel Tower in her hands. It was the size of her torso, had light bulbs in it, and was made of what looked like hard metal. She quickly plugged it into an outlet in the hallway and it lit up.
“I wanted to redo our bedroom with a Paris theme, but your father hated it. I have tons of stuff you all could use for the dance. Let me get it all down and you can take it with you back to Annabelle’s. Oh, I’m so glad this stuff has a use,” she squealed and headed back up in the attic.
“Do you want some help?” I called to her.
“No, darlin’, I don’t want you up here. It’s all beams and you could hurt yourself. Anything I can’t lift or get down, I’ll have your father grab it.”
Sighing, I went to take a shower and get ready to see another race.
I was putting on my make-up when my mom came in. “Also, I think I have the perfect dress for you.”
“What? The perfect dress? How do you have a dress for this?”
“Well,” she began and headed out of my room and into hers. “I bought this dress years ago. Your dad wanted to take me to Paris for Valentine’s Day and I wanted to look nice. But we found out I was pregnant with you a month before we left, so we decided to cancel the trip and I decided to save the dress until I went to Paris.”
“But you’ve been to Paris. Multiple times,” I reminded her, sitting down on the chaise in her huge walk in closet.
“Darlin’, it was never the same nor was my figure,” she said, flipping to the very back of her closet.
“Mom, you look great.”
She stopped and smiled at me. “I know I do. You’ll understand one day when you have your babies. Things just change.”
I was going to respond, mostly because I felt guilty, but I couldn’t find the words as Mom was holding a dress out for me. It was quite possibly the most beautiful dress I’d ever seen. It was a green velvet wrap dress with spaghetti straps and an open back.
“Try it on,” she said, smiling at me.
Forgoing my modesty, I stripped down and eagerly grabbed the dress. It felt like heaven as the soft fabric caressed my body, falling just about at mid-thigh. This dress, although in my mom’s closet, was made for me. My narrow hips looked curvy, my breasts pushed against the fabric seductively, and my waist looked tiny. I turned around and took a look at my open back. The fabric started again right about where my jeans would rest, and for what was probably the first time in my life, my ass looked perky and full.
“Wow,” I breathed, awestruck, and I turned to look at my mother. She had tears in her eyes. But unlike at the bridal salon, her face looked pure. There was no motive behind this, and it was nice to share it with her. I reached out to take her hand, and gave her a bright smile. “I love it, Mom.”
“I know that you will probably want to get ready with your friends, but maybe you could send me a few pictures when you’re ready?”
“I think I’ll ask them if they want to get ready here. There’s more space.”
“That sounds nice. I can make some getting ready snacks too,” she suggested, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
“I’d like that.” It was like the prom I didn’t get to have.
A few days before my own prom, Rob’s brother had died in Iraq. No one was in the mood to go, even though Rob had told me I could just go with my friends. We spent the night curled up together, watching family videos with his parents. I closed my eyes, trying to keep the tears away. Jimmy was a good man and had always been nice to me. But I think this was the start of my downfall with Rob. He became determined to start our lives immediately. Even though he was eager to become closer, he closed himself off. No matter how hard I tried, he wouldn’t open back up. Sometimes I think I stayed with him so long after I knew it was over because I felt bad about Jimmy and not because I wanted to.
“Oh yeah, darlin’. Who are you going to the dance with? That new boy?”
My head shot up. I didn’t know if Shane went to dances, or even if he would consider it. “Um, I don’t know yet. I think we may just be going as a group. Violet will be back from study abroad and it will be nice to see her.”
“Maybe Rob will be able to come up. I know he’d love to be able to escort you to the dance,” she suggested softly.
My face fell and just like that, the moment was gone. “Mom, that’s over. I don’t want that life anymore. Rob isn’t willing to compromise on it, and I’m not willing to either. Please, just don’t bring him up again.” I bit my lip a little, hoping she’d accept this answer, hoping we could just go back to having the nice mother/daughter moment in her closet. But her face looked too disappointed. It was like she was watching me crash and burn and couldn’t do anything.
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure. I’ll leave you to get dressed, but don’t get any ideas about taking anything else from my closet.” She tapped my chin and headed out.
I sat on the chaise and looked around. She may have said not to take anything from her closet, but to me, it sounded like an invitation to go shopping. I looked around to find something I could possibly wear tonight. It was mostly just her standard dressy outfits, so I walked to the back, where she’d found my dress, and flipped through the clothes there. I found a short, a line burgundy skirt with buttons from the top all the way to the bottom. It was cute and I loved it.
I tried to sneak out of the closet, but Mom was sitting at her vanity and noticed me trying to hide the skirt. “I guess you can keep that. It’s no longer my style, but stay out of my closet, Christie.”
“Whatever you say, Mom,” I assured her and headed back to my room.
I paired the skirt with a short sleeve black t-shirt, and black ankle boots. Leaving the outfit displayed on my bed, I went to the kitchen to help Mom finish dinne
r and then clean-up. Plus, I had some homework I needed to take a look over.
At around nine, I got dressed, touched up my make-up and hair, then headed to the car to go meet up with Shane. Mom was so excited about the dance, she didn’t question me when I walked out the door. I pushed the guilt aside. Lying to her had become such a necessity over the years but I hated doing it every time.
I pulled into Shane’s parking lot and grabbed the leather jacket he had lent me earlier. Slipping my arms in it, I climbed out of the car and looked around. Shane’s car wasn’t in the parking lot, so I went inside and up to his apartment.
With a shaking hand, I pulled his key out of my black Chanel bag and opened the door. It felt weird and right at the same time. When I opened the door, there was a giant bouquet of pink roses with a card.
Hey,
I need to get to the race early. Emma’s coming to get you. Be downstairs at 9:45. See you soon.
S
P.S. I know I could have texted you this, but I like the idea of you walking around my apartment.
I smiled and smelled the flowers. They were as fresh as they were beautiful. “Very smooth,” I whispered to myself as I took my phone out to text him that I got the message and I’d wait for Emma.
My phone said it was 9:40, so I headed downstairs to wait. Once I got out of the elevator, I got an alert that a text had come in. It was Shane.
Shane: What, no thank u.
I smiled, imagining him feigning wounded and hurt.
Christie: I figured I’d thank u l8r.
I looked up and saw Emma’s Corvette. She skidded to a stop in front of me and I slipped my phone back into my purse.
“Hey girl, ready for a new race?” Emma asked when I climbed into the car.
Third Wheel (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 3) Page 10