by A. A. Dark
“Why did you make him stop?”
“It felt so good, but I got overwhelmed, and didn’t know what to expect, you know, if he kept going. I didn’t want him to know that I’ve never had that happen to me before.”
“Well, next time, just go with it. You will be pleasantly surprised with the result.”
“I don’t think there’s going to be a next time.”
“What do you mean? He clearly likes you. And whether you know it or not, you left him seriously wanting more.”
“I don’t think so,” Olivia said sadly. Glad for her sunglasses as she could feel the tears welling up again. “I told him that I’m a virgin.”
“Really? How did he respond?”
“He didn’t say anything. He pulled his hand away from me like I was made of poison.”
“And then what happened?”
“I just got out the van and ran into the house so he couldn’t see me cry.” Olivia’s tears breached her eyelids and fell down her cheeks in heavy drops.
“And he didn’t chase you, he didn’t call you?”
“No.”
“What a pussy,” Maddie said angrily, and steered the car into a sandy parking spot.
“There’s Jasmine.” Olivia pointed to the leggy blonde at the edge of the beach.
“The best thing you can do is forget about that guy.” Maddie grabbed her beach bag out of the back seat. “Let’s go get our flirt on with some hot guys here. That will make you feel better.”
“I doubt it,” Olivia said and stepped out of the car.
“Listen, it’s cheesy, but as the saying goes: ‘The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else’.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Olivia trudged behind Maddie across the dune, her flip flops flinging up hot sand as she walked.
“Try it before you write it off.” Maddie smiled and ran to hug Jasmine.
Olivia decided that she was going to do her best to forget about Blaine. She stood up tall and joined the girls as they set up the beach umbrella. It was 85 degrees and the beach was full of hot guys playing volleyball. She pulled a book out of her beach bag and settled into her chair in the shade of the umbrella. Maddie and Jasmine unrolled their colorful beach towels and applied sunscreen to each others’ backs.
Olivia was deep into her novel when she heard a dull thud as a volleyball came crashing into the beach and ricocheted into the umbrella. She sputtered and spat out sand.
“Sorry about that.”
Olivia stopped brushing the sand off herself and looked up to see a sexy all-American boy with tousled blonde hair and a tanned soccer player’s physique standing under her umbrella.
“Here’s your ball.” Olivia handed him the sandy white ball.
Behind the tanned boy, Olivia saw the bemused look on both Maddie and Jasmine’s face. They were clearly intrigued at the scene unfolding in front of them.
“What are you reading?” he pointed a sandy finger to Olivia’s book.
“1984.”
The boy chuckled. “That’s a light beach read.”
This caught Olivia’s attention. She rested her book on her lap and squinted up into the sun to try to get a better look at him. The boy had brains. What was she doing judging a book by its cover? Albeit a chiseled, Calvin Klein model-ish cover…
“Olivia.” She stood up and held out her hand brazenly.
“Tanner.” He shook her sandy hand. “Sorry about the sandstorm.” He took her wrist in his big hand and brushed the sand from her palm with the other. “The only way to really get this fine stuff off is to get in the lake. Are you hot enough for a swim?”
Behind him Maddie and Jas were hanging on to every word. Olivia saw Maddie mouth, “Do it!” and point to the water.
Olivia felt a twinge of guilt at the attraction she felt for Tanner, but brushed it off. As tough as Blaine looked, the cowardly fucker hadn’t reached out to her after she showed him her vulnerability.
“Sure.” She let Tanner lead her to the water’s edge by the hand.
As they waded into the cold, clear water, goose bumps prickled up over Olivia’s body.
“Walking in like this is torture. We’ve just gotta get in fast!” Tanner pulled Olivia by the arm and bounded out into the deeper water with her in tow.
Olivia squealed and followed Tanner’s lead; he released her hand when they were waist deep. They both dove into the water and surfaced together.
“Woooh!” Tanner shouted. “That’s brisk.”
“It’s freezing,” Olivia shouted through her chattering teeth.
“This lake doesn’t really get warm until the end of August. Does the trick for the sand though, doesn’t it?”
Olivia felt alive and refreshed. “It feels amazing.” She laughed through her chattering teeth.
“Sure does, now let’s get out!” He laughed.
Olivia shook her head yes and the two trudged into the shallower water.
“Want to take a walk? We can discuss Orwellian theories.”
Olivia laughed. “Sure,” she responded before she had time to second guess it.
As they headed off along the beach, the hot summer breeze quickly evaporated the water from their bodies. Tanner was surprisingly well-read and extremely hot, just the kind of guy Olivia thought was out of her league. He was in college on a soccer scholarship, but he actually cared about the courses he was taking, and was one of the few players to maintain a high GPA. Olivia enjoyed their conversation, but started to notice that Tanner was extremely boastful. He seemed to be really good at talking about himself, and after half an hour she noticed that he hadn’t asked her anything about herself. She found her mind drifting to Blaine and how his eyes looked into hers when he asked her about her music and her passions. She should’ve felt more excited about walking along the beach with the star centre, but the butterflies that rose up in her stomach whenever she saw or thought about Blaine weren’t responding to Tanner’s presence. The more he talked about himself, the more she grew bored. Her mind ran to other things, like practicing for her audition, and what she was going to have for dinner.
“We should get back,” she interrupted him.
Tanner turned to her and stepped in close. He put his hand behind her head and kissed her. It caught Olivia totally off guard and she pulled back. She tried to look into Tanner’s eyes, but he was staring down at her chest.
“Is everything ok?” he asked.
Olivia remembered what Maddie had said about getting under someone else. ‘Might as well give it a try’ she thought to herself and stepped in to him. She wrapped her arms around his taut waist and tilted her head back to accept Tanner’s lips. The kiss was nice at first. It didn’t ignite a fire in her belly, but it was pleasant. Then Tanner started to get more aggressive, his tongue darting in and out of her mouth, like a lizard’s. She tried to back off, but Tanner pulled her in close, and in one swift, well practiced action, yanked her bikini string to expose her breasts to the hot summer air. He grabbed and kneaded her breast while he tried to kiss her. ‘Nope.’ Olivia thought to herself. She leaned back and pushed Tanner’s shoulder as hard as she could.
“I want to go back.”
“Oh, come on baby. We’re just getting started.”
“I’m leaving.” Olivia turned to walk away, fumbling to tie up her bikini string.
Tanner grabbed her by the forearm. “You’re into it. I know that you are.” He gripped her arm tightly and Olivia started to get scared.
“I’m just not feeling well,” she lied, trying to diffuse the situation.
Tanner eased up his grip on her arm and grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her hand to the front of his boardshorts. Olivia could feel his erection, thick and hard, straining at the front of his shorts. “Look at what you did to me.”
Olivia recoiled and pulled her hand out of his grip.
“I don’t want to have anything to do with you – or that.”
“Fucking cocktease.” Tanner stormed off angrily d
own the beach. He stopped, turned back and shouted, “Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your position right now?”
When she was certain that he wasn’t coming back, Olivia sank to the sand, pulled her knees in close and cried, letting the full body sobs overtake her body. She didn’t know how long she was there before she felt her sister’s arms as they wrapped a towel around her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - BLAINE
The group of men stood at the back of the clubhouse on high alert, their eyes darting back and forth anxiously like guard dogs. Blaine had chosen five of his fittest and best marksmen for the ambush. Since he had to try to save the life of Zeb’s female informant, the plan had changed from a shower of bullets to a covert sniper style attack. Luckily, as Frankie was a former marine and a top sniper, he should be able to take out all of the targets before they even knew what was happening.
He shoved his bulletproof vest into a duffel bag, slid his leather gloves on, and tossed the last of the boxes of ammo into the back of the van. Frankie slid into the driver’s seat and Blaine and the three others all sat in the cargo area, their backs to the cold walls of the van.
Over the past week he had picked up his phone to reach out to Olivia but had changed his mind every time. He realized that his lifestyle was too rough for her, and so was he. He didn’t want to drag such a good person into the life that he had chosen. It killed him to know that he was hurting her with his actions, but he felt like he was saving her from a life of gangs and guns. But tonight, in the silence of the van, he leaned his head back against the wall of the vehicle, and started to question his decision to walk away from Olivia. His mind raced back and forth. He longed to touch her again, to look into her eyes and feel her soft skin. He started to wonder if he could take a back seat to the dangerous and illegal side of club life in order to fit the pretty cellist into his life.
Blaine looked around at his brothers’ faces sombrely, knowing that they might not live past the night. When he was younger he didn’t contemplate death and his own mortality. Now, it saddened him that his good friends’ lives, men who were like brothers to him, could be cut short because of their allegiance to the club. As a teen, he would’ve been coursing with adrenaline, but today he realized that his heart wasn’t in it anymore. He could die tonight, never having told Olivia how beautiful she was, how she needed to keep being herself, and that the world needed more women like her. He was still angry at himself for not reaching out to her after she confided in him that she was a virgin. Her words had stopped his heart and apparently his brain too.
He knew what he had to do. “Frankie, exit here!” he shouted to the driver. “We’ve got one more stop to make”.
“Yes, Boss.” Frankie carefully signaled to get off the highway. When they were driving hot, they followed all of the rules of the road to avoid being pulled over. They had most of the police station under their thumb, but if they were pulled over with a shit-tonne of ammo and automatic weapons by a do-gooder cop, they would be done for.
Frankie parked the van in front of Olivia’s house and said, “We’re here B.”
Blaine jumped out of the back of the van, took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He noticed that he was trembling, and it wasn’t from their mission, he was nervous about facing Liv. He saw a shadow in the window and gulped. It wasn’t Olivia that opened the door though, it was Maddie, her older sister.
“Hi. Um, Maddie is it?” he stammered.
“Yeah,” Maddie said. She didn’t move from the doorway or invite him in.
“Is Olivia here?”
“Nope,” Maddie said. “And if she was, I don’t think that she would be interested in talking to you. You’re a cowardly piece of shit.”
“I know.” Blaine hung his head. “I need to talk to her and apologize.”
“It’s probably better if you just leave her alone.” Maddie leaned against the doorframe. She looked past Blaine to the black van idling across the street. “Friends of yours?”
“Look, Maddie. I think that I’m falling in love with your sister.”
“Pardon me?” Maddie said, in awe.
“You have to understand, it’s because I care for her that I walked away. Not because of, um, other things, the reason she probably thinks. I need to explain that to her. I don’t want her to get hurt, that’s the last thing that I would ever want.”
“She’s out right now, but I can pass on your message to her,” Maddie said, her hard veneer cracking. Her eyes searched Blaine’s face and he could see them soften. Blaine hoped that she could sense that he was being genuine.
“I just want to tell her, that whatever happens to me, I care for her and think that she’s one of the, no wait, she’s the most amazing woman that I’ve ever met. I want her to know how special she is, and to never change for anyone.” Blaine’s eyes teared up as he croaked out the final words.
Maddie started tearing up too. “I’ll tell her,” she said quietly.
“Thank you, Maddie,” Blaine said and moved to shake Maddie’s hand. She took his hand and pulled him in for a hug.
Blaine wiped his eyes, turned, and jogged back to the waiting van.
“Everything alright boss?” Frankie asked.
“Keep driving,” Blaine said. He settled back into the van, the lead weight lifted from his shoulders, knowing that Maddie would relay his message. He felt a huge sense of relief. He could go into the fight now, knowing that he had spoken his piece. If he died tonight, Olivia would know how he truly felt about her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE – OLIVIA
After Blaine left, Maddie closed the door and turned to see Olivia standing on the landing of the stairs.
“Why did you tell him that I wasn’t here?” Olivia had her hands on her hips and a blank expression on her face.
“I, I, I just want to protect you Liv.”
“I can think for myself Maddie,” Olivia said, and stormed down the stairs.
“Look, Liv. He’s right.”
“Why does everyone think that I need protecting?!” Olivia screamed. “You, him, dad, Steve. I’m not a delicate flower, why do you all insist on treating me with kid gloves?”
“Did you hear everything?” Maddie asked quietly.
“I did,” Olivia said through her tears.
“He loves you.”
“He loves me,” Olivia repeated softly, as if not believing herself.
Olivia turned, bounded up the stairs, and rushed to her room. Maddie followed after her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to talk to him. It’s not up to him whether I stay safe or not. Look at what happened to me at the beach, with a ‘good boy’.” Olivia slammed her bedroom door.
Maddie was shocked, but had a wry smile on her face. Her sister was coming into her own. “Maybe he’s not so bad for her after all,” she mused, to no one in particular.
Olivia had changed out of her pyjamas and into short jean shorts and a tank top.
“Where are the keys?” Olivia asked as she stormed into the kitchen, a woman on a mission.
“Where are you going?” Maddie asked.
“I’m going to find him.”
Maddie grabbed the keys from her purse and tossed them to Olivia. Olivia shoved her feet into her Birkenstocks and ran out into the hot humid night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR – BLAINE
Blaine sat in the bush behind the barn and leaned against a tree. He was tired, but alert. He knew that their intel was good and that the Scorpions would arrive just after midnight. ‘No wonder pigs get fat, sitting around on stakeouts like this.’ He thought as he took a bite of his beef jerky.
They had been out to the site earlier in the week and had built a shooting platform in the trees on the east side of the building, and a secondary platform on the west side. Frankie was nestled on the east platform and Crater was posted on the west. Blaine’s sawed-off pump twelve gauge rested on the ground beside him, and his treasured gold desert eagle handgun was tucked nicely into his conce
aled carry holster, loaded and ready for action. He preferred a good beat-down over cold-blooded killing, but the future of the club depended on the outcome of this fight. An outsider like Liv wouldn’t understand, but this was war, and however the night shook out, there would be casualties. They all accepted it, and law enforcement wouldn’t be too interested in a bunch of dead bikers – after all, it made their job easier, fewer scumbags to deal with.
Their van was stashed about a quarter mile away and they had bushwhacked to their positions. It was dusk and the mosquitoes had started to come out in full force. Blaine looked up to the sky and was thankful that it wasn’t a full moon, they were well hidden in the dark of the quarter moon and a cloudy sky. He slapped at a mosquito feasting on his neck, and then snapped his head to the side when his well-trained ear heard the unmistakable growl of a Harley Davidson in the distance. He pulled up his night vision goggles and trained them on Frankie, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that he must’ve heard the bike too. He was in position with his eye glued to the scope of his gun.
The four bikes pulled up to the barn followed by a van, not unlike their own. Two more guys jumped out of the van, along with a smaller figure. ‘Must be the woman.’ Blaine thought to himself. He lifted his binoculars, studying the group. There were seven of the fuckers, two more than they had planned for. If they weren’t accurate with the initial shots, this could turn into an all-out bloodbath.
Blaine kept his eyes trained on the group and waited for the signal. Frankie was the first to shoot. Blaine saw the muzzle flash from Frankie’s silencer and then the biggest man in the group of Scorpions spun around and fell to the ground. Blaine followed suit and pulled his trigger but missed his mark. The Scorpions scattered like cockroaches. He fired again and struck his target in the leg. He saw two of his guys run crouched out of the woods, firing their pistols at the men. He couldn’t get a clear shot from his vantage point without risking the lives of his men, so he pulled out his gun and ran toward the action. They had definitely caught the group of rival bikers off guard, but they were still well armed. He took refuge behind a large oak tree. He was breathing heavily, but fuelled with adrenaline. He spun around the tree and fired four shots at one of the gang members as they ran into the barn. Four down, according to his count. The sniper was the only one with a silencer, and the shots from Blaine and the boys popped out into the night air. Still breathing heavily, Blaine crept toward the barn door. He had lost track of the other guys and was going to try his best not to shoot any of his brothers.