Rough Rider

by Harley Fox

  That is not the place for romance! That is not the place where feelings get involved!

  I just chalked it up to the spur-of-the-moment rush you get when you’re doing something wrong. I didn’t think it was anything more than that.

  But then we kissed and I felt it again. That feeling. That … something, I don’t know what it is. And I don’t know if I want to know what it is.

  Grabbing one of the canvas tarps out of the cupboard I shake it open over the ground. It doesn’t open all the way, and of course Merryn just stands there, watching me.

  “Give me a hand, would you?” I tell her, and she snaps back to reality. She quickly walks over, those high heels of hers clacking on the concrete floor.

  “What are we doing?” she asks.

  “Covering up this bike,” I tell her. “Grab a corner.”

  She does and we shake it out fully.

  “Why?” she asks. I look at her as we drape it over.

  “I told you, you’ve got to come home with me. I’d prefer to be in the safety of my home while you’re here, in case the Slingers come back, and I don’t want this bike out on display for potential thieves.” She looks at me strangely and I take a sigh. “The gang that was just here,” I explain to her. “They’re called the Slingers.”

  “No no, I got that,” she says as we tuck the tarp down. “I just thought … I thought you were kidding about me coming home with you.”

  I straighten up and so does she.

  “Kidding? You did a stupid thing with that wrench, and now you could be in danger. We can’t take any chances.”

  “No,” she says, shaking her head. I furrow my brow at her.

  “No?”

  “I’m not doing that. I’m not coming home with you. I’m going to leave.”

  I narrow my eyes and take a step toward her.

  “What do you think is happening right now?” I ask her. I take another step and she tenses, but still she stands her ground. “What do you think is going on?”

  One last step and I’m right in front of her. She has to crane her neck to look at me and being this close I can smell her again. Now that the excitement has worn off my mind has more interesting things to consider. Like how great she would feel in my hands, and on my cock.

  “I don’t know,” she admits with a flush in her cheeks. “All I know is I shouldn’t be here.”

  “I agree,” I say, nodding. From this angle I can see down her blouse at the cleavage she has showing. My cock starts to harden in my jeans again.

  “So then let me go,” she says. But I shake my head.

  “I can’t. Not without getting your car repainted first. Otherwise you’ll be in danger. And besides …” I reach around and grab onto the small of her back, pulling her toward me. She gasps when her soft body presses right into her belly. I smile. “I know you can’t resist another taste of this cock.”

  The flush deepens in her cheeks but she doesn’t say anything. My smile becomes wider. Like putty in my hands, I think as I start to lower myself down, aiming my lips for hers.

  SLAP!

  The pain in my cheek makes me reel back, letting go of Merryn’s back. I hear her high heels clack on the concrete as she steps away from me.

  “Are you fucking kidding?” she says as I shake my head to clear it. “We almost just got murdered and all you can think about is having sex?”

  I stretch out my jaw, trying to get rid of the pain. That’s twice already. You think I’d learn my lesson by now.

  “I already told you,” she goes on. “I’m not here to sleep with you. The only reason I’m here is to get you to sign that paper.”

  “There’s no way in hell I’m signing that thing,” I snarl. My cock is still throbbing in my jeans. God damn it, why does she turn me on so much? We stare daggers at each other before I see her eyes drop down to the front of my pants. They widen as she gasps and I smile again.

  “All yours if you want it,” I tell her. She brings her eyes back up to me. She isn’t smiling.

  “You said we need my car repainted,” she says. “Let’s do that so I can leave this place.”

  My smile drops.

  “Fine,” I say, and I turn to leave the garage. I hear her high heels clack as she goes to pick up her purse and the file folder, and then she follows me outside. I turn to a security keypad on the wall and punch in the code to close the door. Once it’s down and locked I take a cursory glance through the glass windows to make sure I didn’t forget anything, then turn to walk home.

  “So where are we going?” Merryn asks as she follows me off the sidewalk. “And are we driving or walking?”

  “We’re walking,” I tell her.

  “Oh,” she says, stepping quickly to keep up with me. We walk beside my motorcycle and reach the far side of the street. “It’s just, I can’t go very far in these shoes. They’re not exactly made for walking long distances. Can’t we call a cab or—”

  I stop in front of my door and take out my keys, unlocking it.

  “We’re here,” I say, and I walk in. Merryn closes her mouth as she follows.

  She shuts the door behind her and follows me up the carpeted stairs to the main floor. I stow the keys back in my pocket and we reach the top, stepping into the empty living room.

  “Jake?” comes Emily’s voice from down the hall, and my stomach does a flip. Fuck, I forgot about Emily.

  I hear the hollow sounds of her crutches from inside her bedroom, and then her door opens and she starts walking toward us. But she slows down when she sees Merryn. I turn to see Merryn staring at my little sister, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open.

  Rage suddenly fills me. This fucking bitch! I think. If she thinks for one second she’s going to make Emily feel weird then she’s fucking out on her—

  But then Merryn’s mouth turns upward into a smile and she raises a hand.

  “Hi,” she says. “I’m Merryn.”

  I look back at Emily, who smiles as she raises a hand.

  “Emily.” Then, turning to me, “Jake, why are you home so early? Are you done work?”

  “Something happened,” I tell her. “And Merryn’s going to stay with us until we get it figured out. Just a day or so.”

  “Something happened?” Emily repeats, and I see her eyes light up. “Did it have to do with your gang?”

  “No!” I snap, and her excitement fizzles away. “Just mind your own business. I need to use the phone, so you two just … talk or something. Merryn, put your stuff anywhere.”

  I turn and walk past the couch to the cordless phone on the table. I pick it up and dial, and behind me I hear:

  “Sorry, Jake never told me he had a sister.”

  “Oh, yeah, Jake can be kind of closed off sometimes. So you’re staying here overnight?”

  “I think so, yeah. For a day or so.”

  “Cool. Want me to show you around?”

  “That would be great, thanks.”

  The other end picks up and Johnny’s voice comes on the line:

  “Hello?”

  “Johnny,” I say, quickly tuning the girls out. “It’s Jake.”

  “Jake, buddy, how you doing?”

  “Good. Hey, you busy? I need to call in that favor you owe me.”

  “Oh yeah? What is it?”

  I describe the situation, turning around as I do, but Merryn and Emily are gone. Merryn’s purse is on the table by the door, the file folder sitting underneath it. I stare at them as I keep talking, and when I’m done Johnny says:

  “Okay sure. It’s gonna take a couple of days. You said you need it done pronto?”

  “Yeah, as soon as possible.”

  “No worries my man, I’ll be right over.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  I hang up the phone and listen for voices, but nobody’s speaking. So I walk down the hallway to Emily’s room where I find her at her computer, touching up a picture. She’s alone.

  “Where’s Merryn?” I ask, and Emily turns around.
<
br />   “She’s in the bathroom.”

  As if on cue the toilet flushes. I didn’t even notice the bathroom door was closed.

  “She’s pretty,” Emily says with a grin. “Is she your girlfriend?”

  “No,” I tell her. “She’s just … a friend.”

  Emily shrugs.

  “Whatever. You two should date.”

  Before I can respond the bathroom door opens and I turn to see Merryn walk out. She seems shorter for some reason, but when I look down I see she’s carrying her high heels instead of wearing them.

  “Sorry,” she says. “They were killing my feet.”

  “Fine,” I say.

  “Um, do you have any other shoes I could wear?” she asks.

  I breathe out a sigh and turn back to Emily.

  “Emily, do you have any shoes that—”

  “Check my closet,” Emily calls out, cutting me off. I turn back to Merryn and then stand aside, gesturing with a flourish for her to enter.

  She walks past me, giving me a sneer. I smell her again and my cock stirs in my pants. Suddenly all I can think about is last night and the way she tasted, the feeling of her pussy coming all over my cock. I quickly shake my head and call out instead, “Uh, Merryn. Do you want some coffee?”

  “That would be great. Thanks,” Merryn calls back. I quickly walk down the hall and turn into the kitchen, my cock leading the way.

  Once I’m in there I stop and grip the edge of the counter. What is wrong with me? I think. What is this woman doing to me?

  I shake my head and will my cock to deflate, then go to make the coffee. A few minutes later, once it’s on and the pot is slowly being filled, Merryn appears in the doorway wearing a pair of Emily’s running shoes, her high heels still in her hand.

  “Where can I put these?” she asks, lifting the heels.

  “By the front door,” I tell her. “And I need your keys.”

  Merryn blinks at me.

  “What?”

  “Your car keys. I need them to give to Johnny so he can take your car to repaint it.”

  “Oh, right,” she says, and she disappears for a moment. When she comes back the high heels are gone and she hands me the key fob. On the ring is a laminated piece of paper with identifying information. I look down at it.

  “Is this car not even yours?” I ask.

  “No, it’s a company car,” she says.

  A flush of anger washes over me. I’m helping PharmaChem to save one of their cars. I should just have Johnny crush it into a cube.

  “What’s wrong?” Merryn asks. I shake my head and put the key fob into my pocket.

  “Nothing,” I say. I turn to grab two mugs from the cupboard.

  “Are you sure?” she says, stepping into the kitchen. “Because you seem a lot more—”

  I spin around and slam the mugs down on the counter. Merryn jumps.

  “How can you work for that piece of shit company?” I yell at her. She’s blanched.

  “W-what?”

  “PharmaChem! How can you work for them?”

  Now that the shock is gone, her strength comes back quickly.

  “What do you mean, how can I work for them?” Merryn asks me, keeping her voice from rising. “You don’t even know me!”

  “I know them!” I say. “PharmaChem is evil, Merryn, and you shouldn’t work there.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do!” she spits. “How dare you!”

  “You have no idea just how bad that place is.”

  “That place isn’t bad! They’re the backbone of this city.”

  “Oh, and I guess everything they do is just peachy-keen, huh?”

  She sets her jaw, glaring at me.

  “How would you know?” she asks. “Did you get fired from there or something?”

  “No,” I say. Suddenly I don’t want to get into this.

  “Then what?”

  I glare at her for a moment and then drop my gaze and sigh. I’m chewing on my words. My eyes dart to the kitchen entrance but Emily’s not there. She’s used to me yelling.

  “PharmaChem is the reason that Emily’s body looks like it does,” I say in a low voice. I see the fight trickle out of Merryn and her brow furrows.

  “What?” she asks. “What do you—”

  “Back when we were kids,” I say, “when Emily was three and I was eleven she started crying, one night in the winter. It came on, just like that. We woke up to the sound of her shrieking. At first we thought it was just a cold but it wouldn’t go away, and even when we took her to the doctor he didn’t know what it was.

  “She had weird symptoms. It hurt to have her arms or legs touched. So finally they called in some kind of kid specialist and he ran some tests, and it turned out that Emily had some sort of degenerative bone disease. They said it was similar to Muscular Dystrophy but different enough that their usual drugs wouldn’t work. All they could do was give her something for the pain and send us home.

  “I guess Mom and Dad began telling people, because a few days later this guy shows up at our house. I remember he was wearing a navy blue suit, and he had a briefcase with him. He said he was from PharmaChem, this new pharmaceutical company that was just starting up. He said he’d heard about Emily and he wanted to offer us a new drug they had just made for a discounted price.

  “At first my dad was against it; he said that drugs have bad side effects. But my mom said it might help Emily, and besides, the man seemed really nice. I remember he smiled at me a lot.

  “So my dad said okay and we got the drug and gave it to Emily. And a couple days later she seems to be getting better. There was no pain anymore. But then something happened. Emily’s arms and legs began twisting, like they were made out of rubber or something. She didn’t seem to be in pain, though. She wasn’t crying, and we could still touch her. But she became … like she is now.

  “My dad tried calling PharmaChem to complain, but all they said was they were sorry and offered us our money back for the pills. He was pissed off. That drug should have been tested more. He decided to sue them, but the lawyers would have cost us more than our house, and we didn’t have that kind of money.

  “So my dad started going to the newspapers, trying to tell people what had happened. He must’ve called ten places before we got another knock on our front door.

  “It was the PharmaChem guy again, but this time there was someone with him. The other guy was big and scary, and he just looked angry. The PharmaChem guy told us to accept the refund money and stop trying to make this public. He told my dad that if he continued, the scary-looking guy would make our entire family disappear.

  “And then they left. And my mom and dad fought about it for a long time, and then I remember my dad gave up and said he wouldn’t go to the papers anymore.

  “And the last letter we got from PharmaChem was a Get Well Soon card with a cheque for the refund amount inside. My dad ended up cashing it.”

  The kitchen goes silent as I stop talking, and Merryn is looking at me. She’s not angry anymore, but even still I’m finding it hard to meet her eye.

  “Where are your parents now?” she asks.

  I turn and grab the coffee pot — it’s been full for a while — and fill up both of our mugs.

  “They died two years ago,” I say, as I put it back. “That’s when Emily came to live with me.”

  Merryn nods as I hand her one of the mugs. She accepts it but doesn’t take a drink.

  “I’m sorry to hear that happened to you,” she says. I pick up my own mug and sip the hot liquid. But I shake my head, swallowing.

  “It didn’t happen to me,” I tell her. “It happened to Emily. I told you, PharmaChem is evil. And you shouldn’t be working there.”

  “It isn’t that simple for me,” she says. “Nobody is town is hiring. This city is bad for that.”

  “So do something on your own,” I say. “Why do you think I own my own repair shop?”

  Merryn blinks.

  “What can I do?�
� she asks me, and I shrug.

  “Anything you want. Why are you relying on somebody else to keep you alive? Take charge. Do what you want instead.”

  Merryn looks at me and her eyes capture mine. I put my coffee down and step forward, and she doesn’t back away this time. I feel my cock getting hard in my pants. A flush rises up in her cheeks. I want her right now, and I can tell she wants me too.

  But then a knock comes at the front door and Merryn’s eyes pull away from mine.

  Fuck, I think. Here’s Johnny.

  She takes a step back and sucks in a deep breath, then lets it out.

  “I think that’s your friend,” she says, giving me a smile. My cock is still throbbing in my pants.

  “Yeah,” I say, and without another word I step around her and leave for the door.

  The next two days are going to be tough.

  Merryn

  I take a deep, shuddering breath and let it out.

  That was close, I think. He was about to kiss me.

  And of course I don’t want that to happen … do I? I mean, Jake is a much more arrogant jerk than I thought. He seems to think about sex all the time, and his cock gets hard constantly! Like seriously, does he just have a button that he pushes and then, vwoom! it’s hard?

  It’s not to say I’m not flattered or anything but … I just know I don’t want to sleep with him again. What happened last night was it. It was a one-time thing and we’re going to keep it that way.

  I sigh. If only my body would listen to what my brain is trying to say.

  I shake my head, trying to clear it. But the memory of him holding me up in the alley keeps coming back. And of him lowering me down onto his cock, already hard and waiting for me …

  No!

  I shake my head again. In the distance I hear voices coming from down at the front door. I don’t really want to be alone in the kitchen when he comes back. He might try to take advantage of the situation.

  And I might not be willing to stop him.

  So, taking my cup of coffee with me, I turn around and leave. I peer around the corner into the living room, having not really had a chance to look around the place before. It’s a quaint room, inside of a quaint apartment. Up against the wall shared with the kitchen is a dining table, with chairs around the three available sides. Away from that is a faux-leather couch that looks pretty well-loved. The corners are scuffed up and ripped, and the cushions look like they’ve been used as a mattress.