by DD Prince
My mother followed me into the utility room. I shut the door and immediately launched into my defense. “I only got back last night, and I have a full book this morning, Mom. So, if you’re here to rip me a new one…”
I’d immediately started busying myself with tea-making and didn’t make eye contact. She didn’t respond. So, I made eye contact.
Mistake.
Her fake smile mask had already slipped. “Dinner at home tonight. 6:30,” she hissed.
I rolled my eyes. “Why don’t you just tell me now if you’re gonna fuck my life up.”
She gasped. “Don’t you speak to me that way, young lady!”
“Mom.” I was exasperated. “I’ve had a very, very bad few days. Please. Please, don’t do this to me right now. I have to get my head together.” I put my hands in my hair. My chin quivered. I took a breath.
No crying. NO crying. For someone who hadn’t shed tears in years, I was sure making up for it these days.
She watched me with narrowed eyes.
I heard the bells of the shop jingle. I pulled myself together, so I could go out and see who was out there, but the door opened almost hitting my mother and Rider was in the utility room with us, looking tweaked.
I jolted.
He looked at me from head to toe and back to head. This wasn’t an ogle. This was an assessment of my well-being. And he didn’t look like his usual self. He had a baseball cap on backwards and was wearing mechanics overalls with a pair of dirty sneakers. I was a little bit thrown. He smelled like motor oil.
His eyes searched mine for a split second. My lips parted in question, but before I could ask anything, he turned to my Mom.
“Mrs. Murdoch? Rider Valentine.” He extended his hand.
She looked up at him with surprise.
“Nice to meet you,” he said.
She gave him a once over and looked at him much the way Rider’s mother had looked at me. Judgingly. Finding me lacking. I didn’t like the way she looked at Rider. At all. And that wasn’t smart, because I couldn’t show it to him.
“I see you’ve got two of your apes watching her. I suppose that’s good,” she muttered, giving him a limp handshake and then folding her arms across her chest.
“The threat isn’t neutralized, like I told your husband this morning, but it’s significantly safer than it was a week ago. I have a man following Jenna at all times. We’re regularly patrolling this street and I’m with her at night.”
“Of course you are.” she rolled her eyes.
“Now, she’s got a full day, so we should continue this conversation at dinner.”
Mom gawked at him.
I gawked at him.
“Dinner?” I asked.
“I spoke to your dad on the phone this morning, gorgeous. He invited us to dinner.”
I glared at him, lips tight, but didn’t say a word.
Mom was giving me the same glare. “Your father didn’t tell me of this.”
“It’s news to me, too,” I said, showing my palms in defense.
“See you at six thirty then, don’t be late,” Mom said and turned on her heel and left.
I was getting a headache.
Where to even begin with this?
Rider’s eyes were on me. “You okay?”
I glared at him. “You’re not coming to my parents for dinner.”
“Yeah, I am. Your father invited me.”
“No,” I insisted. “You’re not going.”
“I am.”
“Then I won’t,” I said.
He laughed a little, but not with his usual humor.
I fetched my phone from my pocket and dialed my dad’s number.
He barely got his Hello out when I spoke fast. Way fast. Too fast.
I sounded like an auctioneer or something.
“Dad? I’m not coming for dinner tonight. Rider and I broke up and it’s over and I’m home and his MC are watching out for me while things are still a bit off, but you don’t need to have him for dinner. I’m not coming either. I need a few days to sort my head out and Mom’s being… Mom. I can’t deal with that today. I really, really can’t.”
“Uh…” Dad said into the phone.
Rider grabbed my phone out of my hand.
“Hey!” I protested.
“Paul? Let’s reschedule dinner. I showed at Jenna’s salon because your wife was here, pretending you didn’t tell her not to come. She and Jenna were about to get into it, but Jenna needs time. How about I call you tomorrow?”
“Give me that phone.” I tried to get it. He didn’t give it up. He held a hand out, which landed on my chest, and he kept me back.
“Right. Nope, we’re good. She’s just in a mood.” He held the phone a second and then chuckled. My father said something that made him chuckle? What the eff?
“Yep. Okay. Bye.” He ended the call and passed the phone back to me.
“I can’t believe you!” I breathed, sort of. I was almost out of breath.
“I told Scoot to let me know if she showed. I rushed over to make sure she didn’t hassle you. I already told your father we were back, and he wanted us to come to dinner to talk it all out instead of her causing a scene at the salon. He’s gonna be pissed she showed up here after he specifically told her not to.”
“He… huh? You… what? What the…?”
He folded his arms across his chest. I gave my head a shake.
“Just go,” I said.
He raised his eyebrows.
“Bronto’s grandma is waiting for me. Her tea’s getting cold.” I reached for the cup sitting on the counter beside him.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him before I got to the cup. His mouth was a half an inch from mine.
“I get brownie points for gettin’ rid of your ma?”
I shook my head and looked the other way and lied. “No.”
“No?” He sounded playful. Like this was just another game. And it wasn’t.
“Let go.”
“Don’t wanna. I wanna kiss. That’s your price for me gettin’ rid of her.”
“Safeword,” I whispered.
He let go of me and shook his head with a disgusted look on his face.
“You’re a piece of work.”
“You’re a piece of something,” I accused.
His angry expression melted and then he laughed. Laughed! He pinned me against the closed door with his hips.
That wasn’t the reaction I was going for.
I pushed against his chest.
He moved in and kissed me. I grunted, while trying to shove.
He tried to part my lips with his tongue. I shoved hard. He went back against the counter and I grabbed for the door knob so that I could escape. I’d get that tea in minute. After he was gone.
There was a knock, just as I was about to open the door.
“Jen? Sorry, I need something outta there.” That was Pippa. She was early.
Rider’s hand appeared beside my face. He was holding his palm against the door.
“Let go,” I demanded.
“You try slammin’ any door in my face again, I’ll wedge my boot in, Jenna, before you can do it. I’m not letting you go. We both know you really don’t want me to. You’re just scared.”
“Whatever,” I said, but my voice broke in the middle.
He let go of the door and I stormed out.
I wasn’t going to let myself dwell, all day, on how he just saved my ass from my mother’s wrath. I wasn’t going to dwell on how fast he got here.
I wasn’t going to dwell on how it felt that he was still saying he wasn’t giving up on me.
I wasn’t!
(But, of course I did. I dwelled on it all day long.)
***
It was 7:30 before I got out of the salon. Scooter looked supremely bored. He’d perked up when Deanna came in to say Hi and refresh my waiting area supply of brochures for her wax warmers an hour earlier. Her boys climbed all over him like he was some monkey bars while
she, Pip, and I had a quick chat. It did not escape my notice (or Dee’s) that he seemed to have all the patience in the world for her two little rambunctious monster-tots.
That was a bit of an interesting show, too, because I could’ve sworn Dee was giving him a shy flirty smile when she left. And he looked interested. Of course he’d look twice. She’s a knockout.
But, Deanna had been through the ringer with men. The absolute last thing she needed was another asshole in her life. That was the last thing her boys needed, too, and I didn’t know much about Scott, but I knew he’d participated in that gang bang. I’d seen his thing, for eff sakes, as he shoved it into that girl’s mouth.
I could see why Dee smiled like that. He was kind of cute. Scooter was average height, a bit lanky, blond hair, a bit scruffy, but seemed sweet and had a nice smile. He looked like a combo of biker and all-American guy next door. She could do worse looks-wise, but I had the strong urge to warn her. Because it was about more than the way a guy looked. And she was beautiful, funny, sweet, and caring, and she didn’t deserve to get her heart stomped on again.
I think Scott read my mind, because a minute after she left, I must’ve looked deep in thought with my eyes on him and not liking those thoughts. He was looking at me with a weird resigned expression, his shoulders slumped.
I glared at him and turned my back on him. I hoped that’d be taken as a warning not to fuck around with my friend’s heart. If he did, I’d fuck him up.
The day had been busy, and I’d had a few quiet minutes here and there in the utility room with Pip throughout the day where I gave her bits and pieces of the story of the past week in hushed whispers. She was wide-eyed through all the details. I swore her to secrecy. She’d gotten a bit of the story from Rider and from Ella, but I filled in some gaps and when I told her Rider and me were done, but that he was being a stubborn a-hole about it, so I just had to wait for him to get bored of trying, she got alarmed.
“You need to give this a shot, Jen. A real shot. Ride out the storm and see what happens after.”
“Nope,” I’d said. “Can’t.”
“You mean won’t.”
“Fine. Won’t.”
She’d given me an assessing look and hadn’t said anything further. She looked like she was plotting something. I didn’t like Pippa’s schemes. The only person better at a scheme was me. Usually. Before I got cock-bombed by Rider Valentine.
Yep, that’s how it was. If Ella got put in a cock-fog, then I got hit with a cock-bomb. I pitied the poor girl who next landed in a Valentine’s sights.
When I closed up, Scooter headed to the parking lot instead of up the back stairs with me and Pippa.
I looked at him quizzically.
“Ride’s up there,” he informed. “What time you want me here in the morning? 9:30?”
“Whatever,” I grumbled and climbed the stairs. Before we got to the back door, I looked over my shoulder at Pippa.
“He’s not out here.”
“He’s inside,” she said.
“How’d he get inside?” I asked, checking the door, which was locked.
She winced.
“Pip…” I groaned.
“I gave Scott a key this morning and he gave them to that delicious biker hottie with the dark hair and dark eyes. He made some copies,” she said. “What’s his name?”
“Jesse?”
“Hm,” she made a noise.
“Why are you looking at Jesse? You’re moving in with Joe soon!”
She looked remorseful and shrugged. I didn’t know if she was remorseful about the key or about looking at Jesse like potential man meat.
“Everything okay with you and Joe?”
She made a so-so motion with her hand.
“What’s going on?”
She wrinkled her nose up. “Later. Ears in there.”
I unlocked the door and decided to end this for once and for all.
***
Six Hours Later
It was pitch dark, but, as I knew that room like I knew my own, I climbed the stairs and approached the bed.
Immediately, a head popped up and he was reaching toward the nightstand.
“It’s me,” I said quickly.
That was Deacon’s head.
“Jenna?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
I rounded the bed and climbed into Ella’s side.
“Hey?” She lifted her head from the pillow.
I started bawling.
She put her arms around me.
“Oh no… what happened?”
I was too upset to put my filter in place. Or worry about crying in front of a guy. Because this was Ella’s guy, not mine.
I didn’t have a guy. I had a problem.
“Why do I keep falling on his dick when he’s such a fucking dick, Ella? Whyyyyy?” I whined.
“Fuck…” I heard Deacon’s masculine voice grumble.
“Oh sweetie! What happened?” Ella asked, stroking my hair.
“I’ll give you two a minute,” Deacon said, getting up and looked like he was getting into a pair of jeans. It was dark enough that I only saw his outline.
“A minute?” I asked, “Maybe you better go find yourself a sofa, big guy. If you think I’m not sleeping here because you’re in her bed now, you gotta learn… we’ve been besties since we were five and six. If you break her heart, she’s climbing in with me. Your asshole brother breaks mine, you’re taking the sofa.”
It was dark, so I couldn’t see his face, but he leaned over, grabbed a pillow, kissed Ella’s forehead, and then leaned over a bit more and dropped a kiss on mine, too.
Oh God.
I stared, dumbfounded, as he vacated the premises.
“He’s awesome,” I told Ella, through tears.
“Yeah,” she agreed, sounding all dreamy-eyed.
***
“What happened?” she asked. And I told her about the day I’d had as well as what’d happened with Rider that night.
“How does that lyric go? If I’m under him I ain’t getting over him.”
“Wow, Jenna. Sorry, but I bet that was hot.”
“Ella…” I groaned.
“Sorry. It sounded smokin’. You really wanna get over him? I think you should go home and get back under him.”
“Screw that. Life in Cockfog Land is messed up. I’d rather be in the driver’s seat, thank you very much.”
“Really? Really?”
“I…”
“Think about it,” she challenged.
“No,” I whispered, being honest with the only person in the world I felt like I could be 100% honest with. Well, 99% honest. I still couldn’t ever tell her I made out with her cousin just after high school grad.
“Okay?”
“But, I’m so…what if he hurts me? I don’t like what he’s turned me into. I’m pathetic.”
Ella shuffled and got more comfortable. “My dad gave me a pep talk not long ago and reminded me of some wisdom. Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.”
“Hm,” I said skeptically. And then she yawned.
“Go to sleep,” I told her. “Sorry to barge in on you and your beautiful biker. I have to get used to not being able to do this.”
“He doesn’t seem like he minded,” she said.
“Thank you for being my bestie.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, through another yawn, which also made me yawn.
“I think you got a good one,” I told her.
“I know I did,” she said with conviction. “And I think you did, too, Jenna. You’re just fighting him because you’re afraid. I talked to Pippa tonight and we both agree. You---”
“Ella, don’t.”
She stopped immediately.
I didn’t love that my two closest friends were discussing my love life and what they thought I should do. Then again, me and Ella discussed Pip. Me and Pip discussed Ella. It’s just how it went.
But, I did love that as soon as I gave
her the ‘don’t’, she stopped.
She fixed the blankets over us.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.
“No,” I said.
“Okay.”
I loved Ella.
“I’m not laying in any wet spots, am I?” I asked.
She cackled. “Not tonight. We did it in the shower before bed. I put these sheets on this morning.”
“Good,” I muttered.
“But, fair warning. Show up like this again, not only might you wind up in the wet spot, but Deacon might shoot you. He almost got his gun.”
“Yikes. And enough said. No more sleepovers.”
“No way. I love our sleepovers,” she said.
“I do, too. It’s been too long.”
“Now that we’ve got beautiful but badass gun-toting bikers in our beds, we just can’t have impromptu sleepovers without putting ourselves in jeopardy of guns and wet spots. Let’s do one at your place. In like… a week?”
“Done,” I said, and then I wondered what my life would look like in a week.
“’Night.”
“Night bestie. Love you like crazy.”
“Love you, too,” she said.
***
I replayed the events of that night in my head about three times before I finally fell asleep.
I’d gone into my apartment after unlocking the door and found him asleep on my bed. Crashed. On top of my peachy-pink comforter, but on it like he owned it. Like he had every right to be there. He was in jeans, boots on the floor, wearing that grey and blue flannel shirt I’d flung at him the night before, a different white t-shirt underneath, and a pair of grey jeans.
I dropped my bag on the floor and glared at him.
He kept on sleeping.
“Rider,” I said.
He didn’t move.
“Rider!” I tried again, louder.
He smiled a little. Was that in his sleep or was he playing a game?
I stood there. His breathing was even, as if he was really sleeping.
I said his name again. Twice more. No movement.
So, I went over there and went to nudge his shoulder, and that was when he grabbed me and then I was flipped, put on my back on my own bed, and he was lying directly on top of me, smiling.
“I made the bed for ya,” he informed me as his lips came down on mine. “You musta forgot this mornin’.”