by Jax Hart
He flips me the bird, and I laugh, walking down the path he just came from, toward, my light, my sweet angel. I look up whispering a word of thanks. Christ, seeing that prick at least helped me cool down. I can walk without wincing.
Damn, she’s on fire tonight. The band she hired is killin’ it. I’ve never seen this place so packed. But my girl, she put a reserved sign on my seat. I worked out after I fucked her into oblivion in a deserted classroom. Christ, we almost got caught. She wore a skirt, making it easy for me to turn her around, jerk it up and insert myself between her voluptuous ass. It was fast and furious; like two animals in the wild—we mated, leaving the smell of sex hanging in our wake.
Hand in hand we ran out the emergency exit as an old professor walked in wide-eyed as we finished. I shot her a wink and shrugged. Shanna burst into giggles and we ran for it.
Now, she’s shooting sexy grins while pouring drinks and chatting up her regulars. Her hips sway to the beat, her eyes sparkle. She’s back to being the girl I fell in love with when I first walked in. Carefree. Happy.
“You need a refill?” She asks bending across the bar to kiss me on the lips.
“Only of you, sugar.” I pull her head closer so that I can slip my tongue past her lips.
“Get back to work. I need a beer!” Meat jokes coming in and taking the seat next to mine.
Shanna winks; my eyes are glued to the sway of her hips as she pours a pint for my old friend. Meat pulls me into a conversation about club business, and when I look up, my girl’s gone. Furrowing my brow, I scan through the crowded room, not seeing her anywhere.
“I’ll be right back.”
Meat grunts, taking a sip of his beer.
Shouldering my way through the crowd, on the hunt for her, my phone vibrates from the back pocket of my pants. It’s a text from her. No word, just a photo of her biting her lip, with one hand splayed on her naked breasts. Behind her, I can make out shelves of hard liquor.
I know where she is.
Damn, she’s my dirty, bad girl. I’ll never get enough.
I tap three times on the door to the supply room. As soon as she opens it a crack, I place the tip of my boot in the door, pushing my way in.
I turn, bolting the lock and shutting off the light.
The sound of my fly unzipping sends a statement that I mean business. On the other side of the door, the guitar and drums still beat. The walls shake with the bass. I’m gonna fuck her to the rhythm.
“You’re a bad girl, cherry,” I whisper in the dark.
“I know.”
“You ready for my big cock baby?”
I know she is. I feel her in the dark. She’s bent over an empty keg. Her heels must still be on, cause her ass is five inches higher than usual.
Slapping her ass, I come over her, my breath in her ear, “I’m gonna do everything you stopped me from doing last time we were in here.” She pushes her ass back, thinking I’m just gonna take what she’s offering. I turn her around and dump her in the small office chair in the corner.
Kneeling down on the rug, I spread her legs and dive between. My tongue’s vicious. Hungry. Greedy. Her hands clutch me. I turn my head from side to side, letting my beard tickle her thighs.
Finding her tiny bud, I draw it into my mouth, swirling my tongue over it. Her hips push forward, gyrating against me. She needs more—she needs me. She tries to grab me up, but I take her hands, raising them high, holding them with one hand.
She will surrender and give me what I want.
I alternate curling a few fingers up in her and flicking my tongue over her.
“Duke!” She screams, convulsing. Without giving her time to think, I spring up and grab her by the ass, hoisting her up against the rough wood wall.
I’m in her in one thrust, impaling myself to the hilt. I don’t waste any time finding the beat of the music blaring from the other side. Her legs hook around my back. Face buried in her neck, hands clutching her thick ass, hips bucking hard, I ride her roughly in the dark.
Our hearts beat as fast as the drums, groans and sighs filling the air. We both fight to finish what started that night long ago.
I toss and turn, punching the pillow. I wish I could control time and press the fast forward button until the day comes when my girl spends every night next to me. My eyes flick to the ceiling fan whirring above my bed. The only thing that’s helped me fall asleep lately, is to stare at it circling until my eyes close.
Twenty-minutes later, my eyelids drop, but the buzzing of my phone perks me up.
“Shanna?” My heart races as I read the digital clock by my bed, it’s two AM. Her final exams are in a few weeks, she should be fast asleep getting ready to drive to Bradbury in a few hours.
“D-Duke? I need you to come to Springdale as fast as you can.”
“What’s wrong baby girl. Someone hurt you?” I snarl flinging the covers off, finding my jeans on the floor.
“No. It’s Pops. He’s real bad. Had a stroke. He was home alone all day. I-I wasn’t there. I was studying at the library. Hell, I wasn’t even going to go over tonight, but I had to drive by to get to your house. The lights were all off. I found him on the kitchen floor, unconscious.”
“You’re at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Is Meat there?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on sugar. I’m taking the bike. I’ll be there by daybreak.”
Racing through empty streets, I pull onto the PCH, heading north. I wasn’t there for her when she needed me last time. My girl’s hurting bad. Racing like a demon in the dark, I push the bike’s limits, taking the ride of my life.
Her hands are as cold as ice. Taking them in mine, I hold tight. I can’t promise her he’ll pull-through.
It kills me.
The docs told her they’re not sure if he’s brain-dead. She took it hard.
She won’t speak. She just sits still with her head hanging. Not even my touch brings her around.
“You want coffee, baby girl?”
She shakes her head.
Sighing, I put an arm around her, drawing her to my side.
We sit in silence for another twenty minutes when the door swings open, and the doc walks in.
She pauses, hesitating for a second, “Ms. Flynn?”
Shanna’s head snaps up.
“Your father is stable… for now. He suffered a severe stroke. If he does regain consciousness, I doubt he’ll be able to walk. His emphysema… makes this case harder to treat. He’ll need constant care, possibly needing to live in a facility.”
“Are you saying even if he makes it that he’ll never live at home?”
“I don’t see how. You’d need a hospital bed, a home nurse—”
“I’ll do it. If he lives, I’ll find a way. You don’t know my Pops; he’d pull his own plug before he rots in some home.”
The doc falters, at Shanna’s bluntness. My heart sinks at what she just signed herself up for. Shanna’s so close to being free from this place, and she just prevented herself from leaving.
“Let’s think about that later and just focus on him waking up for now.”
She finally sits up, looking me in the eye. “I’ve been giving him shit for months… never forgiving him from hiding her letters, or her attempts to visit me.”
“You know why he did it though, right?”
“I know. I still looked at her through the lens of a hopeful child; not wanting to believe the woman I built up in my mind was a drug-loving, slut.”
“She did love you, baby girl. The only way, she could.”
“I know.”
“Listen, sweetheart, you can’t take care of him on your own, especially when, you’re weeks away from graduating.”
“There’s no other choice Duke. He was there for me—raised me all these years. He didn’t walk away. He needs me now, more than he ever did. He’s all I have left.”
Fuck. I get it. But it shouldn’t be at the cost of her dream.
“No. Don’t you dare, I won’t take your money. This is my fight.”
“Shanna… it’s mine too. We haven’t stepped in a church, but I vowed to God that you are mine every damn night. We’re a family. He’s my dad now.”
She giggles, “You need to go in there and tell him that. That will wake him right the fuck up.”
Relieved she’s coming out of it a bit; I stand tugging her with me. “You need to eat. We’ll come back in a bit. I’ll tell him then. He’s a tough old bastard. He’ll pull through.”
Her hand comes up to my chest; she lays her head on my arm. I swallow, hoping I’m right.
“What’s up?” Meat’s at the door hesitant to come in. I’m rinsing vegetables in the sink to make Shanna a fresh dinner for when she comes home.
“I just went through Colin’s finances. His office is a goddamn mess. It’s not good. I thought he paid his house off decades ago. It turns out he took out a reverse mortgage on the place using it to bankroll that tart in LA. The rest… he was saving to surprise Shanna with. He was gonna pay off her student loans.”
“Christ. There’s not enough to hire a full-time aid is there?”
“Not even close. You know that she might not leave him for LA—even for you.”
“I know. She’s as stubborn as they come. I wouldn’t love her so damn much if she were any other way though.”
“The two of you are good for each other. It’ll work itself out.”
“It better. Too much shit’s gotten in the way of us. I hope he recovers, I do. But I’m not giving her up.”
He pats my arm, “Come on. I have news. He’s awake. The hospital just called. They called Shanna, first of course.”
With the dishrag over one shoulder, I glance at my phone.
“Shit. She texted, telling me to meet there.”
With a sigh, I turn the oven off and place the meal I had planned back in the fridge. “Did they say what kind of condition he’s in?”
He shake’s is head.
“Alright let’s go find out.”
“So, you pulled through. You old-bastard,” I grin taking a seat next to Colin’s bed. “Shanna’s on her way. She was in class when the doc called.”
The left side of his face sags. He looks like shit. But he’s alive.
“You all there?” I needle.
“Fuck off,” he rasps removing his oxygen mask before placing it back on.
“Daddy?” Shanna barrels in with hopeful eyes.
“… h-h-haven’t called me th-th-th that in… ov-ov-over eighteen years.” He finishes punching the bed in frustration.
“Oh, Daddy. I’m so sorry. I’ve been a complete bitch.” Shanna throws herself on the bed, crying softly against him.
Kissing the top of her head, I leave quietly, giving her the time alone with him she needs.
Colin stayed in the hospital a few more weeks. Shanna wouldn’t hear of putting him in a home. The cost was ninety-grand a year anyway for round-the-clock care. I could cover a year or two but not much after that without selling my house and business. She wouldn’t let me do that anyway.
I put Smith in charge of the shop and Will the club. Meat and I rented a hospital bed and turned the downstairs living room into a bedroom. If Shanna’s determined to see this through, I’m gonna do my part too. When she’s at school during the day, I get to work. It took me a day to demo the downstairs bathroom. I’ll be done turning it into a fully equipped handicap bathroom with a walk-in shower in two weeks.
She had a fit that I already paid for it all. I told her it was my gift to Colin, not her. She sputtered a few curses, but I got my way.
My cell rings and I miss the nail hitting my thumb instead.
“Fuck!” I bark answering the phone.
“Duke… man…”
“What up Smith?”
“You bailing on me again for that podunk town?”
“Jesus, I know. What else can I do?”
“Put an end to this shit.”
“I can’t. It’s not that simple. I can’t make choices for her. It’s been done to her too many times.”
He grunts. “You need to decide where your life is at brother.”
I hold my head in my hands. He’s right. I left this town twenty years back. I got a good thing going. I can’t play housewife much longer. The road is calling me. My life is back home. But hers… is still here.
“I’ll call you tomorrow with my ETA.”
“Sure thing brotha.”
I don’t want to think what this means for my relationship. She’s gonna have to choose soon. I swallow hard, hoping I’ve proved to her I’m a man worth leaving everything for.
I MIX THE DRINKS on auto-pilot, my mind still re-playing these past few weeks that have been a blur. When Pops came to, I couldn’t believe it. God gave me another chance to make things right with him. I’ve been so busy finishing last-minute term papers and projects, managing the bar, and then going home and spending time with Pops that this time I didn’t notice when spring started to change to the beginning of summer.
The days are longer and the sound of crickets fill the backwoods at night. Duke’s getting restless and I’m running out of time.
He holds me in his arms, whispering how much he loves me, gliding in and out of me with deep strokes. We cling to each other like our lives are ending, fearing each time might be the last, which is totally crazy cause I know our love is forever.
But something’s shifted in me. I realize I loved him like a girl, not the deep-rooted woman I’ve become. And this woman knows it’s okay to love him and let go. I might not have any other choice. I can’t ask him to stay here living upstairs from my bedridden father, living in a town that haunts him.
And I can’t leave.
Maybe we can go back to the long-distance thing. I’m sure we could make it work for a while. But Pops could live years yet. His other organs are strong. And then what?
“Hey?” his arms thick as trees wrap around my waist. His lips find the back of my neck and I close my eyes savoring this moment.
“Hey. What are you doing behind the counter of my bar?”
“Helping myself to a drink.” He slaps my butt, pouring himself a whiskey.
“Go easy tonight. You are my ride home,” I laugh, getting back to making frozen margaritas for the group of women who just got off work. They are eye-fucking my man something fierce.
It’s Friday and warm enough to open the windows, letting the sound of the music float out into the night.
Car doors slam shut, a steady stream of patrons filing in for happy hour. I just want to forget everything tonight and lose myself in a way I have a thousand times before. Duke’s here. We’re together for now, and I refuse to let tomorrow’s worry, ruin tonight.
I laugh with regulars dancing my way from end to end of the bar for hours, pouring shots and serving food.
Tonight, life is good. Everyone asks about Pops. The tips flow in, while my man watches me with dark, hungry eyes.
“Hey, sugar… what’s your poison?” I ask shifting my weight while bending low, giving him a view of my breasts falling in front of his face.
“You.”
I pour a shot and place it on the bar. He wastes no time grabbing me close, dropping the glass between my breasts. It fits snug, cradled by my natural D’s.
He grabs me, tilting me forward while his open mouth waits for the amber liquid. I gasp, feeling his tongue swipe across my nipples. His head dips into my tank, he nudged the edge of the fabric aside with his tongue, licking me quickly. His hand removes the shot glass, and he backs away slapping a twenty on the bar.
“Thanks. I needed that. We’ll call that a sugary-tit special.”
“Can I get one of those?”
A man neither of us noticed asks, taking his bills out.
“Sure.”
“No.”
We reply in unison.<
br />
Duke turns red. I call out, “Tina! We have a customer over here that needs help.” She eyes the man next to me with appreciation. We’ve both seen him in here before. He’s a bit younger than Duke and about as cut.
“What?” I wink, “I know better than to push you… last time I did that I ended up with a—up my …”
He slaps a hand over my mouth, “Don’t. Don’t give the man any more dirty thoughts about you then he already has. It would start a brawl, and we’re having such a good night.”
“No worries mate. I’m more than happy with this one’s sweet tits.” He says winking at Tina’s petite body splayed on top of the bar in front of him. She lifts her shirt and pours his shot down her stomach. I’m mesmerized as he sucks it all up.
My thighs clench. Damn, watching them was hot.
Duke pulls me back in his arms, cock nudging against the small of my back.
“Hey… I need a refill!” One of my regulars shouts playfully.
Grabbing the whole damn bottle, I place it down in front of him. “I’ll see you in a bit.” Grabbing my man’s hand, I lead him to our secret place. My heart aches, at how much I love the man. He’s been so good to Pops and me, becoming a partner I can rely on. I know he’ll cherish me forever but how can I let him now that everything’s changed for me?
“I’LL BE BACK.”
Meat grunts and takes a swig of his beer, waving us away.
Using my broad shoulders to move through the crowd of happy drunks dancing on the floor, I lead Shanna through. I know what my bad girl has in mind. While she was watching Tina and that dude—I was watching her.
Elbowing my way through the rest of the crowd, I stop outside the wooden door of the supply closet, smirking at the waitress necking with the meathead who was standing beside me earlier. He has her hauled up in the dimly lit haul; his face is buried in her chest.
That is gonna be me and my girl in two seconds.
Taking the key from the back pocket of her shorts, I hastily open the door. My finger flips the light switch off, leaving us in shadow cast from the nightlight she plugged in by the desk in case the band on the other side of the wall blows a circuit while she’s inside. There are no windows just four rough walls to fuck my woman in without anyone hearing her scream.