Becca must have loved it too because she was clapping my back, and I could hear her laughter over all the noise. That sound might just rival the sound of our pipes.
Smoke, as our road captain, signaled and we all pulled out, two by two. We were rolling deep with thirteen members and three prospects in our formation today. It was impressive.
Reaper and I rode next to each other, and the girls were both taking pictures of the surrounding scenery, all the bikes, each other, and whatever the hell else they were taking pics of. Looking in my mirrors to check on her, I caught Becca getting some crazy selfies, and I couldn’t help but to laugh at her. She made me do that a lot.
Laugh…
With her it was laughter from the heart. It wasn’t just me trying to be the life of the party or keeping everyone in a good mood. It wasn’t just on the surface. She made me feel light and buoyant inside.
THE BELL RANG AND my little students followed me out the door single file, followed by my aide, to be picked up by their parents or go to the buses. Surprisingly, I had gotten a job at the local private pre-school and elementary thanks to the amazing reference letter Mr. Strankowski had written for me. It sucked that the teacher I replaced had to quit due to family reasons, but it was a blessing for me.
My children were the brightest little kindergarteners I had ever met, and they had already wormed their way into my heart after only three weeks. It was a trade-off in that I was bummed about not being able to teach just art, but I loved that this school taught year round to ensure continuity of learning and less forgotten skills over the summer break that most schools had. We just had more days off here and there with smaller breaks scheduled in place of an entire summer off.
Usually, it seemed my days ended too quickly with them, but I was excited for it to end today. Hollywood was picking me up because we were going to look for a place for the two of us. We had been staying in his room at the club for the last month, and I had slowly moved more and more of my things into his room.
It was okay, but it was a little weird knowing the other guys who stayed there knew what we were doing after we closed the door at night. It was like sleeping in a guy’s dorm room or something. Not to mention, it was a little weird seeing the nasty-ass skanks that rolled out of some of the guys’ rooms. It also bothered me because it made me wonder how many times it was Hollywood’s room they rolled out of. No, it more than bothered me; it pissed me the hell off. So, when he told me he was thinking of renting a house and asked how I felt about getting a place of our own, I jumped at it, burying any self-doubt that I was rushing into things.
My last little darling was loaded up in their momma’s car, so I went back to my room to gather up my things and change into a pair of jeans. When my phone pinged with a message, I grabbed it as I ran into the small bathroom in my room to change, setting it on the counter and opening the message. Braiding my hair as quickly as I could, I read it.
Sexy-Ass Mason: I’m out front baby
I snickered every time I got a call or text from him and saw how I saved him in my phone. My jeans and boots on, I grabbed my purse, stuffing my phone in it as I rushed out the door.
God, he was gorgeous. When I saw him sitting on his bike, looking at his phone, I had to stop and catch my breath. He hadn’t seen me yet, and I just stood there drinking in the sight of him. His short-cropped hair was getting longer on the top, and the breeze ruffled it, making it messier than usual. My fingers itched to smooth it, and I swore I could actually feel the strands just looking at him.
His eyes lifted to me and a smile spread across his face. There was no doubt it totally mirrored mine.
He did that to me. That beautiful smile of his was contagious, and he spread it to me all the time. Moving quickly, I tucked my purse in the saddle bag and climbed on behind him. My chin rested on his shoulder.
“Hey, sexy. Wanna take a girl for a ride?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You may want to rephrase that, or I’ll take you for a ride all right.” The deep growl of his voice told me that, while he was teasing me, there was truth to his words as well.
“Sheesh! Is that all you think about, you dirty man?” Teasing him, I rubbed my boobs against his back. When he groaned, I knew he was imagining my nipples pebbling from the contact with him.
“Woman! You’re trying my damn patience. We need to go look at these houses, and if you keep that up, we won’t make it.” Laughter bubbled up from deep in my soul. It felt amazing to feel so free emotionally. I kissed his cheek and settled back to wrap my arms around his waist. Unable to refrain from teasing him further, my hands slipped under his shirt and traced over the ripple of his abs before locking low in front of his hips. “Oh fine, let’s go, gorgeous!”
“Helmet.” His stern command reminded me of my beautiful helmet sitting on the seat of my car. Crap. Hopping off, I grabbed it, locked my car, and shoved the keys in my pocket before jumping back on the bike, helmet in place.
One thing this man could do was ride a motorcycle. We pulled out of the parking lot, and the wind caught my braid, whipping it back as we picked up speed. He drove fast, but with a purpose, and I never feared his ability to safely operate this screaming beast of a bike. Burying the face of my helmet to his back, I could smell his cologne through my open visor, and I breathed it in deep. It was a spicy, woodsy blend that drove me crazy. Mmm. Yeah, I could devour him like a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. He was a delicious specimen of man, and he was mine.
The first place we were looking at was about a mile out of town in a newer subdivision. The owners were looking to rent it while they were working out of state for a year. As we pulled up, I took in the faux barn doors on the garage and the rustic-looking pillar by the front door. It was a beautiful home. The property management agent was already waiting in the driveway, and he got out of his car as we pulled up in front of the house. Hollywood shook his hand, and they spoke briefly before he was leading us up to the door. If I remembered correctly, he was a prospect’s dad, but hell if I could remember which one.
“I’ll show you around first, and then let you take your time looking around.” He led us through a sunny foyer and into a spacious living room with cathedral ceilings and a set of French doors that opened onto a large deck. The kitchen was to the left with a breakfast bar separating it from the living room. The cabinets were white barn-like doors, with dark granite countertops. It had stainless steel appliances and a breakfast nook overlooking the backyard. The bedrooms were to the right, off the living room, and were separated by a large shared bathroom. The master bedroom was to the left, next to the kitchen. We wandered around the house after our initial tour, checking out the master bedroom and connected master bath. It was nothing super fancy, but it did have separate sinks, a separate little toilet room, a walk-in shower, and a whirlpool tub. The closet was through the bathroom, and I figured it was big enough to hold my clothes. Hmmm, what’s Hollywood gonna do with his? I giggled at the thought.
“What’s so funny?” His arms wove around my middle, and his chin rested on my shoulder. This was probably my favorite place to be… snuggled in his arms. His nose nuzzled my ear, and his tongue curved around the earlobe, suckling my earring gently into his mouth.
How can his tongue flicking my earring back and forth be a turn-on? I don’t have a damn clue, but he sure as hell knows how to make it that way. Damn.
My inner self wanted to strip down naked, rip off his clothes, and jump him right here in someone else’s house with the agent outside. Bad girl! Stop it!
“Mmm, I have no idea. I can’t think when you’re doing that.”
He chuckled in my ear.
All in all, it was a nice house, but I hated the idea of getting settled in somewhere and having to move out in a year, but with our relationship being so new, maybe that was a good start. A lot could change in a year, especially since we agreed to take things one day at a time and see where this went. Damn, that was depressing. For once in my adul
t life, I could actually see myself happily settling down and having babies with a guy, and he just wanted a fling with potential expiration date.
Shit, this sucked. Maybe I should tell him how I feel. Fear of scaring him away kept my lips sealed. I wanted to savor what we had for as long as I could.
He stepped around me and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go see the next one.”
We thanked the agent as we left and promised to let him know what we decided.
The next house was a no-go. It was poorly laid out and needed a lot of updating, regardless of the big size. In my opinion, the rent was way too high anyway.
The last house was a few miles up the road from Steph and Reaper. When I found out where it was, I was hoping this one would be the one, because I would love to be so close to my friend. There was a prominent For Sale or Rent sign next to the mailbox at the road.
The driveway was a smooth-packed gravel that wound through the trees before opening in front of an older four-square farmhouse with a perfectly matched addition off the right. Someone had done an amazing job with the addition, keeping true to the style and magic of the home. The driveway curved off to the left side of the house where a small garage had been built with a covered walkway to the back porch.
It was painted a soft taupe color with dark brown trim. There were neatly trimmed rose bushes all along the front porch and the side of the garage. We pulled onto the concrete driveway in front of the garage. The agent wasn’t here yet, as we were told to call him as we left the last place. Hell, I couldn’t wait for him to arrive.
Hollywood shut off the bike, and we sat looking around for a minute. It was so peacefully quiet. The sounds of chirping birds filtered with the sunlight through the leaves of the giant oaks, which surrounded the house. A light breeze scented with the honeysuckle blossoms that grew near the backyard fence drifted past me. I hopped off the bike and headed around the path to the front porch.
If my dream house had a picture, this was it. My heart pounded as I walked up the front steps. It was like the house called to me as it wrapped its charm around me like a warm cloak in winter. My hands covered my heart as I turned in a rush toward Hollywood, where he stood on the front lawn.
“Oh my God, Hollywood, I’m in love and I haven’t even seen the inside!”
The look of rapture on her face as she looked around painted a smile on my face I just couldn’t contain. She was so precious, and I knew she had no idea how fucking cute she looked. When she said she was in love, I knew I was right in leaving this one until last. In all truth, I had been looking at this one for a few days, and I was seriously contemplating buying this house, but I needed to know she loved it as much as I did. The other houses were merely decoys, but had she liked them better, I would have conceded to renting one. The visual that planted itself in my mind when I came to look at this house by myself yesterday had her sitting in the living room curled up reading a book. In every room I had walked through, her image and how she would look wandering through our home popped into my head. Yeah, I wanted this to be our home. This was a huge step, and the magnitude of it all didn’t escape me.
She didn’t know I had the key to the place in my pocket. George, DJ’s dad, was the listing agent, and he had secretly given me the key when we looked at the first house. My call to him had totally been for show so Becca didn’t realize I had already looked at this place. The owners had inherited their parents’ home on the family farm, and their children weren’t interested in moving in, as they already had homes they were comfortable in. So, they were looking to rent or sell, but I definitely wanted to buy. My hope was that Becca would fall in love with it, just as I did, and I wanted us to start our forever here. I just had to get her on board with me to make it happen.
When I climbed the steps, my gaze was intent on her. She looked like a giddy high school girl. It made me smile just watching her reaction to the home. When I pulled the key out of my pocket and slipped it in the lock, she looked at me in surprise. I opened the door and motioned for her to go ahead and go in. She gazed at me with a confused and questioning look, but she walked in and gasped.
“Oh my fucking God, Hollywood! Have you seen this?” She spun slowly in circles as she took in the entryway, the staircase off to the right, and the living room to the left. Squealing like a little girl, she rushed into the living room, which had a wide arch connecting it to the dining room. The owners had taken out the wall between the kitchen and dining room and replaced it with a breakfast bar with a pillar at the end. The kitchen was a shining chef’s dream. Stainless steel appliances gleamed from light oak cabinets with a tan-based granite countertop. The owners had put a lot of money into this remodel, but in the end, their family home won out for them. Their loss, I figured.
As I followed her into the kitchen, I knew she was taking in the light sage green walls with an earth-tone tile backsplash over the counters. The windows allowed for an amazing amount of natural light. A door at the back of the kitchen led out to the back porch and the walkway to the garage. There were tall windows in the dining room that spanned the wall facing the backyard, and the wall straight across from the kitchen breakfast bar held the door to the newer addition, where the master bedroom had been built.
When she stepped through the door to the master suite, she gasped and waved her hands around. I followed her in so I could continue to drink in her joy. She rushed through the bedroom where she saw the sitting room, where I secretly hoped to see her nursing our baby in someday. The bathroom was through the sitting room, and I knew she was going to love the sunken oversized tub. Her shriek told me she found it. My smile spread wide at the sight of her jumping up and down clapping her hands. When she spun back to me, her eyes were sparkling and her chest was rising and falling in rapid succession.
“Oh. My gawd, Hollywood! I haven’t even seen the upstairs, and I am in love. Please, please, please say we can rent this gorgeous house and they won’t kick us out because they end up selling it. Holy shit, I love this house!” Her hands were clasped at her chin, and she wound her arms around my neck when I stepped close and rested my hands on her hips.
“What if I told you I wanted to buy it?” My breath held, and I felt as if my heart stuttered waiting for her response.
“Wait. You want to buy it? It must be expensive, baby. Are you sure? I mean, I’m not trying to say you can’t afford it, but well, I guess I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I’ll help with the payments. Unless you don’t want me to. I don’t know if that is forward of me. I’m babbling, aren’t I? I just… Wow. I just… wow.” Her lips pressed firmly to mine, and I grabbed her ass, swinging her around. We broke apart, and we both laughed. Her smile was all I needed. Making her happy would be my number one goal in life, if the reward was that smile.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I looked at it yesterday, after having driven by it several times when George told me it recently went on the market. As soon as I saw it, I knew this was the place. I had been praying you would love it as much as I did. This house… it called to me. Hell if I couldn’t see you in every room, but I wasn’t going to buy it if you hated it for some reason.”
“As if! What the hell is there not to love about this home?” She looked at me in astonishment. My laugh erupted at her expression, and I squeezed her close.
“So, you want me to call George and tell him we want to write up an offer? Speak now or forever hold your peace, baby.”
She pulled away and held me at arm’s length. Her expression was one of comical deep contemplation. “Hmm…. Well, I suppose we could suffer through and live here.” She gave me a smirk before she turned away and raced to look at the upstairs. Her footsteps pounded up the stairs. Her shouts of pleasure reached my ears as I slowly followed her.
The stairs were probably one of my favorite features of this house. They were a dark oak and original to the house. They went up a couple of steps to a small landing where there was a stained glass window with red roses designed in it. Then the stairs rose agai
n to a second landing with a matching stained glass window at the landing, but with pink roses, before it went up the few last stairs to the upper level. There were three bedrooms with a bathroom on the end. All the floors were polished wood, which gleamed in the setting sun. Truth be told, I had imagined filling all of these rooms with our babies, but I didn’t know if she was ready to hear that.
I found her sitting cross-legged in the first bedroom, the waning sunlight shining through the window and glinting off her hair, giving it the appearance of flames. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and her eyes were closed. She looked serene and a little wistful. Settling down next to her, I rested my arm around her, pulling her close so her head rested on my shoulder.
“Hey, baby. What’s wrong? Did you change your mind?” Just the thought had my heart feeling like it dropped to the first story. Please, don’t let her have changed her mind. Fuck, I needed to tell her how I felt. I needed to tell her my hopes and dreams for the two of us. I needed to tell her how I pictured us together in this home. I needed to try to explain the thoughts and feelings that circled around in my head and heart all day every day. There were a lot of things I needed to do. Jesus, it made me feel like a sap.
Reaching around, I rested my hand under her chin and tipped her face toward me. A lone tear slipped from under her closed lashes. Catching it with my fingertips, I feathered a kiss to her lips.
“Baby, talk to me.”
“Oh, Hollywood. It’s just so perfect. I see us here. And it’s breaking my heart. I know we said no strings, but God it will kill me to let you go. I’m so afraid of you having enough of me and cutting me loose. My heart aches and dies a little at the thought. You said we would just enjoy each other and the time we had, and I truly did not enter into this with the intent of falling for you so hard.”
Demented Sons Series Volume One: Books 1-4 (Demented Sons MC Iowa) Page 42