by Ali Parker
“Sorry,” I muttered, my voice still thick from sleep.
Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked at me, squinting against the brightness of the morning. “That’s alright.” She smiled and leaned away a little bit. She moved her leg off my hip.
She buried her face in her pillow as she yawned and then she rubbed at her eyes. “I haven’t slept that soundly in weeks.”
“You earned it,” I chuckled.
She blushed.
She was so fucking cute in the morning. Even with the mascara tracks on her cheeks and the bed head, she was after my heart. “How do you feel?”
She shrugged. “Better than last night. Still a bit foggy and confused and—scared,” she admitted. “There are a lot of changes coming that I don’t know how I’m going to tackle.”
“I’m here to help you. And so is Ellie. We’ve got your back.”
Her smile broadened. “I appreciate that.” She propped herself up on her elbow, releasing my arm from beneath her head. Pins and needles set in and I tried to disguise how uncomfortable I was as blood flowed back to my hand. “I haven’t felt this light in ages.”
“Light?” I asked.
She nodded. “Like I’m not carrying a thousand pounds of weight on my shoulders. Like I’m myself again.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
She rubbed her eyes again and then realized she still had makeup on. Her eyes widened a bit as she blinked at the dark smudges on her fingertips. “Oh. I must look absolutely insane right now.” Her cheeks turned an even darker shade of red and she gathered the blankets around herself, as if to hide her nakedness, which I’d already seen and committed to memory.
“I think you look sexy.”
“Stop it,” she said, giving in to a little bit of laughter.
“I mean it. You do.” She looked happy and content and relaxed. A well fucked woman was a beautiful woman. And she’d been well fucked last night that was for damn sure.
Cheryl let out a soft giggle and sat up, holding the blankets across her chest as she did so. She looked around until her gaze fell on her clothes, then she swung her legs over the side of the sofa bed and got up in a hurry, padding over to her dress and wrapping it around herself, tying the sash around her waist.
“You should wear that with no bra more often,” I winked.
“I would never.”
“Why not?”
“Nobody wants to—” she paused and shook her head. “Never mind. I just wouldn't be comfortable.”
I shrugged. “Suit yourself. Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?”
Cheryl nodded. “That would be lovely.”
I got out of bed stark naked and went into the kitchen. Cheryl watched me go, looking back and forth between me and my pile of clothes on the floor where I’d discarded them last night. “Are you going to get dressed?”
“After the coffee is brewing.”
She nodded. Her cheeks were bright pink again. I loved how shy and bashful she was. “I’m just going to use your bathroom.”
Cheryl padded off down the hall leaving me to finish brewing the coffee and get dressed. Once the coffee started to drip I grabbed my sweats and pulled them on. I didn’t bother with the boxers or the T shirt, opting for comfort instead—besides, she’d already seen me nude. There was nothing to hide anymore.
The coffee finished brewing when she came out of the bathroom. I poured us each a mug and fetched the milk from the fridge, setting it down on the kitchen counter. “How do you like your coffee?”
“Black,” she said.
I put the milk away and brought the two piping hot mugs of coffee into the living room. We both sat on the sofa opposite the bed, tucked ourselves into the corners, and sipped our coffee.
“Thank you again for letting me stay here last night,” Cheryl said.
“You’re welcome.” Thanks were definitely not needed. Especially not after how we’d spent the night.
“I’ll get out of your hair today and find a hotel.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Well, I can’t just stay here. This is your home. Do you know of any places around that are relatively cheap? I don’t have much cash on me and I’m sure Vinny has frozen all my cards by now.”
“Cheryl. You’re not staying in a hotel. You can stay here until you’re on your feet and have a safe place to stay. The only affordable hotels in this city are the ones that aren’t suitable for a girl like you.”
“A girl like me?” She mused with a crooked smile.
“You’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing you were crashing in some dumpster dive of a motel sharing walls with addicts and domestic abusers. It’s not happening. If you’d rather stay with Ellie I’m sure she and I can arrange something so that—”
Cheryl shook her head. “No. I’ll stay here. If you’ll have me.”
“Of course I will.”
She smiled down at her coffee mug. “I owe you.”
“Nah. I was an ass before. I’m the one who owes you.”
“You were an ass.”
I snorted into my coffee. We sat quietly for a minute and took a few more sips of our coffee as the sun continued to brighten the living room. I hadn’t even looked at a clock yet. It must be around seven thirty or eight o’clock. There were cars going by outside pretty frequently which suggested people were out and about starting their day. I’d be surprised if it was any earlier.
“Do you want to go to the house to get any of your things today?” I asked.
Cheryl paused with her lips pressed to the side of her mug. Then she lowered her coffee to rest the bottom of the mug on her knee. She pursed her lips. “I think I’d rather let the dust settle before I go back there. Vinny will be—he’ll be really mad. And I don’t want to be around when he’s like that. I think I’d like to wait a bit and go on a day where I know he’ll be at the office. Then I can get in and get out and take only what I need. And my mother’s china.”
“I’ll go with you when you’re ready.”
“You will?”
I nodded. “Sure. I’ll borrow my buddy’s truck and we’ll pack up a load and bring it back here. We’ll take as much as we can fit.”
“That would really help me out. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I watched as she played with a loose string at the hem of her dress. Her nails were bright pink and perfectly shaped. Her tan was even and the ends of her hair perfectly cut. Cheryl had enjoyed the luxuries of her lifestyle, that was for sure, and I wondered if she knew how drastically everything was about to change for her.
Maybe I could show her that life on a budget wasn’t as bad as the elite seemed to think.
“Do you have plans for the day?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“How about I show you around the city? I can show you the best local spots to go. Places to eat. To go dancing. To get the best cup of java,” I held up my mug.
“That sounds lovely.”
“The weather is supposed to be good too. What do you say we go out on my bike?”
“I’ve never been on a motorcycle before.”
“Second chances are for things you’ve never done,” I said.
Cheryl grinned, and her smile lit up the living room more than the sun. “I’m in. I just need to shower first.”
“And we need to find you something to wear that isn’t that dress.”
“I have jeans in my bag.”
“Perfect.”
She stood up and brought her now empty coffee mug to the kitchen, where she loaded it in the dishwasher. Then she padded past me to go to the bathroom. “Do you mind if I hop in your shower?”
“Not at all. But I have a condition.”
“Oh?”
I stood up. “I’m coming in with you.”
She let out a delighted giggle when I stripped off my pants, and then she hurried down the hall to the bathroom, where I ran after her to find her standing in f
ront of the shower door undoing her dress. It fell to her feet and I looked at her in the light of day.
“Damn,” I breathed.
Chapter 20
Cheryl
I stared into Aiden’s bright green eyes as he leaned in close to inspect the strap under my chin of the helmet he’d found for me on a top shelf in his garage. It was glossy black with a tinted visor and a thin lime green stripe down the middle.
“Very good,” he said, giving the chin strap a gentle tug. “Now turn your head back and forth quickly. The helmet shouldn’t move.”
I did as he said. The helmet was snug and didn’t jostle around at all.
He laughed and put his hand on top of my head to stop me from shaking anymore. “That’s good. That’s good. You’re all set. I’ll get on the bike first and then you after me, okay?”
“Okay,” I called, raising my voice so he could hear me through the helmet.
I must have been yelling because he chuckled as he pulled his own helmet on and did up the chin strap. Then he turned, putting his back to me, and swung one leg over the bike to settle down on the seat. He started the bike up.
The roar that came out of it practically made me jump out of my skin. I took a couple steps back and waited as he turned it around in the driveway to face the street. Then he nodded for me to get on the back.
I had no idea how to get on a bike like this.
He’d told me to put one foot on the back peg, so I did that, resting the ball of my foot on the middle of it. Then I put my hands on his shoulders and hoisted myself up and over before lowering my butt down on the seat and shimmying forward so that the inside of my thighs rested against the sides of his ass.
I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Ready?” He called over his shoulder.
I nodded. “Ready!”
He reached back and put a hand on my knee. Then he gave me a good squeeze before lifting his feet off the driveway, giving it some gas, and pulling out onto the street.
I squeezed his waist tight, pressing the side of my helmet to his back.
I’d never done anything like this before. The riskiest thing I’d ever done was get in Vince’s old Porsche back in Georgia one night after a Christmas party when he’d had one too many drinks. That stupid decision had proved to be a lot more dangerous than being on the back of Aiden’s bike.
We drove down his residential street and I got a feel for the bike. How it took corners. How, at his instruction, I wasn’t supposed to fight it if we had to lean. I just had to stay in line with his body. It was a bit foreign and strange at first, but by the time we hit roads with a higher speed limit I was ready, and we were travelling at a good sixty miles per hour within twenty minutes or so.
If I was a daredevil I might have thrown my hands above my head for a few seconds, just to feel the rush of the wind and the thrill of the ride.
But I was not a daredevil.
I was a good girl.
If my dad was still alive he would have been horrified to find out that I rode on the back of a motorcycle with a guy I barely knew—especially since the guy was in a gang. Or club. Or whatever term Aiden deemed most appropriate.
The leather jacket he wore had the Lost Breed stamped across his shoulder blades in red letters. It was the same jacket he’d been wearing the day I was rear ended in the Mercedes.
My mom would think this was all an experience. Good or bad, she believed in collecting as many as you could in the time you had on earth. She would say it was worth taking the chance to get on the back of his motorcycle for the experience alone. If I didn’t like it I never had to do it again.
But I did like it. I liked it a lot.
I liked how close we were. I liked how it felt to wrap my arms around his waist and hold on tight when we took corners. I liked the feeling of his muscles tightening as he held the bike in the corners.
I liked how if I squeezed my thighs I was squeezing him.
And I especially liked the way the bike vibrated beneath me.
It was a tease and a reminder of the fun he and I had the previous night.
I’d never had an orgasm during sex before. Not once. Aiden had made me come several times over the course of the evening—and again this morning in the shower. Thinking of it now made me sweat.
He’d pushed me under the water and pinned me against the glass wall, holding me there as he lifted my leg and stroked my pussy relentlessly. I came three times before he decided he was ready to have sex, and then he rewarded me with even more orgasms.
I had no idea what I’d done to deserve it. But I was glad. I hadn’t felt this good in ages. This strong. This secure in my own body.
When Aiden had looked at me this morning, stark naked in the middle of his bathroom, I hadn’t felt that paralyzing anxiety over my body and how it looked. I hadn’t wanted to manipulate my angles by contorting my position or leaning into the shadows. I just let myself be. And he worshipped all of me with patience and selflessness.
We took a sharp right turn and I squeezed him with my thighs. When we came out of the corner he opened up on the throttle. I let out a delighted laugh and held on tight as he continued to accelerate. The bike ate up the pavement and my joyful cry was lost on the wind as we reached high speeds.
I’d never laughed like that with Vince. Not even once.
We’d been riding through the city for about an hour or so when we took a few less populated roads and ended up outside the auto body shop Aiden had recommended for the Mercedes.
He pulled up into the gravel lot and parked the bike alongside the shop. He got off first, took his helmet off, and hooked it on the handles. Then he offered me his hand and helped me slide off the bike. My sneakers crunched on the gravel when I landed, and then I worked to get the strap undone under my chin.
It was really hot outside and standing still with a giant padded helmet on was not helping my case. My boobs were sweating.
I pulled the helmet off and sighed with relief. My hair, all filled with sweat around the nape, cascaded down my back, and I hurried to pull my elastic off my wrist to bundle it up into a messy bun.
Aiden patted my ass and guided me toward the front of the shop where Ellie had come to stand in the shade near the bay doors. When she spotted me she gave me a bright smile and stepped into the sun to give me a hug.
“Cheryl!” She let me go and looked me over. “You look good. Aiden didn’t kidnap you and force you to ride on the back of his hog, did he?”
“Hog?” I blinked.
“The bike,” Aiden said, nodding toward his motorcycle.
“Oh,” I said shaking my head. “No. He invited me to go for a ride and I’d never been on a bike. So I thought, why not?”
“Mm hmm,” Ellie said, shooting a dark look at Aiden.
He held his hands up. “What? She’s telling the truth.”
The same tall, ruggedly handsome guy who’d worked on my Mercedes emerged from the shade in the shop and draped an arm around Ellie’s shoulders. “Aiden,” he nodded in greeting. “And Cheryl, right?”
I nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
“Axel,” he said, pointing his thumb at his chest. “I hear you left that prick. Good for you.”
Ellie slapped him in the stomach. Hard. “Axel. Shut up.”
“It’s alright,” I smiled. “He is a prick.”
Axel squeezed Ellie’s shoulders. “See babe? She agrees with me. I was just stating the obvious.” Then he turned his attention back to me. “I was glad to hear you walked out on him. Aiden and I said some shit behind his back.”
I looked at Aiden who rocked back on his heels and gave me an innocent shrug. “I can’t deny it.”
Ellie rolled her eyes at the two men and gave me a what-can-you-do sort of look. Then she crossed her arms under her chest, revealing the muscles in her forearms and upper arms that I hadn’t noticed up until this point. I guess you’d get jacked from working around cars and bikes like this every day. “Do you two have pla
ns for tonight? Axel and I are going to a concert in Central Park. You guys should come.”
Aiden feigned surprise. “You two? Getting out of the house? No way. Who’s watching the hellions?”
“Jamie,” Ellie said crossly.
“No shit?” Aiden said. Then he looked at me. “What do you think? You up for a concert in the park?”
A concert in the park? It sounded like the most wonderful thing to my ears. The most excitement I’d had since moving to New York City was the day I was rear ended. And then the night of Vince’s work party. I was only realizing now that both events involved Aiden, and it made me smile.
“Yes. I’d like to go,” I said.
Ellie clapped her hands together. “Excellent! It will be fun. I haven’t had a night out in ages, and if I’m being honest, I could really use a cocktail. Or four.”
Axel ran his hand down his face and sighed. “I’m designated driver I guess.”
“Yes you are babe,” Ellie said, patting his side. “You’ll be rewarded for it. Don’t fret.”
His glum expression shifted and he waggled his eyebrows at Aiden, who rolled his eyes. “Come on you two. I don’t need to know that.”
“You’re welcome,” Axel grinned.
I giggled and Aiden turned to me. “Want to go grab some lunch? Then we’ll meet these clowns at the park later?”
I nodded. “Sounds good. I’m starving.”
“I know a good little sandwich place. They grill the best Panini’s and—”
“Here he goes about his damn Panini’s,” Axel grumbled.
“Bite me,” Aiden snapped.
“Your obsession with grilled sandwiches is weird, man. I’m telling you,” Axel said.
“It’s not an obsession,” Aiden said defensively.
The two of them proceeded to go back and forth like this for several minutes while Ellie and I watched and exchanged amused looks. Then she hooked her arm through Axel’s and tugged him back toward the shop. “Come on, tough guy. We have work to do. Don’t let him get under your skin. You make it too easy sometimes.”
Axel mumbled something inaudible under his breath as Aiden squared his shoulders and looked at me. “Feels good to come out on top.”