Cholo

I opened my saddle bag and carefully removed the towels from the enclosure. Using a motorcycle as my basic mode of transportation was liberating, but at times it was a pain in the ass. My mother taught me to never show up at someone’s house empty-handed, and something as simple as transporting a bottle of wine became difficult on a bike. After removing the bottle and wiping the condensation from the glass, I inspected it for damage.

I hated using Alexandra’s abduction as a reason to visit Lucy, but after ten years of not seeing her, I really didn’t have any other excuse for showing up. I mentally shrugged off my reservations and sauntered up the walk toward the porch.

As I was brushing the wrinkles from my jeans, the door opened.

Lucy’s eyes lit up. “Adam.” She looked me over, and then stepped aside. “I like the vest. Come in. How are you doing?”

I smiled and nodded. She was dressed in a pair of velour designer sweats and a tight-fitting tee shirt. My mother also taught me not to stare, but her outfit left little to the imagination, and diverting my eyes was close to impossible.

I gave her a quick look, pried my eyes from her tits, and then met her gaze. “I’m good, thanks.”

She glanced at the wine, and then at me. She looked much better than the day I’d seen her at the remodel home, and appeared to have gotten some rest since I dropped Alexandra off a week prior.

Her eyebrows raised slightly. “You brought wine?”

Her light brown hair was clean and straight, almost reflecting the late evening sun. She looked the same as she did when I’d watch her walk to her car in the summers before she moved away. I still remembered the day she left, and although it seemed like a lifetime had passed since, she hadn’t aged one bit.

“It’s Friday night.” I hoisted the bottle. “And, my mom always said never show up empty-handed.”

“Wine’s my weakness. Well, one of them.” She motioned toward the living room. “Have a seat, I’ll pour us a glass.”

I handed her the bottle and looked around the small living room. The home was a small two-bedroom ranch, typical of the lower income houses in southern California. It reminded me of the shit-hole Alexandra was in, but so did the majority of the homes in Oceanside.

I sat in the middle of the couch, hoping she’d take a seat beside me. There was a chair shoehorned between the end table and the wall, and a loveseat at the other side. I glanced around the room and decided where she chose to sit would give me an idea of her intentions.

After a moment, she walked in and sat down beside me. She poured a glass of wine and handed it to me.

“Here.”

I smiled and took a quick glance at her tits, trying not to stare. “Thanks.”

She poured another glass, and then set the bottle on the end table. She raised her glass. “Here’s to Lex being home again.”

I lifted my glass in agreement. As she took a drink, I did the same, and almost choked on the syrupy substance.

Wine wasn’t my go-to drink, in fact, I’d never had a glass of it in my life. I’d chosen the bottle of Moscato based on my mother’s recommendation, and although Lucy seemed to love it, I had my doubts as to whether I’d even be able to finish the glass or not.

“Oh, God.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “This is good.”

It tasted like candy. Shitty candy. I lifted the glass and grinned, nonetheless. “So, where’s Alexandra?”

She took another drink, finishing her glass in one large gulp. She reached for the bottle. “She’s at some class. She’s going to two. Coping with PTSD, and another for victims of rape.”

I took a fake sip and then nodded. “I’m sure they’ll do her good. ”

She poured her glass full, took another gulp, and rested her hand on my leg. “I can’t…I just…You have no idea,” she stammered. “What you did? I’m so grateful. And, she looks up to you. You should hear how she talks about you and your friends.”

She squeezed my thigh.

I glanced at her hand and then looked at her. “It’s best to just forget about the whole thing.” I shook my head. “Let it pass.”

“The police called it a gang war. They said it was two gangs fighting over territory. Did you see that on the news?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“They have no idea.” She squeezed my leg again. “That’s good, huh?”

Her beautiful looks and tight-fitting shirt – when combined with her hand being three inches from the tip of my dick – made hiding my sexual desire difficult.

As I felt myself begin to grow rigid, her eyebrows raised. “Isn’t it?”

I realized although my cock had responded, I hadn’t. I nodded eagerly and tried to think of anything that might make the swelling go down. “Oh. Yeah. That’s good.”

I’d fought bare knuckles fights with guys twice my size, boxed golden gloves for years, was in a gang as a kid, and had been in more street fights than the entire MC combined. Furthermore, I’d accomplished all that without a single moment of feeling nervous.

Yet.

I sat at her side nervous as fuck that she was going to either notice the rapid swelling and start stroking it, or unintentionally brush against it and scream. The thought of either made me more anxious than I used to get when I was a teen.

Despite that fact that I’d fucked more women than I could come close to counting, and that I never really valued a relationship as being anything that could last beyond my typical Sunday morning departure, I wanted whatever was going to materialize between us to be different.

I pressed my back against the couch cushion and tried to gain an inch or two of room between my throbbing stick and her heavy hand.

Her fingers inched up my thigh slightly as I moved. I glanced down and then looked at her. She took a sip of wine and grinned.

I’d spent damn near ten years mentally fucking her, and now that I had a chance at the real thing, I didn’t want an unexpected swipe of her hand against the tip of my overeager Johnson to lessen my odds of success.

“Oh God.” She giggled. “I’m feeling this wine already.”

She raised her glass and wiped her forearm across her forehead.

In about two fucking seconds, you’re going to get it, lady.

I took a drink of the shitty wine, wishing the entire time it took me to choke it down that it was a beer. As beads of sweat formed on my brow, the front door swung open.

She lifted her hand from my thigh. “Hey Lex. Look who stopped by.”

I shifted my eyes from Lucy’s tits to Alexandra.

It had been a little more than a week since I’d dropped her off. I don’t really know what I expected her to look like, but the person who stood in the doorway surprised me.

Shocked was more like it.

Dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt, she could have been anyone – but she looked different than everyone. The bruises on her face had either faded away or been covered by makeup. Her dark blonde hair was curled and most of it was twisted into a knot on top of her head.

She tossed her purse on the floor, and looked up. A few loose strands of hair dangled at the sides of her face. Her cheeks were filled out, and no longer gaunt. Her eyes gleamed, and she looked truly happy, although I seriously doubted she truly was.

Hell, how could she be?

“Oh. Wow. Hey, how’s it going?”

I pressed my tongue against the roof of my mouth and felt guilty for even noticing her good looks.

“I’m Good.” I pushed myself from the couch and stood. “How are you doing?”

She grinned a shallow grin. “I’m good. Really good.”

Her eyes shot to the bottle of wine, and then to her mother. “I’ll grab a glass.”

“You’ve got a week to go,” Lucy said, although it didn’t sound like she meant it.

“Five days,” Alexandra said on her way to the kitchen. “I’ve earned it.”

Lucy looked at me.

I shrugged. “I started drinking when I was twelve.”

“One glass,” Lucy hollered. She reached for the bottle and her face washed over with a confused look. “Oh, wow, that’s all that’s left.”

Alexandra walked in with a wine glass and her eyes met mine. She smiled and then went to the end of the couch and extended her hand. After Lucy poured what remained of the wine into the glass, Alexandra sat down in the chair and crossed her legs.

Lucy was seated next to me, on my right. To my left, Alexandra sat in the chair. For a moment, I fumbled with my wine glass, void of any thoughts of Lucy, and incapable of keeping my eyes off Alexandra.

After a long stare, I felt guilty. But, she was stunningly beautiful, and was difficult not to gawk at her. Her boobs weren’t as big as her mother’s and she wasn’t as tall, but she was far more beautiful. So much so that I couldn’t seem to pry my eyes from her.

Then, when I began to feel like a guilty pervert, I tore my eyes away and gazed down at the floor.

“Someone say something,” Lucy said. “How was your class?”

“It was good.”

“Did you learn anything?”

Interested in her response, I looked up.

Alexandra took a sip of wine, and then nodded. “They teach us how to recognize patterns in our behavior, and make adjustments before we go off the deep end. It’s pretty interesting.”

Anger shot through me. I knew there was nothing more that I could do to, but it aggravated me to no end that she had to figure out a way to cope with what had happened. The inconsiderate pigs that abducted her were going to be a part of her life for as long as she lived. From their graves I was sure they’d continue to haunt her.

“I’m glad you’re going,” Lucy said.

Alexandra took a sip of wine and shrugged. “Me, too.”

Her eyes fell to her lap.

For the entire time she looked down, I studied her, trying to find fault in in the lines of her face. I came up with nothing. As she looked up, I shifted my eyes to the doorway.

I felt awkward.

Out of place.

Confused.

“Well,” Lucy said. “We’re out of wine.”

Thank God.

Her hand slapped against my inner thigh. “Should we go get some?”

“I’m on my bike,” I said, for some odd reason hoping that my response would change her mind.

She squeezed my leg and smiled. “I haven’t been on a motorcycle in forever.”

I carried a half-helmet in my saddlebag, and Alexandra knew it. If I said I didn’t have a helmet for her to wear, I suspected I’d be called out on my claim.

“I mean, if you…if you want more,” I stammered.

“Let’s go.” She stood. “It’ll be fun.”

I forced a smile and stood, wondering the entire time what might have happened if Alexandra hadn’t showed up.

Now that she was there, however, I had little interest in Lucy. I tried to convince myself that my concerns with Alexandra were more about her well-being, and less about anything else, but was left wondering just what it was that I was feeling.

“I guess we’re going to get some wine,” I said.

Alexandra locked eyes with me and then took a slow drink of wine. She didn’t say anything, but I stood and stared back at her, wondering if she had chosen to, what she would have said.

The last thing I needed was to stick my dick in a girl who wasn’t old enough to drink, needed a lifetime of therapy, and was the daughter of my high school crush.

Yet.

The strength that oozed from her pores intrigued me to no end.

The entire time we rode to the liquor store, I couldn’t clear my mind of Alexandra.