After Matt and Steph left the bar, AJ and Jen sat close, talking and smiling. Maybe AJ’d get some action tonight after all, thanks to his piece of shit car. I’d have to remind him later that he owed me for that. Engrossed and flirting with each other, they faded out of my radar as I turned all my attention back to my score for the night, Allie.

Leaning forward in her chair, she rested her elbows on the table in a comfortable position. It seemed my charming personality was working, and she was being receptive to my flirting. Hell, more than receptive after that lip lock over the table. I slid my chair closer and she smiled as I slipped an arm around her shoulder. I was dying to be next to her, on top of her with my cock in her, but for now I’d settle for just touching her. I craved the dizzying energy she emitted that made me feel a little bit crazy. I wanted to roll into bed with her, pull her down on top of me and watch her tits bounce while she rode me. But I still wasn’t sure about her. Who was this mysterious vixen? Hardly the kind you’d find working at a gas station, that’s for sure.

I began tracing my fingertips up and down the silky, bare skin of her arm and she relaxed into me. This was a good sign. The more I stroked her arm, the closer she leaned, and I caught the floral scent of her shampoo. She smelled like heaven. My pulse ticked faster and my cock twitched with excitement. I’d have to figure a way to get her out of this bar and be alone.

Damn.

I’d never met a woman with such an intense effect on me. Allie exuded raw sexual energy that made my body burn and I swore it was so thick I could literally breathe it in. How’d she do it?

Didn’t know. Didn’t care. I just wanted it to continue. I knew I should stop, pull back. This wasn’t going anywhere tomorrow, or the day after.

Stop, I told myself. You need to stop…

No way was that happening. Not after the beers and the throbbing cock in my pants.

As she leaned in, our bodies touched at every contact point possible, filling the gap between us, and I couldn’t bear to pull away. It all felt so amazing.

With my nose nestled in her hair, I murmured in her ear, “God, you smell great. And earlier...you tasted great.”

She took in a deep breath and I felt her chest expand. “Mmm. You tasted pretty good yourself,” she said, tilting her head ever so slightly, exposing the soft skin of her neck for my exploration.

“Wanna taste you again,” I murmured, touching my lips to her pale neck.

She shivered and shifted in her seat, which I took as a sign. She crossed and uncrossed her legs as if struggling to hold something at bay. It was obvious, she felt it too, the heat, the volcano boiling inside. My cock was twitching like crazy, and I mirrored her movements, shifting in my seat, too. God, I wanted to fuck this woman, bad.

I pulled my nose out of her hair and leaned back to study her face, contemplating my next move. Our eyes locked and neither one of us spoke for a moment, we just stared, as if stuck in silent debate, wondering what to do next with this off-the-charts sexual tension between us. My heart pounded and my cock was halfway to being a steel rod. Should I be polite and restrain myself?

I should. Hell, we just met.

Or should I throw caution to the wind and give in to my desires, as usual? Well, why not? I was young and on spring break. That’s what college-aged guys did. We ate up life in big gulps and swallowed it down with no consideration for tomorrow.

Before I gave it another thought, Allie grabbed my face with both hands. She brought my mouth to hers with a forceful tug on my hair. As her tongue tangled with mine, my brain kept telling me to stop, to keep my goal in mind. Don’t get involved, just fuck her and leave.

Then she made the decision for me and I didn’t resist.

“Let’s go outside.” She pressed a hand to my leg, burning my thigh as she ran her hand the length of it, stopping just short of my happy cock. “I need some fresh air.” Her voice was raspy and the look in her eyes, pure lust.

My eyebrows shot to my hairline and she jerked her head in the direction of a door. She cleared her throat and said, “Come on. There’s a back way out.”

Oh, this most definitely was a signal. I wondered how many times Allie had done this before, led a horny, drunk guy out back to give up the pussy. But at this point, I didn’t care, and my cock wasn’t putting up any objections either, so I let her take my hand, and I followed as she pulled.

AJ, absorbed in his own carnal entertainment with Jen, shot me a sly glance as I got up. I didn’t say a word. No need to. He knew the drill. Allie was about to get some big D and he knew it.

Taking the lead, she towed me outside through a weather-beaten door that looked like it’d had its fair share of beer bottles and drunks flung against it in the past. The minute we fell out the door, we were clawing and kissing, dying to get at each other.

She spun me around, pulling me close, her lips searching for mine. My desire was bursting inside me, rising in leaps and bounds. She whimpered hungrily, and I caught her tongue and sucked on it. I shuddered and raced a hand down to tug at the hem of her short skirt. She started the kiss, but I took control. I circled her waist with my arm, sliding a hand into her tangled hair, thrusting my tongue deep into her mouth. There was no going easy and working into it, just heat, raw and pulsing. Every glide of my tongue over hers felt electric.

We pulled apart momentarily to catch our breath, panting. My cock throbbed and I heard her mutter my name. I pulled her in hard, desperate to taste her again, sucking her plump lips into my mouth, twisting into a searing kiss. She kissed me back, equally hard, going from zero to sixty in a flash, hips grinding, tongues twisting, and adrenaline skyrocketing. Fuck, it felt good, so good. A raspy moan left my throat and I was desperate for more of her.

The more we kissed, the more I clawed at her, my hands up and down her body, squeezing tits and groping her ass. And the more she wiggled against me, the harder she mashed her pussy on my jean-covered cock, until pure steel was rubbing against her. Her hand shot down to my crotch and rubbed my bulging hard on. My eyes rolled back in my head and I moaned against her lips.

“Oh, gaaawd,” I breathed out the words on heavy gasps, afraid that if I said too much she’d realize this was a bad idea, and I was just some horny drunk college guy passing through town. Cupping a handful of breast, I breathed out the words. “Let’s go somewhere. Is there anywhere we can go? God, I want to fuck you.”

If we didn’t do this soon, either she’d back out, or I’d explode. Though from the way she had her tongue down my throat, I think she wanted it as much as I did. On the other hand, she could be a total tease, messing with me, leading me on and at any moment would stop and say, so long sucker.

She squeezed my cock and at the same time pulled out of the kiss with a bite to my lower lip.

Hard!

“Ow!” I laughed with surprise. Was that a sign she wanted to stop? Somehow, I didn’t think it was. Anyway I hoped she wouldn't come to her senses and say stop.

“That was...hot!” I said. “Kinky, but hot.”

She didn’t say anything, just raised a brow.

Actually, I was surprised, not at her actions, because I’d already assessed her as a bit on the wild side, but because I liked it. Every nerve ending seemed to be on high alert and the bite made my blood rush and my cock get even thicker, if that was even possible.

She pulled away and looked down the narrow street behind the bar. I snatched her wrist and pulled her back to make her look at me. I was afraid she would bolt. “Hey, where you going?”

“Come on,” she said. She tugged on my hand and we took off down the alley. It wasn’t the most glamorous place for sex, but damn, her tongue had me thinking about fucking her in a million different ways.

Dirty cinder-block walls lined with industrial garbage bins didn’t make for a romantic setting, but this would just be a quick fuck, a one-night stand, and if she was game, so was I.

We moved further along the alley, past a deserted parked car opposite the back of the building, to a more secluded place than the back door of the bar we just left, Beaver whatever-the-fuck. I couldn’t remember, because all rational thoughts just went sailing right of my mind.

We came to an overhang on another building that created a bit of shadow from the street lights, and Allie pulled me into it, frantically tugging at my belt buckle.

I gripped her face with my hands and kissed her like a delicious drink I couldn't get enough of, helpless to resist. This was stupid, out in the alley like this, well, half of me thought so, while the other half, the testosterone driven side, said, who the fuck cares? But still I paused and mumbled, “My hotel room is right next door...um...we could um....”

She answered by popping open the button on my jeans, and I heard the zing of the zipper.

“Can’t wait that long,” she panted.

Hallelujah, this woman’s wild! Maybe too much to handle? Well…

Oh Jesus! She had my throbbing cock in her hand, eyeing it like her next Popsicle.

Fuck the motel room.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand off my cock, my breathing heavy.

“Wait, I need protection…” I said, pulling my wallet out of my back pocket.

While I fumbled with it, she seemed to cool. Damn, I was afraid this would happen.

In my haste, my fingers missed the right pocket, and I pulled out some cash.

“Cam,” she said as she lightly traced a finger over my biceps. “You’re so, so incredible.”

I jammed the bills back and moved to the other flap for the condom.

“All these muscles…and I love your eyes, the way your hair sometimes falls over them.”

I just nodded, still fumbling to get the damn condom out of the package. It took three tries with my teeth just to rip it open.

“I have to admit, I liked you from the start,” she said. “At the gas station.” She dropped her chin to her chest as if something in the air turned her shy. “I hope you don’t think…well, I mean, I know we probably won’t ever see each other again after tonight…and…I don’t know, you seem like a really nice guy. I just wanted to, you know, have something to remember with a nice guy.”

I looked up, not believing what I was hearing. Actually, I hadn’t been listening to everything she was saying, distracted with the condom package from hell, but why the sudden change? The hard core, commanding attitude had melted and she was softer now, but her words hadn’t really registered. My cock was hard as diamonds as I started to roll on the condom, sidetracked with visions of taking her from behind and how fantastic it’d feel. “Wha…what?”

“Well, maybe we should just forget this,” she said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t…”

“Wa-wait a minute.” I cupped her face in my hands, and gazed into her dark, fathomless eyes. She looked torn, not sure if she wanted to devour me or run the hell away. “It’s okay. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I mean it. I’m not that kind of guy.”

I was standing there gazing into her blue eyes, my head spinning with carnal desire, and a condom hanging off my dick. She smiled and reached up to cover my hand with hers. I thought she was about to say something, to let me know she was okay with this and still wanted to fuck.

Before I could blink, a heavy hand landed on my right shoulder, breaking my euphoria. With the power of a tornado, I was spun around to the angry, red face of some burly dude. A big, rough-looking biker grabbed me and threw me up against a nearby-parked car. I felt the sting of cold metal as my rib cage hit the hood and my body fell forward. I’d been hit hard in football, so pain was no stranger to me, but damn, that hurt.

I scrambled, trying to get my feet under me, when the guy pulled me by a fistful of shirt and flung me against the car for a second round of searing pain. Fucker better not break any ribs. I needed to stay in top shape for the pros.

“What the fuck?” I blurted out. I had no idea who this guy was, but I was about to find out.

“You think you can fuck my ol’ lady and live?” he seethed, eyes bulging, close enough to smell the stench of whiskey on his breath. “Well, think again, motherfucker.”

He lifted me to my feet and in the same movement pulled a small revolver from where, I don’t know. With the barrel, jammed to my forehead he held me by my shirt, arched backward this time over the hood of the car.

I stuttered, “N-n-no, wait. Hold on, I…I didn’t do anything. We didn’t…”

“Shut up, motherfucker!” he barked.

I shot a glance to my left and saw a shadowy figure moving. It was Allie running away. At least I hoped it was. He pulled the hammer back, ready to let a round fly. I heard the click, and squeezed my eyes shut.

Fuck! I’m dead.

All I could think was my NFL career was over before I’d even had a shot at it. Dead, at twenty-two because of a fucked-up hook up.

Then a miracle happened. I heard a scraping, shuffling noise followed by the crash of glass. My eyes popped open. The tension on my shirt released as the dude’s fist relaxed and he melted to the pavement with a groan.

I looked up. There was AJ, a broken beer bottle in his hand, and the biker dude, a gnarled heap at my feet.

AJ hissed in a loud whisper, “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

I nodded and climbed over the guy to get clear of him, putting my withered junk back in my pants and zipping up as I hopped over. AJ threw what was left of the beer bottle into a dumpster and then kicked the gun clear of the fallen body. It slid across the pavement, scraping, metal on cement sounds, then ending up under a gray dumpster on the other side of the alley.

“Thanks, man. How’d you know I was in trouble…wait a minute.” Then I noticed his hand, blood dripping from where a shard had slit open the skin. “Your hand…you’re bleeding.”

“Never mind, let’s just get the fuck outta here before anyone comes,” he said. He held the injured hand away from his body as we moved, crimson drops hitting the ground. “I’ll wrap it later. Let’s go, let’s go!”

“But what about Allie?” I shot a glance around the area. It was dark and there were a lot of shadows. I hoped she’d be hiding in one of them, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Long gone. Let’s go!” He pulled on my arm and we took off running. “You want that girl? Forget you ever met her. She’s crazy,” he said, as we tore out of there.

We rounded the corner of the row of buildings, our feet slipping and sliding when we hit wet grass in the parking lot divider between the bar and our motel.

“No, she’s not,” I panted as we ran. Although I didn’t know why I felt the need to defend her now, on the run. “She’s actually kind of nice.”

“Yeah? Well, why the hell’d you pick one with a biker boyfriend?”

We’d made it to the motel, but instead of going to the room door, AJ ran to the driver’s side of his car. I’d followed so close, I bumped up against him when he stopped.

“He’s probably the general of the fucking KKK of bikers.” He shoved me off and continued in a lowered voice. “Didn’t you see the patch on the back of his jacket? If you get with her, that dude and twenty of his fucked-up, redneck brothers will be on you like angry on a wet cat, and with my skin color, I can’t stick around and take that chance.” He motioned for me to go around and get in the car. “Now get in!”

I darted around to my side, yanked open the door and jumped in, yelling, “Go, go, go!”

AJ had already bounced into his seat. He hit the ignition, threw it in reverse and we screeched out of the parking space. As he shifted into drive, I rolled down my window and flung the motel room key at our door. It bounced off the weather-worn surface of Room 18, and before it could hit the ground, we’d spun off, tires kicking up a spray of rocks.

About fifteen miles down the road my breathing finally evened out. Thanks to football training, my speed was an asset when I needed a quick escape, and we both made it out in time.

I turned to AJ. I was so focused on getting the hell out of there, I hadn’t even looked at him until now, too busy imagining what my face would look like with that dude’s fist making mashed potatoes out of it, or worse, making swiss cheese of it with bullet holes. Now, he sat, pitched forward in his seat, a gnarly white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, eyes focused at the dark road ahead as he drove us into the night. The blood on his hand had stopped flowing and now I could see it was only a nick in the skin.

“Hey, thanks, man for helping out back there. I would’ve been dead without you.” I ran a hand through my hair and blew out a breath, straightening in my seat. “That was one crazy motherfucker.”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t even blink, so I tried again. “You’ve been going ninety.” I leaned and peered over at him. “You can slow down now.” He still didn’t respond and I began to worry. I laid a hand on his arm and said, “AJ, chill. It’s okay. We’re out of the woods.” His jaw muscle flexed.

I spoke softly, trying to break his trance. “Really. It’s okay.”

I saw his shoulders relax. He loosened his death grip on the wheel and let out a long breath. “Fuck, man…that was…”

“I know, man…intense.”

“Fuck, I’m still wired,” he said.

I glanced at his bloody hand on the wheel. “You got something to wrap that hand?” I blew out a breath. He glanced at his hand and shook his head.

“Nothing? No monogrammed handkerchief tucked in your glove box?”

I’d seen AJ dressed in his Armani suit at one of our football banquets, and he always carried an expensive monogrammed handkerchief. It was just another part of his wealthy upbringing and another reason I teased him about dressing like an old white golfer. I hoped my jab at him would help relieve some tension, but it didn’t seem to be working.

I kicked my foot at my backpack on the floor of the car. Luckily, we hadn’t even taken our bags out of the car, just got our room key and went straight to the bar.

“All I got is a sock,” I said. “Want me to wrap your hand with my gym sock?”

“Um, no. I’d probably catch fucking Ebola from your infected toe jam germs. My damn hand’d rot and fall off.”

I acted all indignant. “Are you implying that I have Athlete’s Foot?”

“No. I’m saying you probably used that sock to jack off, dickhead.”

I smiled. The fact that he’d volleyed back an insult proved he was in a better mood. My plan worked.

“How’d you know that guy’s in a biker gang?” I asked.

“Club…” he corrected me. Definitely, he’s in a motorcycle club. I saw his chopper, along with all the others parked in front of the bar. And you know what that means…solidarity, loyalty, someone always has his back, or in other words...it means a shit storm for us.”

I furrowed my brow and turned to him. “How do you know so much about bikers and their clubs?”

“TV. I watch Sons…”

Before he could finish his sentence, I heard a rustling noise coming from the backseat, and a voice chimed out, “Surprise!”

Allie popped up with a big smile.

Startled, AJ about jumped out of his skin. He jerked the wheel, sending us all catapulting to the right, and then the left, as he tried to gain control of the car.

“What the hell?” he yelled.

Allie screamed as we swerved, and all three of us cried out in unison, some version of “Fu-u-uck!” as AJ veered to the side of the road. This sort of thing had been happening in my life entirely too much lately.

My heart was in my throat and beating a mile a minute. I spun in my seat to face Allie.

“What the fuck are you doing in our backseat?!”

“Are you crazy woman?” AJ added. He killed the engine, breathing hard, his knuckles back to snow white. “What the hell were you thinking? You nearly got us killed.” The words spewed out in a rush of adrenaline excitement. “Literally! And I’m not just talking about your fucking biker boyfriend, but just now. Are you out of your mind, jumping up like that? I nearly pissed myself.”

“I’m sorry,” Allie said.

“I’m sorry?” Now it was my turn to tear into her. “That’s all you have to say? You put our lives in danger, not once, but twice and all you can say is, I’m sorry?” I gaped at her with wide eyes.

Fucking unbelievable.

I knew girls were trouble, but now it seemed I’d attracted an especially problematic one.

Allie looked down at her lap and shrugged. I took a deep breath and studied her sitting there in the back seat.

Shit.

She looked kind of sad and something jerked in my heart. It was an odd sensation. It felt like a key turning in a lock and suddenly, I was flooded with a pang of sympathy.

Dammit.

I knew this feeling would only lead to more trouble, but I couldn’t help myself. Within hours of meeting this woman, I’d already had a gun to my head, had to run for my life, and now I was feeling sorry for her. What horrible deed had I done in a past life to bring this turn of events?

Fuck! I’m so screwed.

AJ scrambled out of the car into the dark, nothing but stars in the desert sky. It was about three a.m. and we were stopped on a deserted section of the scenic Route 66. I could see that AJ was still agitated as he paced outside the car, trying to cool his temper. He could stay out there and fume for a few minutes for all I cared. I had to talk to Allie.

I pulled my shit together and turned back to Allie with a softer voice. “So what’s this all about? Why’d you hide in the back seat of our car? I mean, obviously you’re trying to escape…right?”

She pursed her lips and cast her eyes down to her lap again. “Yeah, my ex is crazy. Can’t get it through his head that it’s over between us. I had to do something. He’s…” She blew out a breath. “Well, rather irrational.”

“Irrational?” I snorted a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, I think you had it right the first time. The dude’s fucking crazy.” I shook my head, picturing Allie with Sons of Fucking Flagstaffarchy guy. She looked so vulnerable sitting there in the back seat. She had a black hoodie jacket pulled over her outfit and a large backpack type purse. Dressed in black and hunched down in the back, no wonder we didn’t notice her before. Plus, we were so intent of getting the fuck away, we hadn’t noticed much of anything until she popped up. Although, that was one fucking surprise I could’ve lived without.

I glanced out the side window of the car and AJ caught my eye. He ran his hands through his hair and then stepped up to the open window on Allie’s side. He didn’t look happy.

“Get out of the car,” he barked at Allie.

Allie blinked and didn’t say a word.

“Get out of the car, now!” he repeated.

She grimaced and popped the door, stepped out looking wide-eyed and innocent, trying to play the victim. When I realized what he was doing, I jumped out after her and furrowed my brow at AJ. I stepped up to my friend and got in his face. “You can’t make her get out here, ”I said. “It’s three o’clock in the freaking morning, and we’re in the middle of fucking…who knows where.” I threw out my arms to indicate the wide, open space. “Are you nuts?”

“Yeah, I’m a lady. “ Allie chimed in. “You wouldn’t’ leave a lady out here all alone now, would you?”

AJ relaxed and gave me a deadpan look. “We’re not in the middle of fucking nowhere. We are on Historic Route 66,” he declared.

“And suddenly we need a history lesson?” I snapped. “We’re on Break for Christ’s sake!”

My frazzled nerves were weary, and I was tired of this roller coaster of adrenaline bursts every half hour. The gun, the surprise passenger in the car, things were spinning out of control, and I didn’t need this right now. And this wasn’t helping. At this rate, I’d develop an ulcer or be dead before I ever had a chance at the pros. I raised my voice to AJ and said, “Why the hell couldn’t you just stay on I-40?”

“I want to be nostalgic, asshole. Historic Route 66 is…historic. Full of mystique and all kinds of shameless self-promotions like that one…” He pointed to a large old-fashioned wooden billboard.

“Nostalgic? You haven’t lived long enough to be nostalgic about shit.”

Allie and I both turned to look at the billboard as I read out loud, “Stay at Buffalo Bills tonight. Clean rooms and showers…” I turned back to AJ. “What the fuck?”

“It’s an endangered American experience,” he said, proud of himself for giving us this guided tour of…fucking nothing!

I shook my head and blew out a breath. “We should’ve taken the Interstate, but look, AJ…” This was ridiculous and it wasn’t worth another argument with him right now. “What are we going to do about the girl?”

“Hello, I’m not invisible. I’m right here,” Allie said.

“Sorry, Allie,” I said. She smiled at me and I turned back to AJ who was back to pacing, hands on hips.

“Well, I’m certainly not driving back there.” He stopped and threw out a palm in the direction we’d just come from. “That dude looked like the type who has more than just one gun. I don’t want my car blown up by a grenade launcher or some shit like that.”

I looked at Allie for confirmation. She made a half smile and nodded. “He’s right. Um…he does have a lot of guns.”

AJ stopped pacing and announced his verdict. “Either she stays and goes with us to Vegas or she can walk back.”

I wheeled around to AJ. “She’s stays with us, of course. I told you, we’re not leaving her out here, dufus.” I gave him a disgusted look, took Allie by the arm, and led her to the car door. Without looking back, I called out, “Let’s go!”

As he approached the car, I heard him mumble under his breath, “Of course, what was I thinking? You always get the girl.”

Allie slipped back into the rear seat with a smile, her dark eyes mysterious. Earlier, I’d read them as seductive, but now I wasn’t sure how to read this girl. Had she just used me to escape her ex?

Probably.

Oh, that’s just fucking dandy.

I dropped into my seat as AJ cranked the engine and pulled back out onto his precious Route 66.

AJ gave one last shot at getting a dig in. Eyes straight ahead on the road he said, “Saul’s gonna freak when he hears about this.”

I threw him a dirty look and turned to talk to Allie. Despite what happened, I wasn’t about to be an asshole. Seemed she already had enough of those in her life.

“Don’t worry, Allie. We’ll get this all sorted out in Vegas and find a way to get you back home. Okay?”

“Sure. I knew you were a nice guy and…well, thanks,” she said.

“And don’t pay any attention to what AJ said. He wasn’t really going to leave you on the side of the road. He’s just stressed.” I punched AJ in the arm. “Right, AJ?”

He rolled his eyes at me and threw the words over his shoulder to Allie, “Right. Sorry, Allie.”

Allie smiled, wrapping the sides of her black hoodie tight around her body, relaxing back in her seat. I turned back to gaze out the windshield at the long stretch of highway pointing toward Vegas and wondered, what the fuck had I gotten myself into this time? Saul would be calling to check in on me. He’d promised to keep an eye on me, keep me out of trouble, not just on this trip but through the entire Draft process, because that’s what a good agent did. However, being a persistent worrier, Saul’s calls came too frequently and with a little too much angst.

Would I tell him about this new development?

Hell no.

I’d lie and say everything was going fine.