The sound of my phone vibrating against the wood of the nightstand woke me. The room was still dark. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but the darkness was because the motel curtains were pulled shut. I glanced at the window and saw a line of daylight coming through along one edge where the curtain didn’t come flush to the wall, so I knew it was morning. I reached for my phone and slid the ringer button to the on position. It was late, eleven o’clock.

Crap!

We’d nearly slept until noon.

I flopped back on my pillow remembering everything that’d happened. Meeting Cam and AJ, and my crazy escape from Jade outside Beaver Street Brewery. I ran a hand through my hair, reflecting on my sorry state of affairs. I glanced over at Phoebe sleeping in the bed next to mine. She was sweet, and I liked her spunky spirit. I liked Cam and AJ too. Especially Cam. Wow, what a fantastic package of hotness and muscles. I was definitely taken with him. Cam’s body has muscles that ripple under his tight shirt—and that’s what all the girls wanted. And the kind of body I wanted on top of me, thrusting deep inside me.

I remembered the way his mouth had felt against mine when we kissed, the way he tasted, the hot scorching drag of his lips. And the way my heart thumped so hard against my ribs when he touched me.

My heart skipped a beat just thinking about it and I had to close my eyes. Not going there. Not gonna think about the hot, sexy intensity of Cam, or what it’d be like to have his warm, strong body right here under the covers with me.

Nope.

Not with Phoebe sleeping right in the next bed. But oh, he was so delicious.

I wiggled down farther under the covers. I saw Cam’s face, the night we were kissing like wild animals behind the bar, when we were about to get down, all hot and needy with lust. I wanted to suck his cock and then feel him fuck me, fast and hard.

Every time it came to mind, I tried to push it away, tried to think of kittens and grandmas, but it was no use. Instead, I saw that smoldering sexy smile, making my skin burn where he touched me, kissed me. I licked my lips savoring the memory. No man had ever affected me that way before.

The fact that someone was sleeping in the same room did nothing to expel the leftover memories of our previous kisses. I reveled in the blaze of tingles racing across my skin, not wanting the sensation to end. When Cam had pressed into me, it felt warm and safe, like coming home.

I couldn’t help myself. I licked a finger to moisten it and slid my hand down to my crotch, already wet again from wanting Cam, from the fantasy of having him on top of me, between my legs. The minute my wet finger touched my clit, I stifled a gasp, imagining his tongue. A quick flash of fantasy had him taking me once we arrived in Vegas, throwing me on the hotel bed, aching and ready for him. Yes, I’d let him take me once we reached Vegas. If I could last that long.

My body was pulsing and hot. I swirled my finger. A few light strokes and I was panting again, wishing his hard body was right here on top of me. One last thought of his hungry mouth on mine, devouring me, thrusting his tongue deeper was enough to cause a shuddering orgasm to course through me.

I bit down hard on my lower lip and pulled the covers to my nose, stifling a groan this time. For a split second, just that one split second, I felt so painfully happy. I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t want Vegas to be where we said good-bye and be the girl he fucked on spring break. Or one of the many girls he’d fuck in Vegas. Cam was too gorgeous for me to think he wanted someone like me. No, handsome football players usually kept themselves unattached. And besides, look at my life, stupid Jade was destroying it. But meeting Cam made me realize he’s what I really wanted, the polar opposite of Jade. That’s what I needed.

Fuck.

Jade.

What the hell was I going to do about him? I punched my pillow and rolled to my side, wondering if I should wake Phoebe or wait until the others woke and came to get us. I can’t imagine why Cam and AJ wanted to sleep this late. Especially after all the stuff AJ said about wanting to hurry up and get to Vegas, now he wanted to sleep?

I felt bad about lying to them. They were great guys, helping me out, and I was an idiot. I’d gotten myself into a real mess with everything.

When I first met Jade, I was kind of lost. I’d spent most of my life trying to please others. I tried to become smaller, quieter, less opinionated. I didn’t want to be a burden. I wanted people to like me. I wanted to be wanted and Jade made me feel that way. At first anyway. So for years, I sacrificed myself for the sake of making other people happy and I suffered. But I got tired of it. I couldn't change who I was in order to become someone else’s idea of a worthwhile human being.

I was searching for something. What, I didn’t even know. I was also tired of living in my hometown, which was about as exciting as watching paint dry. So when I met Jade, he seemed exciting. His lifestyle was raw and wild. It was stupid, I know now. He turned out to be an asshole, but by the time I figured that out, I was neck deep in the biker lifestyle. There was too much partying and that’s when my grades began to slip. Before I knew it, I was in a deep hole and couldn’t see a way out.

Until Cam came along.

I took a chance on Cam, sensed that he’d help me. Suddenly, he was my ray of hope, standing right there in front of me. There was something about him from the minute I met him. I didn’t know exactly how it would work out, but even at the gas station, I knew he was special, a good guy, the kind I really wanted, not a loser, drug-head psycho. That’s when I told Cam to meet me at the bar.

I ran, and when I saw Cam’s car parked at the motel next to the bar, I went to it. To my surprise it was unlocked. I just reacted and jumped in, not really thinking. I figured I’d get away from Flagstaff and come up with a plan later about how to get Jade off my back. A way to get rid of him for good, although that’s easier said than done, with the MC. The Black Vandals were a very possessive club, liked to control people associated with it and didn’t let go easily.

That thought filled me with gloom. How was I ever going to break free of my ex? As if on cue, my phone pinged a text message alert.

Holly fuck!

It was a message from Jade. I popped up, as if sitting up would make the message less real. It was brief. I started to read, hands trembling. The mere thought of him caused that kind of reaction in me, but before I allowed my eyes to focus long enough to read through it, I dropped the phone to the bed, screen side down. My stomach twisted with worry. I didn't know if I wanted to read it, afraid of what it said. Would it be another angry message, berating me for being a stupid idiot. Would he call me names like before, cunt, whore, bitch. At one time, that kind of language was simply part of his raw personality and was almost appealing, in a perverse sort of way.

I took a deep breath, biting my lip. I turned the screen back for a brief look, skimming. The words, “I’m coming for you” and “I’ll find you” were all I needed to see, and I was convinced he was probably right outside the door. I didn’t bother to read the rest. I jumped out of bed, and dashed over to Phoebe’s bed. Her head was stuck under a pillow.

“Phoebe, Phoebe, wake up.” I shook her shoulder and then darted to where my clothes were draped over the back of a chair. She groaned and mumbled something incoherent.

“Phoebe, come on. We gotta go, get up. We have to get the guys up and get out of here.” I put as much urgency in my voice as possible without shouting. I pulled on my short black skirt and top, talking all the while to wake her. “We have to get up now, Phoebe and go. Can I wear your Vans? I can’t walk very fast in my heels and we need to go like, right now.”

I ran back to the bed briefly and pushed on her again, begging. “Get up, get up, please.”

She threw the pillow off and rolled onto her back, her long hair a tangled mess on the bed. “What’s wrong? What’s happening? I want to sleep. We were up really late and…”

I cut her off ignoring the confused look on her face. “Don’t have time. Get up. Get dressed.”

She sat up and pushed a hand through her hair. “What’re you talking about? Why do we have to get up now? Can I brush my teeth?” She made a chewing motion with her mouth and stuck out her tongue. “Ew. I think I fell asleep without brushing. Yuck. My teeth feel awful.”

“We don’t have time to talk. Just hurry up, brush your teeth and get dressed.”

She finally took a long look at me. “Allie, what’s going on? You look frightened. What happened? Did something happen?”

I ran back and forth around the room, collecting my stuff and darting into the bathroom to get ready as fast as possible.

“Jade’s on his way,” I called back over my shoulder.

“He’s what?”

I cut off her words as I shut the bathroom door and yelled through it as I got ready. “He’s looking for me.” Then I couldn’t talk anymore with the toothbrush in my mouth.

“What?” Phoebe asked her voice muffled. “Jade? How? What do you mean he’s after you?”

I spit and rinsed. “Got a text just now. Get dressed we need to go.”

The idea of Jade looking for me had my mind spinning with ideas of exactly how things would go down when he found me. And although I didn’t know how much he knew about my disappearance, fear racked me with panic because that meant Cam was in danger too.

I popped out of the bathroom and found Phoebe moving slowly, looking around the room for her clothes. I guess she wasn’t a morning person. I picked up her shorts and top from the floor and set them on her bed. “Here are your clothes. Hurry up.” I tried to sound polite, but I was failing miserably. “Get dressed and then use the bathroom. Let’s go. Please.”

“Oh, hon…” she said. “I understand. You look terrified.”

I stood in front of her waiting. She just stood there in her underwear, no bra, and I suddenly felt awkward. She wasn’t shy about her body and nudity. I assumed it had to do with her commune life and their open idea about it, but there was no time to feel weirded out now. I had to get out of this motel. We all had to get out before Jade caught up with us.

“You get dressed. I’m going next door to wake the guys.” I grabbed my backpack purse and said the last words as I shut the door. I glanced around motel parking lot half expecting to see Jade’s black Harley. Relieved it wasn’t there I blew out a breath and knocked on Cam’s door.

“Cam, AJ, open up!”

It took only a second, but seemed an eternity, before Cam opened the door, shirtless and looking hotter than ever with tousled bed hair. If that’s what he looks like in the mornings...oh my god.

“Hey, good morning beautiful,” he said and opened the door for me to enter.

“Um, hey, good morning.” I bit my lip not wanting to waste any time with pleasantries, but knowing Cam would think I was even weirder than he probably already did, if I didn’t slow down and at least try to act normal.

I glanced at the empty beds. “Where’s AJ? We should get going don’t you think? We slept pretty late. Um, we’re wasting time and you know how AJ doesn't like to waste time. Gotta get on the road.” I was rambling, my eyes darting around the room and to the window, still expecting to hear the roar of Jade’s bike at any moment. “We should go.” I nodded, bobbing my head profusely.

Cam furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair. “Slow down there, Energizer Bunny. Have much coffee this morning?” He sauntered over to where his t-shirt was tossed onto a chair and pulled it on as we talked.

“AJ’s in the bathroom. We’re almost ready to go, but you look a little frazzled. What’s up?”

With my backpack over one shoulder I hovered near the door, urging Cam to hurry.

“Have a seat while AJ finishes.” Cam motioned to me to sit while he put on his shoes.

“No, we really need to go. Phoebe’s getting ready now and we need to get going.” I didn’t know if I should tell him about the text from Jade considering all the trouble I’d already caused. Impatient, I shifted my weight from foot to foot.

Finished with his shoes, Cam stood, a look of concern on his face and stepped up to me. He took me by the shoulders and squared up in front of me. “What happened?”

I took a deep breath and said, “We gotta go. Jade is right on our tail.”

“What? What’re you talking about? How could he...wait, how do you know?”

“I got a text from him this morning and...and…” I could feel my nerves buzzing, making my mouth dry. I swallowed hard. “I...I…”

“What did it say? Because I don’t think he could know where we are. It’s okay, Allie. He can’t find you, really. He can’t. What exactly did it say?”

“Well, I didn't really read all of it, but he said he was going to find me and…”

Cam’s face softened into a smile. “Going to. He didn’t say he found you, right?”

I looked down to the floor. “Um, well…” now that I thought about it, Cam was right. It was my overreaction, as usual, to Jade and his volatile ways. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I guess I read it and jumped to conclusions.”

He lifted my chin to look in his eyes and said, “It’s okay Allie. Don’t worry. You’re with me now. I’ll keep you safe.”

My lips parted and a breath of relief escaped. I leaned in and let his soft lips meet mine as I slipped my arms around his neck. He felt warm and safe, and I believed him. I needed Cam. I needed a good guy like him in my life. Someone to save me from my miserable past.

His tongue caressed mine and he pulled me tighter to his solid chest. Just as I was enjoying his delicious kiss, I heard the bathroom door open and AJ interrupted, “Hey, you two. Enough of that. We need to get on the road. Where’s Phoebe?”

Cam’s hand trailed down my arm as we stepped apart. I cleared my throat and said, “Phoebe’s getting dressed. She should be ready now.”

I touched the small outside pocket where I kept my cell phone as I adjusted my backpack. I was tempted to take it out and read Jade’s text more thoroughly, but I decided to leave that for later. I didn't want to ruin the wonderful feelings from that kiss.

“Okay, let’s go then,” AJ said.

Cam nodded and opened the door, motioning for me to go ahead. The guys snagged their black duffle bags and followed me out.

I walked out the door and there was Phoebe, standing on the balcony walkway in front of our door, arms crossed, leaning against the white metal railing. She wasn’t wearing any shoes and she had a look on her face I couldn’t read. I also noticed she didn’t have her purse over her shoulder like she was ready to leave. I glanced down, looking for her bag.

“Phoebe where’s your bag?” I asked.

I shot a glance to Cam and the expression on his face told me he’d figured it out.

AJ heard me and pressed through between us, stepping up to Phoebe. “Yeah, Phoebe, where’s your bag?”

“Well…” She twisted her mouth into a reluctant smile. “I’m not going. I’m gonna stay here a while. You know me, follow wherever the wind blows me.”

“Aw, Phoebe, no. You have to come with us,” I said.

“Yeah,” AJ looked positively downtrodden at her reply. “You have to come with us.”

She shrugged shaking her head. “Sorry, guys, I can’t.”

“Are you sure, Phoebe?” Cam asked. “It’s been fun having you with us. We won’t be an even set without you.” Then he brightened. “Ask Shoshonee. She’ll tell you to come with us. Isn’t this a vision quest or something?”

I knew Cam was thinking about AJ. He’d taken quite a liking to Phoebe.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s been great and who knows, maybe we’ll meet again someday.” She stepped forward to give me a hug. I would've asked for her cell phone number, but remembered she didn’t own a phone.

“It’s been great,” I said and we hugged. “Take care and good luck with your vision quest.” I really did hate to see her go. “Oh, wait, Phoebe. I’m wearing your shoes.” I started to bend over to remove the Vans she’d loaned me, when she stopped me.

“Keep them. They’re yours. Remember, good karma will come back to me for sharing.” She gave me a big smile.

Thinking that AJ wanted to say his goodbye alone, Cam stepped up for a hug and said his farewell next. Then he punched AJ on the arm and said, “Meet you down at the car. Give me the keys.”

Cam held out his hand for the keys and waited to see if AJ really wanted to leave her behind, or if he’d try harder to talk her into coming with us.

“No, no, that’s okay.” AJ was acting all tough, like he didn’t care if she walked away. Chances were, he’d never see her again, but I thought he was putting up a brave front.

He said a short and polite good-bye then turned to us and said, “Let’s go.”

We rattled our way down the noisy metal stairs. Halfway to the car AJ stopped and said, “I can’t be a dick. I gotta go back.”

He handed his duffle bag and keys to Cam, turned and went back up the stairs. As we watched him walk away Cam said, “I’ll bet you five bucks, she’s gonna come with us.”

I smiled and said, “You’re on”

A few minutes later, with all the bags stowed in the car, Cam and I leaned against the trunk, waiting.

We looked up to see AJ coming down the stairs alone, but instead of a dejected look on his face, he looked puzzled.

We both straightened as he approached. “What happened?” Cam asked.

AJ darted his eyes to the sky and then pursed his lips. “Apparently, her husband called.”

“Her husband?” Cam asked, surprised.

“She’s married?” I added, just as bewildered.

“Yeah, to three different guys,” he said. He just looked annoyed now.

Cam’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Three?”

“I thought she didn’t have a phone? You mean he called on the motel phone?” I was trying to make sense of all this.

He held up a hand. “Don’t ask. It’s a hippie commune. I don’t know what the fuck they do. Just get in the car.”

AJ walked to the driver’s side door and yanked it open. Cam slid in next to him up front and I took the back seat, feeling bad for AJ, thinking he must have a bit of a broken heart.