CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
T-Bear was having the best ride he'd had in a long, long time, even counting riding out across country with his brother, wild and free.
With Manda snug behind him, her sweet thighs outlining his and her soft center snug against his ass, her arms around his waist and her torso pressed against his back… no contest, this ride beat every other.
He'd been waiting to find that certain woman he wanted on the back of his bike, the way Pete, Rocker and even Stick had found. And now he had her, with him for the first of many rides. And after, he'd get him some hot, honey-sweet lovin' and have her to talk to and laugh with.
Yep, this was livin'.
The big motorcycle rumbling under them, his hands on the familiar handlebars, the wind in their faces, they rode out west from town, then headed north on one of the county highways, rolling through small farms and fancy country places. Past stands of evergreens, the cattail-rimmed ponds and giant rocks left by ancient floods. Through the warm, spring sunshine and scudding clouds, reaching the edge of the Spokane River and a small-town burger joint there just ahead of a spring shower.
He parked the bike under the overhang in front of the place, and steadied the bike while Manda hopped off.
"Well, whaddya think?" he asked, scanning her face eagerly as she pulled her helmet off and shook back her hair.
Her eyes were shining, and her smile glowed in the damp gloom. "I love it," she told him. "I wish we could just keep going and going."
"Right on," he approved, satisfaction a warm glow in his chest. "Knew you'd love it. This place okay for a meal, or you wanna go somewhere fancier? 'Cause we can do that."
She looked at the place and back at him. "This is perfect. I don't need fancy."
"That's good, 'cause neither do I, unless that means a place like the Roadhouse. That's 'bout as fancy as I get."
She nodded, the twinkle in her brown eyes saying she already had that figured out and didn't mind.
They went into the place, a funky, old-fashioned joint with pictures of everyone from Ronnie Reagan to Patsy Cline on the walls, cracked red cushions on the booths and red-checkered curtains in the windows. Choosing a booth where they could look out over the river, they ordered burgers and all the fixings, a beer for him and a Coke for her.
The burgers and fries were served sizzling hot, the beer was cold and the woman across the table from him was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen. Not beautiful, or spectacular, but just plain pretty and sweet.
Perfect, just like this day.
Until it all went to hell... and he didn't see it coming, even with his eyes wide open.
They'd made it back to the clubhouse, and he had her under him in his big bed.
Both of them were breathing hard, he was damp with sweat, with his happy cock buried balls-deep in her, and his whole body rumbling with satisfaction from the big O he'd just had, and given her.
She was hanging onto him with her heels still riding his bare ass, her arms up around him over his ribs, and her face was flushed and rosy, her eyes heavy, a little smile playing on her lips.
The same smile that was on his face, he was sure. Fuck, they were good together.
And then he went and opened his big mouth and ruined it—only he wouldn't know that until after he spoke.
"You and me should get us a place together," he said, using his thumb to swipe away a drop of his sweat that landed on her throat. "Then we could have this all the time."
She blinked up at him, a strange look in her eyes. "What?"
He lifted up onto his elbows, 'cause he tried to be considerate about not crushing her, and grinned. "Yeah, it's a great idea. There's places to rent here in town. Close in, where we could even walk to work if we want. You can get that job at the Bean, and me at JJ's, it'll be great."
That strange look deepened in her eyes, and she let go of him with her legs, and then her arms.
His gut sinking, he lifted up and let her push him off of her, dropping onto one hip and an elbow in the bed. He made sure to keep hold of himself, 'cause letting the love glove loose in bed was rude.
"What?" he asked, disappointed. "You don't think so?"
She sat up, and shoved back her hair with both hands, then slid off the bed, away from him. He admired her ass, 'cause he might be worried but he wasn't dead, until she grabbed a random tee and pulled it on over her head. Being his, the faded blue Hangar tee fell halfway to her knees, and the sleeves draped to her elbows. She looked cute as fuck in it.
But then she turned to face him. He sat up, eying her with growing alarm. Something was brewing behind those big brown eyes, and it wasn't looking to be good, not for him.
"T," she said, pausing to bite her plump lower lip. "We've only known each other a week."
"Ten days," he corrected. "Countin' today, which I sure as hell am, 'cause it was awesome. Anyways, what's that got to do with anything?"
She crossed her arms over her middle and frowned at him. "A lot. We've only known each other ten days. That means we hardly know each other, not really. We can't be moving in together."
With that, the last traces of his happy disappeared. He slid off the bed and faced her across it. "Huh? So it's only been ten days. A fuckuva lot's happened in that time. I'd say we know things about each other most folks don't learn in months—maybe longer'n that."
She took a step back, and his face heated, realizing he'd kinda been hollering that last. "Sorry," he said in a lower voice. "But c'mon, babe. I know it's fast, but you and me—we got something good, the best I've ever had. Let's don't toss that away just 'cause you're nervous."
Her face flushed as well. "I have a right to be nervous," she snapped back. "The last guy I was with dumped me, and his buddy tried to use me as a whore."
He rocked back, feeling like she'd punched him in the gut. "And you think I'm gonna dump you, or use you?"
"No!" Her face crumpled, and she straightened up with a visible effort. "Of course not. I mean, not the using part. But I don’t—I don’t know you, T. And you don’t really know me.”
“Now that ain’t true,” he said stubbornly. “I know you’re funny, and we laugh at the same stuff. I know you got a learning disability, like me. That means you’re tough, ‘cause you have to try harder for everything, like me. I know you like a good party, and don’t need fancy shit, like me. I know you been through some tough times, but you come up fightin’ and don’t give up, also like me. I know you’re nice to everyone you meet, and you believe in people, even though you been hurt. An I know I can talk to you about pretty much anything, I don’t even care what. I also know you’re the sexiest woman I ever had in my bed, an’ I wanna keep you there and on the back of my bike.”
She gazed at him, her brown eyes big and full of shadows. “Well… how can either of us know how long it would last?"
"Well, I don’t know that now. But that ain't no reason to not even try," he told her. "I get you just went through a rough time. But who was there to pull you through? Me, that's who. And I wanna keep on being with you. We don't try, we'll never know if it'll work."
Her mouth trembled, but she shook her head. "T-Bear, it's—we have good sex... great sex. And good times. But... can't we just be friends for a while, like we agreed? Hang out, and have, um, awesome—"
He held up a hand, 'cause if he had to listen to much more of that, his head was gonna explode. "Lemme get this straight. You just wanna keep on bein’ my fuck buddy?"
She shrugged, pouting. "Sure, if you want to call it that."
No, he did not, but it didn't seem to be up to him. So to hell with it. He’d opened his guts to her, and she didn’t want to hear it. Anger rose, and got control of his mouth.
"We got plenty of women who show up here to party, who wanna fuck a biker, walk on the wild side. That really what you wanna be—club pussy? 'Cause we might fuck 'em, or accept a blow job from 'em... but we don't necessarily respect 'em."
She flinched at this blow, and then she stiffened, giving him a hot glare. "So if we're not 'going steady', I get no respect from you or any of your brothers, is that it? Well gee, thanks for the lovely offer, but I'll pass. I've had it up to here with men disrespecting me." She drew her hand across in front of her throat.
He scowled right back. "Think I made it pretty clear I want more than that, woman. Want you to belong to me." Or he had, till she threw this shit at him.
Manda threw up her hands. "And I'm saying we should slow things down, be a little careful. We can have good times, and—and get to know each other better without being zip-tied together."
T couldn't believe how fast everything was going to hell. He shook his head slowly, the hollow feeling inside him growing until it took all his energy to remain upright.
"I've had me plenty of no-ties fun," he said. "I want more'n that. You don't even wanna try, that's your choice. Guess I'll see you around."