Maria

 

“See, isn’t this nice for a change?” Brawn raised his glass to me across the smooth white table cloth. Our glasses clinked over our dishes.

 

“Yes, it is. Thank you.”

 

“No problem. You deserve a chance to celebrate. You’re finally getting the opportunity to pursue your dream. That’s what this was about right? Pursuing our dreams.”

 

I took another sip of wine and smiled. We kept dancing around the conversation we’d had that night in the cabin, where we had agreed to work together, but we never really addressed what happened that night. It was like it had become our dirty secret. Then, there was the night we’d slept together. I felt the weight of all of it crushing me while I looked into his smiling face sitting across from me. His eyes accused me of ignoring it even though he was just as guilty.

 

“Thank you again, Brawn,” I said finally. “But you’ve already done so much for me.”

 

He replied in a very matter-of-fact tone, the kind of tone that said It’s nothing. “I won’t hear it. It’s the least I can do. You know, I’m glad that letter showed up today,” he mused, stopping himself short.

 

“I am, too,” I chuckled. “I mean, classes start soon, so I needed to know.”

 

He took another drink from his wine and looked at me over his glass. “Other than that, I think we both needed something to shake things up a little bit. Don’t you feel like things have been very routine and monotonous for us lately?”

 

“You know, you do this every so often,” I reminded him.

 

“I know. It’s the biker in me, Maria. I can’t handle letting things get too routine. What’s the point if you can’t break free every once in a while?” He had put his glass down and was looking directly in my eyes. There seemed to be something else on his mind, something else he was wanting to say.

 

“You sound like you want to hop on your bike and ride somewhere,” I suggested.

 

“Maybe, but my business partner won’t let me take the time off to do it,” he said.

 

“I’m certainly not stopping you. I haven’t even seen your motorcycle. I know you have to ride sometimes; you’re in an MC, but I haven’t seen it, not even at the shop.” I cocked an eyebrow, issuing a challenge to him to break out his motorcycle.

 

“Let’s go out and ride sometime,” he said, taking the bait.

 

“Sounds good to me.” I smiled and returned to my food.

 

“Excellent. I’m glad we got that out of the way.” He took another bite of his food.

 

“Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?” I asked him out of curiosity.

 

He thought for a moment while he chewed, looking down at the table. It was right on the tip of his tongue, whatever it was. I could see him on the verge of saying what was on his mind. “I just want us to have a good time before you have to leave the office,” he said a few moments later.

 

“Who said I was leaving the office?” I asked, almost snapping at him. “I plan on continuing to work with you as long as you’ll let me. I mean, this is my baby, too, now. We built this business together.”

 

“We did, and I couldn’t have done it without you. You know this. But I don’t expect you to work and go to school at the same time. You’ll be studying nursing. That workload alone has to be a lot to handle. On top of that, continuing to work, even part time?” He shook his head and reached a hand across the table to mine.

 

“Brawn, I know I won’t be able to put in the hours I normally would, but that’s why I’m training Mary and Kelly. They’re going to be able to take over most of the work in a few days, but I want to be able to look over their shoulders to at least make sure you don’t get screwed by any mistakes,” I explained.

 

“Don’t worry about it. Anything that impacts work can be ironed out. Maria, I promised you I would help you get into school and help you through school. I’m a man of my word. And that is the biker in me talking,” he said.

 

“We’ll see. You can’t keep me from work altogether,” I told him, pulling my hand back and grabbing my wine glass.

 

“I know. I’ve learned that much about you.” He sat back in his chair and pulled out his phone, glancing at the screen briefly before putting it back. “Let’s drop all this talk about work and finish eating. I still want to go dancing.”

 

“You’re taking me out, as well? You really are going to miss me, aren’t you?”

 

His eyes sparkled, and a thin smile spread across his face. “You might be leaving the office, but you’re not going anywhere,” he said.

 

“You really are going to be doing too much for me,” I told him.

 

“How do you mean?”

 

“Putting me up in your guestroom while I go to school, helping me pay for school, and I’m sure you’re going to be handling all the day-to-day finances like you do now.”

 

“Yeah, of course, but you’re forgetting something. I can only help you pay for school because you have helped me make as much money as I have. So, don’t put this off on me like I’m some kind of saint. I’m just honoring our agreement. You help me, and I help you.”

 

“Yeah, our agreement,” I said quietly. I finished my food. Suddenly, I wasn’t really in the mood to celebrate anymore. I had wanted him to approach the topic of the night in the cabin, the hotel room, or even the night we’d passed out together on his bed. So far, he’d failed to mention any of it. It was starting to seem like it was just an agreement, and once I was finished with the nursing program, it was all going to be over.

 

“Everything okay?” he asked as he finished his dinner.

 

“Yeah. Let’s go dancing,” I said dismissively, shrugging off my worries. We were business partners. We hadn’t agreed to more than that. It was best for the sake of our partnership, I figured, to ignore those other stray moments.

 

He paid the bill and held his hand out to me as he stood up from the table. We left the restaurant and took a cab to a nightclub. We rode in silence. I kept my face to the window, watching the lights pass us by as we drove across downtown.

 

He seemed to be trying to win me over, but his words emphasized our agreement and our partnership. He didn’t talk like he wanted to make more out of it, but he acted like he did. It had been hard to get a reading on him the whole time we’d known each other. He seemed like a big burly biker with his rippling arms, his tattoos, and his surly demeanor, but then he was as nice as he could be to me.

 

He stopped the cab at the entrance to an alleyway and handed the driver a few bills.

 

“We’re here,” he said, sliding out of the backseat and holding his door for me to follow.

 

“Here?” I asked, nodding down the dark alley.

 

“Trust me. Come on.” He took my arm and walked with me past the pool of light created by the street lamp at the corner. I could hear the thumping music before I saw the door to the club.

 

The name was written above the door in neon script, but I couldn’t read it. There wasn’t a line, like there was for most places I’d ever been. There wasn’t anyone standing at the door. If I hadn’t been with Brawn, I would have figured that the music was from a car or apartment nearby, and I wouldn’t have even noticed the door.

 

“It’s cool,” he said as he knocked on the door. A large bald man opened the door and stepped aside to let us in, spilling the music from within the club into the night air.

 

“What is this place?” I asked as we entered through a hallway with black walls.

 

“It’s a club the guys from the MC frequent,” he said.

 

At about that time, the room opened in front of us. There were guys in kuttes with their colors on, men in suits or just in dress shirts, and women everywhere. I told myself it was just like any other club. It just catered to very exclusive clientele.

 

“In case you’re worried, this place is totally legit, and it’s safe. No one’s going to mess with you here, unlike some more public places. People still think it’s the seventies sometimes, and they’ll try to start shit with us when we go out. Here, we don’t have to worry about it. Come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me with him.

 

That single gesture untied the knot in my gut. I felt a spark between our palms when they touched. He grabbed my hand like it belonged to him, and I started to think maybe the night at the hotel hadn’t been a fluke after all. I followed him to the bar where he ordered us a couple of drinks. I reluctantly released my grip on his hand. He handed me something fruity, and very stiff, and he toasted me with his beer bottle. I was only going to need one of whatever concoction he’d just handed me.

 

“Let’s dance,” he said after we’d finished a good bit of our drinks.

 

“Sure,” I said. I would have been happy to sit there and enjoy my drink while I watched the lights from the club dance on his face and listened to the rhythmic bass thumping through the air around us.

 

The next thing I knew, we were on the floor, in the middle of countless strangers. I didn’t see anyone else with a Twisted Ghosts patch on their kutte. There were other women in jeans and leather vests, in short skirts and low-cut tops showing off cleavage, women in work suits, and a couple of women dressed in reserved evening dresses like I wore. There were people from every walk of life there, it seemed.

 

Brawn pressed himself against me and grabbed my waist as we moved to the music. His touch wasn’t forceful or demanding, but it certainly let me know where I was supposed to be, and I was supposed to be right there with him. I didn’t mind one bit. I let go of myself for him. I followed the beat and the melody and let his movements guide me until I could feel my desire tingling inside me.

 

I rested my hands on both sides of his face. Our lips were a breath’s length away. I could taste the beer on his mouth. I looked down and saw the flashing dancefloor lights alternating colors between us.

 

Finally, he kissed me. His lips sought mine out with confidence. I buried my hands in his hair and accepted his tongue in my mouth. I started grinding my hips against his, and I could feel him growing thicker and harder within his pants.

 

“I wondered how long it was going to take for us to do this again,” I panted as I pulled back, breaking our kiss.

 

“You should have said something,” he said, taking my face in his hands and kissing me again.

 

Our bodies were somehow still moving to the music, but it was time to make our own. I could feel his desire growing stronger with each thrust of his hips. My whole body was charged with pleasure and a longing to have him inside me again. It had been too long. He had been right earlier in the evening when he said our routine had just become too monotonous. It was time to shake it up.