Chapter 7

Ainsley

I awaken pinned to the bed. I blink my eyes but the light streaming in from the window hurts my vision. My head throbs like there are tiny men with axes swinging them at my temples. A large arm is wrapped around my midsection and I pop my eyes open, forcing myself to deal with the blinding pain of the light. I move my head, looking over my shoulder.

Axel. I am in bed with the biker who randomly showed up at my door last night. My stomach tightens. We had the best sex of my life. But we also had unprotected sex like complete fools. I know he regrets it, part of me does too but there is this other part of me that says what if this is the start of something new. Something that is mine. Something no one can take away from me. I don’t even know if I like the guy, but I can’t stop the fantasy from playing in my head that he will wake up and declare his undying attraction to me and tell me that it doesn’t matter, that he wants to be with me. I know it is childish and dumb, but yet there is this tiny flicker of hope that maybe I won’t be alone anymore. I have tragic abandonment and daddy issues thanks to my late father.

I leave my fantasy and crash back down to reality. I stare at the man sleeping next to me and my chest squeezes tight. I have my whole life ahead of me. I should be more careful. I slide out from under him and tiptoe from the room to the bathroom. He doesn’t budge, and I don’t bother with waking him. By the time he notices I have left I will hopefully be on my way back to school where I belong. I use a black scrunchy from my purse to pull my hair up into a ponytail. Dressed in his t-shirt and my jeans I take one last look at the home. I’ll probably never see the place again. Which is too bad. The landscape is gorgeous and the house itself looks like a capital building or something. The architecture is English inspired. Large windows, round rooms, with a sprawling yard that looks more like a park.

I always wondered what it would be like to live in a house like this and be part of a real family. With a heavy sigh, I slide in the driver’s seat and go to start my car when nothing happens. I try three more times until I get pissed and scream while smacking my hands on the steering wheel. When I look at the house, I see Axel leaning against the front door smirking at me.   

He strolls over to me and I open my door. “What the hell are you grinning at me like that for?”

Sticking his tongue out he wets his lips, before pulling a cigarette out and sliding it between them. He runs a hand through his hair then lights up his cigarette. He takes a puff before speaking as he squints at me. “Did you really think I would let you just drive off without making sure you get that pill. I don’t need no surprise in nine months.”

I roll my eyes. “Ha. Ha. Funny. Where do you think I was going?”

“Then you won’t mind if I come with you.” He smirks and tells me to pop the hood. I do, and he does something and magically my car starts again. Jerk. I can’t believe he snuck out while I was sleeping and disabled my car.

I tap my fingers while I wait for him to get in the car. He stands expectantly by my door again. “What now?” I snap at him ready to get this shit over with and be done.

“I’m driving.” He strokes his goatee and I can still feel his bristled hair between my thighs and scratching my neck and along my jaw. I involuntary squirm in the seat. He laughs. “Come on. Let’s go before everything closes.”

“It’s my car,” I whine but he holds his ground. Frustrated, I give in and slide over the center console. He gets in and starts fucking with my seat and mirrors and I growl under my breath. We get halfway to town and my car starts wobbling. “What the hell did you do?”

“I think you have a flat.” He frowns and pulls off on the side of the main road. Axel gets out and pops my trunk. It takes him a few minutes, but he gets the spare on. “We’ll have to get a new tire while we are out. When we get into town you can do the pharmacy and I’ll handle the car.”

“Fine,” I groan. This is turning into the day from hell. A day I can’t seem to escape. In a way though I suppose I am happy he was with me. I don’t have a clue how to change a tire and my car service people would have been forever getting to me since it is Christmas Eve. Not to mention that everything will be closing early.

We make it town and just my damn luck the first pharmacy doesn’t have the pill in stock. He could order it but by the time he gets it in the window for me to take it will be long gone. The second pharmacy is closed and the next closest one is far enough away that by the time we get there it will be closed too. I feel like a freaking loser and like life is plotting against me right now. If it can wrong, it has since the minute I got here. I can’t win for losing. First, I brought the wrong clothes. Second, I drank too much. Third, I really screwed up by sleeping with Axel without protection. Fourth, my flat tire and now I can’t get the pill I need to make sure we didn’t ruin both of our lives.

Hopefully he is having better luck than me. He is supposed to meet me here at this diner. The only place left in town that is open.

 I sit in the booth sipping on coffee and picking at a donut. My stomach is in knots. I don’t know what he will do or say when I tell him I didn’t get the pill. The waitress comes by my table with a fresh pot of coffee asking if I want a refill. I shake my head and continue to wait.  I stare out the window wondering if Axel decided to ditch me but eventually, he shows up. As soon as he walks through the door wearing his cut the atmosphere changes. I guess if I hadn’t spent the night with him and didn’t know that he has a sweet side I would find him scary. He enters the establishment the picture-perfect image of a true badass. His dirty blonde hair is pulled back at the nape of his neck in a low ponytail. Covered in tattoos his muscles bulge out the sleeves of his what he told me is called a cut.

The waitress appears as though she doesn’t know whether she wants to be turned on or scared by him, but it doesn’t escape my notice that she has now undone another button on her blouse. The desperate woman fluffs her hair and gets her pen and pad ready. She plasters a fake smile and starts toward Axel. He walks past her as though she is a ghost. His eyes are dark and broody and on mine. I shrink down in the booth even though I know there is no escaping the intense attraction I feel for the man or his attention that is so centered on me. He takes a seat, sliding into the booth next to me instead of taking up the other bench. I’m pressed against the window and his arm drapes over the back of the booth. The waitress rushes over nearly falling over her own tits as they spill from her top. I can’t help but let out an annoyed hiss under my breath.

Axel cocks his head sideways at me and flashes me his pearly whites. “You aren’t jealous, are you?” He smirks, and I want to poke him in the eyes with my fork.

“Please?” I roll my eyes and look away. His hand grips my thigh, squeezing right at the apex where my thigh touches my pelvis. I elbow him in the gut in return.

“Did you already eat?” I shake my head.

“I’m not hungry.”

He shrugs after glancing at my poor donut and turns his attention to the waitress who is now tapping her pen on her order pad impatiently not happy to be ignored.

He orders a burger and a chicken strip platter. I give him a look, but he acts as though it is nothing. The waitress brings his soda over, slamming the plastic cup on the table and some of it sloshes out onto the table as she stomps off. Neither of us comment on her behavior but we are both fighting to hold in our laughter.

Huffing out a deep breath, he says, “So how did it go?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“You didn’t get it?” he sounds as panicked as I feel. I could lie to him, but I don’t want to play games with something so serious.

I shake my head. “They didn’t have it at the first place I went to. The second is closed. There was a third place but by the time we make the drive it will be too late. I know you probably hate me but not as much as I hate myself right now.”

Axel sucks in a deep breath. “I need a smoke. I’ll be back.”

I nod. He is probably going to throw himself into oncoming traffic. I don’t blame him. We really screwed up.