seventeen
(belle)
*NOW*
“What are you doing?” Ashley asked me as we sat outside on the patio of a small cafe.
I hadn’t realized how badly I had stretched my neck. I was like a child when they heard the dinging bell of an ice cream truck each time I heard a motorcycle. It was completely pathetic but not quite as bad as how many times I had pleasured myself while thinking of Slam.
“Nothing, sorry,” I said. “I thought I saw something.”
“You looked ready to jump out of your seat,” Ashley said.
I laughed. “Not quite. Anyway, give me the latest scoop on your wedding.”
Ashley quickly went into a rant about dresses and flowers.
I faded in and out, thinking about Slam.
He somehow got my phone number and the last few weeks of my life had been nothing short of intense. I’d seen him at least ten times, sometimes for just a minute or two. The first thing he did was ask me about Kyle. There was always someone waiting for me outside after working to make sure I was safe. It was like I had my own personal bodyguard yet I didn’t understand why I deserved it. Each time I brought it up to Slam, he would kiss my cheek and wink.
Yeah, kissing him was something else too. We only kissed a couple times though besides that first one at Angie’s. That kiss was by far the hottest, craziest, and best kiss of my life. Slam had warned me not to push him away but there was no way in hell I would have anyway. The second our lips and tongues met, it was just wild.
But I knew who he was. He was the bad guy. The villain. The guy my father would probably arrest if he had the chance. Worse yet… I wondered if he was the kind of guy that had killed my mother. That’s what tore me up the most. I tried to look beyond all of that but I couldn’t. And I didn’t have the guts to ask Slam if he was that kind of guy. And I still hadn’t told him the whole story about my mother’s death.
“So, what the fuck do I do now?” Ashley said way too loud, drawing attention.
I looked around, smiling. “She’s getting married.”
A few people nodded.
I had no idea what Ashley was talking about though. So I improvised. I reached across the table and took her hands. “Listen to me. It’ll all work out. I know it’s a lot to take on right now. But don’t lose sight of everything you’re doing. You’re getting married. It’s amazing. Right?”
“Yeah, right.”
I let her hands go. “I’m serious. Deep breaths. As many as you can take.”
Ashley then grinned. “I’m on to you.”
“What?”
“That face. That’s a fuck face.”
“A fuck face?” I whispered.
“You got… you had sex.”
“No,” I said. “Not even close.”
“Not even close? So there’s a guy?”
“No. No guy. At all.”
“What about Kyle?”
“He’s intense,” I said. “Almost like a stalker. I can’t have that.”
“There’s something different about you. You have a secret. You’re not sharing either.”
“Look at me,” I said. “There’s no secret. I didn’t… I did not have sex.”
“Too bad,” Ashley said. “You need it.”
“Judging between you and me right now, you need it more.”
“Speaking of which…” Ashley pushed her coffee mug away. “I have to go meet with Brett next. He’s taking half a day so we can go look at tuxes.”
“Sounds like fun. Enjoy.”
“Yeah right.”
We hugged and Ashley left.
My phone vibrated and I was eager to check.
I wanted it to be Slam.
It was Kyle instead.
We need to talk. Today. No choice.
I hadn’t talked to Kyle in almost a week. I had done everything possible to push him away, including talking to my father about him. I made my stance very clear. I did not want anything to do with Kyle. When I did he was mostly drunk and worried that I was going to end up dead. I actually had to hang up on him.
The sound of a motorcycle chased the recent memory away. My head swiveled like it had before and this time it paid off.
Slam was approaching me.
He pulled to the curb and walked the motorcycle backward before turning off the engine. I stood on the other side of a small rope that separated the cafe from the sidewalk. He took off his helmet and sunglasses, grinning at me. It was stupid that a man like Slam could look as good as he did.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Just making sure you’re okay,” he said.
“You know, acting like a stalker doesn’t make the other stalker less scary,” I said.
“Kind of like saying two wrongs don’t make a right?”
“Exactly.”
“Well, babe, here’s the thing… two wrongs don’t make a right until one of those wrongs proves the other wrong. Then they’re right. Got it?”
“Not even close.”
“I tried.”
Slam climbed off the motorcycle and looked like he was ten feet tall. He walked right to me and stepped over the rope.
Such a bad ass.
“Careful,” I said. “If my father sees…”
“You’re afraid of your old man too?” he asked me. “Come on, Belle, you can’t live life in fear.”
He reached up and brushed hair out of my face.
My panties were twisted and pulling up inside me. This guy was killing me and he didn’t even know it. Or maybe he did. But he didn’t know I was a virgin.
“Seriously, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I was in the area,” he said. “Spotted your car and was checking things out.”
“Worried I was on a date?” I asked and pointed to the coffee mug.
“Were you?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, you were having coffee with another woman. So if that’s a date, then you are just a whole hell of a lot more intriguing to me.”
“Ew. Pig.”
“Oink, oink,” he said.
So fast and bold, Slam leaned down and planted a kiss on my cheek. He then kept himself way too close to me. I could smell his rough skin, a mix of sweat and man. A hint of grease and chrome. My body was on fire.
“Don’t tempt me, babe,” Slam whispered to me. “I’m not stalking you at all. I’m protecting you. I already told you you’re going to be mine.” His hands grabbed my hands and he took a step back. “If you need anything, you call me. Okay?”
Hypnotized by the sex pouring off his steel like body, I started to nod. I had no idea what I was doing right then. I was too far out of my element but I couldn’t look away or run away.
Slam climbed back over the rope and back to his motorcycle.
With bad boy swagger and a grin on his face, he put on his helmet, sunglasses, and he started the motorcycle. He took off leaving the rumbling lingering all around. I watched him until he was swallowed up by the horizon.
I put my hand to the table to catch my breath.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” the waitress asked me.
I looked at her. “Yeah.”
That was a bold lie.
I was so fucking far from okay…
The rest of the afternoon I couldn’t stop thinking about Slam. If that’s what he wanted, then he was winning. I was so tempted to call or text him, to tease him and see if he would come find me again. I had so many wild thoughts racing through my mind, I swore my face was red for hours.
Never in my life had I been so turned on before.
It was actually almost a relief to feel that way because nothing else entered my mind for the rest of the day. That, however, did work against me.
After all my running around was done - including a trip to the restaurant to help Marco with an order - I went to my apartment. The plan was simple. I was going to order something to eat, have it delivered, enjoy some wine and a movie, then take care of those naughty thoughts in my mind, care of Slam. Maybe not quite the most pathetic night ever, but at least I’d stay out of trouble.
Something about Slam just wasn’t right. He was a bad guy. He took pride in being a bad guy. Yeah, it was sexy, but it wasn’t realistic. I had grown up in a world of being protected from bad guys.
I opened the door to my apartment and dropped my bag.
A second later, my jaw dropped.
“Belle, I told you we had to talk.”
I had no idea how he got into my apartment, but Kyle was waiting for me…