It’s my last full day here before my flight home, and Roman promised me a bike ride. Since I’ve never ridden before, I’m not going to lie, I’m a little nervous. He spent a good ten minutes before he even fired it up telling me all about it. It’s an all-black, murdered out Harley Dyna Fat Bob, or something like that. It was hard to understand all that bike lingo while he was standing there looking so delicious.
“Relax, babe. You’re safe with me. Lift your leg over and put your arms around me. I won’t let you go anywhere.” He gets on and straddles the seat so there’s room for me. I sling my leg over like he did and wrap my arms around him when he sits. We cruise slowly at first, down the driveway and out on the main highway, picking up speed the longer we ride. He might think I don’t notice, but oh, I so do, although my death grip probably gives me away.
We’ve been riding for a while when we finally veer off the highway. California is breathtakingly beautiful. The beaches and the trees are way different than in Texas. Being on the back of his bike, the wind in my hair, the sunshine on my face, it’s relaxing and freeing. This is exactly what I needed. I might be scared to death still, but I get why people like to do this.
We pull over and park at the ferry that leads us to the pier and down to the beach.
“Put your things in here. I’ll lock it up,” he says, pointing to his bag on the side of the bike. I take my shirt and shorts off, stuffing my shorts in his bag, and he does the same. Roman lets out a long breath. “Fuck me, that should be illegal.” I keep my T-shirt out just in case I need it later.
“You like?” I do a little twirl, teasing him. I dug out the hottest bathing suit I could find in my closet just for him. He’s right, it should be illegal. There’s not much to it. The top is white with a sheer design and the bottoms are double strapped, but instead of fabric, it’s little gold studs.
Roman looks me up and down and groans. “You kill me.” He’s got that look in his eyes again, like he could eat me alive right here on this dock. “Come on, dirty girl,” he says, shaking his head, clearly amused at my attempt to impress him. It’s hard to believe what this man does to me, and what I obviously do to him.
We walk a way down to the ferry, and it feels good, like I’ve known him a lot longer than our reality. It feels like years, not months.
The ferry docks and Roman leads us down to the water. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the ocean.”
He leans down and splashes water in my direction. “I wanna see you all wet,” he says. The old me would have screamed about my hair getting wet or my tan streaking, but Roman, he brings this new person out of me—this girl who’s been begging to break free of things that don’t really matter and just live life. He pulls me along with him, wading into the water. It’s cold, way too cold, but we’re doing it anyway. The waves crash into my legs, making it difficult to walk. When we get far enough out, he pulls me into his arms. I wrap my legs around him, and he holds us both up, floating on the water. He presses short, slow kisses along my collarbone, whispering, “Beautiful girl.” Our foreheads touch and our breathing is slightly elevated, feeding off the other. He’s the beautiful one, water dripping off his hair and the sun beaming down on his tattooed skin.
“I don’t want to leave tomorrow. I could seriously stay here forever,” I say, tipping my head back, getting my hair wet. The sound of the waves and the sunshine are like something out of a movie scene. My heart starts to do that thing it does, that pitter patter, at the severity of the words I just said. I can’t stay. I know I can’t stay.
“So, don’t go. Stay. My bed likes you keeping it warm in the mornings.” I know he’s feeling this too; I can hear it in his voice.
“I can’t,” I whisper.
A wave comes crashing around us and knocks into Roman, making him stumble forward slightly, but his hold on me doesn’t falter. A guy in a wetsuit paddles by on his surfboard and says something about the water and what a pretty day it is, but I don’t catch the rest because my heart’s still in my throat. The interruption breaks some of the tension in the air between us. When the man turns around and continues on, Roman starts toward shore.
“You hungry? There’s an awesome burger joint up on the pier. Me and the guys always eat there.”
“I’m starving. All the sex and adventures you put me through, a girl’s gotta eat.” Our laughter is genuine, and it feels good.
We eat our burgers with a root beer float and talk. It’s not as heavy as it was down at the beach, which I’m thankful for. I put my T-shirt back on over my bikini, and Roman is rather amused with it. It’s one of my favorites. I’ve washed it so many times, it’s starting to fade. I should probably throw it away, but Erin gave it to me when I started nursing school, and I don’t have the heart to get rid of it. It says: Top 10 reasons to love a nurse, with #1 being Defibrillation I can thrill with one touch, #2 I know the proper way to tie you to a bed, and #3 Hit the right button & I’ll come quickly. Roman says I have to prove all ten reasons.
The rest of our day is spent walking around the shops on the pier. It’s so pretty when the sun starts to set and all the lights come on. We ride the ferry back to the bike and put the rest of our clothes back on before heading toward the highway. I wrap my hands around him and hold on, but it’s not long before my palm travels to the crotch of his jeans. He squeezes my leg and pulls off on a side road in the gravel. Roman turns the bike off and stands up. “Hop off, babe.”
“What are we doing?” I ask, looking both ways up and down the dark, secluded highway. There’s nothing out here. I let out a yelp as he flips me around, my back to his front. He wraps a hand around my throat, not hard enough to hurt but just enough to make me wet. Putting his mouth up next to my ear, he says, “My dirty girl. Been teasin’ my cock for the past twenty-five miles. Can you feel how hard I am?” Roman kicks my feet apart with his boot and pushes up against me. I can feel his hardness through his clothes. “That’s all you.”
God. This man. The things he does to me. I’m in the middle of nowhere—hell, I’m not even sure what city we’re in—pushing my shorts down so he can fuck me over his bike. I hear his belt rattle, and my heart starts beating faster for what’s coming.
“This is gonna be quick. I need to be in you.”
Ten minutes later, he’s tucking himself back in his jeans and tossing me a T-shirt to clean myself up with. He stands over the bike and starts it up. My legs are jelly, and I don’t know how I’m going to make it the rest of the way back to his house. I guess I’ll have to hold on extra tight for good measure.
The next morning, I’m up and at it early, getting all my bags packed to go home. Home. It was a short trip this visit, but I didn’t know what I was getting myself into with this being our first time to actually be together. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome, so I booked an early flight out in case things were awkward. Now, I wish I didn’t have to go.
I’ve checked my phone and tried to call Ryan. He was busy and not able to talk, so I sent him a text letting him know I’d talk to him later tonight, that way he won’t try to reach me and not be able to get me while I’m in the air. He’s not home yet either, so he won’t even miss me.
Roman walks up behind me and puts his arms around me, making me jump. “You ready? You know you can stay.”
“As tempting as you are, I really need to go home. I have to work. Plus, Cloud gets hangry when her food bowl isn’t filled to the top. I need to be there.”
“You kill me.”
“So you’ve said.”
He kisses me long and slow. If we stand here any longer, it’s going to turn into something more, and I don’t want to miss my flight. “We need to get going.” He pulls away with a frown. It’s cute, seeing this big, badass man pout.
We’re back where we started at the airport, and I’ve got this feeling in the pit of my stomach—the same one I get when Ryan leaves, except this feels heavier, more intense.
“You better come back to me soon. I just got you. I want more of this.” He’s looking me dead in the eye, and it’s hard to hold his gaze. So much uncertainty lies in my heart right now, and I’m afraid he’ll see it. He’s still pouting when I promise him I’ll be back. I don’t know why I say it. Something inside of me just needs him to hear it.