Chapter Fourteen
Winter
“I ’m gonna go take a piss. Don’t go anywhere without me.” Hollywood stared at me with that implacable expression on his face that I couldn’t read and waited until I nodded my agreement. “Be right back.”
I smiled and leaned against the wall right across from the men’s bathroom on the second floor of the social sciences building as I watched him disappear into the bathroom. Hollywood was… all man. The difference was only more pronounced when he was surrounded by college guys. Sure some were gorgeous, and some were fit, but they all lacked that certain something that made a man like him irresistible. He carried himself with a certainty that was undeniable, with a confidence that was so damn alluring that he was impossible to ignore.
I’m in deep. I acknowledged that fact to myself at least twice a day, once in the morning when I woke up in his arms and right before I fell into an exhausted, orgasm-induced sleep. I was falling hard and fast for a man who, based on his own words, hadn’t chased commitment in too many years to count. Still, I couldn’t stop my heart from wanting to hand itself over to him on a silver platter.
“Hey beautiful.” A gorgeous Asian man with a bright white smile and two deep dimples in his cheeks stood not more than three feet from me, a charming smile on his face. “I’ve seen you around campus and I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”
Whoa. This guy was beautiful and if not for the gorgeous biker who’d stolen a good chunk of my heart, I’d be tucking a lock of hair behind my ear before unleashing a really feminine giggle. “Yeah?”
He nodded and licked his lips, the classic sign of a player if ever there was one. “Oh yeah. Beautiful and bubbly. What’s your name?” He took a step closer and that’s when my Spidey senses started to act up.
I was already leaning against a wall so there was no place to escape to, so I kept my smile in place and stood taller, taking in every detail of this man. He was older than your average community college student and up close the signs were clear. But there was also the barest hint of a tattoo peeking out from the top of his shirt. “What’s yours?”
“My name?” He leaned in close. “My name is unimportant, Winter. What’s important is that you give dear old daddy a message.” He pulled out a cell phone and quickly snapped a photo that I was sure looked worse than my passport photo. “Tell Winston that I was this close to you today and next time, you won’t get away with a bit of a scare. Next time I’ll take you back to my boys and let them do whatever they want to you, and some of my boys? They got a real taste for pain. Lots of fucked up kinks to work out if you know what I mean.”
My breath hitched in my throat at his disgusting threats. His smile was gone and a menacing look replaced it, which struck fear down to the very core of my being. “Who are you?”
His grin returned. “You know exactly who I am. Maybe not my name but you know who I am and what I want.”
Yeah, I knew all right.
“Good,” he replied with a smile before he mixed in with a group of students headed for the exit.
My heart slammed against my chest, fear worked its way through my veins like an ice cold snake, squeezing so hard that I couldn’t breathe.
“Winter, what’s wrong?”
“This guy,” I began stuttering. “Asian. Good looking. He th- threatened me. Said he had a m-m-message for d-d-d-dad.”
“Shit. Which way did he go?” I pointed to the exit and the next thing I knew, Hollywood was yanking me out of the building and into the blinding desert sun. “What did he look like?”
“Asian. Stylish haircut. Shaved on the sides and longer on top with lots of gel. White jeans and sneakers and a multi-colored jacket. He looked like your average college guy except a little older.” I stood close to Hollywood as he scanned this section of the quad. His grip tightened and that’s when I heard it.
The roar of motorcycles.
“Son of a bitch.” His jaw clenched tight, and more fear flooded my veins because whatever—or whoever—Hollywood saw, he didn’t like it. “Fuck.” He muttered softly and tugged me along as he started to walk.
We strolled hand in hand like a real couple and despite the fading fear, I liked it. A lot. This was what I wanted but I wasn’t sure what he wanted, which meant I needed to keep my cool.
Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, Winter.
“Who are they?” I finally found my voice after nearly five minutes of silence.
“Jade Devils.”
“The guys behind my dad’s scam and his black eye?”
“Yep.” Hollywood nodded, his gaze fixed on the spot where we last saw them before he finally turned to me. “A motorcycle club that you don’t want any part of, trust me. What did he say to you, Winter?”
I closed my eyes and repeated his threat word-for-word and shook off the layer of filth it left behind. “They have a really fucking gross imagination.”
“They mean what they say,” he assured me. “What they’re saying to Winston is worse.” He didn’t wait for me to respond, he just took my hand and led me to the parking lot where his bike was parked. Without a word, we both got settled and enjoyed the long, silent ride home.
Not my home, of course. Hollywood’s home.
My temporary lodging.
“I need to make some calls,” Hollywood growled and disappeared, leaving me still slightly shaken and alone.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I picked it up with a smile. “Luisa, hey.” I missed talking to my best friend. So much had happened recently that I hadn’t caught up with her.
“Don’t you Luisa, hey me, girl! Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been calling and texting like a fucking stalker and you know what I haven’t gotten? A damn call back. Are we beefing and I didn’t know it?”
Her words brought a smile to my face. “No, Luisa. There’s no beef between us. Not ever.”
“Awesome, then tell me what the hell is up? Is that big bad biker holding you hostage? Are you his sex slave?”
Talking to Luisa was just what I needed after that creep threatened me. I laughed and dropped down on the sofa. “So much has happened, Lu.” I gave her an incredibly abbreviated version of the threats to my virtue and safety. “Apparently they want my dad to just give them more money than he’s got so I’m staying with Hollywood until the threat ceases to exist.”
There was a long silence before Luisa spoke. “Holy. Fucking. Shit. Girl, when did all this happen?”
“I don’t know, three weeks ago? Possibly a lifetime. It’s all so crazy and I honestly can’t believe it’s happening either. He’s even going to class with me.”
“Shut. Up.”
“Seriously. It’s the sexiest shadow in the world and it feels surreal.”
Luisa laughed and it was a sound I missed sorely. “All of this forced proximity has to be good for your dirty, sexy fantasies, right?”
“So good,” I whispered into the phone because I didn’t know where Hollywood was. “Incredible. Life changing. Hot as fuck balls, Lu. I swear.”
“I can’t wait to hear all the dirty details. All of them, Winter. You hear me?”
“Yeah, yeah, I think the people at the end of the block hear you.” I laughed and tucked my feet under my body just as Hollywood reappeared in the living room wearing a serious expression. “But not now. I have to go Lu. Talk soon.”
“You have forty-eight hours or I’m hiring a hacker and coming to find my bestie dammit. I don’t care how good the dick is, I miss my ride or die.”
My eyes widened while Hollywood simply smirked. “Duly noted. Talk soon.”
“Looking forward to it. Stay alive or else.” She ended the call, and I stared at the screen until the heat of embarrassment faded.
Then I looked up and found him smirking at me. “What’s up?”
“You told her how good the dick is?”
I rolled my eyes. “She was being metaphorical or maybe aspirational, I don’t know. The point is, what’s up?”
He shook his head and came closer. “What’s up is this good dick.”
I laughed. “You’re ridiculous. But I’m game.” I grabbed him by the waistband and tugged him closer when his hands covered mine.
“We need to go to the clubhouse. Now.”
“Cock tease,” I shot back with a fake as hell pout.
“I still owe you. Later.” The heat in his eyes was a promise I couldn’t wait to cash in on.