Chapter 9
Chloe – Present – Age 21
I had been waiting for this.
Needing this.
For years and years and freaking years.
I wanted to pinch myself.
Because this had better be real life.
If I found out this was a dream... there was no telling what I would do.
My eyes stared at his amazing body. Fit. Tattooed. Sprinkles of grey on his chest.
Even though the man was twenty-one years older than I was... it didn’t make me see any less in him.
It just meant he was put on this earth well before I was so he could learn how to pleasure me in all ways.
And boy, he did that in spades.
My hands were running through that soft black hair with sprinkles of gray in it.
My nails were scraping along his shoulders, down his back as he moved his body lower.
Muscles rippling.
Veins popping.
The feel of his mouth on my most private area.
No one has gone near the area unless it was my parents when I was a baby or the female doctor.
His tongue weaving a spell over my clit.
Wanting more.
Needing more.
His body came up, sliding all that hardness over my sensitized skin.
Pressing a kiss where my heart lay, he whispered, “I love you, Chloe.”
I smiled, “I love you too, Asher.
His head lowered, his lips brushing against mine.
My body was on fire.
Needing him.
Craving him.
Finally.
Finally, we were going to connect as one.
Then, just as he moved to enter me...
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
My eyes opened, and I sat up, my body was covered in a sheen of sweat.
My tank top and shorts were sticking to my body.
And what was worse than all of that, my fingers were in my cotton sleep shorts.
Jerking my hand out of my shorts, I closed my eyes, slapped the alarm clock, and collapsed back into bed.
I relished the soft breeze that blew in through my open window. I knew it was a bad habit that anyone could climb in through, but we all must go some time, I might as well sleep comfortably.
Then I heard my mama’s voice through the door. “Mija, love, it’s time to get up. It's time for work.”
I sighed, “Yeah, Mama.”
I took in a deep breath and then let it out.
Why?
Why couldn’t I just live in my dreams?
Was there a way to make that happen?
You know, like in Charmed and the episode called the Dream Sorcerer .
But I don’t want to die in the dream.
Ugh... why couldn’t I be a witch?
My phone beeped with a message.
Knowing who it was, I felt like the crappiest friend that was ever born.
Stella and I had become friends in the second grade.
Some mean girls had been picking on her for wearing black motorcycle boots and having her hair all wild.
Honestly, I thought she looked like the coolest kid I had ever seen.
And when I heard them calling her biker trash, biker whore, and stroker girl, I had gotten mad.
And seeing as I had my daddy’s temper and my mamma’s temper, it wouldn’t go well for those two girls.
I took the persona of a Se?ora del Fuego when my temper was riled.
Fire lady . I loved calling myself that.
See, my daddy was third-generation Irish, and my mama was a fourth-generation Mexican American.
I looked like my mama.
Soft, dark brown hair, tanned skin, button nose, short stature, curves in all the right places.
And the only thing of my daddy’s... his eyes. Green. But not just any color of green, it was a cross between sage and the brightest emerald. The most perfect color ever created if you wanted my opinion on the matter.
So, when you combine my mama and my daddy, I have a temper that can rival a sailor.
That was why I climbed down the monkey bars, clenched my fists, and stormed over to the girls.
Without thinking, I shoved myself bodily in between them and then got into their faces.
My Spanish was in full force as I said, “Lleva tu maldad a otra parte. Eres una bruja fea.”
The ring leader, Veronica, opened her mouth to say something, but that was when one of the teachers walked over and said, “Okay, okay. Let’s break it up.
I looked up at her and snapped, “You should have been over here breaking it up instead of messing with your phone.” And she had been. I had watched her.
She looked at me and snapped back, “Go to the office. Now.” I nodded, then turned to look at the girl.
I held out my hand to her and said, “I’m Chloe. You are?”
She smiled, placed her hand in mine, and shook it once, twice, then said, “Hi, Chloe. I’m Stella. What did you say?”
I grinned, ignoring the teacher who was getting irritated with me, and said, “I told her to take your nastiness somewhere else. And I called her an ugly witch.”
I had gone to the office to wait on my mama.
When she got there, she calmly asked me what had happened, and I told her.
She smiled once I was done and then took me for ice cream.
But it was nothing that compared to getting home afterward to see a big black motorcycle with hints of red in the driveway, a man atop it, with Stella behind him.
And it was nothing compared to him smiling at me while saying thank you.
And like that, my little heart had been captured.
But...that was that.
Stella and my bond had been forever cemented on the playground.
But now... I didn’t know how I was going to face Stella and, for that matter, Asher.
Gah.
My mama knocked on my door again, “Mi hija, time to get up.”
I needed to move out.
Unfortunately, I was paying off my college loans, and it was smart to stay with my parents rent-free while I did that.
Six more months. Six more months, and I would be able to do that.
Sighing, I rolled out of bed, showered, and got ready for the day.
As I took a sip of my coffee, coffee that looked like a white piece of paper, I texted Stella back.
Stella – Don’t forget. We both offered to help with the food this weekend at the clubhouse.
Me – I haven’t forgotten. I’ll be making Tamales and Blueberry salad.
Stella – Dad wants to know if you’re also making that marbled tres leches cake.
Dang it.
She had to bring up her dad.
I so didn’t need that right now.
Not after the dream I had.
Oh hell, who was I kidding?
That man was on my mind almost every second of every day.
But alas, I was a big girl.
Which was why I texted back.
Me – Have him buy the stuff. I’m already maxed out this month.
And I was. I couldn’t afford anything else until my next paycheck hit at the end of next week.
Stella – K. Have a good day at work. Love you, snookums.
I shook my head.
Me – You too. Don’t fry anyone’s hair.
Asher being Asher, he didn’t buy the stuff.
No, what he did do was run by my work and drop off two crisp one-hundred-dollar bills.
And when I tried to refuse the cash and ask him if he had a fifty, he lifted a brow while saying, “You shouldn’t be paying for shit to feed the brothers.”
That was also how a couple of the women I worked with developed crushes on him.
Asher on his bike, the sun just right... I wanted a picture of that.
Jesus, but I was such a sucker for this man.
Perhaps it was time for me to find someone else and try to forget about my stupid, unrequited crush on him.
Stella. Stella. Stella.
I repeated her name over and over in my head.
But... the thought of even being in the same vicinity as someone else who wasn’t Asher made my heart physically ache.
What the heck was I going to do?
How in the world did someone uncreate feelings for another person when they had secretly loved that person before they knew what the word love actually meant?