Chapter Two #2
Ted made me wait until the rapid test results proved I was clean before he let me take off.
Ten minutes later, I raced to the community center, but I was still ten minutes late when I pulled into the parking lot and rode my bike up to a pearl-white BMW. A twist of excitement coiled low in my gut. I recognized the bike.
Kiss had this friend, McKelle. She was a biker girl snack. I hadn’t seen her in a couple of weeks. Not that she’d be looking for me. I was crushing hard on her. Not only was she slamming in the looks department, but this girl was super into sportbikes.
There was one issue. Like Kiss, McKelle dated a Heller.
A friend of Romeo’s. I’d met him once. I didn’t linger long enough to find out if I’d like him or not.
We weren’t going to be friends. He had the girl I wanted to get to know better.
A lot better. Not gonna lie. She checked all the fucking boxes.
Badass sense of humor, smoking hot, rode a super-fast bike, and smiled like she was genuinely happy to talk to me.
After I locked my helmet to my bike, I ran my fingers through my hair and scrubbed a hand down my face. I needed a haircut, but I needed gas in my tank more.
Heading into the building, nervous energy snapped in my gut. I’d been around girls, but none like McKelle. She was out of my league by a million miles.
Once I passed through the open reception area, I quietly made my way into the meeting, and our corner of the room where my sponsor peeps always clustered together.
When committing to sobriety, it was good to have someone to count on when the days got dark, when there was nothing to do about it, but a hit of something could make you forget.
Not me. I was just going through the motions of court-ordered treatment.
Brad, Georgia, and Kiss needed sober friends, and I needed them.
I’d met Brad at my first meeting. We bonded over bikes.
He’d introduced me to Janie. Janie. Fuck addiction.
Thinking about her hurt. She was cool. She was like a momma bear to all of us.
I’d never really had anyone give a shit about me.
She did. I missed her. We almost lost Georgia the same way.
Sobriety couldn’t be taken for granted because relapsing was contagious.
“Everything okay?” Kiss whispered as I sat next to her.
I nodded. “I had to stop at the perv’s office.”
McKelle leaned forward. “Who’s the perv?”
What the fuck? I’d turned into a sixteen-year-old girl. My heart went from zero to sixty in two beats, and a hot intoxication flooded my veins. A nervous smile split my lips when I glanced at McKelle.
Kiss leaned into McKelle. “Ryatt’s probation officer likes to look at his dick.”
McKelle’s full, soft pink lips formed an O.
“Don’t make it sound like I show it to him.”
“Maybe he wants to see it because it’s impressive.” Georgia smirked and took a bite of a cookie. She and the refreshment table were best friends because she was always hungry.
Before she and Brad started dating, Georgia had been in a rough spot. Janie had been her lifeline. When Janie died, Georgia relapsed for a couple of weeks. But she was good now, and she wasn’t worried about where her next meal would come from because she was living with Brad.
“It’s not,” Brad snapped, referencing my dick.
“Have you seen it?” Georgia asked him with an arch in her brow.
“No.” I spoke a little too loudly and lowered my voice. “Can we talk about something besides my dick?” No one in present company had seen it before. Lately, my dick had only been acquainted with my hand.
“You don’t need to prove anything.” McKelle smiled at me and fuck me, the way her lips softened slipped warmly beneath my skin. “I’ve seen you ride. Total big dick energy.”
A rush of heat surged up my spine. Praise coming from McKelle was a potent shot to my ego.
Just looking at her proved I had the crush of a boy who’d just hit puberty.
My brain had an electric short circuit. Staring into her deep blueish-green eyes had my cock stretching, biting into the fly of my jeans.
“I could say the same about you,” I said.
She rode fearlessly, becoming part of her bike. I could compare her to her ride. The pearl-white wrap resembled her platinum blonde hair. Sleek fairings made her motorcycle fast as fuck, while she was tight curves and femininity.
“Shh,” Kiss hissed. “You’re going to get us into trouble.”
We all quieted, and I was handed the collection basket.
If I passed, I’d look broke. I was broke.
But I didn’t want McKelle to know I couldn’t afford to throw a couple of bucks onto the pile.
Donations were voluntary, but that’s how Ansel, the director, kept the community center’s drug treatment program going.
“I got us this time,” Kiss said and dropped a twenty in the basket. “Bullet has me cleaning his litterbox.”
McKelle chuckled. “Oh my god. I wish I had thought to say that when I was fighting with Cruz.”
“I’m lost,” I said. “Are you pet sitting?” I asked Kiss.
McKelle covered her mouth to stifle her laugh.
“I’ll tell you later,” Kiss said because Ansel welcomed the guest speaker to the front of the room.
“Are we going to lunch after the meeting?” Georgia whispered. “I don’t want to fill up on cookies if we’re going out to eat.” She stuffed another gingersnap into her mouth.
Kiss and McKelle nodded. I might only have ten bucks to my name, and I’d planned to do deliveries during lunch, but no way was I missing out on the chance to hang out with McKelle.
“I’m in,” I said and hoped they picked a cheap place to eat. Then I sat back in my chair, pretended to pay attention to the speaker, and listened when the addicts chose to share. Through it all, I was hyperaware of McKelle and the soft tone of her voice when she’d leaned in and whispered to Kiss.
Rather than fight the attraction, and the distraction, I gave in, pushed my chair back another few inches so she wouldn’t see me staring, and I watched her.
So much for lowkey obsessing over her. In a split second, I could feel my intentions go from friendzone to full stalker mode.
Today, she’d worn her long blonde hair in a single braid down the center of her back.
A pink T-shirt hugged her tits, and her pink and white leather riding jacket draped the back of her chair.
Finally, the meeting concluded.
“I’m starving,” Georgia said once we were in the parking lot. “Let’s try somewhere new.”
“Blue took me to this place a bit out of town,” Kiss said. “It’s not much to look at but the food is good.”
“Do you want to ride with me?” McKelle asked her.
“No. I’m cleaning the dance studio this afternoon while Blue is working in the bike shop.” She gave us directions to a taco stand. “It’s an old trailer off the side of the road.”
“We’ll follow you,” Georgia hollered as she climbed onto the back of Brad’s bike.
I sat on my Yamaha and waited while McKelle pulled her cat ears helmet over her head and smiled as she snapped the chin strap into place. “Try to keep up.”
I laughed as I pulled on my helmet. Two minutes later, we followed Kiss out of the parking lot.
In traffic, we rode staggered, giving each other room.
Traffic was heavy, but that’s what made lunchtime deliveries good money.
Businesses tended to tip better. I’d make it up tonight, even if I had to get a curfew pass from Treena so I could make some late-night deliveries.
Once we hit the highway, McKelle popped a mini wheelie then surged ahead, showing the acceleration power of her machine. Sunlight glinted off the pearl wrap on her bike. Her cat ears were adorable just like the girl with her blonde braid swishing in the wind.
Once we were clear of traffic, I opted for style points, popping a wheelie and riding it for a quarter of a mile. When I came down, I rolled the throttle and caught up to McKelle.
She covered her heart with her pink glove and bowed her head to acknowledge I was the king of the wheelie. I couldn’t see her expression through her tinted face shield, but I could hear her sultry laugh in my head.
Brad caught up but kept his ride respectable with his backpack smiling wide and holding on tight. A minute later, Kiss blew past us in her car, windows down and arm waving in the wind.
For the next ten minutes, we kept the ride easy, letting Kiss take the lead until we followed her off the highway to a frontage road leading to a gravel parking lot. A couple of picnic tables sat outside a weather-worn trailer.
“Are you ready to order?” A smiling woman leaned out of the large sliding window.
The sun had bleached the menu board, but it was still easy to make out the pictures of the food and the prices.
Brad stepped up and ordered for him and Georgia. McKelle and Kiss each paid for their own meals. I scanned the board, found the cheapest item, approached the window, and ordered.
“That’s it?” She paused in her writing on the paper. “You want beans and rice?”
I took a step closer and lowered my voice. “Is that extra?”
“Sí.”
I shook my head, handed over my ten, glad I’d have a couple of bucks left to put in the tank. Then I followed them over to one of the empty picnic tables and sat next to Kiss and across from McKelle.
“I’ll be right back,” Kiss said. “I forgot to get a drink.”
She hustled over to the window.
“You were tearing it up,” I said, ignoring the growls in my gut from the smells coming out of the trailer. “How fast have you gotten her up to?”
“Once on the track, I hit a hundred and seventy-five in the straights. My dad threatened to turn her into parts if I ever tried to push her that fast again. How about you?”
“I’ve never been on a track, and I’m a law-abiding citizen. I never speed.”
A slow smile curled her lips. “Aren’t you on probation? I think that means you know how to find a bit of trouble.”
I shrugged. “I’ve never been caught speeding.”
“What were you caught doing?”