The New Year Outburst
CHAPTER ONE
– MEAVE –
I grab my phone and quickly type out a message.
MEAVE:
What to do…when a hotel room is infested with cockroaches?
Cockroaches might be an exaggeration, but what else should I use as an excuse to leave a room I just booked because I think I saw a man following me from a gas station a few miles back? Paranoid much? Maybe. My trust in men has taken a nosedive after what my ex just did.
I know sleep won’t come when my mind is running with many options of what could go wrong if I stay here. Throwing my phone on the passenger seat, I lean in to snag a new pineapple lollipop out of the stash I keep in my handbag. The chime filling the air lets me know Reef replied. There’s a smile on my face when I read his message.
REEF:
Get your ass back in your car and drive to another hotel. Better yet, come to the clubhouse, there’s just a few more hours left on your trip here anyway. Call if you need me to keep you awake, we’ll chat until you get your ass here.
I manage to relax a bit when I read his message. Reef is someone my mother met a few weeks ago when she fell head over heels for her next-door neighbor, Zale. Reef and I have been messaging ever since my mother called me from his phone to tell me hers was ruined. Reef wanted me to have a way to contact my mother until she replaced her phone.
His first message to me after my mother called me from his number was, “What to do when someone has a shitty phone and your president tells you to buy said person a new one? Go for one you’d like yourself, or just a new version of the destroyed one?”
I messaged him back that I’d go for one I’d buy for myself. From there we fired off a lot of “what to do” messages. Funny, serious, getting to know one another, or like now solid advice needed.
MEAVE:
My ass was in the car when I messaged you. Tell my Mom I’ll be there today instead of tomorrow.
My smile stays in place when I see the tiny dots dancing to indicate Reef is typing a message back.
REEF:
Will do. Drive safe, see you when you get here.
The past few months have been a downward spiral for me. Yet, I find myself smiling more and more ever since the messages started with Reef. At first I thought it was weird how someone else was messaging me about getting my mother a new phone, but I quickly found out my mother’s next-door neighbor is the president of a motorcycle club where Reef is the vice president.
His profile picture made my heart skip. It might be taken from a distance, with his face a little unclear, yet it does show him sitting on a bike all rugged and sexy. Dark blond hair, short beard, leather vest, jeans, sneakers, and his beast of a Harley Davidson.
The sneakers snagged my attention. Why not wear biker boots? I felt weird asking such a question, but I will throw it at him when I meet him face-to-face. A thrill of excitement runs through me. Though, it quickly vanishes when I remind myself of my current situation; pregnant, dumped, and feeling completely shitty about life.
I place a hand over the small baby bump and murmur, “Don’t worry, Pickle, we got this.”
Yes, Pickle. I love pickles and the last few weeks it’s become a craving, or more like an obsession. You can actually wake me up and offer me one. Weird, I know, but it’s the only side effect I have from this pregnancy so no complaints from me.
Pulling up the navigation app to give me the direction of the clubhouse, I place my phone in the car mount and start the engine. Just a few more hours and I’ll be in the town my grandmother lived in all her life. She passed away of a stroke almost four months ago. Granny Violet was a sweet woman, and I miss her a lot.
Finding out I was pregnant around the time Granny died was a vivid reminder of life and death. These past few months have been a mixture of grief, pain, torment, and chaos. Not a moment of joy, and it’s why I simply had to get away when things fell apart to start over. Heading for my mother who offered me a room at Granny’s old house felt like the ultimate solution.
I hope Pickle will turn out to be a girl. If so, I would definitely consider naming her Violet. As soon as I’m settled in town, I’ll swing by the clinic to make an appointment. Being four months pregnant means I’m in my second trimester, and will be able to see if Pickle is a boy or a girl with the next sonogram. Maybe I should wait and let the kid show me the gender when he or she’s born.
For now, though? I need to focus on driving the last few hours of my journey. Moving from one state to another is no joke. Even if I’ve spent the night in a few hotels along the way to get a good night’s sleep, I still feel drained. It’s the whole situation I’m in, and I hope things will settle down once I arrive.
The couple of solid things in my life right now are my mother who has offered me a roof over my head, my work, and the little baby growing inside my belly. It’s a relief my work is mostly remote and can be done at any time, from any location. I’m an online personal assistant and it gives me the freedom I crave along with a steady income.
These past few days I’ve worked from my laptop during the nights I spent at a hotel. It’s also nice to schedule things on social media ahead of time for an author I work for. Which reminds me, she has this motorcycle series about bikers working for the government. My mind jumps to Reef, the vice president of a motorcycle club, whose club runs a security business. Similar, right?
Ugh. What am I doing, romanticizing the man who I message with? The vivid reminder of my ex cheating and dumping me like I was toxic waste due to being pregnant should give me the need to place warning labels on all men I come in contact with.
I shudder at the reminder of the weirdo guy following me from a gas station to the hotel. Checking my rearview mirror, I notice headlights and direct my gaze forward. It’s nighttime on a busy highway and there should be cars behind me. No way is anyone following me; I’m just paranoid.
Shit. I shouldn’t have started reading a new book about a masked man stalking a woman who end up falling in love. A snort rips from me. Yeah, bad choice in reading material for sure. I skim through my audiobooks, find one I’ve read before, a small town biker series, and hit play. The voice of a rugged man fills the car and I try to relax.
A few hours later I make a stop at a gas station to buy some snacks. Sadly, they don’t have any pickles or anything pickle flavored. When I get back behind the wheel, I start the next audiobook in the series and settle in for the last two hours of my trip.
I’m yawning repeatedly when I finally come to a stop in front of the clubhouse. Every sliver of exhaustion disappears when I see a man rise from a motorcycle he was sitting on. It’s him. Reef. He does look like his profile picture and in my opinion he totally resembles the actor who plays the hot biker in the popular motorcycle series.
Though, it’s also a reminder that character in the TV series cheated on his old lady, even if she was his first love and all. Warning labels should definitely be placed on all of them and they should come with a manual listing instructions of how they function. Though, that doesn’t stop a defect. Ugh. Men suck.
“You made it,” Reef states when he opens the car door.
“Barely,” I grumble and drag my ass out.
Reef takes the keys from my hand, closes the door, and locks the car.
He gives a short whistle to catch a young man’s attention and throws the keys in his direction along with the words, “Prospect, hang on to these until I tell you what to do with them.”
Turning to me, Reef says, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Wait,” I squeak. “I need to get my purse.”
The man is way too handsome to throw me a grin, one that sets any woman’s panties on fire. “You’ve been on the road for days, darlin’. Time to let someone else take the wheel so you can enjoy the scenery a bit.”
I dig my heels in when he places his hand on the small of my back. The warmth seeps through my shirt and warms my skin. Our gaze collide and I have to swallow at the dryness of my throat when a surge of lust hits me hard. Shit. I don’t even think I can blame the sexual craving breaking free on listening to all the biker smut on the way here.
Without thinking I blurt the first thing that comes to mind, “Slow your roll, buddy, ’cause right now you’re giving off kidnapper vibes.”
Reef throws his head back and barks out a laugh.
He keeps guiding me to an SUV when he states, “I would have kidnapped you from one of your hotel rooms long before today if that were true.”
I wince and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“What?” he rumbles and comes to an abrupt stop. “What the fuck was that reaction for? ”
My shoulders sag and I feel drained again. “It’s nothing. My brain is fried with everything that happened, along with moving from one state to the other. Then there was this guy at a gas station who started chatting with me, and he showed up at the same hotel I was gonna stay at. It freaked me out while it probably wasn’t anything other but a coincidence.”
Hearing my own words I know I’ve overreacted.
A huff of frustration leaves my body. “Like I said, my brain is fried, and the worst thing? I couldn’t buy a pickle, or anything pickle flavored for the past few hours.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Come on. I know just what you need.”
I let him guide me into the SUV and mutter again without thinking. “I also stink from not having a shower, driving for hours, and my hair is a mess, I’m hungry, and hate all men.”
Okay, the “hate all men” statement might be a slight exaggeration, but my state-of-mind is tainted right now. Oh, and the fact my ex cheated, and my father cheating on my mother which caused for my mother to move here four months ago also doesn’t help.
“You don’t hate all men, Maeve,” Reef states. “I happen to have a cock, and am still your friend which proves you don’t hate all men.”
My gaze drops down to his crotch and the first thing that comes to mind is, “Impressive bulge. ”
“Thanks.” His chuckle heats my cheeks.
In an effort to save some of my dignity I mutter, “You’re welcome. Can we swing by the cupcake place you mentioned?”
“It’s where I was going to take you.” His smile is beaming. “I do have to disappoint you, though. The green ones didn’t turn out to be pickle flavored.”
“Dammit,” I grumble. “I ran out of pickles hours ago.”
Reef leans forward and opens the glove compartment.
“Oh, you’re a lifesaver,” I croon and snatch one of the pouches this man has stashed in there, noticing it’s a huge hot and spicy pickle.
“See? You don’t hate all men,” he states and shoots me a wink before directing his gaze back on the road. “I’ve also put some pickle flavored ice cream in the freezer at the clubhouse and at your mom’s place. I guess that’s your place as well now, right?”
I bob my head and chew furiously to get some words out and not speak with a mouthful. “Yes, until I manage to sort things out and get my own place.”
“You’re here now. Focus on you and growing that little bundle inside your belly, everything else will fall into place, you’ll see,” he says with a load of determination. “Besides, my prez lives next door to your mother and the way those two have been living for the past few weeks I’d say you’ll have the place all to yourself, so no worries.”
“The way those two have been living?” I echo. “Okay, buddy. Spill. I want to hear every detail because I get the feeling my mother has downplayed everything, and if it wasn’t for you messaging me a picture of those two? I bet she would have kept it a secret from me. Not that I blame her. She probably thinks it’s too soon after my dad pulled that asshole move. I guess karma bit him in the ass in the end. If only something like that happened to my ex.”
I close my eyes and rub my temples. “I shouldn’t be vindictive. I should be glad I got rid of him…or rather…glad he ran off.”
My eyes fly open when I feel a large hand cover my knee and give it a gentle squeeze. “Like I said, focus on the here and now along with the little pickle.”
I shoot him a beaming smile for using the nickname I use as well when I refer to the baby. He knows because of all our texting, it’s also the reason why, as a good friend, the man has instantly supplied me with a huge pickle.
I hold up the now empty package. “Thanks. Not just for this, but also for being there, even if you don’t know me.”
Reef snorts. “Don’t know you? Woman, we’ve been throwing words at one another without shame and probably a load of stuff some married folks won’t even talk about face-to-face. So, I’d say we’ve gotten to know one another quite well over the past few weeks. ”
I keep my lips sealed and let them turn into a huge grin. Yeah, I guess he’s right. Not all men suck, and he’s definitely my friend. One who apparently has a huge cock. Shit. Not something I need to think about when I have to focus on myself…or maybe I should.