Chapter Thirteen.
Time drags unbearably slow until the party.
I catch glimpses of Ben here and there, but his parents keep us so busy that by the time the first car arrives, Ben is just getting in the shower to change.
I end up sitting in the west barn, waiting for him by the food table and zoning out to the sound of sprinkling rain gently falling on the roof.
This barn has music, food and decorations so I figure most people will hang out here instead of under the canopy.
I’m at the food table putting vegetables and dip on my plate when I get startled by a slap on the ass.
“Hey, you.” Ben walks around and gives me a quick peck on the cheek.
His hair’s gelled back, and his two silver rings are back on. Damn, he looks great in that tight black shirt, covered by a leather jacket and blue jeans. I want to rip it all off him while we hide in the east barn together and explore this new intimacy we’ve uncovered.
“You almost made me drop my plate!” I playfully shoulder bump him. I pause, debating whether to tell him how good he looks, but I can only be so brave. “You look…cleaned up.”
“Is that your way of telling me I look good? If so, I'm flattered. You as always, are looking beautiful.”
I beam brightly, soaking in every single handsome feature of his… the sultry brown eyes with small slices of golden yellow in them, his full lips which were pressed on mine just hours ago… I bite my bottom lip and look down at my plate, too shy to keep eye contact.
He inhales sharply and his mouth brushes my ear as he whispers, “Careful biting that lower lip or I’m not going to be able to do anything else but steal you away and kiss you the rest of the night.”
“I’d be okay with that,” I bravely whisper back. I set my plate down at the table to sit down and eat but he grabs my hand before I can.
“Bring that with you. Let’s go socialize.”
“Do I have to? It’s your party.” I’m serious. I don’t know most of his friends and I’ve only met a few relatives in his small family. I’d rather sit by myself and melt into the background until we can be alone again.
“No, you don’t have to. But I’d like you too.” He smiles down at me, his eyes softening.
“Alright, fine, but only because you asked me nicely.”
I squeeze his hand, feeling the rough callouses from earlier softened by the lotion he must’ve put on after his shower.
Holding my plate in one hand, I let him lead me out the door with the other while he holds an umbrella over us.
We go under the canopy where I have to set my plate down because he introduces me to so many people.
He doesn’t release his hand from mine the entire night and if he does let go for a minute, he makes sure to keep at least one hand on my low back.
I feel so safe and secure and flattered that he doesn’t care if people see us acting like this. I’m so happy, I don’t want the night to end.
The rain doesn’t let up all evening, turning the farm into a muddy mess.
As the light fades, we all transfer back to the west barn and settle in with a mix of country music and alternative rock blasting in the background.
Sounds of kids running around, people playing games and idle conversations fill the room.
The atmosphere’s euphoric.
Ben and I sit down with an uncle of his when a group of four guys walk in. They all dress similarly to Ben’s style and seem like they’re around our age.
“Heyyyyyyyy. Happy graduation my man!” The first guy sporting a brown leather jacket, blue jeans and a white T-shirt and his short brown hair speckled with raindrops greets Ben first.
“Paul! What’s up, man?” Ben stands up excitedly and gives him a handshake with a one arm hug as a greeting. He goes through the rest of the guys just as enthusiastically while I get up and wait nervously for an introduction. I’ve never seen them around school before.
Ben hugs the last guy and turns back to me, grabbing my low back and bringing me forward.
“This is Charlotte, my childhood best friend. Charlotte, this is Paul, Jake, Troy and Isaac,” he points as he calls out each of their names, “these guys are part of my riding posse.”
All of them crack up, punching him in the shoulder and trying to ruffle his hair.
“Hey, easy, easy, it took me hours to get my hair to look this good!”
“Who said your hair looked good?” Jake jokes before turning his attention to me. “We’re not part of his posse, per say, but we are just a bunch of dudes who like riding together. Nice to meet ya, finally.” He reaches out his hand to shake mine. His hands are as rough as Ben’s.
“Very cool. It’s nice to meet you all,” I say brightly, rocking on my feet to expel some of the nervous energy. “And finally?” My focus flies to Ben. “So, you’ve talked about me to them, huh?”
He smiles sheepishly. “Only to tell them what a pain in my ass you’ve been all these years.”
I stick my tongue out and turn back to the group. “How did you all start riding together? Ben’s never mentioned any of you before.”
How come he has this close group of guy friends and never mentioned it to me before? Why’s he keeping big parts of his life from me? ’Course maybe they all linked up when him and Tree got together after he cut me out of his life.
My core tenses and teeth clench in jealousy. More parts of him I don’t know…another piece of him that Tree might’ve known that I didn’t.
“We met last year at a gas station actually,” says the short guy with blonde hair named Troy.
“A gas station? That’s random.”
“Gas stations are actually a common place to meet other bikers,” Ben says to me.
“Really? Why?”
“It’s a common place where bikers go to film content, either for Xypher or for their other social media pages. Plus, we all gotta get gas and they’re great places to take a rest if you’ve been riding for a while.”
“I didn’t realize that was even a thing.”
Biker boy pops in my head, but instead of getting turned on, guilt and shame rises in me. It’s like a betrayal to Ben to think of him now. Maybe I should tell him tonight after the party about my mysterious stalker who I used to be obsessed with. Although, my curiosity gets the better of me…
“Do you guys know who the viral biker boy is on Xypher?”
Ben stiffens next to me, his palm flattening and stick still against my back. The rest of the guys exchange glances at each other before they burst out laughing hysterically.
“No, we don’t know him. We call him the thirst trap king though. It’s really weird and no one does that shit on social media but him. We do keep a lookout for him when we’re out riding, but no one’s ever seen him in action. Dude’s like a ghost. We can’t figure out who he is,” Isaac says, shrugging.
Ben exhales a chuckle out and loosens up. What an interesting reaction. Does he know who the mysterious biker is? Will that harm our new, fragile bond we’ve just found?
“Ah. I see.”
“Why so interested? Are you one of his fans?”
My skin prickles with heat. Damnit, that’s going to be a dead giveaway.
“No, I was just curious. A bunch of the girls on my track team are obsessed with him, so I was curious if he was well known in the bike community too.”
Isaac seems unconvinced but doesn’t ask further questions. Paul raises his eyebrow but stays silent as well.
“Alright, since we can’t go riding tonight, let’s play some games, shall we?”
I let out a breath, thankful for Ben changing the conversation.
“Ayyeeee. I’m down,” says Paul.
We walk over to the nearest table and start playing a variety of card games and board games that we picked up off the side table.