Chapter Two #2
Hailey sighed. “Yes and no. Yes, because I don’t want to see him, I don’t want him around me. And no, because getting shot fucking sucked, and if someone had been here, we might not have gotten hit.”
Larissa reached out and put a hand on her friend’s. “I get it.”
“I know you do. Sometimes, when I’m here, I find myself getting tense at every noise. I know why they targeted my shop, and it has kind of taken the magic away from this place a bit.”
“It has kind of taken the magic away from ... life,” Larissa said.
“Yeah.”
They looked at each other and Larissa felt happier knowing someone else understood what it felt like.
It wasn’t easy to get back up, but she had done it.
She knew others were suffering differently.
She wasn’t the only one having to deal with this kind of crap.
Some people were in terrible circumstances.
She had to keep reminding herself she wasn’t back at that shop. She wasn’t dead. She was alive.
“How are things with you and Andrew?” Hailey asked.
Larissa hadn’t told her new friend what happened. There were only three people who knew, and that was how it was going to stay. Herself, Andrew, and Big Dick—no, George. She was not going to keep thinking of him as Big Dick.
“They’re fine.”
“But you don’t want anything long-term with him?”
“No, I don’t.”
“What changed?”
“I, uh, I just realized he is not going to make me happy. He will make someone else happy, but not me.”
“I get it,” Hailey said.
Larissa doubted it.
****
Getting women was fucking easy. All Big Dick had to do was snap his fingers and they came running.
Some even came crawling for a chance to ride his cock.
There had even been times he had kept them waiting until he was done with one woman, and sure enough, some women would fucking wait for a turn, which was a shock.
He didn’t get women. Well, he did, especially the ones who were looking for a good time, only interested in riding cock. Larissa didn’t fall into that category. He looked out of the diner to watch as Larissa worked in the bakery.
It had been a week. A week of buying baked goods. A week of trying to get her to go out with him, and yet every single time, she had turned him down. If she wasn’t working, she was helping her dad, or Hailey, or hanging out with the girls.
He had to wait to see if Andrew was sniffing around, but so far, he had adhered to his warning and stayed well clear.
So, he watched and waited for the perfect opportunity to figure out how to win Larissa over.
The clock was ticking. One year. He and Carlos had set the terms. No one knew, and they would figure out the finer details when the time arose.
“You’re doing an awful lot of staring across at the bakery. Are your senses tingling or something?” Brick asked, taking a seat opposite him.
Abriana had offered to cook at the clubhouse, and Big Dick’s asshole still remembered what happened the last time that woman cooked.
He and Brick had made their escape quickly.
The woman, bless her heart, could not fucking cook.
She was a nightmare in the kitchen, a deadly weapon, and still Ugly Beast was standing.
However, she did nearly take out the whole club on her spaghetti dish.
Spaghetti, one of the most basic foods, and yet it had caused him to throw his guts up.
It might have also given him nightmares.
Something so easy had become a nightmare.
Standing in line for the toilet for fear of shitting himself would stay with him forever.
Thankfully, he hadn’t done so, but some of the guys couldn’t share the sentiment.
Even though some of the guys had witnessed themselves literally shitting, no one brought it up.
This was because everyone adored Abriana, and they all knew her heart was in the right place.
The biggest problem was, she couldn’t cook, even when she took classes, or had hand-to-hand teaching.
Which is why he could make the excuse to come to the diner and take the seat where he had, directly across from the bakery, with Larissa in his sights.
“No, my senses aren’t tingling,” he said.
The Twisted Bastards MC had once again gone into hiding. There were absolutely no details on the Cadeon fucker from the group. Nothing at all. This was unusual for him. In fact, his sister had more contact with that fucked-up group than he had. He didn’t like this.
His ability to find anyone and anything was his superpower. Big Dick didn’t know how it happened, but it was like people were drawn to him like a magic beacon. Only there was no magic at the moment.
Smokey had been so tempted to call lockdown, bringing the whole club back into the fold. But they’d be nothing more than sitting ducks. They would even have to bring people like Larissa, and he imagined Jonah would also be on that list.
Running a hand down his face, he glanced back toward the bakery, to see Larissa cleaning. She wore another dress, and an apron covered most of the front. Her hair had also been pulled back into one of those food-grade hats people wore. It still didn’t detract from how pretty she was.
Larissa had a lot of curves. He had come to notice that when she worked for Smokey at the club in cleaning up messes.
No one knew this but he had lost count of the number of times he saw her on her knees, scrubbing a floor, that sexy ass swinging from side to side.
She hadn’t even been attempting to tease.
No, Larissa’s sexiness was unconsciously done.
Poor Andrew, the guy didn’t stand a chance.
Even Big Dick had been shocked by his cowardly moves.
He’d taken off, not even checked to see if Larissa was okay.
Big Dick had gotten the fucking coast clear, and then went to her, checking her over.
Blood had been pooling in three places, and she had reached up to grip his hand, asking, pleading, for him not to leave her.
And he didn’t. He got her to the hospital, and that was where he’d been when Harlow had arrived with Hailey and Hunter.
It was then he had learned everything that had gone down.
No one asked what he was doing at the damn bakery.
There was no way anyone would believe him if he said he felt like he had to fucking be there.
He wasn’t even a guy that was big on sweet things.
Sure, he liked a piece of cake from time to time, but that was about it.
He rarely craved sugar, and he’d been there when Andrew had attempted his flirting, which had been an embarrassment to hear.
“You’re drooling,” Brick said.
He turned his attention toward Brick and glared at him.
“Fuck off.” He picked up his burger and took a large bite, watching as Larissa smiled at one of the children that had walked into the bakery.
She didn’t go straight behind the counter, instead she opened her arms and the young kid threw herself at Larissa, who was able to stay upright.
She hugged the child and took her hand, getting to her feet.
She smiled at the man who had entered the shop.
“Who is that?” Big Dick asked, pointing across to the shop.
“How the fuck should I know? You’re the guy who lived here before me.” Brick rolled his eyes. “You got a thing for Larissa now?”
He wasn’t about to tell anyone about the bet he made with Carlos. It was bad enough that Hunter knew the details.
“I ain’t got no thing for that prudish bitch.”
“You could have fooled me. And besides, I reckon she’s not that prudish. She’s just saving herself for the right man.”
“Yeah, and who does that in this day and age? She’s a damn prude.”
“Nah, she’s not. When she was cleaning the clubhouse, she walked in on me riding one of the pussies, and she apologized and left.”
“Did Smokey ride your ass?” Big Dick asked.
“Hell, no. She didn’t even go to him. Once I finished, I went and found her, and yes, she was a little embarrassed but said it was my business.
All she said was that she was sorry for walking in.
” Brick shrugged. “She also looked at me.” He laughed.
“She had the cutest flush on her face.” He let out a little whistle.
“She’s a stunning woman, and I bet one day she is going to make a man damn lucky to have claimed her.
Besides, there’s something different about her. ”
Big Dick looked back toward the shop. “Different?”
“Yeah, since she got shot. You can’t tell me you don’t realize it? The smiles don’t quite reach her eyes. There’s a hesitation. Look, man, you’ve just got to be observant, but I figured that was what you were doing.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Then, you’re looking like a creep with the way you keep looking over at the bakery. You want to go and talk to her, go ahead and do that.” Brick shrugged. “No one is stopping you.”
He didn’t like that Brick had noticed the difference in Larissa. The Larissa he had known wouldn’t have taken a dare to kiss a stranger, yet she had done so. Also, she wouldn’t have drank tequila either.
Big Dick finished his burger and left his fries for Brick to finish.
“Don’t do anything you will regret,” Brick said to him.
All he wanted to do was slap him around the back of the head and tell him to shut the fuck up. Instead, he made his way out of the diner, as he’d already paid for his meal, and went straight across the street to the bakery. He wasn’t going to win this bet by keeping his distance.
Stepping into the shop, he was quickly surrounded by the smells of freshly baked cookies. His mother would usually bake some when she wanted to have a talk with him. Her talks usually consisted of complaining about his life choices. She had a reason to hate everything he did.
Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he instead focused on the woman who looked up and offered him a smile. He noticed it slipped slightly when she saw it was him.
“Hello,” she said. “Are you after a sweet treat?”
She had no idea what he was after.
“Yeah, but I don’t know what is good here.”
She giggled. “I can attest that pretty much everything is damn good here.” There was that pesky sweet smile he just couldn’t get enough of. “What would you like?”
“Who were the people that were in earlier? The little kid you cuddled?”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Just curious.”
“That is Dean Moseley and his daughter, Winnie. She’s an adorable little girl, and she has just gotten the all-clear from her cancer diagnosis.”
“Cancer? The girl looked like she was eight years old.”
Larissa nodded. “She is. Her diagnosis came when she was five. My dad and the church have been doing everything they could to help with funds, prayers, and just to be there.”
“Wow,” he said. “I had no idea.”
“She’s a good kid, strong, and resilient.” Larissa took a deep breath. “I spent a lot of time praying for her and with her. It has been a hard time for both of them.”
“I can imagine. Wait, are you talking about Dean Moseley whose wife ran off with some tourist who came through town?”
“Yep. The very same one. She divorced him not long after Winnie’s diagnosis.”
“Did she know about it?” he asked.
“Yes, she did. She was the one that told Dean she couldn’t handle it, that she signed up for a marriage, not to deal with a sick kid.”
“What the ever-loving fuck?” Big Dick asked.
“What can I get you?”
“You’re not mad about that?” He didn’t even know the woman that well, yet he was seriously fucking pissed off.
“I can’t be angry at someone I don’t really know. I never met his wife. I know Dean and Winnie because they come to my dad’s place and to the church.”
“And you’re at the church every Sunday?”
“Actually, I’m not,” Larissa said.
“You’re not?”
“Dad insisted on me taking my own time and finding myself. He doesn’t expect me at the church every Sunday. I go when I can, but he wanted me to have my own life away from his obligations.”
“Do you miss the church?”
“Sometimes. I’m happy when I’m there, and I know he’s doing it because of my mom.”
No one truly knew the story about Larissa’s mother. At first, he had thought her mother had passed away. There was no evidence of that. He had come to the late conclusion the mother had skipped town for some reason.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Big Dick asked.
“No, thank you. Not with you.”
“What’s wrong with talking about it with me?”
“George, you’re a stranger to me, and that is pretty personal.” She shrugged. “Besides, you do not want to hear about my life.”
“I saved you, didn’t I?” he asked. “I don’t mind learning more about you.”
She smiled. “You’re the one who told me you didn’t want me around, remember? You didn’t want my prissy attitude and my holier-than-thou presence. You think I think I’m better than you and the club.”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t think I’m better than anyone. I never have and I certainly don’t judge people as more than me, or even less than me. I don’t know why you would even say that.”
He might have been pissed and also a little drunk. The truth was, he’d been in a bad mood. He might have already learned about Hunter and Harlow, and he’d been angry. Larissa had been there, and the sight of her had pissed him off, as well as something else, but he wasn’t going to say that.
“Look, I was a dick, that is why I got the name.”
“You’re called that because you are one?”
“And I also have one?”
Her eyes went wide.
“I’m not going to lie to you, baby. I embody the entire title of the name Big Dick. Trust me.”
She chuckled. “You’re very strange, George.”
“And we’re still back to George.”
“It doesn’t feel right calling you anything else.”
“Tell me, Larissa, have you ever cursed? You ever say a bad thing out of those lips? Something dirty?”
He saw her cheeks flush with each word he said. Damn, he actually really liked that color on her, now he just couldn’t wait to look at her and see what she looked like after being fucked hard and rough.
“Theres no reason to say those words. Now, what can I get you, because I don’t feel this is appropriate shoptalk?”
“You afraid of Ava firing you?”
“Actually, yes. I don’t want her to think business is struggling because of me. I was the one manning the shop when it got shot at, and if people are put off by our conversation, that will mean lack of sales.”
“You’ve got a long way to go to worry about that shit.”
“I’d rather not worry about it.”
“You want to go out with me tonight?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“You keep saying no. There will come a time you’re going to want to say yes.”
And without getting a single baked treat, he stepped out of the shop. That felt way too good.