6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Maisie
I spent an unnatural amount of time glaring at myself in the mirror when I got home and started getting ready to head round to Ace's house. I'd finished my shopping, still buying all that junk food goodness despite my change in plans. Hey, a girl needs her comfort food.
I'd put my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head, a few tendrils of red curly hair framing my face. I'd gone for light makeup, a white vest top and denim jean shorts. I'd added a light navy cardigan on top. Mack didn't say it was a party, just a get together. It didn't sound like the kind of evening where I'd be expected to dress up.
I'd picked up a six pack of beer at the supermarket earlier, said my goodbyes to Milo and left my tiny flat to walk to Ace's house. It was only a twenty minute walk from mine so I thought I'd take my time and enjoy the early October evening.
The sunshine was still out and it was a reasonably warm evening as I wandered the streets, watching families playing in the park and people walking their dogs along the edge of the lake. Meadowside really was a beautiful little town to live in, my flat was right on the outskirts of town and I was heading out of town to Bedgebury Place. It had a bad reputation, it could be a pretty scary place if you didn't know what areas to avoid.
I was about fifteen minutes into my walk when I heard a loud rumble coming from behind me. I could feel the vibrations in the ground, working it's way up my legs and into my body. It grew deafeningly loud as a cruiser came in to view. I'd always loved the look of motorcycles, never been on one though. Something to add to the bucket list for sure.
On top of this cruiser was a man, a tall man. It looked like he'd folded himself up to fit on there. He was wearing a tight leather jacket and dark jeans, paired with biker boots. On his head was a black crash helmet, which matched the leather gloves on his hands. He wasn't going fast, just cruising along, in no hurry at all.
His shoulders were huge, his jacket stretched tightly across them. His bulging biceps barely concealed by the fabric. He looked like the hulk, waiting to burst out of his clothes. It took me a minute before I realised that I recognised those shoulders, that thick build. It was Mack. I had no idea he rode a motorcycle, his sexy points just went through the roof.
He looked insanely hot on that cruiser.
He rode past me slowly, somehow I could feel his eyes on me. Appraising me from my feet all the way to the top of my head, leaving a trail of heat in it's wake. He slowed right down in front of me as he shouted over the rumble of his engine,
"Maisie?" His eyes were bright, sparkling with lust, I could tell he liked what he saw.
"I almost didn't recognise you with your hair up, you look beautiful."
"Thank you," I shouted back. "You look pretty hot yourself on that bike you know muscles."
The corner of his lip quivered, pulling into a cute smirk.
"You coming to Ace's?" he asked. I gave him a nod, this man made me shy. I'd never ever been known as being shy. Mouthy, confident, in your face yes. But never shy .
"Want a ride?" He pulled to a stop next to me, stretching his huge legs out to stabilise himself on the road. I looked him up and down, he seemed so sure of himself, so comfortable in his own skin. It was like a beacon that drew people to him. I didn't know him well enough to know if that was true of everybody that he met, but it was certainly true for me.
"Here," he said. He took his helmet off his head and handed it to me. "We won't go fast, Ace's house isn't far from here, we can just crawl up the road."
Putting my beers on the floor, I whipped out my messy bun before taking the helmet in both hands. It was huge and heavy, Mack helped me to place it on top of my head and push it down. The padding inside was warm from where Mack had been wearing it and it smelt distinctly like him. Like sandalwood and vanilla.
"Okay?" he asked after he'd squished my head inside his helmet. Didn't help that my huge hair probably rivalled the size of a second head!
"I'm good," I told him with a smile. I was really going to do this. This man seemed to make me not question anything, he had an innate ability to make me feel safe without really doing anything.
"What am I going to do with these?" I bent down to pick up the beers. I couldn't even see them around the helmet but I knew they were here somewhere. My arms bobbed up and down as I tried to find them, I didn't dare look down for them. The weight of this helmet would have me on the floor in an instant.
Mack laughed, a great big hearty laugh. I'd never heard a laugh like it, especially coming from such a quiet and gentle man. It was heart warming, I couldn't hold back the grin that spread across my face as he kicked out the kick stand of his bike and climbed off. He stood to his full height in front of me, he was seriously tall, I wasn't the smallest of women but I had to crane my neck all the way back to look into those gorgeous blues.
"Mack, how tall are you?" He almost flinched, it was a tiny reaction which I would have totally missed if I hadn't been watching him so intently.
"Oh, I-I …." He trailed off, I'd made him feel uncomfortable and I could almost see him retreating back into his shell. I stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest, which quite frankly was ridiculous. I looked like I had a child's hand in contrast to the huge expanse of chest before me.
"It's okay muscles, I like it. I'm 5'6, how about you?" My hand was still on his chest, I could feel his heart pounding beneath my palm. I gave him what I hoped was a soothing smile as he looked between my eyes, what he was searching for I wasn't entirely sure. Before he blew out a sigh of relief and told me,
"I'm 6'5 … I know that's like unnaturally tall and ….." I stopped him with a second hand on his chest.
"You're perfect," I whispered up to him. He visibly relaxed under my hold.
"Yeah?" He looked so vulnerable, so small in this moment as he awaited my reassurance.
"Yeah." We stared into each others eyes for long moments, searching for something within each other before I stepped back and got ready to hop onto the bike.
Mack removed a backpack from his shoulders, which I hadn't noticed before. He loaded my beers inside and gestured to take my handbag which was looped across my body. Bag and beer safely packed away, Mack returned the bag to his body. This time back to front, he wore the beers in front of him before stretching one long leg over the bike and settling into the seat.
"Just grab my shoulders and hop on behind me," he said. Scooting as far forward as possible to make space for me.
I held onto his shoulders, braced myself and swung a leg over the seat, being extra careful to avoid the piping hot exhaust pipe. I immediately felt the temperature rise about ten degrees. My legs wrapped around Mack's hips behind him, I looped my arms around his waist and grabbed handfuls of his jacket. He was so huge that my hands couldn't reach all the way around.
He sat motionless as I got comfortable, it didn't feel like he was even breathing. He was like a giant teddy bear that I just wanted to hug. So I did, I rested my head onto his back as well as I could with this massive helmet in the way. He released a breath before grabbing both of my hands with his own, which were completely swallowed up in his grip.
"Ready?" he asked.
"I'm ready …" It felt like I was telling him much more than a simple 'I'm ready to go.' It felt like more, I was ready for more and I had a deep seated need inside me to find out if this was the man who was going to give it to me.
Mack
When Maisie asked how tall I was I literally braced for impact, waited for the taunts or the little jokes to start. Waited for an unfunny nickname like Tiny or Stretch. I'd heard them all over the years. But she didn't say anything, she just told me she liked it.
She was so tiny compared to me, but she liked it. She liked me? It was a question inside of my head which I couldn't help but ask myself.
I currently had her warm, soft body curled around mine as we slowly made our way to Ace's. It was making my dick hard in my jeans. There really wasn't much point in asking if she wanted a ride, Ace's house was literally around the corner. But I couldn't help but want her close, there was something about her that was calling to me. It wasn't just her stunning good looks and delectable tight body, there was something in her eyes that shone back at me. Vulnerability I think it was. I got the feeling that she didn't show that to many people.
Literally two minutes later we were rolling into Ace's driveway. The giant goofball was already standing in his driveway with a giant grin spread across his face.
"Well hello there love birds! I heard you coming," his shout echoed around the small cul-de-sac. Jesus, this man. He was literally like an excitable little puppy, goofy and in your face all the time. But my God was he a good friend, he'd taken me under his wing since I'd started college and I was already beginning to feel stronger, more confident. Like the Mack I was supposed to be.
We came to a stop and Maisie climbed off the seat behind me, I immediately missed her warmth and the feeling of her body pressed against mine.
"You're just in time folks, Hughie's about to crack open the cherry gin." Ace threw a wink Maisie's way which made her giggle. It was the most beautiful melodic sound that made it's way into my chest and imbedded itself into my soul.
We made our way into the house, Maisie keeping close to my side. I wanted to reach out and wrap my fingers around hers but managed to convince myself that it was too much too soon.
A couple of hours later, we were slightly tipsy, the noise level had increased significantly. We had spent the last two hours getting to know each other, chatting about anything and everything. She told me how she was training to become a vet and lived alone a couple of miles down the road. I told her that I was training to become a firefighter and still lived at home with my parents. I thought she would have some comment about that fact but she just smiled sweetly and nodded for me to carry on.
Truth be told, Ace and Hugh had asked me a few days ago if I wanted to move in. They had a spare room, it was tiny and was obviously supposed to be used as some kind of office. But it was big enough for a bed and a desk, which is all I really needed. I was seriously considering it. I was ready, I felt stronger than ever and even though I hadn't known the guys long I already felt like I'd known them forever. They were good guys.
There were currently only a few of us here. Hugh and his girlfriend Grace, I'd met her a few times now. She was softly spoken and sweet, she looked at Hugh as if he had hung the moon. Ace and Jax, Jax was a cool dude. He was a few years younger than us and had a kind of tortured look in his eyes. He generally stuck quite close to his brother, but he was slowly coming out of his shell. I understood now why Ace thought we'd get along, I recognised that tortured look. I saw it staring back at me everyday when I looked in the mirror .
There were also a few of the other guys from our college course here, a couple had brought their girlfriends with them too.
Maisie and I were sat together, squished tightly on the sofa with Jax on the other side of her. The gin had been flowing, I felt warm and relaxed. The laughs were coming easily, which isn't something I could say happened often.
I could see out of the corner of my eye that Maisie kept looking up at me, it should have made me feel uncomfortable but it didn't. I didn't feel like she was scrutinising me, her gaze felt like a warm caress. I wanted to touch her, to pull her into my lap and kiss those soft pouty lips.
Instead I settled for stretching out my pinkie finger and rubbing it against hers, just the feeling of her soft skin against mine sent a flurry of heat through my body and caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach. Never mind making my cock rock solid and press painfully against my zipper.
She reached a finger out towards mine, both of our gazes locked on our touching fingers. I wrapped a finger around hers, then a second. She made the final move and wrapped her entire hand around mine, pulling our hands together onto her lap. She was warm and soft, her gaze lifted to mine at the same time mine lowered to hers. She gave me the smallest hint of a smile before lowering her gaze again to our tangled hands, the hint of a blush creeping up her cheeks.
We were completely in our own little Mack and Maisie world that neither of us noticed that the room had fallen silent and all eyes were on us. I looked up into the faces of my new friends, falling instantly to Ace who had the biggest grin on his face. He chuckled before repeating what he had apparently asked three times already,
"Want to play truth or dare?"
I looked to Maisie, a smirk gracing her face. There was that mischievous glint I'd seen that night in the bar.
"Sure why not," she told him.
"Cool cool cool, I'll go first. Hmm…" Ace was rubbing at his chin like the conspiring idiot he was. I could tell what was coming before he even voiced his request .
"I dare Mack to kiss Maisie," Maisie seemed to have been expecting it as well as she turned to look up at me with her huge blue eyes. A challenge shining in her gaze.
"I dare Mack to kiss Maisie too …" She whispered, just quietly enough that only I could hear her.
I couldn't help looking at her in surprise which made that giggle bubble up from her chest again, my mouth was open and I seemed to be gaping like a giant idiot. Why did I feel like a teenage boy about to get kissed for the first time? Oh yes that's right, romantically that's exactly where I was.
Maisie seemed to recognise my inner turmoil, grabbed my hand harder in hers as she pulled herself up onto her feet and pulled me with her.
"Come with me," she muttered. Pulling me gently by the hand so that I'd follow her like a little puppy dog.
"Ah hell, guys! We wanted to watch!" Ace shouted out behind us as Maisie pulled me up the stairs and into the first room she came across. It happened to be the room I'd been offered, it was completely empty. Looked like the guys had already cleared it out in the hopes I'd take them up on their generous offer.
Maisie quietly clicked the door shut behind her, my heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and tumble to the floor.
My hands were sweaty, my breathing coming in fast and shallow.
What the hell was wrong with me?