HARLEY
CHAPTER SIX
Inhaling her scent, and holding her tighter, I freeze, realizing I’d migrated towards her when I fell asleep. She isn’t pulling away, but that doesn’t make it okay.
I press a soft kiss into her hair before leaning up, pulling her fluffy furball with me.
“I’m sorry, I should have stayed on my end of the couch.” I laugh softly, one hand on the cat, the other pushing my fingers through my hair.
“You’re fine, really,” Ember says lightly, pushing up on her elbow. We sit there, silent, for just a few minutes.
Ember finally stands and stretches, arms reaching for the ceiling, letting out a yelp of satisfaction. I follow suit and get my stretches out as well.
Ember chuckles, eyes wandering over the coffee table. “Did I grab my phone from the kitchen?”
Looking around, I don’t see it. I spin around and head through the doorway of the kitchen.
It’s sitting on the counter, near the oven.
It lights up just as I make my way to the counter.
I grab it, and try not to be nosy, but she doesn’t have the privacy settings on her iphone, so I can see there are five missed messages from UNKNOWN.
The latest one makes the others readily readable.
UNKOWN
Photo-(Ember and I kissing on her doorstep last night.)
Such a little slut. Does he know the little slut gave away her baby?
Sleep tight, babygirl.
Photo-(Me on her doorstep holding the bag of groceries and cup of coffee on the doorstep)
This fuck is back again? Might need to get rid of him.
Don’t forget. I’ll always be in your life.
My teeth clench together, jaw flexing. Ember walks in, surveying my body language.
“What is it? Is everything okay?” She reaches for her phone instantly, worry spreading across her face. She reads through the messages, not giving any reaction to the messages like she had last night. What the fuck? Why is she not freaking out? Maybe the alcohol?
“I thought something was wrong with Aria or Atlas,” she says, walking past me into the kitchen. Reaching for the cabinet with the cups, she pulls it down and lets her head drop, facing the countertop. She’s just standing there, before I walk closer to her, trying to gauge her.
“I don’t necessarily think he’d hurt me physically, but he gets off on the mental torture,” she says, meeting my eyes. I don’t believe that for a second, not after seeing the people search record.
“Ember, assault, battery, rape, public intoxication, driving under the influence. None of that sounds like a man in control,” I plead to her.
Her eyes grow wide, and I continue. “And based on the amount of messages you’ve gotten just in the eighteen hours since I walked back into your life, it is enough to let me know he’s getting restless. ”
Ember doesn’t say anything. She almost looks like she’s in shock. I lead her back into the living room and pull her down onto the couch. “Ember?” I don’t know what I said. Unless she didn’t know about the charges. Surely she knew. She puts her head in between her hands, starting to breathe heavily.
“Assault? Battery? RAPE?” she whisper shouts, eyes wide, filling with tears. “I’ve just kept going. Ignoring all the messages and pestering, and he’s been doing shit like this? I’m so fucking stupid.”
I grab her hand, not wanting to overstimulate her, but wanting to help keep her grounded.
“You’re not stupid. You just didn’t want to think he could be this bad.
” I stroke her hand. She leans on my shoulder.
“He’s stalking you, Ember,” I say softly.
I don’t know if she realizes that yet. “Last night, I paid for a people search,” I tell her, leaning my head down.
I pull up the download on my phone and hand it to her.
She doesn’t take it immediately. She looks at it like she doesn’t want to. “Ignorance is bliss.” She smiles hard, looking defeated, before reluctantly taking my phone from my hand.
She takes her time reading over the first few pages, no reaction from her.
Just absorbing the facts. I feel nervous, not knowing what I should be doing.
Should I leave her alone? Does she want me here?
I’m lost in thought when she sucks in a breath, hand covering her mouth.
I see she’s stopped on one of the pages with the rape charge.
“I was seven months pregnant.” Her voice cracks, and she brings the phone down in her lap, letting out a sob.
It rips through me. She didn’t know about the rape charges.
Fuck. My heart breaks for her. I reach my arm around her back with my right hand, using my left to bring her head into my chest, cradling it as she lets out sobs.
I let her mourn the safety she thought she had.
“I knew he’d been with other girls,” she says, her hand covering her mouth as tears stream down her face. “That’s what my final straw was.”
“I’m so sorry, Ember.” It’s the only thing I can think to say in this moment.
“The night I went into labor, Katelyn called to tell me that her brother had confided in her that Dean, Andrew, and his wife had a threesome, and they never told me. We were all friends, or at least I thought we were, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.” She sits upright. “I called and told him I was fucking done. He started texting threats that night, and I had the proof to show the staff at the hospital. That’s how I was able to keep him from being at the hospital.”
“I know he’s stalking me, but he hasn’t done anything to physically warrant the police to protect me.
” Ember sniffs. “And even if I did put in for a restraining order, he clearly doesn’t mind breaking the law.
” She has a point, and as much as she’s right, I still don't like it. I don’t like her being unprotected.
I wipe the tears from her face and plant a small kiss on her forehead.
“I was thinking of getting a security system installed.” She gets up off the couch so fast I barely process her next words.
“That way I can at least see if he’s creeping around the house.
That could be some sort of proof that I could take to the police, right?
” She takes off down the hall without waiting for my answer.
I don’t know how much proof she would need if she wanted to take it to the police.
In that moment I remember he’d sent two photos from in front of her house, so it wasn't a bad idea and would give everyone peace of mind.
Standing with my phone in my hand, I search for the best security system we can install today.
There are a few we can grab from BestBuy.
I want to order them so that all we have to do is pick them up, but I don’t want to make the decision without her.
Considering I really am nobody to her at this point, I'm not sure how much involvement she wants on my end.
Ember comes down the hall, wearing an ash grey hoodie that reads Forks, WA, a black quilted vest, a pair of black leggings, and her Converse. Throwing her strawberry blonde hair into a ponytail, I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s not wearing a bit of makeup, but she’s stunning.
Tearing my eyes away, I grab my leather jacket off the back of the couch. “You’ll need to take the ponytail down, but you can put it back up when we get there,” I tell her. “And do you have a little heavier coat to go over that?” I eye her hoodie that looks like it’s on its last leg of life.
“Why can’t I wear my hair up?” Ember glances at me, walking over to the closet I hadn’t seen near the front door. She combs through, grabbing a long coat. “And why do I need a thicker coat?” I smile at her and usher her out the door.
In the driveway, behind her car, sits my matte black Honda Cbr 600RR. Sitting on the seat, my matte black helmet waits. Ember stands there, jaw dropped, and I can’t help but let out a low laugh.
“No, we can take my car, it's fine,” Ember says, grabbing her keys off the key ring hanging next to the door.
“Just take a ride with me. BestBuy is thirteen minutes away, we’ll barely get past 35MPH,” I tell her, my eyes giving puppy dog mode.
She huffs and shoves her keys into her pocket. “I’ve never ridden before,” she says, walking out of the house and pulling the door closed.
“Just don’t crash, I’ll cry,” she says, locking up and spinning around.
“Do you trust me?” I ask her suddenly, and she looks up at me, eyes meeting mine.
“Yeah, Harley, I trust you,” she says, hopefully accepting that I'd never put her in harm's way intentionally. My smile can’t be restrained. I walk down the steps, pulling the helmet off and turning as she approaches.
“I only have one helmet on me,” I say. “I really didn’t plan to go anywhere today.” Lifting the helmet over her head and pulling it on her snuggly, I fasten the clips, tightening it so that it fits as best it can. Her head is obviously smaller than mine, but it will do for our quick ride.
Looking down at her, my heart feels loud. I know we kissed, and snuggled on the couch, but we haven’t established anything between us. I can be her friend if that’s all she needs. I don’t want to just be your friend, Ember.
I turn back to the bike and hike my leg over, getting comfortable and turning it on. Ember’s eyes go wide, and she looks down. I swear I see a little red in her cheeks. She bites the inside of one, almost like she’s trying to hide a smile. I know the bike has that effect on women.
“Alright, see that silver peg back there?” I adjust, pointing back to the silver pegs.
“Step up onto that with your right foot, and swing that leg over.” She goes to step up, grabbing my hand I’m holding out for support, and swings her left leg over, settling behind me.
“You’re going to have to hold on, Ember.
” I can’t stop the smile that fills my voice, and I start to feel the faint tickle of flutters in my belly.
She timidly grabs the sides of my shoulders, and I throw my head back and let out a loud laugh.
“You’re going to have to do better than that.
” I start rolling the bike onto the street.
Once we’re on the road, I pull off and she screams, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulders.
“Baby, you’re going to have to go under my arms, so that I can steer the bike.
” She moves hesitantly, shifting her arms to sit under my own, falling low onto my torso.
Shit. That feels good. I feel her lean into me and relax, and I feel my body coming alive.
We were so young the last time our bodies had any connection. We never made it past second base, but my body certainly felt like it had. I will myself to ignore the pulse I can now feel in my cock. Just be her friend, I try to remind myself.
Pulling into BestBuy, I will myself to push the thoughts out of my head that are just downright dirty. My senses are overloaded with Ember. Her smell that is surrounding me. Her soft body pressed into my back. Her little hums of excitement.
We pull into a spot, and I cut the bike. I twist to offer a hand and help her off before I get off. Her legs look a little wobbly, but she's grinning.
Unclasping the clip, she takes the helmet off and sets it on the bike. “That was fucking amazing, Harley!” She’s excited, and my nerves fall away. She grabs my hand and pulls me toward the store.