Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Yikes!” I said and started to yank it back down.
He didn’t let me though; instead, he grabbed the back of my thigh and started to guide my leg over the bike’s seat. “Put your foot on the pegs, and scoot real close.”
I did as instructed. Well, for the most part. I didn’t plaster my crotch up against his back. Instead, I left a few inches between us, and then wrapped my hands loosely around his waist.
My mind instantly changed when he started up the bike with nothing less than a roar. My teeth even vibrated with the rumble coming from the motor. It didn’t take me more than a few feet away from the curb before I scooted so close to him; you couldn’t tell where I started and he ended.
My arms tightened around his waist, and I could have sworn I could hear him chuckle.
The ride to the apartment was quick.
I registered for my classes while Jack flipped through channels on his TV. It took less than ten minutes, and I found myself at a loss.
Should I get up and go sit by him? Should I tell him I’m ready to go? What is the protocol here?
“You’re thinking too hard.” Jack’s deep voice broke me out of my silent questioning.
My head whipped around until I was staring at the smirk that was tilting up the corner of his beautiful, luscious, lickable mouth. “Huh?”
“You’re thinking too hard. Want to go for a ride?” He asked.
I did.
“Well, I still have the same problem that I had not very long ago. Skirts and bikes and all that shit.” I said sarcastically.
He laughed. “Yeah, gotta live sometime though.”
“Yeah, but you really should show more caution than that. You never know when you’re life will end. Why not take a few extra precautions just on the slight chance that it might save your life?” I asked.
“You’re too young to be that jaded. Aren’t you supposed to be wild and carefree?” He asked skeptically.
I’d never been able to be wild and carefree. My childhood didn’t allow for that.
“Yeah, that went out the window the first time I had to fend off one of my mom’s suppliers from touching my twelve year old self. Stormy wasn’t so lucky.” I said before I even knew I’d done it.
Why had I told him that?
“What?” He asked quietly.
Too quiet.
“Yes, I’ll go for a ride, but you have to promise that you’ll go slowly.” I said before walking out his apartment door.
My heart was beating a mile a minute. I’d never even told Stormy of what had happened that night. She thought she was alone in that regard, but she wasn’t. I might not have been raped that night but there was definitely some inappropriate touching going on before I’d hit him, using a move I’ve only seen performed.
I remembered watching him fall as I hit him on the side of the neck. I was proud of myself a few days later, but at that instant in time, I was too terrified to do anything but hide.
I was just glad I’d watched that YouTube video on how to incapacitate an attacker. They’d said that it was a great shot for someone that had surprise on their size and I’d definitely had that. The man hadn’t expected my tiny self to fight back and that was what saved me. Things could’ve gone a lot different for me that night.
Jack and I rode for what felt like minutes, but turned out to be nearly an hour. We were somehow outside of my house, and frustration hit me like a wrecking ball. I swung my leg over more gracefully this time, and smiled sadly at him.
“Wear jeans tomorrow, Winnie.” He laughed and then roared away.
I watched him streak down the street as if he was shot out of a cannon, and my heart let out a little leap at the pace he set.
Hands jittery, I walked inside and closed the door behind me. Stormy rushed up from the other room, and I started to tell her about Jack when her boyfriend, Peter, came in the room right behind her.
The man was a freak of nature, and I hated the way he made me feel when I was around him. Hence, why I avoided him like the plague whenever he came over. Which, coincidentally, meant that I was ignoring Stormy as well.
“Have a good night!” I said with false cheer.
It wasn’t until I got to my room and looked into the mirror that I realized I was still wearing Jack’s helmet. The laughter at thinking that my sister probably thought I was a nut job died when I realized that Jack was riding without a helmet of his own.
***
Two weeks later
“Are you sure they won’t mind that I’m crashing their barbeque?” I asked for the fifteenth time.
Jack shifted his body off the bike and stood beside it. I could feel him looking down at me, assessing me. “They’ll love you. I promise. And you aren’t intruding.”
When I didn’t move fast enough, Jack bodily hauled me off the bike, yanked my helmet off, and started pulling me towards the door. Adam, Jack’s best friend, opened the door just as Jack was about to walk in, and I jumped.
He eyed me speculatively. We hadn’t hit it off. I’d been laying on Jack’s couch waiting for him to get out of the shower when Adam had knocked on the door. It’d been only four days since we met, and I apparently hoarded all of Jack’s time.
From the moment he entered the door, we got along like oil and water. He’d say something, and I’d disagree. I’d laugh at something; he’d say it was stupid. We seriously didn’t have one single thing we agreed about.
Adam also thought I was too young for Jack. That I couldn’t possibly handle being eighteen and having a boyfriend in the army. He’d pretty much insisted that I would leave him as soon as the going got tough, and I’d break Jack’s heart while he was over there fighting for his life.