Bad Boys of Romance - a Biker Anthology (14 page)

Chapter 11

“Let's go for a ride.” Luke pulled me up from the couch and into his arms.

We had come back to my apartment soon after Adam left so I could shower and change clothes. Hannah and Trey had watched TV with us for a little while before going into her room. Luckily, neither of them asked about last night. It wasn't something I was ready to talk about yet, and I wasn't sure that I could lie to Hannah about it.

“Where do you want to go?” I asked.

“Depends.” He kissed the top of my head. “Where do you want to drive us?”

“Shut up.” I stepped out of his arms. “You're going to let me drive?”

He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Consider it part of your graduation present.”

I ran to my room and quickly pulled on my tall brown boots over my skinny jeans and tied my hair up in a bun on the top of my head. We walked outside, and I swallowed hard as I stared at the bike that I had been begging to drive.

“You having second thoughts?” he smirked.

“To clarify.”
I felt like I needed to make a statement. “When I said, I wanted to drive your bike, I meant only for about a second. You know, so I can say that I've driven a motorcycle. After that second is up, feel free to take back control.”

He laughed as we climbed on the bike with me sitting in front of him. He showed me how to turn on the engine, where the brakes were, and how to steer. When the bike came to life beneath me, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.

“You ready?” He pulled me further back into his chest and rested his hands next to mine on the handlebars. “I'll start and once we're out on the street, you can take over.”

I nodded as if this were a good idea. “If I completely freak out, don't let us crash.”

We turned out of the parking lot, and as soon as we were on a quiet street with no cars in sight, he slowly moved his hands where they were floating above the handlebars. I held on to the cool rubber as if my life depended on it and let out a long breath when I realized that maybe we weren't going to die during this. After a few blocks, we were approaching a stop sign.

“Okay,” I yelled back at him. “I'm done.”

I felt his chest vibrate against my back as he placed his hands over mine and pulled the bike to a stop.

“You don't want to drive anymore?” he asked.

“No.” I turned and kissed his cheek. “I'm good.”

He laughed again before turning the corner and merging onto a busier street. We drove around for almost an hour before he pulled up in front of an abandoned bar on the other side of town. He turned the key and the engine died as I continued to stare at the old, wooden building.

“What is this place?” I asked as we stepped down onto the gravel parking lot.

“This was once a bar,” he started. “A very popular bar until the owner went bankrupt.”

We walked around and looked through the windows. Bar stools were lying on their sides and broken glass was scattered over the bar top.

“What are we doing here?”

“Well.” He was watching my reaction before he continued. “I was thinking about buying it.”

“And selling The Green Room?” I didn't like that plan.

“No, I would own both.”

“Oh.”

“What do you think?” He wanted my opinion.

“It looks like a lot of work,” I answered honestly. “But if it's what you want to do, then you should do it.”

“I've been looking over the numbers and working on the plans for over a month now.” He stepped toward me and reached for my hands. “Roger is going to take over full-time at The Green Room so I can focus more on this place.”

“Okay.” I smiled up at him. “It sounds like you have it figured out.”

“I do.” He ran his hand across my cheek. “But I wanted you to make the final decision with me.”

“I support whatever you want to do.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned up to kiss him.

“Thanks, baby.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “Those are the words I needed to hear.”

We made our way back to College Street before parking by his apartment. I had gladly sat behind him this time, leaving my motorcycle driving dreams far behind. Instead of walking into his bar, he held onto my hand as we continued down the street.

“Wait, don't you need to go to work?” I was confused.

“Yeah, but first, I'm taking my girlfriend on a date.” He turned and winked at me.

I wouldn't argue with that. We walked into a small Mexican restaurant and sat in the waiting area until our table was ready. I watched the other couples that sat around us and smiled at the old couple next to us who was holding hands. They were cute.

“Do you want to own a lot of bars?” I asked once we were seated.

“If this next one goes well, I might.” He looked at me from across the table. “It's kind of a test run, I guess.”

“So you think you'll always work late and sleep throughout the mornings?”

“Does that bother you?” He narrowed his eyes. “You've never said anything before.”

I felt my face turn red as I tried to explain. “No, it doesn't bother me. I just wondered if you wanted to work hours like that as you got older.”

He watched me for a few seconds before answering. “I'm hoping to take more of an ownership role and have people who work for me who will actually manage everything. So no, I don't plan on sleeping our days away in the future.”

I smiled at his answer and let my mind wander for a second of what our future might look like. A big house, small green-eyed children, maybe a dog...

After dinner, we walked back toward the bar but again walked past the front door. Before I could ask him what we were doing, he shook his head.

“I'm not working tonight.”

“I should graduate more often.” I let out a small laugh.

“Or I should take you out more often.”

“We go out enough,” I reassured him. “Besides I like being alone with you too.”

“I want you to have everything you've ever dreamed of, baby.” He held me against his chest. “I want us to live out our dreams together.”

I let his words continue to sink in as we rode the bike back to my apartment. When we walked in, we found Hannah and Trey had just started some manly movie that he had picked out.

“Finally.”
Luke sat down in the recliner and pulled me into his lap. “This is the first time a good movie has played in this place.”

“I take offense to that,” Hannah argued. “We have excellent taste in movies.”

I smiled as I watched Hannah and Luke bicker like they had from day one. These were the memories I was going to hold onto after graduation tomorrow. These were the times I was going to miss the most.

Chapter 12

I followed closely after Hannah as she walked across the large stage with our graduating class. They called out my name and announced I had received a Bachelor's Degree in Advertising with a minor in Marketing. My ears told me they heard my parents’ and Luke's yells among the crowd of thousands of people.

Hannah and I walked arm and arm back to our seats and waited until the rest of the graduates had taken their turn on the stage. At the end of the graduation ceremony, we stood and moved our tassels to the left sides of our hats.

“We did it.” Hannah hugged me tight, and I wrapped my arms around her.

“I'm so glad you're here with me,” I told her. “We've been through everything together.”

“I have a feeling the best is yet to come.” She winked at me.

We found Trey and Luke, along with our parents and friends, standing by the baseball field where we had agreed to meet.

“Congratulations, honey.” My mom and dad each hugged me. “We're so proud of you.”

“Congrats, baby.” Luke leaned down and kissed me as soon as I was free from my parents.

I walked around and hugged each of the guys and Brandie..

“What you doing the rest of the day?” he asked
..

“She's with me the rest of the day.” Hannah walked up and placed her hands on her hips. “I have less than a day left with my girl here. You can have her full-time starting tomorrow.”

“Oh, I'm going to miss your interruptions.” He laughed before kissing me again and walking with Trey toward the parking lot.

“What are we doing?” I asked as we linked arms.

“Let's start with getting pedicures.” She smiled as we climbed into her car.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the spa, then shopping before stopping at our favorite cupcake shop. I plopped down on our couch when we walked back into the apartment. The reality that she was leaving tomorrow came crashing down on me all at once.

“What's wrong?” She looked concerned when she saw my face. “Did I miss something?”

“No.” I choked back some of the tears. “I'm just sad you're leaving.”

“Oh, Riley.” she pulled me into her arms. “I'm going to miss you too. But if you cry, then I'm going to cry, and we'll spend our last day together crying.”

“Okay, fine.” I hugged her for a second longer before pulling back and wiping off my face. “I'll just cry tomorrow when I'm all alone.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She tossed a throw pillow at my head before sitting at the opposite end of the couch.

After catching up with our friends on
16 and Pregnant
, we changed clothes and fixed our makeup before leaving the apartment to go to dinner. We sat in a red vinyl booth at Cheesy's and picked at a plate of cheese fries until Trey joined us. We laughed and talked about the past semester, and I smiled as I watched my friend lean into the man who made her so happy. I wondered how long it would take her to realize she loved him. We took our time at the diner and later walked into The Green Room to find the remaining members of our group. I ran back to the office and quickly kissed Luke only to find him on the phone.

“I'm not drinking tonight,” I informed Hannah as I took the bar stool next to her.

“I'm not either,” she smirked. “I can't move tomorrow hung-over. Trey would kill me if I threw up the entire drive.”

Hannah, Brandie, and I sat at the table for most of the night as if we were trying to freeze time. Luke hadn't stopped by our table, and I hadn't noticed him walking around. Mel walked by our table, and I got her attention.

“Where's Luke?” I called out to Mel, and she only shrugged.

I pulled out my phone and sent him a text since I hadn't seen him in a couple of hours. Chances were he wouldn't hear it since it was so loud in here, but I would find him eventually.

“Okay, it's time to dance, ladies.” Brandie pulled me and Hannah onto the dance floor, and we laughed and moved until the lights came on.

There was still no sign of Luke so I told everyone goodbye and checked in his office. He was sitting at his desk going through a stack of papers
.
“There you are.” I sat down in his lap and kissed his lips.
“Hey, did you have fun with the girls?” He looked tired.

“It would be more fun if you would quit working and
come hang out with me.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

“Sorry, babe.”
He kissed my forehead and adjusted me on his lap. “I had some stuff to get done tonight, but I'm done now.”

“What's this from?” I ran my hands over his knuckles that had fresh cuts on them. “Your hands weren't like this earlier today.”

He pulled his hands back and ran them through his hair as he leaned back in the chair.

“I got in a fight with the ice machine earlier tonight.”

“Seriously?” I questioned. “I don't think I believe that.”

He watched me as if he were trying to find his next words. We had always been completely honest with each other up until now. It wasn't like him to hide anything.

I raised my hands as if to surrender. “Whatever. Are you ready to go upstairs?”

He frowned and moved forward to lean his forehead against my chest. “Yeah, let's go.”

I kissed the top of his head and held him for a minute longer before standing up and reaching for his cut hand.

“And for the record,” I started as we walked up the stairs to his apartment. “You know you can tell me anything. Most of your secrets are safe with me.”

He laughed as he pushed open his door and we walked through.

We walked into my apartment the next afternoon and only found silence. I knew Hannah had left earlier this morning because we had said our goodbyes last night, and she had already
send me a million text messages today. Still, the feeling of walking into the apartment I shared with her and knowing that it was now only mine was overwhelming. I felt the tears spill onto my cheeks.

“Hey, it's okay.” Luke took me in his arms and kissed the top of my head.
“I know. It's just weird knowing that she really moved away.”

He let me silently cry until the tears stopped
on their own. We made our way to the couch and sat down.
“You okay?” He placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.

“Yeah.
She wouldn't let me cry yesterday so I knew it would happen today.” I leaned into his chest and took a deep breath. “It's going to be quiet around here.”

“I'll be louder when I'm here,” he said, causing me to laugh.

“That sounds good. You'll have to work on your gossiping skills though,” I teased.

“I can't promise anything in that department.” He laughed. “But I will put up with your crappy reality shows.”

“Deal.” I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist.

I thought about the last few years and how much had changed over the last few months. My job was starting soon, and the idea that I was officially an adult had me both excited and nervous. I was ready for this next chapter in my life to begin and grateful that Luke would be there to experience everything with me.

He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “I love you, baby.”

My heart swelled at the sound of his words, and I leaned further into his side.

“I know you're sad that she moved away.” he went on. “But with her gone, that only means one thing to me.”

“Oh yeah.”
I laughed. “What's that?”

I screamed out in surprise as he lifted me and dropped me on my back on the couch. 

I was laughing when he lowered himself on top of me and whispered in my ear, “It means there's no one around to interrupt us.”

The End...
For Now