Release (16 page)

I’m free until tonight’s show, so I’m going to visit
Dane at work. I wanted to see his shop properly, and he was more than happy to
let me. I’m intrigued. He doesn’t generally work on a Saturday, but there were
some finishing touches that needed to be done to a chopper. My knowledge of
motorcycles is zero, and I never saw myself being with a man who rides.

The weather is gorgeous
today, so I’m rocking a tight, mid-thigh length, black and white striped halter
dress and strappy wedge sandals. My white-framed sunglasses on and my hair
down, I feel good. No, I feel fan-fucking-tastic.

I walk the short distance
from my apartment to the shop. Arriving at the second entrance, as advised by
Dane, I see him and two other men gathered around a sleek, silver and black
motorcycle. It’s not like a typical bike; it’s long and low with the front
wheel extended farther forward than the standard types. It looks like something
Batman would ride.

This thorough peek into
Dane’s Work-World
is fascinating. The shop is large and divided into two
parts. The left side, where he and his colleagues are, is clearly the workshop.
It’s spacious with tools and objects I’m unfamiliar with hanging from the walls
and on shelves.

The other side of the
building is the shop floor, which I’ve obviously visited before. It holds
various brands of motorcycles and accessories. It’s so bright and shiny,
classy. Staff members are scattered about the place, carrying out various
tasks.

As I approach, it’s as
though Dane senses me. He looks in my direction, his lips quickly shifting up
at the corners. I smile back, feeling slightly shy. It’s only because of the
other two men with him, and another nearby. There’s just the one female staff
member, the same blonde, and these guys are typical males, they’re looking,
wondering and inspecting me. Their interest switches to curious when Dane starts
walking to me.

I raise my glasses up to
rest them on top of my head as Dane gets closer. Taking me by the hand, he
leads me deeper into the workshop and gives me a full tour, introducing me to
everyone we encounter. The two guys he was with when I arrived are Eric, his
business partner, and Greg, the technician. I also get to meet Malachi, the
artist.

The last stop is the office.
There’s a small window at the back of the room, so natural light is minimized,
but it isn’t dark and dingy. A long desk against the far wall with a computer
and paper work on it, a slanted drawing board with nothing on it, and shelves
with paperwork, manuals and motorcycle magazines. It’s all so appropriate for
the type of business this is.

Once inside, Dane closes the
door behind us. Now I see that gaze of his; determined, alluring. It’s sexy and
it hits me right between the legs, making me want to run from him and to him at
the same time. He backs me up to the door, at which point he locks it, and
kisses me once on the lips. “Nice dress,” he says, pressing against me, and, oh
yeah, he’s hard. I’m definitely wet.

“Somebody doesn’t mind
mixing business with pleasure?” I look into golden brown with flashes of green.

“Not with you.” He starts
kissing me before I can respond. I’ve been without this man’s kiss for two
whole, long days. I eagerly take and give back. Dane raises my right leg,
hooking it over his hip.

A deep, male voice calls his
name. That’s instantly followed up with, “Joe and Adam are here.”

“Fuck, I forgot they were
coming to see the chopper. You’re a distraction, Brooklyn. I might need to
forbid you from coming here.” I smile at his words, as he looks down at his
fly. “Shit,” he says, in response to his evident arousal. I chuckle, covering my
mouth with my hand. “Funny?” he asks, grinning. I nod. “We’ll have to wait a
minute.”

He lowers my leg and backs
off. I decide to tease him, so, after correcting the hem of my dress, place my
hand against his erection, which is now coming down.

His fierce gaze claims mine.
“I will fuck you here, Brooklyn. Right now.” He means it, so I break contact,
though I’m still humored.

When it’s appropriate, Dane
takes me by the hand and we leave the office. There’s quite a gathering in the
workshop now. Two men are looking at the chopper and discussing it with Eric
and Malachi. I recognize Adam immediately, from that first night of the show,
but this is the first time I’ve properly seen Joe. The other time was from afar
on Baker Beach.

The brothers look alike, although,
Joe is around two inches taller and clean shaven, unlike Adam who favors a
short, well kept beard. Joe’s black hair is shorter, but the front frames his
face, ending just shy of cheekbone length. Adam’s hair is almost as long as
mine, but a slightly lighter brown. Adam is the only one who has color to his
tattoos. Dane and Joe obviously prefer black alone. They look at their friend
and then smile at me.

Saffron seems to appear out
of nowhere and struts towards us cheerfully. “Hi,” she says, pulling me into a
hug. She’s a tiny thing, but with the force of her embrace she’s certainly no
weakling. She has a lovely toned figure, which explains her strength, and a
really pretty face. “It’s nice to see you again, Brooklyn.”

We’ve only met once, the
night of the show. I know she and Ella are good friends, so I feel more
acquainted with her because of that. “It’s good to see you again, too.” I grin.

She takes charge at this
point and introduces me to her husband and his brother.

I feel a bit of a ‘Plain Jane’
compared to Dane and his friends. They’re all, including Saffron – who has
Nathaniel
in delicate writing inscribed on the back of her neck and the ends of her
jaw-length bob dyed red – visually attention-grabbing and cool.

Adam is extra
everything
.
The color to his body art makes them and him stand out more and the beard and
long hair adds a rougher edge to his style. Unlike Dane and Joe, the side of
his neck is also inked and he even has small earplug piercings in each ear.
He’s gorgeous, with a medium build and nice muscle definition.

You could say Joe, who I’ve
just learned also gets involved in some of the work with the designs for
customizations, is a gentler version, but that comes more from his friendly
brown eyes. His size and muscular build and the tats semi-contradict the
suggestion of gentle. It’s an interesting combination. I love that one arm is
covered in angels, so detailed and beautiful.

Saffron and I stand by the
shop entrance, chatting whilst the men talk motorcycles.

“So you guys are taking
Release
to L.A. in September,” she says, smiling. “You must be super stoked.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait. I love
L.A.”

“Oh, of course,
All about
the Dance
was filmed there, right?”

“Yep.” I beam. Even though
things ended badly for me there, I still look back on the time fondly.

“It’s totally weird to be
standing here speaking with you when I watched you on TV. You and Owen were my
favorite, and I especially loved your Samba and Tango numbers. They were so
sexy and seductive, and you looked super hot in your costumes. I was devastated
for you when you left. I couldn’t believe it when Kayla told me you both were
friends. This is so freaking awesome.”

“I know, funny how things
turn out. It’s because of her that I’m here now. It’s been great teaming up
with Owen again and working closely with Kayla and Ella.”

“You’ve got like three years
on your visa, right?”

We end up discussing me
working here.

Saffron’s likeable,
forthcoming and she seems easy to be around. I feel slightly nervous and hope
that she likes me beyond being one-half of her favorite two-some on
All
about the Dance
. She’s important to Dane, so this is the equivalent of
hoping your boyfriend’s parents will like you.

Once the guys finish lusting
over the bike, Saffron suggests we go for a drink. I’ve still got a few hours
free, so agree.

At the place of choice, we
purchase our drinks and sit in a semi-circular booth at the far end, by the
window. I sit between Dane and his sister. Adam and Joe are on the other side
of Saffron. Adam asks me about London and we all fall into conversation based
around that. His version of a Londoner’s accent is quite impressive.

“You sound proper posh. You
could be a member of The Royal Family talking like that,” I tell him.

“What’s with all the “proper?””
he asks in his own accent. “You’ve said it like ten times.”

“If you’re in certain
regions of the UK, definitely London, you’re guaranteed to encounter people who
add it to everything, it’s used for emphasis. Proper hot, proper funny, proper
hanging – as in hungover. Although, the Queen and Co won’t rock up and refer to
something as “proper wicked!””.

Adams lips curve wide, he
looks intrigued. “Wife, we’re going to London,” he says to Saffron.

“Awesome. I wanna see
Buckingham Palace,” she says. 

I’m enjoying myself until
Gerard walks in. My loyalty is with Kayla and that shall remain, but Gerard is
Dane’s friend. I knew I’d be seeing him again at some point, but I’m not quite
ready today. I’m not sure how to be with him; I can’t ignore him, but I’m
hardly going to hug him and chat with him.

Saffron glances at me and
smiles. I return the gesture in appreciation.

Gerard sits down at the end
of the booth, beside Dane, and looks at me. “Hello, Brooklyn.”

His greeting is strangely warm and somehow it feels
like he knows I’m uncertain and he’s taking this into consideration.

I wouldn’t have thought him
the considerate type, given his appalling treatment of Kayla and no doubt many
other women. If this wasn’t Gerard, I’d appreciate the sentiments, but it is
and he royally screwed over my friend. I say, “Hi,” to be polite, even managing
a smile.

The conversation resumes and
the chopper becomes the topic of focus. I’m glad because it means I can listen
without offering any input.

It’s interesting seeing the
four guys together and, taking my bias out of the equation, you can throw
Gerard and his good looks into the mix of hotness. With him here I don’t feel
as ‘Plain Jane’
.
He’s practically the male equivalent of me, not a tat
or piercing in sight. He’s dressed more casually today as well. I didn’t get a
good look, but I know he has on pale blue jeans and a fitted dark blue T-shirt,
which displays his muscular form well.

Personal feelings aside, I
think it’s nice that these five have all been close since childhood, and it’s
obvious they share a history in the natural way they interact.
   

After a short time, I get
that feeling – the feeling that I’m being watched. My gaze wanders across the
bar and gets caught.

At a table over by the door
sit two women. They’re talking to each other, but one of them keeps glancing
over at our booth. This wouldn’t usually bother me; I people watch all the
time, I like to observe others. In this case – the case of the pretty woman
with what looks like dark blue eyes, from here, and jet-black, straight hair
that ends just below her shoulders – there’s a difference.

She’s specifically focusing
on Dane and me and she’s looking at us with purpose.

When her gaze meets mine,
she holds it for enough seconds to confirm something. That woman knows the man
sitting beside me and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out how.
There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s looked into her eyes for a lot longer
than I just did.

She’s attractive, with a
lovely figure, and to be honest, she’d fit in well with Dane and Co, if going
by appearances alone. She has her upper lip and left eyebrow pierced and
tattoos down her arms and on her shoulder blades. Observing her, I can’t help
but wonder why Dane didn’t want more with someone like her.

Does he know she’s there?
Surely he does, her position is obvious. It wouldn’t surprise me if she sat
there intentionally. Between Gerard’s presence and her now, I don’t need to be
here.

I lean into Dane and
discretely say, “I need to get going.”

He looks at me, gently
squeezing my thigh. This is an acceptable excuse; I do have a show tonight. I
could stay for a little longer, but I don’t want to. It’s a shame to cut this
time short. With the exception of one, I do want to get to know Dane’s friends
and his sister. So far, I really like them.

Dane explains to the others
he’ll be back after walking me home. Gerard slides along the seat and exits the
booth so that we can. Saffron hugs me before I get out. I say goodbye to them
all, and Dane takes me by the hand and heads for the door.

We pass the other lady,
who’s doing well at acting like she hasn’t seen us. Dane doesn’t acknowledge
her, but it’s impossible for him not to have seen her by now.

I slide my sunglasses down
over my eyes and succumb to thought as we walk in the direction of my
apartment. It’s strange. Suddenly I’m curious about Dane’s lifestyle before me.
I’ve given his past and the women who were a part of it none of my attention,
us in the now is all I care about, but I suppose it puts things into
perspective when you see evidence of it.