Wilson's Hard Lesson (3 page)

The rising sun woke Summer. She slept in Wilson’s arms the
better part of the night. Well; the better part of the night was spent beneath
him. She smiled at the thought. And then her whole insides clutched. The notion
of being with him conjured that much pleasure.

She smiled and could not stop smiling. What were the odds of
a chance encounter with a person and falling head over heels in love with them
in one night? And to have that person feel the absolute same way too back? She
turned to Wilson and kissed him lightly on the cheek. His skin was bristly with
the need to shave. Summer thought that was so hot.

“Morning,” she said, caressing his face.

It was her intention to start something. But Wilson took
hold of her wandering hand and stopped her. He wasn’t rude exactly but he was
adamant. That was not going to happen. At least not for now.

“Do you have to get going or something?” asked Summer.

“Yes,” he said. “I have to get you back home.”

“Well if that’s all you’re worried about,” she giggled.

He straightened her out.

“No,” he said firmly. “We aren’t going to do that again.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “What did I do?”

“You did nothing wrong,” replied Wilson. “You did everything
right. It was me who should have known better. Let me fix us some coffee.”

He rose from the bed. The tattoo of his club logo was
crisper, cleaner in the light. Even though she was upset at the things he was
saying, she could not help but be stirred by the sight of his body. He was
exceptionally proportioned. He pulled up his jeans but wore no shirt as he
padded off to the kitchen. He looked fine walking away. Summer squirmed against
the comfy bedding.

This is not over, she thought. Not by a long shot.

“How do you take your coffee?” he called from the kitchen.

Summer blinked. “I don’t drink coffee,” she replied.

Wilson popped his head into the bedroom.

“You don’t drink coffee? Is it because you don’t like it or
is it because you’re not old enough?” he asked as though he was afraid of the
answer.

“Well I guess I am old enough to drink it,” Summer sat up.
“I will have it the same as you do.”

He tilted his head at her with a scold. “Do you drink
coffee, Summer?”

“No,” she said. “I want to try it.”

“You do not want to drink it like I drink it,” he said.

“Why do you put a shot of whisky in it?” she asked
incredulously.

“No, who does that?” he asked.

“My mother on occasion if you must know. That’s why I don’t
drink it. I am afraid of picking up the wrong mug,” she said.

The admission upset her. A flutter of grief flowed through
her. She put her forehead to her fingers. Wilson was sympathetic.

“Okay,” he said softly. “I’ll give you a taste of mine and
if you like it you can have it otherwise I think you might like it with at
least a little cream.”

He turned once again, this time with coffee in hand. She
sipped it and detested it. He was right again and she was starting not to like
that. She was young, sure; but she was not a baby. She was a grown woman. She
proved that more than once the night before.

“Milk and sugar please,” she said. “On second thought. I
don’t need anything. I’ll get dressed. You can take me home.”

“Hey,” he said.

She detected the apology in his voice but she just didn’t
want to hear it. She was catching on quick that he wasn’t as in love with her
as she was with him. He thought she was too young for him and he wanted to tell
her so.

“It’s not that I don’t like you,” he tried to explain any
way.

“Well that makes two of us,” said Summer bluntly. “’Cause I
like you a whole lot. And I know what you’re about to say so please just don’t.
I get it.”

She threw on her clothes as fast as she could. She pulled
the bedding on her side of the bed up, loosely making it. Wilson was likely
going to wash the sheets but she did it anyway. She tidied up some as well in
the living room.

“Leave that. You don’t have to do that,” he said
apologetically.

“No problem,” she said coldly, trying not to cry.

“Hey,” he said catching up to her at the door. “I am sorry
if I’ve hurt you.”

“Now you look at me,” Summer said with tears in her eyes.
“You’re not going to see me again, are you?”

“No,” he said softly. “I’m not. Sweetheart, I am not right
for you. You can’t be going around with a biker, even if he’s me. Summer I am
ten years older than you. You have no business hanging out with me and you
certainly have no business being at Rowdy’s.”

“Well I am going to apply for a job there,” she said
adamantly. “Don’t worry. I promise I will not give you the time of day. And
don’t bother with the ride. You’re close enough to my house. It’s broad
daylight. I don’t need you.”

She opened the door but he gently but firmly pressed it shut.

“Take a deep breath,” he said softly. “This is for your own
good, you’ll see. Now, I will too give you a ride home.”

“No,” she said. “I really don’t want my parents to see me
with you.”

That hurt his feelings. She got the nerve to look him in the
eye and she saw that she had wounded him. She was a little glad for it. Served
him right to tell her after the fact that he shouldn’t be with her.

It was easy enough for her to walk which he let her do. The
distance from Wilson’s to her house was not more than two miles. Fortunately,
the weather was good. It didn’t take long after she started walking, to wish
that Wilson had gotten on his bike and was somehow following her.

She heard the whir of a bike in the distance behind her, her
hopes raised. The biker pulled over. He was too heavy to be Wilson. It was
Duran.

“Hey,” he called. “Remember me?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Hey.”

“You heading somewhere?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am just going home,” she said.

“I’ll give you a ride,” he said.

“It’s a real nice day. I think I’ll walk,” she replied.

“Oh come on,” he said. “Let me make up for being a jerk last
night.”

“You weren’t a jerk,” she said.

She had thought he was sort of one but now that he was being
nice, she gave him a break.

“Hop on. I will give you a ride,” he said.

Touching Duran was not as nice by any means as touching
Wilson. Duran was soft to the touch. It gave Summer the willies just making
contact with him. Especially after spending recent times with Wilson. She
reluctantly braced herself against him. Neither of them wore a helmet. Her hair
quickly became tangled as they rode.

Summer gave him direction by pointing. They were pulling up
in front of her home quickly. Her parents were not home. They were already off
to work. Duran turned off the motor. He lingered a little too long. It felt
awkward. She just wanted him to go on. But he didn’t go.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” said Duran.

 Summer didn’t want him to but she tolerated it. He followed
her to the front door and waited until her fitted the key into the lock. He
hovered.

“Thanks,” she said coldly.

As she stepped inside the home, Duran gave the door a shove.
He shoved her forward and closed the door behind them. Summer was in a panic.
He was a big man and she was petite person. His intentions were clear.

She wove her way through the house and out the back door.
She scurried as fast as she could around the front. She was afraid he would
come after her. He had not emerged from the house yet. Summer went immediately
to the bike and knocked it over. She sprinted with everything she had and then
darted into the yard of a neighbor. She spied, watching him leave her house.
She heard him curse as he discovered his bike. She definitely heard him say he
was going to kill her. Duran started up his bike. Mercifully she didn’t do
enough damage to it to prevent him from driving away.

Summer found the safety of her home. She quickly locked all
the doors and windows. She couldn’t call Wilson because he had made it clear he
didn’t want anything to do with her. The best night of her life led to the
worst morning ever. She showered, made herself breakfast and a plan.

Between her parents and Wilson, and even the bartender at
Rowdy’s, Summer was tired of being treated like a kid. She was eighteen. She
was a grown up. But she decided she would compromise with her parents. She
checked out the community college on her computer. She decided she would walk
back down to Rowdy’s before the lunch crowd to fill out an application. She
brought her mace with her. If Duran ever got near her again, she was going to
let him have it.

The trip to Rowdy’s was a total bust. Before she had gotten
there, apparently Wilson had talked to them first. Her heart sank.

“Why?” she asked trying to not cry on the interview.

The manager smiled faintly. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good
place but it’s just not the place for you.”

“You’re absolutely right,” she said proudly. “It’s not the
place for me.”

The walk home was brutal.

But time passed. Weeks. Summer came to an agreement with her
parents. She went to the community college which pleased them and they shared a
car with her so she could work part time at the grocery store.

The job was easy enough. It was physical but still she was
doing well. She was dogged by exhaustion. She was wondering if school and work
was a bit too much. She was actually glad for the heavy schedule since even
though their time together was so brief, Summer was heartbroken over Wilson.

In the middle of one of a shift in the second week or so at
the grocery store, Summer got a text from her father that there was a broken
window in the kitchen door and did she know what that was about?

The first person who came to mind was Duran. She had not
told anyone about that day when he tried to overpower her in the house. She
thought twice about suggesting him because there was nothing specific except
that Duran was scary that supported his being involved. Summer put it out of
her mind and finished her shift.

She was so tired as she drove home, she could hardly keep
her eyes opened. Even though tomorrow was not even there yet, she was dreading
her shift to come. She was so tired already she needed to have the time off.
She felt like she could sleep forever.

When she got home, she was shown the broken window by her
mom. Her father had patched it temporarily. During the course of the
conversation her mother stopped to ask her how she was.

“You look different,” she said.

“Different?” asked Summer. “I thought you were going to say
I looked tired. I am beat.”

“Maybe that’s it,” said her mother.

But it didn’t sound like she was convinced. Summer went to
bed. Her plan was to go to school and to work the next day. Just two more days
until the weekend and she would get some rest when she wasn’t doing homework.
Suddenly she was obsessed with sleeping. She crawled under the covers and sank
into sleep.

Summer’s deep sleep didn’t last as she expected. The sound
of her mother’s car alarm woke up the household. She could swear she heard the
sound of a motorcycle. Her father rushed with the keys out the door.

“You’re kidding me!” he shouted.

Summer and her mother were soon at the doorway. All four
tires of the car were flat. Immediately, her dad called the police and then
called the roadside service. Again, Summer thought of Duran. Since the cops
were coming, she thought it was time to let them know about him. She wasn’t one
hundred percent sure he had anything to do with it but she had to say
something.

Her parents told the cops about the series of incidents and
Summer told them about Duran. They dusted for finger prints but since Summer’s
dad patched the window and the fact that Summer said Duran had been in the
house, there might not be much they could do. They took a report.

Summer’s parents were furious for keeping what happened with
Duran a secret from them. Just as things were sort of on track with her going
to school and work, the morning started horribly, complete with another family
fight. At one point, she rushed into the bathroom and threw up.

Miraculously, the rest of the day was uneventful. She had
enough energy to get through class and to go work. The store was not busy and
because of that, they let her on the register. She wished she could stock the
shelves or something to take her mind off of things instead of just standing,
waiting to ring people up. Thoughts of Duran, made her long for Wilson. It made
her play the night that they shared, over and over again. She was so emotional
for some reason. More so, she thought, than was called for. She only hoped that
her emotions weren’t showing to her co-workers.

She was wiping the counter, trying to stay busy. A customer
sets his stuff down on the conveyer belt. Summer looked up. Wilson. He looked
at her with look that was a mix of sadness and endearment. It didn’t look like
he didn’t want to see her.

“Hello,” she said stiffly.

And she began to ring up his things. Wilson touched her hand
and stopped her.

“I don’t want to get you in trouble with work but I need to
talk to you about Duran,” he said.

Summer bristled. She would just rather forget about him.

“What about him?” she asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me he harassed you? And that he’s being
bothering your parents?” he asked.

Summer was so shocked about the question that she laughed.

“I seem to recall, I mean it’s been awhile, what a couple of
months now?” she asked. “That you said to forget about you. Now you want to
know why I didn’t confide in you and how did you know I was here?”

“Number one, it’s not quite two months. Duran was arrested.
I went to see him. I went to see your mom and dad and now I am seeing you.” he
said.

Summer was upset again and she was struck with a wave of
nausea.

“Oh gosh,” she said and ran towards the bathroom. “Cover my
register,” she said to the assistant manager as she ran by.

The stress of everything was obviously too much for her.
Maybe she wasn’t mature enough as her parents and even Wilson suggested. When
the sickness past, she washed her mouth out and fixed her face. She went back
to her register. Wilson was still there.

“Your mom said she drove you to work because you all are
sharing the one car for today. I am going to come for you after you get off
work.”

She started to argue but Wilson gave her a look that told
her how such a sweet nice guy like him could also be the head of a biker club.
Just like that, she thought it would be best if she did what she was told.

“Whatever,” she said. “You can say what you need to say then
and then I don’t want to see you again.”