Arrow of Time (30 page)

He laughed and walked her towards the grill.

“
I know the dangers of thinking you have women figured out, and I don't make that mistake.”

That being said, he thought he had Edie figured out, and he felt kinda sorry for Dawg cuz he would run into shitloads of trouble with that girl. She'd probably be more than a handful, but he had high hopes about them.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

Sturdy Thing

-o0o-

Wednesday, April 17
th

I'D HAD A SHITTY
day. A really shitty day. Waking up alone after going to bed alone sort of set the tone for it. The club was away, ‘on business’. I still didn't know for sure what ‘the business’ was. I figured it involved pot, but whatever it was it meant that Dawg was gone, and I’d gotten use to having him in my bed. He'd been there most nights for over two months. I missed him when he wasn’t there. He'd tried to tell me to stay at Lanie's while he was gone. I might have considered it, if he hadn't said it like it was an order. I didn't react well when someone gave me orders.

The next blow came when I picked up my mail. Turned out I was being evicted. The owner of the Chinese restaurant, who owned the entire house, was going to turn my flat and the one next to mine to an upper floor of the restaurant. I’d nagged about the place, a lot, that it smelled funky, it was small and pretty run down, but it was my first own apartment. To make the entire situation even more awesome, I was being evicted at the end of the month, which gave me two weeks to find a new, equally cheap, place to live.

Work sucked balls, big time. Shauna and Micha had broken up, so they weren’t talking and good service was pretty fucking reliant on people communicating, which in turn mean I had to pick up their slack. Luckily I had the early shift, so at eight my ass was out of there so fucking fast. I still hadn’t heard from Dawg, and I went up to Lanie’s to get some love. I needed love and my sister was good at that.

She smiled when I walked into their kitchen and sat down by the kitchen island.

“Hey, honey. How are you?”

“
Really shit. Ultra shit day.” I stared when she held out a joint for me. “Are you kidding me?”

“
No. Looks like you need one, and I need a glass of wine or four so let’s get out on the deck and relax.”

“
I love you.”

Once we were there I lit it and she took the first sips of her wine.

“So what’s the shit in
your
life?” she asked.

“
I woke up alone.”

“
I feel ya!” She said and took some big mouthfuls from her glass.

“
It’s shit at work since Micha and Shauna broke up.”

“
Bummer.”

“
And I’m evicted.”

“
What?”

“
They’re expanding the restaurant. Need to be out in two weeks, and I'm not sure how fast I can find a new place. Is it okay if I crash here until I do?”

“
Ehh...” She looked surprised. “You wanna stay here?”

“
What?”

“
Nothing. Sure you can.”

“
Think I can start today? I want to get stoned like hell and feel sorry for myself, and I don't wanna drive once I'm done with that.”

My driving skills were still pretty bad. If you'd asked Dawg or Brick I was a huge risk in the traffic—total exaggeration according to me, but driving stoned was idiotic no matter who did it.

“Knock yourself out.”

We talked in a way we hadn't in a long time, if we ever had. About everything. She was looking up when it came to Dawg, so we could talk about him without her getting that tense upper lip.

For the first time since the Spring Hog Roast, over a month ago, we talked about Brick and him telling Dawg about me. Or rather, about us. It involved Lanie as well. We didn't reach an agreement regarding that, but that wasn't the point. It was just her wanting to give me her version of it, and it was okay. It felt like the first time we talked as sisters, not a mother to a daughter, and I liked it. We said goodnight and I went to the guestroom, soon to be my room again. I ate cookies and then I went to bed.

I woke up to the familiar sound of a full kitchen and laughed when I saw Lanie. She looked like shit. I kissed her cheek.

“Another reason why I don’t touch alcohol.”

She didn’t answer my comment, just put her hair up and sighed. “I need to get to the office.”

“I’ll take Eliza to school. You drink a lot of coffee, and I’ll drop by at the office later on. Okay?”

“
What time are you working today?”

“
I’m not. Day off, but I thought I’d get started on the hunt for an apartment.”

“
Talk to Mace. He’s seeing some girl who has a dad who owns some houses. Or something like that.”

“
Seeing?”

I had a hard time imagining Mace seeing any girl, let alone a girl with a dad who owned
houses
. A trailer, maybe, but
houses
, in plural. Lanie raised her eyebrows in an explanatory way, and I got it. He wasn't 'seeing' her, he was tapping some rich girl again. He had a thing for the rich bitches who wanted to go slumming before they got properly married. Said it was the best since it was guaranteed not to have any strings attached.

After a very unsuccessful apartment hunting, I went to the garage and noticed all the bikes outside. They were back. The first one I saw was actually Mace, with a redhead next to him. Definitely not the rich girl; must be a sweetbutt.

“Hey,” I said and sat down next to him. “I was gonna ask you for some help.”

He smiled and shook his head. “I know what you’re gonna ask, and I’ll check it out, but you’re in trouble, doll.”

“What?”

“
Your man is seriously pissed at you.”

“
Why?”

“
Not my business and I’m staying out of it,” he said and got up. “Like you so I thought I'd give you a heads up,” he added and nodded towards the clubhouse.

That’s when I noticed Brick, Bull, Bear and Dawg coming out of it. All four of them halted when they saw me and then three of them smiled. Dawg wasn't one of the three. He waved at me and walked over to the office, threw the door open and I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but I did see Lanie nervously getting on her feet and hurrying out.

She met me halfway to the door, and she threw a quiet ‘sorry’ to me. I still had no fucking idea what this was about. I tried to remember if I’d said something to Lanie that he could be pissed about, but at the same time it seemed a bit odd that she’d tell him about that. Once she was out, he closed the door and walked over to stand in the middle of the room with his arms crossed, and he really looked like he was about to explode.

“
Are you shitting me?” He finally said after we’d stared at each other for a while.

“
What?” I usually had some hunch about why he was pissed at me, but not this time. Since Mace's comment I'd been racking my brain about what I could've done this time. “What did I do?”

“
Are you or are you not my woman?”

“
Ehh, is that a trick question?”

“
Yes or no, Edie!”

“
Yes.” I figured this wasn't the time to, once again, point out that I wasn't that crazy about being referred to as someone's 'woman'. “At least I hope I still am.”

“
So when you’re being evicted, why the fuck are you going stay at your sister’s and
my
president’s house?”

I couldn’t believe it. That he’d be pissed about that. Mildly annoyed,
maybe,
but this was way more than that. I was stunned, and I stared at him and realized that this is what happened when you were with guys who talked about you as 'their woman'.

“
Ehh, well...”

“
Edie, for fuck’s sake. What the fuck!”

“
Is that really what you’re pissed about?” I thought it might be something else, but my question seemed to make him even more angry.

“
Yes! I’m fucking pissed about it!”

Yes, and apparently me thinking it was a stupid thing to be angry about it made him even more angry. Because to him that was a stupid question, even if I didn't think so. It was pretty obvious that it was, in fact, that I’d asked about staying at Lanie’s house, that had made him extremely angry. Which I thought was pretty fucking ridiculous, to be honest. Since saying that would get me into more trouble, I had no idea how to argue about it.

“Why?” I finally asked.

“
Well, let’s see,” he said and walked up to me. “One: because you didn’t even think about asking me, and I’m supposedly your Old Man, and two: because I’ve had hints about fucking my woman at Brick’s place all fucking day, and three: I’m your Old Man, I take care of you, not
your sister's
Old Man. Four:...”

I wasn’t really up for hearing anymore. I had no idea how to argue about something I found so silly, and he was so damn close, he smelled good, he’d been gone for four days and the man was sexy as hell when he was angry, something I had never noticed before since I was usually equally angry. But not this time. So I grabbed his cheeks and shoved my tongue into his mouth. After about two seconds his hands were on my ass, and he held me close to him. He was soon pressing his rock hard dick against me and I groaned. When I reached for his belt he took my hands.

“Forget it, Nibbles. I’m still pissed at you.”

“
If it makes you happy, you can yell again when we're done,” I said and reached for his belt again. “Or while we're doing this, I don't care.”

He smiled and turned me around, pushing me over the desk. He locked my arms behind my back by hooking one arm around both my elbows, with the other hand he opened my jeans and pulled them down. I felt his fingers inside me.

“Jeez, you're soaking,” he chuckled. “What's up with that?”

“
I missed you.”

“
I can tell.”

He rubbed his dick over my entrance, and when I groaned impatiently he pushed inside, still holding my arms behind my back in a firm grip. His hand was on my hip, holding on hard enough to bruise, and he pounded into me in a relentless tempo. Then I felt his lips on my shoulder, licking and then up to my ear, nibbling.

“Like that?”

“
Yes! Don’t stop!”

“
I missed you too, baby.” He panted into my ear. “Fuck, you feel so good, Nibbles.”

“
Harder.”

He did what I asked and I felt it, I was so damn close, and when the grip on my hip got even harder and he held my arms tighter, I came, trying to contain my screams, and then I felt his dick throbbing, and he bit down in my shoulder as he came with a loud grunt.

He let go of my arms, and I put them in front of me, resting, trying to catch my breath. When he slipped out I shivered and then felt it. Semen. And he seemed to realize it at the same time.

“
Shit! Condom.”

I turned around and looked at him. He shook his head with a crooked smile, hooked his hand around my neck and gave me a kiss.

“Guess we’re gonna have to get those tests done then?” I said.

We’d talked about it—go and have a full check up so we could skip the condom, then we’d agreed on waiting a few months; that’s what they recommended anyway. I was on the pill, but that had been mostly to try to get rid of some of the cramps and decrease the bleeding. No matter the reason, I was glad I was, at least I didn't have to worry about getting pregnant.

“Yeah. And you’re not staying at Brick’s place. At least not if you want some.”

“
So you won’t come and fuck me at Brick’s house?” I said as I pulled up my panties and jeans.

“
No. Might go there for a barbeque and fuck you, but I’m not staying the night. Would feel like high school all over. Banging a chick at her parents’ house.”

I put my arm around his neck and kissed him. “So can I stay at your place if I don’t find a place before I’m kicked out of mine?”

“Absolutely.”

“
Will you clean it up a bit before I come?”

“
I will.”

I’d been there, once. The place was a dump. We’d stayed for less than five minutes, it was just so he could pick up some clothes. Most of his clothes were at my place by now. According to him the only thing he had there that he gave a damn about was his music collection. Vinyl. I’d been very surprised about it when he told me, since he hardly ever talked about music, but apparently he used to be quite the music geek when he was younger.

“I need to move out before the end of the month and I have more stuff than when I moved in, think you could help me?”

“
I’ll help you.” He hugged me. “Tests tomorrow, and baby...”