BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (150 page)

Chapter Four

Leda

I was alone in the house on a Sunday afternoon, and I couldn’t explain it, but I was feeling really antsy. The past couple of weeks had involved a ton of schoolwork and I hadn’t gotten to see Megan or catch up with any of my other friends. On top of everything, it had been raining for a week straight. I’d woken up that morning with a huge sense of purpose, but seeing the gross weather outside made me feel just as unmotivated as I had the night before.

There was a ten page paper that I had to write for a seminar by Tuesday and I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I really felt like I deserved a break. The house was cold and quiet, and I decided to make some tea before curling up in bed with a book. Even if I couldn’t go for a run, I could still get some good reading time in.

“Hey, Leda,” Stratton greeted me when I walked into the kitchen. I looked at him with narrowed eyes. “How is it going?”

“I’m fine,” I said, not really answering his question. “I’m going to make tea, do you want some.”

“Sure.”

Stratton didn’t speak to me while I was boiling water and I felt kind of uncomfortable. Ever since the whole incident had happened in Scott’s room, he hadn’t talked to me. I felt bad; I
was
going to think of something to do, but this week had been so busy that I hadn’t felt as though I’d had time.

When the kettle was whistling, I poured the water into two mugs with bags of green tea and honey. The smell was familiar and soothing to me as I carried them both over to the table and handed one to Stratton. I watched as he wrapped both hands around the steaming mug and inhaled gratefully.

“Leda, thank you,” he said in a pronounced accent. I smiled.

“You’re welcome,” I offered. “Are we home alone?”

Stratton glanced around as though there was someone in the house with us. “I think so,” he said carefully.

“Hey, wait a second,” I looked up at him and frowned. “Why aren’t you at soccer practice?”

Stratton shrugged. “Not important to me right now,” he said after a beat. “I’ve been worried about this thing.” He pointed towards Scott’s room and I knew what he meant. “What are we going to do?”

I frowned. “I’m not entirely sure,” I admitted. “I haven’t done as much research as I really should have by this point.”

“Well, we can still get into trouble, right? Because now we know about it and we didn’t tell anyone?”

“I think we should get rid of it,” I said flatly. “And then threaten him to leave and not tell him where it is. We’ll say that we’ll direct the cops to it unless he moves out.”

Stratton nodded. “That’s a good idea,” he said. “But I really don’t want to be involved with this. I could be thrown out of school,” he pointed out. “Or lose my student visa.”

I sighed. “I know,” I said finally. “But I think this is the best way to deal with this. I’m not sure what else we could do at this point.”

“You’re tough,” Stratton commented. “You sure you’re ready to stand up to those guys?” I watched as he mimed a muscular arm.

“They’re a bunch of spoiled rich brats,” I replied. “I’m not afraid of them.”

Stratton threw me a weird look. “I stand by what I said,” he told me. “You’re tougher than I am.”

I shook my head. “Definitely not true,” I said with a sigh, standing up and pushing back from the kitchen table. “Not even close.”

“Big bad Leda,” Stratton teased. He winked at me and I was troubled to find myself blushing. Even though I was seeing a new, human side of Stratton, I couldn’t help but notice that I was still more attracted to him than ever. It was frustrating; I knew he was bad news. And yet, for the first time in my life, my brain couldn’t get that through to my heart.

I headed back to my room with my cold tea, wondering about what I was actually going to do. Stratton hadn’t been wrong when he’d joked about our other roommates being meatheads, but I hadn’t ever really had a reason to challenge them before.

Curling up in bed with a book, I tried to concentrate on the plot and ignore what was going on in real life. It was actually working until I started hearing angry voices from the living room. I put my book down and listened with an ear to the wall.
Oh, shoot,
I thought to myself.
Scott
.

When I snuck into the hallway, the voices got louder.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I heard Stratton say as I snuck closer.

“The fuck you don’t!” Scott yelled back.

I jogged into the kitchen. “Hey guys,” I said warily. “What’s going on?”

Scott turned around and glared at me. “Stay out of this,” he warned. “It’s not about you, Leda.”

Stratton shot me a look from over Scott’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said in a cautious tone. “Maybe go back to your room, okay?”

I shook my head. A chill ran down my spine and I felt my palms clam up. “Sorry,” I said in a light voice. Scott and Stratton both glared at me. “I mean,” I stammered. “What’s up?”

Scott rolled his eyes. “Fine, since kraut over here won’t tell me, what happened to my blow?”

“It’s gone,” I said.

“What?” Scott leaned in my face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

I felt myself begin to shake and Stratton walked around Scott to stand by my side. “I said it’s gone,” I repeated. My voice quavered and Scott’s jawline twitched. “And you’re not getting it back, sorry. If you don’t move out, I’ll call the cops and direct them right to it.”

Scott glared. “You’re a cunt,” he spat at me. “Do you know that?”

An angry flush crept up my neck. “You tried dealing cocaine out of my house!” I yelled. “Do you really think I would stand for that? Stratton could get kicked out of school for this shit, Scott! He could lose his visa!”

“No one cares what I deal,” Scott spat angrily. “You’re going to be sorry for this, Leda.”

“I doubt that,” I said shakily. Even though I felt like I was in the midst of having a panic attack, it was a relief to have everything out in the air. Scott gave me one last glare and then stomped down the hallway, slamming the door to his room closed.

Stratton grinned at me. “Okay, Leda, that was pretty cool,” he said finally. I shrugged, feeling tears rise to my eyes.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” I said, my voice quavering. “I’m not upset.”

Stratton stepped closer and put an arm around my shoulders. The contact was unexpected but it felt amazing. His spicy scent comforted me. “That was tough,” he said a quiet voice. A thrill of excitement ran through me.
Stop it,
I told myself.

“It wasn’t that hard,” I replied. I took a deep breath and more of Stratton’s cologne filled my nostrils. He stepped closer and I felt the muscles in his arm flex.

“You’re a tough girl,” he said quietly, nuzzling into my hair. A lone shiver trailed down my spine. I wanted to say something clever and witty back to him about how no, I wasn’t really that tough at all but my mind was completely blank. Whenever Stratton was around, I always felt like I was half asleep.

“Not really,” I said lamely, wincing at my inability to come up with anything better. Stratton stretched and lifted his arm off of my shoulders, crossing the kitchen in two quick steps. My side and shoulders instantly felt cold and I rubbed my hand over the place where we’d been touching.

“What are you doing tonight?” Stratton’s back to me and he was fiddling with something from the pantry.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I’ve been reading for a couple of hours, but I was thinking about going out or something, anything.” I stretched. “I’m feeling pretty bored, actually.”

Stratton raised his eyebrows. “I’m impressed,” he said slowly. “You come to the rescue and now you’re just bored again?”

I blushed. “Not like that,” I admitted. “I just really want to get out of here.”

Stratton looked at me and cocked his head to the side. “Leda wants to get out of here,” he said with a smirk. “Okay. Let’s go to Franklin’s and drink some beer, okay? You will drive.”

I grinned. He had no way of knowing, but I’d actually been craving Franklin’s all day. And the quiet, old-man kind of bar was just perfect for how I was feeling. I didn’t want to attract any attention, especially since I was going with Stratton. The last thing I needed was to run into someone from school.

Stratton looked surprised when I agreed. I told him to be ready in twenty minutes, and as soon as I was locked in my room again, the panic set in. I looked like I’d just woken up, and there was no way in hell I wanted to go out looking like that. But if I got too dressed up, he’d know it was for him.
Ugh
, I groaned to myself.
Being a girl is so hard
.

Eventually, I settled on clean black jeans and a navy blue pullover sweater. It wasn’t really one of my favorite outfits, but Megan always talked about how great my boobs looked in that sweater, so I thought maybe Stratton would appreciate it. When I looked at my face in the little mirror over my desk, I couldn’t believe how happy I looked. But I also looked flushed, so I added some matte powder and a few coats of mascara.

Stepping back and inspecting myself, I felt satisfied. I looked pretty good, for me at least. Especially since I was in the horrible habit of wearing yoga pants to class after the second or third session.

Thankfully, Franklin’s was practically empty. Stratton led me upstairs to the big copper bar and pulled two stools together. I hauled myself onto one and looked at the rest of the bar; there was no one even close to my age there. The bartender came over and smiled at Stratton. I recognized her from school. He charmed her with a couple of words (okay, a request for a beer) and she blushed and fumbled as she slid the foaming mug across the surface of the bar.

Stratton smirked at me after she’d turned around. “Leda,” he said in a teasing voice. “I don’t think she was able to concentrate very well.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make me regret this,” I warned. He grinned and took a big gulp of beer. I could smell it on his breath and for some reason, I was all the more tempted to press my lips to his. Especially if he kept staring at me with those piercing blue eyes. 

“What are you doing for the summer?”

I frowned. “I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “My parents want me to come home and babysit, but I’m not sure if I can stick around with them for another summer. It was hard after college. You know, all your friends are moving out and getting jobs and you’re stuck in your childhood bedroom.”

Stratton gave me a funny look and for a moment I didn’t think he’d understood what I’d said. Then, he said: “It must be a strange feeling.”

I nodded. “It is, I guess. But probably not as stressful as flying overseas every time we have a break from school. What are you doing over the summer?”

“I’m going to be a tour guide, in Munich,” Stratton said. “It’s a beautiful city, Leda, have you seen it?”