Devil's Despair Box Set: Books 1-3 (10 page)

Now she’s excited; she knows I’m talking about my bike. She asked me on the way here from Ohio if I still had it. When I told her I had put it in storage, she immediately asked me to take it out so she could ride with me. I told her we would see. “We’re going on your bike?”

“Yes. My bike, Cherry.” Moving my fingers in a circular motion, I try to get her to go away. “Can you turn around and go back and change please?”

“I didn’t really think you still had your bike.”

Moving my hands to my hips as my patience wears thin, I hear myself bark at her. “We need to discuss this now or do you wanna go eat? I’m hungry. We can talk about it on the way.”

“We can’t talk if we’re on the bike.”

Turning around to face the door, expecting her to do as I told her, I snap. “Thank fuck for that, let’s go.”

Once Cherry has changed into something only slightly-less revealing, we’re on our way to Belleni’s. I know it’s a stretch, about an hour drive from the apartment, but when I took Cherry to the ocean when we arrived here a few weeks ago, she fell in love with it. I’m taking her to an Italian restaurant that sits near the pier. I’m about to spoil her for every other man who tries to take her out, my buddy Travis included.

I feel her body lean against my back as we make our way through the winding back roads. She hasn’t said a word, but every now and then she rests her face on my back and briefly squeezes me to her tightly. She’s enjoying every second of the ride just as I am.

The evening sun is almost gone, the air is still, and the sounds of other patrons can already be heard from where I park across the street from the restaurant. Cherry doesn’t hesitate to grab my hand as we walk toward the entrance.

Looking at the restaurant from where we’re standing, she takes in the tables on the patio and smiles as she sees the uniformed wait staff bringing out tall, ice-filled cocktails. This isn’t a place for the clothes she typically wears, and I’m gloating inside.

Again, she sees I was right on the wardrobe change.

“Have you been here before?” she asks, hesitantly.

I can’t take credit for this; however, I will thank Hayden for his suggestion. I think she really likes it. “No, but Hayden has. His dad has a beach house near here where Hayden stays when he needs to get away. He told me about it last night.”

“Is that who you were with
all
night?” She doesn’t look at me as she walks; instead, her eyes study the pavement beneath us. Something that can’t be missed, her tone is almost accusatory.

“Yeah. He gave me a ride home. I left early this morning ‘cause I needed to pick up the truck from The Ward. I probably had a little too much to drink so he drove me home.”

“I see.”

As the waiter walks away after taking our order, Cherry smiles at me across the table. It’s not a seductive smile, but I feel her eyes on me in the same manner and can tell she’s taking in the sight of me. I’m dressed in a navy blue polo shirt and nice jeans. I even shaved in the bathroom at the lumberyard where I work. I took heat for it from the boys there, too. It’s good to watch as she appreciates my efforts.

Sipping her water, she puts it down and pins me with a curious stare. “What are we going to do after dinner?”

Sadly, I don’t date. I didn’t think of an ‘after.’ “What do you mean? The date is dinner.”

Her nose scrunches; she didn’t like my answer. “This is a dinner date only?”

“Yeah. What the fuck you think it was?”

Rolling her eyes, she starts explaining the obvious, but it’s the truth I don’t care to hear. “Travis or Hayden could’ve taken me to dinner, Ace. You didn’t need to do this.”

“What do you want to do after we eat then? Did you have something in mind?” Knowing quite well she does have something in mind, I wait for it while wondering what this will cost me in man points lost.

“I want to walk the beach.”

“Then say so. Jesus, I can walk with you.”

“So I don’t get hurt?”

“Well, yeah.”

When she tosses her napkin on the table I watch as her face and neck start to turn red. She hates when I look out for her, but it’s what I know. She needs it with everything that’s happened in the past.

Grabbing her hand across the table, I hold it firmly in mine and rub her knuckles gently with my thumb. The feel of her small fingers wrapped in my large, calloused hands magnifies my urgency to keep her safe. “Look, I’m sorry. You’re right, okay? This is a date and I’m your friend, so you tell me where to go and I’ll go.”

Passively, she answers without delay. “Fine.”

The pier isn’t as crowded as I had imagined it would be, although it’s nearing ten o’clock at night. The street lights bright, nearly creating an illusion of daylight. Cherry’s walking the beach alone as I sit on the bench, giving her space to enjoy the quiet sounds of the ocean and giving me time away from her for my cock to settle.

An hour goes by before she signals for my attention. Once I finally reach her, I see her pants are dripping wet at their bottom seam and she’s holding her ‘fuck me’ shoes in her hands. In the moon’s light, I see her eyes dance and the ocean’s misty breeze leaves me no choice but to catch the smell of her skin. I swear the woman drips pheromones and if we were animals in the wild, she wouldn’t be standing in front of me looking sweet and innocent for long.

As I take a step back from my carnal thoughts, she grabs my hands in hers and pulls me to her. “Are you mad?”

Anger is definitely not what I feel. “No.”

“Are you bored?”

God, no. I’d watch her be this carefree and happy ‘til morning if she’d let me. “No.”

“Are you ready to go? You look uncomfortable.”

“I’m fine.”

“Ace, have you ever been on a real date?”

Cherry has reasons for asking, and I’m nervous as to what they are. “Why are you asking?”

“I wonder, have you?”

“No.”

Lifting her finger to her mouth, she taps her teeth gently while resting her elbow on her other arm as it holds her waist. “Explains the flowers, then. I didn’t get any.”

She’s making fun of me. I hate jokes.

Grabbing her neck and pulling her into me, I hold her body to mine as I try to smother her laugh. I kiss the crown of her head before I let her go. “I suppose we better get back. It’s almost eleven.”

“No kisses then, either?”

Relentless.

“Cherry…”

“It’s okay. I appreciate your attempt at dating. I do. One day, I hope someone…”

Hearing what she’s about to say…well, fuck that. Using both my hands, I grab her face and pull it up to mine as I bend to her and devour her mouth. I’m not sure if I’m trying to shut her up, get her mind off other men, or do what I’ve been wanting to do all fucking night long.

Her mouth opens willingly. I don’t have to prod her to accept what I’m offering. Her hands bunch at my waist, twisting my shirt. I feel her breathing heavily against my skin, and it serves as a reminder that I need to let her up for air.

When I pull her away from me and look down, I see her sly smirk. She just baited my ass. She’s never done this, and the only person in the world I can think of that falls for this shit is Shame.

I got played.

Pulling her arm with me, I start the walk back to the bike. “You’re a shit.”

“It’s a date, Ace.”

“It’s a friend date, Cherry. Friends don’t do…”

She jerks my arm, her small strength enough to stop my movement. When I look back at her, she’s looking for me to explain what she already knows. “Do what?”

I point to where we were moments ago, not wanting to describe the scene with my cock already throbbing. “That!”

She laughs, really laughs at me now. Her hand holds her stomach as if that will control her movements. Then, she points at me. “This is definitely your first date. People kiss, Ace. God, you make it sound like you just took me from behind.”

Oh, goddamn it; the visual in my head is torturous. “Get on the fuckin’ bike, Cherry.”

Thankfully she does.

The rest of the night I ignored her, all the while thinking this was the last fuckin’ date I’ll be taking her on — ever.

CHAPTER NINE

Ace

CHERRY IS ONE of the only people in this world that I find myself wanting to be a better person for. So many reasons for this, but the biggest one is that she calls bullshit and, oddly, I admit I need this. She doesn’t let me get away with much, and what I am allowed to get away with she makes me work for it.

She
felt
the day I had while she was out with Travis, and she called me on it by stopping me from making a wrong decision; not a bad one, but a wrong one. I was endearing myself to her. My intention was to fuck her and make her mine so I felt in control of her completely, but this was wrong of me and she knew it.

The date we had the following evening wasn’t what I had hoped. I was looking to take her to dinner, label it a date, and pacify her need to be with anyone else but me. This backfired. I had a good time with her, regardless of how the night ended just as every other one before it. She on her side of my bed, me on the other. I ached to be with her but thought better of trying.

We’re at The Ward tonight. Bean and Sarah are both with Mary while she visits her aunt that lives thirty miles out of town. Sarah’s pissed I made her go with them to supervise, but Mary and Bean are older and who the fuck knows what those two would get up to without a chaperone.

“Hey, bro.” Hayden hollers to me as he walks not one, but two, women over to Cherry and me as we stand at the bar drinking and waiting for the rest of the guys to arrive.

He lets go of the blonde at his right so I get my standard fist-bump greeting. “Hayden.” Giving a chin-lift to the girls, I make an observant statement. “Hands full tonight, I see.”

He wraps his arm back around the blonde as she curls her small form into his tall, broad one. “Full of beauty, it is. Life’s good, bro.” Leaning his face into the blonde’s neck, he introduces her. “This is Michelle.” Then, kissing the cheek of the redhead at his left, he offers her introduction. “And this is Kate.”

Hayden looks down to Cherry as she stands at my side. She’s studying the redhead on his left, then her eyes move to the blonde and if I’m not mistaken, her top lip just curled in disgust. Hayden catches this, too, and smiles through his words. “Awe, Rae. You jealous I don’t have an arm for you? I’ll make room for you, baby. All ya gotta say is…”

“Fuck off.” As soon as she says it, Hayden busts up with laughter. Neither of his current arrangements finds this the least bit amusing, which makes it hilarious to me, as well.

“Dayum, Rae, you’re in a mood,” he says jokingly, trying to lighten her disposition.

She smiles sweetly before answering on an eye-roll. “Not a mood at all. I recognize a good time and you’re not it.”

“Wow!” Toby rings in, walking up as he offers his hand in a high-five that Cherry grants him. “Nice work, girl. You’re fitting in with the circus already.”

Cherry doesn’t respond as she leans into me, asking without words for me to wrap my arm around her. The crowd is increasing and the noise is reaching higher decibels. Last Friday, things didn’t end well, and we both remember the nightmares that followed. I wrap my arm around her, and she relaxes into me as I had expected she would.

Toby and Hayden share a look at our position, and thankfully Hayden offers no words of sarcasm. Toby looks around the room anxiously trying to find Marlee; once he does, his posture relaxes, as well.

The boys aren’t playing their own set tonight. A new band is making their Ward debut this Saturday instead. “Dragon’s Mansion” is about to start in fifteen minutes. No tables are left available, so we’re all locked to the bar near the front entrance.

“I need to use the restroom,” Cherry whispers in my ear.

Not about to relive last weekend, I offer a plan I’m comfortable with. “I’ll take you.”

She puts her hand on my chest and pushes away from me. “No, I’m good. You’re staying here, right?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Rae. Let Ace hold the bar up, I’ll take you. I gotta hit the head myself.” Moving his body away from Blonde and Red, Hayden grabs Cherry by the arm and pulls her to him just as I would if it were me taking care of her. This reassures me, and I nod to Hayden to give the okay.

“Bring her right back, fucker. No funny business.”

“Got it, chief,” he says, offering a mock salute as he starts to turn her around. She smiles at me before disappearing into the crowd.

A few minutes go by, feeling like hours have passed and I’m still not relaxed. All week, Cherry and I have been sidestepping each other, keeping our distance and neither bringing up the obvious fact that I’m an idiot. I love her for allowing me to fake a case of specified amnesia.

“Ace, another?” Shelby asks me, lifting my empty beer off the bar and shaking it.

“Yeah, one for Hayden, as well; he’ll be right back. Hope you know what Cherry’s drinking. I’m not sure what this shit is, but give her another, as well.”

Behind me comes a familiar voice. I haven’t heard this shrill in two very peaceful years. “Mark? Is that you?”

Turning around, leaving Blonde and Red to watch the instance that’s about to happen in front of them and not giving a flying fuck if they form any kind of negative opinion of me, I find Kenna McAdams standing in front of us all. She offers me a nasty snarl of resentment along with her stench of traitorous bullshit.

Kenna and I have shared history and not a good one. I used to be an equal member of Devil’s Despair full-time just like all the other members. I dated Kenna for a year during that time. When I say “dated”, I mean I fucked her and only her for a period of time. We weren’t award-winning couple material, but we were as close to it as I had ever known with anyone else. At this time, unknowingly to me, she made it a habit of cheating and lying. Thankfully, I wasn’t so into her that she broke my heart in doing so. What did break my heart and leave me a less-trusting person was the fact that after a drunken night at The Ward, she chose Hayden, of all people, to have a fucking fling with. He accepted what she offered.

Toby and Marlee found them that night in Hayden’s Mercedes Coupe. I couldn’t find her after the performance and the bar was closing. At the time, I had assumed Hayden had disappeared with a local barfly as he always did when we were done on set. I wouldn’t have ever expected to find them in the emptying parking lot. If Toby hadn’t found them on his way out, I doubt I would have ever known. Marlee, though, went ballistic; Kenna ended up with a fat lip, black eye, and scrapes on both knees. You don’t fuck with Marlee’s friends, and thankfully she’s never had to prove her loyalty to anyone since, as word got around and Kenna never made another show at The Ward.