Tommy: A Bad Boy Motorcycle Romance (2 page)

The beach...

I sat up in the bed and brought my face closer to the painting, looking at the drawn waves as they splashed up on the sand. Even though I had never been to the coast, I could practically hear the water, gently making its journey upward on the land and then retreating back, only to do it all over again.

That’s where I need to go.

The thought was rash, I knew. But I also had that undeniable feeling in my gut that it was the right thing to do. My entire body began to tingle with excitement as I imagined what the sand would feel like between my toes.

And the best part; my sister, Janette, lived in California. She had moved out there just two years prior, but because of Justin and I’s busy schedule, we hadn’t had a chance to visit.

“This is a sign,” I whispered, as the first smile of the day finally crossed my lips. “I need to go visit Janette. I need to get the hell out of Utah for a while and let the beach sooth my wounds.”

The feeling of excitement eased the knot in my stomach. I knew that a little vacation wouldn’t be a cure-all for the problems in my life, but something about the beach was calling me.

Justin is going to freak out when he finds out that I’m driving by myself from Utah, all the way to my sister’s place in Southern California...or maybe I won’t even tell him.

With the image of a sunny beach on my mind, I closed my eyes once more. This time, though, I fell fast asleep in an instant.

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T
he next morning I got up early. My eyes were still a bit puffy from all of the crying that I had done the night before, so I went to the bathroom to try fix it with some eye makeup.

While standing in front of the mirror, I gave myself a quick once over. My hair was a mess and mascara-stained tears were dried on my cheeks. I looked like a train wreck.

“You’ve got to try to get yourself together, Chelsea,” I said out loud.

I splashed some cool water on my face, cleaning off the mascara. Then I brushed through my shoulder-length black hair, making it look halfway decent. I considered hopping in the shower, but I was far too eager to get on the road and start making my way toward California.

“Honey, do you want some breakfast?” my mom called out from the other side of the bathroom door.

They’re not going to be happy when I tell them the news.

“Um, sure, Mom,” I responded. “But can I get it to go? I’ve got to get on the road.”

“The road?” she asked. “You mean, you’re going to go back to Justin’s to try to make up?”

I chuckled as I dried my face off with a towel. Then I turned and opened the bathroom door, bringing me face to face with my mother.

“Not exactly, Mom,” I said. “I need to get away for a while and clear my head. So I’ve decided that I’m going to drive to California to visit Janette.”

My mom was silent. She was as ultra-conservative as Justin and I knew that she wouldn’t approve of me taking some random road trip across the country, but I wasn’t exactly looking for her approval.

“Honey, don’t you think you should stay here and try to work on things?” she asked.

“I need this, Mom,” I said. “This is something I have to do.”

She nodded hesitantly in agreement.

“Well, just because I don’t understand it, doesn’t mean that I can’t support it,” she responded. “Just please be careful.”

I smiled and then pulled her in for a hug.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said, squeezing her affectionately.

Then I turned and walked down the hall to the guest bedroom to grab my suitcases. I took one last look at the photo of the beach that was hung above the bed. A smile crossed my face, as I imagined myself as the young girl in the photo, laying on the sand and letting the warm sun cover my skin.

This is going to be great.

I admired the photo for a second longer and then stepped out of the bedroom, making my way out of the house.

“Oh, Chelsea,” my mom said, stopping me in my tracks. “Does Justin know where you’re going?”

I took a deep breath and then looked back at her.

“No, Mom,” I said. “He doesn’t know. And to be honest, I’d rather he didn’t. I just need my space right now.”

My mom nodded understandingly.

“So...when he calls and asks where you are, you want me to lie?” she asked. “Because you know that I’m not going to lie. It’s not right, in my eyes or the church’s eyes.”

Why in the hell is everybody in this town so concerned with what the church thinks?

“Well, then tell him the truth,” I said. “Tell him that his girlfriend went on an adventure to clear her head. Tell him that she finally realized that it’s okay to push the boundaries a little bit and that not all rules are meant to be followed. Tell him that for me.”

My mom sighed, and then a concerned look crossed her face.

“When will you be back?” she asked.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I don’t really know,” I responded. “I guess in a few weeks. I’ll call you, Mom, I promise. Please don’t worry about me.”

A smile finally crossed her lips.

“Okay, well just please be careful, honey,” she said. “I love you.”

I smiled in return.

“Love you too, Mom,” I said.

Then I stepped out of the door and into my car. The adventure of a lifetime was about to begin.

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T
he drive to my sister’s house took about a day and a half, mostly because I stopped and walked around any small town that I came across. It was the first time that I had ever really done any exploring on my own and I couldn’t get enough of it.

When I finally pulled into her neighborhood, I was amazed at how large the houses were. She lived in a small town about 40 miles south of Las Angeles and the whole area was so much different than where we came from.

My heart started beating through my chest with excitement as I looked down at my GPS.

“I’m two blocks away,” I said, as a turned down the street that she lived on. “She’s going to be so excited to see me.”

I glanced in the rear view mirror to check out my hair and make sure that I looked okay. I hadn’t seen Janette, or her husband, in over two years and I didn’t want to make a bad impression.

When I pulled up to the house, my jaw hit the floor. They lived in what I considered to be a mansion.

Janette never told me that they had this kind of money.

I parked my rickety old car in front of their house and hopped out, leaving my suitcases in the trunk. I double-checked the address to make sure that I was in the right place and then I began making my way up the long, concrete walk toward their house.

As soon as I got to her front steps, a burst of excitement shot through me. Without any hesitation, I rang the doorbell. Almost immediately, I heard movement inside and then within a second, the door flung open.

“Oh. My. God,” Janette said, as soon as she saw me.

Her jaw hit the floor, right before she let out an excited squeal and pulled me in for a hug.

“Chelsea!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”

I held her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

“I’ve had a bad last few days and I needed to get the hell out of Utah for a while,” I said. “So, I decided to come spend some time with my big sis. Sorry I didn’t call, but I wanted to surprise you.”

She pulled away from our hug.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” she said. “This is the best surprise in the world! I can’t wait to call and tell Michael that you’re here.”

“Michael isn’t here?” I asked. “I thought he worked from home most of the time.”

Janette put an arm around me and ushered me inside of her huge house.

“Yeah, he usually is,” she said. “But he had a meeting in the city today. He’s been doing a bit more traveling lately. He’ll be home later tonight, though.”

Awesome! I get to spend some one-on-one time with my sis!

“Come on,” she said, squeezing me tightly with one arm. “Let’s go make a drink and get caught up. It’s been way too long, sister.”

We stepped into the kitchen, where she began mixing drinks.

“So, what happened?” she asked. “What did you mean when you said you’ve had a rough week?”

I sighed. I didn’t really want to talk about it, but I knew that she was going to pry me until I gave her an answer.

“It’s Justin,” I said. “He now has a major role in the church and he said that he didn’t want us to live together for fear of what people may think...because we aren’t married and all. So, he packed up my things and made me leave. He still says that we’re together, though, he just thinks we can’t live under the same roof right now.”

Janette shook her head in disbelief.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she said. “That’s absolutely insane.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“It is what it is,” I said. “But let’s have those drinks. I don’t really want to think about all of that stuff right now.”

Janette agreed and continued making the cocktails. I knew that she wanted to talk more about Justin and I’s situation, but luckily she respected my decision to avoid the topic.

“Well, I’m sorry that you won’t get to see Michael tonight. But he’ll be here in the morning when you wake up,” Janette said. “You are saying with us, right?”

I honestly hadn’t even thought about it until that point, but since I only had 5 blank checks in my pocket and no other money to speak of, I realized that it was probably the best choice.

“If that’s okay...” I said. “I can get a hotel or something tomorrow if you want me to.”

Janette shook her head.

“Nonsense. You’re staying with us. There’s no need to waste your money on a hotel. Plus, we have several guest rooms in our house,” she said.

I took a sip from my cocktail. Immediately, the flavor of vodka covered my tongue.

“Speaking of your house,” I said, as I set the glass down on the counter. “I had no idea you guys lived in such a nice place. I’ve never been in a home like this.”

Janette smiled and responded, “Well, Michael makes a lot of money. I haven’t had any of the family out here, because I know it would just make them feel bad about their own financial situations...that’s part of why we never invited you, Mom or Dad to come visit...”

As she spoke, she looked sad. It was almost like she felt ashamed about the money Michael and her enjoyed.

“I think Mom and Dad would be happy for you,” I said, trying to cheer her up. “They would want to know you have a great life out here.”

Then I held up my glass.

“Cheers,” I said. “To my amazing sister.”

We clinked our glasses together and took another sip.

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L
ater on that evening, after 3 cocktails and a lot of girl-talk and laughs, Janette went to bed, leaving me with free rein in the large house. Michael still wasn’t home and I found myself aimlessly walking around the hallways, trying to keep myself busy.

The excitement of being in a new place, combined with my ever-present thoughts of Justin back home, made it so that I was wide awake and I knew that sleep wouldn’t be an option for me any time soon.

With nothing to do, I laid in my bed in the guest room and started scrolling through the contact list in my phone. I scrolled over Justin’s name at least a dozen times, but never clicked on it. I’m sure that he was wondering where I was at that point, but I just didn’t feel quite ready to talk to him. He needed to see what it was like not having me around.

I let out a long sigh and then put my hands behind my head. Suddenly, a thought flashed in my mind.

I should go out. Maybe do some exploring.

There’s no way my sister would have approved of me driving around the city by myself, so I decided not to wake her to tell her that I was leaving. Besides, my plan was to only go out for a half an hour or so. Just drive around and maybe stop somewhere nice and get a drink.

This’ll be fun!

I hopped off of the bed and began digging through my suitcase for something to wear. I didn’t know for sure if I would even stop any place, but just in case I did, I wanted to look my best. I wasn’t single and I wasn’t looking to pick up a man, but I never liked going out looking like a total scrub.

All of my clothes were still packed haphazardly in the suitcase, from when Justin had thrown them in. Most everything was wrinkled and pretty much un-wearable.

“Damn,” I said, as I continued digging deeper, throwing clothes all around the room.

There was nothing in that suitcase that I thought would work, so I immediately opened my other suitcase, hoping that I would be able to find something. To my pleasant surprise, my favorite black dress was packed on top.

I grabbed it and held it up in the air, making sure it wasn’t wrinkled. It looked great and immediately a smile crossed my face.

I’ve never had a reason to wear this before.

I stripped off my jeans and shirt and then slipped on the dress. The soft material slid over my smooth skin with ease and I stepped in front of the mirror that was hung on the back of the door to check myself out.

“Wow,” I said, admiring it.

Justin had given the dress to me as an anniversary gift two years prior, but I had never had an occasion to wear it.

When I turned to the side, I noticed that it fell just below my butt. It was much shorter than something I would normally wear, but I didn’t mind. It’s not like anybody in California knew who I was and would judge me for it.

I turned back to face the mirror and then adjusted the dress over my boobs. The material was thick enough so that I didn’t need to wear a bra to cover my perky nipples.

“Just one more thing,” I said, as I reached into my purse.

I pulled out my red lipstick and leaned in close to the mirror, applying it to my voluptuous lips. Then I gave myself a smile and a flirtatious wink. I felt so dressed up and confident. It was a nice change compared to how I had felt the previous couple of days.

This is going to be so much fun!

After a quick spray of perfume on my chest, I grabbed my purse and then headed out the front door. As quietly as I could, I closed the door behind me and tiptoed down the walkway toward my car. It felt like I was sneaking out of my parent’s house, which was funny, because I was a grown woman. I just didn’t want to wake my sister and have to argue with her about how dangerous it was driving around an unfamiliar town by myself.