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“
Your dad’s
kind of a badass. I wanna make sure he’s not going to turn my balls
into pumpkins if I don’t have you home before midnight.”

I slip onto
the bike behind him, wrap my arms around his waist and hold on—and
yeah, I may have trailed my fingers around a little slower and
softer than was necessary. He flinches a little, his shoulders
tensing, and the hard muscles of his stomach bunching beneath my
fingers before he settles into the seat and my arms.

“
Besides, he
scares the shit out of me,” Elijah adds.

“
Aw, he’ll be
so proud when I tell him.”

“
You wouldn’t
dare.” He puts on his helmet and slides on a pair of black
wayfarers with clear lenses and yells, “Hang on” before careening
out of the parking lot at breakneck speed. I wrap my arms tighter
around him, squeeze my thighs tighter against his. I see his head
shift down to glance at my thighs and he swerves a little. I tuck
my head in away from the wind, lay my cheek against his back and
breathe in the smell of leather and Elijah.

Chapter Six

Elijah

Dropping Ana
back at her house that night felt like one of the hardest things
I’ve ever done. I know, I know, that’s a gross pussy-ass
exaggeration, especially for someone like me, but it was damn hard
returning her to her dad’s house when all I wanted was to take her
back to my motel, throw her on the bed and fuck her brains
out.

You don’t do
that with girls like Ana, though. You take girls like Ana out to
fancy restaurants, or to your kid sister’s birthday party or home
to meet your mum, but since I don’t do fancy and have no family
left to speak of, I drove around the outskirts of town for a little
while before taking her home, because Ana is one girl I didn’t want
to screw over. Maybe the
first
girl.

Either way,
the press of her thighs against mine drove me crazy. All I could
think about was how they’d feel wrapped around my hips as I drove
myself inside her. So instead, I drove her home before the
temptation proved too much for me. As much as I wanted her, I knew
this was a girl I’d have to go easy with before I choked and fucked
everything up.

“
Do you want
to come in?” she’d asked with a coy smile.

Fuck. So not
the question to ask a man who’s fantasising about being balls deep
inside you.

“
You have no
idea,” I’d whispered beneath the revving throttle. “Some other
time, maybe.”

“
Oh.”
Did she look disappointed?
“Well, thanks for the drink, and for that thing you did with
Scott.”

“
Ana, that
really wasn’t for his benefit.” I lean forward. “I’ve been wanting
to lay you out before me and kiss every inch of that fucking
beautiful body since I first laid eyes on you in your parents’ pie
shop.”

“
Well, I
guess it’s a good thing the pub doesn’t have beds, or I’d be in
trouble.”

“
Why limit
yourself to a bed, when any flat surface is fair game?” I’d winked
and then gunned it down the gravel alleyway before she could lure
me inside.

Now, a whole
day later, as I scour the local supermarket for a decently priced
microwave meal, I think of a hundred other ways that I should have
said goodnight to Ana. My mind also constructs a hundred other
scenarios where I’ve taken her back to my motel room and made good
on that promise. I’m deciding between two different microwave
meals, wondering which will be less likely to taste like dog food,
when someone rams me with their trolley from behind.

“
Ah! Fu—” I
spin around to face a very chagrined Sam. “—uuuuudge ‘n’ ice
cream!”

I squeeze my
eyes tightly shut and take a few sharp shallow breaths to keep from
Hulking out at hot waitress’s little brother. “Hey Buddy, how’s it
goin’?”

I bump my
knuckles against his tiny fist and he tilts his chin up at me
before breaking out into a goofy smile.

“
Aww, thorry
dude, I didnth thee you there.”

“
Oh my god,
Sammy you didn’t hit someone else, did you?” asked a panicked
disembodied voice from an aisle over.

“
Ana Cabana,
Elijath’s here! And my trolley cut off his leg and totally made him
bleed everywhere.”

My ankle is
bleeding, though not enough to warrant a hospital visit, but it’d
been enough to make me drop the items in my hands. The carton of
milk I’d been holding has busted open and spilled all over the
floor.

Ana comes
bolting around the corner, skidding to a halt in front of me,
though not fast enough to avoid slipping through the spilled milk.
Her legs go out from beneath her and we collide and go down in a
tangle of limbs. The breath rushes out of my lungs as I take the
brunt of our fall.

She leans
back to see my face and there’s the most beautiful pink blush in
her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

“
You Belles
pack a punch, you know that?” I feel my lips tug up at the
corners.

Ana laughs.
“Just be thankful it wasn’t my dad that ran into you.”

“
Well, I can
tell you right now, you wouldn’t have your hands on
my
arse like you do my
daughter’s.” Bob appears before us as if he’s been summoned. Like
the mere mention of his name calls him up out of the darkness like
that dude from
Harry
Potter
. I follow the line of his gaze and,
whaddya you know, my hands
are
on Ana’s arse, holding her in position as she’s
splayed on top of me.

“
What the
fuck, Ana?”

Sam laughs
and starts jumping up and down in the milk puddle singing, “Daddy
thswore! Daddy thswore!”

Ana jumps to
her feet and reaches out a hand to help me up. I take it, but only
because I like the feel of her tiny hand engulfed in
mine.

“
Son?” Bob
looks like he’s going to have a stroke right there in the middle of
the grocery store.

“
Dad …” Ana
warns.

“
I thought I
made myself clear?”

“
Yes,
Sir.”

“
Wait, what
do you mean you made yourself clear?” Ana glances between the two
of us. At least I think she does. My mind is too focused on the
170-plus kg of pissed off dad in front of me to lay eyes on her and
know for sure. “Dad?”

“
Dad? Dad?
Dad? Dad?” Sam parrots over and over again.

“
That’s
enough, Sammy!” Bob and Ana yell above him.

“
Oh my god.
You totally warned him off of me, didn’t you?” I do risk a glance
at her this time. Her gaze is cutting and her jaw is set. She’s
incredibly hot and also kinda scary, not gonna lie. Bob at least
has the decency to look sheepish.

“
Maybe I
should just let you guys—”

She whirls on
me and scary takes on a whole new meaning. “Elijah, do not move a
muscle.”

I hold my
hands up in surrender and thank Christ she turns her fury back onto
her old man. “I can’t believe you are still trying to pull this
crap.”

“
Elijah and I
had an understanding—”

“
No. Just no!
I am nineteen-years-old, Dad. You do not get to tell me who I can
and can’t date. And you especially don’t get to ward off the only
guy in town who might be interested.” She accentuates each word
which a finger jab to his chest and his big biker face winces with
each poke of her bony little finger.

“
In fact …”
She pivots toward me and I flinch, thinking she’s about to start
laying into me too, but the next thing I know she’s smashing her
lips against mine and shoving her tongue down my throat as her soft
body moulds into my hard one. I’m so startled that at first I don’t
respond, then she makes this faint little breathy moaning sound and
suddenly my hands are on her arse again like it’s a
reflex.

“
Hands, Kid,”
Bob growls.

I raise my
hands in a “look, no touching” kind of gesture and pull away a
little, but it’s clear that Ana’s not done with me yet. She pushes
her glorious rack even closer against me and I can’t help but fist
my hands in her hair.

“
Daddy, why
ith Ana thucking on Elijath’s face?”

“
I’m asking
myself the same thing, Kid,” I hear Bob mumble. Then a little
louder, “Alright, break it up you two. You’ve proved your
point.”

Ana pulls
away and that blush I’d witnessed earlier is now an all-out glow.
She smiles, a little sheepish, but it’s tinged with only a hint of
embarrassment and it seems like she’s pretty proud of herself.
“Sorry, that’s twice now I’ve used you to prove a
point.”

“
I’m not
complaining.”

“
Hey, we’re
having a BBQ at the house tonight, you should come.”

“
Ah, I don’t
know if that’s such a good idea.”

“
Gah! This is
because of him isn’t it? Dad tell Elijah he’s welcome to come to
the BBQ tonight.”

“
Yes, Elijah,
why not come and eat my food, drink my beer and manhandle my
daughter some more?”

“
Dad!” She
shoots him a stern look before smiling up at me. “You should come.
Holly will be there.”

“
Yeah.” I
scratch the back of my neck. “That’s not really a selling
point.”

“
Yeah, she
does get kinda intense.”

“
Elijah, ith
you come to the BBQ tonight, I’ll totally thow you my collection of
mathbox carths.” The kid’s eyes are so round with excitement, I
couldn’t bear to let him down. Even though it may mean Bob and his
buddies have a chance to kick my arse for manhandling his daughter,
I still can’t say no to the little guy. Kids always hit me where it
hurts. And before you start sprouting some sensitive new age guy
bullshit, being a sucker for kids doesn’t make me a
pussy.

Does
it?

“
Well when
you put it like that, heck yeah, I’m gonna be there. That’d be
awesome, little man.”

“
Cool.”

“
So you’ll
really come?” Ana asks as she snags her bottom lip between her
teeth and, just like I did the night before, I have this crazy urge
to run my thumb over it and then kiss her till she’s dizzy.
Probably not the wisest move with her old man staring daggers in my
direction.

“
Ana, can you
wrap this up? I’m gonna head over to Dave’s to get the beer,” he
mutters, as he walks away. “Maybe I’ll borrow his shotgun while I’m
there.”

“
Dad!” she
admonished. “Sorry, he’s kinda a jackass when he wants to
be.”

I smile down
at her and whisper, “You should try working with him.”

He’s still
staring like he wants tear me a new one. “Bob, if it makes you
uncomfortable I can take Ana with me for the night.” His answering
scowl tells me I’ve just said the wrong thing.
Again.
“On a date, not … you know …
for the night.”

“
Ith Ana
Cabana having a thleepover at Elihath’s? Can I go too,
Daddy?”

“
No!”
everyone, including me, yells.

“
Ana’s not
going anywhere, Son.” he says this to Sammy, but his gaze never
leaves mine the entire time. Then he starts laughing, until he’s
red in the face.

“
What’s so
funny, Dad?”

“
You know
what, Kid? Why don’t you come to our BBQ? Ana can introduce you to
all her surrogate uncles.” Ana’s eyes go wide and Bob chuckles some
more. “And then there’s their old ladies, who’re almost as
protective of her as her mum was.”

I swallow
hard. Ana’s eyes are still wide, and I could have sworn I just
heard her make an “eep” sound.

“
Can’t wait,”
I reply, as Bob heads toward the exit, chuckling the entire
way.

I am so
screwed.

I park my
bike in the alley beside Ana’s house and follow the sound of Cold
Chisel’s “Khe Sanh”. I hate Cold Chisel. They remind me of
him
and I do my best to
avoid thinking of
him
. Ever.