JAX: MC Biker Romance (New Adult Contemporary Bad Boy Romance) (24 page)

Pulling the SUV away from the curb, I turned the corner toward my parent’s place. I could have driven this route with my eyes closed. I had made this trip so many times before, and still, nothing had changed. Houses still belonged to the same people, and the shops remained the same. Up ahead, I could see Skye standing at the bus stop, checking her phone. With a sigh, I angled the SUV over to the bus stop and stopped beside her. I couldn’t see a friend catch the bus when I had a set of wheels, even if that friend was being difficult.

“Hop in. I will give you a lift,” I said, as I rolled down the passenger window. She shook her head.

“The bus will be here any minute. Bedside’s I’m living on the other side of town, and it is way out of your way.” I shrugged.

“It’ll give me a chance to see the town like old times.” I could see her hesitating, she was considering it. “Come on,” I said, inclining my head.

“Thank you.” Skye sighed, as she opened the passenger door and slid in. She gave me her address and I easily turned the car around and headed across town. I was surprised when Skye told me where she lived. It was not the greatest part of town, especially considering that Skye’s parents were fairly wealthy. Skye stared out the window the entire way back to her house, lost in dreams that I had no place in. I switched off the car engine, as I pulled up outside her house.

“Here we are.”

“Thank you, Luke” Skye whispered, finally turning to face me.

“What’s wrong Skye?” I had known her long enough to know when something was very wrong. She took a deep breath and looked back out the window.

“I lied, Luke.” I frowned, what was she talking about?

“About what?”

“Everything,” She admitted.

“Skye, you know you can tell me anything, right?” Skye continued to stare out the window. I wanted to shake her, to make her tell me what the hell was going on.

“I didn’t leave Luke. Everyone else left, but I stayed here. I didn’t go to that fancy music school. I just carried on working at Mitchells” She turned to look at me then, her eyes searching mine. I could see her pain, but there was also something else there I couldn’t quite recognize. Why did Skye stay? She was so talented, her music lit up her life, as she struggled to escape her oppressive parents.

“Wait, why?”

“It’s complicated,” she said, sighing. I could see her cheeks were crimson and she was close to tears. I could feel her embarrassment.

“Skye…” I started, but she cut me off.

“Goodbye Luke,” she said, it sounded final and I knew she wasn’t just talking about tonight. She wrenched the passenger door open and sprung down, shutting it firmly behind her. Skye ran the few steps toward her apartment, fishing her keys out of her handbag before heading inside and slamming the door. Sighing, I turned the SUV back on and, once again, headed back to my parents’ home with more questions than I had begun with.

Chapter 7

I didn’t know what I was doing here or why I had agreed to come. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the hardwood door and stepped back. Looking around, I surveyed the house. It was huge; the biggest house in town for sure. Luke’s parents boasted to anyone who would listen that the house had cost Luke a quarter of his signing bonus. They weren’t bad people, just incredibly proud of their son. I heard footsteps quickly approaching and the door opened to reveal a very excited Christina who stood there in a very pretty and expensive sun dress.

“Skye!” She exclaimed excitedly, “Come on in.” She stepped back and I followed her into the large foyer. I tried not to look too overwhelmed. The foyer was bigger than the entire apartment Emmy and I lived in. I followed Christina out into the back garden while she talked excitedly about the upcoming wedding. Down in the garden, two sun loungers were laid out with a table full of cocktails and a waiter waiting for us.

“I’ve really missed you, Skye. You know, you’re the only one who remembers the real Christina. Everyone back home is so superficial,” Christina said, as she sunk into a sun lounger, holding her hand out to accept the waiting cocktail.

“I’ve missed you too.” I had missed Christina more than I would care to admit and, sitting here talking away; it felt like we had never been apart. I felt bad lying to my friend, as she told me all about her life in L.A., but I wasn’t ready to tell her the truth.

“Christina!” A voice called from the house. Looking up, I could see Max waving a mobile phone in our direction.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Christina said quickly, standing up and moving toward the house. As I watched her leave, I saw a familiar shape coming toward me,
Luke.
My heart sunk while butterflies danced in the pit of my stomach.

“Mind if I join you?” Luke said as he arrived at Christina’s empty sun lounger. He didn’t wait for an answer before sitting down and taking a sip of his sister’s drink.

“It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” he said, waving his hand around the property.

“You’ve done well for yourself, Luke,” I said, smiling. I was genuinely happy for him.

“All that doesn’t matter if you’re not part of it Skye. We spent an amazing night together.” He leaned in and whispered “the best sex of my life. Then you tell me a month later that it’s all over, with no explanation.” I felt my mouth go dry and my hands began to tremble. I tried to steady them before Luke could notice. All I could think of was Emmy with her mop of blonde hair and green eyes that were so much like Luke’s. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.

“Luke…” I started, but he cut me off.

“You can’t change the past, Skye,” he said, his voice low, “but you can change the future. Come with me to the rehearsal dinner… as my date.” Was Luke asking me out? My heart hammered in my chest, all of the emotions that I had suppressed were bubbling back to the surface. Over his shoulder, I could see Christina making her way back toward me and I felt instant relief.

“Okay” I agreed, trying to get him away from me before Christina could become suspicious, but deep down, I knew this was a bad idea, and I needed a way out fast.

Chapter 8

“Hey man!” Joe called out, as I joined him at the bar, slapping me firmly on the back. I grinned at him; it was so good to see my old best friend again. “This here is the real life Luke Wallace,” he said, as he introduced me to his group of friends who sat with him at the bar, most of whom I knew and several I played high school ball with. I greeted each in turn, happy to see familiar faces. The beers started to flow, each finished one replaced with a new one before I had a chance to blink, and it wasn’t long before several women found their way over to our booth.

“Hi, I’m Alisha,” a beautiful blonde woman said, sliding into the booth beside me. There wasn’t much room and her legs were pressed close to me. There was no hiding her attention. She was dead set on scoring Luke Wallace for the night, but she didn’t care for me. I shrugged. Sex was sex, right?

“Hi Alisha,” I said, placing my arm around her and returning her smile. But, it wasn’t Alisha’s face that I saw, it was Skye’s.

“And, I’m Amanda,” her friend said, sliding in on the other side, sandwiching me between two beautiful women. I could see my friend’s eyebrows raise and they laughed loudly. They were enjoying this. I took a sip of my beer; this was going to be one hell of a night.

“I have to go,” I exclaimed, putting my beer down and extracting myself from between Alisha and Amanda, ignoring their drunken protests.

“Where are you going?” Joe called, but I waved him off. I needed to get Skye out of my mind once and for all.

“See you tomorrow Joe,” I called back, as I stumbled out the door and into the cool night. Without thinking about it, my feet carried me towards Skye’s apartment, and I walked all the way to the other side of town.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed as I stood outside the apartment door. There were no names on the doorbell and I had no idea which one was hers. “Skye,” I shouted drunkenly. There was no response, so I shouted again

“SKYE!”

I called her name over and over again, staggering around outside trying to get her attention, but why was she not answering? I could see the lights of several apartments turn on and, from above, I heard a man shout.

“Shut up!”

“SKYE!”

I called again, and this time, I heard a door open. Looking up, I could see Skye standing on a second floor balcony, hurriedly wrapping herself in a robe.

“Luke, what are you doing?” She shouted down to me in a hushed tone.

“Let me in!” I yelled back.

“No! Be quiet and go away.” If she wasn’t going to let me in, I was going to go to her. Looking around, I could see several footholds that would allow me to climb up onto her balcony where she was going to damn well talk to me. Placing my hand on the railing of the lower balcony, I pushed myself up. I felt myself sway, as I realized how much beer I had had to drink, but I carried on.

“Skye!” I exclaimed as I landed in front of her.

“Luke, what are you doing,” she said, extending her hand helping me to my feet.

“I had to see you!” I exclaimed, “All I want is you, Skye.” She jerked back like I had slapped her in the face.

“Shush, your drunk Luke, go home,” She turned to go back inside, and I grabbed her gently by the shoulders, turning her back around.

“But why? I’m Luke freaking Wallace.” Skye stood there for a moment; I could see she was pissed off. Sighing, she took me by the hand and led me inside.

“That’s why, Luke,” she said, as she led me into a small bedroom. I could see a floor covered in toys, and in a bed against a wall laid a small child. “I can’t have you here drunk with Emmy.” Skye had a daughter? I felt myself sober.

“You have a daughter?”

“Yes, now please go.”

“How old is she, Skye?” I demanded. Skye shook her head, “Is she mine?”

“No Luke, she’s not,” Skye whispered. I sunk down in the sofa, my head spinning as Skye placed a glass of cool water in my hand and sat down beside me.

Chapter 9

This was never how I imagined Luke would meet Emmy, but sitting here on my couch, he looked so defeated, so vulnerable, and it made me remember the Luke I had fallen in love with back in high school.

“Whose is she, Skye?”

“I don’t know, Luke,” I lied. “I slept around in high school, but I know she’s not yours.” It couldn’t have been further from the truth. Luke was my first and only in high school. Tears slid down my face, but I wiped them away furiously, my heart felt heavy with the weight of all the lies I had told over the past few years.

“Is that why your parent’s kicked you out?” Luke asked, suddenly sober.

“Yes, I made the choice they couldn’t live with.” My thoughts drifted back to the night I told them that I was pregnant with Emmy and that was the last time I had ever spoken to my parents. “Luke, sleep it off, we will talk in the morning,” I said, standing up from the couch. Gathering a blanket and pillow from the cupboard, I settled Luke in before softly padding into my own bedroom, the sound of his soft snores following me, as I closed the door.

The sound of the shower running stirred me from my dreams.
What on earth?

“Luke” I groaned, as I threw the covers off me and quickly shrugged my robe on.
What is he doing?
Quietly slipping out of my bedroom, I bumped straight into Luke who was only wrapped in a small towel, his chest bare, showing his incredibly toned body. I felt myself blush, as I tried to avert my gaze, ignoring the feelings that stirred at the pit of my belly. We stood face to face, in silence, stretching in the air before Luke spoke.

“I borrowed a towel. I hope you don’t mind.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the words that came out of Luke’s mouth. They were far from what I expected. “I hope I didn’t wake you?”

“I’m a light sleeper; comes from being a mom.”

“The last thing I expected to find you hiding was your daughter, Skye. Why?”

“I was ashamed, not of Emmy; of course.” I added quickly, “but of still being here while you and Christina are off living amazing lives.”

“It might seem amazing to you Skye, and it is, but some parts are found lacking, the parts without you.” There was defiance in his voice.

“I missed you, Luke.” The words escaped my lips before I had a chance to think about the repercussions. I didn’t have a chance to think about the next move, Luke’s mouth crushed onto mine, and I felt my lips part, hungry for his touch. He bent down and lifted me onto him, carrying me into the bedroom, and laying me gently down on the bed. He gazed down at me, and I could see the hunger in his eyes, my heart hammering away in my chest.

Luke’s hands tore at my robe sliding it down over my shoulders revealing my silky nightgown underneath. His growl tore through the air, as his hands moved under the material onto my bare skin, his kisses coming fast and furious. With quick fingers, I undid the knot that kept his towel on, letting it drop to the floor revealing his naked body underneath. Our kiss broke, as Luke moved his mouth down my jaw onto my check, and finally down onto my breasts. Sliding away the flimsy material of my nightgown, Luke took my nipple into his mouth, sucking gently. Each touch felt electric. It had been too long, too long since I had been touched like this. Through the dim light that came through the door of the bathroom, I could see his eyes shine, as he watched me. His hands trailed down my body and I felt my hips widen to take in his hand. The stirring in the pit of my belly became a fire and I moaned, as his hand delved between my legs, finding me already wet and waiting for him. He moved his attention to my other breast, as his hand stroked me, gently at first, before becoming harder and faster, as my body readied itself for him.