“Hiding?” I joked back, giving him a sheepish smile. He chuckled and came to stand beside me, looking at the bike I had been staring at.
“Can it be fixed? It’s been sitting here for a long time, with no one having the skill to start repairing it. Well, they could give it a go, but this bike is so old that parts are almost impossible to get.”
“Yeah, I can give it a try. I have some contacts who can obtain parts, but I can also manufacture some parts. I’ll see what I can do. Perhaps I can come over on weekends and dedicate some time to it.” I suggested it would be a shame to let this panhead go to waste. There are enough pieces of the wrecked bike left to serve as a starting point.
“Sweet, it will be good to see this bike out on the road again.” Rocket looked genuinely pleased that the bike could be restored. I restore old cars, trucks, and bikes with Grandpa. I have the equipment stored in a shed for when I have a place of my own to use the machines. I wonder if they have a shed where I can put them. I will need one of the machines.
“Ready?” Tank asked; he had shed the work shirt and pulled on a gang shirt. His muscles are on display. Yummy. He makes me feel tiny when I am beside him.
“Tank, Max said she can restore the baby.” Tank’s head turned to look at the wreck, and then at me.
“For real? Max, can you do that?” Tank looked surprised. After spending a few hours with me, working on bikes, he had to ask that?
“Yeah, I can, need to talk to the Prez about some space, but I can do it.”
Both guys frowned and looked around the workshop. But they didn’t say anything. Or question me further. Tank put his hand on my lower back and gave a slight push, making me start to walk out of the workshop. It was dark out. Tank guided me to the back door, Rocket leading the way. He opened the door for me and waved me in, as if I were someone important.
Causing me to giggle.
Yeah, you heard me; I giggled like a schoolgirl. It was ridiculous, and not something I had ever expected to come out of my mouth. The guys didn’t even blink at the giggle.
The place was warm inside, vibrating with the loud thump of the bass. You could hardly hear the person next to you speak over the heavy music. It reeked of cigarettes and booze.
The girls who had been at the door waiting to get in were busy with patch members kissing and almost doing the deed right there on the chair. Some were grinding their hips against the man below them, and the small amount of clothing they had on was even less now. I assumed they were well on their way to being drunk. This was a classic visual of why men lose respect for some kinds of women. I am embarrassed to see it in front of me. I looked around the room and saw my friends still with Sticks, and a couple of guys hanging around nearby.
My friends look like they are having fun, and they have a few patch members who seem friendly to them. I hope the girls know what they are doing. The gang life was not for everyone.
Dad had once spoken badly about gangs, and he hated it when I became an apprentice at the bike shop. Grandpa was the one who encouraged me to have an apprenticeship. He hated that Dad and Mum were backing my sister in everything, and maybe encouraging me to be a mechanic at the bike shop was his way to get back at Dad.
Dad had even tried to get me to leave the bike shop when Grandpa had died. But I had made a pact with Grandpa that I wouldn’t give in to Dad. To live the life I want, and never give in, no matter what the consequences are. I wonder what Grandpa would say if he were alive and saw Dad kick me out of the family home, for the sake of my sister. He would be livered, that’s for sure. But I did as Grandpa said, stood firm, and stayed true to myself.
“Hey Maxi Max, come join us. Cricket, grab Max an iced water.” Sticks patted the chair next to her, and before I could move to sit beside her, Tank grabbed me around the waist and took a couple of giant steps to the chair, and sat down, holding me on his lap. The girls looked at each other, then, between Tank and me, the confused look changed to a grin and a nod -whatever that was about.
Tank POV
I don’t know what came over me. I think I shocked everyone in the room, as well as myself. One minute, I was following Max and chatting about the bike build. It would be great to get that baby back on the road. The owner could walk again now, and I was sure he was eager to ride her again.
I thought, like all of us did, that it would be impossible to rebuild. Next, I lifted Maxine and carried her to the seat Sticks offered her. I am sitting and keeping her on my lap, my arms around her, not too tightly, waiting for her to fight to get off me, but she didn’t; she sat perfectly still, as if trying to work out what was going on.
The girls were giving her a knowing look, but keeping quiet; it was enough that they read the signals, not that it was that hard to figure out. All the guys would read this as me staking my claim.
Was that what I was doing? I wanted to protect her and be there for her; she had been through a lot lately, and if I could make her feel just a little better, I wanted to. I wish I had gone with the guys to help her settle into her apartment, but we had too much to do here.
“Would you like a drink, Maxine?” One of the guys who had been fixing bikes asked, but I don’t remember his name. “I have water coming, thanks for the offer though.” Her sweet voice answered, reviving the semi. “Sure thing, sweetness. You need anything, give us a call.”
It took all of my strength not to yell at him to ‘back off’. Even the others around me gave him a look that said, ‘You’re an idiot.’ Pulling her back closer to me, stacking my claim more obviously, having Brett lift his hands in surrender, and backing up.
“What are you doing?” Maxine asked softly; she didn’t fight me. “Protecting you, you don’t need these guys thinking you are available, you will be freer to walk about, if they think you are already taken.” It was true, the guys won’t hit on her if they think I have staked a claim.
“Should I be saying thank you?” she chuckled back. “Do you want these guys chatting you up?” I was a little annoyed and worried she might say yes. “I have just left a bad relationship, not in a hurry to start another.” It might not be the words I want to hear, but it made me feel a bit better.
“Then being my girl will protect you.” I nuzzled her ear, and she wiggled on my lap, making my semi harder. Better not do that again. That was how I gained a girl. I hadn’t meant for it to go that far, but now that I have suggested that she be my girl, I found I was okay with that.
“Okay, we can take it slowly, get to know each other. I am in no hurry to do more than that. Can you cope with no s*x?” She replied softly. I am unsure if she realized how good I felt when she said yes. “Perfect. Can I kiss?” I will accept whatever she gives me. I can’t say why, but this girl gets to me-breaking down the barriers I had put up.
The two hours I spent working with her made me want to get to know her better. She was witty and made me laugh more than once with her cocky, sassy mouth. Giving us as much as we gave her, I liked that she wasn’t chasing or afraid of us. “Maybe.”
She giggled back, not moving, happy to lie on my chest and have my arms wrapped around her waist. She felt good in my arms, a strong, toned body, not an ounce of fat on her; she didn’t feel like I would break her, like many of these soft-bodied girls felt like. I liked the fact that she was teasing me.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.