Page 32 of Dirty Monsters
“Good, hop on.”
I smoothed down my hair before putting my helmet on and hopping onto the bike behind him. I slipped my arms under his and tucked them around his midsection. It was an intimate pose to be in with a stranger, but he didn’t seem to mind.
My heart pumped at a higher-than-normal rate, and adrenaline raced through my veins for all the reasons this was a bad idea. I didn’t know him. He was a perfect stranger, yet it didn’t seem to faze me.
Shouting bellowed from behind me, but I couldn’t figure out who would be trying to get our attention until I turned.
I gasped when I realized it was Ro, running down the parking lot yelling at me to get off the bike. How did he know where I was?
“You wanna wait?” Lip yelled over the roar of the engine.
“No, go, go, GO!” I yelled back, and he did as I requested. The motorcycle peeled out of the parking lot and down the road. I glanced back one more time before Ro disappeared out of view. I didn’t see anything and breathed a sigh of relief.
I wrapped my arms tighter around Lip as we drove. My dress turned up with the wind, and a breeze flew through it, but I couldn’t have cared. For only a little while, I was free.
I turned my head to the side so I could watch the ocean as we passed by on the road running along the water’s edge. It seemed so peaceful, but I knew it was anything but. The ocean takes as it pleases without a second chance like most aspects of this life.
I felt the sea spray as it drifted across the tops of my shoulders, and I tried to listen to see if I could hear the waves, but all I heard was the bike beneath us and something… else.What was that noise?
Peeking over my shoulder behind me, I noticed another black motorcycle flying up behind us. I didn’t have to wonder who it was because I already knew.
It all clicked into place. It was the motorcycle in the lot I continually passed heading to the beach. He parked it in the back corner under the palm trees.
Made sense Ro rode one, too. He seemed like the type to chase the adrenaline.
“We have company,” I yelled into Lip’s ear.
“I figured we would. He’ll have to catch us first. Hold on.” I could see the tilt of his cheeks and knew he was smiling at the challenge. He sped up, and we flew across the road, wind in our hair, nothing holding us back.It was a rush, a high I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
The bike behind us sped up too, and I wondered how long this would continue. But it wasn’t long before Lip pumped the brakes and pulled into a high-rise condo community. It wasn’t fancy, but it was on the beach, so I wondered how he paid to live there. Lip pulled into a spot by the building and waited for me to hop off before he did.
The black bike who’d been following us the whole time pulled up right behind Lip’s bike, and the driver jumped off, clearly pissed.
“What the ever-living fuck are you doing right now, Wren?”
“I already told you what I needed. I wanted to have a little fun. You gotta problem with it?”
“I’m in charge of you once you came to Orange House, so your little outings are NOT FUCKING HAPPENING. I’m not about to get my ass chewed out for you not being where you’re supposed to be.”
So, he wasn't upset I left or was with someone else? He was upset he would get his good boy ass in trouble.
“Fuck you, Ro!” I yelled as he stormed over, grabbing me by the arm.
“We’re leaving. Let’s go.”
Yanking away from his grip, I shook my head. I stopped letting men touch me without my consent a long time ago. I wouldn’t change my mind simply because I felt different around Ro.“Lip and I were having a nice time before you showed up. It’d be rude to leave him high and dry now.”
“Wait…” He stepped closer and inhaled right beside my face. “Are you fucking high right now? I can smell the pot on your clothes.”
“What if I am?”I said defiantly.
He pointed toward the bike and ground out between his teeth, “FUCCCKKKK… Get on the motherfucking bike, Wren. We’re leaving NOW!”
Out of nowhere, Lip came up with a grin spread across his face. “Long time, no talk, bro. How’s Beachside treating you these days? Still livin’ the dream?”
“Lip, stay the fuck away from my patients.”
“Awfully heated for a patient. You want to tell me what’s really going on here?”