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  In a room next to the last fucking girl I wanted to be around.

  My days I could spend in the clubhouse, but it wasn’t a place to sleep when your blood wasn’t half-booze. I didn’t need to deal with her stormy face every time I dismounted my chopper in the driveway. She couldn’t stop me from doing whatever the hell I wanted next door, but even the idea of her scowling at me had me shriveling. A dark cloud overhead might not be as bad as thunder and lightning, but it still curtailed your mood.

  I better enjoy life while I could.

  “So remind me,” I said to the girl I wanted to lay. “What’s your name?”

  She sniffed. “I’m not gonna tell if you don’t know.”

  “I want to know now.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s like you said - I’m sweet inside. I want to know what to say when I’m coming in you later tonight.”

  Her face shot an intense red.

  “God you are such a player.”

  “I told you,” the other one said. “He’s bad. He’s a criminal.”

  Criminal. I tightened. The MC took care of this town. We protected it by whatever means it took. But let the girls see what they wanted. “And yet you’re still here. Just admit you want a taste of whatever it is you think I have on offer.”

  The girl shivered and ducked her head to her friend, whispering words above my reach. I knew the whispers. People still knew me best for what I did here on this field, but my MC rep was starting to grow, and the rumors with it.

  Let them think their thoughts. The MC code didn’t make sense to those unwilling to face the harsh truths of the world, to those unwilling to do what it took to protect those closest to them. I’d done little in the MC that I wouldn’t outside it. They hadn’t asked me to.

  The cheerleader glanced down on me, and the light caught her in a way that again, I wasn’t seeing her. I saw Liza.

  I had seen her for the first time up in the stands. Back when I was just a walk-on moved in from out of town instead of a QB legend, and she was just drawing cartoons instead of running the whole damn paper. I got to be the dummy she drew.

  “You drew me like Frankenstein,” I said, looking at the sheet I’d tugged away. “My forehead ain’t that big.”

  “It’s supposed to be a robot.” She leaped and tore the paper from my hands. “I’m saying it’s like they assembled you out of pieces to be their perfect tool.”

  I grinned. “So you thought I was good.”

  “I don’t know. You looked good.”

  I grinned even wider. “Oh, I’d like to hear more about that.”

  Liza’s face shot red. She studied her toes and squirmed. I just wanted to wrap an arm around her and kiss her till she settled.

  I tried that now, she’d slam me in the balls.

  That meeting in her living room was the first time I'd allowed myself a good glance of her face in years. And how high and mighty it had gotten in that time. As if her innocence amounted to righteousness – as if she had any right to judge.

  She had been aflame at just my presence. Her dimpled cheeks burning with rage, her soft chin quivering, her straight blonde hair flipping each time she turned her pretty blues on me, hurling daggers with her gaze.

  God, had I forgotten how gorgeous she looked. I’d been so busy avoiding her that I didn’t take stock of her coming into her own. Pissing her off might be a real treat, even if I could only admire her from afar.

  It was lucky that she had her looks though. She was going to need them to make up for that massive chip on her shoulder. The world dealt all of us shit and now and then. At least I’d made the best of mine.

  Steps crunched the turf behind me. Marlo brushed past, stabbing me in the back with his elbow. I flung my helmet at him, but he took it in the shoulder and winked.

  “Make sure to throw deep with those two, boy.” He stretched it out into a 'bo-ah', channeling that Texas twang. His blond buzz cut glistened like dewy grass and his face looked thin and bony sticking out past his shoulder pads.

  “They'll have no problem catching better than you,” I yelled.

  “Catching? You better hope they don’t catch what you got, Snapshot.” He bumped through the swinging doors to the locker room.

  Snapshot. Something coiled in my chest a moment, in a way it hadn’t in years. A brief flickering of the past brought on by Liza. I pushed it aside. Of course, I was Snapshot, out on this field.

  It wasn't a bad practice session. Marlo was a decent receiver for high school, and that was enough for him. Victory was the only prize that counted for me. We were on track for the West Texas championship. The real prize would be an invite to play college ball.

  I wouldn’t drop my colors and turn my back on the MC, but it’d be good to know I was as good as I thought.

  In the meantime, there were other ways to sate my appetite.

  “So,” I said, turning back up. “Is it gonna be both of you or one tonight and one on reserve?”

  “Gross,” the uncute one said. “We're not like that.”

  “And yet here you are, just about falling into my lap.”

  The cute girl’s green eyes twinkled. Maybe she wanted to keep playing, but game time was over. In the real world, the only thing that mattered was getting the things you wanted. And if you couldn't get that, hell, take what was in reach.

  Her long tan arms lay folded far above my head. The stadium was Texas sized. But it still wasn't high enough to stop me from reaching up and grabbing her by the elbow.

  She shrieked as I yanked her over the railing. Her long, lush body fell in my arms. She lay there, stunned.

  “Oh my god,” the other girl yelled. “Joanna, are you ok?”

  “Joanna, huh?” I winked at her. “I’m gonna enjoy the hell out of that.”

  “You can't just grab her like that!”

  “She came looking for a dangerous man.” I gazed deep at my catch. “Well, you found him.”

  Joanna lifted her head. Her bra straps nudged deeper in my arm as she sat up. I could nearly crack the cup I was wearing.

  “Ready to get out of here?” I asked. Her squadmate was still yammering above, but long forgotten.

  “And do what?” she said.

  “Fuck.”

  Her eyes flared wide, then softened with lust. Her own devil wasn’t so far from the surface after all. It just took the right word to set it loose.

  I lifted her to my lips. Her mouth was strawberry soft. I tasted her tongue with mine. She pressed back, untrained but eager. Her arm curved around my neck and she pulled deeper against me. Her friend fell silent.

  I would defile her this night. She wanted a bad biker, she’d get it.

  I sank my mouth into her neck and she sighed in my ears.

  “Take me,” she said.

  “On the field?”

  “Anywhere.”

  “You want my cock, don’t you?”

  “Oh god, yes. I want your dick so deep in me.”

  She had no idea what she was invoking, but the way she hissed the words had me stiff and ready.

  “Good,” I said. “You'll get it.”

  I lowered her to her feet, then glanced up. The other girl still stood there.

  “You don't have to just watch,” I said. “I could use a little dessert.”

  “Come on, Lily,” Joanna said next to me.

  Lily shook her head, but her mouth still lay open.

  “Next time it is,” I said.

  I winked and led my catch swaying over to grab my stuff from the locker room. My hand was snug on her tight little bun as I led her out to my gleaming new Harley.

  Prospects didn’t get their ride till they earned the patch on their cut, but I hadn’t lied to the girl. I wasn’t just another prospect. The Blood Brothers knew I’d put this gift to good use making them stronger.

  “You ridden before?” I asked.

  She shook her head, looking awfully tender.

  “One leg on either side. Hold on to me and brace
yourself.” I nipped her neck. “Keep those rules in mind for later.”

  I got on and revved the engines. She shivered and wrapped herself tighter around my waist.

  We roared back to my house, another soulless box, in a street full of them - a loose, dashed line of civilization pushing weakly against the endless, hot Texas brushland. It’d been all the old man had been able to afford in the brief time he’d been a useful member of society, before a black mark on his pilot’s license grounded him, and the bottle sank him deeper. Who knew what he’d do with the money he’d sold it for.

  Joanna got off shaky, but I cupped her back and guided her in. Half the place had already been vacated, but my bed was still around, which was all that mattered. I pressed her into my room and squeezed the door shut after me.

  She looked liked a cornered animal. I didn't toy with prey though. I pulled her into me and devoured her lips. I gripped her rear, kneaded the flesh. Her mouth opened to a moan against mine.

  Oh, she might have heard what she would get tonight from the other girls. Actually experiencing it was a whole other thing. Coming straight from practice, my scent alone would be driving her wild.

  I peeled off her shirt, pushed down her bra and revealed her big, rich tits to my mouth, sucking one rosy tip after another. Fuck, they grew 'em right where this girl had come from. She warbled and mussed my hair, coming undone from my tongue alone.

  I unhooked her bra and pushed her back on the bed. Her skirt still covered her. Good. What use was it fucking a cheerleader without leaving that on? I undid my uniform, hearing her breathing grow more and more ragged as I revealed myself.

  I was leaving the QB behind and becoming the beast she wanted.

  I undid my strap, and my cup came off. My cock sprang out, long and erect. Joanna's breath stalled.

  “You ready to handle all that?”

  She nodded. “Give it to me. I want it dirty.”

  I threw her back on the bed, climbed on, pulled off her panties from under her skirt. I suckled her tits again, scooping them up, giving them the focus they deserved. She writhed, and her legs parted wider.

  My cock bucked at the sight. No more delay. I sank in over her, sighted her pussy and pressed in.

  “Oh god,” she sighed out to the ceiling.

  I returned her face to mine. “Just me tonight.”

  Her eyes tightened as I slid in deep. Wasn't the only tight part of her either. Jesus, this girl really was fresh. I could fix that fast.

  I slung an arm around her back, kissed her and punched in.

  She groaned, but I was coursing through her, free, and untarnished. I sighed in satisfaction and slid out for another stroke. This one slipped through clean and electric.

  I'd made this girl a woman. Life could change just that fast.

  All it took was one proper fucking.

  I lifted her legs up my shoulder and started on her in earnest. She tried to grip me, but couldn’t manage my strength and settled for the bedspread. Her big round breasts rippled in rhythm with my thrusts. I watched entranced, as my pleasure bloomed below.

  I sank further, riding deep against her, inside her. In moments, she started moaning. I sped up and slowed, dragging out the agony for endless minutes, until the eruption would not be halted. She bucked and writhed, and dragged her nails through me. Her blonde hair flung everywhere.

  First orgasm on her first time. I'd ruined her for every guy that came after me. She looked happy as hell with her flush red face, legs spread loose. My cock twitched at the sight and sped up.

  “I’m gonna come now,” I said through gritted teeth. “You ready?”

  “Oh god, yes,” she gasped, writhing under my thrusts. “I’ll be good for you. I'm on the pill. Just come in me.”

  A virgin on the pill - an optimist. I liked it. I sank deep and pounded into her unabated. My cock swelled, my world flashed white, but right at the last moment, I tore out. I poured myself all over her belly, until every fucking drop sat hot on her.

  “You pulled out,” she said, propped up on her shoulders.

  “I wanted to see you coated in me.” I grabbed her some tissues from the end table.

  Truth was, I didn’t want to take a risk. My life was no place for a kid. Even if it was the right place for me.

  The thought cracked the bliss in my head. I blinked it away and propped myself up next to her.

  “Not bad for a first time, huh?”

  “What?” her flush face glowed bright. “It wasn't my-”

  “There's nothing wrong with it. You're still in school, for fucks sake.”

  She went silent. “Was I any good?”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “You’re hot enough for it to not matter.”

  I cupped her breast. She swatted it and smiled.

  “You talk like you're such a big man.”

  “Aren't I?”

  “Well, maybe in some places. But we're the same age. What makes you so good?”

  “I grew up early.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  She laughed, but I was in no laughing mood. I was done with her, done with the world for now. The high of a tight pussy had worn off, and every high came with a low.

  This one settled on a specific thought:

  I'm good because I started early.

  I started with a girl who felt like a warm desert night, one who made the whole universe seem within reach. A girl whose scent had once been no less a need than oxygen.

  A girl I’d had to drive away.

  The same girl who who the the state of Texas would soon legally see as my sister. The girl whose room I'd be next to soon enough.

  In no time at all, there’d be just a wall between us. But the wall keeping us from who we used to be? That was only going up higher than ever.

  And even here, in the afterglow of conquest, that felt like an absolute defeat.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Eliza

  He was in my house.

  The thought wreaked havoc on my mind, even sitting miles away, safely at school. Classes were over, and I was working on putting together our school newspaper - The Rattler, cause of course that’d be its name - in our tiny office.

  But the second I finished editing, the second I had nothing else to do, I'd have to go back.

  Well, we just wouldn’t finish then. Maria, Jasper and I would write the whole New York Times.

  That hope lasted about a minute.

  “I think I’m done,” Jasper said, jumping up from his chair. “I just sent you the story. Tell me if anything’s not right.”

  The mail showed up in my box. I clicked it open and glanced over it. Jasper was sports. He had always done sports, and yet my lungs still stopped working as I saw the name on his bit about our football victory.

  Everett Tull. Out of nowhere, he was infecting my whole life. If we wrote more, it would just end up an homage to him – our big damn town hero.

  “Is it ok?” Jasper’s chin hung right over my shoulder. His heat touched my skin.

  I spun away. He went bug-eyed, looking like a baby owl under his tawny hair and round glasses. Even Maria glanced up from her screen across the room, her honey-tan face seamed with concern.

  “I’m sorry,” Jasper said. “Did I get too close? I’m sorry.”

  God, what was in me? All this thinking about Rett was taking me back in time. The world might suck, but he was the only thing in my past that had returned.

  “It’s fine,” I said, readjusting. “You just startled me when I was reading.”

  “Is it ok?” His eyes were back on the screen.

  “I’ll let you know when I finish.”

  “Ok. I can wait.”

  He sat quietly back at his desk, but I could feel him waiting expectantly. I sighed. There was nothing good that would come out of being a jerk and making the poor guy be my excuse to stay.

  “I’m sure it’s great. You don’t have to hang around.”

  “Yeah, but there’
s great and there’s Eliza-great. I’m not leaving till it’s the second thing.”

  Maria spoke up from behind her screen. “Eliza can make the paper Eliza-great,” she said. “Go home. You can spend all your time here once you’re a senior and have nothing else to worry about.”

  Jasper glanced from her to me, then strung his backpack through his needly arms. “Ok, fine, but you let me know if you need anything at all.”