Faith: Biker Romance (The Virtues Book 2) (6 page)

I reached for the door. As soon as it opened, a blast of chilly air painted itself against my skin. Between the workup Eddie had given me and the thrill of my impending shoplifting, it was a welcomed relief.

I took a moment and closed my eyes. I could feel just how hot my skin was against the cool air. It danced over my legs and up my dress, sending a shiver running all the way up my spine.

I knew I had to be quick. I reached in and grabbed onto my destiny in its twelve-ounce form.

By the time I headed back toward the counter, I had to stifle the visible shivers that ran through me. I did my best to make my walk look natural. I was smoothing the fabric of the dress down over and over again, trying to make something disappear that just wouldn't.

My nerves were going a mile a minute. I could hear the crinkle of the candy wrapper like a jet engine, and I was sure the Coke can stood out like a sore thumb. I was sweating, despite the chills.

At the counter, I stood until the clerk realized I was there. I didn't know what I was going to say, but I didn’t want to just walk out without buying anything. My heart was on the verge of a permanent vacation, and when the guy on the other side of the magazine looked at me, I thought it would stop forever.

“Um, do you guys have…” My mind was still blank. I couldn’t think of one thing that the 7-11 didn’t have.

“Lipstick?” I blurted it out like I was coughing up a storm. I couldn’t have looked more suspicious if I had a gun slung over my shoulder.

The clerk didn’t seem to notice. He sighed as he dropped the magazine to the counter. He looked around, as if looking would make them appear in some random aisle. He shook his head, his eyes barely raising past half open.

“Okay, thanks anyway.”

I turned for the door. I could see Eddie leaning against his motorcycle. I was right at the threshold when the clerk’s voice made me freeze.

“Yo, hold up.”

I almost bolted. My hand was on the door. I could have made it to Eddie before the clerk could even get around the counter. He’d have the engine fired, and we’d peel out of the parking lot before the clerk could even read the tiny license plate. Instead, I turned back to him.

He was leaning over the counter. I didn’t turn my entire body to him, because I felt the coke can shifting inside my panties. My leg was almost numb even though it had only been against my skin for less than a minute.

“We got lip balm stuff. You want that?” He pointed over the counter, down below. There, next to an assortment of lighters and candy bars, were small tubes of balm.

I shook my head. “No, but thanks.” I pushed the door and felt the chilly evening air and the freedom. I walked forward, ever closer to Eddie and the bike. When I heard the door slam, I almost broke into a run.

I didn’t dare turn back, but I knew if I did, I’d see the clerk with his head buried in the magazine again. The adrenaline surging through my veins wasn’t enough for me to realize I had done what children did all the time. It was still the biggest thrill of my life, and I was about to explode.

Eddie had that “been there, done that” smile on his face as I moved increasingly quickly toward him. When I reached him, I threw my arms around him and planted a hard kiss on his lips. I had to break the kiss because he was laughing.

I pushed away from him. “What’s so funny?”

“Well, darlin’, one of your tits is square and crumpled and your ice cold dick is pressing against my leg.” He leaned over, laughing as he put his hands on his knees. I slapped him on the back, but it only brought more laughter.

“Very funny,” I said, rolling my eyes.

After checking to see that the clerk didn’t care and wasn’t watching, I reached into my bra and dug out the peanut butter cups. Eddie’s laughter faded away at the sight of me reaching into my cleavage. I tossed it to him. Eddie caught it with one hand and set it on the seat of the bike.

Eddie looked back at me as I stood there my legs apart to try and save myself from some of the cold. “Well? I’m dying of thirst, here.”

I looked back to the store again. I was fine reaching into my bra, but I wasn’t about to hike my dress up.

I walked around to the other side of the motorcycle where I had at least a little bit of cover. I bent down at the knees, keeping myself hidden behind the sleek machine. Eddie watched. I knew he would, and I didn’t mind. In fact, I liked it. I wanted him to know I had done it, and I wanted his eyes on me.

I smiled up at him as I reached beneath my dress. I brought the can out, grateful to be free of the freezing metal against my delicate skin. With a proud smile, I stood up and handed it to him.

Eddie shook his head, the laughter still there. He cracked open the can and took a long pull from it. When he handed it to me, there was a wicked smile on his face. After a short and deep grunt, he said, “Sweet.”

My heart raced at his look. My throat was desert dry, and I drained most of the can before handing it back to him. I looked around, hoping to spot a clock. It was probably getting close to ten, and we were two or three neighborhoods away from my prison.

“It’s getting there, but I’ll get you back on time. Tell me how you feel.”

I tried to get the words together, but my mind was racing far too fast. “It feels incredible. I can’t even describe it. It was the thrill of a lifetime, Eddie!”

He smiled and let out a small laugh. “That’s your first time being bad, isn't it?”

I nodded. “I’ve been a good little Christian girl my whole life. Up until a month ago, that is.”

“It’s nice to see the decline from the very start.” Eddie pulled me hard against him. The can fell from my hands, but I never heard it clang to the ground. His kiss was passionate and manly, and I couldn't think of anything else.

His arms were keeping me close, his lips were making me dizzy. The kiss seemed to last for ages, and I didn’t even care about getting home late. When it finally did break, I closed my eyes and took a long breath. There was something so right about Eddie, even though he was just so bad.

He gave me that devilish grin. “It’s only the beginning.”

The ride home ached. I couldn’t go back to the old life I had spent so much time trying to escape. Eddie could see it. He dropped me off a few blocks from home with two minutes to spare.

He was still sitting on the motorcycle when I faced him. After another long kiss, he tilted his head toward my drive.

“Back to the holy land with you, Faith. If you keep the act up, I will too. See you in church, darlin’.”

With that, Eddie brought the motorcycle to life, letting it roar out into the night.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He was right.
Of course
he was right. Eddie seemed to know me better than anyone. I did have to keep the act up. If my parents had any idea what Eddie was really like, I probably wouldn’t see the sun for at least five years.

As I walked away, he called to me, “See you in church this Sunday!” Then he was off.

The weeks dragged onwards. Winter arrived, uninvited as always, bringing barren trees and the first snowfall in early October. I passed my tests and was officially a high school graduate. I think my mother was far prouder than I was. She was the teacher who had made it happen, after all.

Eddie came to church twice a week without fail, and my parents only grew fonder of him. I did, too, but for far different reasons.

I called my sister not long after my mother had graded all of my final exams.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Esther, I did it.” I didn’t sound all that excited. Not because I wasn't, but because I’d known I would pass long before I took the exams.

“I was going to book a flight to kick your butt if you didn't! Congrats, Faith! We’re so proud of you!”

Her husband Matt worked for some music company, which had dragged them all the way to California not long after she graduated.
We hadn’t seen much of them since they moved four years ago, but I loved talking to her on the phone. Matt did well, and he took her all over the country. I loved hearing about her trips. It gave me something to daydream about when times got hard in Colorado Springs.

I smiled. “I would hope my big sister would give me the proper motivation. How’s sunny California?”

She scoffed, “I’ve told you every winter, it gets cold here too. Right now it’s sixty-eight degrees.”

I sat up and looked out the window at the fine layer of white covering everything. I rolled my eyes.
Sixty-eight degrees.

She lowered her voice just enough that I could tell the change in conversation, “So, besides school, how are you holding up?”

“I’m doing better, actually. Things are good.” Esther shared my parents’ faith, but not the zealot status. She also wasn't dumb. She knew that it wasn’t for me. Esther understood that my life was a minefield, and I loved her for accepting me and understanding my struggle.

She gave me the usual pep talk. I always appreciated it.

“I know it seems hard now, Faith, but strength in the Lord will get you through this troubling time.” To anyone passing by or listening in, our talk sounded just like Bible study, but our words had far different meanings.

We had to be vague. Once just after my sister moved, I was talking to her, telling her I couldn't wait to move out and stop going to the church with all the nuts, and my mother overheard. Through her tears, I had to beg her not to tell my father.

“How’s Bible study?” She knew the right questions to ask, and I knew just how to answer so that she could understand my struggle. Only this time, my answers had a different tone to them.

I had a smile on my face. “Bible study is... great, actually.”

I don't know how, but I had given myself away. Esther could hear it in my voice maybe, or maybe it was that pause that was just a split second too long.

“Oh my goodness!” She reined it in. “There’s someone new at study, isn’t there?”

Part of me wanted to change the subject, but I had to tell
someone
about Eddie. “There is. He’s new to our church, as a matter of fact.” I did what I could to tell Esther about him, but still keep it in code.

“What’s he like?” She sounded thrilled.

“Well, he’s definitely new to church. He’s there every Wednesday and Sunday without fail. Mom and Dad like him, actually.”

“Wait, what?”

I almost laughed. They had hated Matt when they’d first met him. When Esther turned eighteen, they’d basically given her the choice to leave him or leave town. That was just another reason she’d ended up in Cali.

“Yeah. I don't know what it is, but Mom and Dad both think he’s great.”

“And what do you think?”

I didn’t know how to tell her that he was a bad boy liar with a motorcycle and quick hands. There really was no code for that, but I did my best. I thought of how I could describe him.

“He’s a fast learner. Very eager. He sits next to me, and I don’t want to vomit.” I paused while she laughed. “He comes up and talks to Mom and Dad after we get done on Wednesdays, and they let him drive me home. Oh, and they’ve started having him over for dinner.”

I could imagine that last part really throwing Esther off. Matt’s family had lived next door for the entire time we’d lived in Colorado Springs, and my parents had never warmed up to them the way anyone would have liked.

“Over for dinner? After a month? What is this guy’s secret, Faith?” Esther had long grown past caring about our parents. She would never forgive them, but at least she could live beyond her upbringing. I could still hear a hint of jealousy in her voice, though.

“I wish I knew his secret, but it works just as well on me.”

“When are you coming to visit?” There wasn’t anything more about Eddie to talk about, and Esther knew it. Maybe if I were with her, I could tell her about how wild Eddie was, how each night he drove me home, we did something dangerous. He was teaching me how to drive the motorcycle, which I liked, even though I wasn’t very good at it.

Things had escalated from the candy bar and soda. I had managed to steal a man’s wallet through some clever misdirection and a little bit more skin than I usually show. He was one of the wealthier Springs residents, and I didn’t feel bad about taking the two hundred dollar bills from his wallet before tossing it near a police station as we rode past.