ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Werewolf Rider (MC Shifter Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Paranormal Romance Short Stories) (113 page)

Shit! Why did I bring him to a bar? After his dad pretty much drank himself to death.

“Cal, I'm sorry. I never even thought...” Tessa trailed off as Cal put his bottle of Virgil's root beer down and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“What, my choice of beverage?” Cal grinned, “I'm one of them...ah,
stupid
drunks.” Cal swilled some more of the Sassafras brew, “Makes me feel like I've been run over by an Abrams M1 in the morning too. So, yeah I steer clear of that particular poison.” He paused and Tessa watched as his big brown eyes looked from her to Gemma and back, “Y'all can go ahead though. I'll just sit here with my kiddie's drink while you two grown-ups chat.” His final comment broke the ice and the evening carried on.

Tessa and Gemma spent a little time catching up but spent more time regaling Cal with stories from their high-school days with Gemma trying to embarrass her friend in front of Cal. Eventually, Gemma slid out of the booth and told them she had to go to the bathroom. Tessa had a fairly good beer buzz and was happy,

“Having fun catching up with your friend?” Cal asked. Tessa looked into his huge brown eyes and smiled,

“Yeah. Having fun with you, too. I'm glad you came.”

“I'm glad too,” Cal replied. Tessa saw his expression change, “I wasn't completely truthful with you earlier,” He admitted, “When I said I don't drink on account of how I get dumb-like and all?” Tessa felt her heart beat faster knowing he was trying to tell her something personal, private and painful. She put her hand on top of his, feeling the warmth and strength there,

“Your dad?” She asked gently. Cal nodded and she could see his throat working as he swallowed. “He can't hurt you anymore,” She whispered, moving closer to Cal and squeezing his leg gently. Cal turned, his face close and Tessa thought about him in the small towel at her mother's house. She leaned closer and Cal brought his face down until she could feel his breath, smell the sweetness of the root beer and their lips met.

His lips were warm and soft but had a firmness to them she reveled in. She could taste the sweetness of his drink and opened her mouth to taste more. His tongue slid across her bottom lip and she sighed. Tessa put her hand on his chest, feeling the solid muscles flex beneath her fingers. She teased her own tongue into his mouth, finding his tongue and licking it. A thrill shot between Tessa’s thighs when he sucked her tongue further into his mouth, lapping at it with his own.

Tessa was lost in their kiss until she felt a gentle kick under the table. She broke it off and turned to see Gemma looking at them with a skeptical expression,

“I thought you two weren't a couple,” She said, “When I came out here just now I thought you were trying to eat each other.” She slid another root beer across to the grinning couple, “Put that boy down and drink your beer Tessa. You and I are supposed to be catching up.” Gemma smirked at them. Her gaze went across the bar and her expression changed to one of almost fear, “Oh, no.” Tessa turned round but saw nothing out of place,

“What's wrong, Gem?”

“Dale. My ex and his buddies have just come in.” Gemma told them, “We broke up 'cos he can be a complete prick, especially when he's drunk.” Gemma tried to sit lower in her seat but, apparently, Dale saw her, “Great, here he comes.”

Tessa watched as leather clad, bodybuilder type swaggered drunkenly over and leaned on the end of their table, putting his hand down near Cal's root beer.

“Well, if it isn't miss high and mighty herself,” Dale said loudly, “Hello Gemma,” He added an extra 'ah' sound to the end of her name for some reason Tessa couldn't figure out. “What are you doing in here on a Friday night, miss school teacher?” Dale was obviously drunk and didn't care what kind of attention he drew, “Got no classes to teach tomorrow so you thought you'd come and have a couple of beers with,” He turned to look at Tessa and Cal for the first time, “Whoowee! Now who have we got here?”

“Just leave it, Dale.” Gemma said, “Go and have some fun with your friends.”

“DONT!” Dale slammed his hand down on the table making Gemma and Tessa jump, “Tell me what to do.” He turned to the two men behind him, both of who were dressed in almost identical leather jackets, “Me and the boys here want an introduction to this pretty little thing here, don't we boys?” Dale shot Tessa a lust filled stare.

Tessa looked at Cal, who seemed to be ignoring the whole exchange. Staring into middle distance as if Dale and his cronies weren't even there.

What's the matter with him? Is he scared? Or scared of what he might do? And where's the owner to come and throw them out?

As if the thought summoned him, an older man approached,

“Now come on Dale, we don’t want any trouble here. Why don't you boys take a few free beers and go on home?”

“Free beer!” Dale cried to his cheering friends, “Bring it on over to this table here, Hurley, it looks like this boy needs a man's drink.” Tessa felt fear crawl through her chest as Dale picked Cal's drink up and looked at it, “
Root
beer!” He laughed, “What kind of a man drinks
root
beer?” Dale lowered himself down to look Cal in the eye, frowning when he got no response, “Is he backward or something?” Dale asked looking at Tessa and Gemma, neither one bothered to answer.

“Come on now, Dale,” The one called Hurley said, “you've had your fun and if you don't leave I'm gonna' have to call the police.”

“Hoo! The po-lice,” Dale said, splitting the word into its syllables, “Hurley's gonna' call the po-lice boys.” Dale turned back to Cal, “Tell me something, boy, are you planning on fucking both these girls tonight or can I have that one?” He pointed to Tessa who watched as Cal focused on Dale for the first time,

“Oh Dale,” He said in an effeminate voice, “If only you knew I prefer guys like you.” Gemma's jaw dropped and Tessa unsuccessfully tried to hide a snicker. Even some of the other customers who had stopped to watch chuckled a bit. Dale did not.

“Are you calling me a
faggot
?” He demanded, pointing his finger in Cal's face.

“Don't get so angry, sugar,” Cal told him in the same voice, “I got somewhere nice and warm for that finger too, baby.” He added, this was greeted with roars of laughter.

Tessa couldn't believe it. He hadn't even got up from his seat and Cal was making Dale back off
and
look like the drunken idiot he was. Looking back on things after all that was about to happen, Tessa thought this moment, right here, was when she started to fall in love with Calvin Hughes. Which was also the moment things went south.

Dale looked around at all the grinning, laughing faces, including his two friends, and grinned himself. Dale's grin, however, was more like an angry grimace, a feral barring of his teeth.

“I suppose you think you're pretty smart, huh?” He growled at Cal, “Getting everyone to laugh at me. We'll see who gets the last laugh out of this.”

“Ooh, you're beautiful when you're angry,” Cal bit hit bottom lip, “Gives me the shivers, honey.” Dale flicked his hand out and tipped Cal and Tessa's drinks on the table, splashing root beer and Budweiser over the table and Cal. Still Cal never made a move, “Don't go baby,” He called to the departing Dale, “We were just getting to know each other too.” Dale and his friend stamped from the bar to laughter and a round of applause for Cal. Hurley thanked him for not fighting, gave them complimentary drinks and even offered to have Cal's t-shirt cleaned. Cal declined but Hurley gave him a clean one anyway, dark blue with the Hurley's logo slashed across his chest. Tessa thought the dark color would suit him well.

Telling them he was going to clean up and change, Cal wandered off to the mensroom, leaving Tessa and Gemma to drink their beer and laugh about the situation.

“He could have taken Dale apart, you know,” Tessa felt a little boastful about Cal now, “He's a Navy SEAL.” Gemma stared at her friend,

“Wow, gurl you got it bad.” She held one finger up and waved it from side to side in a bad impersonation of a Hollywood stereotype. Gemma checked her watch, “Where is he anyway? He's been gone for ages?” She laughed drunkenly, “You don't suppose he met up with Dale after all, do you?” Tessa smiled.

“No, he went back to the bathroom, there's nothing down there but the bathrooms and...” Her stomach dropped.

“A fire escape!” Gemma supplied.

The two women managed to get out of the booth and hurried back to where the bathrooms were located. Sure enough there was a door leading to the outside. It stood open.

A light rain had started to fall since they were in Hurley's reflecting the streetlights and dazzling her eyes as Tessa held Gemma's hand to walk outside, not knowing what they might find. What they did find was a pair of dumpsters a pile of cigarette butts and Cal's t-shirt crumpled on the wet ground.

“Cal!” She shouted, picking up his shirt and pulling it tight to her, “Calvin!” Fright made Tessa abandon caution and she shot off towards the back of Hurley's, looking for Cal.

Be alright. Be alright.

The words rolled over in her mind as she trotted down the alley, past garbage cans and the back doors of other businesses, all closed at this hour. Tessa slowed and wondered what the hell to do next, go back to Hurley's or carry on looking for him? The pitiful whine she heard from up ahead made her choice for her.

A stint in the ER as part of her nurse training had exposed Tessa to a whole range of sounds people in pain could make but the heart rending howl Cal was making was a new one on her. Reaching the end of another alley, which intersected the one she was in, Tessa found out why.

The sound was being made by a bedraggled Labrador puppy. Its massive brown eyes pleaded with her to save it from the rain but before Tessa could do or say anything the dog padded off into the blackness of the new alley.

“Pup? Come here, baby!” She called into the dark, her spirits flaring when she saw the gleam of its brown eyes a little way up the alley. She stepped forward and the lab backed away, drawing her into its world. She was shrouded in blackness now and her mind created a hundred scenarios where she ended up dead, raped and dead or tortured, raped and dead. Her foot tripped on something and connected with something else bringing a scream from her throat as she landed on something warm and soft. Tessa stayed completely still until she had recovered her wits enough to grab her cellphone and turn on the light, the sudden glare from it blinded her for a second until her eyes adjusted and she could see.

Cal. Lifeless and still. She had tripped over him in the dark shadows, his blood still spreading around him. Beer, shock and fright at her own emotions made Tessa freeze, all her training and experience wasted as it was forgotten in a heartbeat.

Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Check for a pulse, Tessa!

As if on autopilot now, she pressed her fingers to his neck. Her own heart leaped as she felt his pulse beating shallow in his neck. She screamed as loud as possible for Gemma who had had the forethought to borrow a flashlight from Hurley and was making her way down the dark alley behind her friend. Tessa grabbed the light and thrust her phone into her friend's hand.

“Ambulance. Now.” She commanded and turned back to Cal. “Where is it? Where is it?” She whispered as she ran her eyes, hand and torch over his body. There!

Down low on the right side of Cal's abdomen was a small hole.

GSW! He'll have internal bleeding, maybe a punctured or lacerated colon and it might have even punched through a kidney.

Even as she thought this, Tessa was putting Cal in the recovery position, counting on the fact he didn't have any spinal injuries. As she lowered his head to the pavement, the Labrador emerged and licked Cal's ear, looking at Tessa with a nervous glance.

“Did I do good?” The dog seemed to ask, “Is he going to live?”

“Good boy!” Tessa said, flapping the dog's ears even as she looked down at the bloodstained mess on Cal's back. “Jesus!” She said. With nothing to use except what little she had with her, Tessa wadded up Cal’s beer soaked shirt she had found just outside Hurley's and pressed the clean part against his back where the exit wound looked like a tiny, angry volcano. Unable to rip or take off Cal's new shirt, Tessa stripped off her own and bit through the hem to make a long section of material. She was just finishing the knot which she had made sure was over the entrance wound when she felt something warm and dry cover her back.

“Step back, ma'am.” A male voice told her.

“No! He needs me. I'm a nurse!”

“Okay, ma'am, and you've done a real good job. But we need you to step back so we can take care of him now.” Tessa looked up into the concerned, caring eyes of a paramedic. He smiled as he gently pulled her away from Cal.

Semi-naked, soaked and freezing, Tessa felt more helpless than she ever had as she watched strangers working to save Cal's life. Gemma came to stand beside her and she felt something brush against her leg – the Labrador. Eventually they were ready to drive him to the nearest ER.

“Is one of you coming with him?” The second paramedic asked, looking from Tessa to Gemma.

“I'll come,” Tessa said immediately, “Gem will you...?”

“Of course, babe, leave it all to me.” Gemma said as she watched her friend climb into the back of the ambulance.