“Hey,” Mike complained. “Don’t be a cockblock. My intentions are completely honest. And I can get you wherever you need to be free of charge. I’ve been meaning to go see a barber myself anyway,” he added as his burning hot hand slid along Arden’s shoulders, creating invisible sparks. He smelled of some woodsy cologne, and Arden could already sense the fire.
He must have showered after that long drive he’d come from earlier. As he came into Arden’s line of sight, refusing to be sidelined, the breeze tangling in his hair transformed him into a music video hottie.
Don’t get drawn in. Don’t get drawn in. Don’t get drawn in.
“And what are those honest intentions?” Arden asked, secretly enjoying the touch. Mike had to be at least twice his size, and his hands were massive. Like a biker demigod gracing Arden with his presence, he had the most golden skin, the bluest eyes, and the whitest teeth. The birds and exotic animals tattooed on his arms looked as if they were ready to move their colorful wings and carry him away from undeserving mortals. Tall and cocky, he could have flirted the pants off anyone in his way.
But he’d zeroed in on Arden.
The filth Arden’s mind suggested was like a wave he couldn’t stop, no matter how wrong it was to be this shallow.
Mike rubbed his thumb against Arden’s chin, as if there was something stuck to it. His beard was thick and a bit bushy, but appeared pillow-soft, and Arden wanted to roll into his sun-kissed arms.
“I want to buy you a drink,” Mike said. Again.
Leo offered Arden a stare that could have been meant as a warning, but it was so very hard to focus on logic when Mike spread his outlaw biker charm like spores that wouldn’t stop getting in Arden’s eyes.
Tight white T-shirt, black leather vest, a belt Arden could just about hear being unbuckled. Would the signets on his fingers tangle into Arden’s hair when Mike held him down?
It shouldn’t have been so hard to make the right choice, considering that being a stupid slut who didn’t know any better was what had gotten Arden into this mess in the first place. “Okay. I’ll let you take me to the mall, but only if you buy me a bubble tea.”
Mike showed off his strong teeth in a grin as he glanced at Leo’s somber expression. “See what I did there, bro? I’m on a roll!”
“What about your future bride?” Leo asked.
Arden perked up at the possibility of a chaperone. He’d need one around Mike. “She can come with us.”
But Mike’s expression soured. “Don’t listen to that idiot. He means the girl I dated for a while. Her family is a bunch of crazies, and they demand I marry her. Not gonna happen. I’m a bird who needs to fly free,” he said pulling Arden out of the garage.
“That’s code for fuck and run,” Leo grumbled, but when Arden stopped and looked back at him, unsure what to make of this, Leo’s gaze softened. “Don’t worry. He’s straight, very bored, and won’t do shit.”
Mike groaned, as if it was all beneath him. “Who knows if I’m that straight? And you’re my date,” he said, taking Arden away from the relative safety of Leo’s presence.
Mike’s hand slipped to the small of Arden’s back, and the top was short enough for skin-on-skin touch that sent Arden’s imagination into overdrive. He shouldn’t be liking any of this. He should be so over sex, yet he was following the trail of lusty crumbs straight into Mike’s trap despite knowing that this was most likely an elaborate prank for him to laugh at with his buddies over beers later.
“It’s not a date.”
“It absolutely is. What is that thing you want me to buy you? The one with the funny name? Is that like a girly drink from Starbucks?” Mike asked, leading him through the courtyard, as if he were presenting a prized filly to the girls sitting on a bench by the bar with bottles of Diet Coke in their hands. Almost as if he were teasing them by touching someone else, and Arden could sense his skin going red from all the stares.
And yet he stole glances at Mike time and time again, remembering how firm and muscular his chest was, how cool all those tattoos on his skin were. He bet Mike had a gun and knew how to fight. How to fuck. Kaley had said it herself that he was good in bed. Even if he didn’t have sex with men, someone like him had surely tried anal with one of his many girlfriends, and Arden could just imagine their moans when a stud like Mike—
“Hm?” Arden had to take a deep breath. “Bubble tea. Yes. I mean, no, it’s not from Starbucks, it’s this drink with tapioca balls in it. They do different flavors, if you wanted to try.”
A part of Arden wanted to make his point by stepping away, but he didn’t feel threatened like he’d had at the store when Mike had taken him by surprise. So he let Mike lead him to the row of bikes standing along the wall of the MC bar. A machine Arden hadn’t seen before glistened in the sunshine, recently washed. It was a meaty chopper in shocking orange, the perfect fit for Mike’s boisterous personality, and as they approached it, he couldn’t help but imagine Mile bending him over the vehicle, pulling down his pants, and spitting on his hole. There had to be a monster in his jeans if he scored so much, and he’d thrust it into Arden’s tight hole over and over while everyone watched.
It was definitely time to step away, so Arden did so under the pretense of approaching the bike.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go by car?”
“Nah. You’re afraid of something if you need protection, and it’s much easier to flee on a bike,” Mike said and casually lit a cigarette.
“Could you not smoke if we’re about to sit so close?” He gave up complaining that his fresh hairdo would be ruined under a helmet, as that would get him ridiculed.
Mike stalled. “Why?” he asked, blowing out smoke as if he hadn’t gotten the memo that cigarettes were no longer cool. Yet despite the scent of tobacco, the little deathstick struck Arden as rather tempting when it hung from between Mike’s lips. “Does it make you think of something naughty?” he asked and had the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows.
Now that Mike put the image in Arden’s head…
“No. It stinks.”
“No, it doesn’t. It’s an aphrodisiac,” Mike said as he handed Arden a helmet and put on shades, as if he were the king of the compound. He did kind of look like he was.
Arden chewed on his lips, wondering if this wasn’t a bad idea after all. His legs softened now that he imagined them balancing on the vehicle at high speed. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle.”
“And I’ve never been on a date with a boy. There’s a first time for everything,” he said, releasing smoke like a dragon about to consume the virgin offered to it as tribute. Only that Arden was no virgin, and as soon as the monster found out, he’d spit him right out.
Arden should have reacted in anger when Mike’s foot slid between his, forcing them apart, but he couldn’t make himself pull away.
Mike was teasing him. That was all. He was a very straight biker, confident enough in his sexuality to play around. Nothing out of the ordinary would happen, and all Arden needed to do was keep up the facade of disinterest.
“I’m actually avoiding the cops, so… no speeding.”