Chicago Defiance Box Set Part One Read online

  “Oh, please... I just vomited a little in my mouth. Like that’s a line I haven’t heard before, biker boy.”

  I chuckle and shrug. “I’m kinda surprised you’re not more alarmed by our presence here.”

  Heeley gets to work on scooping out some frozen yogurt. “Well, the way I see it… you three came running in here hiding away from the so-called ‘bad’ guys.” She uses air quotes to accentuate it. “So if they’re the bad guys, and you were hiding—”

  “Loitering,” I correct her, and she rolls her eyes.

  After scooping some yogurt into a cup, she looks up. “Well, if you decided to loiter…” she coughs over-exaggeratedly, “…. instead of fight, then maybe you’re the lesser of two evils. I don’t know… you might look tough. You might act tough. Hell… you probably are tough… but, there must be some good in you not to want an all-out gun war on the streets of Chicago on a Friday night. I can respect that.”

  Glancing at Trax, he raises his brow and leans back against the counter as I catch Lift eyeing Ari probably a little too much. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we are the ‘better’ guys in this scenario…” this time I use air quotes to accentuate it, “… but don’t let the fact that we have an ounce of decency in us fool you, Heeley. We might be the better guys when it comes to us against the Andrettis, but that doesn’t mean we’re ‘good guys’ in the overall scheme of things. We’ve done shit… bad shit and when I say you should be scared of us…” I take a step closer to her. Her eyes widen as her throat bobs up and down as she swallows hard taking in my size. “You should be.” My eyes stare down at her while she scrutinizes mine. We’re staring at each other, and it feels like we’re standing still, but the rest of the room is spinning. I can’t explain it. It’s fucking crazy and bullshit. The intense buzz circulating around us is making my chest rise and fall quickly as I stare her down. Both our chests heave with the tension.

  “Is he always this intense?” Ari calls out, breaking me from my moment with Heeley. She looks away from me in a rush and turns back to the freezer scooping more yogurt into the already overfull cup.

  “Yeah, he’s a dramatic asshole most of the time,” Trax replies, causing Lift to laugh as I turn and glare. Both Ari and Xav chuckle.

  “Heels, I think there’s enough froyo in that cup,” Xav tells her.

  Heeley looks down as if she’s shocked by what she’s doing. “Shit… yeah.” She turns, shoving the cup at me. I take it from her, my fingers lightly touching hers when I reach out for the cup. Our eyes connect again as a spark shoots down my arm straight to my cock, and I know she feels it too by the way her body shivers. She quickly pulls her hand away like I’ve burned her which makes me grin wide.

  Heeley’s face wrinkles in a frown, and she moves back to the freezer. “Trax, do you want any toppings?”

  I snort out a laugh. “I didn’t get any toppings?”

  “God, needy much? Plus, your cup’s too full. Deal with it,” she snaps and turns filling up another one as I look at Trax whose lopsided grin is definitely pissing me off.

  This woman, really?

  “I like you, Heeley. We’re definitely keeping you,” Trax teases.

  Heeley rolls her eyes.

  “So, like…” Xav waves his hands around and continues, “… do you guy’s torture people and shit?” he asks out of nowhere, and everyone looks at him with perplexed stares.

  Heeley spins facing him, her mouth falls open, and she gasps. “Xav! Oh my God, you did not just ask that.”

  “What?” he shrugs.

  I grin, thinking this kid’s got balls just like Heeley.

  “Sorry, my brother is mentally incapable of not blurting out whatever’s on his mind. He asks the exact thing in his head without thinking of the consequences. Don’t hold it against him.”

  Xav shakes his head and shrugs. “I can’t help it, I just like to know shit.”

  So, he’s her brother.

  Makes sense.

  They look similar, but he appears more on the effeminate side of masculine. I’m relatively sure he bats for the other side.

  “Have you ever heard the saying… curiosity killed the cat?” I ask, and his eyes bug open wide while he swallows hard. “Then try not to be a pussy… you feelin’ me?”

  He nods in quick succession.

  Heeley groans walking up to me. “Right, you guys… out!” she declares and starts to shove me, but I hardly budge as Ari and Xav both jolt back in shock.

  “Sorry, what?” I ask.

  “Get out! You loitered. You’ve got your free froyo. You’ve intimidated my brother. Now you leave...” She looks away from me. “You’re scaring our customers away.” Her clipped tone and change in demeanor has me annoyed.

  “Fine…” I place the full cup of yogurt on the counter with force, and some of it slops out over my hand. Fuck! I flick my hand around, and it slides off onto the floor, and some even lands on the wall. I tip my head up to Trax who’s smirking so fucking full, even though his face is full of yogurt while he’s watching the show.

  “Boys, let’s ditch this place,” I instruct, turning and walking for the divider. I pull it up with extra force, and it slams against the bench, one side of it breaking as it falls and hangs there while I walk through into the main section of the store.

  “Bye Ari,” Lift says out of nowhere, making me turn back in time to see her scrunching her brows and jolting her head back as she looks him up and down, while he and Trax follow me out of the store.

  “It was cool meeting you,” Xav yells out.

  I half grin, but don’t turn back as I shut the door behind me with force and look down the street making sure there aren’t any fucking Andretti men lying in wait.

  Fuck, I’m in a bad mood.

  Trax slaps my shoulder. “Holy shit, brother. That was fun to watch.”

  “You better fucking hope our rides are still in one piece, ‘cause if Enzo’s men have fucked up my bike, I’m gonna be more than fucked off. And you, me and Lift are gonna have some serious motherfuckin’ words about what you were doing in the gym when we get back to the clubhouse. You pair of fuckin’ idiots.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  HEELEY

  Picking up Torque’s not even touched, overloaded froyo container, I grunt as I move the cup over to the trash and throw it into the can with extra force. “Oh… for fuck’s sake…” The stupid thing hits the bottom, and then the froyo bounces straight back at me like a flying bullet. “Goddamn those stupid bikers thinking they can come in here and take over the place.”

  Ari chuckles as she steps up beside me shaking her head, while I start frantically wiping the froyo from my hands and face where it landed. I know I’m going to have to change. Luckily, I have a spare set of clothes in the back room.

  “He’s really gotten under your skin, hasn’t he?” Ari asks bumping into my side as I screw up my face.

  “What? Torque? That baboon? No way. Not a hope in hell. He’d be all about the beer and boobs. Definitely not my kind of guy. Plus, he came in here, created damn chaos, demanded froyo, which he didn’t even eat by the way, and I’m now covered in, and then left without paying for it. He’s nothing more than a petty thief and a damn criminal.”

  Ari snorts and rolls her eyes. “Whatever. You’ve got a lady boner for him, I can tell.”

  “Totally, sis. He’s crazy hot. I mean, that chiseled jaw covered in that five o’clock shadow. Those obvious tattoos. Strong arms…” Xav pauses looking up at the ceiling with a smile. “Shit! I think I have a boner for him.”

  Ari laughs throwing a cloth at Xav as I grab another and begin cleaning myself and then the freezer glass. “Stop it, guys. He’s not that hot. Sure, he might have muscles and a relatively okay face, but that doesn’t change the fact that the douche came in here with his two goons and abused the situation. He could have paid for the yogurt. We’re not making a heap of money in case you haven’t noticed. It’s kinda dead in here for a Friday night. Fox Froyo Bar can’t be giving
handouts. We need all the income we can pull in right now. Mom and Dad need this place, Xav.”

  Xav’s smile falters, and he nods. “I know. But I’m sure three cups of frozen yogurt isn’t going to send our parents into bankruptcy, Heels. It’ll be okay.” He moves in beside me and bumps into my side tenderly.

  “You’re just pretending to be angry so you can avoid the topic at hand anyway,” Ari says.

  “What topic?”

  She grabs a broom straddling the handle between her legs and starts to gyrate on it. “You want to kiiis him, you want to suuuck him, you want to looove him, you want to fuuuck him…” she sings all while humping the broomstick.

  I snort with laughter as Xav pulls out his cell and starts to snap pics of Ari on the broom.

  These two. They’re my life. I can’t imagine not having them around.

  I turn and continue cleaning, then slip out the back to change while they fuss about singing and dancing to their own stupid made-up song. I ignore them, and my thoughts wander to Torque and the way his muscles rippled beneath his shirt. The way his eyes lit up when he looked at me. The way my body ignited when his fingers touched mine. He definitely lit something inside of me.

  But I know men like him, they’re dangerous and not just because of who they are. Sure, he’s a member of an MC—president at that—and I know he’d be into bad shit, but also the fact he’s a biker means he’s probably a womanizer, and I’m not down for that shit. So whatever fascination my body has for him, I won’t let my mind enter into thoughts of what could be.

  Because a girl like me and a guy like him—it could never work.

  Could it?

  ***

  Waking up, my eyes feel heavy from an endless night of study and barely any sleep. But it’s Saturday today, and at least I don’t have to attend class. I can spend the day quietly with my head in my books before I have to go back to the store. Thoughts of Torque have plagued my mind all night which made it hard for me to concentrate on my study. Stretching, I sit up on my giant queen-size bed. Living alone definitely has its perks. I can walk around naked if I want, I can sing along to crappy music at the top of my lungs while cooking, and I can leave my room in a pigsty which happens a lot because I’m too busy to actually clean it myself.

  Looking around at the piles of papers, clothing, and general chaos scattered over the floor, I groan and shake my head. Pulling the turquoise comforter off me, I swing my legs around. “I really need to fix my damn life,” I mumble into the air as I plant my feet on the plush cream carpet and stand up stretching my arms high into the air with an exaggerated yawn. “But first… coffee.”

  Kicking my way through the mess on the floor, I walk out of my bedroom to my small kitchenette. The three whitewash cupboards beneath the bench are so small you can barely fit a set of saucepans in them. The dishwasher is only half the size of a normal one—it’s like a half drawer that pulls out—and my sink, well, that thing is so tiny I can only just fit my dinner plates in there. To the right, there’s a two-burner range hood, and above that, a microwave sits next to another set of high shelving. And all of this sits in a little under seven feet of space. So when I say my kitchen is tiny, it’s not an understatement. But it is home, and it is me, so it’s all I need.

  I walk up to my coffee pot and hit the brew button. I set it up last night knowing I’d want a cup this morning after cramming so late last night. So, I set the pot brewing, and walk over to the desk nook to the left of the kitchen. It’s a small alcove inbuilt inside the wall. The wall is painted blue, and an office style desk is built into the indent. My laptop’s closed, but my notes and textbooks are still open from last night’s study session spread out everywhere.

  Looking down, I see my Gray’s Anatomy for Students by Henry Gray open, and there’s a detailed illustration of the human body including muscles, veins, and arteries, and I smile a genuine smile.

  My life was supposed to follow the family business. Mom and Dad opened an ice-cream bar when they were young, and as times changed and the market changed with it, they morphed the ice-cream bar into a froyo shop putting their life savings into the store. Xav and I are supposed to continue the tradition. Carry the store on for the next generation. Form franchises if we can. But with the downturn in the economy, I don’t see that happening. Plus, my heart honestly isn’t in dairy and being behind the counter.

  Xav’s all for it, though. He loves Fox Froyo Bar, so I figure he can keep the family tradition going. Me, I want something more from life than frozen yogurt. I want to be something, but most of all I feel the need to help people.

  I want to be a doctor.

  I’ve wanted this for as long as I can remember. Ever since the day Xav fell off his bike and broke his wrist. At the time, I felt the need to take his pain away. I wanted with everything in me to help him, but I couldn’t. We went to the hospital, and I was in awe—the way they eased his pain, the way they cast his arm—it was like my eyes were opened up to a whole new world of medicine. I was changed that day. And ever since, I’ve only wanted to be a doctor.

  I left high school with every intention to continue at the froyo store. To follow in my parents’ footsteps. And I did. For two years. But the call to medicine was too strong, I couldn’t deny it, so I fought for it, hard. My parents hate it, but eventually gave in and let me attend college to do what I really want, and that’s to sink my hands deep into medicine and not damn dairy products.

  So, I’m in the third of my four years of pre-med. It’s fucking hard, and I’m two years older than everyone else in my classes, not that it’s a real issue, I get by. Going to school all day, working in the evenings, and then studying all night is beginning to wear thin. I know I only have one more year of study left then I start med school. I’m looking forward to getting in the thick of it and seeing it firsthand rather than written in a textbook. Sure, we’ve had demonstrations and other stuff at university, but nothing that’s blown my mind. I want to see it all. I want to perform my own surgeries. Hell, I want to diagnose someone and then find a way to fix them. I can’t wait to get in there and get my hands dirty. It fills me with so much excitement I want to burst.

  The hot coffee drips slowly into the jug, and I smile knowing I’ll have my caffeine hit soon enough, and the world will be better for it. Stepping up to the pot, I pour my mug full and make my way over to my desk for another day packed full of study before I have to go to work tonight.

  But as I sit down, my mind wanders to last night. The way Torque ran into the store. His toned body beneath those tattered jeans, tight black tee and that kinda sexy black leather biker’s cut he wore, has me wondering just how fit he is. He looked like he’d have abs of steel. It’s been so long since I’ve been with a guy, I’ve been way too busy with school to even contemplate my sex life, or furthermore my dating life.

  The last physical contact I had with a guy was Spencer. He was a fellow student in my class back in the first year of university. We were study partners. Then one thing led to another, and we studied each other as well as the textbooks if you know what I mean. But the demand for school work became harder, and friendship blossomed. We decided that our relationship was more friendship and having sex, while fun, was starting to feel weird. So we cooled it. We’re still good friends, and we help each other in class all the time. I couldn’t imagine going through pre-med without him in my life.

  Going two years without sex, while I don’t have a need for it, sometimes the cravings become hard to resist. And while Torque aggravated my mind, he certainly ignited my body as much as I don’t want to admit it.

  Letting out a heavy sigh, I take a long sip of my hot coffee, allowing the bitter liquid to warm my mouth as it continues its journey and slides down my throat.

  Liquid gold.

  Taking a seat, I slump into the chair and close my eyes as I clench my jaw tight wondering how a chance meeting with one man can have me so on edge. Sure, mornings aren’t my finest hour, but I feel off this morning. I’m res
tless. I can’t sit still as I move on the seat from side to side to try and stop the uncomfortable feeling growing inside of me.

  I’ve found men attractive in the past, sure. But Torque? He’s dangerously sexy. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, I can’t get him out of my mind. In a way, I secretly hope I’m able to see him again. For two reasons mainly. One, so I can try and take in more of his damn good looks. Two, and more importantly, so I can throw some more sass in his direction. Because the way he looked at me when I was kicking his ass verbally, well that energized me, and fuck if I don’t love that feeling.

  Opening my eyes, I shake my head placing my mug down on the desk and stiffen my shoulders. “Get a grip, Heeley. He’s a damn biker, one you’ll never hear from again. Now get to work,” I tell myself as I pick up my pen, slide the tip into my mouth, and focus on the words of the textbook.

  ***

  My head is full after a long day of study. Well, I can try and tell myself I studied, but in reality, all I did was relive every word and moment of last night with Torque. I can’t understand why someone who annoys me so much, also has me so fucking worked up. It’s pissing me off as I scoop out a serve of yogurt for a customer.

  “Would you like any toppings today?” I ask, my voice flat and void of the typical pep and vigor I usually have reserved for my customers.

  “Umm… oh, I don’t know…” she stands there for a second, “… maybe the Graham Cracker crumbs.”

  I nod and move to the topping section.

  “No, wait… maybe the cookie dough, or maybe the chopped Oreos…” She looks to her boyfriend who she’s hanging off, and I slump my body in annoyance. At this rate, her frozen yogurt will turn into traditional yogurt. “Oh… maybe I should get some whipped cream?” She looks at her boyfriend through her lashes and smiles. “I know how you looove whipped cream.”

  “Oh, please,” I murmur under my breath, and her head snaps to me, and she frowns.