Obsession (A Bad Boy's Secret Baby)(8)

What the fuck was I doing, riding off into the night with a man a barely knew? I hadn't even told anyone who I was with or where I was going. What if Mal had changed in a scary way? He still seemed as sweet as he was in high school, but eight years is a long time. That's not to say that he was a sweet guy back then. In fact, he was kind of an alpha male jerk to everyone else, but never to me.

I sighed, calming myself. He was always sweet to me. I mean, he could be a psycho, murderer, cannibal, but that felt silly. I didn't feel scared on the back of his bike, with my arms squeezing him too tightly. I felt the opposite. Whenever I was with him, Mal always made me feel safe.

A sign blurred by too quickly for me to catch it, but things were starting to look familiar. He turned us down a broken gravel road and more signs whipped by. I could've laughed when I figured it out. I knew exactly where we were. I was surprised he remembered.

Mal wove the bike between a few rock outcroppings and trees and parked us right along the sandy bank of the watershed area. We used to come here as kids to go swimming.

Looking back, it was kind of a horrible thing to do. It was the town's drinking water after all. I couldn't feel too bad about it, since we only swam once or twice and the water does go through the processing plant.

“This doesn't look like any bar I've ever seen.” I remarked once I was free of the bike and helmet. I was just glad my panties weren't soaked through this time. It would've been terrible if I got that wet every time I rode a bike. Although the alternative was that it only took a few words from Mal, plus him being that close, to make me wet.

I wasn't sure that was better either.

“I don't remember saying anything about a bar.” Mal slid off the motorcycle with practiced ease. He pulled a large chilled bottle of champagne out of one of his saddlebags. “I said a drink.”

“Okay, wise guy, where are the glasses then?”

“Glasses? I knew I forgot something.” Mal feigned confusion, then popped the cork with a knife he kept in the other bag. “Shit,” he jumped back from the sudden spraying liquid. The surprised smile that was plastered across his face reminded me a lot of the Mal I loved when we were kids. It was a slightly goofy side of him that he never showed anyone else. It made me feel special.

Mal laughed and clasped a hand over the bottle to stem the spray. “Looks like we're gonna have to kill it.”

He took a sip and handed me the bottle. The fizzing had died down, but I still managed to spill some on my dress. I was still mad and hurt, but I was also glad. A long forgotten part of me was at ease, it was a nice feeling.

“You know this is technically illegal.”

“Good thing most of the cops in town are drunk off their asses at a wedding.” Mal shrugged, looking mischievous.

“Are those grease stains?” I took another drink and pointed out the dark splotches on his chiseled forearms.

“Ah, yeah...” Mal wiped his arms down with a rag he had in his back pocket. “I was doing some maintenance work on a friend's car. Hey, do you remember the last time we were here?”

“How could I forget! My brother occasionally runs into the cop that chased us out of here. Officer Danvers. He's still on the force, you know.” I laughed; the fun, old memory bubbled to the forefront of my mind. “I still can't believe you used Matt Mackenzie's name when they questioned us.”

“Yeah, he was pissed because his parents didn't believe him when he said he didn't do it.” Mal kicked his boots and socks off then laid his bedroll on the dirt for us to sit on. He fished his vibrating phone out of his back pocket and answered it. “Hey, little killer, you ship out yet?”

Little killer? Mal mouthed the name Kyle at me. His younger brother. Ship out? How old was Kyle now? I thought back to when Mal, Kyle and their mother briefly lived with us. Kyle wasn't even in middle school yet. He must be what, eighteen now?

Mal ribbed Kyle a little, then wished him luck and hung up.

“How is Kyle?”

“About to get his ass kicked,” Mal laughed. He was obviously happy to hear from him. “He flies out in the morning to Parris Island to start Marine boot camp. He's a tough kid, I think he'll do fine.”

Kyle had been a little pipsqueak the last time I saw him. He was awkward and shy around girls, but otherwise seemed like a good boy. Now he's off to join the Marine Corps... It made me feel old.

“So what's the deal with you?” I asked. “Are you back or are you just passing through?”

Mal thought about it then smiled, “I'm thinking, I'm back.”

Back? Really back? I struggled to keep my excitement in check.

“You know anyone hiring vets?” He asked.