Chapter Three-1
2080 Words
Chapter Three
By the time dinner started, Gray regretted staying. He hated these family dinners. They always felt forced. Lionel and Pamela always asked what he was up to with the underlying vibe of, “What are you really doing with your life?” in each question.
Kristie sat down across from him, avoiding his gaze. Gray tried not to smile at her. She had obviously felt something at seeing him n***d and was trying to deal with it. He hadn’t expected her to be so hot, either. Her modesty appealed to him, different from the women in the Devil’s Advocates who threw themselves at him.
He was silent through most of the dinner. Lionel and Pamela peppered Kristie with questions about college. Gray could see why his parents were trying so hard to get them to hang out together. Kristie obviously rolled in another world from Gray entirely, one with tests and studying and going to class. Gray had none of that on his plate.
“Doesn’t that sound fun, Gray?” Lionel asked, looking at him over his old glasses.
“No.”
Pamela looked at Kristie, as if she was trying to have her back them up, but Kristie remained silent. Gray hid a smirk and shoveled another mouthful of food in.
Lionel looked perplexed. “It’s never too late to go back to college.”
“You can’t go back to somewhere you didn’t even go in the first place,” Gray pointed out. “And I dropped out of high school.”
“You can always—”
“I’m not going back,” Gray snapped, feeling irritated – this was the last thing he wanted to discuss right now.
“Is it supposed to snow this week?” Kristie chimed in.
Gray appreciated her effort at trying to change the subject.
But Lionel kept on. “I just think it’d be best if you got out of that motorcycle club you’re always partaking in. It is a waste of time—”
Gray stood up, suddenly furious, and stared Lionel down. “You don’t know anything about the Devil’s Advocates or what I do.”
“I know you get arrested,” Lionel retorted. “And I had to pay bail to get you out.”
“You two, please, if we can just...” Pamela tried to speak but Gray was too irritated to listen and held up his hand to cut her off.
“You want me to be some sort of cookie cutter human being like Kristie – well, I’m not. You’ve never been able to accept what I do or who I am.”
“Who you are?” Lionel thundered. “You run in a g**g; how am I supposed to be proud of that?”
“I’m alive and doing things I want to do instead of being a cog in a machine!” Gray spat and took off from the table, knocking the chair over as he stormed toward the front door.
He could hear Lionel yelling at him and Pamela trying to calm him down. Kristie was silent. Gray stormed out of the house, shutting the door behind him and heading off toward his motorcycle. It was always a mistake to come here. Why did he always fall for it? Lionel wanted someone to stand in for a son, and Gray would never fit in with what Lionel wanted. Good thing he has Kristie. His motorcycle came to life, and he roared down the street.
>>
Kristie watched Gray storm off, suddenly understanding what her mother had been trying to tell her about him back in the casino. Motorcycle g**g? She watched her mom try to calm Lionel down. No wonder they were all so worried. That was no joke. She knew Lionel had meant well in bringing up college, but Gray had shut down instantly. It probably had been brought up time after time and he was sick of hearing it.
Dinner resumed in a quiet fashion. The conversation was dry and filled with long pauses. Her mom seemed too concerned with Lionel to ask her more pointless questions. Kristie moved the food around on her plate, wondering where Gray had gone. She knew next to nothing about motorcycle gangs. Wasn’t there a TV show about them? Kristie dimly remembered watching it with a guy she had been dating. All it seemed to be was mean-looking guys beating each other up in leather jackets. There had to be more to it than that...right?
Kristie helped clean up after dinner and said she was tired and had to lie down. Once she was safely back in her room, she organized her things a bit, looking out the window. There was no way that Gray would be coming back here tonight. She wondered what he would be doing all night and if someone would get hurt because he was angry. Didn’t those gangs just hurt innocent people?
Frustrated, Kristie plopped down in bed, staring at the ceiling. Before she could stop herself, her brain started to wander back to the sight of Gray just out of the shower. His muscles were covered in tattoos and he had that small grin playing across his face. Kristie’s heart picked up speed as she thought about how he’d moved past her, his eyes roaming across her body. The heat from before came back to the middle of her thighs. She tried to ignore it. It was ridiculous. She realized her hands were trailing lower, and she stopped herself.
Kristie rolled over, shutting her eyes tightly, barring all thoughts of Gray and his body out of her mind. It was time to sleep.
>>
Gray stumbled back into his apartment at almost four in the morning. He hadn’t meant to be out so late but once he got around his friends, he realized he didn’t care. He was drunk and tired and barely remembered to lock and shut his door before collapsing into bed.
His apartment was rundown and in a bad part of town. But it was only ten minutes away from the club where the rest of the Devil’s Advocates hung out. That was all that mattered to Gray. Thoughts of the fight with Lionel had long since dulled, due to the alcohol he had been steadily drinking all night. He was ready to fall fast asleep.
Right before he did, Gray found himself thinking of Kristie. She had tried to change the subject during the fight, hadn’t she? His memory was muggy right now, but he was pretty sure that she had. And she hadn’t butted into the fight at all. Gray appreciated that. He hated when other people tried to butt into his business.
His mind traveled back to her n***d body. Gray hardened under the covers, a wonder due to how much booze he had drunk. He found himself going back over every inch of her body mentally, wondering what she would look like underneath him. Bad thoughts, don’t go down that path.
He managed to still his brain long enough to pass out into a deep slumber.
>>
The next morning, Kristie was engrossed in a book, lying in bed with a cup of hot tea next to her on the bedside table when her mom knocked gently on the door. She poked her head in and the look on her face made Kristie think that she wasn’t going to be overly thrilled with whatever her mom was going to suggest.
“Hey, sweetie. I’m about to head off to work.”
“I hope you have a good day.”
“Thanks.” Her mom stayed in the doorway.
Kristie sighed inwardly. “What’s up?” She closed her book.
“What are your plans for the day?”
“Relaxing. Been a stressful semester.”
“Are you doing anything tonight?” her mom pressed.
“Mom, if you want me to hang out with Gray tonight or whatever, I think we should all give up on the plan. It won’t work.”
“No, I know. I didn’t mean Gray. I was going to ask if you were going to see Kass this trip.”
Kristie hadn’t even thought of Kass, and then felt guilty. The two of them had been close friends as kids but had drifted apart throughout high school. Kass had been in the drama club while Kristie had gotten involved in the debate team and AP classes that left her with a ton of homework. Once in a while, they would text each other to see how they were doing but the conversations were never what they used to be. Life had simply gotten in the way of their friendship. Kristie hadn’t even thought of calling Kass to see if she wanted to do something. She couldn’t remember the last time they had even hung out.
“I wasn’t sure yet,” Kristie said slowly.
“I just wouldn’t want you to spend your entire break in the house. It might be good for you to get out and about, you know?”
Her mom had always worried that Kristie wasn’t as social as everyone else. She had a hard time accepting that she was an introvert. Her mom had always been a social butterfly. She was fantastic with people and could start up a conversation with almost anyone. But Kristie had taken after her father, who had also liked to read and spend time away from people. Her mother had always mistaken Kristie being an introvert as being depressed.
“I haven’t talked to Kass in a while, Mom.”
“Well, I ran into her mom at the store the other day and mentioned you were coming. She said that Kass would love to see you again.”
Of course she did. It wasn’t as if her friend’s mom was going to say anything rude. But Kristie was quickly seeing there was no way out of this, so she relented.
“Fine. I’ll text her.”
Her mom smiled. “Great, Kristie. Let me know if you end up going out.”
After her mom departed, Kristie grabbed her phone and sent a text off to Kass, wondering what she was getting herself into.
>>
Kass hadn’t wanted to do anything normal, like go out for dinner or maybe go bowling. Instead Kass had said that she would love to show Kristie the “more interesting part of town,” which meant a bar. Kristie wasn’t a fan of bars. They were crowded and loud, everything that she detested. But she couldn’t back out of seeing Kass now without looking rude, so before she knew it, she was dressing to go out.
Kristie wasn’t even sure what to wear to a bar but finally settled on a long-sleeved sweater, a jean skirt with leggings, and a faux leather jacket she had brought along in case it snowed. It was cold outside but hadn’t snowed yet, which Kristie was grateful for. She said a quick good-bye to Lionel, who had just gotten home from work from the mechanic’s garage he owned, and she was in the car before she could talk herself out of going.
Kass was waiting for her outside the bar. She always managed to dress more stylishly than Kristie ever could. She was wearing a dress that Kristie couldn’t imagine provided much warmth and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had long, thigh-high boots on and waved when she saw Kristie.
“Hey!” she said loudly, crushing in a hug.
“Hey, it’s good to see you.”
“You, too! I never thought we’d be hanging out again. Have you been here?”
“No, can’t say that I have.”
“You’ll love it.” Kass grabbed her wrist, dragging her toward the entrance.
Kristie was feeling pretty confident that she wasn’t going to have fun but decided she would try her hardest. When she and Kass were younger, Kass had no problem chatting it up with strangers and blinking her eyes to play the innocent card and get whatever she wanted. Kass pulled the same trick on the bouncer outside the door, who let them in instantly as soon as Kass winked.
Once inside, all hopes of actually talking to Kass faded away. A band on one side of the bar blared their idea of a fantastic classic rock cover. The crowd here looked mostly like people who could kick her a*s whenever they felt like it. The bar was crowded and people were sitting around small tables, cramped together. A couple was necking in a corner, and the whole place stunk of booze and cigarettes. Wonderful, just my sort of place, Kristie thought wryly as Kass dragged her toward the bar. Call her weird, but Kristie liked going to places with her friends where she could talk to them. Guess I won’t be catching up with Kass tonight. Kristie shouted her drink order toward the bartender.
Once they had their drinks, Kass led her to a wobbly table way in the back. Thankfully, it wasn’t as loud as it had been right next to the band.
Kass took a sip of her drink and beamed at Kristie. “How are you liking it?”
- Writer
