Bear by Lily J. Adams

 

Chapter Five:  New Territory

 

Bear

 

I didn’t believe for even a hot minute that Delphia would really show up for pool night, no way.

So when that cute, vulnerable, slender woman with her long honeycomb hair stepped in the door, looking around nervously—I felt hard all over.

I took in a sharp breath, waiting to see if she’d step forward. I wanted to observe her for a while and see how she handled herself. She’d done something special with her hair; it looked wavy today. She looked super sexy in tight blue jeans and a lacy white top. A combination of wholesome and wicked at the same time.

Our eyes met and I raised my hand, giving her one of my classic Bear smiles.

The visible tension in her shoulders eased as she walked towards me.

As soon as she reached me, the urge to touch made me reach out and put a hand on her upper arm, being sure to leave my mark as my lips brushed the skin near her earlobe. “Hey. You made it. So good to see you. Welcome to pool night at Wheelz.” I could barely keep my voice steady.

She grinned. “Thank you. I said I would come down… so here I am. This place is huge. It doesn’t look like that from the front. I thought it was gonna be kind of small and pokey or something.”

I tried to keep my eyes on her face and not her lips as I answered, “No, no, it’s a pretty well-known spot here. And we have pool competitions, so we have to have space for that.” I explained, gesturing at the pool table area.

“Wow. I haven’t picked up a pool cue for a long time. This looks like fun.” She ran her hand over the felt on the pool table.

Chalk was standing close by with his clipboard ready for the allocated pool players to step up. He had been watching us, waiting for an intro. “Hi, I’m Chalk. I’m the maestro of pool in Holbeck, and who might you be?” He eyed me.

I smirked at his little pool joke.

“I’m Delphia. John invited me down here. I work at the local gas station.” Delphia crossed one foot over the other and grabbed her elbow.

She clearly felt a little shy, but the main thing I clung to was that she was here.

“John? He hasn’t told you?” Chalk asked with amusement.

I realized that I had yet to tell Delphia my road name.

Delphia looked over at me with a puzzled expression. “Told me what?”

I eased her worried face with a warm smile. “I go by Bear. That’s my biker name. Call me Bear.”

She nodded and said the name slowly out loud, “Bear.” Her innocent eyes looked back at me to confirm. “Bear, it is.”

“You still have time to join in the pool competition if you’re game,” Chalk added the hopeful mention in.

“I’ll watch. Maybe I will play later or something,” she mumbled back to Chalk.

“There’s a pool table we leave free for people to play casually. Maybe you and Bear can play.” Chalk coaxed us to the free spot.

I sensed Chalk was trying to do a little matchmaking. Not that I needed his help. “Do you want something to drink?” I asked Delphia. “I wanna introduce you to a few people from the club.” I placed my hand in the small of her back and guided her to the bar.

A few of the regulars were sprinkled along the bar and gave me head nods.

Ink gave me a high five then looked over at Delphia. “Hey! I’m Ink. What will it be today?” Ink whipped a towel onto his shoulder coolly.

Delphia’s eyes were fixated on his tattoos, which was primarily why Ink got them. He was a show off and a work of art all at the same time. “Your tats are so cool. I really like them. The dice are cool. That must have taken years to finish.” She pointed to his left bicep.

Ink came closer to show it off. “Yep, years is right. Seven to be exact. I don’t think I’m going to get anymore for a little while.”

Delphia stopped looking at Ink’s tattoos and looked up at Ink’s face. “Do you have something that’s a little sweeter? I don’t want a beer.”

I smiled because I knew what he was about to offer her.

“I sure do, I have just the thing for you. It’s called the Ink special. I’ll whip it up real quick. Bear, I know you want a beer.” He spun around, searching for his tools.

“You got it.” I chuckled at him and looked down at Delphia. “So far, so good right?”

“It’s pretty cool here.” She watched Ink shake up the ingredients in a silver canister and pour the turquoise beverage into a cocktail glass with a cherry on a stick.

He taste-tested it first, drawing his lips together on a separate straw then he took it out of her drink. He popped another straw in then handed it to her. “Ooo wee, my best one yet. Get your lips around that straw, girl.” Ink knew how to put on a show which is why a lot of the patrons came to Wheelz…for his entertainment, the camaraderie, and relaxation.

Delphia sipped the drink and her eyes grew wide. “Wow! That’s fruity, but it has some kick to it. I like this. The Ink special. Thanks!”

“He’s good with a drink huh?” There was this simmering attraction between us and holding it back was becoming more difficult every time I saw her. Watching her drink triggered the memory of the car accident with Murphy and I had to look away from her for a minute and tell myself it wasn’t her. I should have listened that night. I should have just listened to her. I wouldn’t make the same mistake I would listen to Delphia. Peer pressure got the best of me back then. I swallowed down the hard lump in my throat and smiled at her the best I could.

“He is. I don’t think I can have too many of these though. They would knock me around too much,” Delphia added.

“I agree, I don’t wanna have to scrape you up off the floor or anything,” I told her with a slight smile.

“No, I don’t want you doing that either, so embarrassing.” Her eyes flickered to the pool table. Ready for that pool game now?”

Luckily, her sparkle was enough to hotwire me back to life. “Sure am. You grab your weapon and I’ll grab mine,” I winked.

As we walked over to the pool racks, Harper greeted us. She looked nice with her lips glossed and a thin layer of makeup. Sometimes she MC’ed the pool games for Chalk, and I assumed she was here to do that. Jaz was beside her as well, which was unusual. Normally, she was at the casino or busy doing other things.

I opened my arms to both of them with kisses on their cheeks. “Hey ladies, it’s awesome you’re both here. I got a friend of mine I want you to meet.”

Harper and Jaz focused on Delphia, happily sipping her Ink special.

Jaz pointed to it. “Now those drinks are lethal right there. You gotta be careful with them.”

Delphia laughed with such sweetness and light it was hard not to be entranced by her energy. “I can feel it already. It’s affecting my legs. I’m hoping it helps me beat Bear in pool.”

Jaz grinned at her as she handed her the chalk.

Delphia took it.

I could see they were both going to be fast friends. “You two; don’t even think about ganging up on me. That’s not allowed, Jaz.” I pointed to her playfully. “Especially you.”

“Ah, come on. A little bit of spice never hurt anybody,” Jaz countered.

“No, you’re the whole spice cabinet Jaz. Please,” Harper interjected as she tested the microphone, tapping the top of it.

“Oh my god, the reputation I must have built here. I don’t have any idea where this is coming from?” Jaz pretended to be dumbfounded at the claims.

Delphia chuckled as she chalked up then passed the chalk to me.

Harper came clean with the goods, “Jaz is a former card shark and now, she’s one of the head dealers at the Red Stone Casino. She knows how to run a game or two,” Harper warned playfully.

Delphia looked even more enamored with Jaz than before. “Wow! That is cool. I just work at the gas station where people come in and pay for their gas.”

“Hey, that’s a necessity. Keep going,” Jaz said as she winked at us both. “I’m gonna go see my man at the bar. Nice to meet you, Delphia, maybe we can catch up the next time you’re down here. Bear, don’t tank too hard.” She smiled then moved away.

Harper giggled. “Same old Jaz. She’s a good one. Hey, I gotta keep Chalk outta trouble here.” She took Delphia’s free hand warmly. “Nice to meet you. Have fun with Bear. You’re in good hands.” She tapped me on the back as she walked away.

Delphia seemed to have completely lost all the tension she had when she first walked in the door. “Your crew is so nice,” she marveled.

“I told you they were good people. Ready?” I waved my pool stick at her.

“Yup.”

I set up the table and the balls and let her break.

She did a fairly good job of it.

“So have you always lived in Holbeck?” I asked.

“Yeah, always here. I’m still young and maybe I won’t always be here, but so far… I am.”

I pulled my pool stick back as I looked at my target. “Do you want to live somewhere else?” I wasn’t about to bring up her brother. It was always painful enough to see the others from the car accident around town. Delphia had to feel comfortable before she shared that with me.

“I’m not sure yet. I feel like there’s been so much happening to me and my family that sometimes I just want to escape and leave it all behind. I want to start again somewhere else maybe,” she confessed.

I played my shot, pocketed my ball, which allowed me another shot. “Things can get rough in life. I get it, more than you know,” I said sympathetically. The whole story was too heavy for her. She had enough on her mind, so I just gave her a smile instead. “I’m ex-military. Things getting tough was something we faced daily in our unit. Call me a glutton for punishment.”

Delphia gasped from the other end of the pool table. “Are you for real? I mean, I can see you’re buff, but I didn’t know that. Do you miss it? Did you ever shoot anybody?”

I played my second shot and missed as Delphia slinked around behind me, putting her hand across my back. I wish she wouldn’t though. A rising feeling in my pants made me cough and forced me to move myself around to the other side of the pool table. “No to the first question and yes to the second—several times. They were criminals on every occasion, no civilians, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“I didn’t think I did. You seem like a nice guy. Helpful.” She shrugged, looking intrigued.

People often looked at me differently when I told them I had to kill people, but not Delphia. She took me by surprise a little. She didn’t know that part of me was helpful and the other part wanted to ‘help her’ out of her clothes. I would keep that secret to myself for the meantime. It was confusing in my own head. “I can be. I don’t know, you look like you’re going through it, so I wanted to help you out.” I didn’t know what she’d think of my offer. Angie wasn’t about to back off the pedal with Delphia. She might have given her some breathing room, but she would be back around like the hound dog she was.

“Thanks. I guess I have been, but that’s life, right?” She pocketed a ball of her own.

As she bent over the table, I eyed the sliver of her luminescent shoulder blade. I suppressed the urge in me wanting to touch her. “Doesn’t have to be like that all the time. You can have fun, too.” I looked at her as I said it, wondering if my cheering up tactics were too over the top. I didn’t want to make what she was going through seem trivial. Losing someone you loved was like losing a limb.

“I’m trying to. Tell me more about the army thing. Did you always want to be in it?”

Delphia’s questions snapped me back to the present. “Sort of. Kind of a life change I felt I needed,” I proposed quietly. “Problem is when you go to war it’s nothing like you imagine. It was hell, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t wish for that life back either.”

“Your life sounds memorable at least. Mine’s nothing like that. I just work at a gas station.” She was waiting for me to take my turn at the table.

I took another shot and missed two balls as they went wide. “It’s not. I’m relatively normal these days. I do have some of my unit coming down here for a reunion. I’m hyped up for that. We have been through the wringer together, that’s for sure. And to your statement, everybody needs gas. It’s a community service.”

“I still have some friends from high school, but we don’t hang out like that. I’m too busy working.”

“Okay.” Slow and steady, Bear. Let her open up. “Maybe you can meet my whole crew.” I was optimistic this wasn’t the last time we’d connect.

“Why do you want me to meet all these people?”

She didn’t have a clue as to how I felt about her and it probably was out of line due to the circumstances, so my response was a careful one, “I like hanging out with you. It’s like I introduced you to people tonight. I wanted you to meet some new people. You seem to work a lot. Got any hobbies?”

“I like video games and eating ice cream. That might not count, but that’s all I got. I like bikes because my brother liked bikes.”

“Cool. We’ll have to get some ice cream some time then.”

She didn’t answer but at least there was a smile.

We kept playing and I watched her put the last two balls in their homes, wondering how I got beaten again. The last time I played, Harper beat me and she barely played pool. “Looks like you won. I don’t know what happened to my stick. I think something’s wrong with it.” I held it up, trying to be funny.

She broke into a cute giggle. “Yeah, maybe.”

We put our sticks back and she said her goodbyes to everyone as I walked her out to her car.

“I hope you had fun tonight and thanks for coming down. You got my number, give me a call from your cell phone next time, then I’ll have your number.” I figured she was being cautious. A definite swirl of chemistry was in the Holbeck air, but I let her take the lead on it. I could have kissed her easily. But I didn’t. I let it be.

“Oops, I’ll text you. I called you from the gas station to make it easier for the company to pay,” she smirked.

I raised an eyebrow as she opened her car door, looking at her shining in the moonlight. “Fair enough and thank you. Drive safe, okay?”

“I will, thanks for a fun night. See you soon.” She waved at me and shut the door.

My phone beeped immediately, and I felt a little victorious. I tapped the car and watched her drive off into the night. “Delphia…” I let the name ring around on my lips. “I’ll be seeing you.”

 

 

I was a little slow off the mark the next day, but I managed to knock a quick run out. I was just about to set up to do a little circuit of bodyweight exercises when my phone rang.

“Angie Carmichael. What is going on friend? You got any juicy news?” I asked.

“No, but you might have. I heard that you have been cavorting with my potential witness. I want to know what you know, friend,” she teased.

I put her on speaker phone, so I could start my workout. “You don’t miss a thing, do you? Who told you?” I lowered to the ground and started some pushups.

“I got my spies in places that you wouldn’t believe,” Angie insinuated.

“Incredible, we could have used you in our unit back in the day. Pity, you weren’t available then.” I wasn’t paying too much attention to Angie, but I did have an idea that I wanted to present to her.

“Well, I’m here now. Did Delphia say anything to you? She let her guard down?” She was nosing in on the information hard.

“You really gotta back off with her. That’s her brother and it’s painful enough. I didn’t break her down. No, Angie. I do think you should let me mediate, because your hard-hitting nature is not going to get your story.” I stretched out my hamstrings while Angie hung silent on the speakerphone.

She huffed through the phone. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my style. I think you’re exaggerating.”

Scoffing at her lack of awareness, I spoke clearly into the air above my phone, “I don’t. Are you trying to help her, or do you just want the story? Tell the truth.”

“I want justice for her and her family. Rocky came after me too, remember?” she declared with force.

I bent over, running my hands down the back of my legs. “So this is about revenge for you.”

“No, stop trying to twist this into something it’s not. I want her to have justice. Rocky has to be brought to trial. I won’t stop until he is. I can help her. If there’s anything she knows, then I can get the trial reopened. I know I can.”

Admiration for her tenacity made me stop and pick up the phone again. “Okay. Let me ease her in. I think I have a better chance of her listening to me, than you.”

“Okay then, let’s get to work.”

I eased Angie off the phone and got back to the rest of my workout, or at least attempted to. My phone rang again, right when I was mid abdominal crunch. I wanted to throw the thing against the wall. I morphed into a grumpy bear, but answered the call anyway, “What is it this morning? Bug Bear day or something?”

“Ayeeee! It’s Keys, how you doing man? You sound like you’re huffing or puffing. Caught you at a bad time?”

I sat up and put Keys on the speakerphone too. “Keys. Man. I was in the middle of crunches so I don’t turn into a dough boy. Whatcha doing?”

“Not the bear. You’re out of hibernation now. Can’t be,” Keys mocked.

“Hardy, har. You guys got a date set yet to come through here?” Keys coming to town would be good fun. The guy was a goofball and if I was ever going to bank on someone in my life, he would be the guy I would want watching my back.

“Yep. We got a date.”

“Yeeha, what are we talking about six months from now, two months from now, what…talk to me, man.” My crunches weren’t so important anymore. It was more important that my brothers were coming to town to rock out with me.

“Six months? Come on, man. We’re coming earlier than that. We are looking at coming up there soon. All the planets are aligned. You ready to rock and roll? Make sure you get Holbeck ready for us, because we are stepping right into your house, man.” Keys sounded just like the kid of old that I knew.

“I’ll have her warmed up, trust me. I got some things up my sleeve for you guys.”

“I would expect nothing less.” He chuckled.

The next couple of months were shaping up to be a ride and a half, and I was more than up for the challenge.