Wrong Side of the Tracks by Ashley Zakrzewski

ChapterEleven

Bubba pulled on a pair of shorts and wished, not for the first time that there had been more than a single room available at the clubhouse. He longed to be able to strip out of everything to sleep. But that wasn’t a good idea, not if he was going to be sharing a bed with Celia. Especially not after he’d woken with her snuggled up beside him this morning.

The extra protection of the layer of fabric between the erection he ended up sporting every time he watched her too long or thought about her too much was going to be a must if he was going to share a bed with her.

He closed his eyes and forced himself to think about taking apart his bike, rebuilding the engine, putting it back together. Anything but the soft feel of Celia pressed against him or the sweet, lilac scent of her skin. He could only be thankful it was only going to be tonight.

More might kill him.

He stepped out of the bathroom and found Celia laying on one side of the bed, curled up against a pillow as if it were her favorite teddy bear. Her eyes were closed, and she didn’t stir as he came into the room. He assumed she’d already fallen asleep and did his best to stay silent as he made his way to the bed in the dark and slid in as gently as he could to keep from disturbing her.

Once he was settled in, laying on his back with one arm curled and the hand resting under his head, she moved. Bubba froze. Had he disturbed her?

She murmured something he didn’t understand and rubbed her face against the pillow before settling back down. Her breathing evened out again, and Bubba started to relax once more. He didn’t know how long he lay there wondering what she was thinking and wishing he didn’t feel so guilty about wanting to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless. But he did and he didn’t know how to get past that. He might feel better about it once her bruises faded, and her ribs healed. By then she wouldn’t be reminded of the shithead she’d been dating every time she looked in the mirror or moved. Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, but not before wondering if maybe sharing a bed with her, again, hadn’t been the smartest idea either of them had.

* * *

The bed moved. Bubba startled then froze. An instant after he woke, he remembered he was in one of the bedrooms at the Souls clubhouse. If there was danger the first sign wouldn’t be his bed moving. The bed moved again, and this time he knew what it was.

Celia thrashed on the other side of the bed, a whimper escaping her as she seemed to be trying to get away from something in her dream. He rolled toward her and started to wake her.

“Celia, Celia.” He kept his voice soft and soothing, as he gently put a hand on her side and shook her.

She quieted but didn’t wake. He pulled his hand away, but she cried out again, so he put his hand back and she quieted again. Bubba wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want her thrashing in her sleep and hurting her ribs more, but how would she react if she woke and found his arm over her? He was still thinking about it when he fell back to sleep.

* * *

When Bubba woke the next morning, he found not only did he still have one hand resting on Celia, but she’d also closed the small distance between them and lay half on top of him, cuddling against him like she had been against the pillow when he’d come to bed. He glanced down at the top of her head and couldn’t help remembering that she’d done this very thing on the few nights they’d spent together before he’d left home. It was something he’d tried not to think about after her father had convinced him that she’d be better off without him.

He never thought he’d have her back here, like this.

Still, he didn’t want her to wake and panic, thinking he’d taken advantage of her. He shifted slightly, trying to slide out from under her sleeping form, but froze when she moved.

The last thing he’d expected was for Celia to pick up her head and look at him.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“I am.” He couldn’t help lifting one side of his mouth as he looked down at her sleep mussed hair.

“I didn’t want to wake you, so I didn’t move.” A sleepy smile curved her lips. “Plus, I kind of enjoyed this. I missed this after you left.” Something sad glinted in her eyes.

“I missed it too.” He wanted to say more but for some reason, held back.

Celia moved until her hand lay flat against his bare chest, then rested her chin on the back of her hand.

“Why did you leave?”

“I had to. I needed to get out of Mobile. I never would have been anything but a boy from the wrong side of the tracks in Mobile. Once I was out, I could do anything. I could make anything of myself I wanted to.”

She scowled.

“Who told you that? That you’d never be anything but from the wrong side of the tracks? Whoever it was, was wrong.”

Bubba smiled but didn’t answer. He wasn’t going to tell her it had been her daddy. And Bubba wasn’t sure he’d been wrong. If he’d stayed in Mobile, Bubba didn’t know that he wouldn’t have been content to find a dead-end job and work hard to make ends meet.

At least by getting out, he’d been able to figure out what he’d wanted from life. His time with the military hadn’t been easy, but it had taught him some invaluable lessons. And through it he had found the Souls. While they weren’t a traditional family, the Demented Souls were his brothers. He had no doubt they would be there for him and his needs as he would be for them.

Celia moved her fingers against his skin, reminding him she was there.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to know you make this cute growling sound in your sleep.” She crinkled her nose and giggled when he growled for real. “And to wonder why we haven’t been doing this for the last ten years.”

Bubba opened his mouth to tell her it was better that they hadn’t, better for her, but she put a finger across his lips to stop him.

“Don’t tell me it was better that way. I know Daddy convinced you that you were no good for me. I didn’t know that for a long time. I was probably twenty-one or twenty- two when Aunt Jo let it slip.”

Bubba frowned. “I always liked your Aunt Jo, but I didn’t know she knew what your daddy said to me.”

“I don’t know that she did at the time and I don’t know how she found out, but when she told me Daddy had convinced you that you would do nothing but hold me back, she said, and I’m going to paraphrase here because I don’t remember her exact words, but the idea was that even though we thought we were grown, we both still had a lot of growing up to do. We had a lot of living and loving still ahead of us both and if what we felt for each other was as strong as we thought it was, then we’d find each other again and we’d have our time.” She fell silent for a moment, watching him.

Bubba didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. Jo had always been kind to him, and it had seemed that the more of an ass Dick had been toward him, the nicer Jo had been.

“At the time I thought she couldn’t have been more wrong. Now, looking back, I see she probably wasn’t nearly as far off as I thought then. Even then, years after you left, I still had a lot of growing up to do. I can only imagine you were similar, though you may have done it faster than I did.” She shifted, moving so she rose up on her hands and knees, and looked down at him. “I need to ask you something, though I think you probably would have told me already.”

“What?” Bubba found himself frowning up at her wondering what she thought he should have told her by now.

“Is there a woman in your life? Someone you’ve been seeing, even casually?”

“No. Why?” He didn’t know where she was going with this and why he should have told her already.

“Because if you’re not seeing anyone, I want to see if it’s as good between us as I remember.” She rose up on her knees, shoved the sweatpants off her hips, then down her legs and off, before swinging her leg over his and straddling his hips.

Fuck. Celia had always been hot and driven him nearly beyond his control, but he liked her aggressive and demanding even more. His brain said stop, this wasn’t the right time. His body screamed yes, give me!

He hoped since Krissi had taken over managing the clubhouse, they still kept condoms in the nightstands of all the vacant rooms.

Bubba groaned as he reached up and opened the drawer, feeling around until he found the familiar square foil packets and taking one out. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he wasn’t still dreaming.