Page 23 of The Biker's Virgin
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – OLIVIA
Olivia was thankful that she didn’t have to get a summer job. Her dad knew how important it was for her to practice her cello, and she treated it like a job. Focus had never been a problem for her, and long practice sessions always allowed her a little escape from the world.
Now, she sat lost in thought. Maybe if she had a job waiting tables like Maddie, she’d actually meet people. Maddie was scheduled to go away on a rafting trip next week with some of her new friends from work. The concept of a trip with strangers that you’ve only just met was unfathomable to Olivia. The only friends that she had were Maddie and her dad’s buddies. She smiled to herself. The old guys were kind of fun. Maybe that’s what she needed to bring her focus back – a jam session. She set down the bow that had sat unused in her hand for the last hour and headed out to the barn.
Darn it! she thought as she looked out the front door and saw the empty driveway. She hated sharing a car with Maddie. It was supposed to be shared 50/50, but it was definitely trending towards 90/10 between her and her sister. Luckily the sun hadn’t risen too high, but it was promising to be a scorcher. She grabbed her battered up ten-speed bicycle out of the garage, tucked her floral sundress between her legs and set off for Steve’s place.
“Well, Hello Jimi!” Steve smiled as Olivia pedaled into the barn. He had taken to calling her Jimi after the iconic guitarist Jimi Hendrix.
“Hi, Steve. You guys going to be playing any music today? I’ve been working on the riffs you sent me.” She brushed the straw from the ledge in the barn and jumped up to sit beside him.
“Do I have to talk to your dad to get you some sandals? Geez, kid, it’s going to be over one hundred degrees today.” Steve said, pointing to the combat boots on her feet.
“I wear these every day, Steve. Have you ever seen me with anything else on my feet?” She joked back, leaning into Steve and pushing on his arm.
“I guess they’re cool, man. Not literally, obviously, but I do suppose they give you a bit of an edgy look,” Steve said as he stared off into space. Olivia had gotten used to talking to lifelong stoners, and enjoyed how relaxed the conversations could be.
“And yes, I’ve been working on those riffs.”
“You still writing ‘em out?”
She was.
“No man. Playing from the heart, or soul, or guts, or wherever you told me to play from. So, are we jamming today or what?” Olivia got up and brushed off the back of her dress. She realized that she might have to look into some alternate footwear, her feet were kind of sweaty, now that she thought about it. She grabbed her favorite guitar of Steve’s, his Telecaster, and started tuning it. She didn’t need any gadgets to help her tune, she had perfect pitch.
“Yeah, man. We’re playing as soon as Laurie picks up Randy. You want to tune everything while you’re at it?” He joked.
“Sure!” Olivia responded. She knew he was being facetious, but chose to ignore it. She loved tuning. ‘God, I am a nerd’, she thought to herself.
Steve laughed. “Have at ‘er. I’m going to head out back and work on some soil remediation. Shout at me when the guys get here.”
“Will do,” Olivia said, distracted, in her own little world, totally preoccupied with tuning. She sat on an antique milking stool and tuned every instrument in the barn. She plucked out chords and notes and felt unadulterated joy at the fact she could pick up any instrument and produce such beautiful sounds.
The barn door creaked and a voice interrupted her focus. “Um. Hello?”
She was startled, and it took her a minute to register who she was looking at. He didn’t have his leather kutte on and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but his fiery beard and tatted arms gave him away. It was Blaine! ‘Holy Fuck. How long had he been standing there?’ She wondered to herself.
“Um. Hi,” Olivia stammered.
Blaine cleared his throat, “Is Steve here?”
“Yeah, he’s out back fixing up the dirt or something,” Olivia said. ‘Fixing up the dirt? Why couldn’t she just say something normal?’“I mean, it’s some kind of remediation, or something like that.”
“Well, fixing up the dirt makes more sense to me.” He smiled.
She smiled back and felt her face flush.
“It’s Olivia, right?” Blaine said.
Olivia felt her heart leap into her throat when he said her name. He remembered who she was!
“Yes, and it’s. Um.” She was so flustered that she couldn’t remember his name, even though it had been running through her mind ever since she learned it.
“Blaine,” he said.
“Right. Sorry about that,” she replied, unable to meet his gaze.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, walking towards her.
