Page 12 of Wire
“Now then, young Calamity, you come for your order?” he asks from the rocking chair in the corner. The corner of the store near the till is set up for Mr. Heck and his buddies. It’s where they sit and play games such as dominos, checkers, and backgammon. The whole town has also taken to calling me Calamity. Trust me, I have been clumsy and getting into situations my whole life.
“Yes, please,” I tell him as Bex appears from the back.
“Hey Calamity, I’ve got your order packaged up and ready to go,” she tells me, carrying a large box out.
“Thank you.”
I head for the till and pay up, grabbing the large box, nearly dropping it.
“Calamity, living up to the name still, I see.” Mr. Heck chuckles from the corner.
“You know it. Got to keep you all entertained,” I say back with a wink.
“That mouth of yours.” He laughs.
I think Mr. Heck quite enjoys a little sass.
Bex gets the door for me, and I drop the box into my passenger seat. As I’m heading round to the driver’s side, I notice an absolute god of a man leave the diner and head for the bike. He is on the lean side but with an athlete’s body. His legs are encased in dark jeans, and he’s wearing a leather jacket. He’s not skinny, more of a lean figure, with floppy blonde hair, which is all I can make out from here. But what draws me to him is the air of sadness and pain I can feel from here.
He stops as if he can feel someone watching him and turns his eyes, covered by sunglasses, my way, causing me to trip over my own feet or just plain fresh air and land flat on my face on the pavement. Well, the fuck done, Tallulah!
I feel hands on me, and then the most delicious voice says, “You okay, darlin’.”
I look up to find the biker crouched down next to me.
I’m now praying to every God in the universe to make the ground open up and swallow me whole, so I don’t die a painful death from embarrassment. But I know this is not going to happen as I’m just not that lucky.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I reply, my voice coming out all weird and high-pitched.
Jesus Christ, on a cracker, will this day never end?
I get up off the ground with the help of the sexy biker, his hand burning through my brother’s flannel shirt I threw on over my vest and jeans.
“Are you sure you’re okay? That was quite the tumble you took,” he asks again, that deep, gravel voice that sings to my soul.
“She’s always falling, ain’t ya, Calamity. Girl’s used to it by now,” Mr. Johnson calls as if he’s being helpful as he enters the store. Mr. Johnson is one of Mr. Heck’s buddies.
I’m pretty sure my face is so red by now that I resemble a Christmas ornament.
“Honestly, I’m fine. Mr. Johnson is right. Clumsy should be my middle name.”
“Well, so long as you’re okay,” he nods and heads back to his bike.
I miss his touch already. I have never reached out to a man like this before.
I watch as he straddles his bike with more grace than I had when I tried it and feel it all the way down south. Now is not the time for my inner slut to show herself.
Getting into the truck, I pull out behind the biker, making sure I leave him plenty of room.
We both follow the road out of town and climb slightly uphill. We don’t call this hill country for nothing. He looks so powerful and strong as he controls the bike like It’s an extension of his body. As if the bike becomes a part of him.
Just as we make it to the bend with the slight slope on the other side, I notice something on the road that’s shiny. He realizes too late that the shiny on the road is fuel, and he rides right through, completely losing his grip. I watch in horror as he fights to regain control of the bike before it slips from under him, and I watch him, the bike, and my scream fall over the edge.
I quickly stop at the top and run to the edge. It’s not that big of a drop. I can see he made it with the bike to the next section of the road below.
I jump back in my truck and race down, calling my brother on the way.
“Need you at Kirk’s pass now. A biker went over the edge after skidding on some fuel or something. Need help,” I shout when Carter answers.
