Page 6 of Ride or Die
“She’s a smart girl. If it’s serious, she’ll tell you,” I remind him. “Now, come on. Let’s make sure the wood is ready for the bonfire.”
4
Cali
Minx and Rivethaven’t stopped texting me since they left the shop yesterday. They’ve been begging me and Emma to go to the BBQ tonight. When Minx came to pick up thesharlotka, she was telling Emma to talk me into going and now they’re all three teaming up on me. I’m thinking it would be a good idea. I haven’t hung out with anyone outside of Emma and Bash since the three of us became friends. It might be a good chance to meet a new guy too. Last time I dated someone was about three years ago. He was the first guy I had actually dated since Ryan and I had ended things and needless to say, it didn’t last long.
My heart wasn’t in it. As much as I want to get out there and date, I always end up comparing them to Ryan. We met each other when we were kids. He was my best friend, even when we went down separate paths in high school. We dated other people, but nothing broke our friendship. At some point, something changed between us. The little spark that had always been between us burst into a flame. We spent the majority of our free time together. While I didn’t lose my virginity to him, sex with him was always the best. The chemistry between us was intense.
Last time I saw him, we had gone to a bonfire for the fourth of July together. We had been dating for close to nine months and things had been going great. That is until we started talking about plans for fall. For whatever reason, he’d always tell me he was holding me back or he didn’t want to hold me back. I never did understand what he thought he was holding me back from, but it didn’t matter. That night, we got into a huge argument that ended with him leaving and me never seeing him or talking to him again.
I told everyone we made a mutual decision to break up. I put up a front, pretending I was okay, but inside, I was dying. My heart was shattered. The only person who could see I was hurting was my mama. She suggested I go to visit mybabushkain Russia. I did, and I ended up staying for a whole year. Right before I came back, I made the decision to work toward my dream. Now, I have a strong business, amazing friends and family, but no Ryan.
It’s time I move on. No more comparing guys to him. I need to get out there and play the field, have some fun. It’s been too long. Which is why I’m going to tell Emma, Minx, and Rivet we’ll be at the bonfire. With them by my side, I’ll replace bad memories with awesome memories. With Emma sitting next to me, I decide to send a message to our group chat.
To Emma, Minx, and Rivet:You ladies win. Will meet you at the BBQ.
Emma’s phone pings and she glances at it. Her face lights up when she reads my message. At the same time, we get two new messages in the group.
From Minx:REALLY!?!?!?
From Rivet:Yassssss! We’re going to have SO much fun!!
Emma grins at me. “We are so getting you laid tonight.”
“Woah, slow down. I agreed to go to the BBQ. Let’s take baby steps,” I tell her. Her grin widens. We get another text from Minx with the address for the BBQ and her telling us to be there around seven. That gives us over an hour to get ready.
“We were going to get you laid even if we were going dancing.” I fight a smile and shake my head at her.
“I’m going to get ready,” I say, standing and walking to my room.
“Oh! Let me pick out your outfit!” She jumps and runs ahead of me to my room. She is going to be the death of me. When I walk into my room, she’s digging through my dresser, trying to find jeans I’m sure. She pulls out my nicest pair. When I wear them, they look damn near painted on. Plus, they make my ass look nice. I usually skip wearing panties with these jeans.
She goes to dig through my closet, but changes her mind and leaves the room. I’m sure she remembered I don’t have many sexy tops. She comes back a couple of minutes later with a black racerback flowy tank top. It has thin spaghetti straps and I’ll probably have to ditch a bra tonight. It’s the perfect top to show off my tattoo of chamomile flowers on my shoulder. It always gets mistaken for daisies, but that never bothers me. They are similar to daisies, only smaller.
“Those jeans . . . ” She points to the ones she laid out on my bed. “And this shirt.”
“Got it.” I smile at her. “Can I at least pick my own shoes?”
Emma shrugs at me. “Yeah, sure. I’m going to go get ready. See you in a few!”
With that, she leaves me to finish getting ready on my own. I get changed into the outfit Emma picked for me and go to my bathroom to work on my hair and makeup. I decide to do beach wave curls in my hair. For my makeup, I choose a simple, natural look for my eyeshadow and use my favorite mascara to make my eyelashes longer and fuller. For my lips, I use a deepened burgundy matte liquid lipstick. It’s one of my favorites. After I’m finished with my hair and makeup, I put on some socks and grab my black cowboy boots out of my closet, putting them on before going to Emma’s room.
“You almost ready, Em?” I ask as I walk into her room. She’s about to respond but stops as soon as she looks at me.
“Holy shit, Cali! You are rockin’ that outfit! I did good,” Emma boasts.
“Yeah, you did good. I feel pretty sexy right now,” I tell her and she beams at me.
“You are sexy as hell. You’re definitely getting laid tonight.”
I laugh at her. I want to get into dating again, but I’m not sure I’m ready to jump into having sex. Emma hurries to finish getting ready and we leave. On our way there, I become apprehensive. We pull up to the house and there are some cars but bikes are everywhere. The whole MC must be here.
“Minx said we can walk around to the back of the house,” I tell Emma once we’re out of her car.
“You ready,” she asks me. Her voice is laced with excitement.
“As I’ll ever be. Let’s go find Minx and Riv,” I respond. We walk around to the back of the house. The place is crowded with people. There are a bunch of guys wearing the Savage Menaces cuts and a bunch of women scantily dressed. Those must be who Minx refers to as cut bunnies. She’s told me a little about them, but not much.
