Page 1 of Pop
Luna
“Harley. Fat boy.” Bob, my best and most regular customer says with a cock of his head. He’s pushing ninety and almost blind, so he lets his ears do the seeing for him. ‘Guess the bike’ is his favorite game. Being a roadside diner, we get to play it daily.
“I say a street glide.”
He shakes his head. “Definitely a fat boy. Hear that rumble before the gear change?”
I listen. “I still say street glide. How much you wanna bet?” I ask, topping off his coffee as my eyes go to the window, watching for the bike that will most likely ride right by us on their way to the freeway. Ever since they built a bypass a couple miles back, business has been hard to come by. Most of the traffic along this road are bikes coming for the custom mechanic in town, and bikers don’t tend to go for soda shops and sleepy towns. It doesn’t fit their image.
“A root beer float,” he says, slurping his coffee. He grins a toothless grin because he rarely loses these bets.
“OK. Here it comes.”
He turns as the dark spot in the distance comes close enough for me to see. I’ve learned a lot about motorcycles over the last few years under Bob’s tutelage. So I know he’s right the moment I spot the solid cast disc wheels.
“He’s slowin’ down,” Bob says. “I’d know that transmission anywhere.”
“It’s a fat boy all right. But he’s not slowing enough to stop. There he goes, right on by,” I say with a sigh. “You want that root beer now or after your dinner?” Bob eats three meals a day here. Without the local business, we’d be toast.
“You know I like my sweets after dinner, girl. I’ll take it then, with whipped cream.” He stands from his stool and peels a couple of bills from his money clip, dropping them on the counter next to his empty lunch plate. “See you in a few. I’ve gotta go take my daily constitutional.” I swear Bob walks home only to turn around and walk straight back. But whatever suits him.
“See you, Bob.” I clear away his dishes then check on the few remaining lunch customers before returning to the counter with a sigh.
“What’s got you looking so down?” my brother asks from in the kitchen.
“Nothin’ much. I just miss being busy is all. I get tired of those cars zooming back and forth on the freeway and the bikes that ride right by us. Maybe we should ditch the Ole Soda Shoppe vibe and turn this place into a biker bar.”
“No way am I letting my little sister work in a biker bar. We do OK just as we are selling wholesome food to the folks from town.” He shrugs, but I know he’s just as worried about this place as I am. It’s our family business and it feels like we’re running it into the ground. Mom and Dad understand that times are tough, but we still feel like we’re letting them down.
“Ducati Monster,” I say as the rumble of a bike engine hits my ear. It’s going fast, so I know they’re not stopping. But I turn to watch and to give myself a pat on the back when I’m right.
“You’re getting good,” Daniel says with a smile.
It’s my turn to shrug. “I like bikes.”
“Well, as long as you don’t get on the back of one of those things, I’ve got no problem with you liking them.”
I roll my eyes. He’s always been so protective of me. So much, that he warned every boy in school away from me. And they listened. Well, except one…
Derek
Islow my bike to a stop on the side of the road, leaving the engine running as I look over my shoulder at Pop’s diner. I haven’t been to that place since I left town six years ago after stealing a kiss from a sixteen-year-old girl. I was nineteen at the time, but with my tattoos and a shitty attitude that extended toward any person in a position of authority, I was bad news for a sweet little thing like Luna Trey. She was everything I wasn’t expecting, soft and delicate, pure and good. I perused her to piss off her brother, but that kiss turned out to be so much more. It was my turning point.
Daniel Trey became my nemesis when he let me take the fall for something he did. It was easy to blame the rebel kid who was always in trouble, so no one bothered with the truth.Guilty with no chance of being innocent.
Daniel Trey was the golden child of the whole damn town. The best at everything, and I hated him for that alone. Coming from a broken family, I was shitty at school and excelled at nothing. I looked at him and saw a cocky guy who didn’t deserve what luck had handed him at birth. But he protected that sweet little sister of his with a fierceness I had to admire. It left his vulnerability out in the open though, and I intended to take full advantage of that.
Back then, I’d do anything to hurt Daniel. Claiming his sister just seemed too easy to pass up. What better way to mess with him and his perfect life than by ruining his virgin little sister? It seemed like the perfect plan until I actually spent an hour with the girl. The second those sweet lips of hers smiled my way, I was a goner. Luna Trey owned me, heart and soul.
The day of her sixteenth birthday was the day of our first kiss. I realized in that moment our lips touched that I was all wrong for her. She was perfection personified and I… well; I was nothing. I had nothing. No future or prospects to speak of. I could offer her nothing but an angry heart. And she deserved better than the man I was. So I left.
I’ve spent the last six years making myself a better man. A man she’d feel proud to belong to. Thanks to social media, I’ve watched from a distance, making sure no man swept in to claim my prize.
Six years.
Six years I’ve worked my ass off, build my empire, and now I’m here to claim my queen.
Sweat beads on my upper lip. I wipe a hand across my beard and blow out a slow breath. I own several custom bike shops throughout the state, and I just put a bid in to buy the one out here. In business, I never waiver. But I’ve never been more nervous in my life than I am now. The thought of walking into that diner has my heart hammering in my chest.What if she didn’t wait?
