Page 2 of Pop
Luna
My brow pinches as the sound of the Ducati motor comes close again.
“They’re back,” I say, nervous and excited about seeing a new face.
“See? We don’t need to be a biker bar. Bikers like diners too.”
“Let’s hope he has friends,” I say, and Daniel laughs.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t.”
“We need the business.” I scowl as I train my eyes on the man through the window, watching his massive frame unfurl itself from the body of the bike. He’s easily six foot five and broader than any man I’ve ever known. But there’s a familiarity in the way he holds himself. Something about the way he stands as he pulls the helmet from his head and shakes out his long hair.
My heart races. My insides twist and turn.Could it be?
The dirty blond waves that brush past his shoulders. The black and grey geometric tattoos that poke out from the sleeves of his leather jacket, covering his hands… When he turns, I see his profile, and even though he has a thick beard and he’s filled out into one heck of a man, I know it’s him. Derek Star. My first and only kiss.
It happened six years ago when my parents closed the diner for my sweet sixteenth. Derek was a few years older than me, so he wasn’t on the guest list, but he was there. He’d recently started working in the diner when he’d struggled to find work after failing to graduate high school. He’d been expelled in his final year for destructive behavior. Daniel hated that Dad had hired him, but my father believed in second chances. He’d explained that Derek’s family life wasn’t like ours and that he just needed someone to believe in him. So that’s what I did. I befriended Derek, believed in him—he was the reason I took an interest in motorbikes in the first place—and on the night of my sixteenth birthday, I trusted him too. I wanted to give myself to him, body and soul because I believed I was in love with him. When he kissed me, it felt like my life had finally started, like I’d found the reason I was born. But I’d been wrong. He pulled away; he walked away, and then he never came back. Until now.
Derek
Iturn toward the diner as I slide my hand inside my pocket, wrapping my fingers around the small pouch that represents the craziest fucking idea I’ve ever had. I wasn’t intending on bringing a ring with me today, but I walked past a store and saw it in the window and now it’s in my pocket. I came here to claim the woman who is rightfully mine. I plan to love her, keep her and take care of her for the rest of our lives. And yes, that means I intend on marrying her. I don’t care how many years have passed. I don’t care that she was a girl then, and she’s a woman now. She promised to wait. Hearts don’t age and they don’t change. For six years, she’s been the only one I can think about.
Am I crazy? Probably. But one kiss. One kiss of those luscious lips and I knew. She was mine, and I was hers. We were too young to make anything work back then. But now, there’s nothing standing in our way. Well, except my inability to move my stupid feet.Fuck. Why is this so hard?
Unzipping my leather jacket, I take another steadying breath as the cool air hits the heated cotton of my white T-shirt. My mouth feels dry and I’m considering revoking my own man-card because I’m acting like a fucking pussy. “Just get in there and start your life, Rek. She’s all you’ve ever wanted.”
That tiny pep-talk is all I need to get my ball and boots into gear. I shift in the gravel and make my way toward my destiny.Thump thump thump.
My heart is in my ears as reach out an arm and push the glass door open. The bell rings overhead. The familiar sounds and smells catapult me back six years. Everything looks the same. The red and white booths. The matching red counter, and the pretty blonde with blue eyes who stands behind it. She’s wearing the same fifties style uniform that barely contains her big beautiful breasts. It bunches in at her waist and flares out over her round hips. I’m glad my jeans fit well because I’m instantly hard. She’s soft and curvy and my fingers tingle with the memory of what it’s like to touch that milky white skin.
“Luna.” Her name on my lips feels like the first true word I’ve spoken in years. The breath I take after tells me I’ve been starved of oxygen since the moment I walked away.Home.
Luna’s breasts heave as her blue eyes go wide. “Derek?”
I fucking hate my full name. But when she says it, it like spun gold.
“Still waiting for me?” I smile and step toward her, my only focus.
“You’re—”
“What the hell areyoudoing here?”
The view of my angel is cut short when her brother inserts himself in my path, body blocking me.
“Get out of my way,” I grind out, restraining the growl that wants to claw its way out of my chest.
“Not until you tell me what thefuckyou’re doing back here.”
I stop and meet his eyes. They’re the same blue as his sister’s, but harder. Less kind.
“I came for my Luna.”
“Your Luna?” He leans in and curls his lip. I’m bigger and taller, but he squares up anyway, like he actually thinks he can take me. “Luna doesn’t have any interest in you.”
“Don’t you think that’s for her to decide?”
My eyes shift to Luna. She’s moved from behind the counter now and is only a few feet away from me. Her face is open and bewildered, her eyes brimming with tears and perhaps a little fear.
