Where We Began (Stone Lake 2.5)

She disappears inside for a quick minute. When she comes back outside she skips—skips—over to me and then gets on the back of my bike like she’s a pro. I press her legs against each side of mine and I want to groan. Christ. This woman could be lethal to a man like me.

“You ready?” I ask her over my shoulder.

“Born ready, Sheriff,” she yells back, making me shake my head. I start it up and maneuver around and we head out on the road.

Junie’s hands wrap around me and she curls into my back. The feel of her fingers digging into my stomach feels like heaven. Once she gets settled, her hold loosens and her hands drop back to my hips, and I miss her touch instantly. I resist the urge to pull her hands back up, but only because I’m driving.

We ride around for a while. I’m not sure how long, but I know it’s getting late. I pull in a few minutes later to Cliffside Restaurant which is just a small joint, but the food is amazing. Junie is the first one off the bike, looking at me with the biggest grin on her face. Something inside of me feels as if a piece snaps back in place. Since Luna threw me aside, I’ve felt kind of hollow, but it’s impossible to feel hollow when Junie is smiling at you like she just won the lottery.

“That was awesome.”

“You want to eat here, or pick up some food and eat it down by the lake?” I ask her, suddenly hoping she chooses the latter because I’d really like time alone with her.

“Do you know I haven’t spent time at the lake since I moved here,” she confesses.

“Well, I consider it my civic duty to correct that. Stone Lake is beautiful, almost as pretty as you are.”

“God that was lame,” she laughs as I slide off the bike. I reach out and take her hand, shaking my head.

“It’s a good thing my ego is up to the challenge that is you, Juniper Sellers.”

“I’m just surprised you managed to get an ego with those weak-ass lines you use,” she responds.

“I’ll have you know before you came along women fell at my feet, woman.”

“Really?” she mocks, acting shocked in an over the top way that makes me want to swat her ass.

“Yes, really.”

“Did you trip them?” she asks and I stop walking, looking at her because I didn’t expect her to say it and then it hits me that Junie Sellers is not only smart, she’s so fucking sassy she makes my dick ache to try and touch her fire.

“One of these days you’re going to bust my balls too much, and I’ll spank your ass, Junie,” I warn her over her laughter.

“Now, you’re just threatening me with a good time, Sheriff,” she says and now I’m hoping my damn jeans hide the hard-on that Junie’s given me without even trying. Thoughts of me bending her over my bike, pulling her cute-as-fuck skirt down and spanking her ass so that my handprint glows on it as I fuck her from behind, are not helping.

Junie

“I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than a sunset,” I murmur, as I look up at the sky, a beautiful array of pinks, oranges, blues and whites.

“I don’t know, I think I’m looking at something more beautiful right now,” Ben states, and I pull my gaze back to him.

He’s sitting on his bike, slid back on the edge of the seat. I’m sitting on it too, leaning back against the gas tank and the handlebars, facing him, my legs looped lazily against the seat and at his hips.

I think about his words and smile. I don’t even care if his lines are kind of silly. I’ve become jaded to lines, because in my life that’s all they’ve ever been, but I think Ben might actually mean them. At least, he makes me feel like he does.

“This has been a really nice day, Ben. Thank you for dinner and for bringing me out here.” I look away from the sky to the lake behind us, the sun’s last rays reflecting off of it, and for the first time since I was abducted I feel some semblance of peace. Coming to Stone Lake wasn’t a mistake. Gavin might not be home, but he will be in a few days and having him back in my life, and by extension my awesome nephew Joshua and his mom Luna, I have a family. My first real family. It’s a good town. It’s far away from Shred and my past. It gives me the chance to start over… which is exactly what I want. I can’t blame the town for what happened to me. Honestly, if I want to look at it for what it is, my family is to blame and God knows they always have given me hell. That’s kind of how I ended up in Shred’s arms anyway.