Hell Fires (Age-Gap Romance)

“Did you have a good time with Maverick?” Jenna asked. She was chewing her burger and held her hand up to cover her mouth and her chewed food.

“By good time are you asking if I made it out with my soul intact?”

“That bad, huh?”

One of the bus boys sat down and I passed the silver mixing bowl filled with fries to him.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been on a date, so I’m out of practice. Are you supposed to fall in love and then fight and then makeup and then waking up feeling divine and saved, only to realize you’re actually homicidal?” I asked her.

“Oh shit.” Jenna jumped up and came around the table to hug me. I loved Jenna’s generous hugs that she gave me every time I saw her. “Guys suck, Soph. You’re too good for him anyway.”

She moved back to her seat and picked up her burger.

“He actually seems, from my limited exposure, like a really good person.”

“I think he is. I mean, from what I know. You two had a connection, I could tell just from standing next to you for a split second.”

“Split seconds are definitely the measuring unit for whatever that was. It was kind of scary actually. You ever have one of those experiences where your feelings go haywire, where you like someone so much you want to eat them or hurt them or somehow crush them and kiss them all at the same time?”

“Yeah, I get that way with kittens. Like I love them so much I’m afraid I’ll kill them. Kittens and one of my first customers here, actually.”

“Seriously? What happened?”

“With Craig? I married him, we had two kids, and then we went up in smoke like a fucking explosion. I only see him from the front porch now when he picks up the kids, can’t even be in the same room with the man.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” I wrapped one of the chocolate chip cookies from the platter on the table in a napkin and slid it into the front pocked of my backpack for later. Jenna’s story seemed like a prophecy for me and Maverick. We were destined to go up in flames. Maybe he was sparing me the grief by just cutting it off before we tore one another to pieces. It was my fault that we didn’t talk about long term or what would happen next. So it was my own doing that I lost my virginity to a one night stand. “How do you know Maverick?”

“He comes around, you know, ever since I started working here. He’s part of the Rogue motorcycle club and I think he does all the bookkeeping. He seems really smart and super business minded, like he’s running the show. I’m guessing he had a good upbringing because he’s polite and talks to all the girls like they’re people and not whores. Unlike fucking Reese who is a misogynist and treats the girls here like they owe him something.”

“Little weasley guy with kind of a high pitched voice? Wears Tom Ford Patchouli?”

“Your nose is good, Sophie. That’s the one. Oh, and Maverick has a bunch of brothers, two at least that I know of. The Connors boys, and they’re all really good looking. Like crazy hot, Sophie.”

I felt a little weird asking, but I really wanted to know. It didn’t matter to me at all, but somehow, the seeing girl in me from before wanted the full run down. And I trusted Jenna, she was a good person.

“What’s he look like, Jenna? Maverick. Could you describe him to me?”

“Sure, I can try, and I’m totally going to blush, but it’s cool because you won’t see me doing it.”

“I can usually hear a blush in someone’s voice.”

“Good to know, Storm. Your super powers are endless. Maverick, let’s see. Tall, maybe six foot two or three? Built, like he must spend a good three days in the gym a week and do some serious lifting. He’s got tatts, but they just go to the margins, because the first time I saw, he was in a suit and I would have had no idea he was inked up as he is in a t-shirt.”

I was smiling like an idiot, enjoying this way more than I should.

“Really big biceps, nice hands. Dark hair which he keeps pretty short, but there’s a little bit of wave going on at the top. Super blue eyes, like an ocean blue, not sky. Kind of big nose, but it suits him. Full lips, with like just a touch of an underbite, straight teeth, killer smile. Oh, and one of the things I noticed right away, super long, thick, inky black lashes. It looks like he’s wearing mascara but he just has great genes.”

“I can see him,” I told her. I was the one blushing. I knew what other pieces of him looked like as he combusted under my fingertips.