Hell Fires (Age-Gap Romance)

“Neither. I know them by their scents. It’s like a Macy’s fragrance counter in here. I get pretty good at recognizing them. But yeah, I know their voices too and the shape of their bodies, slim, tall, short, curvy, you know.” She took a good swallow of her beer and I watched her pale throat in fascination.

“You are amazing,” I told her.

“Because I’m legally blind and I still do stuff? What’d you expect me to do, Maverick. Give up and curl up in a ball until I wither away? I didn’t have a choice. If life hands you lemons…”

“Let me guess, you dye your hair lime green and become a strip club DJ?”

“Something like that.” She gave a good laugh and smiled at me. Her brown eye made eye contact, the ethereal milky blue one moved but it started into nothingness. She tipped back her beer and swallowed.

“I’m ready if you are,” I told her. I tossed the deposit bag to the bartender at the next register.

“Thanks, Maverick,” he said.

When I came around the bar, Sophie had gathered up her things and pulled her hoodie back into place. She was wearing loose joggers and Air Jordans, her backpack was plain black and almost as big as she was.

“Is this a disguise?” I asked her. I shrugged on my cut and took the crate of records from her. “I’m going to lock this in the office and you can just pick it up tomorrow night.”

“When you live in Brook Hill, it helps if they can’t figure out what gender you are.”

I nodded. Sophie was so petite I gathered no one was mistaking her for a man, possibly a little boy, but I didn’t press the issue.

Outside the sky was a silky black with no moon in sight, yet it seemed like thousands of stars had come out and lit the sky with silver starlight. I instinctively took her hand as we stepped down the short staircase. She didn’t withdraw and something about her small soft hand in mine felt so fucking right. Sophie didn’t use a cane it seemed, so perhaps she thought I was offering her my hand for guidance. I was fine with that being the ruse. I was the one holding onto Sophie for dear life. I wasn’t quite sure what had just transpired in the last few hours, but I knew I wasn’t letting go. If the way my heart muscle clenched and released to the point of pain in my chest was any indication, I’d just stumbled beyond the point of turning back. I wanted this woman in all the ways she could be had, and I felt like if I couldn’t make her mine, then I would just die trying.

Sophie Costa was my match and if she couldn’t see that, then I’d become her eyes and show her the way.

Chapter 4

SOPHIE

If he was keeping my records overnight, then Tight Ends was going to hear the same songs tomorrow. He seemed to have no clue, so I just let it go. Brody had made me a few hand truck crates so I could haul more vinyl in tomorrow.

When I hopped on the back of his bike, I didn’t make a big deal about it being my first time riding. As a survivor of a wreck that had killed my parents, I wasn’t so scared of death, but I was kind of terrified of driving. Obviously, I’d never learned to do it myself because of my vision, but neither did I trust drivers I didn’t know or vehicles of questionable safety.

“Can we go slow?” I asked him after he’d plopped a helmet on my head. I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his back.

“Nope, this bike doesn’t go slow, it’ll tip.” I shook my head at his humor and bit into my bottom lip. When we started to move, I squeezed him tightly with both my arms and my thighs. The rumble of the bike was a song I could feel in the depth of my stomach with vibrations that thrummed out into my limbs making me smile. My palms were sweating, but I felt so alive.

“You okay back there, Soph?” he asked me. I giggled. My eyes teared and I squeezed him even tighter. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said. Maverick accelerated and as he picked up speed, my heart raced. We were flying through the night, but it was so smooth, like a sharp knife cutting through a firm block of jello. I could feel my adrenaline spike up and my mouth filled with the blunt taste of metal. The way he leaned when we hugged a curb made me feel like I was going to pee my pants, but in a good way.

“I like it!” I hollered. I wasn’t sure if he could hear me. I didn’t even know if I was talking to him or myself. “It feels like flying!”