ROMANCE: MENAGE ROMANCE: Tapped and Taken by Two (Pregnancy Sports MMA UFC Fighter Romance) (Alpha Male Romance) (56 page)

              Walking through town there really didn’t seem to be any promising options. The same handful of stores and restaurants were around and Zoey didn’t even run into anyone she knew that could maybe let her know about who might have some way for her to make a little money. In the local paper though there was one lone job ad: a late shift at a gas station on the outskirts of town.  It was a gas station that had been around forever and Zoey knew exactly where it was. It was going to be a long walk to and from it if the bus wasn’t running when she needed, but like it or not, it was really the only option she had. She called the number on the ad and by the end of the day, she was the new employee of Supreme Gas. 

              Her first night there was just like every first day on the job she had ever had, and Zoey had had a lot of different part-time and full-time jobs. Roger, the owner, seemed nice enough and showed her where everything was around the store. He showed her how to use the cash-register.

“Honestly though, you won’t be doing much. We get enough business to make it worthwhile for me to pay someone to have it open, but the girl who used to work this shift quit because she said it got too boring.”

If Zoey was still in school this would be her dream job; a place that would pay her to sit around and do her homework. But since she didn’t have any of that anymore working all night here was going to be tough.

The owner hung around for the next few hours and helped Zoey through her first few transactions.

“Well I think you can handle things for now. I’m gonna head home. Suzy runs the mechanic shop connected to the station here and runs things in the morning for me. She’ll show you how to do a cash out and drop it in the safe. Okay?”

Zoey was a little surprised he was leaving her alone so soon.

“Oh okay, so I’ll just call if I have any questions then?”

“Yeah sure, or just save them for Suzy in the morning if you can. Shouldn’t have too many problems though.”

And that was it. The owner walked out the door letting the chimes on the door ting in the emptiness of the store, and Zoey was all alone. Looking out the glassed front of the store she could see the murky line of trees that bordered the other side of the road the gas station was on. She looked out and thought of the miles of empty forest beyond and started feeling watched again. Just like she was as a kid walking down these roads. Just like she did a few nights before when she was walking to her childhood home carrying her suitcase. 

Chapter 2

              Zoey had been working at the gas station for a week now.  She was slowly getting used to it, even if unwillingly.  It was a pretty low maintenance job.  She would just sit there all night, waiting for a customer to show up. They would straggle in and then out, leaving her in peace. In the end, the job wasn’t as bad as Zoey had anticipated. It was a job, and at the end of every night shift Zoey would calculate how much money she was adding to her paycheck. She was sparingly using her mom’s money for food when she needed it and hoped that she would soon find another job. If she could stash a thousand or so it could be enough to get her back to the city and into an apartment where she could start working as many jobs as she could there and eventually get back into her classes.

              The distant and lingering fear she had of the night and the dark forest surrounding her town though still snuck up her spine more than a few times a night. She hated working at night, the hours slowly going by until she could go home. Her fears ran from the real yet paranoid to the fantastic and monstrous. She always wondered what would happen if someone decided to rob the mini-mart or tried to do something to her. She shuddered at what her imagination threw at her from all the horror movies she had seen in the past. When she started feeling scared Zoey would usually grab a magazine from the rack to take her mind off it. She had gone through all of them at this point, and was eagerly waiting for Thursday when Suzy said the new magazine issues were usually delivered. 

              The only magazines she hadn’t read yet were the adult ones behind the counter. Feeling the loneliness and fear pressing her one night though she grabbed one and started looking for an article to read somewhere in it. Her eyes skimmed past the glossy images which were in their way doing the trick for her and distracting her mind. Her fear subsided as she saw the images of the women posing nude in a variety of submissive nude poses. Zoey thought about why guys found this girl or that pose particularly sexy as she leafed through it soon landing on an a much more explicit image than the past few. The guy and girl porn stars weren’t censored in any way and Zoey gazed for a few moments at the scene. The looks on their faces were ones of ecstasy and Zoey was reminded of how long it had been since she had had sex. Her life had been so stressful the past month and a bit that she had hardly anytime to remember that she enjoyed sex and the thought of it was now getting to her. Suddenly she heard a loud engine outside and scrambled to close the magazine and put it back where it was before whoever it was came into the store. Zoey recognized the sound of the engine though. It was him.

The same man that had visited the gas station every night she worked. He would come, park his Harley Davidson at pump station number three, take off his helmet, and slowly make his way into the mini-mart. His Harley didn’t look like a normal Harley. The logo was there, but everything else looked a little different. It older and more vintage than the other ones she saw on the road sometime. As Zoey looked at it, she assumed it was a custom bike. Maybe he built it himself or something. He did, after all always show up covered in grease like he had been working on something.

As he approached, Zoey took a few steps to separate herself from the small rack of adult magazines back behind the counter as she peeked out the window, observing him.  He had short messy hair, his body looked ripped even through his shirt and leather jacket, and his face was rugged and fine, decorated with just the right amount of stubble. Zoey bit her lip as he got closer, before trying to compose herself and pretend that she wasn’t feeling like the lack of sexual contact was being felt by her in that moment. 

              He stepped inside now, the doorbell chiming as he stood there looking around for a moment before finally stepping over the threshold.  He looked at her, as he always did with his dark eyes. He never offered a smile however, like always. The first time Zoey saw him she was immediately drawn to him, but was also a little scared of him. There was a certain seriousness in everything Zoey saw that he did, and she had never heard anything from him except for a few grunts and mumbled thanks.

              Zoey was nervous as he approached the counter like always. She couldn’t help imagining herself riding this guy like the porn star in the magazine she had just been looking at. Blushing slightly, looking down, trying to make her body language hide everything that was going on in her head he placed a crisp bill on the counter. She took it quickly, processing the transaction through the system for the gas. It was strange but she could swear that he was sniffing the air slightly while he waited for her to fumble the change from the cash drawer.

              “I…I’ve seen you here every night this week.”  She stammered softly, before looking up at him from under her eyelashes. He gave her a quizzical look before nodding.

“Yeah. So?”

“I was just wondering if you maybe worked the night shift somewhere else like me?” 

              “I don’t.” It was the first time he had ever spoken to her in his full voice and her breath caught in her throat as she heard the husky sound. At least Zoey knew that he could say real words now. She froze, looking at the computer screen with reddened cheeks. He gave her a moment before speaking again. “Can I have my change now?” 

              Zoey quickly nodded as she glanced at his face, smeared slightly with what looked like grease again. She handed him his change and receipt quickly and looked away in embarrassment. As he was making his way out of the store, however, the urge to finally know his name overcame her. She didn’t understand why, but she needed to have some kind of familiar contact with someone. The hot regular that drove a dangerous looking Harley was the closest thing she might have in the job. 

              “Wait! Um… What’s your name?” Zoey called out, her face flushing to an even darker shade of red. She realized how desperate her voice sounded. He stopped and turned toward her, a serious look on his face. He remained quiet, his dark eyes sweeping over her as if looking for something. Zoey could swear he was sniffing the air again.

After a few agonizing seconds, he finally spoke up, “Chris.” The awkwardness in the room continued to build up as the silence between them intensified. Zoey shifted her eyes down, refusing to look up at him, her embarrassment all over her face. She had no idea why but he was making her feel like done something seriously wrong by trying to make small talk with him. “You know you shouldn’t talk to strangers like me.”

Zoey’s head shot up at the remark. Their eyes met. Amazingly, Zoey managed to hold his cold gaze for a moment. 

“W…what… why? You’re a customer right?”  She stammered out, fidgeting with a pack of gum on the counter.  He took a step forward, approaching her again. 

“You never know what you might find out here at night okay.” Zoey’s face scrunched up in confusion. What did he mean? Was he going to do something to her?

“I don’t understand.” 

“You don’t need to. And you probably never will. Just remember what I said. Stay away from me and anyone else that comes in here at night. If you don’t hassle anyone they won’t hassle you. You got it?” He said this harshly, his voice borderline threatening. Zoey bit her lip and nodded, regretting the fact that she even opened up her mouth.               

With her nod, he stepped back outside. Zoey watched him as he made his way back to his bike. He pumped gas into his bike with a lurch and the familiar sound of his engine rattled inside of the empty store. Zoey wondered why he had turned cold so quickly, and why she felt even more turned on now as the engine rattled the display rack of adult magazines behind the counter. 

Zoey tried to think of a logical reason why he would treat her so rudely. She knew she wasn’t going to get his dark, almost menacing, stare out of her mind as she watched him drive into the night, his helmet straps flying in the wind. 

              Soon he was out of sight and sound and Zoey was left all alone in the mini-mart. She shivered slightly, suddenly feeling more lonely and vulnerable than before. She yearned for him to come back and stay with her a little longer, despite his behavior. She didn’t know what it was, but there was something about him. Zoey recognized that she was feeling particularly horny right then, but there was something else about him to. She knew it the first night she was working and he pulled in. When he was close, her heart would race in her chest, but it wasn’t like the fear and anxiousness that she felt way too often working through the night by herself. Those types of fears disappeared when he showed up. Even though something was telling her that this guy was dangerous she felt somehow safer when he was around.  She had never felt this way before and she wondered what it was about him that seemed to drive her wild. Maybe it was just his bad boy appearance. After all, what girl doesn’t like a sexy bad boy? Zoey couldn’t wait to get home and relieve some of the sexual tension she had just discovered she had built up to a breaking point.

Chapter 3

              Zoey hadn’t seen Chris in three days now. She was starting to get worried. Had something happened to him or was he just avoiding her because she crossed some line for him in asking for his name? It was a Friday night now and payday was only a few days away. There were no new jobs popping up and Zoey was starting to realize that she was going to need to talk to her mom and get her to tell Ted that she was going to be home when they got back. Zoey knew she was on the way, but with just this one low paying job she would need some more time to save up enough money to get herself set back up with life in the city. She looked out at the empty pumps. Hopefully, no one else would show up tonight. Zoey’s anxious imagination starting acting up again.

              Zoey was trying to busy herself by reorganizing behind the counter when the sound of someone pulling up outside echoed in the night. It wasn’t the sound of Chris’ engine and when she stood up to look she saw that it was an old banged-up sports car with tinted windows.  The engine died down as a group of five young men streamed out of the car.  They all wore hoodies and seemed to be ready for a wild night out, punching each other and jumping around, as they approached the store.

              Zoey could feel her heartbeat quicken as she watched the group enter the mini-mart.  To her relief, they stayed away from the counter.  They made their way to the back, looking through the aisles. Zoey could hear them laughing and making lewd jokes as they headed toward the snack section.

“Look what we got here. A well stocked supply of snacks to hold us over. I might have more of an appetite than I thought.” Zoey watched the tallest one say those words loudly like he meant for Zoey to hear it as well. The rest of the guys laughed at the comment. All of a sudden, the sound of something smashing on the ground emerged from the back of the store, and more cackles of laughter erupted. 

              Zoey’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the counter as hard as she could, trying to calm herself down. This was exactly what she was afraid of, and had played a similar scene in her mind almost a hundred times since starting the job. Maybe they wouldn’t do anything. Maybe they would just buy something and make their way out of the store without bothering her. She was doing her best to convince herself of this as they approached the counter with a six-pack of beer and a couple of bags of chips.