Spike (8 page)

Aidan flicks on the indicator, and pulls over to a stop, the tyres screeching on the bitumen.

I watch his every movement as he puts the car in neutral and pulls on the handbrake. His head hits the headrest with a thud. He closes his eyes, and starts to laugh, that deep sexy chuckle that always has me laughing with him.

“I can just imagine the headlines: ‘Aidan Stone, after a convincing win on the track, fell victim to an accident on the journey home today after receiving the best blow job ever’.”

I instantly stop laughing when I realise this was probably more dangerous than harmless.

“Were you going to crash? Aidan! You should have pulled over. I knew this wasn‘t a good idea.”

He turns to me and lazily opens his eyes, which are all glazed over and satisfied. “No way. That was one of my all-time fantasies, Eevie, and by far the best bet I’ve
ever
made.”

“I suppose you’re gonna get all sleepy now. Maybe I should drive …” I press my lips together, wondering if it’s a good idea to suggest what I’m about to.

“If you want,” he says as he buckles his jeans. We get out and switch seats. I turn to Aidan, all smiles in the passenger seat.

“I don’t mind driving, but there’s a bit of a problem.”

“What?” he asks, looking busily over the dashboard. He probably thinks we’re out of fuel.

I take his hand, and slip it down the front of my leggings, beneath my panties. I jump and squirm with his touch.

“Wet,” he says, shaking his head. “Start driving. This is gonna be fun.”

“But Aidan …” I blurt out as his hand explores.

“I promise you, babe, this’ll be intense. I want you to feel it, Eevie. Feel the rush.”

“You’re an adrenaline junkie, aren’t you?” I say and chuckle, which quickly turns to a moan, as he puts those long fingers to work.

He leans over and kisses me softly on the lips. “You’re my adrenaline, Eevie. Now drive.”

****

We make it home in one piece. Barely. He was right; it was a rush. Trying to concentrate on the road, and on his hand, that feeling of doing something we shouldn’t, taking a risk but enjoying the spoils. I’d like to think I held it together better than Aidan; stubborn as anything I refused to pull over, but it was the kind of competition where we both came up smiling.

Once we arrive home, I carry a couple of our bags into the bedroom. Aidan takes a big bag of his gear to the laundry, and I flop down on the bed. It was only a couple of hours drive, but I’m exhausted. At least we have an hour or so to get sorted before dinner. I close my eyes for a minute, and sigh out loud. This weekend has been so amazing—a whirlwind, trip, a win for Aidan, and sex that’s gonna keep the glow in my cheeks all week long.

I thought Aidan was keen for a lie-down once we got home, but he’s quiet. He must have started washing his gear already. I wearily sit up, and summon the energy to find him.

When I walk into the kitchen, I notice him pacing up and down in the back courtyard, talking on the phone. Whoever he’s talking to, the conversation must be heated because he’s motioning his hand as if he’s trying to make a point, and he’s raising his voice. Normally I wouldn’t eavesdrop, but it’s unlike him to react this way. He’s usually so easy-going. I open the sliding door, and when I catch his eye, I smile. He doesn’t return it.

“What do you wanna speak to her for?” His tone is stern. He sounds pissed. Aidan listens for a moment. “Fine, I’ll put her on, but don’t ring me again.” He hands me the phone.

“Who is it?” I whisper.

“It’s my ex.” He shrugs.

Anxiety sweeps over me, stabbing like tiny knives beneath my skin. Obviously she’s annoyed I haven’t called her. What the hell is so fucking important that she’s prepared to piss Aidan off? This can’t be normal. I guess if Aidan is prepared to let her speak to me, she can’t be all bad. Surely. I guess I’m about to find out.

“Hello,” I say, hesitantly.

“Um, hi, Eevie, this is Tara.” Her voice is shaky. Is she nervous?

“What can I do for you?” I respond in a monotone voice, which to her probably sounds quite cool. The fact that I’m speaking with his ex baffles me, but I guess I’m curious to hear what she has to say.

“I have to make this quick. Did you get my letters?”

“Yes.” I hadn’t mentioned either of them to Aidan, and I hadn’t planned on it either. I hope she’s not gonna get me in the shit for not saying something to him. Besides, if I was going to, how would I bring it up? “Hey Aidan, your psycho ex thinks I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. By the way, what is it I’m getting into?”
Gimme a break.

“Please call me when you’re alone. There’s something
very
important you need to know.”

“What?” I snap.

“I can’t say now. Just tell Aidan I said you’re lucky to have a great guy like him, and to look after him, but please,” she implores, “call me.”

Aidan watches me nervously, running his finger over his bottom teeth, his other arm crossed under his chest.

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye,” she says and ends the call.

I hand Aidan his phone. Whatever she wants to say, it must be important, but I need to think about this carefully. Is she trying to sabotage our relationship, or should I give her at least a chance to explain?

“What’d she say?” Aidan says, his eyes searching my face for an answer. Is he worried what she might have to say to me? Is Aidan hiding something I should know about?

“Funny,” I say a little confused.

“What’s funny?”

“Well, she said I’m very lucky to have a guy like you, and to look after you.” After the words leave my mouth, guilt stirs within me. I don’t want to lie to him, but I think it’s the only option I have until I find out what’s so important she went to all this fucking trouble. The fact she went through Aidan, knowing it would get to him, makes me think she’s not going away easily.

“Oh,” Aidan replies, his eyebrows shooting upwards.

“So weird,” I mutter.

“You got that right.” Aidan says, and pulls me towards the couch. “Come on, let’s veg out until dinner.”

****

Last night, I barely slept. Tara’s voice kept ping-ponging around my head. Her letters that I’d somehow committed to memory also bombarded my thoughts.
You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into …

I’ll have to call her. I can’t cope without sleep right now, and the distraction is only going to niggle at me when I’m trying to study and focus on the things that really matter. The sooner I do it, the better. Whether she’s genuine, or if she’s simply causing trouble, I should be able to work it out in a simple phone call.

On my lunch break, I get up the courage to make the call. I walk to the park bench around the corner and pull out the last letter Tara wrote me, which has been buried down the bottom of my handbag. I unfold it, and shakily key her number into my phone.

“Hello, Tara speaking,” she says. Several other voices are in the background. She must work in a busy office or something.

“Oh, hi. This is Eevie,” I say. I’m sure I don’t need to tell her anything more than that.

The phone sounds like it’s being shuffled around, the background noise fading to almost nothing. “Hey, Eevie. I’m glad you called,” she says, and sighs.

“What’d you wanna tell me, Tara?” I say flatly. I’m not gonna fluff around.

“There are parts of Aidan’s past that are pretty dark, and I think you should know what you’re getting yourself into.”

Fuck me. I don’t have the patience for mind games.

“What the hell are you talking about? Just say what you’ve gotta say. It’s obviously bugging you, so spit it out.” Heat bubbles beneath the surface of my skin, and my cheeks start to burn. I rub my hand down my throat, attempting to suppress my anger.

“It’s about Aidan’s family … his father, Mitchell.”
Mitchell Stone.

“Yes, I know about his father,” I bark. And recently hung up on him, but she doesn’t need to know that.

“Did
Aidan
tell you about him?”

“Yes, he told me everything.”

“He did? Wow. Aidan never shared things like that with me. I had to find out about his father the hard way.”

With my thumbnail, I flake off the green chipping paint on the timber bench I’m perched on. “And?”
Just get to the fucking point.

“I don’t think Aidan knows what’s become of him. He’s a desperate man.”

I gouge my nails into the wood, and tear off a strip of thick curled paint. “And you know more about him than Aidan does? So what? Aidan doesn’t want anything to do with him. He doesn’t care what’s happened to him. Aidan doesn’t need this, and he certainly doesn’t need you ringing and stirring up his past.”

A chip of paint drives under my fingernail, as I claw at it once more.

“Aidan’s father blackmailed me,” she says.

Huh?
I pause for a moment as I absorb her words. I was not expecting that. “What was he blackmailing you for?”

“He wanted information. He said it’d be in my best interest to give him what he asked, or he’d become a more permanent part of my life until I did. He also said he knew I had a younger sister, and she should be careful on her walk home from school.”

God, this is serious.

My heart thumps hard in my chest as if it’s desperately trying to escape. “What did you tell him?”

“He wanted to know where Aidan worked, his phone number and address. I told him what he wanted. Aidan and I broke up after that. Things between us hadn’t been working out with the long distance, and he was
so
obsessed with his riding that he never spent
any
time doing stuff that I wanted. It was all just too hard, anyway, and I didn’t need the drama.”

Obsessed with his riding? He’s talented, trying to make a career and she resented him for it. Because he wasn’t doing the stuff
she
wanted. But I guess it must have been tough living hours away from each other, and adding the fact that Aidan travels so much, they would’ve hardly ever had the chance to be together.

“He rang Aidan the other day and Aidan told him he wanted nothing to do with him.” I don’t know whether I should have told her that, but if she’s worried about Aidan, she needs to know he can handle himself.

“Really? Was Aidan okay?”

Can this conversation just be over already? “Aidan’s fine,” I say, grinding my teeth in my jaw.

“I don’t know what he wants with Aidan, but if he’s okay, then … that’s good.”

“So that’s it?”
No other surprises?

“Yeah. I just felt I needed to say something, but it seems Aidan’s got a handle on things.”

“Bye, Tara,” I say, ending the conversation.

“Oh, okay,” she says, as if I’d offended her. “Bye.”

“Thanks,” I say and disconnect the call.

How the hell am I gonna get my head around what she’s told me?

****

The rest of the day at work, I really drop the ball. I receipt rent to the wrong property, spill coffee all over my desk, and forget to pass on an urgent message to Cassie.

“What’s up with you?” Cassie asks, hands on hips and her forehead creased with tiny lines.

“Sorry, I’m just a bit distracted.”

“No shit. With what?”

“Just stuff to do with uni,” I lie, and immediately regret it. I hate lying, I hate liars—my cheating father a prime example—but I seem to be doing it more these days. How can I tell her the truth?
I’m distracted after speaking to Aidan’s ex-girlfriend, who was blackmailed by Aidan’s father for information, and if she didn’t give him what he wanted, her little sister …

“Well, snap out of it, girl, before Danuta picks up on it. She’s not in a good mood, especially after she had to fix up the accounts.”

“Sorry, I’m good.”

“Take it easy on yourself, Eevie. I’m sure you’re stressing over nothing.”

If only she were right.

****

I don’t think I can face Aidan tonight. I’m so afraid he’s gonna see right through me. See that I’m lying to him. He wouldn’t like that I went behind his back and rang Tara, especially after the way he spoke to her yesterday. He wasn’t the least bit impressed to hear from her.

When I get home, the house is empty. I turn on the ducted heating and head straight to the study. I shut the door and switch on my laptop. Distraction. I need to be distracted from my distraction.

I open my assignment, which is due next week. After at least ten minutes of watching a blinking cursor, my word count has barely moved. When I glare at the keyboard, four letters stand out:
L I A R
.

All that stuff I’d read about “emotional intelligence” being a way in which we monitor our feelings and emotions, and then use them to guide our actions— right now I don’t feel intelligent at all.

Maybe this will all blow over. Tara seemed to relax after I told her Aidan spoke to his father. Maybe it was that initial interaction between Aidan and his father she was concerned about.

I guess I can’t be too upset with her that she cares for my boyfriend. As much as I don’t want to acknowledge it, Aidan had a past before me.

Damn blinking cursor. Stop mocking me!

Cassie’s probably right. Even though she had no idea what I was stressing over—
because I lied to her too
—it’s probably nothing.

I look at the time on my laptop. I’ve been sitting here for half an hour. Maybe one day I’ll make a half-decent psychologist. In half an hour, I think I’ve convinced myself that I’m all worked up over nothing.

The front door opens and shuts, heavy footsteps getting louder as they approach the door.

The study door swings open. “Hey, beautiful,” Aidan says, leaning against the doorway. His shoulders drop as he lets out a loud breath. His smile barely meets his eyes. He’s dusty from head to toe, his hair is wild, and he hasn’t shaved for a week—but he’s just my kinda sexy.

“Hey. Big day?” I ask, closing the lid of my laptop. I’ve had enough staring at the screen, and right now, a fix of Aidan is exactly what I need.