Alex

We walk through the woods and don't get to town until late at night. I'm so sore that I feel like my feet will just fall off from all the blisters. At some point during the journey Laura took off her shoes and began walking barefoot. She said it was better than having the rubber of her wet sneakers rubbing against her heels.

We come out close to two hours away from the clubhouse but at least there's no Rolling Cobras waiting for us. I hope they think I'm dead. I hope it's a surprise when I show up to kill them, because when I find them, I'm going to take my time ripping them apart. Hell, I might even join Wire in his dungeon just to make sure I torture them just right.

", look over there. That place seems to be open." Laura points to a small corner store.

"Yeah, come on. I grab her hand and slowly we make our way over to the convenience store. I walk in and there are three men in the store waiting to buy some beer and another woman at the checkout line putting in her lottery. Laura walks in behind me and steps off to the side to slip back on her shoes. I watch as the three men look past me and stare at her. One of them licks his lips as if he's going to come over and talk to her.

Does he not fucking see me here? I'm getting real fucking tired of people testing me.

"Something fucking wrong with your eyes? I promise you after the day I've had I won't have a problem plucking them the fuck out and examining them for you." I reach over and grab Laura pulling her behind me.

The man staring at Laura the hardest puts his hands up in surrender before he turns back to the counter to wait to pay. The three of them chuckle but no one says anything to me.

The woman playing lotto leaves the store and I move us a little closer to the cashier. I hear the three of them talking and even though I'm not sure that they are talking about Laura just the thought sends me into a rage. I have to clamp my muscles down to stop myself from reaching out.

I hold it together and let them pay for their shit even though I'm aching to fight one of them. The three of them walk towards the door and the man that was staring at her before says out loud, "Hmm, look at the ass on her, too bad she's a dirty girl."

Just what I was waiting for.

I don't even feel Laura pulling me when I charge him.

I grab hold of his collar and punch him two times. One of his friends tries to jump in but I quickly elbow him across the face before I focus my attention on the man in front of me bleeding from his nose. I grab hold of his throat just to hold him up.

"I fucking warned you. I warned you and you decided to be a piece of shit anyway. Now your fucking nose is broken. I'm going to give you a chance to apologize to her or I'm going to pick another bone to break. One that's not going to be so easy to fix." I grab hold of his hand and twist it in an awkward way.

"Shit! I'm sorry. So sorry. I didn't mean any harm." The man says quickly.

I turn over my shoulder and look at Laura who is staring at me with her arms crossed over her chest. I see why he's so attracted to her. I knew she was pretty when we were fighting our way through the woods and now that I see her in full light, I see just how gorgeous she is. She's a short thing, maybe five foot three inches. She has long light brown hair and a pair of pouty lips that make the scowl on her face stand out more. Her skin is tan, and her body is out of this world. She has a great rack and my hands itch to squeeze on those thick thighs. I love that she's got a bit of meat on her bones and from the look of the man whose hand I'm about to break, so does he. I wait for Laura to give me the okay and when she nods, I let him go.

"Get the fuck out of here." I sneer at him and the three of them run out.

"I'm sorry you had to…" I stop talking and take another step toward her. She takes a step back.

Now she's scared of me? We walked through miles of forest together. She has my shirt on because she was cold and now, she's scared? "What?" I ask, confused.

"Are you kidding me? What do you mean ‘what'? Are you crazy or something? He didn't do anything to me?" She says and gestures outside even though the guys aren't there.

"No, they didn't but they were disrespectful. That was after I already told him to stop the shit. In my world respect is everything. I'm not going to let anyone disrespect you the same way I won't let anyone disrespect me." I let out a heavy sigh, I might have gone a little overboard but I'm not sorry for it. I'll tell her I am though. "I'm sorry I was so violent. I'm usually able to control myself better than that but after everything today I'm a little on edge.

She relaxes a bit and takes a step toward me. "I can understand that. I'm a little on edge myself. I'm just so tired. I want to get in my bed and go to sleep." She says and rolls her neck.

"Home, yeah. We need to get you home. Where is home?" I ask her. She rambles off an address and I realize it's less than a mile from here. She gets excited when she hears that. This nightmare is almost over.

I feel uneasy leaving her at her house on her own but what choice do I have. If she wants to go home, I can't force her to come with me to the clubhouse. I convince the store clerk to let me use the phone in the back.

I call a cab to get to her house. On the way there she cuddles up to my side and closes her eyes. I'm not used to having a woman lay on me but If she's comfortable I'm not going to move her. Now that she's drying it seems like the spice and fruit smell is stronger. I lean down and take a deep smell of her. The drive is quick but she's already sleeping when we pull up to her house.

She lives in a one-family house in a secluded area. When we get there a large food truck is parked right in front. It's called Drivin' Sol.

"Laura? Is that you?" A woman calls out from near the food truck. She's pacing back and forth.

Laura pops up and tries to rush out of the car but I grab hold of her. I don't know who it is. It might be a trap.

"It's okay Papi, that's my friend and my job. I'm the chef in that food truck. It's fine." She smiles at me and I let go of her believing that she's safe.

My chest tightens with the way she calls me Papi. It's a typical nickname for people in my culture but something about the way she says it makes me want to find gold and lay it at her feet in tribute. She's hot as fuck.

We both get out of the cab and I pay him with the wet twenties out of my wallet. The driver grumbles but takes the money and the extra tip I give him.

"Aye dios! Laura! Que pasa! Quien es?" A young woman asks as she runs over to where we are.

"We had a bit of an accident and Laura lost her car in a river. She's had a trying day but thankfully she's not hurt. I'm ." I answer, trying to stay polite but also letting her know that I understand what she's saying.

"Yeah, Marisa. I've had a shit day. Sorry, I never made it back with the supplies." Laura says.

"Supplies? Forget the supplies. I'm just happy you're okay. I can take a cab home from here or I can stay. Whatever you want me to do?" The girl says and I can see the worry in her eyes.

"Take the cab, I'm going to need to drive the food truck until I get a new set of wheels. I'm honestly just going to go inside, shower, and sleep. I think I'm going to only do a lunch serving tomorrow, late lunch at that." Laura laughs with Marisa. They talk to each other for a few minutes while they wait for her cab to show up. Suddenly, I'm starting to feel like the third wheel. I should be heading home.

"Sorry, to interrupt you two. Is there a phone I can use? I just need to call my team and have them come get me."

"Yeah, let's get you inside. Call your friends and get you home too." Laura grabs my hand and pulls me towards her house. I wasn't expecting her to invite me in, I thought her friend would let me use her cell phone.

Marisa kisses Laura bye and turns to walk down to wait for her cab. Laura and I stay at the front door until her friend gets into the cab and it drives off.

"I'm so glad she didn't demand to stay, I'm too tired for her. She'll want to know everything that happened. I just want to forget it."

"Yeah, I'll be out of your hair soon." I say nodding.

"I don't mean you, silly. You can stay as long as you need. I know you said your clubhouse is more than two hours away now. It's going to take them a while to get here." Laura pulls a key from an overhanging planter and opens the door to her house. I hate that but it's not my place to say anything.

"Yeah, but I can just wait out here on the stoop so you can get some rest."

"Don't insult me, . You need more rest than I do. You can wait inside." She raises an eyebrow at me as if she's expecting me to go against her. I won't.

Her home is very nicely decorated. Not too cluttered or too colorful. I take my shoes off and instantly regret it. My feet have more blisters than I can count and the minute I release the pressure some of them start to burst.

"Ahh fuck!" I groan through the pain.

Laura rushes over to me and falls down to her knees to help me. She huffs out a breath and drops her hands to her lap when she sees my feet. She tsks once before she starts to talk "Aye, Papi, you need more than a ride home. Call them to get you but while you wait, I'm going to take care of you." Shaking her head again, Laura wraps an arm around my waist and helps me towards the back of the house.

Take care of me? What does that mean? And why am I so open to letting her do whatever she wants to me?