LOLA, AKA SUFFERING FROM A VAL ADDICTION

Val and I can’t keep our hands off each other. Even when we leave my bed and try to talk on the couch, I end up on his lap. His lips are addictive. I’m left feeling like I’m floating on air.

Kissing him leads to me riding his dick. His hands are in my hair, down my back, holding my hips, and cupping my breasts. Neither one of us can get enough.

Val is like a lemon drop martini and a ray of sunshine wrapped up into a stripper’s body. His affections leave me soaring. He’s sweet and warm. Hell, he’s everything! I’ve gone batshit loopy over this man.

My excitement shorts out my filter, leaving me to cry out, “I love you!”

“Of course you do,” Val replies immediately. “It would be unthinkable for the woman I love to not feel the same about me.”

“You do love me, right?” I ask as my hips stop rolling and I stare into his eyes. “This isn’t a game.”

“I’d never play with your heart or mine.”

Val stares into my eyes and dares me to doubt him. His power of persuasion is unparalleled. If he said he wanted a dozen kids, I’d smile and nod. Nothing is out of bounds while Val’s in charge.

My hips begin to move again. I hold his gaze, feeling carefree as long as we remain here together.

As he comes hard, Val wraps his arms around my body and pins me to his chest.

“How was I ever able to come before knowing your pussy?” he moans as his body finds relief.

“You were practicing for the big show. Now it’s your time to shine.”

Val presses his face in my hair and chuckles. He feels vulnerable in my arms. I hug him to me and let Val recenter himself.

His gaze finds mine and lingers for a long time. I feel silly just staring at him, but he’s a gorgeous man and I can almost hear what he’s thinking.

“I love you,” he says. “That part is scary.”

“I’m terrified, too. I’m used to feeling strong. But I’ll never be able to let you close if I don’t lower my guard.”

Val’s arms tighten around me. “Loving you up close is different than from afar. Better, of course, but also more calorie-burning. I’ll need to eat soon.”

Nuzzling Val’s throat, I smile at how his stomach already rumbles. I realize I’ll need to stock up on food at the apartment if he’ll often be over. Everything in my life is about to change.

“Rather than cook, I know a great sandwich shop,” I say as I kiss down his throat. “We could stock up on carbs to keep you going through the night.”

Val offers me a seductive grin as he asks, “Can we ride there? I’d love to feel you on the back of my hog.”

“It’s within walking distance, but we could take the scenic route.”

Val and I remain glued together for another five minutes. My body feels cold and empty when I finally climb off his lap. Val seems too naked without me attached to him.

Sighing wistfully, I feel myself starting to worry again. How long will our happiness last? Will Val’s heart grow cold toward me in a flash or over time? People fall out of love all the time, even without family curses.

“Don’t worry about tomorrow,” Val says and leans over to kiss me. “Or next week or next year. Just turn it all off and feel what’s happening right now.”

“I’m trying, but I can’t help wondering about next week or next year.”

“Don’t you think I’m overwhelmed?” he asks while searching for his pants. “I hadn’t planned to be your dad’s VP. I just wanted you. My only goals were winning your heart and building our house. Nothing existed beyond those two goals. Now I have plenty of pressure on me.”

I stare at him as he tugs on his shirt and smiles at me. “But I don’t let myself worry about riding with your pa or getting ready for the wedding. I’m right here with you in every way. You’re better than my fantasies, and I don’t want to miss anything.”

“It’s a choice,” I reply, understanding his point. “I can be present or I can hide in my head.”

“Life will always be stressful. We’re starting all the hard stuff right now,” Val says and hands me my bra. “We’re in charge of each other’s happiness. We’re tying together two families and clubs. We’re building a house and having kids. We can either focus on everything coming or we can enjoy each moment as it happens. I’m not a guy who over-plans. That’s why my stalking attempts were so poorly executed. I just wanted to see you, so I drove to Basin Rock to find you. Everything else was me winging it.”

I laugh at how crazy I’ve behaved with Val since we met. I was never really afraid before that night when I saw a chance with someone great and then immediately shot down the dream.

Val refused to be denied, though. That’s why I trust he can break the family curse. He doesn’t need a plan to protect our future. He only needs to believe in us. If I believe too, nothing can stop us.

Soon, I slide on behind Val as his motorcycle roars to life. The engine rumbles between my legs while my arms wrap around Val’s waist.

As we take the scenic route to Jonny’s Sub Shop, I guide him around town. We stop by my old schools. I show him where I took karate classes as a kid. We pass by the road leading to my dad’s house. Basin Rock feels small as I reveal its secrets to Val.

By the time we reach the sub shop, I’m feeling nostalgic about my childhood. Our little downtown spans only a few blocks, but I know every inch of the space. People aren’t strangers here. There’s no avoiding your enemies or dodging gossip.

As Val takes my hand and we walk inside Jonny’s Sub Shop, I imagine how Tumbling Rock feels to him. I bet every woman in town is a fan of his movie star good looks. He likely had plenty of enemies, too. Average men are often hostile toward those who inherited as many qualities as Val.

Proving my point about insecure men acting like jealous bitches, Mark Elway starts making comments about Val while we wait for our food.

“Lay off, Mark,” Jonny tells the younger man. “Just eat your damn food.”

Val smiles at me. “I get heckled by men a lot.”

“I figured.”

“It’s not personal,” he says and then loses his smile. “Don’t take this personally, either.”

I lose my grin and glance at Mark. Back in high school, he’d talk me up in between classes. He was a grade ahead of me, and our lockers were located close together. I wasn’t particularly friendly since he was a jerk to other people, so I knew he was only faking his gentlemanly bullshit for my benefit. When I was a junior, he got handsy at the skating rink, and the Blood-Red Suns members threw him out.

Mark hasn’t said more than two words to me since then, but he’s currently feeling very chatty.

“Look at the American gigolo over here,” he announces, sounding like he’s trying to do an Italian accent. “He’s got to hurry up to get to the strip club before his next set.”

Mark’s friends chuckle in a way they never would if he tried to make fun of the Blood-Red Suns. Val’s as big as the meatheads in my dad’s club, but his shiny good looks are distracting. He seems like a sports model, not someone who can bury these guys.

“Are you threatening me?” Val demands in a booming voice as he walks over to Mark’s table. “This is a family establishment. If you want to brawl, let’s take it outside where the only thing that’ll get broken is your face.”

Mark shrinks in horror in the same way he did when his grabby hands at the skating rink won the fury of the club guys. I don’t blame Mark for pissing himself right now. Val does look like a beast as he glares down at the jokester.

When Mark looks to me for help, Val snaps his fingers in the asshole’s face.

“Stop harassing Lola. Don’t even look at her. Keep your eyes on me. I’m the one you’re threatening.”

“I didn’t threaten you.”

“You said you could kick my ass. Was that not a threat?”

“I never said that shit.”

“If you want to play the coward, get out of here and let me wait for my food in peace with my fiancée.”

Staring at Val, I suspect this display of aggression is his way of announcing I’m taken. Men in town will soon gossip about the pretty boy biker who went nuts at the sandwich shop and is marrying Duke’s daughter. I bet many of them will fear what Val might bring to Basin Rock.

It’s not a bad plan, especially after Val was dancing around the diner earlier today. People won’t know what to expect from him. Unpredictability inspires assholes to behave, even if those assholes are nothing more than wannabe tough guys like Mark.

I smile at Jonny as Mark and his friends file out of the restaurant. The shop owner reacts with a stiff grin. He’s clearly intimidated by Val who now smiles warmly.

“I can’t have people upsetting my woman,” Val explains to Jonny and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Love makes a man crazy, you know?”

Jonny nods and hands us our bag of food. He gets nervous and says we don’t have to pay, but Val leaves cash anyway.

Outside at his motorcycle, Val puts the food in his bike’s storage before planting a long, wet kiss on my lips. I’m in awe of this man.

Val’s behavior will be the talk of the town for a day or two. He’s shown he’s fair yet maybe crazy. Also, people will fear hassling me. It never hurts to lay down the law and remind the townsfolk of the local pecking order.

In the same way Val won over the club guys at the engagement party, he’s already started building a reputation in Basin Rock. As I climb on behind him, I can’t stop smiling. Val is better than I dreamed. Not only do I get to keep him, I know he’ll make Duke’s life so much easier.