Welcome to Sugartown s-1 Read online

  “You have no idea,” I’d whispered beneath the revving throttle. “Some other time, maybe.”

  “Oh.” Did she look disappointed? “Well, thanks for the drink, and for that thing you did with Scott.”

  “Ana, that really wasn’t for his benefit.” I lean forward. “I’ve been wanting to lay you out before me and kiss every inch of that fucking beautiful body since I first laid eyes on you in your parents’ pie shop.”

  “Well, I guess it’s a good thing the pub doesn’t have beds, or I’d be in trouble.”

  “Why limit yourself to a bed, when any flat surface is fair game?” I’d winked and then gunned it down the gravel alleyway before she could lure me inside.

  Now, a whole day later, as I scour the local supermarket for a decently priced microwave meal, I think of a hundred other ways that I should have said goodnight to Ana. My mind also constructs a hundred other scenarios where I’ve taken her back to my motel room and made good on that promise. I’m deciding between two different microwave meals, wondering which will be less likely to taste like dog food, when someone rams me with their trolley from behind.

  “Ah! Fu—” I spin around to face a very chagrined Sam. “—uuuuudge ‘n’ ice cream!”

  I squeeze my eyes tightly shut and take a few sharp shallow breaths to keep from Hulking out at hot waitress’s little brother. “Hey Buddy, how’s it goin’?”

  I bump my knuckles against his tiny fist and he tilts his chin up at me before breaking out into a goofy smile.

  “Aww, thorry dude, I didnth thee you there.”

  “Oh my god, Sammy you didn’t hit someone else, did you?” asked a panicked disembodied voice from an aisle over.

  “Ana Cabana, Elijath’s here! And my trolley cut off his leg and totally made him bleed everywhere.”

  My ankle is bleeding, though not enough to warrant a hospital visit, but it’d been enough to make me drop the items in my hands. The carton of milk I’d been holding has busted open and spilled all over the floor.

  Ana comes bolting around the corner, skidding to a halt in front of me, though not fast enough to avoid slipping through the spilled milk. Her legs go out from beneath her and we collide and go down in a tangle of limbs. The breath rushes out of my lungs as I take the brunt of our fall.

  She leans back to see my face and there’s the most beautiful pink blush in her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

  “You Belles pack a punch, you know that?” I feel my lips tug up at the corners.

  Ana laughs. “Just be thankful it wasn’t my dad that ran into you.”

  “Well, I can tell you right now, you wouldn’t have your hands on my arse like you do my daughter’s.” Bob appears before us as if he’s been summoned. Like the mere mention of his name calls him up out of the darkness like that dude from Harry Potter. I follow the line of his gaze and, whaddya you know, my hands are on Ana’s arse, holding her in position as she’s splayed on top of me.

  “What the fuck, Ana?”

  Sam laughs and starts jumping up and down in the milk puddle singing, “Daddy thswore! Daddy thswore!”

  Ana jumps to her feet and reaches out a hand to help me up. I take it, but only because I like the feel of her tiny hand engulfed in mine.

  “Son?” Bob looks like he’s going to have a stroke right there in the middle of the grocery store.

  “Dad …” Ana warns.

  “I thought I made myself clear?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Wait, what do you mean you made yourself clear?” Ana glances between the two of us. At least I think she does. My mind is too focused on the 170-plus kg of pissed off dad in front of me to lay eyes on her and know for sure. “Dad?”

  “Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad?” Sam parrots over and over again.

  “That’s enough, Sammy!” Bob and Ana yell above him.

  “Oh my god. You totally warned him off of me, didn’t you?” I do risk a glance at her this time. Her gaze is cutting and her jaw is set. She’s incredibly hot and also kinda scary, not gonna lie. Bob at least has the decency to look sheepish.

  “Maybe I should just let you guys—”

  She whirls on me and scary takes on a whole new meaning. “Elijah, do not move a muscle.”

  I hold my hands up in surrender and thank Christ she turns her fury back onto her old man. “I can’t believe you are still trying to pull this crap.”

  “Elijah and I had an understanding—”

  “No. Just no! I am nineteen-years-old, Dad. You do not get to tell me who I can and can’t date. And you especially don’t get to ward off the only guy in town who might be interested.” She accentuates each word which a finger jab to his chest and his big biker face winces with each poke of her bony little finger.

  “In fact …” She pivots toward me and I flinch, thinking she’s about to start laying into me too, but the next thing I know she’s smashing her lips against mine and shoving her tongue down my throat as her soft body moulds into my hard one. I’m so startled that at first I don’t respond, then she makes this faint little breathy moaning sound and suddenly my hands are on her arse again like it’s a reflex.

  “Hands, Kid,” Bob growls.

  I raise my hands in a “look, no touching” kind of gesture and pull away a little, but it’s clear that Ana’s not done with me yet. She pushes her glorious rack even closer against me and I can’t help but fist my hands in her hair.

  “Daddy, why ith Ana thucking on Elijath’s face?”

  “I’m asking myself the same thing, Kid,” I hear Bob mumble. Then a little louder, “Alright, break it up you two. You’ve proved your point.”

  Ana pulls away and that blush I’d witnessed earlier is now an all-out glow. She smiles, a little sheepish, but it’s tinged with only a hint of embarrassment and it seems like she’s pretty proud of herself. “Sorry, that’s twice now I’ve used you to prove a point.”

  “I’m not complaining.”

  “Hey, we’re having a BBQ at the house tonight, you should come.”

  “Ah, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  “Gah! This is because of him isn’t it? Dad tell Elijah he’s welcome to come to the BBQ tonight.”

  “Yes, Elijah, why not come and eat my food, drink my beer and manhandle my daughter some more?”

  “Dad!” She shoots him a stern look before smiling up at me. “You should come. Holly will be there.”

  “Yeah.” I scratch the back of my neck. “That’s not really a selling point.”

  “Yeah, she does get kinda intense.”

  “Elijah, ith you come to the BBQ tonight, I’ll totally thow you my collection of mathbox carths.” The kid’s eyes are so round with excitement, I couldn’t bear to let him down. Even though it may mean Bob and his buddies have a chance to kick my arse for manhandling his daughter, I still can’t say no to the little guy. Kids always hit me where it hurts. And before you start sprouting some sensitive new age guy bullshit, being a sucker for kids doesn’t make me a pussy.

  Does it?

  “Well when you put it like that, heck yeah, I’m gonna be there. That’d be awesome, little man.”

  “Cool.”

  “So you’ll really come?” Ana asks as she snags her bottom lip between her teeth and, just like I did the night before, I have this crazy urge to run my thumb over it and then kiss her till she’s dizzy. Probably not the wisest move with her old man staring daggers in my direction.

  “Ana, can you wrap this up? I’m gonna head over to Dave’s to get the beer,” he mutters, as he walks away. “Maybe I’ll borrow his shotgun while I’m there.”

  “Dad!” she admonished. “Sorry, he’s kinda a jackass when he wants to be.”

  I smile down at her and whisper, “You should try working with him.”

  He’s still staring like he wants tear me a new one. “Bob, if it makes you uncomfortable I can take Ana with me for the night.” His answering scowl tells me I’ve just said the wrong thing. Again. “On a date,
not … you know … for the night.”

  “Ith Ana Cabana having a thleepover at Elihath’s? Can I go too, Daddy?”

  “No!” everyone, including me, yells.

  “Ana’s not going anywhere, Son.” he says this to Sammy, but his gaze never leaves mine the entire time. Then he starts laughing, until he’s red in the face.

  “What’s so funny, Dad?”

  “You know what, Kid? Why don’t you come to our BBQ? Ana can introduce you to all her surrogate uncles.” Ana’s eyes go wide and Bob chuckles some more. “And then there’s their old ladies, who’re almost as protective of her as her mum was.”

  I swallow hard. Ana’s eyes are still wide, and I could have sworn I just heard her make an “eep” sound.

  “Can’t wait,” I reply, as Bob heads toward the exit, chuckling the entire way.

  I am so screwed.

  I park my bike in the alley beside Ana’s house and follow the sound of Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sanh”. I hate Cold Chisel. They remind me of him and I do my best to avoid thinking of him. Ever.

  It’s not just the music that has me on edge, though. I debated coming here against staying in with another TV dinner for a good two hours before I told myself to stop being such a pussy and finally threw myself in the shower before I could chicken out again.

  Truth is, I don’t know what I’m doing here.

  Ana’s the first girl I’ve seen something more with. And that’s a dangerous way of thinking. Not just because her dad has the ability to send me on my way—one call to my case worker and I’m back in the clink, maybe for good this time—but because, for once in my life, I’m thinking about more than just getting laid.

  I really like this girl, but I also need this job, and I’m not sure getting involved with the boss’s daughter is the best idea. I’m just about to say to hell with it and head back for my bike when I catch a glimpse of Ana. She’s standing with Holly and a slightly older dude who is wearing nothing but jeans and a leather vest. His arms are wrapped around Holly’s waist like he’s afraid that at any moment she’ll start running. The guy’s built, but he’s no looker. Holly might be as fucking crazy as a howler monkey locked in a cupboard full of crack, but she can definitely do better than this shirtless douche.

  Ana’s back is to a fire that’s raging in a metal drum in the centre of the yard—why anyone needs a bonfire on a night with a top temp of 26 °C is beyond me, but I guess that’s the way they do things around here. She’s wearing a peach coloured sundress and the fire’s lighting up her head like a halo. She looks like she’d rather be anywhere than watching Holly be mauled by No Shirt Guy.

  She catches sight of me and ditches the happy couple. I don’t know shit about fashion but I know that Ana in that dress is a sight that’ll be seared into my brain forever. Her beautiful tits are bouncing as she makes her way toward me, and the fabric covering her hips sways like a bell when she walks. I feel my dick jerk and thank fuck that the dark hides my bone-a-phone.

  “You came,” she says, and she’s fucking beaming.

  “Almost,” I whisper and her brows knit together as I chuckle to myself. “I’m here.”

  “You’re here,” she says with a sigh, and it takes everything within me not to sweep her up in my hands and carry her off to my bike. Fuck, this is confusing. It’s not like Ana’s the first girl to get excited over me showing up to her party.

  But maybe she’s the first girl that mattered.

  “I am.”

  Wow, this is really fucking awkward.

  A few hours ago I was making out with her in the supermarket and now we’re edgier than a couple kids with their dad’s porn collection. “And I brought beer.”

  “Great. I’ll show you where the eskies are.” She leads me through a maze of people, bikers and their old ladies, plus a few more who I’ve seen in the shop. At least twenty of them give me the evil eye as I walk behind Ana and pretend I’m not checking out her arse. She doesn’t make any introductions and I’m guessing that’s for my benefit, because I just know some of these guys are dying to grill me about my intentions toward her. And I might even have an answer for them, if I knew what the fuck was going on myself.

  As soon as I’m done putting the beer away, an excitable ball of six-year-old boy barrels into my legs and almost knocks me to the ground. That would have made it twice in one day that I’d been bowled over by Belles. Something tells me that, if I overstepped the mark with Ana tonight, then Bob would make it a trifecta, though I’m not sure I’d be able to stand after he was done beating the shit outta me. Maybe not ever. “Elijah, you’re here, you really came.”

  “Yep. I’m really here.” I smile at Ana before squatting down to Sammy’s level. “How you doin’, little man?”

  “Awethome now that you’re here.” He jumps up and down. “You wanna come thee my Mathbox carth?”

  “Hey, Sammy, Elijah just got here and Ana Cabana was really hoping she could spend some time with him first—”

  “But he thaid he wanted to thee them.”

  “And he will, just not now.”

  I stand up and look at Ana. “I don’t mind. Really.”

  “Yeth!” Sammy grabs my hand and bolts for the house. “You hath to come thee my room, Elijah, ith tho awethome.”

  “I bet it is,” I say, as I throw Ana an apologetic look over my shoulder. She’s tagging along behind us, looking less than happy that Sammy’s whisking me away and a part of me is fucking thrilled she doesn’t want the kid monopolising my time.

  Sammy leads me up the backstairs, past even more bikers that look about ready to beat the crap outta me, and into the quiet house.

  Bob is standing in the kitchen with his wife, helping her carry several dishes filled with salads. He stares at me, at my hand clasped in Sammy’s, and at Ana, tagging along behind the two of us.

  Yeah, this isn’t awkward at all.

  “Hey, Mr Belle. Mrs Belle.” I offer up the first greeting, mostly just to fill the silence in the room.

  “So, I’m Mr Belle when you’re in my home, putting the moves on my daughter, but just plain old Bob when I’m at work?” he asks, and his face is all scrunched up and serious.

  “Bob, leave the poor kid alone,” Ana’s stepmum chimes in. Being called a kid by a woman who’s barely out of her twenties is kinda weird. Bob just grunts and brushes by us as he carries the trays outside after his wife.

  “He’s gonna castrate me for this, isn’t he?” I mumble to Ana once the screen door closes behind him.

  “Are you kidding? That sentence contained the most syllables I’ve ever heard him utter to someone other than Sammy and I.”

  Sammy glances up at me. “Whath cathrate mean?”

  “Ask your sister, she knows everything.”

  “But thee’sth a girl?”

  “Buddy, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that women are always right. Never question it. It’s as sure as gravity. Women are always, always right.”

  I spent the next half hour playing with monster trucks in a six-year-old’s bedroom, weaving them in and out of the empty beer bottles I’d accumulated. It wasn’t at all how I’d seen this night going in my head.

  Sammy was a lucky kid. I didn’t know much about the woman that Ana called “Dragon”, but I knew he was loved. Ana doted on him and big bad motherfucker Bob was reduced to a teddy bear when it came to his son. Sammy didn’t know it yet, but he’d grow up one lucky son of a bitch.

  I was maybe even a little jealous. Not every kid has people willing to do anything to protect them. I just hope he grows up to respect and love his family the way a family like this should be loved.

  Now, as I watch Ana and Holly spin Sammy around to some Beasts of Bourbon song that really should have been left back in the nineties, I can’t help but feel a little like I don’t belong. Ana may be a teeny, tiny little thing, but her heart’s as big as an Ox’s.

  Yeah, there’s a nice visual, I think, and pull another long draught of my beer.
>
  She’s been silently coaxing me over, trying to get me to dance, but I don’t dance on account of looking like a freaking chimpanzee with two left feet. Some dudes have rhythm with that sort of thing, but me? I save all my rhythm for the bedroom. Give me a blonde with soft curves and a nice rack and I can make her body dance with my hands alone. But on a dance floor? Not so much.

  Ana grins like an idiot and makes several weird hand gestures to get me to come closer but I just smile and shake my head and store the memory away for a later date when I might need something pleasant to think about.

  “Beautiful, isn’t she?” Bob asks from beside me. I wonder how long I’ve been gawking at his daughter like a total dick.

  “Yeah, she is.”

  “She looks just like her mum did at her age. Got the fire of the devil in her, too. Just like her mother.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to see that.”

  “But she’s soft underneath, breakable.”

  Surprised by the reverence in his tone, I turn toward him. “I can see that about her, too.”

  “Ana’s a good kid. She’s suffered through a lot of shit from the kids in this town after that Turner fuck finished with her. I would have broken both his legs already, but I’m on pretty thin ice with the Constable as it is, and I’ve got my businesses, my wife and Sammy to think about.”

  “I’m kinda surprised you let that stop you.”

  “You gotta know when to pick your battles, Son. Sometimes you gotta let your kids sort out their own shit.”

  “Like choosing who they date?”

  He guffaws, “You’re a good kid, Cade. I like having you around the shop. But not around my daughter.” Bob takes a long swig of beer. “’Course, it’s not up to me who Ana dates, and she rarely takes notice of anything her old man tells her these days. But know this: you take her down that road you’ve been on, drag her down, you hurt her in any way and I’m gonna finish you. I don’t care if I have to follow you to the back of beyond. You hurt my little girl and I’ll put you to ground quicker than you can fucking blink. Are we clear, Cade?”