Page 12 of Pit Stop

CHAPTER

SIX

SKYE

“Oh, these are all terrible,” I mumble to myself as I stare at the pictures I took the other night. I look half-dead.

It’s not good. Not at all. The new angles did nothing for me.

I’m a lost cause.

I don’t even post them because gods, who would want these? Not me. That’s my body on the screen and even I don’t want to see them.

“I’ll just have to find someone the good old-fashioned way,” I say just as a message from someone pops up on my screen.

I swipe at it, my heart rate accelerating.

Unknown Number:

Hey

Me:

Who is this?

Unknown Number:

Maverick. How did those pictures turn out?

Me:

How did you get my number? I know Forest wouldn’t give it to you.

Maverick:

Stop avoiding the question.

I roll my eyes even as my skin turns molten. Gods, the effect he has on me. My brother will kill me if he finds out about this.

Me:

Admittedly, they were terrible.

Maverick:

Show me.

I really don’t want to show him. Not at all. But for some reason, I send him a few of the lesser hideous ones.

He doesn’t respond for several minutes and I swear he’s laughing at me. He has to be. I would. They’re not appetizing.

Suddenly, that small text bubble appears. He’s messaging me again.

I hold my phone intently over my face and stare at it.

Maverick:

Thank you.

What the hell does that mean? Thank you for the laugh? Thank you for the nude chicken pictures?

I huff and set my phone down, and then sit up, needing to do something other than sulk over my lackluster appearance on screen.

I really do need to find someone to fuck me when my heat comes on again. I’m not even sure when it’s going to happen, but it could be any day now. I really need to buy some toys and try to make it through the heat with those.

I can totally do that.

I move around the house, cleaning up the dirty dishes and doing a load of laundry before heading back to my room to check my phone. I’m trying not to be desperate, but I can’t quite help the rapid increase in my heart rate as soon as I pick it up.

Disappointingly, Maverick hasn’t said anything else, and I slam my phone back down and frown at it.

Why hasn’t he said anything else? And why do I fucking care?

There’s no way I can let him fuck me again, right? Even if I did let him suck my dick on the ladder in the garage. If Forest knew, he’d be furious.

He’s far too overprotective of me. Ever since our mom died, he’s felt it’s his duty to make sure I make it to adulthood intact. Well, I’m already here and doing quite well for myself. I deserve to have some fun.

I know that my hookups with Maverick have strained their friendship.

It’s tense between them now.

And I get why he doesn’t want us to be together.

Not that I want to be together.

I just, you know…I want it to be easy next time I go into heat. And Maverick is easy and really hot. And his dick is very nice. We have great chemistry.

I wouldn’t mind another round.

But only in an emergency.

And I won’t ever ask for it. No. I can’t do that. I’ll figure something else out.

I pick up my phone and message Rob to see what he’s doing today, and he replies that he’s working, but to stop by and hang out for a bit until he’s off. Well, that’s better than just sitting in my house and doing nothing.

And by nothing, I mean, thinking about Maverick out gallivanting with my brother and their friends. Maybe he’s fucking one of them. It’s not common for alphas to fuck one another, but it’s not unheard of either.

My mind shifts to Forest and Maverick, and I wonder if maybe the reason my brother doesn’t want me with Maverick is because he’s in love with him. Maybe it’s more than just Forest wanting me to achieve my dreams.

As soon as that thought pops into my head, I force it away.

No. No fucking way.

“You don’t think Forest is in love with Maverick, right?” I ask Rob, who is stocking shelves at our local grocery store.

He turns toward me and laughs. “Uh, no. I don’t think that’s why he’s being so overprotective of you.”

“Yeah,” I say, feeling my cheeks flame. “You’re right. I guess I was just trying to figure it out.”

“He’s just worried about you, and we know Maverick is rough. Forest probably thinks you deserve someone who’s like an academic or something. He knows you want to get out of this town eventually and being with Maverick is gonna keep you here, where he knows you don’t wanna be.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I murmur and then rub a hand across the back of my neck. “Anyway, tell me all about the guy you met at the bar.”

“Oh, yes, Silo. He was very fun.” He waggles his eyebrows at me and then gets back to work when he sees his manager glowering at him from the other end of the aisle. The man looks irritated and anxious, his face in a concerned scowl. He’s quite handsome though, but Rob doesn’t seem to notice.

He just keeps his eyes averted.

“You do realize that your manager wants you, right?”

Rob’s cheeks flush. “Fuck off, Skye. He does not. He hates me.”

“He doesn’t. He just doesn’t like you talking about guys you’re fucking.”

“No, he thinks I’m a lazy worker.”

“I mean…you kind of are.”

Rob grins at me, and we let out a combined laugh. “I’m off in an hour. Instead of just standing there, help me so I can get this done.”

“I’m not getting paid,” I reply, but he just points to a full box of cans, and I get to work. Damn guy. As we unload the boxes, we chat about my disastrous dating-app mishaps and my horrible pictures, pulling Rob into fits of laughter until he’s no longer working and I’m doing it all.

His manager is not amused.

“Honestly, Rob, stop laughing.”

“You sent these pictures to Mav? Gods, Skye. Do you not want to get fucked again? These are so bad.”

“Give me my fucking phone back,” I murmur, grabbing for it, but Rob jumps away, knocking into a shelf. Cans wobble and several fall onto the floor. His manager appears and scolds him with a slash of his hand.

“Pick that up and get back to work. We’re not paying you to have fun,” he growls.

Rob’s demeanor changes and he nods, cleaning up the mess. When his shift ends, we walk out side by side, the heat almost sweltering in the midday sun.

“I hate working here. Can’t wait to get back to school.”

I nod and nudge him. “Maybe suck his dick and see what happens.”

“Wait? Suck whose dick? Gerald’s? Gods, fuck no.”

I shrug just as the rev of motorcycles pierces my ears and I turn my gaze out toward the street.

I know it’s him, can sense it through the waves of heat sizzling up from the ground. Maverick. My hole grows slick and I feel my cock perk up. Damn thing, always so overeager. It’s embarrassing.

The group of riders comes to a stop at the light, and I feel that gaze on me, causing my feet to shuffle on the hot pavement.

Stop looking at me, damn you.

But he doesn’t look away. No, he seems to stare even longer, intent on making me squirm.

As soon as the light turns green, all of them shoot off. All of them except Maverick. He turns the motorcycle into the parking lot where I’m standing, the rays of the sun beating down on my already too-hot face.

He comes to a stop right before me and his black boots hit the ground. The motorcycle rumbles beneath him and I take a step closer, drawn to him despite all the things telling me to stay away.

“Skye,” he says softly, and I wet my dry lips.

His eyes track the movement before dragging down my body, taking me in.

“Hello.”

His eyes darken, and my hole slackens, slippery and wet. His nostrils flare, inhaling me, and gods, my dick is already on the precipice of exploding.

“What are you doing?”

“Just out for a ride.”

“But they’re all gone now.”

“I’ll catch up.”

“Is my brother with you?”

“No. He’s somewhere else.”

Rob nudges me so hard that I nearly fall forward, right into Maverick’s arms.

“Want to come for a ride with me?” he asks, and I swallow, knowing this is a very bad idea.

“You still want to take me after seeing those pictures?”

His eyes grow hooded and he holds out a helmet to me. “Get the fuck on the bike, Skye-light.”

Rob gasps and grabs the helmet, smashing it on my head and buckling it under my chin, nearly clipping my skin in the process.

“Get on the fucking bike, Skye-light .”

I stare at him, and he winks at me, pushing me forward until I’m forced to straddle the bike, my hands moving around Maverick’s strong chest and my thighs spread wide, cradling his ass.

The bike revs, the breeze cooling my overheated skin as we ride off.

We don’t catch up with his friends right away, his bike taking a different route until we’re driving down a lonely road, no one in sight.

Dirt driveways appear right and left, hidden behind the trees, and I wonder where he’s taking me. But I honestly don’t care. He smells delicious and my hands can’t stop roaming across his chest. They may have slipped under his shirt and are now stroking the hard planes of his abdomen.

With each brush against him, our scents mingle until I’m heady from it.

I might also brush against his hard cock, squeezing it, rubbing it, making his pheromones spill from him, out of control. I love how I can bring this out of him.

Hate that he can do the same to me.

I have zero control.

But I want it. I really do. My hands only behave once my ears take in the distant rumbling of motorcycles. I know we’re close to his friends, and I know I can’t hang out with a bunch of alphas while slick with need.

That’s not the kind of image I want to give off.

I’m educated, smart. I don’t preen and beg for cock.

I mean, I do. I’m an omega, but still. I don’t need to show everyone how bad it gets.

Glancing over Maverick’s shoulder, I watch as the motorcycles pull into the dirt parking lot of a large pub and gas station, and Maverick slows down, parking farther away from them.

“You smell like sex,” he says as he turns off the motorcycle and we step off. He pulls his helmet from his head and his sweaty hair is matted to his forehead. He looks fucking good like this. He looks recently fucked.