Jerk: Delinquent Rebels MC (7 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Another Friday morning market, just April and half the town’s population mulling around fruit and vegetable stands, enjoying the warm morning sunshine. She’d kept her distance from Van ever since their impromptu mini-golf date last week, knowing that she could no longer trust herself around him. She chalked it up to her willingness to fall for any smooth crap a good-looking guy spouted, but deep down, she knew that it was more than that. Something had stirred inside of her after their near-kiss, a feeling that had been dormant since she was a teenager, and it set her on edge.

Nothing could happen with Van for a plethora of reasons. The biggest and most obvious was his dad: James’s threats were words she thought over late at night while she stared at her ceiling in the dark, trying to fall asleep. He was a sketchy guy who had somehow acquired a high enough status in Cascade Falls to get engaged to her mom—and she knew he hadn’t climbed that social ladder by doing all the right things. April had no interest in pissing him off, no matter how Van made her feel.

And that was the second reason: she actually
had
feelings. Real feelings. For some playboy who owned a bar and pretended to like mini-golf—probably just to get in her pants. Feelings were dangerous, and they could lead her down an equally dangerous road if she wasn’t careful. April was here to support her mom and to help her prep for her wedding in the fall. There was no time for heartbreak, and she was sure that if she pursued any sort of emotional attachment with Van, that was what awaited her.

So, she distanced herself. She ignored his texts. She visited his house less often, declining her mom’s invitation to tag along for dinner or drinks or card games. Instead, she busied herself as she had since she’d first arrived with apartment decorating and cleaning, book reading, and TV watching. She’d even met up with Johnny for drinks, but there was no spark in the conversation, and the evening fizzled out around seven.

Anything she could do to forget about the look in Van’s eyes as he pressed up against her, she did it. Whatever worked to help make the feel of his lips on her skin fade—she did.

Despite seeing Van at the last farmers’ market she went to, April threw on a floor-length strapless maxi dress, the fabric loose and flowy, grabbed her reusable shopping bags, and took a stroll down to the stands. Even with Van there, the market had been a good distraction from the routine of her life lately, and she was desperate to pick up some fresh strawberries again; the ones she’d bought last time were practically orgasmic.

She kept her head down, focused on perusing the stalls without making direct eye contact with anyone. However, no matter how hard she tried and pretended to look and be busy, lost in her own world to ward off potential conversation from acquaintances, she couldn’t fool Van. Halfway through her shopping trip, she spotted him coming toward her through the crowd, a scowl on his face. She froze on the spot, panicking, before turning and ducking back into the throngs of people in the parking lot marketplace.

It didn’t help that he was practically a giant and towered over half the people there. Plus, her sandals were
not
conducive for a hasty retreat. Somehow she managed to get back to the sidewalk along Main Street without him catching her, and instead of heading north back up to her mom’s apartment, she turned right and went south, hoping to lose him by doing the unexpected.

Annoyed that her shopping distraction had been ruined once again by Van’s surprise appearance, April stalked along the sidewalk, her hands in fists, and carried on without a clear idea as to where she was going. The longer she walked, the more the sky clouded, a once perfectly sunny morning slowly turning gray on her. The winds picked up, whipping her dress around, and she was pleased that she only had a few things her bags; carrying heavy items in a punishing wind was no fun.

When she heard the distant rumble of thunder, coming from somewhere far along the valley beyond the lake, April debated turning back and heading for home. The air had thickened with pre-storm humidity, and she hated the idea of seeking shelter under a tree or in a bus stop to wait out the worst of it.

However, just as she was about to cross the street to walk back to her mom’s place, the sidewalk cutting off some twenty feet from her in favor of a gravelly roadside shoulder, she heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle.

Of course.

She certainly didn’t need to look back to check who was following her, and instead of crossing the street like she intended, April carried on forward. The wind rustled the trees on either side of the road, the great sycamores and pines towering well-above her head, and she wondered if she might lose him if she slipped between their thick trunks.

“April!” His voice carried over the sound of his engine, as he slowed beside her, and she faced forward, as if fascinated by the horizon. “What are you doing?”

“Walking,” she shouted back, her eyes narrowing. “Am I not allowed to walk anywhere?”

“This is stupid.”

Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she picked up the pace to a near jog, hoping he might get the hint. It was then that the skies finally decided they’d had enough of holding all that rainwater, and she felt the first few fat drops hit her face as Van puttered along behind her. This
was
stupid—she knew that. It was petty and juvenile, but she hadn’t expected him to go to such great lengths to follow her.

If only she’d turned left instead of right; she could be back in her mom’s apartment by now, safe and dry, separated from Van by the security code at the door that everyone needed to punch in.

But then again, he’d gotten in once before, though she hoped it was because a neighbor had felt sorry for him and let him inside.

“Just go away,” she cried over the motorcycle’s rumbling, rolling her eyes when she looked back and saw his legs out and feet on the ground to steady himself, half-walking the bike after her so that he could keep up. He’d taken his helmet off, she noticed, and he stared at her with an unimpressed look.

Well, she was pretty unimpressed with herself too—he didn’t need to say anything.

Gravel poked at her feet as she walked, her sandals flicking some of the loose stones in and sandwiching them between the sole of her shoe and her foot. Gritting her teeth, she tried her best to ignore them, to ignore
him
, and when that failed, April turned and stalked off into the woods. Although walking through underbrush and exposed roots wasn’t much better, at least he couldn’t follow her on the bike.

The rain was falling at a steady pace now, soaking her right through to the skin and beyond. Her hair lay flat against her head, and her only saving grace was that she hadn’t put on any eye makeup that morning—at least she didn’t have raccoon eyes. There were small mercies in the universe after all.

She was probably a good ten feet into the trees, totally unsure of where she was going, when she heard Van cut the engine. She’d hoped he would just drive away, but instead she heard him crashing through the woods behind her, groaning and grunting as the forest slowed him. She smirked then changed course and headed back toward the downtown. The trees would taper off once she hit the small residential neighborhood at the end of Main Street, and then it would be a quick jaunt back to her mom’s apartment.

Hopefully, he was wearing biker boots—those probably weren’t meant for the outdoors. But then again, neither were sandals, not in this capacity.

“April, stop.” He was a lot closer than she’d thought, and she let out a surprise cry when he grabbed her wrist and tugged her back. She yanked her hand away, glaring. Van glowered right back at her, not backing down for even a second. “What are you doing? This is ridiculous!”

“What’s ridiculous is that you followed me out here,” she fired back, her skin prickling as a chilly gust of air crashed through the forest, bringing with it a fresh pelting of heavy raindrops. Her teeth threatened to chatter, as her body cooled, but she held strong. “What are you… stalking me?”

Van snorted and looked away, shaking his head. “For fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah, my thoughts precisely,” she said with a sniff before turning and stalking away.

“What the hell did I even do to you?” Van called after her, and she slowed, hearing the frustration in his voice. He really had no idea. “Are you upset about mini-golf? Look, I’m sorry that I… that we… almost… You know, whatever. I didn’t know it’d turn into some big thing where you’d ignore me afterward.”

April stopped with a huff, took a breath, and then faced him again. “I’m ignoring you with good reason.”

His eyebrows flew up. “What?”

“This,” she said, pointing between them, as she stomped back through the bushes, “can’t happen.
We
can’t be a thing.”

“Why?” His hands were in fists when she stopped in front of him, and she noticed the way his jaw clenched. Apparently not many refused the great Van Palmer.

“Because,” she started, taking in a deep breath to prepare for her rant, “in a few months, we’re going to be
related
, first of all—”

“Not by blood,” he muttered, rolling his eyes and looking toward the canopy. Rain continued to pummel them both, slipping through the fresh spring leaves.

“Plus, I know what kind of man you are,” April carried on, annoyed at the slight tremble her voice took on, “because I knew what kind of guy you were when we were in high school, and… that’s why I just left then. You used girls. You did whatever you wanted with them and then wiped your hands clean before moving onto the next one.” She held up a finger, silencing him before he could protest. “Don’t bother. I knew then, and I know now. I have no interest in fluffing your ego or adding a notch to your bedpost. For the sake of our parents, we can be friends. I’d rather be on good terms, but right now, I just… can’t be around you without…”

April trailed off and licked her lips, her speech losing a bit of its steam as she came to the realization that her feelings were stronger than she thought. Shaking her head, she sighed and turned away.

“Fuck you.” She stopped dead in her tracks, as he all but growled at her, and she whirled around, her jaw dropping. “Those are bullshit excuses and you know it. Just because I was some cocky little asshole all of, what, almost ten years ago doesn’t mean I’m still that guy. I’m sure you aren’t the same woman you were when you were eighteen either, so don’t pull that shit on me.”

“Van—”

“And it’s not like we’re going to suddenly be blood related just because our parents tie the knot,” he argued, closing the distance between them in a few long steps. April backed up to avoid coming into contact with him, only to find herself smacking into a thick tree trunk. “You’re full of shit right now if you expect me to believe any of that. Full of it. You’re just scared of getting hurt, and, hey, I get that. Love is a scary thing.”

“No one ever said anything about love,” she spat, as thunder rumbled above them, following a bright flash of light.

“Your eyes say plenty,” he sneered, bending down so that they were at the same level. She dropped her bags, enraged.

“Fuck you—”

He swallowed her anger with a kiss, lips slating over hers. April inhaled shakily, her hands flying up to his chest—first to push him away, then to drag him closer. There was no tentativeness in the way he kissed, only a burning desire to take precisely what he wanted: her. Her face colored with excitement, with arousal, and she no longer felt the cold rain as he pressed himself against her. Cupping his face, she parted her lips when he nipped at her lower one, sharp enough to make her moan.

God did she ever want him. All of him. Right there in the woods, pressed against a damp spruce.

Van hoisted her up, the soaked fabric of her dress clinging to her legs as they wrapped around his waist, and she groaned his name as he left a trail of blazing kisses down her neck. Her hand threaded through his thick dark hair, tightening around it and pulling, and he bit down on her shoulder in response. Her cunt clenched, pleasure seeping out of her core, her underwear damp but not from the rain.

“No,” she whispered, pushing at his chest when he finally cupped her where she desperately wanted him to, his palm rubbing her clit through the wet material. When he didn’t stop right away, she pushed him again, and this time he stepped back, both of them panting.