Dash

by Shantel Tessier

am. I am a smart-mouthed bitch who has anger issues and a right hook to prove it. If that meant I rolled around in the dirt with the ones he considered scum, then call me the fucking queen of the scum world.

He pulls away and a moan slips past my lips. “You taste as good as I remember,” he mumbles. “Like candy.”

“You screamed my name so loud my ears are still ringing.” I inhale sharply. He lowers his face to mine and runs the tip of his nose down the side of my face. “You fucking loved every bit of it, darling,” he growls as his hands tighten on my hips.

“I want her,” I state, interrupting her.

“You said you wanted to feel me as I fucked you.” His breath hits my ear and makes me break out in goosebumps. “And it was the sexiest thing I had ever heard.”

“You’re already wet for me, baby.” He smiles against my lips when his fingers find my soaked pussy.

“I get it,” he says. “I get that he hurt you. He messed with your head,” he says, and I feel my anger start to rise. He doesn’t know how much I changed. He doesn’t know anything! “But I’m not trying to change you. I want to get to know the real you.”

“Some parts are still fuzzy.” I have a feeling she’s playing with me, but I’ll play along. I walk up to her and place my hands on her hips. “Then let me remind you, sweetheart.” I lift her up, and she wraps her legs around me.

He takes his time working in and out of me, filling me. “I’m gonna take my time with you tonight, baby.”

He leans over and hands me the helmet. “Don’t be nervous. I would never put you in harm’s way,” he says softly before he grabs my left hand and brings it around to his face. He gives it a soft kiss, and then lets go of it.

“Some things are worth the risk,” I say, referring to her.

He slows the kiss down and pulls away. “I gotta go, baby.” He lightly kisses my forehead and then looks down at me. “Go,” I whisper. “I’m not going anywhere,” I say, and I give him a small smile.

No drugs. No alcohol. No getting in trouble with the law. What about falling in love with his daughter? Wonder what he would do if he knew that part about me? That I’ve been hiding a secret from him.

Yesterday, I did nothing but sit around my house listening to every song that resembled hating men. It helped a little. It mainly just fueled my fire to want to punch him even more.

“I’ve been telling you from the start that I would risk everything for you, yet I have risked nothing. We’ve kept it a secret.”

“I choose you, Tabatha. You’re better than any dream I have ever had. Because you are real. You’re right here in front of me.”

You once told me that we are alike. And that we both take risks. I’m willing to risk racing for you, for her. That’s what we were planning to tell you tonight. If you give me an ultimatum, I will pick her. ‘Cause to me, she’s worth more than some plastic and a track.” I finish up and then stand from my chair.

“I won’t walk away, Dash.” My heart swells at her confession.

“So proud of you, baby,” he whispers and then places a kiss on my cheek. Geez, I’ve never been so proud to make an A.

I risked my job to be with Tabatha. And now, I’m risking Tabatha for my job. How did this get so fucked-up?

“It’s gonna be okay,” he assures me with a small smile. “I promise. We are going to be okay. I would never do anything to hurt you.”

I swallow hard, knowing that promises are made to be broken. In the end, ‘promise’ is just a word spoken to prevent the inevitable that no one wants to see coming. I promise I love you. I promise you’re my everything. I promise not to hurt you. Do you see a pattern? Promise makes you think that you have a chance. A candy-coated word to sweeten the pot.

“You are absolutely beautiful,” he whispers before his lips are...

Dash, I understand what you have to do. I hope you understand what I have to do. Tabatha

Growing up, my father always told me that we have choices in life that will make you weak or make you stronger.

“I fell in love with him because of the way he made me feel. Not my feelings toward him, but my feelings toward myself. I lit up when he walked into a room. I had a smile on my face that wouldn’t go away. My skin would tingle whenever he would look at me.” Her eyes drop to the cut on my lip, and I lick it nervously. Her eyes meet mine once again, and she continues. “I loved myself first. I fell in love with the person who I was when he was around. And in loving myself, I fell in love with him.”

“Give love a chance. It doesn’t matter if your heart breaks a hundred times. You’ll eventually open your heart to that one person who makes all that pain go away. It’ll be that one love that’s worth it.”

The way her bruised and stitched face looked. She looked so broken—so not herself. And that’s what made me so mad. That was why I yelled at her in front of everyone. I should have taken her in my arms and held her. I should have apologized and told her that I was there for her. Instead, I did more harm than good.

I hate that she made me love her with no intention of loving me back.

Women give us too much credit. We really are pieces of shit.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of what you feel,” I tell her. “I want you to feel safe.” My eyes scan her forehead. You can barely see the scar where her stitches were. “I would never want you to lose yourself in order to love me.”

“That is if you don’t already have plans.” She nibbles on her lower lip nervously. “Even if I did, I would cancel them,” I say in all honesty.

“Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you sound when you say that?” he asks against my lips. “Tell me again. Tell me how much you need me.”

“Oh, no,” he says. “You’re going to watch.” His removes his fingers, and he lifts my head. I stare at him standing behind me in the mirror. “I want you to see how beautiful you are when you come.”

“No. It wasn’t a dare.” He takes a deep breath. “We both have secrets. We both have a past. I wanted to show the woman that I love off to the world.” I smile. “And I agree with her. Who cares what the people think. She and I know the truth, and that’s all that matters to me.”

She reminds me what it’s like to be wanted. To be important. To be loved.

He pulls away and he laughs. “You did it,” I whisper against his lips. “We did it.” He smiles. “We fucking did it.”

Winning that race last week made me realize that was only half of my dream. The other half was having her there with me.

“It was never about the race. It was about the power that the bike allowed me to have. It was about the freedom I felt when I was on her. When I’m on a bike, I’m free. And who doesn’t want to be free?”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up every morning knowing that you’re mine.”

“Why am I so emotional?” She lets out a little laugh. I smile down at her. “I don’t know. But I’ll spend the rest of my life drying your tears.”

“Don’t make me live without you,” I whisper as tears run down my face.

It’s crazy how you have only been with someone for a short time, and it feels like you’ve known them all your life.

Dash taught me that you’re never guaranteed tomorrow. And yesterday is never enough.