Chapter 19: Chapter 19
Beck
I checked the rearview mirror as we pulled into the school other cars with numbers in the windows just like the one Misty tossed up on her rearview mirror. I relaxed and my mind immediately conjured the image of Misty in that dress bent almost exposing her ample ass as she rummaged around in the fridge. I didn’t fuck my charges, I was supposed to protect them and usually they were so broken by men the thought never occured to me. She was also far too young for me but the fact that she was different than the situations I usually chose was frying my brain. I couldn’t keep the thoughts out.. Since Alley I hadn’t really seen women in the way I found myself visualizing Misty. A quick one off in a hotel after meeting at a bar, sure. A male needed to feel something once in a while. I couldn’t understand the shift, it was something I wouldn’t allow myself to explore. The bear grumbled in my head and I rolled my eyes. Okay I’ll admit it, I liked the sassy pint-sized woman, but I wouldn’t add my confused ass to her laundry list of issues. We pulled up to the pick up queue and Cricket bounded up with her infectious smile and slid into the back seat.
“Hola nina!” Misty greeted her as she looked at her in the rearview mirror waiting for the car in front of us to depart from the lane.
“Mom! You look so pretty!” Cricket observed. “Are you going on a date? Beck, don’t you think she looks pretty when she does her hair?”
Misty snorted, shaking her head.
“Your mom always looks pretty,” I told Cricket. I wasn’t going to lie to the kid.
Misty stilled, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, before she shot them quickly back to the road to pull into traffic.
“No date, Beck and I are just going out if it's okay with you. You can hang out with Mrs Gonzalez and see if you can get her tamale recipe out of her,” Misty easily drew the line for Cricket that it wasn’t anything romantic and gave her a challenge as an offering to accept. “If you don’t want to, it's okay, we will stay in,” she added, giving Cricket the power of choice.
“No! I want the tamale recipe!” Cricket insisted. Misty knew her daughter better than most people knew their kids these days.
“We will be just up the road, so if you need anything, just call me. I’m going to take you home and feed you though, before Valentina accuses me of starving you,” she said, so that's what happened.
We were knocking on Valentina’s door, Misty hugged Cricket’s back to her front as we waited for her to answer, the bear in me could smell her anxiety wafting off Misty in waves. I could only surmise she rarely left Cricket in the care of others, besides maybe Adelaide. This was a big step. She glanced at me in an ‘are you sure’ question. I nodded and she sighed, trying to release the tension in her shoulders when Valentina answered.
“Chica! Your mama is finally letting me have you hang out with this old woman!” Valentina gushed, ignoring us. We have so much cooking to do, go wash up, rápida!”
Cricket rushed into the apartment to wash up and Valentina looked from me to Misty.
“You know?” Misty asked.
Valentina nodded.
“You call me if even the slightest thing—,” Misty insisted.
“Nina, I promise, your nina is safe with me, I am not ignorant to your troubles. I will call you so you can bring el gran oso malo (the big bad bear) here to kick everyone’s asses, now go. You deserve to have a break, mamasita,” she told Misty before giving me a hard look. I stared back at her, Misty marked the transaction of wills before I reached out and guided her down the hall by the small of her back and thankfully, she didn’t fight me.
One thing I learned about Misty was she refused to be easy. I liked that about her. Every day I learned something new about her. Whether it was something small that irritated her or something bigger in our talks as she typed away and watched the codes streaming across her computer screens. We stopped back at the apartment to get her bag and I picked up a bag pulling out a helmet in her size.
“Do you want to ride or walk?” I asked.
She looked at me stunned.
“You got me a helmet?”
“Yeah, I figured just in case,” I told her. I didn’t usually do this. But Cricket was a child whose animal wasn’t present and Misty was a human. They were more delicate and Adelaide would kill me if her friend was harmed on my watch, not to mention, I liked her pretty face the way it was.
“I guess we can ride,” she said tentatively. If Cricket’s dad was a biker I assumed his brother was too, evident by how they arrived that first night.. I didn’t know how deep something so simple might take Misty, dealing with so many women over the years had made me empathetic to how small things could send their minds into a whirlwind of emotions.
Misty however was a woman who knew her limits so I trusted her words. We went downstairs and out the back where my bike was parked near her car. I stepped over and mounted the bike, Misty slid on behind me, the warmth of her at my back I found strangely comforting. I handed her her helmet and she put it on, a moment later she leaned forward, her hands splayed over the tank most likely trying to be respectful but I lifted them and pressed them against my midsection not wanting the tank to heat and burn her. She paused and then her arms tightening them around me like a hug, a thing I hadn’t felt fully in a long time. I swallowed, kicking up the stand and turning the key. As I took off, her helmeted cheek pressed against my back and I heard her sigh. We wound out of the parking area and down the alley into the street. I gave the bike a little gas and her thighs and arms tightened around me. Two minutes later I pulled into a spot in front of the coffee shop. She pulled the helmet off, a broad smile on her face as I looked at her over my shoulder. I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I turned off the bike and put the kickstand down. I got off and realized how far the dress had ridden up as I gave her my hand, I averted my eyes. She took my hand, using the other to situate herself as she stood so she didn’t flash anybody. I held her hand, unwilling to let it go as I leaned over against the sound of the music and whosoever’s off tune voice was singing. “Let me guess, you like to ride?”
She laughed. “Obviously, even if it's just up the road, it's a freeing feeling, I don’t know why.” she admitted.
I was astounded she hadn’t yanked her hand away so I kept holding it, testing this feeling as she allowed me to lead her whie we made our way inside. Her eyes took in the surroundings as I told the hostess we needed a table. About half the tables were filled and half of those were zeroed in on the stage, the rest were honed into work on laptops or conversations with whomever they were here with. We were taken to a booth off to the side and given menus, the hostess excusing herself until we were ready to order.
Misty’s eyes glanced around. “Seems like a chill place,” she said.
“It is,” I said, loosening her hand just to see what she would do. She squeezed the tips of my fingers before picking up the menu as she released me. My fingers flexed at the loss as I grabbed my menu up ad did the same.
“Beck,” Misty alerted.
“What?” I asked glancing around for trouble.
“This place is way out of my budget, we gotta go,” she admitted.
“Shh, I invited you, it's on me,” I sighed and decided to be transparent. “Technically, it is on Adelaide. She forced me to keep a portion of the money she was left as compensation, I didn’t want it but I doubt you know what she can do with a knife.” Misty’s eyes suddenly widened, she swallowed.