Chapter 53: Sweet Anticipation

Interior, Earl's Diner, Temperance, South Dakota...

The end of Layla's shift had not come fast enough for her as she set about still waiting tables and cleaning dishes. Pheobe had done her fair share of the heavy lifting with the crowd from the lunch rush and The Howler M.C. occupying the place. She'd been more or less pleased to see that her boyfriend of sorts had returned with the crew and took as much time seeing to his needs as she dared despite the hectic shift. Layla had been scrambling for the most part as Brick watched her from his usual seat at the front counter while polishing off his whole cherry pie and pitcher of beer. He had seemingly been as anxious as she was for her shift to be over and the crowd of customers had not made that already lingering anxiousness any better. Brick wasn't much of a people person and had been quite annoyed with the number of men vying for Layla's attention be it for food or their none-too-subtle attempts at flirtation. Despite Brick being the one interested in her, he had forgotten that she was considered an adult in Temperance and that more men would be inclined to seek out her attention should they be so bold enough to do so.

He rolled his eyes at the latest, a wandering drunk who seemed to have taken a liking to Layla to the point of grabbing her ass when she came by his table with a tray in hand. Brick had been on his feet like lightning and tossed the drunk out on his ass before storming out of the door and glaring down at him with his fist balled. He had not taken too kindly to any man pawing at his lady and the urge to dent the drunkard's already unflattering-looking face had filled him to the max.

The drunk had not come alone as his group of equally drunken friends had come outside to see what the fuss had been about and defend their friend. They seemed to be outraged at Brick tossing out their friend and had come to put him in his place so to speak. The rest of The Howler M.C. simply smirked as they watched their president in action as Brick took on five drunken men all with the same intent to cause him a good deal of bodily harm.

With little to no effort on his part, Brick made short work of them tossing them all on their collective asses with strength unheard of and glaring rather menacingly with his grey eyes smoldering in fury. He had wanted to do more but didn't want to cause further issues with Layla and her job and turned his attention toward finishing off the remainder of his cherry pie and the remaining pitcher of beer. He noticed that Phoebe had refilled it on the house in a bid to reward him for getting rid of the jerks that were causing a ruckus.

Brick sat back down with a glare in the direction of a few other men whispering about him and staring for a few moments before they turned their collective attention to their plates nothing else had been said. Layla couldn't help but smile from behind the counter as she saw her way to finishing her task of collecting the dishes from the men Brick had thrown out.

The rest of Layla and Phoebe's shift had passed by without incident and just like before, Layla ventured into the back room and began to change to go home. Brick had taken the initiative and went to meet her outside once he'd been done and brought his bike around back. She exited from the back and seemed more than a little relieved to see him waiting for her in the alley this time around, of course, it was more or less due to Brick not wanting the drunks to have been lingering about and possibly harassing her after he'd thrown them out.

Layla climbed onto the back of his bike, feeling a sense of exhilaration as she wrapped her arms around his well-toned waist. Brick smirked as he felt her against him like she had always belonged there before revving the engine and making sure she'd held on tight. Layla took in the scent of him briefly as she rested her head against his back.

"Take me to the creek," said Layla unsure if her father had been home or not. Either way, she wanted to spend a bit of time with Brick before she headed back and turned in for the night.

Brick smirked although she had not been privy to it.

He recalled all too well just what the two of them had gotten up to during their last visit to the old creek. He wondered if there would be another old man moving about with a flashlight to come and interrupt them this time around.

The bike roared as it tore down the highway and toward the old dirt road that lead down to the all-but-forgotten creek. Layla squeezed Brick's body tightly both due to fear of falling off the bike and due to the fact that she'd felt rather comfortable against him.

She too recalled what happened the last time they were down at the creek and she wasn't in the least put off by it. She had liked when he held her in his arms and the feel of his bare naked body pressed against hers amid the churning water and the sound of crickets. She loved the thunderous beating of his heart within the confines of his massive chest and the feel of his tongue as it explored her innermost depths with purpose despite the butterflies being in her belly and her relative confusion as to why he liked licking her there.

Layla had missed Brick something awful when he'd been gone and as a result, she tried her best to ignore the depths of her feelings for him. He'd been an older man and wild in all aspects but she couldn't help the almost magnetic pull she felt whenever she'd been around him.

She noted the direction they were going in and that it wouldn't be long before they reached the old creek due to how fast Brick's bike had been going. She simply rested her head against his back and held him tight as the world seemed to whiz by them at an alarming speed. At the moment, she was content for the time being, but the sweet anticipation had still been lingering from the earlier promise of getting to spend time with him.