Page 5 of Phoenix

“She’s toying with me,” he mumbled to himself, tossing his phone to the bed. He just wouldn’t read her text. That would serve her right.

He decided to try to ignore the fact that she was jerking him around and went down to the kitchen to grab a beer. That’s when he saw her. Phoenix had stepped out of Mrs. Aggie’s house, onto the front porch, and was staring over at his house. Riggs ducked out of the window, trying not to catch her attention, but he was pretty sure that wouldn’t stop her from coming over. He had all the downstairs lights on, and he knew that she’d have some choice words for him—probably not any that he was going to like. Maybe just telling her “No” to her offer of a night out at Savage Hell wasn’t his finest idea, but it was the only answer that he planned on giving her.

Riggs held his breath as he watched Phoenix Walk across the yard between his and Aggie’s houses. She looked determined by the look on her beautiful face, as she walked with purpose. He just wondered what her purpose was for storming over to his house.

He ducked out of the window as she stomped up his porch and rang the doorbell. Riggs waited a few minutes before going to the front door, hoping that Phoenix would just go away. Shebanged on the door, and he sighed. There was no way that Phoenix would give up if she was there for a reason.

He got to the front door and took a deep breath as he put his hand on the doorknob. “I know that you’re in there,” she insisted. “Just open the door, Riggs.” He pulled the door open, and she crossed her arms, scowling at him from the porch.

“I asked you out,” she started. He was well aware of her invitation to go to Savage Hell to get a beer. The problem was that Phoenix was only twenty, and there was no way that he’d rob the cradle.

“I’m aware,” he said, “and I replied with my answer.”

“You turned me down without any explanation and I’d like to know why,” she spat. God, she was beautiful when she was mad.

“I don’t think that my answer needs much explanation,” he insisted. Phoenix pulled her cell from her pocket, found his reply, and held it up for him to be able to see the screen.

“No,” she shouted. “One word—that’s all I got. I’d like a reason why you won’t grab a beer with me down at the bar,” she said again. With any other woman, he’d tell her to piss off, but Phoenix was different. Plus, there was no way that he’d want to make her grandmother mad.

He let out his breath and looked her dead in the eye. “I turned you down because you’re only twenty,” he said.

She barked out her laugh, “Age is just a number, Riggs,” she said. “Besides, I’ve been through more in my twenty years than most people in a whole lifetime.” He knew that she was right about that. From what Mrs. Aggie told him and what he picked up from Phoenix, she had been through a hell of a lot.

“And for the record,” she continued, “I’ll be twenty-one in two weeks.” He wanted to tell her that didn’t matter to him, but it did.

“I’m thirty, Phoenix,” he said. “We still have a ten-year age difference and there’s no way that I’m going to go up against your grandmother if she doesn’t approve.”

“Aggie doesn’t get to pick who I go out with anymore, Riggs,” she said.

“I guess she doesn’t,” he whispered, “but I still don’t think that us going out together is a good idea.”

“Well, I think that it is,” she insisted. “How about you take me out on my birthday and buy me my first drink?” she asked.

Now it was his turn to laugh. “You don’t expect me to believe that you’ve never had an alcoholic drink, Phoenix,” he said.

“Okay, how about you take me out and buy me my first drink of the night?” she asked. “Come on, it will be fun, and you’ll see that age is just a number.” Maybe she was right. Maybe he could get away with dating Phoenix, but the little voice in the back of his head was telling him that he was too old for her. It told him that he’d make a full of himself in front of his club brothers if he showed up at Savage Hell with Phoenix on his arm. His little voice never steered him wrong before, so he was going to stick with it, even if it meant hurting Phoenix.

“No,” he breathed. “I won’t take you out, Phoenix. You are too young for me, and I won’t make an ass out of myself by dating a younger woman. You need to find someone your age to date.”

She shook her head at him, and for a second, he thought that she was going to just walk away. But Phoenix wasn’t going to make any of this that easy for him. “Coward,” she breathed, “you’re being a giant coward, Riggs. But that’s okay. I’m going to take your advice and start talking to some of the other guys down at Savage Hell, but they won’t be my age. Men my age are immature and once I tell them that I have a toddler, they make up an excuse to leave. I like older men for a reason, Riggs—they have the balls to put up with everything that I’ve had to dealwith in life and not be scared off by my daughter.” She turned to leave, and he felt bad letting her go like that.

“Phoenix,” he called after her. She didn’t bother to turn around. She just kept walking over to her grandmother’s house.

When she got to the porch, she turned to look back at him and smiled. “Your loss, Riggs,” she shouted. Phoenix walked into the house and slammed the door behind her. She was probably right—it was his loss, but what was he supposed to do? If he gave in to her now, there would be no going back, and he couldn’t risk that.

Phoenix

Most people were excited about their twenty-first birthday, but Phoenix wasn’t. She felt as though she had lived a lifetime already, but she was still going to try to enjoy herself. Aggie had planned a whole special night for her. She was going to stay home with Lydia and Phoenix was going into Savage Hell, for the first time, with some of her old high school girlfriends.

Phoenix wasn’t sure how they would all respond to her being back home, but her three closest friends had welcomed her back to town with open arms. Juno, Rebel, and Vixen were all a part of the Royal Harlots, and they asked her to come down to the clubhouse to celebrate Phoenix on her twenty-first. They promised to introduce her to some hot bikers, but she was only thinking about one biker she wanted for her birthday, and he didn’t want her. She agreed to their plans, but all she wanted to do was stay home and pout about the fact that Riggs had turned her down flat.

She was just about dressed when she noticed that a light turned on in Rigg’s home on the second floor. She had seen him in there a few times, and from what she could tell, it washis bedroom. Sure, watching him through her bedroom window made her a Peeping Tom, but she just couldn’t seem to be able to help herself. Every night, she sat in the darkness of her room and watched Riggs strip out of his clothes and crawl into bed in just his boxer briefs. At first, she felt dirty watching him and after he took off his T-shirt, she looked away, but she quickly forgot her shyness and started to watch the whole show. Hell, if he didn’t want her watching him, he should close the blinds to his bedroom window. At least, that was how she was justifying her actions.

A part of her wondered if maybe he wanted her to watch him. She’d fantasize about him knowing that she was there in the darkness, looking at him and longing that he’d finally give in to her and take her out. She’d even be willing to skip the date part and jump right to the sex if that was what he wanted. There was just something about Riggs that drove her half-crazy with lust and there was nothing that she could do about it. Phoenix didn’t care that he was almost ten years older than her. None of that ever mattered to her—she just wished she could convince him that age was just a number, but from the way that he turned her down when she asked him out, that was going to be tough to do.

“Phoenix,” Aggie called up to her from downstairs, “the girls are here.” She looked back over at Riggs’ house and sighed. Tonight wasn’t about him—it was about her and her girlfriends. She was going to meet the rest of the Royal Harlots and with any luck, she’d have some new friends in town.

She checked herself in the mirror one last time, turned off her light, and headed downstairs to where everyone was waiting for her. “You all are making me feel like I’m going to the school dance with the way you’re watching me walk down the staircase. Cut it the fuck out.” Her friends laughed and by the time she got to the second step, they were pulling her in for hugs, one at a time. She had to admit, it was good to know that her old friendsstill had her back, even after not seeing them for four years. Seeing them again felt like old times, and with any luck, tonight she’d be able to let her hair down and have some fun. It had been so long since she had fun, and Phoenix knew that it was overdue.

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