Page 8 of Gunner

“What’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know! Anything. And you’re not here to help me.” I’m stalling. I’m nervous. This is awkward.

“You’ll be fine. If he wanted to hurt you, he would have last time. Go have fun.” He ushers me in that direction. I smile at him and turn, walking toward the clubhouse.

My heart hammers against my ribs, and I wonder why I’m so nervous about this. Gunner said to come back, although it’s been weeks, almost two months to be exact, since he said that. He probably won’t remember me.

I stop walking and debate turning back, but when I turn around, Rick is gone. I sigh, turn back, and continue to the clubhouse. I stop at the front door and then reach for the handle, pulling it open. There’s light music playing, but nothing like the night of the party.

I step inside and glance around, not seeing him anywhere, when another guy spots me. He nods his head and motions for me to come in, so I do. I walk over to him slowly, unsure if I should even be here.

“You lookin’ for someone?”

“Um, Gunner.”

“Who are you?”

“Just a friend,” I tell him. What the hell do I say to that? The girl he fucked senseless a few months ago?

“A friend, huh?”

“Yeah. Is he around?” The guy cracks his neck from side to side before looking over his shoulder and back to me.

“He’s in the office. You want me to let him know you’re here?”

“Sure. That’d be great. Thank you.” The guy nods and climbs off his stool, heading toward the stairs. I watch him climb them two at a time before he walks through an open door. A few seconds later, he comes back out smiling like a fool.

“You can come up,” he says, motioning for me to come. I hesitate for a second, unsure about this. But then I figure, what the hell do I have to lose? I climb the steps as he points to the office. I smile my thanks and walk in to find Gunner with his head down, looking at something on his desk.

“What do you need?” he asks without looking up.

“I … uh … just wanted to say hi.” Now, his head pops up, and he looks at me strangely.

“Nat. I didn’t know it was you,” he says, a slow smile curling his lips.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you back around here.” He puts his pen on the desk and looks directly at me. I’m nervous, but I don’t know why.

“I’m good. Just thought I’d stop by,” I answer him sounding all kinds of corny and cliché. I was in the neighborhood? Way to keep cool, Nat.

“I’m glad you did. You hungry? I was about to grab some lunch,” he says. I nod my head, although I know I don’t have money for this. I should say no. I should go. And he can see it. How? I don’t know, but he can see me being indecisive.

“Don’t overthink it, Nat. It’s lunch on me.” I’d like to eat lunch off him. Oh my god, Nat! Get your head out of the gutter.

“Thanks. I’d like that.” He nods his head as he stands and grabs his cut, sliding it on. Then he grabs his cell and keys, walking toward me. My heart is thundering in my chest, and I don’t know why. He makes me nervous but in a good way.

“You look good.” He slips his hand around mine. I smile my thanks as he leads us out of the office and back down the stairs.

“Hey, Dad? You busy?” That’s the girl who sat with me that night. Kiki was her name. She’s Gunner’s daughter? Jesus, she has to be my age. Is he that much older than me? I start to pull my hand away from him, but he doesn’t let me.

“Takin’ Nat out to lunch. What’s up?”

“Oh, never mind. I can talk to you later,” she says as she looks at our combined hands. Again, I try to pull mine away from his, but he still doesn’t let me. In fact, he pulls me closer to him.

“You sure?” he asks. She nods and walks off with a grin on her face as Gunner leads me out the side door and toward a bunch of bikes.

“You ever been on one before?” he asks as he picks up a helmet and passes it to me.

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