Page 6 of Shifting Gears

AJ

Thanks.

She’s fine. I was paranoid for nothing.

I could almost picture her pretty face as she leaned down to “help” Billy Crystal with his directions. The smell of her strawberry perfume filled my nostrils at the thought of it. Fuck, stealing a car had me horny as hell, and I missed my girl’s perfect pussy wrapping around my cock as I thrust deep inside her. I could almost hear her moan in my ear and taste her lips solely from memory.

I should jerk one off before I hit the gym. I scrolled some porn sites until I found a cute, petite brunette getting railed from behind and used that to find some release. Once I was done, I tossed my phone back onto the counter and headed to the gym. I worked out harder that night than I’d pushed myself in a long time. I reminded myself that Rosalie was better off without me—exactly like I had known she would be.

CHAPTER 3

AJ

Once I gota taste of my old lifestyle of boosting cars, things began to look up. Don’t get me wrong; I was still bored out of my mind half the fuckin’ time, but the last couple of months of boosting had helped curb that to a good extent.

The only days I still spent half annoyed were on my days off because there was nothing going on. I spent longer hours at the gym on those days, but I could only work out for so long before even my body wanted to fight me. More often than not, after going back and getting a shower, I’d wind up in one of the local pachinko places again. And since my money had gotten tight, spending long hours at one place wasn’t cutting it anymore. So, I hopped between two or three of them. My favorite was attached to a bar, and tonight, it was pretty packed.

I sent another pachinko ball flying in the machine, hoping it would win since I was down to my last few balls, but it was another loss. I quickly sent my remaining balls, and none of them won either.

“Son of a bitch,” I growled under my breath, giving the machine a shove.

The old man at the machine next to me glared in my direction as I stood up and walked over to the bar. I got the cheapest beer on the menu.

That was when I noticed her for the first time.

I hadn’t seen a girl who turned me on since I’d arrived. Not saying the women here weren’t sexy in their own way, but I missed the curves of the women I was used to seeing in LA. But there she walked, hips swaying side to side as she approached the bartender across from me. He leaned in intently, listening as she said something in a hushed undertone. I couldn’t pick up what was being said because of all the noise coming from the parlor behind me. For a split second, her eyes met mine, and I felt my dick harden.

I finished my beer before I pushed off the counter and made my way toward her. The bartender walked away and made a drink as I slid up and grabbed the seat to her left.

“What’s happening, baby girl?” I said as I smirked at her.

She turned in her seat to look at me. Her beautiful, straight black hair hovered right above her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep green. They sat perfectly above her rosy cheeks. She had a fair complexion, but not as fair as most of the people here. Had to be half Japanese. She was also taller—at least five-eight.

“American, huh? Sorry, tough guy, not interested.”

With that, she turned back to face the bartender, who set a drink down in front of her.

“Thank you,” she said to him as she slid her money on the counter.

That was when I noticed a tattoo peeking out from beneath her jacket on her forearm. It looked like black feathers. Ink wasn’t something I saw too often here unless it was on some guys who were into some shady shit.

Which was kind of ironic, seeing as my arms were covered in tattoos and that I also toed the line of the law. But not like theother guys around here. I’d learned a lot of them were a part of the local yakuza, the Japanese gang, and I tried to steer clear of them as much as possible.

“You don’t even know what I’m offering yet, baby. How do you know you’re not interested?” I said as she took a sip of her drink.

“Trust me, I know all about what guys like you offer, and again, not interested. Let me drink alone, please.” She took another sip before sighing loudly. “You’re really not going to go away, are you?” she asked as she glanced up at me.

“Not when the view is so good from this seat,” I said as I watched her finish her drink.

“So persistent. Well, if you’re going to sit here and interrupt my peace and quiet, the least you can do is pay for my next drink.”

“Only if you tell me your name,” I said as I leaned in closer and waved the bartender over.

“Raven Kobayashi,” she whispered.

“It’s a sexy name,” I said.

I placed some cash on the counter when the bartender approached us, ordering my regular drink. He took the money with a nod and walked away.

---