Stalking the Dancer || 18+

Part Twelve - K.O.

I could fucking kill them.

I feel her press into me with every breath she takes and her thumbs nervously thrum against my abs, but she inhales a deep breath when she notices them standing on the porch that wraps around Ray's place. 

Puffing smoke and laughing like hyenas, I'm almost positive they're out here waiting for us to get back. I don't know why else the guys would be here in the middle of the afternoon during a work day, other than to bother me about my life decisions. All those shitheads do is meddle in my business and it's wearing pretty thin on me these days. I just wish the fuckers could understand that I'm doing all of this for Dorothy. I want to help her find herself again, keeping her is just a bonus. Even if I'm undeserving of a woman like her, I need to be there when the light flickers back to life in her eyes. Unfortunately, my friends interfering at every goddamn turn is making my plans move much slower. 

I park the bike and hear footsteps crunching across the gravel driveway, "Dorothy!" 

It's Lee, jogging over to us with a fat smile spread across his face. I dismount before he reaches us, but he moves past me to my girl. Without saying a word he plucks her from the back of my bike and carries her bridal-style back to the porch. "We've been waiting for you guys, how are ya?" He tries to ask her as casually as he can, I hear it in his voice, but he's worried for her. They're all concerned for her emotional and mental well-being. I'm not too dense to see that, I get it, but I think my methods will help her to see our lifestyle the way it truly is. The more they shield her the more fearful she'll be.

I can't hear her response over the intrusive thoughts rattling my brain. I watch Lee carry my woman to the porch and I follow behind, slower now than before. He settles her in a deck chair before leaning in to ask her something. She nods, I stop dead in my tracks as he pulls out his smokes and holds them out to her. 

"Bill, get your ass over here." Ray's annoying as fuck voice breaks my trance and I force myself to move, even though all I want is to watch my Doe be a rebellious little dancer. 

"What?" My boot hits the wood loudly as I jump the steps. Rome's blue mop catches my eye along with the smell of the joint he's nursing. "I wanna know the same thing, man. What were you thinking?" I don't know what I was thinking– I don't know what I thought she'd get out of watching me torture a man, but I did it. It's too late now, the damage is done. "I dunno," I shrug my shoulders lamely. 

"Hell of a way to get to know a girl, Bill." Antoine's eyes sparkle with amusement, "I've got to give it to ya, you put your own spin on the whole dating thing." I open my mouth to set him straight but a sexy, redheaded devil beats me to it.

"We're not dating." I don't look back at her, I don't want to know how serious she is about it, even if it's true. "You heard her, brother," I wink at him, "You're free to ask her out."

His laughter booms around us before he walks toward the front door, "Don't tempt me with a good time!" 

Her sinful voice speaks softly through the noise as she asks Lee, "Where's he going?" 

"He's cooking lunch for your sweet self and the rest of these gaping assholes." Her giggle sends goosebumps to my arms and rage to my blood, knowing that he's the one eliciting those sweet sounds from her instead of me. I just have to remind myself that she's mine, even if she doesn't know it yet. 

–~–

We're all sitting around the back porch, shoveling chicken spaghetti into our mouths when I hear a familiar voice shouting from the front of the house. "Fuck, it's Ashlee."