Poisoned Love

08. Biker Bar

Welcome to the eighth chapter of many!
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He approached me and I can feel my body tensing. My breathing hitched. I gulped a huge lump in my throat. Why is he even here? I wanted to ask him but my lips were clamped shut.

"Get dressed, we're going out." Is the first thing he says. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, taken aback by his sudden statement.

"No." I tell him, even though I wanted to go out with him so bad and discuss everything that happened yesterday so that I'd be relieved. My mother disappeared, I looked behind Ace's shoulder but I couldn't find her. "Y-You told her?" The words are all stuck in my throat.

"What? Of course not!" He replies, "I would never. Consider it our little secret." I nodded slowly and cringed at his usage of the words, "our little secret".

"Now please get dressed, I need to take you somewhere." He tells me. Part of me wants to tell him no, tell him that I never want to see him again but instead I muttered out a...

"Where?"

He sighed, facepalming himself and said, "Just get dressed for heaven's sake, Lydia."

I nodded wordlessly and made my way out of the kitchen and upstairs. My legs guided me to my room and I found myself picking out something I would never wear. A yellow, sleeveless sundress. I dreaded the idea of us going out together but what could possibly go wrong? I'm in possession of my sobriety, my sanity and self-control. I didn't have either of these three yesterday but I sure as hell do now. I wore some basic black Converse shoes and went back downstairs. My hair was still fixed in a bun so I took it out of the bun and I let it shower over my shoulders.

When I was finally ready and heading for the stairs, Ace was standing at the end of the stairs. He wasn't exactly visible from my view but I can see his shoulder hanging out. I reached the bottom of the stairs and folded my arms below my chest, hoping he'd recognize my presence so that I don't have to talk and tell him that I'm ready. The lesser conversation we have, the better. Scratch that, the lesser body contact we have, the better.

"Ready?" He says, lifting a curious eyebrow. It was only then when I analyzed his outfit. He was wearing a navy blue v-neck shirt and regular pair of jeans. His outfit was so simple yet it matched his style so much and made him look stunning. His hair was perfectly gelled to the side and he casted me a humorless look when he realized that I was staring at him.

"Hey, I mean, you look pretty good yourself." He shrugs.

"I never said you looked good." I say, burning his astounding ego. He placed his hand over his heart dramatically and pouted in a childish manner. "Let's just go, Ace. I do have other plans, you know." I lied. I wasn't even planning on going out today. We hopped into his car after he opened the door for me. I fastened my seatbelt and soon enough, sure enough, Ace was already starting the ignition. He played some soft music on a low tone and he rolled down the windows. He diverted the car onto the main road and I was surprised by his smooth driving. I didn't get to see that yesterday because of how irritated he made me.

"What are your other plans for today?" He asks. I can't help but feel that he actually wants to know and isn't just trying to make conversation.

"Why do you care?" I huffed.

"Well, as your future stepbrother, I need to know all of my future stepsister's whereabouts." He says and the words sister and brother rolled of of his tongue so disgustedly.

"That sounds terrible." I almost laughed.

"It does, yeah." He chuckled and his voice sounded so angelic and innocent as he did so. I can't help but stare at his dimples as he was laughing. They disappeared so quickly and I wanted to do anything or say anything that'll make him smile or laugh again.

"Where did you say we were going?" I ask, trying to build conversation.

"I don't like nagging people. Stop asking." He replies. I can't tell if he's joking or not so I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, wishing I didn't ask at all.

"At least tell me how much time do we have left until we get there." I say, pushing my luck with him. To my surprise, his voice remained calm and he wasn't irritated with me bombarding him with several questions.

"Say five minutes."

True to his word, he was already pulling over at a parking lot after five minutes. I unfastened my seatbelt and got out. He touched my bare shoulder and pulled me closer to his chest.

"What are you doing?" I ask, tucking a hair strand behind my ear. His touch sent me shivers and ignited sparks in me. I was relieved when he replied.

"This is a biker bar, Lydia. I can't have these punky guys eye you. So we'll pretend that we're-"

"Brother and sister? Yeah, got it." I cut him off. He exhaled and said,

"Actually, I was going to say we'll pretend that I'm your boyfriend." He says with a smirk.

"Never in a million years." I muttered under my breath. We passed by the biker bar and it was small but packed with people. Despite the fact that it's my first time coming here, I feel like it's familiar to me. The environment inside was ecstatic and full of scattered tables and booths. We picked out an empty table at the very end of the bar and seated ourselves. The table is round and not big enough to give me some space away from Ace. He crossed his arms on the table and cocked his head to the side questionably, as if he was figuring me out.

"So why did you bring me here anyway?" I asked him. I should've asked that question before I agreed to going out with him. It's not that I don't like biker bars, it's just that I don't feel comfortable yet to sit down with Ace alone.

"So I can get to know you." He shrugs. I widened my eyes in disbelief.

"Well, what do you want to know?" I ask, biting on my lower lip.

"Everything." He replies and I shifted awkwardly. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No." I replied, looking down. He sensed my nervousness so he tried to ease off the tension and I'm glad he did that.

"Let's order our food then we'll talk." He says and raises his hand to call for a waitress. She approached us with her notebook held close to her chest. Her eyes beamed and she looked like she recognized Ace. He must visit this place often.

"Can I have a burger with extra fries?" He asks and the waitress nods, writing down Ace's order. Both of their gazes dart over to me.

"Um, do you have cheeseburgers?" I asked and she nodded. "I'll have that with some curly fries." I told her and she obliged, writing down on her notebook then drifting off. I turned around to face Ace and I was surprised to see that he was looking at me too.

"What's so special about this spot? Don't you ever go to normal restaurants and coffee shops?" I break the silence. His expressions don't change.

"Not really." He confesses. "I'm usually occupied with college and when I do have free time, I spend it at parties."

"Wow." I chuckled humorlessly. "I never thought you're a party person."

"You should come with me next time. My friends and I host these parties at our house." He offers. I nodded agreeably and I didn't actually think he was being serious. I thought he was just being nice by inviting me to his house. "I'm serious." He says. "The next time there's a party, I'll let you know so you can come."

"Parties aren't really my scene." I confessed. "Especially college parties. People are just drinking, dancing doing all sorts of stuff I don't do."

"You're telling me that you don't drink?" He says with a smirk. My mind drifts to the night when I drank a couple shots of tequila before Cole and I went to the library together. It was my first time trying it and will definitely be my last.

"Occasionally." I told him. "Enough talking about me, tell me about you."