Lush by Chris Adonn Read Free Book Online

bring
himself to break the habit. At least he had the gym at his dad’s
New York office to go to. It was open 24/7 to anyone who had a key
card.
    While bench-pressing he
thought back to the first time he’d realised that he was attracted
to Julia. It was the day she hopped on the back of his bike and
demanded that he take her to the derelict parking complex that
Winthrop International had just acquired and would eventually turn
into one of New York’s most exclusive apartment buildings.
    Julia had wanted him to
teach her to ride and, as usual, he’d been unable to say no.
    As they rode around the
lot and he explained gear shifting she had pressed up against him,
breathing against his neck as she craned her neck in order to study
his hand movements over the clutch, brakes and gas. He had gotten
so turned-on that he’d needed to stop the bike.
    Unwilling to let on
that he felt that way about her he had tried to dissuade her from
learning to ride till she was older, but she had been adamant that
she would master riding motorbikes before her fifteenth birthday.
With or without his help. She’d threatened to use her father’s
bike. And she would have too. Her parents often worked the same
shifts at the hospital and Julia would no doubt get on her dad’s
heavy motorcycle and end up hurting herself.
    In the end he had given
in and started teaching her. It had been two weeks of torture.
    Watching her gain
confidence on his scrambler had been a turn-on of epic proportions.
Her lithe body had moved as one with the bike and her natural grace
had made not salivating over her every move damn near
impossible.
    On the last day of
training, after she had successfully handled the bike in wet
conditions, and even the fire hose downpour that he’d created, she
threw herself in his arms and told him, as she often did, “I love
you, Mike! You are the best.”
    Normally he’d simply
reply, “I love you too, kiddo.” Except that day, as her sopping wet
cloths melded to her body and her body melded to his, he’d wanted
to say, “I love you, Julia. I’m crazy about you.” He’d wanted to
kiss the daylights out of her and never stop. Instead he’d ruffled
her hair as though she was still just a cute little tomboy and
said, “Right back at ya, kiddo. Now let’s go, I’ve got a ton of
homework to get through.”
     
    *
     
    Text Between Michael
and Julia. Sunday night, 11:30 pm.
     
    Julia: Hey Mike. Just got in. Traffic was heavy but
made it home safe and sound, so if you’re lying awake worrying
about me you can stop.
     
    Michael: I was actually a little worried. If you’d
kept me waiting any longer I would have sent out a search party.
Might even have filed a Missing Persons report.
     
    Julia: Yeah right. You’re probably in bed with a
long-legged bimbo. Tell me, have you guys just had sex, or are you
about to?
     
    Michael: You’re half right. I am in bed, but I’m
not with a long-legged bimbo. I’m all on my lonesome and snuggled
up with a thrilling book.
     
    Julia: About long-legged bimbos?
     
    Michael: About long-dead pharaohs. It’s basically a
history of all the known dynasties.
     
    Julia: Must be a long book.
     
    Michael: Very. It spans from 3000 BC till 30
BC.
     
    Julia: Damn! Good thing you don’t have company.
You’d have put the poor bimbo to sleep.
     
    Michael: What’s with all the bimbo talk? It’s
getting irritating.
     
    Julia: Nothing much. Just saw a picture of you with
a long-legged, blond bimbo in the society section of today’s paper
when I stopped for gas on my way home. So sorry my curiosity
irritates you.
     
    Michael: Ah, you must be referring to the story
about Lush’s meteoric rise to fame as the latest New York,
celebrity hotspot. The blonde’s name is Karolenka Alexandrova and
she’s dating the reporter who wrote that article. By the way, in
case you missed it when you were jumping to assumptions based on
that photo, the reporter’s name Sadie Rivers. For some weird