I hurry, trying to get ready to meet Hero in the garage, but it doesn’t take me long to realize that the only clothes I have here is the dress from last night. Opening the bedroom door to yell down to him about my lack of decent apparel, I find a bag of clothes hanging on the door knob. I unzip the bag to find some of my clothes from the clubhouse. How in the hell did he manage to get clothes here for me that quickly? Rummaging through the bag, I find a pair of jean shorts, a simple pink and black tank top, a pair of my flip flops, and a bra. Motherfucker. He didn’t get me underwear. He’s so fucking dead.
Walking out into the garage, I see that Hero’s black Harley is not in its usual parking space, and in its place is a black Ford F-150 pick-up truck. I finally track him down when I find that he’s out on the driveway talking to Slider. When he sees me he gives Slider a nod as he revs the engine of Hero’s Harley and pulls away, a cloud of dust blurring his departure. That explains the clothes and the lack of underwear. Hero would flip his shit if he knew Slider had been in my underwear drawer in his room. I notice that Hero doesn’t have his cut on. He never takes it off. He’s so attached to that thing, I bet he’d rather die than have an emergency room cut it off. I mean, come on, he didn’t even take it off the first time we had sex. Not that I was complaining, but it’s like another appendage on him. His cut, bike, and dick are all his favorite toys. What the hell is going on?
“Where’s your cut?” I ask while giving him a suspicious look.
Shrugging his shoulders at my question, he opens up the truck door. “Your chariot awaits,” he says with a sweeping bow. Crossing my arms, I skeptically look at his grand gesture.
“You’re acting weird. What the fuck is going on? You’re not wearing your cut and we both know you’d rather die than take it off. Plus, not only did you let Slider ride off into the sunset with your gas-powered second-favorite appendage, but now we're riding in a four-wheeled vehicle. So I am going to ask again, where the fuck are we going?”
My irritation and suspicions about his secretive plan must amuse him because he’s nearly doubled up laughing at me. “Dani, just get in the damn truck. You can be shitty and bitchy with me all you want but I’m not telling you. You need to wipe that frown off your face, princess, because I am taking you out today, and you will enjoy it.” Pulling me with him, he ushers me into the truck and shuts the passenger door. He deposits himself into the driver’s seat and starts up the truck. Pulling out of the driveway, we head south on CA 57.
“I’m not a fucking princess, Hero. Never fucking call me a princess ever again. I hate that word.”
“Shit, angel. Princess is off the nickname roster. Jesus! That came out of nowhere,” he exclaims.
An intense silence falls over the car. I hate that things from my past keep creeping into the present. He used to call me his princess and I loathe the word. That name needs to stay buried in the past and far from being associated with Hero. He isn’t him and I can’t let something like that fucking nickname brand him as an enemy in my mind. Settling into staring out the window, I watch as the buildings and cars zoom past us.
“You can keep watching the road signs to figure out where we're going or you can scoot your sexy ass over here and snuggle up with me. Hell, I wouldn’t mind some road head at this point. Can’t do that on the bike, so I guess driving a cage does have its perks.”
“Maybe I like it over here. No one keeps secrets on this side of the truck.” As soon as the lies spill from my mouth, I instantly regret it. I have more secrets than I care to admit and continually lying to him hurts more and more each day. He must sense a change in the mood because he reaches over and pulls me closer to him. Smashed up against him in the driver’s seat, I start to feel a little bit better about my lies. It’s for his own good. He won’t want me when he finds out.
“Not sure what just crossed your mind, Dani, but that shit needs to stop now. Smiles only today. No tears, sadness, or shitty moods, you got it?”
“Yes, Hero. I’ll be a good little girl,” I say, mocking him. He smiles at me while reaching over to the stereo and cranking up the Theory of Deadman playing on the radio. As the driving rock beat pounds out of the radio, I drift in and out of consciousness. The swaying of the drive soon rocks me to sleep against Hero’s shoulder. Why is it I can’t seem to relax unless I’m with Hero? It’s like my body senses him near and flips the relax switch. No one has ever done this to me before, and I’m not sure that I like it.
I don’t wake up again until the truck comes to a stop. Opening my sleepy eyes, Hero’s eyes lock onto mine. “Time to wake up, Dani.” He scoots himself out of the truck and pulls me along with him. Once my eyes focus on my surroundings, I realize that we are in a parking garage. Pulling me alongside him, he laces his fingers with mine. This seems so normal that it’s almost weird. I’m not used to normal relationships or hell, a real relationship where I wasn’t being used. We continue to walk to an escalator that ferries us to the ground floor of the parking structure. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I realize where I am. My face is frozen in shock. Hero brought me to Disneyland.
“Surprise, Dani! I wanted you to experience something that those bastards of parents should have given you as a kid. It’s just you and me today. No fucking rules or regulations. No club brothers watching us. Just you and me, Dani and Tyler. A normal couple enjoying a fun-filled day at the most magical place on Earth. I might lose my man card doing this, but fuck it. I want my girl to be happy.”
I’m still too shocked to speak. This badass biker brought me to Disneyland. What the actual fuck? He’s willingly given me a slice of normal happiness even if he’s not exactly the hearts and flowers kind of guy. I guess this explains why his cut remained at home. If the tattoos weren’t scary enough, the cut might have had security on our ass the entire day. We’d stick out like a sore thumb but hey, we might have cleared the ride lines with Mr. Tattooed-Scary-Biker.
“Hero, you have no idea what you’ve done.” I jump into his arms, hugging him tightly and kissing him feverishly. His lips return my gratitude before we notice we’re being stared at by the young families entering the park beside us. He lowers me back to the ground and reaches into his pockets, retrieving a sparkly silver headband. “I couldn’t fit a tiara in my pocket, so I got you this instead,” he says as he gently pushes it into my hair. “You might not be able to go through the Disney Princess experience, but you are a queen in your own right today. The queen of my heart.”
I squeal while he puts the headband into my hair. Reaching up to his neck, I pull him into an impassioned kiss. “Thank you, Hero.”
“I’m not Hero today. I’m simply Tyler.” Stepping onto the tram, we ride into the park. We wind around the beautiful sections of plants and flowers as the tram’s speaker system relays park information. A few minutes later, the tram comes to a stop in front of a line of buildings. Disney themed shops and restaurants line the tram stop with lights swinging from the tree branches. Family after family excitedly exits the tram and runs for the entrance of the park. God, I’d love to bring my kids here someday. To see their smiling faces as we pull up would be well worth the expensive price. A pang of sadness hits me thinking that I may never get the chance to have kids.
Hero snaps me out of my depressed haze. Taking me by the hand, Hero leads me to the ticket counter. He gets two all-day passes for us and we walk into the park. The hustle and bustle of the various different families reminds me that I never got to experience this kind of magic as a kid. My heart aches that I was never given the chance to dress up like my favorite Disney princess and walk the park like royalty. My mom could never afford to do anything like this after my dad died. Even after she married Bob, money was always tight. Yet this man is attempting to give me the life I deserved as a kid. I don’t fucking deserve him. Watching the kids run into the park giggling and screaming in excitement brings a smile to my face again and fills my heart with hope. I want this life so badly. It’s so simple and happy. There’s nothing complicated about it all. No running or hiding, just blissfully happy smiles and fun.