Captured Love (21 page)

He took three steps forward me and halted. “Sorry again. I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“That’s okay.” I noticed he was wearing a nice T-shirt and jeans. At this time of the evening, if I were going to be home alone, I would have put on a ragged shirt and yoga 359/504

pants, or even pajamas. “Am I interrupting something? I mean, are you leaving? Do you have plans? Should I leave?”

He smiled. “Jess. No, I don’t have plans and I’m not going anywhere.”

This time, I smiled. “Well, since you don’t have plans, I was hoping to take you somewhere.”

“What? Where?”

“Just … put some shoes on and come with me,” I said. He narrowed his eyes at me, as if doubting my insanity. That just made my smile wider. “Come on. Trust me.” Shaking his head, he retreated to his bedroom, from where he caught black boots from under the bed.

After putting them on and grabbing his wallet from the nightstand, he stood. “So, where to?”

***

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“Luke’s dirt bike. Really?”

She watched me with wary eyes. “Yup.” I put my hand inside my pockets. “Jess, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“I’ll be driving. You just have to sit there and enjoy the ride.”

“Are you sure you can still drive?”

“I drove from Luke’s house to here, didn’t I?”

“That might have been luck.”

She chuckled. “Come on, Ryan.” She lost the smile and took my hand. “I know you miss it, and I want to do this for you. Trust me.”

A huge part of me didn’t want to do this. I hadn’t ridden a bike in almost four years, and I sure didn’t think starting now would be wise. But a small, strong part of me was dying to hop on the bike and go with Jess wherever she wanted to take me.

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Knowing this wasn’t entirely a good idea, I nodded and sat behind her.

The engine roared to life, a little less fe-rocious than I remembered, and Jess drove into the street like a pro.

Okay. Another benefit of riding a bike with Jess: feeling her body close to mine. I had forgotten how great this felt. My thighs pressed against hers, and even though I didn’t really need to, I rested my hands on her waist, and glued my chest to her back.

I pushed her hair to the side so it didn’t whip in my face and inhaled deeply. Her perfume had changed. I remembered it smelled like wild roses, and now it was honeysuckle. I would miss the wild roses, but honeysuckle went well with her. Besides, it wasn’t only the perfume. The mix of her and the perfume was what made her scent perfect.

I closed my eyes and let the wind, the sun, and her scent envelope me.

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I didn’t pay attention to where Jess was taking us, and after thirty minutes riding along back roads, I didn’t think she knew where she was going either. Still, this right here was perfect. A bike, a road, Jess, and me. Too perfect to be true.

She took us into town and to Gibson Pond Park. She stopped the bike a few feet from the water, but we didn’t get off. We stayed seated on the bike, watching as the sun descended, tinting the water with its orange rays.

Once more, the perfection of the moment hit me. Quickly followed by a reminder that this couldn’t go farther, that this couldn’t last.

She had a boyfriend after all.

I dropped my hands from her waist and leaned back, trying to get some distance from her so I could think clearly.

“I had forgotten how beautiful it is out here,” she said, her voice low and simple.

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If only the rest of my life was simple.

“What are we doing, Jess?”

“Watching the sunset?”

“No, I mean us. Why did you come to my garage and stay with me while I worked?

Why did you want to take me riding? What are you trying to do?”

She let out a long breath. “I want us to heal.”

“To heal?”

She pulled her leg over the bike and sat sideways, her eyes falling on mine. “Yes. We need to heal. To let go of the past. To find some closure.”

Let go of the past. Closure. I got off the bike.

“So you’re playing pity party with me so when you get back to Cleveland, you feel better about yourself?”

Her eyes widened. “What? No!”

“Then why bother? You’re leaving soon.

You like torturing people?”

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“Ryan, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” I turned my back on her and started walking down one of the trails.

“Ryan?” she called. I heard her fast footfalls as she ran after me. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going for a walk,” I said, not stopping.

She fell into step with me. “Right now?”

“Yes. I’m walking home.”

“But—”

I stopped and glared at her. “I’m walking home, Jessica. You should take the bike back to Luke.” My tone was harsher than I intended.

She flinched and muttered, “Okay.” Shoulders sagged, she dragged her feet back to the bike, but I didn’t stay to watch. I resumed my walk, hoping that with each step, a little more of the heavy fog would lift from my mind. I had to regain control over my thoughts. Thinking about Jess, wanting 365/504

her to spend time with me, thinking about going back to riding and racing, all of these were dreams, dreams that should be buried in the black abyss in my mind, where they had been locked for so long.

Alas, all it took for them to rush back and send a flutter of hope through me was for Jessica to give me her attention.

Fuck, how I liked her attention. How I yearned for it. What I wouldn’t do for more of it.

I shook my head and focused on locking out all the dreams. It would hurt, hurt so much it would make the first time seemed like a tickle to my soul, but I couldn’t wait for Jessica to leave.

***

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“What did the wall do to you?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I barked.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Noah said.

“You’re punishing the damn thing.” I glared at him, a murderous look, I was sure. He shifted his weight and looked at the sky through the window. “The hurricane should hit Charleston tomorrow, and then come into the state. I hope it loses enough strength before hitting town. Otherwise, it might mess up all our work.”

I glanced out the window. A blue sky greeted me, but that didn’t mean anything.

The storm could come out of anywhere, with its strong, violent winds. Much like my mood.

The only one able to calm me down was Jessica.

After that night under the stars, when I
first told her about my future, I started
opening up more.

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A week or so after, I parked my car a
block from her house, but didn’t come up because I was so upset, so messed up, I was
afraid I would pick a fight with her because
I wanted to unload on someone, anyone.

I didn’t even know why I had driven to
her house. No, wait, I knew. Because I
missed her. Even after having spent the previous night with her, I already missed her.

But it wouldn’t be fair. She didn’t deserve to
see me this way.

I sighed and turned on the engine of
the Mustang. It would be the first night in
three weeks that I wouldn’t be sleeping in
her bed with her, and it would hurt like hell.

I was shifting the gear to first when I saw
the side gate of her house’s fence opening.

She spotted my car two houses away and
ran toward me, a smile on her beautiful
face.

My heart tightened.

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Still smiling, she got in the passenger
seat, but her smile died once she looked at
me up close. She reached to me and rested
her hand on my arm. “What happened?”
Two words. A simple question. A sweet,
caring voice behind them.

A lump formed in my throat, and all of
a sudden, I couldn’t speak. I tried understanding what was happening, but I
couldn’t really process it. I was pissed off
out of my mind, and as soon as she batted
her beautiful eyelashes at me, I turned to
mush, wanting nothing more than to bury
my face in her neck, breathe in her wild
roses scent, and forget everything.

And that was exactly what I did. She
wrapped her arms around me, pulling me
close. “That’s okay,” she whispered in my
ear. “Everything will be okay. I’m here and
I’ll take care of you.”

Later, she was able to coax me out of
my car, and we cuddled in her bed. I didn’t
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tell her about my fight with my father,
about his harsh words, and the way that
shame, guilt, and rage swam inside me. I
didn’t need to. She knew it and she knew I
wasn’t ready to talk about it.

She also knew that her hands caressing
my back up and down, her body pressing
against mine, her throat humming a non-sense song, and her lips pecking lightly at
my face were the best remedy of all.

“Hey, Ryan.” Noah snapped his fingers in front of my face.

I shook away the haunting memories.

“Yeah?”

My boss stared at me, his brows furrowed. “I was saying maybe you should go on your break now, before, you know—” He gestured to the wall in front of us. “—you tear the house down.”

I opened my mouth to tell him to go fuck himself, but closed it again, my jaw tight. The guy was right. I needed a break. I 370/504

took my bandana from the back pocket of my jeans and wiped my forehead.

“Fine,” I snarled, walking past him.

I halted beside my car with no idea where to go or what to do during my break.

Then, something slipped in my mind.

Luke was probably at the tracks, training. I hadn’t been there in four years, but for some odd reason, I wanted to go there now. Just to sit there and watch him. I hoped that no other bittersweet memory would creep in on me during the rest of the day.

I slid inside my Mustang and braced myself to see one of my best friends living my dream.

Chapter Twenty

Jessica

When I woke up Thursday morning, Mama was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, Luna circling her, asking for food, but what surprised me was seeing Jason up. He was already dressed as if he had an appointment that early.

“What’s going on?” I asked, sitting across the table from him.

He didn’t raise his eyes from his laptop.

“Did you look out the window?”

“Nooo.” I stood, walked to the door, opened it, and gasped. “Oh my …” The yard was a mess. The storm had pluck out bushes and flowers. The tree house had lost several boards. A part of the fence was broken, and another part was leaning as if it would fall at any moment. The swing on 372/504

the porch had fallen from its hinges, and the table was upturned.

I stepped out and looked at the street.

Fallen signs and trees. The houses around the neighborhood looked just like ours.

“Wow.” I closed the door and sat back down as Mama brought pancakes to the table. “I heard the wind before falling sleep, but I could swear it wasn’t that bad.”

“It was,” Mama said, returning to the range. “I woke up around three in the morning when a branch struck a window in the living room.”

I poured coffee in my mug. “The window is broken?”

“Yes,” Jason answered, handing a piece of pancake to Luna. She settled at his feet, probably expecting more food. “The entire city is in chaos.” He turned his laptop so I could see what he was reading. The browser was opened on the local town news and the headlines didn’t sound great. Several parts of 373/504

the town were without power. Schools, local shops, and restaurants were so damaged that they were closed. One neighborhood across town had been hit the worst of all, and most of the houses had their roofs damaged when a tree had fallen.

I reached over and opened one of the articles. “Oh no …”

“What?” Jason tilted his head to the laptop and read the article with me.

But Mama was now working on some dough and couldn’t read it. “What is it?

“The Habitat for Humanity site,” I said.

“The houses are gone. Most of them are flat on the ground because of the windstorm.” Standing, Jason fished his phone from his pocket and went outside to call someone.

I could guess who it was. Luna shifted her attention to me. I browsed the other articles and ate my breakfast, giving a piece to Luna here and there, pretending I wasn’t interested in Jason’s conversation.

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When my brother sat back at the table, I was dying to ask him what he and Ryan had talked about. Instead, I shoved pancakes in my mouth, even though I was already full.

Thank goodness, Jason didn’t torture me too much.

“Ryan is at the site right now,” he said.

“The supervisor estimated that to make up for what they lost, Ryan and the rest of the crew will have to work until sunset every day, including weekends, for the next two months.”

“That sucks,” I whispered.

Mama opened the oven and checked on whatever was in there. “If only they had more helping hands.”

It was as if a lightbulb had turned on inside my head. “We can help.”

Jason stared at me. “What?”

“Look around. Our damage is nothing.

We can clear the yard and fix the fence and the window in a day. Tomorrow, we can go to 375/504

the Habitat for Humanity site and help them.

We can take our friends, and invite our neighbors.”

“Do you have any idea how to build a house?”

“No, but I don’t need to build the entire house. I can help with little things. Besides, as far as I know, most of the people who work on these community service projects are volunteers. They also didn’t know how to build houses when they started.”

“Jess is right,” Mama said. She was now standing behind me. “We might not be able to do much, but any extra pair of hands helps.”