My Everything - Seth & Amber (14 page)

“Mom, where are you?” Amber knew that her
mother probably wouldn’t answer her but she had to try.

“At a party,” her mom declared happily.

“Where?” Amber asked hoping her mom would be
a little more specific.

“At a house,” her mom hiccupped.

Okay, that was a little
too
specific.
She didn’t want to get off the phone with her mom since she seemed
to be happy to share information. Maybe Amber really could get her
to say where she was.

Realizing this call might take a minute and
not wanting to go out in the cold, Amber motioned to the girl
sitting at the front desk to ask see if she would mind if she
talked in there. The girl blew a bubble with the gum she was
chewing and shrugged her shoulders before returning her attention
to her own phone.

Amber moved to a secluded seat in the corner
and positioned her chair so that her back was facing the room. She
knew logically that it didn’t really give her any more privacy,
just the illusion of it. Sometimes illusions could be comforting.
She took a deep breath before continuing.

“Do you know what town you’re in?” Amber
tried not to sound tense. When her mom was in happy-drunk mode she
was
very
sensitive and would get extremely upset if she
thought anyone was mad at her.

“Ummm, I think so. Wait, no. No, I
don’t.”

Amber heard the sound of music and people
talking in the background.

“Can you ask someone where you are?” Amber’s
patience was wearing thin but if there was even the slightest
chance that she could find out where her mom was, she needed to
try.

Not that it really mattered. If her mom
didn’t want Amber to come and pick her up, it’s not like she could
force her to leave. Also, who was to say that her mom wouldn’t just
bolt and go somewhere else as soon as she got off the phone with
Amber? Somehow, though, it always made Amber feel better if she at
least had some idea of where her mother was.

“I will if you send me money.”

Aaaaannnnnddddd...there it was. Amber knew it
was coming, she had just hoped that she could get a little
information from her mom first. Again, she thought, that’s what she
got for hoping.

“I’m not sending you money,” Amber firmly
stated.

“Pleaaaaassseeeeee,” Susan begged, her voice
taking on a childlike quality.

It made Amber sick to her stomach to hear
mother sound like that.

“No.” Amber deliberately tried to remain
quiet and not let the rioting emotions that were just at the
surface break through and cause her to raise her voice.

“Just a little bit, a few hundred is all I
need,” her mom tried to bargain.

“This is not up for discussion.” Amber was so
tired of having this same conversation again and again. She was
going to try one more time and then she was hanging up.

“Where are you?”

--- ~ ---

After Seth finished speaking with Betty and
the other ladies he headed out the side entrance to the parking
lot. He saw Amber's white Prius and realized she was still
there.

Seth closed his eyes and took a deep calming
breath in through his nose, trying to use the technique to calm his
quickly-flaring anger. Her Prius was parked at the edge of the
parking lot - the now secluded and dark parking lot.

Of course, he was aware that she must have
parked it there before she had taken the self-defense seminar. But,
honestly - how was locking your doors or parking in well-lit areas
not just common sense?

He pulled his leather jacket on, cringing
just a little as a pain hit his shoulder. He hadn’t really worked
it out since he had finished physical therapy and he realized that
if the small amount of exertion he had just put forth in class was
causing it to flare up, then he really needed to hit the gym.

Looking around, he didn’t see Amber anywhere.
He decided he would wait and ensure that she made it to her car
safely. Betty had told him about some disturbing incidents that
they had recently had at the shelter, and Seth did not want Amber
walking to her car. At night. By herself.

He was very aware that the level of
responsibility he felt for her was completely out of proportion for
what their relationship, or
lack
of relationship, was. It
didn’t matter though. He may not know exactly what was going on
between them, but he did know he would do anything to ensure her
safety. That was an indisputable fact.

After waiting a few minutes, he realized he
didn’t know if she possibly had another meeting, or if she was
taking - or maybe even teaching - another class. He had seen the
activities schedule and noticed that there were several sewing
classes. He remembered Alex telling him that Amber designed a lot
of the pieces she sold at Bella.

Seth figured he would just run around to the
front desk and see if they knew where she was. Even though they
were tightening up their security, he figured he could have them
call Betty to vouch for him.

As he stepped out of the cold into the small
reception area, he saw Amber huddled in the corner speaking quietly
into her phone. She didn’t seem to notice him walk in.

The gum-smacking receptionist seated at the
front desk looked up, saw it was him, and went back to typing on
her phone.

He decided he would take a seat and wait for
Amber.

“No,” Amber’s quiet voice said into the
phone, her voice tense.

“This is not up for discussion,” she said
with clenched teeth.

After a few silent moments he heard her
slowly ask, “Where are you?”

He saw her body jerk as she pulled the phone
away from her ear. In the small space of the lobby he could hear
the sounds of loud voices coming from the phone and a woman that
sounded like she was wasted.

“No, Mom, I’m not sending you money.
Goodbye,” her voice cracked as she pulled the phone from her
ear.

She lowered the phone and he could hear a
woman who he now assumed was her mother screaming ‘Bitch!.’

He didn’t want to intrude, but at the same
time he thought Amber that maybe Amber could use someone to be
there for her. He got an odd ache in his chest as he saw her slump
down in her chair, her hands rubbing her face as she sniffed.

He just sat still, giving her a moment before
announcing his presence.

He stood just as she was turning. She was
lost in her own world, and at the sight of him, she screamed, her
legs flailing out from under her, and she very nearly fell flat on
her butt. He automatically reached out and grabbed her, catching
her before she landed on the ground.

As soon as she regained her balance she
slapped him on the shoulder - thankfully not his bad shoulder. It
wasn't a playful, coy little slap. Not in the least. She was
serious.

“Stop sneaking up on me!” she yelled. After
forcefully pulling away from him, Amber bent down, grabbed her
jacket and purse off of the chair, and started to walk around him,
headed for the door in a huff.

He didn’t want her to leave this upset. Not
knowing what else to do he asked, “Do you have gloves?”

She looked back up at him like he had lost
his mind. “What?”

Seth repeated the question, “Do you have
gloves?”

She blew out an audible breath her hands
outstretched in frustration, “I heard you the first time. I meant,
what are you talking about? Seriously, can’t you ever just have a
normal conversation?”

“Yes,” he said trying not to smile at how
cute she looked when she was telling him off.

People normally didn’t call him out on
things. He was how he was. No one questioned it. But in Harper’s
Crossing, things were different. His brothers certainly had no
problem with it, and he liked that she didn’t either.

A look of resignation crossed her face. She
pulled a pair of gloves out of her purse, “Yes. I have gloves.”

“Do you have to be anywhere right now?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “No.”

Before he changed his mind, he reached down,
grabbed her hand and started towards the door.

She pulled her hand back. “Helloooo. Where
are we going?”

He looked down at her and asked simply, “Do
you trust me?”

She stared at him blankly. He hadn’t realized
until this moment how much her trust meant to him. His stomach
clenched as he waited for her response.

“Yes,” she nodded, placing her hand in
his.

He closed his eyes as a sense of relief and
happiness washed over him at the sound of that one small, simple
word.

“Put on your jacket and your gloves,” he
instructed.

She straightened her back, chin held high.
Then she raised her hand to her forehead and saluted him, barking
smartly, “Yes sir.”

“Smart ass,” he smiled, shaking his head.

She laughed as she put on her jacket and
gloves. A sense of pride welled up in him that he had been the one
to make her happy after she had been so upset. He liked that
feeling.

“Okay,” Amber shifted back and forth on her
feet, not from the cold, but from nerves. “I know I said I trust
you and I do. Totally. But…are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Yes,” Seth replied in his trademark flat
tone.

Right, so that didn’t really help. She did
not feel any more assured by his ‘yes.’

Information. That’s what she needed. Facts.
Statistics that would ease her mind.

She asked, “How many people have you had on
the back of this thing?”

“None.”

Wow. That answer soooo did
not
calm
her nerves.

Wait a minute. That didn’t make any sense.
She looked down at her hands.

“Then why do you have two helmets?” She held
the helmet up as Exhibit A.

He sighed, “In case one of my cousins talked
me into taking them for a ride.”

“People can actually talk
you
into
things?” She didn’t even try to hide the shock in her voice.

His mouth turned up in a smile, dimples and
all, before his eyes grew dark with intensity. “Some people.”

His words spread through her like hot
chocolate, warming her from the inside out. Well, that calmed her
nerves right on down. Alright, that settled it. She was doing
it.

She kept looking into his eyes, his gaze
locked with hers, giving her the courage she needed as she put the
helmet on over her beanie and clipped the strap under her chin. He
reached up and adjusted it slightly on her head, then tightened the
strap.

“Do you remember what I told you?” he asked
when he was finished.

She nodded. He just stared at her.

“Yes,” she answered.

The engine roared and Amber swallowed…hard.
Then, before she chickened out, she threw her leg over the back,
threw her arms around Seth, and held on for dear life.

Her eyes were shut tight and she could feel
her heart pounding hard against Seth’s solid back. She felt the
bike tilt up beneath her and she squeezed her eyes tighter. Then
there was a deep vibration between her legs and they were
moving.

Her arms gripped him hard around his torso.
She was holding him so tightly that she was scared she might crack
one of his ribs. Still, he was just gonna have to take one for the
team at this point, because she was
not
letting go or even
loosening her grip.

She tried to remember the instructions he had
given her. Lean with him. Keep feet on pegs. Don’t make hand
signals to other drivers.

Check, check, and check.

No danger of that last one anyway, because of
the aforementioned 'not letting go' thing! So, really, she just had
to think about leaning and feet. Two things. Doable, even at high
speeds.

A few minutes into the ride, she opened her
eyes just a little and saw that they were on the frontage road
along the river. The shimmering water was illuminated by the moon
shining across its surface and the strings of lights the city had
recently put up, lining the riverbank with a magical glow.

It was beautiful. She felt all of the stress
and worry of the past week – hell, maybe even the past decade -
melting off of her as she watched the beauty of the river flash by.
Nothing else existed except right now. Right here. This moment.

This was
exactly
what she imagined
flying would feel like. Free. Weightless. Amazing.

All of her life she had been terrified of
motorcycles. They seemed wild and untamable. She stayed away from
them for the same reason she had gotten drunk one time, and one
time only - because she liked to have control over her
environment.

She knew the only reason she was on this
thing now was because she knew with absolute certainty that Seth
could handle the machine. She innately sensed that he could handle
anything. He was the most capable man she had ever met. Capable and
frustrating
, sure - but capable all the same.

In relationships, Amber had always maintained
the upper hand. She had always attributed this to a number of
factors. First, it was common knowledge that the person who cared
the least in any given relationship held the most power. Needless
to say, she had
always
made sure that she cared the
least.

Second, she wasn’t a highly emotional person.
She dealt in logic. When you took the emotions out of actions you
usually made a smarter move than your opponent, or (in this case)
significant other. She did not misstep. Not ever.

Third, she liked to win. Now, she would be
the first to admit that it’s not the most romantic thing in the
world to look at relationships merely as games to be won or lost.
But, be that as it may, she
won
. Every time.

And last, but certainly not least, she picked
safe men. Men that she could handle being with. Men that didn’t
ever challenge her or take her out of her comfort zone. The thing
with men like that is, they don’t usually cause you to fall head
over heels for them. There's just not enough spark to make a fire.
Amber was fine with that. She appreciated the
certainty
of
safe men, the knowledge that her heart would remain intact.