Wreckless (3 page)

I tightened the sweater knotted around my waist as I scanned the crowd for Tanner. I’d made almost a full lap of the rides, avoiding the barns since I really couldn’t imagine him and his guys standing around the 4-H incubator watching baby chicks hatch.

Hopefully he'd gotten whatever rides he wanted to go on out of his system already. I wasn't big on the rides. Every year you heard about some kids who died on something. Fairground safety standards were notoriously sub par… Even the Tea Cups had their dangers.

I was a little nervous that my surprising Tanner was going to turn into a mess if he had changed his plans. At the very end of my loop as I was almost back to the parking lot, I wove through the concession area.

Across the crowd, I saw Tanner's best friend, Tom. He wasn't hard to spot at six-foot-three. He'd always been friendly, even if he had been a little surprised when Tanner had started dating
me
—that nobody-girl who tutored him.

Still, Tom had once told me I’d become key to keeping Tanner even. It might have been one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me.

I knew we weren’t matchy-matchy. I was probably as surprised as the rest of the school when Tanner asked me out—maybe even more so. But there was no way I’d’ve said no. Tanner was a golden boy. He may not have been
The
Golden Boy, but he was certainly living inside the glow. I often wondered if he felt edged out by the senior who led that pack. If maybe, just maybe, he was looking forward to senior year so he’d be the one starting every game, captaining the team…the focus of all that special attention.

More often than not, he sat out at least the first half of the game and typically only went in as the closer.

My father was a big believer in The Closer, but Tanner…Tanner wanted more. Sometimes I thought he wanted everything.

But there he was—before senior year, before the chance to head off to college and be someone new somewhere else—there he was with me.

I'd never felt so complimented in my life as when he’d asked me out. When someone like Tanner likes you, it's because he can be himself with you. I got the real Tanner and no one knew that but me.

I headed toward the place where the back of Tom's head stuck out over the crowd. I could see bits and pieces of the group hanging around, gathered about a picnic table. That was the only downside of nights like this. The dealing with all the people. No matter how nice they were.

It's not that I didn’t like people. I just never knew what to say. Whenever I opened my mouth, it felt like everyone was humoring me. I don't know how I was the only one in our class who still felt twelve, but that seemed to be true. I just felt too young—too
not ready
—for a lot of the things they talked about. And so I ended up standing there, not getting the jokes, and knowing how dim I must seem to everyone.

I paused for a moment, knowing I could wander around a little more and put off the inevitable until a little later. But that was just dumb. No one had ever purposefully made me feel unwelcome, and after the battle it had taken to get there, wasting part of my night with Tanner seemed even more dim.

The pathway to the picnic tables was clogged where group of guys in our rival Fairview Hawks varsity jackets stood. I wasn't surprised when they didn't get out of my way. It wasn't like I was noticeable by teen-guy standards.

I squeezed between two of them only to almost walk into a third. They pretty much ignored me while they talked about whatever party they were heading to from there.

At least the last guy stepped aside as I brushed by his black t-shirt-clad torso. I glanced up to say thank you, but he never shifted his gaze from his teammates. At least I was quasi-visible to one person. One very intense-looking person. While the other guys were laughing, he was watching the leader of the pack like the guy could spring at him any second. But he’d been aware enough of me to let me by. Bonus points for intense guy…even if the bonus points got him all the way from zero to two.

I pushed past him, knowing that annoying someone so focused probably wasn’t in my best interest. I definitely was glad not to be sticking around that area.

Then the crowd broke again, and I saw Tanner sitting on top of a picnic table with Leah beside him. At least I'd have two people to talk to. I took a deep breath and stepped from the crowd as Leah leaned over to say something to Tanner.

His hand swept up her leg, the tips of his fingers just under the hem of her denim miniskirt. He pulled her legs over his own, leaving her practically sitting on his lap and let her finish whispering whatever it was in his ear as he brushed a kiss on the edge of her neck, then ran his chin up her jaw.

I froze.

I couldn't have moved if I'd been shoved. I probably would have just tipped over and landed in the dust and grime around me.

There were only two people outside of my parents who I trusted and cared about. Apparently those two people trusted and cared about each other, too.

But the unbelievable thing—the absolutely mind-blowing part of it all—was that it didn't seem odd to anyone.

Everyone was just hanging out as if it were normal while my boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend.

In public.

If I was another type of girl, I might have rushed over there and... I'm not sure. I couldn't even work up enough self-preservation to move, let alone go on the attack.

I just stood there watching them. Horrified. Embarrassed. In more pain than I'd been in for a very long time.

It could have been five seconds, it could have been five minutes, but eventually, Tanner looked up. His eyes met mine over a group of junior high kids walking by with iced lemonades. I watched as he slowly—really, embarrassingly slowly—realized he was caught.

The smile slipped from his lips and he gave Leah's legs a slight push off of his lap as he hopped down from the picnic table.

Their entire group turned as one to see what he was moving toward. Somehow I registered their expressions—mixtures of pity and glee—as he came at me. Behind him, Leah stood on the table’s bench watching, as if none of this had anything to do with her.

A family got between us and, as soon as the connection with Tanner was broken, I could move again. The last thing I wanted was to
talk
to him. To let that hand that had just been caressing my best friend—
ex
-best friend—touch me.

I rushed through the crowd, not sure where I was going. Just away. Which was pretty darn hard, since we were in the middle of nowhere.

At the edge of the tents, the same group of guys stood, watching me run at them. I couldn't believe they weren't going to get out of my way. The one without a letter jacket—the intense one—stuck an arm out and pushed a guy out of my way as I turned sideways and forced my way through, trying to ignore the snickers.

The only upside was they weren’t wearing our school’s colors. The last thing I needed right then was to deal with jocks from my own school. They'd probably stop me for Tanner to humiliate further. It was probably some type of jock brotherhood code or something.

And really, who cared if I was a point of pity at two schools? It only took one to make me feel like I never wanted to leave my house ever again.

The game stands lining the edge of the fair came into view. I hoped I was breaking back out into the parking lot and not some blocked-off back area. If there was anything like good luck in my life, my father had run into a buddy and was still out there.

“Bridget!”

I glanced behind me, surprised Tanner was still tracking me. Surprised he was bothering. Another group came between us and I rushed out into the back parking lot. I sprinted over two lanes, glad somewhere in the back of my mind that Leah had never talked me out of my sneakers.

My stomach heaved and I gave a sick laugh that I was the only one there to hear.

Leah.

Yeah, because all her advice was obviously trustworthy.

I dove between two trucks and squatted next to the front tire of a beat-up, black Chevy. The music and the lights continued to pound away just over the top of the nearest concession trailer while my own breathing huffed in and out loud enough to be heard over them.

“Bridget!”

I heard Tanner's voice off to the right, close to the edge of the fair. I wanted to stand up and see him, to see how close he was. I wanted to step into the lane and somehow let him make everything better. I wanted to go home, to start the day over.

I peeked around the back of the front tire, trying to see past the bottom of the truck. The only thing in my line of vision was the long shadows that flashed in and out from the lights of the Tilt-a-Whirl.

“Are you okay?” a deep voice broke through my panicked.

I glanced up from where I’d practically crawled behind the oversized tire. A guy about my age in a dark t-shirt and dark military style hat came around the front of the hood and stopped right where my butt was waving in the air. Looking closer, he was the intense guy in the Hawks group I'd had to push through. The one who’d stepped aside but hadn’t bothered looking at me.

He was looking at me now as if I might have a keeper nearby he could hand me off to. “Is everything okay?” he asked again.

Did I
look
okay? I really needed him to move along. I sucked in another breath, hoping he’d just go wherever he was going.

“Are you…?” He glanced around, his gaze running along the edges of the parking lot. “Are you stuck?”

I shook my head, hoping that would be enough of an answer for him. Instead, he just squatted next to me, staring like he might be able to spot my issues if he looked hard enough. “Do you need a ride?”

I shook my head again, tempted to shoo him away. “Nope. I'm fine.”

As if I was going to get in a truck with a stranger.

“Bridget!” Tanner's voice broke through my huffing.

When was he going to give up? Why even bother trying to track me down? It wasn't like an “I’m sorry” was going to fix this. There are
mistakes
, and then there was
betrayal.
That line is way thicker than Tanner seemed to realize.

“Bridget.” His voice sounded edged with a tinge of panic. “I'm
sorry
.”

Oh, for crying out loud.

“Come out and let's
talk
about this.” There was a long pause.

The Fairview guy stood and settled in against the truck, one arm resting across the top of the hood while he watched me. I was—for once—more interesting than reality television, apparently.

“How are you going to get home?” Tanner’s voice was closer, but muffled like he was turned facing the other direction, still looking for me. “Come out. I'll drive you home and we'll talk about this.”

I closed my eyes against the tears that were falling.
We'll talk about it?
What the heck was there to say?

Intense Fairview Guy turned away, but stayed where he was hovering next to me. I started to panic but then I heard foot steps coming our way.

“Dude, have you seen a girl come this way?” Tanner's voice was moving toward me. I could see his legs a few feet beyond the far wheel.

I considered actually rolling under the truck and realized that, sadly, I wasn't above it.

“Nope.” The guy looked down at me. “Do you mind, though? My girl’s getting sick. Beer and the Zipper. Not a good combo.”

Tanner stopped. He tapped one foot and pivoted side to side before starting to turn away. “Sorry, man. Good luck with your girl.”

I leaned over to watch his legs get farther away. He stopped at the perimeter of the fair and then wandered back into the crowd at the edge of the lights. Apparently explaining cheating on me was only worth about three minutes of his time.

“I take it you’re Bridget?”

I nodded. There really wasn’t a lot of reason—or a way—to deny it.

The guy studied me from his six-foot-something. I was glad for the dark, realizing I was a mess…well, at least more of a mess than normal.

“You sure you don't want that ride, darlin’?”

Chapter Three

Intense Fairview Guy gazed toward the fair a moment longer before squatting next to me again.

“So your guy's cheating, huh?”

Had
anyone
missed the Moment of Supreme Humiliation back there?

Maybe a couple people on the rides hadn’t had front row seats to my newfound drama, but that was only if I was lucky. I mean, we’d been right in the center of things at the concession area, not to mention so close to the parking lot that everyone coming and going couldn’t help but see, too.

I glanced at Fairview Guy again. The last thing I wanted was to have to find a ride home. But if there was
anything
I knew, it was to never get in cars with strangers…especially male strangers.

“Do you have a cell?” I asked.

I was never going to hear the end of this. The one time I didn’t cave and carry the darn thing, and now I needed it.

“Sure. But it's not getting reception out here. My bars died about two miles back.”

He handed me the phone anyway. Sure enough, nothing.

Still, if I'd had my phone, I wouldn't be in this situation. I could have headed home until I got a signal and made the call. But I was basically out of luck at this point. Of course, the flip side was the major meltdown both my parents would have if they found out I was wandering the countryside looking for cell phone reception alone at night.

I studied Fairview Guy and reconsidered my sanity options.

I gave him back his phone and studied the pasture between me and the Dawsons' house. The darkness hid anything that might be out there, and, with another glance at the jacked-up truck next to me, I realized I was even less willing to risk the darkness alone. There were dangerous gullies and ditches and…cows. Cows could be super dangerous. I’d been cow-scarred as a child and didn’t need another one to mark up my body.

“Let me get you out of here.” Fairview Guy reached down and offered me his hand. “You can worry about the rest later.”

Leaning on my elbows, I scanned the parking lot beyond the bottom of the truck, making sure Tanner's legs had disappeared back into the fair.