The heat inside Ethan’s car increased.

Ryan reached behind him for a tool and saw the car. He frowned, and then started walking to the car. With the dark windows, he probably didn’t see me.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

With wide eyes, Ryan halted.

I slipped out of the car. “Hi.”

He looked at the car and back at me. “What are you doing with Ethan’s car?”

“He lent it to me.” I forced my eyes to stay on his handsome face, though all they wanted to do was roam over his taut chest and rippled abdomen. I swallowed. “We were at the race, and he had his bike with him.”

He nodded. “He’s such a girl, always taking his bike on the trailer.”

Trying to lighten the air a little, I put my hands on my hips. “I take offense to that sentence.”

His eyes followed my hands for a brief moment before returning to mine. “What are you doing here?”

I didn’t have a good answer for that. So, I ignored it. I walked past him and went to get a closer look at his Harley. It was still a beauty, but now more polished and less messy. By the looks of it, he spent a lot of time working on it. Yet, it had been four years. Shouldn’t he have finished it already?

I scanned the place. The garage was small, for one car only, but it housed his tools, a couple of folding chairs, an old stereo, and his two bikes. Resting along the back wall was his ninja bike, similar to Jason’s, Luke’s, and Ethan’s. The guys had been crazy about bikes since they were ten. I remembered they started saving money not much later. They did all kinds of things—car washing, selling lemonade, and lawn mowing. Jason had been the first to buy his bike, the day he turned sixteen. Papa almost had a fit. Not long after, Ryan turned sixteen and bought his bike, the same one gathering dust in this garage.

Getting closer, I noticed it was messed up, like it had been in a bad accident, and he hadn’t bothered to fix it yet.

“What happened?” I asked. When he didn’t answer, I turned around. His hazel eyes were hard on mine. “Is that why you don’t ride it anymore? Because both of your bikes are in need of work?”

Ryan grabbed a black shirt from one of the folding chairs and pulled it over his head. What a shame. His jaw ticked. “Look, I don’t mind bumping into you every now and then, but intentionally? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I flinched. Wow, why was he such a jerk? I was the one who should be mad at him, and I still was, but I was trying to get past it, to move on. He didn’t have the right to be mad at me. I had done nothing but love him. If that made him mad, well, then he should learn not to play with girls’ hearts.

“I thought I was doing you a favor by trying to be nice, by trying to put the past behind us. I don’t think we’ll ever be friends again, but if we can co-exist for the next two months, for the sake of our friends, don’t you think it’ll be better than trying to avoid each other and failing?”

His chest rose and fell slowly. “Jess …”

“I don’t know what you’re mad about. I’m the one who is mad at you, Ryan. I’m the one who suffered here. Don’t pretend I hurt you, because we both know it was exactly the opposite.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then tell me. What is it?” I took a step closer to him. I thought he would retreat, but he held his ground, his eyes fixed on mine. “Everyone keeps telling me something happened to you after I left and that I should talk to you about it.”

He glanced over his shoulder to the street, then back at me. “You should go.”

If I were still sixteen, I would have teared up and ran from the garage as if it were on fire. I wasn’t sixteen anymore, though, and the events that sent me away had changed me. A lot. It wasn’t in my plans to come back home and face my past, but now that I was here, I wasn’t running away.

I crossed my arms and lifted my chin, putting as much strength as I could in my stare. “No. I want to know. You owe me that much.”

Ryan clenched his fists and groaned. “Jess, please, just leave this alone.”

“All right. I can’t force you to tell me, but I’ll find someone who will.”

I marched past him. I took a step outside the garage before his hand closed around my wrist and pulled me back. I stared at his warm hand on my skin and my stomach fluttered. Slowly, I lifted my gaze and took a sharp inhale. He stared at me, his eyes pained, but behind the pain, there was something more. Something like longing or regret.

“I … I don’t mean to be a jerk, Jess. It’s just …” Ryan pressed his lips into a thin line. “This is hard.”

“What is hard?”

“Everything.” He let go of my arm. “The past. What I did. What happened after you left. You being here.”

“I’m—”

A siren blasted once from the street and I jumped.

“Shit,” Ryan muttered.

A police car was parked behind Ethan’s car, its blinking lights casting eerie blue and red strobes on the sidewalk and the building. A policeman stepped out of the car, the same one from the square.

“Mr. Dawson,” the officer said as he walked toward us. His eyes settled on me, and a grin spread across his lips. “Miss Hayes.”

“Officer Mike,” Ryan said simply.

The officer halted in front of us. “Miss Hayes, you shouldn’t be here.”

I frowned. “And why is that?”

The officer’s expression fell. He seemed appalled that I would answer him in that way.

“It’s okay, Jess,” Ryan said, looking at me. “Please, go.”

If I hadn’t noticed the pleading in his gaze or in his voice, I wouldn’t have obeyed. But apparently, Ryan would be in trouble if I didn’t leave, so I nodded.

I spared a quick glare at Officer Mike before marching to Ethan’s car. I turned on the ignition, and looked over at Ryan once more. He was arguing with Officer Mike. Damn, what had I done? My curiosity was at its limit now. What happened here?

I drove away, promising myself I would find out, one way or another.

***

Ryan

I hadn’t expected to run into Jessica so soon, so when she showed up at my garage in Ethan’s car, two emotions fought for a place in my chest. The first one was jealousy. What the hell was she doing with Ethan’s Camaro? Had they been out? Like out out? And the second was shock, surprise. What the hell was she doing here? Didn’t I hurt her enough already? Was she looking for more?

Then those blue eyes stared into me, and it was so goddamn hard to step away, to keep a safe distance, to not say anything.

When I thought nothing could get worse, Officer Mike arrived.

“I thought you knew better,” he said as Jessica drove away. He sounded more like a concerned uncle than his usual jerk self. “Everything you’ve been through was because of her. Do you want history to repeat?”

Of course not.

I also didn’t blame her for what happened to me. I was the one to blame. If I hadn’t hurt her, she wouldn’t have hurt me, setting me on my destructive path.

I grunted. “What do you care? I thought you would love seeing me get into more trouble.”

“A little trouble, yes. I wouldn’t mind if you partied until late and arrived late to your community service. That would probably bring you back in front of the judge and you would get one more month of community service. But repeating all the rest? No, Ryan. I may not be your biggest fan, but I’m not that big of a jerk.”

I stared at him. So, Officer Mike didn’t really hate me. He just wanted to annoy me a little. That was good news actually.

“I won’t lose control. I won’t let the anger win this time.”

“That’s what you say, but what if she breaks your heart again? You won’t be able to control your anger then.” He stepped back. “Do yourself a favor and stay away from her, huh?” He saluted me like a soldier before walking out of the garage to his car.