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 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?”

***

Ryan

“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.

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

The engine roared to life, a little less ferocious 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.

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.

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?”

“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 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.

***

After a shitty night, Monday was a shitty day. I worked hard, grunting and cursing. At one point, Noah stopped by and stared at me with big, suspicious eyes.

“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.

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.

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.