Page 126 of Rock Me

I stand up and look out to see two cars driving up the street. Expensive cars, luxury cars, polished and beaming new cars, that have no place in this setting.

They both come to a screeching stop in front of the house and the car doors open, letting the drivers and passengers out.

And suddenly he’s here.

Jez.

Jeremy.

Jez and his bandmates.

"What the...?" I mutter under my breath, too speechless to go on.

My heart lurches at the sight of him.

I was wrong, my mind hadn’t been true to him. He was so much more… alive, than anything I’d been remembering and even watching on my iPhone screen.

He was… otherworldly.

Vibrant and sexy and warm and… making my internal organs forget their form and function, turning my insides into complete mush.

I feel a little giddy, and realize, even with him here, sometimes I forget to breathe.

He stands by the side of the car and smiles.

"Come for a ride with me," he says, like it’s nothing. Like the last time we saw each other, we both left each other intact and not in broken, jagged pieces.

I don't know what to do.

Paige has jumped to her feet as well, standing right there, behind me, her breath short and loud against my ear.

"You don't have to do anything you don’t want to," she whispers.

"Noémie." He says my name and I forgot what it sounded like, spoken in his voice, from his lips.

I have to say something.

"What are you doing here, Jez?" Do I really care? Haven't I been just praying to have one more minute with him?

"Come on. Let’s go for a short drive. Just you and me." He doesn't move and I can't see his eyes behind his dark sun glasses.

He just keeps holding out his hand.

I draw a long breath.

"Noémie." Paige says my name, a warning tone in her voice.

"I'll be okay." I tell her. Or am I telling myself. I only then just realize I'm still in my pajamas.

That'd be right. I finally see the man who broke my world into a thousand irreparable pieces and I’m wearing flannel with pictures of cupcakes on it.

No time to worry about that now.

I walk down the few steps from the porch onto the sidewalk where the car is parked. He's watching me the whole way.

I reach out for the handle of the car door and it's locked.

What game is he playing here?