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As my head rests against Ryan’s massive bicep, I watch the fire dance against the night sky and think about what I’m doing here with him. Just two days ago, I hated Ryan and resented my father for allowing me to come here with him, and now I am standing under a starlit sky wrapped up in his arms. If tonight is the start of a relationship with Ryan, then I should really decide if he is really what I want.
I’m not sure I’m ready to give up on Ash, though he has given me little choice. I had taken the plunge, set aside my nervousness and asked him if we could start dating, and he said it wasn’t the right time. If I have learned anything from watching chick flicks, it’s the golden rule of dating: If he doesn’t seem into you, then he’s not into you.
Maybe it will never be the right time with Ash. Maybe that is his way of letting me down without telling me the truth. And as I struggle to digest this realization, I can’t seem to put out the tiny spark that burns deep in my chest – a tiny string of hope that maybe I am wrong and Ash does like me and the time will come. I take a deep breath and roll my eyes up to the sky. Why does life have so many maybes?
Ryan notices my heavy sigh and squeezes his arms tight for a moment in a backwards hug. Once again his lips hover next to my ear.
“Is it a huge section of whoops?”
I open my mouth to ask what he’s talking about when I remember “whoops” is a motocross word. Whoops are Ash’s favorite part on the track, but definitely not Ryan’s. Dad had asked Ash what his favorite part was, and yet he hadn’t put them on his new track. I started to question my dad’s love for Ash.
Ryan must have taken my silence as a no, because he tries again, “A big ass jump?”
“No,” I answer this time, staring at the lake. His guess was close, but still not correct. I shift on my feet. His arms start to feel more like heavy shackles instead of the warm security they were a few moments
ago.
“Two big ass jumps?” he asks. I suck in a deep breath and hold it. Just like racing, Ryan isn’t going to give up until he wins.
“I can’t tell you,” I manage to say over the pressing weight of his intimidation. He releases me and I turn to face him. He raises his arms behind him and cradles his head as if he were lying in a hammock. This is a remarkably sexy view of him.
“That’s fine,” he snorts. “I can do jumps.” His confidence borders on arrogance and although arrogance is a bad trait to have, I find myself even more attracted to him.
A breeze blows through the woods and makes my hair dance across my face. Had it not been a hundred degrees today, the breeze might be cool enough to startle me away from Ryan’s hypnotic charm. And had I been lucky enough to be startled away from his charm, then maybe I wouldn’t have made the mistake I already know I am about to regret.
“But what if it’s better not to jump?” I ask, challenging him. His eyes drift up and then down under furrowed eyebrows. He isn’t looking at me, but concentrating somewhere in the back of his mind. He doesn’t understand what I said. I have the upper hand now.
“What idiot wouldn’t clear a jump?” He watches the moonlight ripple over the lake and his hand swoops through the air mimicking a dirt bike. “Unless…” His eyes go blank again. A millisecond later, his eyebrows flinch. I can almost see the light bulb flicker on above his head. His thumbs tap on my shoulders. “Wait, is there a way to avoid the jump?”
Bingo.
Had I just given Ryan the secret my dad worked so hard to protect? A blanket of fear creeps over me as I try to backtrack, “I don’t know.”
Playing dumb doesn’t work. Ryan’s smug look of self-satisfaction is now perfect. He could patent the look on his face at this moment, filing it under A ,for Arrogance in the Great Hall of Perfected Facial Expressions.
“Ah ha…” He takes a slow breath and closes his eyes to enjoy it. “Good one, Jim.”
Ryan’s interest in me nose-dives into a black hole abyss moments after he gets the secret out of me. Now I’ve spent fifteen minutes watching Ryan’s spirits reach Mt. Everest-like heights as he shares stories with his friends around the fire. All eyes are on Ryan. I have nowhere to sit that wouldn’t leave my butt damp and covered in sand. I want to go home.
It’s ten o’clock. I don’t want to call my dad. Shelby never replied to my text and was probably asleep by now anyway. Ryan starts to entertain the crowd with the story of how he cleared Dad’s ninety-foot double when he was only eight years old. I take that as an opportunity to slip out of here unnoticed.
I venture far enough away from the lake so I can’t hear Ryan’s voice anymore. When I reach the road I know I should turn back, but stubborn pride keeps me walking. This is stupid, being alone at night in the middle of nowhere, but I can’t find a part of me that cares. Even the part of my conscience that wants me to do the right thing has taken the night off.
Every minute I walk without Ryan calling me panicking and asking where I am sends more pain through my heart. Two dots of light appear where the road turns ahead of me. It’s the first vehicle I’ve all night; even when Ryan and I were in the woods no one had driven by.
As the truck approaches, its bright lights cover me and I can’t see anything, as if I were performing on stage. I squint and look at the ground as it passes. After what seems like ages, I can see again. Tires screech to a stop. I look behind me and as the truck’s taillights turn white as it reverses toward me. My heart stops.
I’m about to be kidnapped on a county road in the middle of nowhere. What a horrible way to die. I am at least two miles from the lake. No one will hear me scream. I keep walking. To my left are the woods and to my right is an open pasture of farmland. I try to think of an escape route and pray for safety at the same time.
Should I run into the woods? Nothing makes sense in my mind. There is a cell phone in my pocket but I don’t even think to reach for it. All I can think about was how terribly scared I am.
The sound of rubber tires rolling over the pavement grows closer. I can just see the bumper of a red truck in my peripheral vision when it comes to a stop. I am too scared to look, too scared to run.
“Don’t just stand there,” Ash says. “Get in.”
Chapter 19
Relief floods over me. My mind goes from terrified to thrilled at the speed of light. I am no longer going to be murdered – I’m being rescued! I yank open the truck door and jump inside. I don’t even notice the broken nail I acquire in my hasty scramble, and even if I did, it wouldn’t matter because I have never been happier in my life.
