AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Probably not.
I summon the energy to twist my lips into a smile. “Thanks, Molly. I’m not sure if I want to date right now, but you’ll be the first to know when I do.”
“Ugh, I know this is awkward.” Molly’s eyes bore into the back of my head—I can feel it, but I don’t say anything. “I’m sorry, Hana. I’ll drop it. I don’t want to creep you out with too much step-mother talk.” Her hand touches my back for a second. “I just want you to be happy.”
“Thanks, I do appreciate it,” I say, because although talking about boys with her is definitely awkward, she’s making more of an attempt to connect with me than my own mother ever did.
“More wine?” she says, lifting the bottle.
My glass is only half empty but I hand it to her anyway. “Definitely.”
Chapter 3
Nine months ago – September
I yawned and glanced over at the digital clock on Ash’s nightstand. Three-fifteen in the morning. I’d meant it when I said I wanted to be the first one to see him when he came home from his second professional supercross race, but I also hadn’t expected it to be this late—or early in the day. I picked him up at the airport an hour ago, and now we were finally back at his house where I sat on his futon bed with his blanket up over my legs, curled into his pillow.
“What are you doing?” I asked, pouting out my bottom lip. “Come sit with me.”
“I will, I just need to organize . . .” Ash said as he dug through his duffel bag and suitcase, unzipping and unpacking things, shoving them into new places. Most of his clothes went into a pile near the door because they were dirty. “All of this crap is driving me crazy. I need a bigger room.”
I looked around the small bedroom and nodded. Since he’d accepted his position on Team Yamaha, boxes of new gear and supplies had been pouring in. Most of it was stacked along the wall, or pouring out of his closet. Now a professional racer, all of Ash’s promotional T-shirts and other random swag overtook his tiny room.
I fluffed Ash’s pillow into the corner of the futon and brought my knees up to my chest, getting comfortable while I watched him move quietly around his room. The rest of his family was sound asleep. Shelby had requested to be woken up the moment we got here, but Ash and I thought it’d be nicer to get a little alone time first. So being quiet was of the utmost importance right now.
Ash rocked back on his heels and held up a framed photo of me. I’d given it to him before he flew to California last week. “I don’t think I can take this anymore,” he said quietly. He stood and placed the frame on his desk, facing the futon. “All the guys either drooled over my hot ass girlfriend, making comments that made me want to kick their asses, or they would use it as a catalyst to bitch about their failed relationships.”
He turned toward me, putting his hands on his hips. “I don’t like dealing with either one of those. I’m so sick of hearing that racing will drive your girlfriend away.”
“We’re not going to fail,” I whispered, more to keep quiet, but part of me didn’t want to say it out loud for fear of jinxing our perfect relationship. We’d only been together about a month, but things were perfect. I needed to keep it that way.
Ash’s lips quirked, his eyes softening as he stared at me from across the room. I could feel the tension between us, the desire to be closer and all tangled up in each other. I held up my finger and beckoned him forward.
He crossed the room in two long strides and leaned over me, pinning me to the foam mattress. “We’re not going to fail,” he repeated, his lips held just an inch away from mine. He could close the distance easily, but he was being evil.
“Come here,” I whispered, reaching my hand up to his cheek.
He closed his eyes. Kissed me.
I slid my fingers around his neck and turned so that we could share the length of the futon. Ash’s bicep made a perfect pillow while we made out—hands, lips, bodies exploring each other. This was all so new, but it felt so meant to be.
I was crazy about this boy. I couldn’t believe I almost screwed it up over that idiot Ryan and his stupid silver tongue. But now Ash was mine, and I vowed I would never let him go.
“We should probably get Shelby soon,” I whispered.
“Yeah, we don’t want her getting mad,” he said, his lips to my ear. My body shivered. Ash adjusted so that he was sitting up on the couch-bed, and I held on tight so he could take me with him. He grabbed my legs and put them across his lap, leaving his hand on my knee.
I snuggled into his shoulder and breathed him in slowly, letting the scent of his cologne permeate through my whole body. We had tonight and tomorrow, and then he’d be leaving again for another race. My chest ached at the thought. “I’m going to miss you when you go.”
“I’ll be back again,” he said, kissing my forehead.
“And then you’ll go again.” I poked out my bottom lip and he tilted my head upwards and kissed it.
“And I’ll be back again,” he said, winking.
I smiled. He was even hotter in the glow of the si
ngle lamp turned on in the corner of the room. “We should go wake Shelby.”
