Anywhere With You (12 page)

Love you,

Mom

Amelie stared at the letter. I stared at her. Eventually, she placed it on the nightstand with a sigh. Then she did something I hadn’t expected. She turned, crawled toward me, and leaned in and kissed me full on. And I swear it was the most erotic kiss I think I’d ever had. I wanted more, and I tried to get it—but instead, she pushed me backward onto the bed and moved over me, inch by inch. With each kiss, my breath grew more and more rapid until all I could hear was the drum of my heartbeat reverberating between my ears. When she got to my collarbone, I noticed she was smiling. Not to be one-upped, I sat up and flipped her over onto her back. She eyed me cautiously, but there was also something in her expression that said please don’t stop. So I didn’t. I returned the favor and then some.

Afterward, when I could breathe normally once again, I looked over at her. She was still smiling. “What in the hell was that?” I asked.

She met my gaze. “I took your mother’s advice and learned to act quickly. She was a smart woman…”

“Yeah…” I swallowed, and then I turned my attention to the ceiling.

Amelie rolled over onto her side, took my face in her hands, and kissed me the way she had before. Then she pulled back and said, “And she was right, too. It was totally worth it.”

I smiled then. I couldn’t help myself.

Amelie

No one ever taught me to stay.

The following morning, we packed up and headed to Carlsbad Caverns, which turned out to be way more interesting than I figured it would be. Once we’d made our way through the cave, we decided to make the 750 foot ascent back up to the light of day by elevator instead of making the trek back up the same way we’d come down. As we stepped into the elevator, Jack took my hand and squeezed tight. I looked around at the other cave-goers and then I looked up at Jack. I don’t know quite what made me say it other than perhaps I just figured it was time. “Why did you leave South America?”

Jack cocked his head, clearly caught off guard by the question. He glanced around the elevator and then back at me. “You want to discuss this now?

My bottom lip jutted out and I shrugged. “The guide said it would take a full minute to reach the top…”

“This conversation will take longer than a minute,” he remarked, his smile small and fixed.

“Have you got anywhere else to be?”

He shook his head and exhaled. “No.”

“Well…”

Jack shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked down at me. Eventually, he sighed quietly. “No one ever taught me to stay.”

I sucked in as much air as I could possibly muster in such a tiny space. And I realized that Jack and I suffered the same affliction.

No one had ever taught us to stay.

From New Mexico, we headed straight up into Colorado. Neither of us had traveled that particular route before, and it took us nearly double the time it should have, as not only was I in charge of the map, but I insisted on taking the scenic route and stopping every time something piqued my interest in order to take photos. Jack never complained although I could tell he hadn’t particularly enjoyed giving up control. It’s one reason he insisted on doing the driving. Which was fine by me. Mostly, though, neither of us really spoke a whole lot save for a little small talk here and there. It was a comfortable silence.

At one of our stops, Jack took my hand and asked me to follow him to a bench. He pointed and I sat. I knew what was coming. And it wasn’t small talk. “What’s going on with you and what’s-his-name?”

I furrowed my brow. “I thought we were keeping this light and fun?”

“I want to know what I’m getting myself into.”

“That’s not fair, Jack.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not asking you about Jane.”

“You can if you want. In fact, I’ll just tell you straight up. Jane is great—but there’s no future there.”

I sighed and looked away. “Tell me something I don’t know…”

“Like what?”

My mouth twisted. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to have this conversation.”

“I saw your phone, Amelie. I saw the twenty-five missed calls.”

“And?”

“Why are you avoiding it all?”

“I’m not. I’m keeping it light and fun.”

“No, you’re running.”

“You asked me to take this trip with you. So here I am. I don’t see it as running.”

“Are you going to marry him?”

“I don’t know.”

“What the fuck is there not to know? It’s a lifelong commitment we’re talking about here, Amelie. It shouldn’t be that hard to say—”

“There’s a lot you don’t understand,” I said, cutting him off.

“Then help me understand. Make me understand. Because I care about you. I’ve always cared about you…”

“I know.”

He waited.

“Look—it’s complicated. And I’d rather not complicate our time together by rehashing all of the complication. You said this was supposed to be fun, Jack.”

“Who’s not having fun?”

I laughed and looked in the direction of the Jeep, then back at him. I raised my brow. “What do you say we climb into the backseat and keep it simple?”

He grinned. “I can do simple. Just not forever…”

I looked in the direction of the Jeep. “Nothing lasts forever, Jack.”

Jack and I were in the middle of the quick little backseat rendezvous I’d suggested when I just happened to catch something flicker out of the corner of my eye. “Oh, my God.”

He didn’t stop thrusting, so I sunk my teeth into his shoulder. Hard.

“Ow. What the fuck?” He hissed as he moved into me once more.

“Stop!” I shrieked.

Later, he would ask since when had ‘oh my God’ meant stop—but in that moment, he simply asked why.

“Look,” I demanded, pointing my finger. “There’s an entire Asian tour group watching us.”

It took a second for him to spot them. “I think they’re taking pictures,” I said, my voice low.

Jack thrust into me.

“What are you doing?” I squealed trying to climb off. He held me in place. “The windows are tinted. They can’t see us,” he whispered, adjusting my hips.

“They’re taking pictures. I don’t think your Jeep is that cool.”

He grinned as he took my breast into his mouth and pushed into me softly. “Then we better give them a show.”

“Jack, this illegal.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick,” he promised.

And he was.

Following our quick little backseat sideshow, we headed into Colorado. One thing that always amazed me about road trips was how quickly the landscape changes. It could go from dry and barren to lush and green seemingly instantly. This is how it was for Jack and I, too. Somewhere just over the state line, I decided to prove my point.

“You do realize that what’s-his-name is my boss, right?”

Jack didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. I watched his jaw set and harden.

“If I fuck this up, I lose my job.”

“There are other jobs out there…”

I turned in my seat and did a double take. “I love my job!”

“Yeah, but do you love him?”

I stared at him for a moment, my mouth no doubt hanging open. When he turned and raised an eyebrow at me as though to signal that I’d forgotten that he was awaiting a response, I shifted my entire body to face the passenger side window. “You’re quite audacious today,” I eventually said crossing my arms.

He looked over at me, one brow raised. “I was hoping it’d rub off on you.”

“Fuck you, Jack.”

A smile played across his face and then I watched it fade. “You just did.”

According to the map on my phone, we were a little less than two hours out from the hotel I’d booked in a small mountain town. Jack had still refused to camp although he wouldn’t give reasons as to why. As for me, I alternated between staring out the window and staring at my phone. Anything to avoid talking to him. Ian and I had been texting back and forth. I’d sent him a few shots I’d taken, and it seemed he’d warmed up to the idea of the road trip by this point. Oddly enough, the angrier I got with Jack, the more Ian looked like an angel. Sure, he’d been ever so slightly hinting at the fact that he wanted to meet me in Colorado—just for a day or two—but for the most part, I’d blown him off. He’d also had his doctor friend call in a new prescription, which at the moment, I was strongly considering picking up.

“Hey, Amelie?” Jack said interrupting my thoughts.

I looked over at him.

“I took a peek at your writing and…it’s really good.”

“What. The. Fuck?” I hissed, slamming my phone down on my thigh.

He flinched. “What?”

“How could you do that?”

“You read my mother’s letters…”

“Oh, so that’s how it is? An eye for an eye? I thought you weren’t mad about that.”

“I’m wasn’t. I’m not.”

I threw up my hands. “It’s like we’re children all over again.”

“Yeah.” He smirked. At that moment, I wanted to kill him. “But I just have to know one thing…” he continued. “Am I the ‘J’ you refer to?”

“Fuck you,” I said, swallowing hard.

Jack laughed and turned his attention to the road. “You keep saying that.” He sighed. “I like you better when you actually do it.”

By this point, a light rain had begun to fall and all I could think of was how badly I wanted out of that Jeep and away from him. I’d already made up my mind that I was going to get on the first plane out of Colorado. I just hadn’t said as much yet. I looked over at Jack and then checked my phone once more. There was approximately one hour and thirty-six minutes until freedom.