Flame (Fire on the Mountain #2) (31 page)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16

“DO YOU THINK IT WOULD’VE
made a difference if I’d been in Germany with you?” I ask hesitantly while feeding Levi a bite of a chocolate-dipped strawberry.

We’re lounging on the roof of the bus, drinking champagne and enjoying dessert after we annihilated dinner. Apparently, lots of sex and riding dirt bikes can really build up an appetite. With my back propped up against a mountain of pillows, my bare legs are stretched in front of me, my upper thighs providing a head rest for Levi as he lies flat on his back, looking straight up into the sea of stars splattered across the inky sky. Neither of us has a stitch of clothing on.

Sinking his teeth into the fruit, playfully nipping my finger as well, he shakes his head confidently. “No,” he grunts after he swallows. “Foss knew I was gonna take that title from him, and the only way he could keep that from happening was to fuck with me or my bike. You being there wouldn’t have changed that. I just wish I could prove he’s the fucker who turned my gas line off.”

His words don’t lessen the sense of blame I feel. Frowning, I stare down into his relaxed face and scrunch my nose up. “Why didn’t you call me and ask about the envelope?” I whine, knowing damn well it’s my own damn fault I didn’t know about the round-trip airfare and ticket to the World Championships. “It could’ve changed things. You never know.”

“And neither do you.” He raises his uninjured hand and taps the end of my nose. “Stop worrying about shit you can’t do anything about. The past is the past. It’s done. You wish you would’ve opened the letter; I wish I never would’ve let you get on that plane in New Orleans. Neither of us can do a damn thing about it now.” The corners of his eyes crinkle up with a tenderness I’ve never seen. “And maybe this is how it had to happen. Maybe we had to know how shitty it was to be apart to appreciate how great it is when we’re together. Maybe this is
exactly
how our story is supposed to play out.”

The dichotomy of his rough and tough outer appearance and his overwhelmingly gentle and affectionate demeanor when he’s with me is almost too much to handle when he says shit like that. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like being wrapped in a blanket made with soft crushed velvet. One of those with the satiny hem around the edges.

“I would’ve preferred if our story left out the chapter where you face-plant into the ground and nearly scare me half to death with worry, Mr. Know-It-All.” I stick my tongue out at him as I grab another berry, this time popping it into my own mouth.

“But then you wouldn’t have ever thought you lost me, and honestly, that’s what the trigger was for you, right?” He cocks his eyebrow up at me, already knowing the answer. “I knew the day you left I was coming back for you. I knew you needed some time to work out whatever craziness that was going on in that stubborn brain of yours, and I needed to get my shit together and clean up a bunch of things I should’ve dealt with a long time ago. You weren’t the reason I fired Mercedes and hired Emmy Sue, but you ignited a flame under me to get my ass in gear and figure out which direction I want my life and my career to go in for the future.”

This is the part of the night I’ve been worried about this whole time. The big, scary word.
Future.

Tilting my head back, I close my eyes and inhale a deep breath through my nose, hold it for a ten-count, blow it out through my mouth, and then open my lids. Everything has been so perfect since the moment I stepped foot into massage room number two yesterday afternoon, better than perfect, actually. I never in my wildest dreams thought any of this shit would ever happen to me. And I’m scared it’s all about to come to an abrupt ending.

“And what direction is that?” I ask timidly, keeping my gaze upward. “What’s next for the famous James ‘Mr. 501’ Levi?”

He shifts his weight to the left side so that he’s slightly angled toward my torso. “Dakota, look at me,” he commands softly. I can feel his eyes pleading with mine.

I don’t look. I’m too nervous to hear what he’s going to say. I don’t want a long-distance relationship, but I don’t want to be without him either. I want to stay just like this . . . forever.

“Dakota,” he repeats my name, this time with a tad more warning in his tone. “We have to talk about this at some point.”

Slowly, I lower my gaze to his and brace myself for the blow. I claimed he only bruised my heart the first time we said goodbye, but I know with full certainty this time it’ll resemble the x-ray of his right arm. Battered and broken.

“So talk,” I croak through my suddenly dry throat, clinging on to my attitude, my last wall of self-defense.

Leaning forward, he presses his lips to the sensitive skin directly under my belly button then draws back a few inches and peers up at me. “This Thursday, I’m having day surgery on my arm and wrist here in Denver. They’re gonna go in and put some plates and screws in, nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve had this exact same surgery more times than I’d like to admit. I’ll wear a cast for about four to six weeks, and then once it comes off, I’ll start rehab. Rehabbing my shoulder from the dislocation will be the hardest part, and it normally takes a few months.”

He stops talking as he lowers his mouth, kissing just beneath the spot of the last one. The warmth of his breath trickles down between my legs and I have to force myself not to wiggle underneath him. He’s making it hard to concentrate on the seriousness of this conversation.

“Now, as you know, I’m staying with Gunner and Emmy Sue right now,” he picks up where he left off, “but I have to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible. They’re newlyweds and need their house to themselves; plus, we’re gonna want our own privacy for all of the things I have planned to do with you. So, that leaves me needing to find a place to stay somewhere around here at least for the next six months . . . or longer.”

“Around here?” I repeat, making sure I heard him correctly.

“Rhino is gonna rent my place in California and take care of it. It’s a great vacation house on Big Bear Lake that I want to keep, but not live in any longer.” Grinning, he kisses even lower, allowing his mouth to linger a couple of extra seconds. “And I hear there’s this really cool-ass chick that likes Marvel superheroes and guys who ride dirt bikes that lives around here. She may have something to do with my wanting to relocate too.”

Hissing in a jagged breath, I’m pretty sure my heart just dislodged itself and is floating around in my body. I can feel my pulse in every inch of my body. “What happens in six months?”

His left shoulder lifts in a carefree shrug. “Whatever we want. You’ll be finished with school by then, and I’ll have rehabbed, but I’ll still need some extensive training to get ready for the X-games and the Worlds next year. Gunner’s opening his track here at the first of the year, so we can stay as long as you want, depending on what you want to do with your career and how close you want to be to your family. I’m open.”

“But you’ll go back to touring on the bus once you’re completely healed, right?” His plan sounds too perfect; there has to be a catch somewhere.

“Sunshine, I’m not leaving you, if that’s what you’re getting at. I thought I made that clear already. No more being apart. We will decide what we do next when we get there. Together. The only thing that matters is that we do it together.” He drops his lips to the top of my mound and smirks roguishly. “Levi and Dakota.” His tongue swipes at my clit, eliciting a whimper from me. “Hulk and Sunshine.” Another swipe, another whimper. “Thor and Lizzie.” This time, he catches the swollen nub between his teeth and sucks lightly. “Tell me you’re with me, love. Tell me you’re mine.”

Threading my fingers through his dark, shaggy hair, I tug his head back so that I can stare into the vibrant blue eyes I plan on falling asleep to every night and waking up to every morning as I finally admit what my heart has known for a long time.

“I’m with you, love,” I reply breathlessly. “
Yours.”

FEBRUARY 23 (FOUR MONTHS LATER)

THIS IS A BAD IDEA.
No, scratch that. This is a
terrible
idea. One of the worst I’ve ever agreed to. I’m still not sure how I got dragged into being a part of this plan doomed to fail.

A small feminine hand brushes over my thigh to get my attention, and as I snap my eyes to the woman sitting next to me in the backseat of Dakota’s Jeep, I remember exactly why I’m here.
Nali.
There’s no way I’d let her do this without me close by. I’m still pissed she’s involved in this absurdness that has nothing to do with her.

“He’s not going to hurt me, Rory,” she says with a soft smile. “Stop worrying so much.”

“No!” Furrowing my brow, I shake my head harshly. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. None of you do.” I raise my voice to make sure Dakota and Grams hear me in the front seat. “This Foss dude could be off his rocker, on drugs or steroids or something. I mean, if he truly did fuck with Levi’s bike and try to hurt him, then he obviously has some serious issues. What happens if he figures out what’s going on and he goes batshit?”

Dakota stares at me through the rearview mirror, her mouth in a rigid line. “I told you that you didn’t have to come with us, but you insisted on tagging along for ‘security purposes’. So stop being so damn negative and work on some kind of security plan or something for all those things you think may go wrong. One way or another, this is happening tonight.”

Sighing, I lean back against the leather seat and sulk. I should’ve gone straight to Levi earlier today, when I first caught wind of this grand scheme that Dakota and Grams came up with to record Lance Foss’s confession for tampering with his dirt bike. Not only would he have put a stop to this nonsense real quick, he’s now going to beat my ass for not doing the same. And just when we were starting to get along so well . . .

It’s no secret the guy didn’t start off as my biggest fan, especially after our rather volatile introduction. I don’t ever recommend walking in your girl-who’s-a-friend’s bedroom, only to discover her boyfriend pounding her into next week, after you let yourself in
her
apartment with
your
key, especially when
he
doesn’t know you exist. Another terrible idea I was involved in; though, in my defense, I had no clue they were there. I’d been texting and calling her all morning to let her know I was stopping by on my way home from my brother’s to drop off pictures my niece, Ivy, had made for her, but she never answered or replied. Then, when her Jeep wasn’t in its spot, I assumed she wasn’t home and let myself in with the key she gave me. Big mistake.

During the huge confrontation that ensued—which was mostly him claiming there’s no way a guy can go back to being strictly friends with a chick after they’ve hooked up, that the guy continues to think about fucking her, even if he says he doesn’t—Dakota screamed out something about him still being best friends with Emilia and asked if he still thinks about fucking her all time. And then, shit got weird.

They stopped yelling, stopped talking even, and just stood there, staring at each other with these crazy faces. It was like they were telepathically fighting or something; I couldn’t figure it out. And after about five minutes, their expressions gradually relaxed, and then they suddenly started making out right in front of me. Unsure of what in the hell I’d just witnessed, I slipped quietly out the front door as they mauled each other and waited for her to text me when the coast was clear.

It took Levi a while to come around and join Team Rors, but after it became obvious that Dakota would not be deterred in making sure he and I got along, he succumbed to my charming ways, and I think it’s safe to call us friends now. He’s even asked me to help him coordinate the big hot air balloon proposal he’s planning for next month, but after tonight, he may never speak to me again.

I keep quiet the remainder of the hour and a half drive to Cheyenne, where the FMX tour is in town tonight, and where, supposedly, this Lance Foss character is scheduled to be. Levi
thinks
Dakota’s out for a girls’ night with Nali and Juno while he’s at the dirt bike races over at Gunner’s new track. I’m still not sure how she plans on explaining this little expedition to him, regardless of the outcome, but knowing her, she’ll find some way to wiggle herself out of trouble with him. She always does.