Spring Unleashed (The Summer Unplugged Series) (4 page)

Chapter 7

Jace takes me to work with
him, promising that he only has two clients to work with and that we’ll get to come home by lunch time. It’s sweet that he always much such an effort to get us out of there as quickly as possible; it’s as if he thinks I’ll get too bored and leave him. But the truth is, I love being with Jace all the time and anywhere. When he’s at Mixon Motocross Park he’s in his element and there is nothing sexier than watching my man hard at work.

The last time I was in his office I ended up storming out in an embarrassing display of falsely hurt feelings. I
cringe just thinking about it now. A girl had come in begging Jace for extra training before a race that weekend and I stupidly thought he was blowing me off to go flirt with her. It turns out she is his cousin. At least I learned two valuable lessons that day: Jace can be trusted and I am an idiot.

When his first client arrives, I take a spot on the bleachers to watch them work. Jace typically trains a rider by standing with them on the track and giving them pointers as they ride for a lap or two and then come back to get more help. The guy he trains today must suck at turning because Jace has him practice the same two turns in the track over and over again.

A familiar face with long brown hair braided and tossed over her shoulder arrives at the bleachers. Hana waves at me with one hand while the other hand holds onto the tiny dirt bike beneath her. I think it’s called a pit bike. They’re slow bikes so Hana doesn’t wear a helmet while riding it. She kills the engine and props it against the bottom bleacher step before climbing up to the top row to sit next to me.

She gives me a quick hug. “Hey girl, I figured you’d be back in town soon.”

“Yep. School is finally over.”

“Nice. You’re a free woman now. So what’s been up with you?”

I give her a coy smile. “I think I should be asking that of you, Miss
Ash Carter’s Future Wife
.”

Hana bursts into a joyful laugh and automatically shoves her hand in my lap so I can see her ring. It is absolutely stunning, and nothing less than what I would expect from Ash. The boy freaking adores her. “I’m really excited for you,” I say and then I give her another hug because what the hell, I
am
really excited for her. “Have you planned a wedding date yet?”

Her lips press together in thought.
“Sort of. We’re having a house built and it’s supposed to be done in six months. We want to time the wedding so that we can get married and then move in our house right when it’s finished.”

“Wow. Nineteen years old and you’re already getting married and building a house.” I swallow back the sting of jealousy that runs through me. “That’s freaking awesome. Here I am just trying to convince myself to go to college.”

Hana laughs and grabs my arm. “I’m still in shock myself. I never imagined that my life would be this awesome. Of course, we couldn’t build a house if Ash hadn’t gotten the professional sponsorship. I guess we’re not like an average nineteen year old couple.”

“
Do you live with Ash now?” I ask, wondering if I’m crossing a line with the personal questions. Hana is a friend but we’re not that close or anything.

She shakes her head. “We put all our money into building the house and saving for furniture and it just seemed dumb to rent an apartment for a short time. But we’re together every day so it’s almost like we do live together.”

A kid on a dirt bike rides in front of us, revving his engine until Hana looks down at him and waves. He waves back and then zooms off. “So what are your plans for the summer?”

I tell her something simple about spending time with Jace and looking up college courses to take in the fall. I do not tell her the things that are eating away at the back of my mind because I don’t know if she’ll tell Jace when I’m not around.
Plus it’s kind of hard to express my pain over having a boyfriend who hasn’t exactly asked me to live with him to a girl whose boyfriend just proposed to her.

I know I’m being pathetic, but it is what it is.

By the time Jace finishes training his second client of the day, it’s well past two in the afternoon. So much for getting off work by lunch time. The extra two hours of time I spent on the bleachers after Hana had to go back to work only added to my growing depression about Jace. I couldn’t stop thinking about my life and my relationship with him. Everything seemed perfect until my mother interfered with her stupid plans.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this at all. Jace wasn’t supposed to just
let
me live with him while I go to college—he was supposed to
ask
me to move in with him in some romantic way. We might not have talked about this specifically, but I definitely thought about it in my head for the last few months. Now I can’t get over the fear that Jace is simply agreeing with Mom’s plan and that he doesn’t really want me with him at all. All of these thoughts haunted me this afternoon and now that I’m in the passenger seat of Jace’s truck as we head back to his apartment, I can’t seem to force myself to appear as if nothing is wrong.

“You okay?” Jace asks tentatively after a few moments of silence.

I nod. “Yeah.”

His eyebrows wrinkle with doubt. “Are you mad that it took me longer than I promised?’

“No.” It sounds like a lie, but it really isn’t. I’m too consumed with thoughts about Jace to even care about how long it took him at work. It’s not like I had anything else to do. It’s not like I have a job or anything.

His hand reaches across the front seat, resting on my thigh with a little squeeze. “The sooner you tell me what’s wrong with you, the sooner I can make it all better.”

My stomach chooses this time to let out a loud growl of hunger. Jace cups his hand to his ear. “What did you say, Bayleigh’s stomach? You said that Bayleigh is being a butt face for not telling me her feelings?” He nods and looks at me as if my stomach is the smartest thing in the world. “Yep, stomach. I totally agree.”

This act of stupidity gets a smile out of me. Jace can be so dorky at times. He curls out his bottom lip. “Please tell me
what’s wrong babe.”

I shake my head. “I can’t tell you. It’s awkward and embarrassing.”

Jace pulls into the apartment parking lot and leaves the engine running.

“We’re soul mates, Bay. Nothing should be awkward or embarrassing. You can tell me anything. I mean, hello!” he says, squeezing my thigh again. “I bought you tampons! I’m like the world’s greatest most understanding boyfriend.”

“Fine. If you really want to know then I’ll tell you.” I fold my arms over my chest and clench my jaw together. “But it’s going to make me look like a pathetic loser and it will probably change everything between us.”

Concern dances across his features and he sits up straighter, pulling his hand away from my leg. “What’s going on?”

With a sigh, I accept the red that I know will rush to my cheeks and I tell him what’s on my mind. “I’m incredibly embarrassed that my mother talked to you about me living with you before I even got the chance to. It seems like you only agreed to it because you were pressured into it and I feel like you probably don’t even want me to live with you. But you’re too nice to admit it and the last thing I want to do is force myself to live with someone.”

 
I can’t read the emotions on my boyfriend’s face. His head tilts slightly to the left as he thinks over what I just said and at one point his lips part as if he wants to say something. He looks over at me and the silence continues. Overwhelming dread floods into me at the realization that I might have just screwed things up by telling him all of this. My fingers twine together in my lap. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want things to turn out like this. I was planning on finding a job and having my own money to come down and visit you. I wanted to be a partner with you so that you would ask me to move in and I’d be able to contribute.” Jace remains silent and I let my head fall as I stare at my hands. “I just feel like a burden that my mom has handed down to you. I wanted you to ask me. I never wanted to impose.”

“Babe.”
My heart shatters at the flat tone of his voice. His face is expressionless and his mouth freezes halfway open as if he can’t find anything to say. I unbuckle my seatbelt, fully ready to grab my purse and run to my car, driving back home as fast as possible.

“Just answer one question,” I say as my pained heart thuds inside my chest. “Did you want me to move in this summer? Did you want things to be like this?”

Jace pulls the keys out of the ignition. He swallows. And then he looks me straight in the eyes. “No.”

Chapter 8

The heavy metal door of Jace’s truck makes a loud clink as I slam it closed. With fists clenched at my side, I sling my purse over my shoulder and power walk up the stairs to his front door. Of course I would have left my keys on the key rack inside his apartment. Of course I couldn’t have been smart enough to keep them in my purse in case I needed to make a quick escape!

Of freaking course!

The front door isn’t locked and I throw myself inside while the sound of Jace’s footsteps slowly ascend the stairs behind me. I grab my keys and swoop around, ready to make a break for my car and hoping that he won’t stop me on the stairway.

My hope is in vain because of course he does stop me. Jace’s muscular frame stands in the middle of the metal staircase. His hands grasp onto either side of the railing; a silent way of telling me that I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I glance over the edge and briefly consider taking a leap of faith over the railing. But we’re about ten feet in the air and I’m not sure I can drive home if my ankles are shattered.

I turn back to Jace. “Let me leave.”

“Is that what you really want?”

I can’t look into his eyes so I glance away. “Yes.”

Jace takes one step forward, one step closer to me. He’s a few stairs below me so I’m the taller one. I use this opportunity to peer down at him, trying to strengthen my confidence. I will not break in front of Jace. I will not let him see me be weak. “This was obviously a mistake. I’m not staying here with you if you don’t feel the same way that I do. Please let me leave.”

“Maybe I misunderstood,” Jace says, taking one more step closer to me. “But I thought we were a couple who could talk about things. I listened to your thoughts in my truck back there. Now it’s time for you to listen to mine.”

I tighten my jaw and he takes another step forward, making us eye to eye on the staircase now. “
I think you owe me that.”

With no other option but to retreat, I turn and walk back into the apartment, dropping my purse on the couch and sitting next to it. I place my hands in my lap and give him my undivided attention. “I’m ready to listen.”

Jace ignores me and slips inside his bedroom for a few seconds that seem to last an awkwardly long time. When he returns, he walks right in front of me and sits on the coffee table, facing me. He holds out a red envelope that has my name written on it. The handwriting is Jace’s, but by the looks of the elegant cursive lettering and the smiley face at the bottom, he put some thought into it making it not look like his usual chicken scratch.

I take the envelope and slide my finger under the seal. “Are you breaking up with me in a greeting card?”

“No, this is the card I planned to give you on our anniversary next Saturday.”

“Why are you giving it to me early?”

He shrugs. “Because it’s the only way I can think of that will make you believe me when I tell you what I have to say.”

Intrigued, and still a bit heartbroken at his earlier confession, I slide out the card and skim the words on the front. It’s a poem about love and spending a year together and
other sappy things. When I open the card, something shiny catches my attention. Taped to the inside of the card is a silver house key. Chills prickle up my arms.

Under the key is a handwritten note from Jace:

The second key I gave you was to your car.

The third key I’m giving you is to my apartment, which I hope will become our home.

In case you’re wondering about the first key, it’s the key to my heart and you’ve had it since day one.
Happy first anniversary Bay.

I love you always,

Jace

I blink back tears as I pull at the tape that holds the key to the card. “Why did you say no in the truck just now?”

Jace reaches forward and grabs my hands, folding the key into the middle of my palm. “I said no when you asked if I wanted things to be like the way they are now.
No, I didn’t want your mom to corner me and force me to go along with her plan for your future. No, I didn’t want you forced into moving in with me when I didn’t know if you wanted to or not. I don’t like things the way they are now. I wanted it to be different.”

“Me too,” I mumble. His words had just somehow managed to stitch together the broken pieces of my heart, but I’m still not wholly happy again. Things are still weird. “So why didn’t you just ask me to move in with you? Who cares what my mom thinks or wants?”

He glances at the card. “I
was
going to ask! I was waiting until our anniversary for obvious romantic reasons. Your mom just jumped the gun and I wasn’t going to ignore her. I kind of had no chance but to along with her.”

I lean forward and wrap my arms around his neck. His hands slide around my back and he pulls me onto his lap on the coffee table. “I love you Bayleigh. You are my entire life. I want to spend every single second with you.”

“
I want to spend every second with you,” I whisper while my head rests on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I ruined your anniversary present.”

“No worries.” His voice is peppy and a little cocky. I lean back and look at him just in time to see his sly smile. “We will have tons more anniversaries and you can’t possibly ruin them all.”