“You expect me to believe that crap?”
He shrugs and gets off the small bike. “Maybe. So what do you want to do?”
His question goes unanswered because I’m suddenly mesmerized by the way he grabs the bike with his good hand and lifts it into the back of his truck. Then he climbs back there and grabs the tie down straps, hooking them to the bike’s handlebars so it won’t fall over. I get lost watching the muscles in his arm flex. When he finishes, he hops down and lifts the tailgate back into place.
“You hungry?”
I shake my head. “I had like, three things of nachos from Frank.”
He nods, his lips sliding to the side of his mouth. “Yeah, me too.” He takes out his phone and checks the time. The second the phone lights up, I think about the last time I saw his phone, when the girl’s picture was on the screen. Maybe this was a bad idea.
“It’s ten thirty on a Friday night,” Ash says, sliding the phone back in his pocket. “And we’re in Mixon, so that means there’s not a damn thing to do. Maybe I should have thought it out more before I asked if you wanted to do something.”
“What did Shelby say when you told her we were hanging out?” I ask.
He starts to gnaw on his thumbnail and then he stops. “Uh, nothing. I didn’t tell her.”
“Oh? Why not?”
His head lops to the side. “You know how she is. I didn’t want to get her hopes up if this ended up being nothing.”
Wow. There it is. I swallow the lump in my throat. The crickets seem to chirp louder to fill the silence. My feet shuffle until my back presses against his truck. “So, you think this might be something?” My voice is barely a whisper.
He nods, his chest rising as he takes a deep breath. His hands slide into his pockets. “You didn’t seem mad about that video of my bunk.”
I shake my head. “It was kind of cute. I thought you hated me.”
“Why would I hate you?” He takes a step forward and an invisible pull tugs at my stomach. He’s only inches away, but I want him even closer.
I stare at his shoes. “Because we broke up. Because my jealousy and insecurities ruined everything we had.”
His hand touches my chin, his fingertips as calloused as I remember. He lifts my head up so that I’m looking into his eyes, and those invisible strings that tie me to him are stretching impossibly thin. “I’ll never hate you, Hana,” he says, his voice like warm honey. “Even when you broke my heart, I couldn’t hate you.”
I exhale. My fingers shake as they reach up and cover his hand on my cheek. My eyes meet his, those dark blue windows into his soul. “I’m sorry for how things are,” I say, and it leaves me breathless. There is so much more to say, so many nights I spent missing him, wishing things were different. My heart aches for Ash Carter and these last few months have been hell. But I don’t say any of that, and he doesn’t say anything either. We just gaze into each other’s eyes, his hand on my face.
When did he get so close that I can smell is cologne? Feel his breath on my cheek?
“Things don’t have to be this way, Hana.”
I look up and his lips crash into mine. I freeze, unable to accept that this is really happening at first. And then I melt into him, my lips remembering his like they’ve found an old best friend. My hands slide around his neck, and I pull him close to me. His cast presses into my ribcage, but I don’t care. I revel in the way his body feels against mine, the way his mouth knows exactly how to kiss me. His lips are salty and they taste like Gatorade, and there’s a hint of exhaust fumes on his clothing.
All of the weeks without him, all of the missing and aching for him, it all disappears as we make out against the back of his truck. Every inch of my body is on fire, and when he pulls away just a little bit, it makes my insides hurt.
Ash grins and reaches behind his neck to unfasten the sling around his arm. He shrugs it off and tosses it across the bed of his truck, then stretches out his broken arm at the elbow and wraps it around me. “That’s better,” he says against my lips. I smile and slide my finger into his belt loop, pulling him closer to me.
“I missed this,” I say between kissing.
“I missed you,” he says, letting his forehead rest against mine.
I’m almost afraid to say the words but I know I have to. “Does this mean something is happening between us?”
His mouth opens but we’re interrupted by a shrill noise. He pulls away, his brows drawing together. “Did you hear that?”
I nod. “It sounded like a scream.”
We look around at the deserted track. Teig and his friends left a long time ago. There are no other cars left in the parking lot. The scream sounds again, and now that we’re paying attention it’s louder than ever. My heart goes cold. The sound is coming from my house.
A siren wail pierces the air a few seconds later. The red and amber lights can be seen through the trees as an ambulance speeds down the county road in front of the track. My heart is racing and my throat goes dry. Everyone has gone home. Why is an ambulance here?