5 Bikers for Valentines

“Oh yeah?” he asked, cocking his head to the side with a curious grin on his face. “The weather here isn't all that bad. What's so great about the weather out there?”

He had a point. It's not like it got terribly cold in South Carolina, not compared to other parts of the country. But it was still an easy question to answer – one that didn't require a lot of mental taxation – so I went with it.

“The lack of humidity, for one thing,” I said. “I didn't have to worry about sweating all the time. Especially not in October, like we do here.”

“True,” he laughed. “But aside from the weather, what drew you out there in the first place?”

I took another bite of my cornbread and chewed slowly, giving myself a little time to think about my answer. I didn't want to open any doors I wasn't willing to walk through, but I knew if I didn't give him something, I'd be stuck there all night. And I was getting tired of the cat and mouse game we were playing.

“I wanted to act,” I said.

My mom butted in. “She was in a couple commercials,” she said, beaming with pride. “And weren't you an extra on some TV show, dear?”

“Yes,” I said. “A non-speaking role. I was literally in the background for all of about ten seconds.”

Cason looked impressed nonetheless. He leaned forward, not even touching his food. He seemed far more interested in me than in what was on his plate. It made me uncomfortable and yet thrilled me at the same time.

“Wow, that's great,” he said. “Why didn't you stick with it? It sounds like things were starting to pick up for you.”

I froze and looked over at my mom, hoping she might save me from that question. Even she didn't know the full story, but she knew it was something I didn't want to talk about. Knowing my mom, the way I did – and her knowing me – she knew that whatever it was, had to be bad. She wasn't forcing me to speak about it, trusting me to come to her when I got my head wrapped around it all.

However, she just sat there looking at me, looking like she had no idea what to say to derail that line of questioning. It was my dad, who jumped in and saved the day.

“It was time for her to come home,” he said sternly.

“Yes, it was,” I said.

“Ahh, well, I'm certainly glad you did,” he said. “It's been so long since we hung out, I –”

“We never hung out, Cason,” I laughed, pushing my roast around my plate with my fork. “You were my lab partner. We studied after school a few times, but we never hung out like we were friends or something. It was always about our lab work.”

That shut him right up. I watched his jaw clench and his smile was gone. He just sat there and stared at me, an inscrutable expression on his face. I felt bad for being so blunt with him since I could tell my words had hurt him.

He looked like I'd slapped him across the face, but it was the truth – whether he cared to admit it or not. Suddenly, and completely out of the blue, the McCormick brothers were interested in me, and all three of them were lavishing me with attention. While it was flattering at first, it quickly became overwhelming and I was incredibly nervous about their intentions.

I was so nervous that my stomach roiled, and a wave of nausea hit me hard.

“Excuse me,” I said quickly.

I jumped out of my chair and rushed toward the bathroom, afraid I might not make it in time. Thankfully, I managed to get to the hall bathroom and slammed the door behind me, falling to my knees in front of the toilet before I lost everything.

I let it all out, and knew they could probably hear me throwing up. I emptied what felt like everything I'd eaten in the past year into the toilet, praying that I'd feel better once I stopped vomiting.

I retched again and heard a soft knock on the door.

“Yes?” I croaked.

“Are you alright, honey?” It was my mom.

“Yeah, I think I just have a stomach bug,” I croaked. “I'll be right out.”

I pushed myself up off the floor and flushed the toilet. Leaning heavily upon the sink, I stared at myself in the mirror, not liking what I saw. I somehow managed to look pale as a ghost and a little green around the edges all at the same time. I pulled the mouthwash from the cabinet and swished it around my mouth for a few minutes before stepping back out into the dining room.

“Sorry about that,” I said, sliding back into my chair and avoiding eye contact with Cason. “Told you I wasn't feel up to going out.”

My mom piped up. “You've been throwing up a lot lately,” she said, a note of concern in her voice. “You sure you're okay, Hailey?”

“I'm fine, mom,” I said. “Just stress, I promise.”