5 Bikers for Valentines

“Should be,?

?? I said under my breath.

I was in a shitty mood after yet another confusing night with Tara. My physical therapy session went great. I kicked ass and managed to ignore the throbbing pain in my leg until it was completely over. Medically, I was doing fucking amazing. Personally, my life was in shambles.

I still didn’t know what the hell was going on with Tara. She continuously pulled me in and then pushed me away, and there was nothing I could do about it. After she accused me of abusing my drugs, I knew something was wrong. Whatever was distracting her so much was serious. I didn’t know why she wouldn’t just tell me instead of walking around with a huge chip on her shoulder.

“Coffee?” Mom asked, pushing a to go cup toward me.

“Thanks.” I raised the cup to my lips and took a long sip. It was scalding hot and burned my tongue, but I didn’t care. My head was too full of Tara to care about anything else.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong with you, or do I have to guess?” Mom asked boldly.

I looked up at her and sighed.

“How much do you want to know?” I asked.

“Everything,” she said.

“Bullshit. You don’t want to hear everything, Mom.”

“I do,” she said with a shrug. “But you can tell me whatever you want.”

I paused. Tara was a dangerous subject. My mother’s husband hated the idea of me being with his daughter. Darren would stop at nothing to keep us apart, and I couldn’t help but think my mom would feel the same way.

“I know you’re sleeping together,” Mom said, reading my mind.

“Did Tara tell you?” I asked, surprised.

“God no,” Mom laughed. “She’d never talk to me about that.”

“Then, how?”

“It’s obvious,” she said. “You two can’t be in the same room without staring at each other with sex eyes.”

“Mom.” I shuddered at her words.

“Well, it’s true,” she said. “So just tell me what’s going on.”

“I wish I could,” I said. I took another sip of coffee and shook my head. “I have no fucking idea what’s going on.”

“Language,” Mom said automatically, a warning in her voice.

“Sorry.” I sighed and continued. “One second, things are great. We’re totally connected, and everything feels like it used to. Then, she pulls away and won’t tell me why. I’ve asked her what’s going on, but she says it’s stress. I tried to believe her, but it’s bullshit. I know there’s more.”

“Do you think it’s Darren?” Mom asked. “I know he’s talked to her about you.”

“Darren says a lot of shit,” I said. “I ignore it, but I’m not sure it’s that easy for Tara. He is her father, and she cares what he thinks.”

“And you don’t?”

“No,” I said with a shrug. “Why should I? The man sent me to military school just to keep me away from Tara.”

“That wasn’t just Darren’s decision,” Mom reminded me. “You weren’t exactly headed down a great path back then, Caleb. We had to do something.”

“And if I hadn’t been seeing Tara?” I asked. “Would you still have chosen military school?”

Mom hesitated. Her eyes slid down to the table and then slowly moved back up to meet my gaze. I knew the answer before she gave it.