Renegade Hearts (Rebels of Sandland 1)

“You think this wasn’t an accident, don’t you?” The fragile look in her eyes almost broke me.

“I don’t know what I think. Listen, Danny was a good guy. But what came out afterwards? It was all horseshit.” I took a deep breath before I hit her with the next bombshell. “Does the name Troy Barker mean anything to you?”

“Troy is Dad’s mechanic. He maintains all his classic cars. He does other stuff too. I think he’s a jack-of-all-trades. Dad’s known him for years.”

That made sense. If he maintained the cars, then he’d take a pretty nice sum home for his efforts. But something deep in my gut told me something still wasn’t right. “And you? Do you know him?” I asked her.

“Not really. He barely speaks when he does come to the house, which isn’t often. They do most of their business in Westminster. Dad drives the cars to him. To be honest, he kind of creeps me out. He’s scary looking.” She grimaced, and I felt myself tense up. I didn’t like her being scared of some fucker like this Troy Barker, whoever he was.

“Why does he scare you, babe?” I asked, shifting closer towards her.

She smiled slightly, probably because I’d called her babe. I could tell she liked that. It always made her blush.

“He’s got this aura about him. Like he’d take you out without breaking a sweat and probably smoke a cigarette over your dying body afterwards and use you as his ashtray. It’s probably the scars. He has some nasty scarring on his face. Dad said they were from the army, but I don’t think you get jagged knife scars from the military.” She shrugged. “I guess I just don’t trust him.”

I was glad to hear it. Whoever this guy was, I didn’t like to think of him being around her. Not until we’d found out everything we could.

“If he scares you, stay away. Call me if you ever need me.”

She chuckled at me. “My knight in shining armour.”

“I wouldn’t need armour. I’d kick his ass if he even so much as looked at you the wrong way.” I grinned then drew the conversation back round to Danny. “I think your dad would rather use Danny as a soundbite for his campaign than find out the real truth.” I didn’t want to tell her I thought her dad had Danny’s blood on his hands. So, I went with the political angle. It worked.

“That’s exactly what he wants.” She took a deep breath and a little hiccup escaped. I didn’t want her to get upset. I wasn’t the best at dating, but I knew crying wasn’t ideal on a first date.

“Babe,” I said, twisting to face her and taking both of her hands in mine. “Whatever happened, we’ll get to the bottom of it, you and me. But let’s not spoil today. Danny wouldn’t want you getting upset, and if he was sat here with us now, he’d call me out for being a jerk and making you cry.”

She laughed through a little tear that’d escaped and rolled down her cheek. “I know.”

“Please, don’t cry.” I brushed her tear away and leant forward to give her a little kiss. Anything to take her mind off the heartbreak she was facing.

I couldn’t help but groan as she kissed me back. She tasted of strawberries, cotton candy, and every fantasy I’d ever had about her.

I could get lost in this girl for days if she’d let me.

She shuffled closer to me and her mouth opened up to let me in. I slid my tongue over hers and her hand went to the back of my head, pulling me in further. Suddenly, it was like the whole damn world fell away, and all I could focus on was her. Her mouth, and the way she felt in my arms, all soft and willing. I pushed her down onto the blanket and she let me. Then I put my leg in-between hers, lying over her and kissing her, desperate to take this further, but wanting to slow it down and capture every second of this in my memory.

I’d waited a long time for her.

I wanted to enjoy every moment with my Emily.

There was something truly hypnotic about kissing Ryan. Even in a wonderland such as this, where the heady scent of flowers invaded your senses and the sound of the breeze blowing and rustling through the trees made you feel at peace, all that faded to nothing. He could make me forget where we were. The pain that I felt losing my brother wasn’t gone, but he did a damn good job at overshadowing it. When I was with him, he eclipsed everything.

He lay over me as we kissed on the blanket in the middle of the park, not caring who was walking by. He set my body on fire. Made me desperate and wanton for him. The way his lips moved over mine just felt… right. Like we were meant to fit together like this. I’d kissed guys before, but no one had ever kissed me like Ryan did. He kissed me like I was always his, with urgency and a hint at the promises it could lead to. My body melted into his and I ran my fingers through his hair then scraped my nails along his scalp and down to the nape of his neck. I wanted to pull him further into me, drown in him if I could. I couldn’t get enough. The way his tongue teased mine had me squirming and moaning softly underneath him.

Ryan was the first to pull away. I didn’t want him to, but he did. He stroked my face as he looked at me like I was the most precious thing he’d ever seen. He held his face millimetres from mine as he caught his breath.

“Damn. What are you doing to me, Em? I’ve turned into a sixteen-year-old, making out in the park.”

I laughed. I guess when you’re caught up in a moment it doesn’t matter where you are, you’ve got to go with it.

“I’ve never made out with anyone in a park before, so I wouldn’t know.” His face dropped as soon as I said that, and I realised why. He thought I was calling him out on it.

“I didn’t do stuff like that… I was just… I…”

“Relax,” I said, lifting my head up slightly to plant a quick peck on his lips. “I didn’t mean it like that. I like making out like sixteen-year-olds in public.”

He let me kiss him, but he soon frowned and pulled away again. “I don’t think I like the public bit. I don’t like sharing you.”