Autumn Unlocked (Summer Unplugged) (3 page)

Chapter 5

Friday seems to take two hundred million years, but eventually, it arrives. I stayed true to my promise to Jace and didn't piss off my mother at all. Of course, it's pretty easy to do when she hasn't gotten home until after I was asleep for the last three days. Something's up, but she won't tell me what.

Becca
walks with me out to the parking lot after our last class. Her boyfriend is home sick today so she actually has time for her dear old forgotten best friend. "I'm so glad it's the weekend," she says, pulling a hair tie off her wrist and twisting back her hair. "The first week of school is always the worst."

"My classes were okay," I tell her as we step outside and into the parking lot.
Becca grabs my arm and her cold fingers make me jump.

"Um,
Bayleigh?" she whispers from the side of her mouth. "Some guy is staring at you."

I
shrug, my eyes still on my cell phone as I type a message to Jace. "I don't care, I have boyfriend."

"Oh my god, he's walking toward us," she says, her whisper turning into a high-pitched shriek.
We're at a high school, surrounded by guys who are just as eager as we are to get out of here for the weekend, and yet she's acting like we're about to be murdered. I look up to see the mysterious guy for myself.

He lifts his hand in a little wave toward me as he approaches.
Becca grabs my arm, probably wondering why someone so freaking hot is waving at me. "Oh shit that's Jace," I tell her as I roll my eyes and pick up my speed, desperate to be in his arms.

"Oh my god, are you
Jace Adams!?" The voice comes from our right as a pretty blonde girl with hot pink streaks in her hair and a tattoo of an anchor on her forearm dives in front of us on a mad dash toward my boyfriend. "Oh my god, it's totally you, isn't it?"

I stop dead in my tracks, my mouth hanging open like my jaw has fallen out of its hinges, as I watch this ridiculously beautiful girl run up to my boyfriend and grab his arm. Seething jealousy fills me as I watch her stupid fingers wrap around my boyfriend's elbow. That is my elbow, not hers!

She continues to badger him, asking why he's here and what he's been doing lately and if he's actually off the professional motocross racing team for misconduct. I glance down at my faded denim capri pants and dark green T-shirt with our high school mascot on the front. Oh
god
, I'm wearing a school spirit shirt. I am such a loser! This girl is way cooler than me, and she's obviously eighteen and I'm not and
oh god oh god
, I'm an idiot. Jace is going to realize this any second now and leave me for her.

The sound of
Jace's voice breaks me out of my mental freak out. "…just here to see my girlfriend…" The girl steps out of the way as he motions toward me. I suck in a deep breath and pretend I'm not one hundred percent embarrassed at my appearance, and walk into his open arms.

I love when he wraps his muscular arms around my shoulders, bringing my head under his chin. It is my favorite type of hug and he does this right now, right in front of this girl.

Life is good.

Becca
says a quick hello and goodbye, stating that she has to leave quickly so she can go take care of her sick boyfriend. Jace and I hang out in the parking lot while he talks to this girl who seems to know freaking everything about him and his motocross career.

I suddenly feel like I don't know my boyfriend at all. I mean, I know he was mildly famous in the professional motocross world—so much so that he was mentioned in magazines and had corporate sponsorships and stuff. But I thought that "fame" only applied to people who are into motocross…and I didn't even know it existed until I met
Jace. But now that I'm standing before one of his self-proclaimed biggest fans, I feel small and ignorant and unworthy.

I tell him all of this on our drive back to my house. Unfortunately, the drive only takes a few seconds since I live two blocks from the school. By the time I finish talking, we're already in the driveway.
Jace gives me a sympathetic look and says, "Babe, I chose you and I don't give a shit about any other girl in the world."

"So…what was the Friday night surprise thing you promised?" I
ask as we go inside my house and head toward the hallway and to my bedroom. "I'm happy to report that I didn't get into any trouble."

"
That’s good. I need to talk to your mom about it," he says, glancing around the living room and peeking in the kitchen. "Where is she?"

"Probably in her room," I say, motioning for
Jace to wait in the hallway. "Don't come in, she might be naked or something," I say jokingly as I grab the doorknob to Mom's room and twist.

And let me reiterate here: I said it jokingly. I did not expect to find my mother naked in her room.

But that's exactly what happens.

"
Bayleigh! Close the damn door!" My mother's face is both pale and flushed as she runs toward me, completely naked, waving her arms as if to shield me from seeing anything else. But it doesn’t work, because as I stand in the middle of the hallway, my hand on her door, I am completely unable to move, despite how much I want to run away. Even though I wish I hadn't seen the naked man on my mom's bed—I did.

I think I scream, or something, I don't know. All I know is that the door slams shut in my face a moment later, and Mom's
ranting and raving continues on the other side. She's yelling something about keeping track of time, and a male voice apologizes several times.

I turn on my heel to
Jace, my mouth open and my eyes just as wide as his are. "Holy shit," he whispers as he tries to hide his laughter.

"Holy shit," I repeat as I grab his arm and pull him into my bedroom.

"Did you know your mom was seeing someone?" he asks, still whispering even though we're now safely inside my bedroom with the door closed.

I shake my head. "My mom never dates. This is weird. And I feel so gross right now."

Jace laughs. "Before my parents got divorced, they had sex like fifty times a day. I grew up listening to them going at it all night. I guess I'm just used to it by now, so it doesn't gross me out."

"If they had sex that much, why did they get divorced?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Hell if I know."

There's a knock at my door and I stiffen, too scared to answer it but knowing that I have to.
Jace walks to the door before I do, pulling it open with such confidence, you'd think nothing embarrassing happened a few minutes prior. "Hi, Miss Maize, what's up?"

Mom wears an entire outfit this time—jeans and a shirt and even a bra. Her face is shiny with sweat. "I would like to apologize for what happened earlier. That was…inappropriate and…I am sorry."

I gnaw on my bottom lip and stare at the wall just next to Mom, unable to look her in the eyes. Hell, I can't even bring myself to say anything…I just want her to leave. This is so awkward!

Jace
speaks instead. "No worries, we're all adults here. Listen, while I have you here, I'd like to ask your permission to take Bayleigh with me to the races at Mixon Motocross Park this weekend."

I lift an eyebrow. That was
Jace's big surprise? Mom isn't going to care if I go with him to a dirt bike race. She proves this by saying, "Of course, that's no problem. What day is it?"

"That's the thing,"
Jace says. "I need to be at the races at five in the morning, and they're forty-five minutes away from here. Since Bayleigh doesn't have a car to drive herself, I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to let her come to Mixon on Saturday night that way she will already be there for the races."

Mom narrows her eyebrows. I feel her look from
Jace to me, so I lift my gaze and finally force myself to meet her eyes. I don't know what she's thinking, but it's probably about fifty different ways to say the word no.

Mom twists her watch around her wrist. "I think that would be fine with me." She glances behind her and then back at us. "In fact, she can go with you tonight and just stay all weekend."

My heart jumps into my throat. What did she just say!?

"Thank you ma'am, that works for me. I'll keep her safe,"
Jace says so quickly it almost sounds like one gigantic word. No doubt he's trying to get us the hell out of here before she changes her mind. Mom just gave me permission to spend not one night, but
two
nights with my boyfriend? Hell, I'm tempted to give her a sobriety test. Or throw her in a mental ward.

I guess if I look at this from her perspective, if she gets me out of the house for the weekend, she's allowed all the time s
he wants with this mystery man with no fear of me intruding on them again.

I could get used to this new guy.

Chapter 6

I try suppressing a yawn as I crawl out of Jace's truck, but that's nearly impossible to do so the yawn bursts out of me anyhow.  I’m not tired because it’s only eight o’clock, but car rides always make me sleepy.  My hand is sweaty from holding his hand in the drive here, and even though I'm excited to see his apartment for the first time, I kind of just want to go straight to bed.

"Here it is,"
Jace says, throwing his arms wide to gesture to the parking lot of a mediocre apartment complex named Lakeview Apartments, despite there being exactly zero lakes around this part of Texas. He puts a hand to his chest. "Try not to be too blown away by the extravagant and luxurious way in which I live."

I step tentatively onto a rusted metal staircase leading up to the second floor. "Don't worry," I
say sarcastically. "I won't."

We order pizza and I laugh when the delivery guy knows
Jace by name—guess he orders pizza a lot. And by the looks of his super shiny clean kitchen stove, I'd say I'm probably right.

"It sucks that we have to wake up so damn early
on Sunday," I say during a commercial break from our TV watching.

"Huh?" he asks with his mouth full of cinnamon bread.

"We have to be awake before five in the morning for the races on Sunday. That sucks."

Jace
swallows and shakes his head. "No we don't."

"But that's what you said?"

He shrugs matter-of-factly. "Nah, that was a lie. I just wanted to spend more time with you."

With a smile, I lean forward and
poke him in the chest. "I think I like you."

He wraps his fingers around my index finger and pulls me closer.
We've been sitting on the floor, pizza boxes open in front of us. I lose the balance on my knees and tumble into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You taste like cinnamon,” I say after I kiss him.

He leans his back against the bottom of the couch and pulls me into his lap
to where I'm straddling him with my knees on the floor. He snuggles into my neck and my fingers tangle into his hair.

"
Mmmm," he breathes into my neck. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too," I say, gasping when his breath tickles my neck. I try to pull away but he holds me close.

Jace sighs. "We spent every day together this summer. It's been hard as hell living here without you for a few weeks. I wish you could stay here all the time."

"I'm sorry I'm still in high school," I say as a pout creeps across my lips.

He laughs and reaches across me to grab another cinnamon stick. "No need to be sorry. It isn't your fault."

Sadness takes over and my face falls as I glance at the design on his shirt instead of looking in his eyes. This topic bothers me more than I let on. Even though
Jace has been really cool and understanding about my last year of school and our long distance relationship, I can't help but worry that he won't be okay with it for very long. Eventually he will get sick of driving so far to see me, or maybe—ugh my chest hurts just thinking this—maybe he'll meet another girl who is more on his level.

"What are you thinking about?"
Jace asks. His fingers gently touch my cheek and I look up to find him staring into my eyes. "You look like something's wrong."

I shake my head and smile, attempting to look happy, but I know it doesn't work.
Jace clears his throat. "Look babe, I'm a guy so I suck at these things. I can tell something is wrong with you but I don't know what it is…I mean, did I do something to make you mad?"

I roll my eyes.
"How could you ever do anything wrong? I'm totally fine, I promise."

He squishes his lips to the side. "That doesn't sound very convincing."

I decide to kiss him to take his mind off the subject.

It works better than I had expected. He kisses me back with a passion that makes my toes tingle.
Before I know it, he's carried me into the bedroom. He drops me on the bed and then goes back to close the door.

"Are you expecting anyone to walk in?" I ask as I lay back on the comforter that's not nearly as soft as mine
is back at home.

"Good point,"
Jace says, falling next to me onto the bed. "I guess it feels too exposed if the door is wide open."

"What is there to expose?" I say with a cocky eyebrow lift.

He moves on top of me, grabbing my wrists in his hands. He pins my arms to the bed and I squirm playfully, hoping to god that he doesn't start tickling me. I can't handle tickling on a stomach full of pizza.

"Oh, I'd like to expose something,"
Jace says with a suggestive tone of voice. His kisses trail down my neck, sending shivers down my body as I writhe under him, unable to get out of his grasp. His hands slide down my wrists as his body moves, trailing kisses down my collar bone and then my chest. My V-neck shirt slips lower as he nudges it out of his way to kiss just above my bra. He lifts his lips from my skin and slowly looks up at me.

His hands slide under my shirt and I lift my back off the bed to allow him to continue on his mission to
remove it over my head. Once he's finished, I grab his shirt and tug. "If mine's coming off, so is yours," I whisper as I place a kiss on his lips.

He sits up and rips his shirt off in one smooth movement, giving me a sinister grin as he lowers himself back over me. His face hovers just inches above mine. "You are ridiculously hot," he says.

I roll my eyes. "You're not so bad yourself."

Jace
buries his head into the crook of my shoulder and licks my neck in one long slow movement that sends chills all over my body. His hips press into mine an instant later and I gasp, digging my nails into his shoulders. My heart begins to pound beneath my ribcage.

We have never taken things this far before.

His breath is warm against my skin. His hands glide over my chest and down my sides until his fingers hook into the waistband of my jeans.

Panic hits me as I realize that he's about to unbutton them.

"Jace—I don't—" My voice is a choked whisper. He freezes in the moment and then rolls off of me and takes a deep breath.

"You don't what?" he asks me. He props his head up with his arm and looks deep
into my eyes.

"I don't…" Ugh I feel so stupid saying this. "Want to take it…
um… this far." I swallow and add, "Yet. One day… just… not right now."

The tension is so thick I think it'll suffocate me. I just wish I could crawl into a hole and stay there forever.

Jace shakes his head and smiles. Then he sucks in a deep breath and throws his head back, looking at the ceiling. I lean over and kiss his neck but he stops me with his hand. "I need a minute to calm down."

Hurt and emba
rrassed, I swallow my pride and roll over, curling up in the fetal position as I stare at the wall in front of me. I didn't want to have sex and now he's mad at me. He doesn't even want me to touch him.

The small television in the corner of his room turns on. There's movement in the bed as
Jace adjusts so that he's sitting up, leaning his back against the headboard. His calloused hand touches my shoulder but I remain still.

"
Bayleigh."

"Yeah?"
I say to the wall.

His hand glides over my back in a reassuring way. "Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," I mumble.

"Sure seems like it."

With a sigh, I roll over and face him. "You're mad at me. You're mad because I didn't want to have sex and Ian used to get mad at me for the same reason. I should have known you'd be the same way and I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."

He groans.
"What the hell?"

I roll back over and face the wall, ignoring him. I think I made my point clear enough. I don't need to keep explaining it.

Jace inhales a deep breath and then talks to me without even trying to make me look at him.  "I'm not going to be that guy, okay? I'm not going to be that asshole who thinks with his dick and only wants sex. I refuse to be like that." There's a pause, and when I don't say anything, he sighs again. Slowly, I roll over and face him. He continues, "It's just really fucking hard when I love you so much and you're so beautiful and—" He shakes his head and runs a hand over his face. "And, it's just hard. I'm sorry. I won't push you to do anything you don't want to do. I'm not mad. I would never be mad over that."

My bottom lip hurts from where I'd been gnawing on it this whole t
ime. Maybe Jace isn't like Ian at all.