Dusk (Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (6 page)

Adrian said nothing as he approached, eventually leaning against the fence next to me. His presence moved over me like a soft blanket of calm, and I began to feel the tension ease from my body.

I wondered if he had any idea the effect he had on me?

“You like the horses?” he asked, voice soft and deep.

I shrugged. “I don’t ride, but I like to watch them. They’re calming.”

“Upset?”

“Fight with my mom,” I said. Then I corrected. “Not really a fight. More of a discussion she wanted that I refused to have.”

He nodded, as if he knew I didn’t need advice. In that moment, it was his silent understanding that caused me to open the floodgates.

“My dad had an affair,” I said.

I
f Adrian was shocked or surprised by my blurting out about my dad’s infidelity, he didn’t show it. He just stayed where he was, leaned against the fence, looking at me not with pity, but with a kind of understanding and compassion I couldn’t comprehend.

“He came clean to my mom back in the spring,” I said. Now that I’d cracked the ice, I figured why not let loose with all my baggage and drama. “A few weeks later they decided to do a trial separation and marriage counseling. That’s when they told me.”

He leaned closer. “Must’ve been hard on you.”

“I was so angry.” I turned my head from the horse and looked at Adrian. “I still am. In my mind, he’d betrayed me as much as he had my mom. We were a family. He was supposed to protect us, not tear us apart.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Adrian whispered, his voice sliding over me with so much serenity that I felt complete confidence and comfort in sharing the deepest, darkest part of my life with him.

The breeze picked up, cutting through the heat of the August evening. The soft touch of the wind encouraged me to keep going.

“They just sat me down at the kitchen table, like we were going to talk about where to go on vacation or something, but instead they destroyed my life. I was devastated. Too devastated to even cry. I just sat there staring at the tabletop. I knew they expected a response, but all I could think was how much I hated him at that moment. So that’s what I told him.”

“I’m sure you felt that way at the time.”

I couldn’t begin to put into words what it meant to me at that moment, to have someone just listen, and not try convince me that I’d overreacted, or try to persuade me to move on. Adrian just let me talk. And so far, no one else had done that.

Which was why I’d just stopped talking about it.

“I did,” I replied. “And for a long time after. Or it seemed like a long time anyway. In my mind, I knew I should regret what I’d said, but I just couldn’t make myself feel it. My dad kept trying to reconnect with me, even after he’d moved out. He’d call, but I’d refuse to talk to him. When he came by the house again I was just as nasty to him.”

Part of me wondered what in the world I was doing, unloading everything I’d been holding inside onto someone who was pretty much a complete stranger. But then Adrian’s calming presence wrapped around me, and my misgivings didn’t matter. Sometimes it was easier to confide in a stranger anyway.

“The first week of summer vacation, my dad died in a car wreck.”

He let out a heavy sigh and reached over to take my hand, his touch light and sweet. He said nothing. I was thankful again for his silent understanding.

“He was coming home from Cincinnati. It was raining. A pick-up truck hydroplaned and hit him.”

“And you were left with everything unresolved.” He squeezed my hand.

I nodded. “I feel guilty for that. And now, for the first time, I’m starting to miss my dad. But that doesn’t make the anger go away.”

“Let’s go for a ride.” He inclined his head toward the bike.

My insides lit up like a Christmas tree, bright and sparkling. I hadn’t felt that kind of energy in months. Me, on a bike with Adrian, forced to hold onto him? Yes, yes, and yes. It was almost enough to make me forget.

I fought for control of my enthusiasm. I didn’t want to appear over-eager. Glancing at his bike, then back at him, I said, “You only have one helmet.”

“I have a spare at the house.” His hand still holding mine, he walked us toward the motorcycle. “You can have this one for now, and I’ll stop at home and get the other.”

He handed me the helmet and I stared, not exactly sure how to put it on.

Adrian solved the problem. He took the helmet, slipped it on my head, and secured the strap beneath my chin. For a split second I wondered how ridiculous I looked, then decided I didn’t care.

He hopped on the bike and looked back at me. “You’re not scared are you?”

Scared? No. Unsure? A bit. But not enough to chicken out. Heart pounding, I climbed on behind him. He reached for both my hands, pulled my arms around his middle. The effect was instant and intense. Pressed against him like this, worry, stress, guilt, grief – they all just melted away.

“Hold on,” he said, and then turned to crank the bike.

I sighed. Like I’d want to do anything else.

*     *     *

Stopping at Ms. Turner’s house, Adrian went to the garage to get his spare helmet, and I texted my mom. With a quick apology, I told her I was with Adrian and would be home soon. I didn’t wait for a response before shutting my phone off and sticking it back in my pocket.

Adrian was back in less than a minute with a black helmet identical to the one he’d let me wear.

Mrs. Turned must’ve heard us, because she stepped out the front door.

“Hi there, Zoe,” she called from the porch.

I waved. “Hello Mrs. Turner.”

“Zoe’s going to show me the town, Aunt Maggie,” Adrian said. “From a teenager’s perspective.”

Mrs. Turner laughed. “I’m sure that’ll be interesting. Have fun and be careful.”

With a final wave, she disappeared back into the house.

Adrian turned toward me, slipping the helmet over his head. I didn’t know a lot about motorcycles, but his looked new.

“What kind of bike is this?” I asked.

“It’s a Suzuki Boulevard,” he answered, adjusting the chinstrap.

“Is it new?”

“Yeah.” He swung his leg over the seat and motioned for me to climb on behind him. “It was a present from my parents for my eighteenth birthday.”

“You’re already eighteen?” I don’t know why the thought surprised me so much. He already seemed so much more mature than any of the other guys my age.

“August second,” he said, cranking the ignition. “When do you turn eighteen?”

“December eleventh.”

“So I’m only four months older.” He turned his head and grinned before rolling the motorcycle back onto Stableview Road.

I settled in behind him, arms around him, soaking in his strength as he effortlessly guided the bike to the bank of the creek that ran below his aunt’s property. The air moved against my skin like velvet, magnifying the warmth that spread from Adrian and into me. The blacktop wound and flowed with the hills, until I felt like we were somehow one with the road.

Adrian maneuvered the bike off Stableview Road and onto the main highway, pointing it in the direction of the town. In a matter of minutes, we rolled into the city limits.

“So tell me about Rison,” he said, turning his head slightly so I could hear him.

I leaned my head further over his shoulder and rested my chin there. “The usual stuff. Banks. Library. Courthouse.”

“That’s it?” he asked, slowing the motorcycle as we drove down Main Street. “What about that coffee shop over there?”

“That’s a new place,” I answered. “Seems to be a nice addition to the town. Not a lot of kids hang out there, though, because they’re only open during regular business hours. Plus it’s always full of people that work downtown.”

“Where do kids our age usually hang out?”

“The pizza restaurant over close to school,” I said. Releasing my hold on him long enough to gesture to the right side of the road, I continued. “Or the sandwich shop up there on the corner.”

“Maybe we’ll have to hit one of those places sometime,” Adrian said, making a loop through a parking lot and heading us back through town. “You can introduce me to the social scene of Rison.”

The thought had me smiling, even though I didn’t know when – if
ever
– I’d be ready to step out into that type of activity again. For now, it was nice to know that Adrian liked the idea of hanging out with me.

He turned back onto Stableview Road, and I figured he was taking me home. But just before a sharp left turn would’ve taken us in the direction of our houses, Adrian pulled the motorcycle onto a wide gravel shoulder.

Cutting the engine, he took off his helmet and turned around. “Hope you don’t mind a short walk.”

I shook my head, reaching up to undo the strap of my helmet.

He helped me off the bike and took my hand again, walking toward the peaceful sound of trickling water.

Two minutes later, after a short trek through the thick trees, we arrived at a clearing – a flat, grassy expanse of land right at the edge of the water. It was beautiful, like a hidden oasis in the middle of the little nowhere that was Rison. I could picture long moments hiding out here.

“It’s a peaceful spot,” Adrian said. “An escape, but not too far from home. I thought you might like it.”

“It’s amazing.” I kicked off my sandals and bent to roll up my jeans. “I know you’re getting rid of those biker boots to go wading with me.”

Without missing a beat, he knelt to untie his boots, shooting me a smile that reached right inside and squeezed my heart.

The rocky bed of the creek contrasted sharply with the soft grass from the bank, but the cool water and smooth rocks felt divine under my feet. I welcomed the awareness of the world around me. I’d had too little of that lately.

“Sometimes just connecting with nature helps,” Adrian said. Again, I wondered if he’d somehow read my thoughts.

“It does,” I agreed.

We’d walked only a few yards from where we left our shoes, but I already felt better, lighter, and not quite so burdened. I couldn’t explain Adrian’s effect on me. I only knew it existed.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” I said.

“My pleasure.”

I stopped walking and turned to him. “But I’m sort of confused.”

“Why?” He seemed genuinely puzzled.

“I guess I’m just wondering about all this attention,” I began. “You show up to help me with my homework just when I’m about to give up. You text me just when I need a reason to smile. You find me on the side of the road after a fight with my mom. All these things happening during what’s probably the worst time in my whole life. It’s like you showed up here in Rison just for me, and I know that can’t be true.”

He narrowed his eyes and half-smiled, but said nothing.

“Why are you paying so much attention to me?” There, I said it. Just put it all out there.

“Is it that hard to believe that I’m interested?” He reached for my hand, pulled me closer to him. “That I want to get to know you?”

Inside my chest my heart hammered and I could hear the blood rushing through my veins. The nearness of him and the sincerity in his voice made it difficult to breathe.

He took my free hand and threaded our fingers together, using both hands to pull closer, until I was almost flush against him. Tilting my head, I found his baby blues locked on me. The sun had begun its descent behind the trees as dusk settled, the sky glowing a warm orange.

“I’ve got a lot of baggage,” I whispered. “I’m practically a basket case.”

He raised one shoulder in a casual shrug.

“Why me?” I hated that I still needed reassurance.

“I found what I was looking for when I saw you.”

And just like that my world shifted, tilted on its axis. My chest tightened with emotions so foreign, so intense, their beauty almost painful. The cool water swirled around my ankles as I shifted, trying to rebalance myself and not crumple at his feet.

Adrian was a man of few words, and his few words had slain me.

“I can’t claim to understand how you feel,” he said, squeezing my hands. “And I won’t always have the answers. But I can listen. And I can care. All the time.”

Staring up at him, I could not find the words to express the feelings bubbling inside. He didn’t seem to mind my silence. His eyes stayed glued on mine, a sweet smile playing across his face.

“Okay,” I whispered. It was the best I could come up with.

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I figured he could probably feel my heart pounding against his chest. I hugged him back, giving myself over to the crazy wonderful sensation of being in his arms.

“We better get you home,” he said after a long moment. “Don’t want your mom mad at me already.”

Hand in hand, we stepped out of the water and up onto the creek bank. Everything felt so perfect.

I was almost afraid to wonder might happen next.