Helios Awakened (The Helios Chronicles #1) (4 page)

“Keep your eyes on the road, missy,” he said as he tried to stifle the laugh that was desperate to come forth.

She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Hey, I was raised in Long Island, there ain’t nothing a LI girl can’t handle,” she said with a quick arch of her brow. “Besides, if I can drive in New York, I can drive anywhere.”

“Remind me never to drive in New York.”

Without thinking, she quickly pushed his leg in a joking manner. “Forget you, bike boy. I am an excellent driver.”

His breath hitched at the contact and he quickly turned to look out the window, hoping he could steady himself. Madison watched him turn and felt the change in his demeanor. She kicked herself for whatever she had done to make him shift like that. They drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence. She kept her eyes on the road while he kept his eyes on her. Every so often she would squirm in her seat and then glance at him sideways. He would quickly avert his eyes, not wanting to make her nervous or uncomfortable but as soon as she turned again so did he. The lake was 35 miles away which should have taken a half an hour or so but with Madison’s mad driving they made it in 20. Madison looked around and pulled up to where she saw the most cars. Now it was Andrew’s turn to squirm as he became overwhelmed with the amount of people that were there. 

“You look nervous,” Madison remarked, observing how his body posture had suddenly changed as he looked at the group of people they would be joining. “You don't like Brie and her posse?”

He slowly turned to face her, fear clearly written on his face. “It’s not that.” He hesitated, feeling he had made the wrong decision already. “Most of them show me no interest which is fine. I just...”

“What’s the matter? You changed your mind?” she asked with a slight tremor in her voice that she was attempting to mask with a chuckle.

“Umm, no I didn’t change my mind.” His lip quirked up into a sly and devilish smile before fear took hold of him again.

“So what is it?”

“There are just things about my past that I am not happy about or even comfortable talking about,” he said hesitantly before looking down and away from her.

“Andrew, we all have shitty pasts. It doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.”

This did not bring him comfort as he was unsure how she would really feel once she knew the truth. He let out an exaggerated breath, deciding that he needed to tell her.

“I've been in prison before.”

“You have?” she said, trying to mask her shock.

“I’ve been out for a few years but I generally keep to myself. I wasn’t expecting so many people to be here,” he said, looking out across the lake. Madison turned her eyes away from him and glanced around to see that the lake was indeed very crowded.

“Don’t worry about it, Andrew and, you know, it’s cool. I don’t care that you were in prison. Lord knows I have made enough mistakes in my life. Never anything huge, I guess, but still. I mean, you didn’t like, kill anyone did you?” she asked as she lightly tapped his thigh.

He shook his head as he brought his eyes down to where her hand was and felt himself shift in his jeans. Andrew wanted her more than he knew he should. It had been eight years since he had felt a woman’s touch. In prison, he had to fight to protect himself. In fact, he had spent his first year or so fighting and fighting and fighting until finally people just left him alone. Andrew chose to isolate himself while in prison. He always stayed on the outside, the peripheral, and watched as people created a life for themselves behind bars and when it was time to go back to his cell, he either read everything he could get his hands on or drew in one of his sketchbooks. When he was finally released, he stuck to his self-imposed isolation, quite successfully he thought. Well, that was until a beautiful brunette moved in to take care of her ailing grandmother and turned his entire world upside down.

“Come on, Andrew, let’s go have some fun,” she said, pulling her hand away and quickly exiting the car.

He nodded at her retreating figure and then exited the car as well, quickly pulling out the cooler from the backseat. They walked up to the group of people they were to meet and several looked over at them, fake smiles plastered on their faces. Andrew glanced over at Madison but she didn’t seem to care.

“Madison, I’m so glad you decided to come,” Brie said, half-heartedly.

In truth, Brie had hoped that Madison would not show up at all as she didn’t like the way Jimmy couldn’t take his eyes off of her when they were in town earlier today. As Brie looked Madison up and down, she couldn’t see what the big deal was. Madison just seemed plain to her. Nothing extraordinary, nothing that was even remotely as attractive as she was.

“Who’s your friend, Madison?” she asked as she turned to face Andrew, batting her lashes. She did know who he was. She’d seen him riding his motorcycle around town a few times and had seen him up close a long time ago.

“My name’s Andrew, Andrew Harrison,” Andrew said, reaching out his hand to Brie.

Brie quickly scanned the good looking man as she reached out her hand to him. Andrew hesitantly shook it, feeling uncomfortable with her behavior. She grinned and brought her hand to her hair, twirling the ends and smiling at him flirtatiously. The thought of Jimmy ogling Madison didn’t seem to bother her as much now that she had some eye candy of her own. Madison knew that she shouldn't be jealous. She had absolutely no claim to Andrew. She had just met him but seeing Brie blatantly throw herself at him infuriated her.

“So, we can just set up anywhere?” Madison quickly inserted, forcing Brie to look at her.

Brie sighed dramatically. “Yes, we have this whole area. We just started grilling and some of the guys have gone out onto the lake.”

Brie couldn’t believe how handsome Andrew was. She couldn’t wait to see him in just his shorts, well, truth be told, she would like to see him in nothing at all. Jimmy was handsome but nothing like what she was witnessing before her. She was disappointed however when she noticed that Andrew and Madison bypassed what was clearly her table and walked towards the back.

“Hi! I’m Callie.”

Madison smiled at the short, perky girl with the crazy red hair. She was patting the bench near her, indicating they could sit with them. Madison looked over at Andrew who just shrugged and placed the cooler on the table. Madison reached her hand out to the girl.

“I’m Madison. It’s nice to meet you, Callie.”

Callie smiled widely before she reached for Madison’s hand. “Don’t pay any attention to Brie,” she said motioning her head discretely Brie’s way. “She’s always a bitch, has been since high school,” Callie whispered as if afraid someone might hear her.

Madison was not having any of that. She had plenty of experience with girls like Brie. They thought they were better than others because they had money or they were pretty. It was always sad to Madison that girls like Brie never changed, that they insisted on living life as if it were one big high school. Well, Madison was not about to get involved in any childish high school games. She was 26 years old, had lived most of her life in the city and she knew how to take care of herself. Madison glanced over at Brie who was chatting with a couple of other bobble headed blondes who seemed entranced by everything she said.

“Is she aware that when you pass 25 you’re supposed to actually 'act' like an adult and not some petty 'mean girl' from a bad movie of the week?” Madison asked bitterly, her sarcasm clearly coming to the forefront.

Callie grinned, glancing at the man beside her before looking back to Madison while Andrew tried unsuccessfully not to laugh. He loved her sense of humor and her take no prisoner attitude. She reminded him of all the city girls he had known when he lived in Detroit and Los Angeles.

“Umm, I think Brie might have missed that memo. Maybe you should let her know. I’m Jayden, by the way, but everyone calls me Jay,” he said, reaching his hand out to shake Madison’s and then Andrew’s hand.

“Yeah, well, somehow I don’t think she would understand it.”

The four of them laughed at Brie’s expense and then laughed some more when Brie looked their way and gave them a speculative look. Madison already liked Callie and Jayden. They seemed different than the rest of the bobble heads. Well, they certainly dressed different, that’s for sure. Callie was a tiny thing and if Madison were to venture a guess she would say she couldn’t be more than 5 ft. tall. She was skinny with spiky red hair that looked like it must have taken a whole bottle of gel to do up. She was wearing a bright orange tank top over a lime green one and a short denim skirt with those 4 inch plastic heels that Madison had always affectionately referred to as hooker heels. Jay was wearing a loose pair of faded blue jeans, some black combat boots with a white t-shirt and a paisley vest. He had topped off his look with a brown fedora hat that covered his shoulder length ashy brown hair.

“You’re Andrew, right?” Jayden asked, eyeing him speculatively.

Andrew cringed. “Yeah, I’m Andrew.”

Jayden nodded. “It’s nice to meet you. You ride that Harley, don’t you?”

Andrew couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, she’s mine. Do you ride?”

“Sometimes…” Just then Callie squeezed his hand and gave him a strained look. He sighed and kissed her lightly before he turned back to Andrew. “I used to race some but I lost control of my bike in my last race and well...” He moved his hands to his jeans and proceeded to roll them up to his knee, revealing his severely scarred leg.

Madison gasped at the sight while Andrew let out a soft breath and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, man,” Andrew said to him.

Jayden nodded his head again. “Yeah, well, I was bumped, tried to straighten out but just as I got it under control I hit a divot and BAM!” Jayden said throwing his hands in the air dramatically. “The bike went sliding, dragging me along with it.” He glanced down at his leg and started to roll his jeans down again. “It’s kind of messed up and ugly.”

“You’re still beautiful, honey,” Callie said as she nuzzled into him.

He smiled down at her and then kissed the top of her spiky head. She hugged him tightly as he glanced at Andrew and Madison. He rolled his eyes, mouthing the words, 'she's biased'. Andrew and Madison both grinned at them and came around to sit down. Andrew sat down on the tabletop and spread his legs slightly and without thinking Madison found herself sitting on the seat between them. Andrew’s sharp intake of breath made her catch what she had just done and she moved away from him quickly.

“I’m so sorry, Andrew,” Madison said flustered. 

“Umm, it’s okay. I was just surprised. You can sit there if you’d like,” he said, once again allowing his body to do the talking while his brain stomped its foot and shook its fists at him.

Madison watched him hesitantly, wondering what she should do. She really wanted to sit there but that was so intimate. It was clear that there was something going on between them, some spark that ignited whenever they were in close proximity to each other but what did she really know about him other than he was gorgeous, rode a hot bike, and had been in prison. Sensing her hesitation, Andrew reached down and patted the seat in front of him, watching as her eyes grew darker and her lip curled into one of those sexy smiles that made him want to pounce on her. She walked over to him and sat down between his legs, feeling the heat brewing between them.

Callie and Jayden had watched their exchange and found it amusing that they were trying so hard to not give in to their obvious attraction to one another. Madison sat there stiff and unsure of what to do next while Andrew remained perfectly still, as if he were a statue afraid to actually move. 

“Are you Grandma Downing’s granddaughter?” Callie asked, thinking this must be who she is.

Madison nodded. “You know my Grans?”

Jayden and Callie both smiled. “Everyone knows your Grans,” they said in unison and then laughed against each other.

“She is just the sweetest, Madison. She helps everyone in town. She bakes for people who are sick. She is probably the kindest old lady around. She’s like everyone’s grandma,” Callie said with the most genuine smile Madison had ever seen.

“I remember her baking a lot when I was younger,” Madison stated sadly.

“I think I might have met you once or twice when you were little. You stopped coming out though when you were what, eleven or so?”

Madison sighed, remembering exactly the day her relationship with her grandma had changed. Her mom had basically made it difficult for her to see her. The first time she didn’t come had been difficult as her mom made her choose. Madison felt tears pool in her eyes as her mind drifted to that time in her life.

“Maddie!” her grandmother said jovially.

Madison smiled. Her Grans always seemed to laugh when she answered her phone.

“I can’t wait to see you.”

“Grans, I can’t come out this year,” Madison said quickly so she wouldn’t cry.

“Oh, okay,” her grans replied.

Madison could hear her Grans normally steady voice shake and she didn't seem as happy anymore.

“Why’s that, sweetheart?”

“Mom says that she can’t send me because we are moving this summer.”

“Well, if it’s money, I have some put aside. I could help,” Grans offered.

“Hold on, Grans,” Maddie said excited. She covered the mouth of the phone and called out to her mom. “Mom, Grans said she could help if I still wanted to go out there.”

Jacqueline glanced at her daughter sideways and sighed. “Is that what you want, Madison, to go play at grandma’s house while I do all the moving on my own?” She then raised her eyebrow in disapproval. “Of course it’s your choice,” she finished as she looked away.

Maddison could feel tears pool in her eyes. “Grans, I really can’t make it. Next year, okay?”

“Of course, Maddie.”

“I better go, Grans. I love you!”

“I love you too my sweet little girl.”

“Grans, I’m not a little girl anymore. I am going to be 12 in just three months.”

Madison could hear her Grans laughing again and that just made her giggle too. She wished her mom would let her go but she knew if she did that her mom would be mad at her. Madison was excited to move but wondered how she would see her grandma if she was so far away? And that thought made her sad again.

“I keep forgetting how grown you are?” Grans said through fits of laughter.

“Madison, you need to hurry. We have a lot to do!” Jacqueline said from the kitchen.

“Mom’s calling, Grans. I better go but I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Maddie said and before she hung up she thought she could hear her Grans crying.

Madison was brought out of her memory by the feel of Andrew’s fingers grazing over her hair. The sensation was like some sort of kinetic energy that immediately made her feel close to him. Without hesitation, Madison laid her head against his thigh, feeling tears come down her cheeks. She never did go back to see her Grans. Every year something would happen and her mom said they couldn’t do it and then Madison had hit her teen years and was no longer interested in spending time with her grandmother. She had boys to pursue, friends to hang out with, time to kill. In time, she found herself talking to her Grans less and less, usually only when her mother pissed her off. Madison realized that it had been years since she had actually seen her grandmother.

Andrew had watched as that familiar faraway look passed over her face. He had assumed she was lost in thought, as that seemed to be her thinking look. He was at a loss as to what he should do. With a mind of their own, his fingers began to lightly graze her soft hair. He longed to lean down and smell it, to just bury his face in her long, thick locks and to feel it tickle his cheeks. When her breathing changed, he glanced down at her and could see that she had tears in her eyes. When she first laid her face against his thigh he wasn’t sure what to do but she was so distressed which, in turn, distressed him. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking about but he knew she was upset. He had wracked his brain trying to think about what he should do. He was unsure and hesitant as he leaned down slowly, inhaling the most delicate scent of roses mixed with the smell of the spring air after it rains.

“Madison,” he whispered as he leaned down close to her ear, “It’s going to be okay.”

It was only then that she actually looked up at him, a look of sadness and loss on her beautiful face. He gently swiped his thumb under her eyes and wiped her tears away. He was filled with a strong desire to take care of her, to ease her pain. He had never truly cared about anyone and, aside from his Aunt Olivia and his grandmother, whom he didn’t quite remember; no one had ever really loved him unconditionally. His heart beat faster than it should but he had no control over how his body seemed to react to her.

Madison closed her eyes, trying to get a hold of her emotions. She couldn’t believe that she was having an emotional meltdown, let alone having one in front of people she barely knew. In front of a man that she was highly attracted to and wanted to impress. He was being so gentle and caring that it left her feeling even more distressed at the way she had dismissed her grandmother so many years ago. She desperately wanted him to hold her and to take away the guilt she was feeling.

“I hadn’t seen her in years and the only time I ever talked to her was when I was angry at my mom. I was so selfish. She must have hated me,” Madison said, tears breaking up her words.

“My aunt said that Grandma Downing talked about you all the time and when she found out you were coming to stay with her she was so happy. I don’t think she hated you at all,” Andrew said soothingly as he gently stroked her cheek.