MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) (4 page)

“I thought you didn’t know
much about cars?” Jack’s voice booms from above me.

I cascade from beneath the
car and grab a red shop rag to wipe my hands off as I get up. “I told you I
knew how to change my oil,” I remind him with a playful smile while trying to
conceal my surprise of his arrival.

“These are nice tools just
to change your oil.” He eyes my extensive roll out tool box, pulling drawers
open and snooping inside. “I don’t know any average Joe who has a creeper to
change their oil.”

“I don’t like to get
dirty,” I joke.

“Uh-huh,” Jack retorts,
disbelieving me.

“Help me let her down?” I
coax with a smirk.

“Sure.”

I pick up my tools and set
aside the drain pan full of oil while Jack sets the Evo down. After refilling
the engine with fresh oil, I close the hood and hear the front door to the
house slam shut. Alice comes bouncing down the stairs with her backpack hung
over her shoulder. “Where’s Eric?” she asks Jack.

“He got held up and asked if
I could take you,” he tells her. There's a look that passes between them as if
there's more to be said I'm not privy to hear.

“Oh. Ok. You ready?” Alice
looks back and forth between Jack and me.

“Yeah.” He appears
undecided as he hesitates. “Ivy, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“I just have to drop this
oil off for recycling.”

He hesitates a moment, then
continues, “How would you feel about taking a drive with me? I could come pick
you up after I drop Alice off at the library.” Alice smiles at me as she slides
into the passenger seat of Jack’s Skyline.

“Ok. Let me get cleaned up.
I’ll see you in a bit.” My attraction to Jack is nerve-racking, but I need to
get used to being around him if we're going to be friends. I consider
a
drive might help me clear my head and reduce the angst
his presence causes.

After Jack and Alice leave,
I start my car to cycle the new oil through and go jump in the shower to get
cleaned up. I lose track of time and end up taking too long in the shower.
Coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my body, I catch Jack in
the hall outside of my bedroom getting ready to knock.

“AHA!” I scream, squeezing
the towel tighter to me as Jack jumps in surprise.

“Sorry! You didn’t answer
the door,” he excuses. His eyes darken to a deep green upon the realization of
my current state.

I have an unexpected ache
for him to grab me around the waist and pin me to the wall with his body. I
shake my head to reject my daydreaming. “I lost track of time. Let me throw
some clothes on, and we can go,” I rasp with nervous tension. Jack doesn’t seem
to notice my embarrassment and leaves to wait for me in the living room.

I towel dry my hair in a
hurry and let it fall down my back.
I should see if he’ll let me drive.
Laughing to myself, I emerge in a pair of fringed shorts, my black
White Stripes
tee, and black Vans.
Jack
gives
me a small grin. “Ready?”

“Let’s go!” I yelp with too
much excitement
,
and
I
blush. Jack appears
entertained at my excitement, and I turn for the front door to avoid
further
embarrassment.

As he drives towards the
outskirts of town, I prompt, “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere. Sometimes, I just
like to
drive. It clears my head.” His tone is sullen
and deep in thought.

“Tell me. What does a guy
like you have to clear his head about?”

He turns and gives
me
a teasing smile, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

The setting sunlight hits
his eyes in just the right way
,
allowing me to see
their bright green hue sparkle again. It's the first time I've seen him without
his hat. My core tenses with desire at his alluring gaze, and I look away in
haste, snickering at his taunting.

We drive through the
countryside passing pastures of beautiful horses. The music blasts with the
windows down, and the wind whips over my face with the pleasant warmth of the
fading summer. The aroma of fresh grass and pine trees is peaceful and
refreshing—a far comparison to the stench of the city I grew up in. As we
cruise past sunset, I'm more relaxed being around Jack, but it doesn’t stop the
urge to touch every inch of him.
I’m hopeless,
I scold myself.

Crossing into the next city
from the countryside, we stop for gas. Jack retrieves his ball cap from the
back seat and snugs it over his head before exiting the car to start the pump,
and I step out of the car to smoke a cigarette.
What am I doing? Torturing
myself, that’s what! How much longer can I keep this up? God, he’s hot! And he
smells so good; a mixed fragrance of lavender, sandalwood, and a hint of sweet
honey. The more I hang around him, the more drawn to him I am. This is
ridiculous! I need to back off.

Jack takes the nozzle out
of the gas tank, replaces it on the pump, and tightens the gas cap back on
before joining me for a cigarette. He leans on the passenger door in front of
me, and I admire his physique. Taut muscles, tribal tattoos, the mysterious
look his low cap gives him by shadowing his
smooth
face from the
spotlights, his relaxed posture, and his signature sexy smile he regards me
with…
I
’ve
got it bad.

“Do you mind if we make a
pit stop?” he requests with a suspicious
ly
cunning grin.

“I guess. Where to?”
What
are you up to?

“It’s a surprise,” he
evades, shrugging his shoulders and flicking his cigarette before getting back
into the driver’s seat. I follow his lead and slide into the passenger seat,
the supple leather hugging my body as I buckle up.

Jack drives onto our
biggest rival’s college campus and parks in an empty parking lot
connected to
two brick buildings. It feels wrong to be on enemy
territory. “What are we doing here?” I ask him as if he's out of his mind. He
gets out of the car and walks around to my side. I'm dumbstruck.

He opens the passenger door
for me—ever the gentleman—and prompts, “Come on. I’ll show you.”

We journey through a dark alley
adjacent the parking lot, and I hear music in the distance tantamount to a
party.
Is he seriously taking me to a party? If anyone finds out we're from
Red Meadow, we could get our asses kicked!
Not that they’ll actually hurt us, but I’ve heard rumors, and I'm not
in a mood to fight tonight.

The further we
trail
into the campus, the louder the music emanates. There
are lights ahead of us, and I can’t wait to get out of the creepy darkness. We
top a grassy hill, and a huge field spans before us, lit up in the same
blinding manner as an airport
runway
. A stage is setup at
the end of the field, and there are at least a thousand people on the lawn
jumping with fists in the air. “Jack!” I yell, surprised. “It’s
The Killers!
” I grab his bicep and
jump up and down, changing into a giddy fan-girl with a wide smile. Realizing
that I'm touching him, we both pause in alarm with my hand in a lingering grasp
around his hard muscle. A tingling sensation travels up my arm, along with a
sense of calmness. Our eyes meet in an intense gaze and attraction seethes
between us so powerful I want to kiss him.

Jack brakes the tension
between us with his million dollar smile and grabs my hand to lead me through
the crowd. “Come on.”
“
All These Things That I’ve Done
”
plays in the background. The warmth of his hand on
mine is nothing compared to the burning attraction I have towards him. We push
our way through the crowd, which isn’t hard for Jack. His size alone tells
everyone to move out of the way. He pulls me to a halt when the crowd becomes
too dense, twenty yards from the stage.

I'm ecstatic with his
surprise. I glance over at him watching the band play.
This was his plan the
whole time!

Jack steps behind me and
places his hands on my hips. The warmth of his skin seeps through my clothes.
“Ready?”

“For what?” I yell over the
crowd. Without hesitation, Jack lifts me like a feather above his head and sets
me on his shoulders. I howl and pump my fists in the air as he holds my thighs
to keep me stable. The view is heart wrenching. I long to be on a stage. To
rock the faces off the crowd and watch their sweaty bodies jumping in unison to
the shred of my guitar. The anticipation of hearing the crowd sing my songs and
cheer for more. It's a perpetual intoxication I ache for. The revelation of my
emotions make me more determined to get over my stage fright.

After a few songs, I tap
Jack's hand burning on my thigh, to let me down. Without effort, he pushes me
over his head by my hips and sets me gently down on my feet.
Wow! He’s
really strong! I'm a cheerleader
—
for the first and single time
—
dismounting
a pyramid!
In this moment, standing next to Jack, I have no worries about
being on rival territory. He makes me feel safe.

We’re among the last people
to leave the lawn as the show ends. Plastered with sweat and clothes sticking
to our skin, we come back through the all
e
y to get to Jack’s
car. We're alone again, and my ears ring from the silence following the
earsplitting blasts of music. “What did you think? Good surprise?” he
asks
.

“It was amazing, Jack! I
didn’t even know they were in town!” I can’t hide how delighted I am, and I
don’t want to. I can stop pretending around him and just be myself. The walls
I've built around me sway, and a brick falls away.

“They weren’t supposed to
be in town
, but they broke down on the way to their next show. A
friend of mine overheard one of their roadies talking about them giving a free
show at the college,” he informs me as we arrive at the car.

“Well, thank you. I don’t
know how I’m going to make this up to you, but I will,” I vow, my voice calm
and sincere. Jack’s face falls into hard concentration, an
d
his body stills with immediate rigidness as his hands
fist at his sides. “What?” I hesitate, believing I said something wrong.

“Get in the car, Ivy,” he
demands in a low voice, looking over my shoulder and past the car at my back.

“What?” I turn to see what
has his attention. A guy stands in the empty parking lot, staring at us. I
swear I hear the stranger growl
like a
vicious dog.

Jack speaks with ease, his
eyes never leaving the
now
approaching stranger,
“I need you to listen to me carefully, Ivy. Take my keys and get out of here as
fast as you can. Call Alice and tell her you're on your way home. I'll meet you
there as soon as I can.”

“What the hell's going on?
How are you going to get back?” I look back and forth between him and the
stranger. The stranger’s shrouded in darkness, concealing his features. My skin
prickles with electricity, giving me goose bumps all over my body as he growls
at us again. “Who is that guy?” I mumble.

Jack pushes his keys into
my hand. “Go, now!”

I’ve never been one to run
from a fight. Whenever it came down to an intense situation, my fight response
always raged over the need to run. But, the force in Jack’s command
makes
me think this is not something I need to be here for.
I rush around the back of the car and jump into the driver’s seat. Slamming the
door shut, a loud thunder startles me, and I drop the keys in the floorboard.

Looking out of the driver
window, Jack had slammed the guy into the side of the brick building and is
holding him by the throat. The red brick is spider webbed around the stranger’s
head and shoulders, and his feet are dangling in the air. I can see Jack’s lips
moving, but I can’t hear what he's saying. Opening the door, I slip out of the
car and shut
it
behind me with discreet caution. Jack lowers the
stranger down the wall and lets him run off into the dark.

“What the hell was that
about?” I yell at him.

Jack shrugs his shoulders,
trying not to make a big deal of the situation. “Just an old friend sending a
message. I guess you could say we had a fallin’ out.”

Three more guys accompany
the stranger back around the building. The first stranger is wearing jeans and
a black shirt. His dark hair falls over his left eye as his slender body leads
his buddies charging towards us. The guy next to him has a red shirt with
skulls and is followed by two more guys in a blue polo and a white button up
dress shirt. They’re all similar in build with dark hair, and I suspect they
could all be related. With grins on their faces mismatching their scowls, I
know we're being jumped.

“Jack!” I yell, pointing
over his shoulder. Jack spins around in time to punched the
first
guy in the jaw. Mr. Black flies back, landing by the
far corner of the building. In passing, I muse Jack's underestimated strength.
The following thug in the red shirt charges
,
and Jack catches the
punch before it can touch him, twisting the guy's arm behind him. I can’t keep
my focus on Jack anymore as I realize Mr. Blue and Mr. White are dashing in my
direction.