Aflame

  I walked back into my bedroom, taking a second glance out the French doors, which were now closed, and noticed that his old bedroom window was still open.

  Hesitating only a moment, I jetted down the stairs, ready to ravage the refrigerator and cabinets to make pancakes and eggs and bacon and maybe some fresh bread. And maybe a BLT.

  For some reason a BLT sounded really good.

  Why was I so hungry?

  I jumped the last two steps and immediately straightened, hearing music coming from the dining room.

  Taking a left, I rounded the entryway and halted when I spotted Jared.

  The tree on his naked back stretched taller as he reached up and rolled paint in a long strip on the wall and then returned to normal as he came back down, the taut muscles in his back and arms flexing and accentuating the fact that he hadn’t gotten lazy during his time away.

  He was still wearing the same black pants as last night, but with his shirt off now, and I noticed his hands were splattered with drops of the café au lait color the painters were using as he rolled the thick paint onto the linen-colored walls.

  “What are you doing?” I blurted.

  His head turned to the side, and he glanced at me and then back to the wall, almost dismissive.

  “We helped your dad paint this room, like, ten years ago, remember?”

  I dug in my eyebrows, weirded out by how calm he seemed. “Yeah, I remember,” I said, still confused as I walked over and turned down Seether’s “Weak” coming off the iPod. “We’re paying people to do it now. They’ll be back to finish the job tomorrow,” I told him.

  He glanced at me again, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  And then he turned his attention back to the wall, dismissing me again, to continue painting.

  I stood there, wondering what I was supposed to do. Go make a breakfast that I was no longer hungry for or kick him out?

  He changed hands, putting the roller in his left as he absently smeared the paint that had dripped on his right hand on his pant leg. I almost laughed. The pants looked expensive, but of course, Jared wouldn’t give a shit.

  I folded my arms across my chest, trying to restrain my smile.

  Jared was painting my dining room. Just like ten years ago. He wasn’t grabbing me, fighting with me, or trying to get in my pants, either. Very well behaved.

  Also like ten years ago.

  Patience and peace radiated off of him, and my heart skipped a beat, finally feeling some semblance of home for the first time in forever. It was a summer day just like any other, and the boy next door was hanging out with me.

  I buried the knot of despair I’d been carrying around and walked up behind him, picking up the second roller in the tray. Stepping up to the wall perpendicular to his, I rolled on the paint, hearing his uninterrupted strokes continue behind me.

  We worked in silence, and I kept stealing glances at him, nervous about whose move it was to talk or what I would say. But he just bent over, running the roller through the tray and sopping up more paint, looking completely at ease.

  We took turns, collecting more paint and spreading it over the walls, and after several minutes, my heartbeat finally slowed to a gentle drumming.

  Until he put his hand on my back.

  At his closeness, I stiffened, but then he reached around to my other side and grabbed the stepladder to take it back to his area.

  Oh.

  I continued rolling paint as he stepped up and worked closer to the ceiling, using a regular paintbrush to get areas neither of us could reach with the roller. I tried to ignore his body hovering over me as I worked my paint to the edge underneath him, but I couldn’t help how good it felt to have him close. Like the magnets were aligning again.

  Like waking up to a summer rain tinkling against my window.

  “You can’t use the roller to corner,” Jared spoke up, knocking me back into the moment.

  I blinked, looking up to see his hand pausing midstroke on the wall and that he was staring down at me. I glanced to my roller, seeing that I’d run right into the next wall.

  I mock scowled up at him. “It’s working, isn’t it?”

  He exhaled a laugh, like I was so ridiculous, and climbed down, shoving the paintbrush at me.

  “Handle that.” He gestured to his brush and motioned me up the ladder. “And try not to fuck up the crown molding.”

  I snatched the brush out of his hand and climbed the ladder, glancing at him as I started to brush on short strokes and making sure not to cross the blue painter’s tape.

  Jared grinned up at me, shaking his head before resuming my sloppy painting with a smaller brush, moving vertically down the corners in slow strokes.

  I took a deep breath and ventured, “So . . .” I glanced down at him. “Are you happy?” I asked. “In California. Racing . . .” I trailed off, not sure if I wanted to hear about his life out there.

  He kept his eyes on his task, his voice thoughtful. “I wake up,” he started, “and I can’t wait to get into the shop to work on the bikes. Or the car . . . ,” he added. “I love my job. It happens in a hundred different rooms, cities, and arenas.”

  I could have guessed that much. From what I’d seen of his career through the media, he had looked in his element. Comfortable, thriving, driven . . .

  He hadn’t answered the question, though.

  “I breathe fresh air all day every day,” he went on, leaning down to give Madman a quick pet, and my brushstrokes slowed as I listened to him. “I love racing, Tate. But honestly, it’s a means to a bigger end.” He looked up at me, giving a half smile. “I started my own business. I want to build custom rides.”

  My eyes went wide, and I stopped painting.

  “Jared, that’s . . .” I stammered, trying to get the words out. “That’s really amazing,” I said, finally smiling. “And it’s a relief, too. That you’ll be off the track, I mean. I’m always afraid you’ll get in an accident when I see you on TV or YouTube.”

  His eyebrows pinched together, and I winced.

  Shit.

  “You watch?” he asked in an amused tone, looking at me like I’d been caught.

  I pursed my lips and redirected my attention back to painting. “Of course I watch,” I grumbled.

  I heard him laugh under his breath as he started painting again, too.

  “It’ll still mean some travel,” he continued, “but less than what I do now. Plus, I can build the business back here if I want.”

  Back here?

  So he might want to come back home, then? I looked away, liking the idea of him moving back, and I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like I was going to be here anymore, anyway.

  He let out a sigh, regarding his work on the wall. “I love the wind out there on the track, Tate. On the highways.” He shook his head, looking almost sad. “It’s the only time you and I are together.”

  I looked back down at him, a lump swelling my throat.

  I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “I never wanted other women.” His thick voice was practically a whisper. “I left so I could be a man for you. So I could come back to you.”

  I dropped my eyes, slowly stepping down the ladder.

  That was what had been so hard to understand. He had to go off and find himself—cutting me out of his life—by breaking up with me under the guise of not wanting to hold me back while he took however many years to get his shit together?

  I locked my eyes on his dark ones and looked up at him, seeing a man who was so much the same, and yet, so different.

  But maybe it hadn’t been a guise after all.

  Maybe I was lucky, because I always knew where my direction pointed me, and I had it figured out. Maybe Jared had had too many downward spirals, too many distractions, and too much doubt to know what truly drove him.

/>   Maybe Jared, like most people, needed the space to grow on his own.

  Maybe we had just started too young.

  “And what about the next time you need to shut me out, Jared?” I asked, licking my parched lips. “It was three years in high school. Two years this time.”

  He put his hand on my cheek, his thumb grazing the corner of my mouth. “It wasn’t two years, babe.”

  I eyed him. What was he talking about?

  He bent down, wetting his paintbrush some more. “I came back at Christmas that same year. You were . . .” He hesitated, rolling the paint onto the wall. “You had moved on.”

  I averted my eyes, because I knew right away what he was talking about.

  “What did you see?” I asked, fiddling with the brush. I shouldn’t feel bad. I had every right to move on, after all.

  He shrugged. “Only as much as I could handle. Which wasn’t a lot.” He glanced at me, holding my eyes.

  I could tell he was trying to keep his temper in check.

  “I showed up one night,” he started. “I’d just gotten started on the circuit, racing and making connections. I was feeling good and”—he nodded—“really confident, actually. So I came home.”

  Six months. Only six months.

  “I knew you were mad at me. You wouldn’t talk when I called or text back, but I was finally a little proud of myself, but I was never going to be truly happy without you, too.” He dropped his voice to nearly a whisper. “I showed up, and you were with someone.”

  He blinked a few times, and I felt my stomach roll because I’d hurt him. I wanted to throw up.

  Is that what Pasha had been talking about? The time she saw him almost cry?

  But I shouldn’t feel bad about this. Jared had had sex with numerous women before we were together, and I’m sure plenty since we’d been apart.

  “It was six months, Jared.” I grabbed some paper towels and turned to him, cleaning up the paint on his hands. “I’m sure you had been with someone else by that point.”

  He stepped closer, reaching up to play with a lock of my hair. “No,” he whispered. “I hadn’t been with anyone.”

  My eyes shot up. “But . . .” I winced, my gut clenching. “I saw you. I saw girls everywhere around you. At the tracks, hanging on you in pictures . . .”

  I hadn’t moved on because I thought he had, but I never thought he was holding back, either. I assumed . . .

  He let out a hard sigh, turning back to his painting. “The girls come with the crowd, Tate. Sometimes they want pictures with the drivers. Other times they just hang around like groupies. I never wanted anyone but you. That’s not why I left.”

  A flutter swarmed through my chest, and I knew that my heart still wanted him, too. No one else had even held a candle to him.

  “It was so hard living without you, Tate.” His voice sounded weary. “I wanted to see you and talk to you, and I’d lived so long with you as the center of everything, I just . . .” He hesitated, his voice turning thick. “I didn’t know who I was or what I was going to offer you. I relied on you too much.”

  I looked down, realizing that he’d been wiser than me. Jared left because he knew he needed me too much. I hadn’t realized how much I needed him until he was already gone.

  “I relied on you, too.” I choked over my words. “I said it in my monologue senior year, Jared. You were something I looked forward to every day. After you left, I constantly felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me.”

  In our final year of high school, when I’d finally had enough of my childhood friend bullying me, I stood up in front of the whole class and shared our story. The loss, the heartbreak, the pain . . . They didn’t know what they were hearing, but it didn’t matter. I was only speaking to Jared anyway.

  His timid eyes urged me as he said, “And now?”

  I sighed as I absentmindedly dipped the brush in paint. “And now,” I led in, “I know I can stand on my own. No matter what happens, I’ll be okay.”

  He looked back to the wall, responding almost sadly. “Of course you will.” And then he asked, “So are you happy?” He repeated my own question to him back to me, and I wondered why he asked that. I’d just said I’d be okay.

  But I guess he knew that didn’t exactly mean I was happy, either.

  No.

  No, I wasn’t happy. He had been a piece of the puzzle, and nothing had filled the space in his absence.

  I ignored the question and kept painting.

  “Do you have anyone out there now?” I ventured. “Anyone you’re seeing?”

  I brushed the wall in short, quick strokes, like I was petting Madman, as I watched him warily.

  He dipped the brush into the paint. “After I saw that you’d moved on, I tried to as well,” he told me. “I’ve seen a couple of women since then, but . . .” He stopped and gave me a teasing sideways glance. “No one’s waiting for me.”

  I cocked an eyebrow, digging the brush into the wall. A couple of women.

  Now I was jealous.

  “I’m proud of you for getting into Stanford.” He changed the subject, throwing me off. “Are you excited?” he asked.

  I nodded, giving him a tight smile. “Yeah, I am. It’ll be a lot of work, but I thrive on it, so . . .” I trailed off, swallowing the lump in my throat.

  I did want to go to California. And I definitely wanted to go to medical school. But I didn’t want to think about how things were changing forever back here. My dad’s marriage. The house going on the market. Having Jared close, but not having Jared.

  He stopped painting and looked at me pointedly. “What’s the problem?”

  “There’s no problem,” I retorted.

  He approached me, cocking his head like he knew I was lying. Like he knew I still wasn’t happy.

  I lifted my shoulders to my ears, denying it. “I said there’s no problem!” I laughed and then looked down. “And you’re dripping all over my feet!”

  I curled in my toes as paint from his brush fell onto my skin.

  “Oh, shit,” he said in surprise and lifted the brush up, smacking me in the face.

  I growled, squeezing my eyes shut.

  “Oh, shit!” Jared blurted out again, laughing. “I’m sorry. It honestly was an accident.”

  “Yeah.” I opened my eyes again, squinting through the paint covering my lashes on my left eye. “Accidents happen.”

  And then I shot out, running my paintbrush down his face and chest, sending him rearing backward.

  “No!” he shouted, holding out his hands and still laughing. “Stop!”

  I lunged for him again, and he darted out his paint brush, wetting my arm.

  I scowled. “Ugh!” I barked. “You’re going to pay for that!”

  And I raced after him as he dashed into the foyer. Reaching out my arm, I caught him on the back, swiping my brush up and making the tree tattooed there look a little snow covered.

  He swung around and grabbed my wrist, pulling my back into his chest.

  I squirmed, sending his brush falling to the area rug.

  “Let go!” he ordered, tickling my sides. “Drop it now!”

  “No!” I laughed, keeping my elbows locked at my sides to shield myself from his attack.

  He grabbed my wrist, pulled it up, exposing my underarm, and tickled. I hunched over, crying out in a mix of terror and delight as my own paintbrush fell to the floor.

  “Jared! Stop!” I shouted, my stomach tight with laughing so hard.

  He let go, wrapping both of his arms around my waist, and we just stood there, breathing hard as we tried to calm down.

  It felt so good. Having fun with him again.

  I laid my arms on his, my breath catching in my throat but my heart still racing as I soaked in his heat at my back. My tank top was the only fabric separ
ating his skin from mine, and without thinking, I turned my head, nuzzling into him.

  His hot breath fell on my ear, and I leaned into it, feeling the clenching of the muscles in my womb and wanting his touch.

  It had been so long since I’d been touched like this. The feel of Jared’s lips against my hair was more intimate than the most sexual act anyone else could do to me.

  I tipped my chin up, teasing him with my lips as they grazed his. A thrill shot through me, sending flutters through my stomach as I felt him grow hard against my ass.

  I inhaled his scent. “Jared,” I barely whispered. I darted out my tongue and flicked it along his top lip.

  He jerked, sucking in a breath, and I felt a shot of pride at still being able to leave him speechless.

  Craning one hand around my face to hold my mouth close to his, he teased, “I thought we were going to be friends.” And then I gasped as he brought his other hand over my shoulder and slid it down the top of my shirt, claiming my breast in his palm.

  I closed my eyes on a moan. “Good friends,” I clarified. “Really good friends.” And I felt his lips curl into a smile against mine.

  “Tate!”

  A knock sounded on the door, and I jumped, blinking.

  What?

  No.

  “Tate, you up?” Fallon said, and I looked at Jared, feeling my body suddenly go cold. Damn it.

  The ache where I needed him made me groan, and I watched him blink long and hard, letting out a frustrated sigh.

  “Fuck,” he seethed, letting me go.

  I could still feel him through his pants, standing strong and hard, and it was for me. Goddamn it, Fallon!

  She opened the door, and we both straightened, knowing how guilty we looked. I was sure I had a blush all over my body. I could feel the heat of my skin.

  “Oh.” She stopped short, her forehead scrunching up. “Hey.”

  I shifted my eyes, smoothing down my clothes. “We were painting.”

  Jared snorted behind me, but I ignored him.

  Fallon nodded. “In your jammies,” she said more to herself than to us. “Perfectly normal.”

  I arched a brow at her as she stood there in her workout shorts and tank. We ran on Sundays, and I was late.