I smile. “Well, I’ve never driven a Ferrari,” I toss back.
He laughs and points. “Deal.”
“Really?” I ask.
He’s still laughing, but he nods then says, “Really.”
I reach out and drop the keys into his outstretched palm.
We both load up, with me on the passenger side and him in the driver’s seat. Slowly and carefully, he backs the Jeep down the driveway and drives slowly through the suburbs, getting a feel for the vehicle. I have to say, this has to be completely different from driving his little sports car. The Jeep is tall and sits high up. You can take railroad tracks doing 40. His little car has to slow down to a crawl for nearly every bump. His car may go fast, but this can go anywhere, and that’s why I purchased it. I like the thought of being able to load up my Jeep and drive along a trail to a campsite. I like having four-wheel drive in the winter, and I love that I can take the top down in the summer. The breeze blowing through the open windows picks up strands of my hair and blows them around. I close my eyes and enjoy having him by my side, plus the feeling of wind and warm sun against my skin.
For the better part of the morning, we just drive around with no real goal in mind. We stop when we want food or drinks or a bathroom break, then we load back up, ready to keep going. I don’t know where we are, but we find a sign for an extreme fun park and I point to it immediately.
“Let’s go there!” I don’t know what they offer, but it sounds too good to pass up. He takes the next exit, and within 15 minutes, we’re pulling into the gravel parking lot. It’s a big pole-barn-type building with a chain-link fence around the back. When I climb out of the Jeep, I look up and see the peak of a tower behind the building. I point up. “I bet that’s the bungee jump,” I say a little too excitedly.
He lets out a nervous laugh. “Seriously?”
“Come on, let’s go check it out!” I grab his hand and pull him toward the door faster, at a speed much more acceptable to me.
We enter the doors and there’s a man standing behind a counter. It looks like they sell T-shirts, hats, and other souvenirs, plus pictures of you doing all the crazy stunts they offer. There’s a big board behind him and it has a list of available activities: paintballing, rock wall climbing, ziplining, bungee jumping, go-kart racing . . .” The list goes on and on.
We sign up to bungee jump first, because that seems like the most fun. Plus, if we do the most daring thing off the bat, the rest of the stuff won’t seem all that scary.
There’s a 30-minute video we have to watch that explains all the dangers. We sign a waiver then we’re taken to get weighed and strapped into our harnesses.
“Are you ready for this?” I ask with a big smile stretching across my face.
Foster doesn’t look so sure. His jaw is tense, there’s a sheen of sweat peppering his brow, and his skin is almost green. He keeps clenching his fists and reopening them. “Give me a minute,” he says, rushing off to the restroom. I’m sure he’s going to puke and I can’t hold back my laughter.
Six
Foster
After emptying my stomach in a restroom stall, I rinse out my mouth with tap water. I look up at myself in the mirror and realize I look like I’ve just survived a plane crash. There’s panic in my wide eyes, I’m sweating bullets, my face is an odd color, and I haven’t even jumped yet!
I splash some cool water on my face then pat it dry with a paper towel. With one final deep breath, I push through the door and find Harley bouncing with excitement.
“Are you okay?” she asks, seemingly much more worried now than when I went running into the restroom.
“I’m fine,” I tell her, not wanting to look like a pussy.
“Nervous?” she asks.
“Really, I’m fine. Let’s go try to kill ourselves,” I joke.
She grabs my hand and holds me back. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, you know. It’s not for everyone.”
I appreciate her kindness. “If you’re doing it, then I’m doing it. Now, come on before I change my mind.” I drag her forward.
We get to the tower and the operator is already waiting. We step into the lift and he closes the gate. Slowly, we head to the top. My hands grab the bar and squeeze until my knuckles turn white. As we climb higher in the sky, I feel dizzy and off-balance, but when I look over at Harley, she’s smiling from ear to ear, completely in her element.
We finally get to the top and we’re asked who’s wants to go first.
“I will!” Harley shouts automatically.
The man waves her forward and hooks a giant rubber band to her harness. He opens the gate and positions her at the edge of the platform.
“Whenever you’re ready,” he tells her.
She looks back at me with a smile. “See ya at the bottom!”
With that, she throws herself forward. For a moment, everything seems like it’s in slow motion. She’s like a cartoon. She jumps out, seems to pause there for a fraction of a second, then goes falling down fast. I watch her hit the end of her tether and she snaps back up. She comes up and goes back down several times, then she just bobs there, upside down. I watch from the top as they slowly lower her to the big inflated balloon-looking thing at the bottom. I can’t believe she didn’t even scream. All I can hear is giggling.
Once she’s off the mat, it’s my turn. I get strapped to my cord and the man opens the gate. He motions me forward. “Let me guess, this was all her idea and you’re not loving it, but don’t want to look like a chicken-shit either?”
I laugh. “You’re spot-on,” I tell him, feeling the wave of dizziness hit me again.
“Well, do you want me to push you?”
“Does that make it easier?” I ask, looking down.
“For some people. Some just need a countdown.”
“All right, count me down then,” I tell him, holding on to the bars on either side of me.
“Three,” he starts, and I inch my toes closer to the edge.
“Two,” he continues, and I remove my hands from the bars.
“One.” It’s the last number. I still feel dizzy. My stomach rolls and a cold sweat breaks out across my face.
“Go!” he yells, and without thinking, I fling myself off the platform. I can’t tell you what I see because it’s all too fast. It’s not a visual thing. It’s all about the feeling in my stomach, the rush of blood in my ears, and the sound of my heart beating so fast it feels like it’s going to explode. I apparently block out everything else, because before I know it, I’m being lowered to the inflatable.
I roll to my side, still feeling dizzy and out of place, but Harley is there waiting, and she rushes to my side. “Wasn’t that amazing?” she yells, jumping into my arms and making me fall back a step.
“That was . . . something,” I say, trying to shake off the nerves and fear still pumping through me.
She giggles as I set her on her feet. “You don’t look as sick as you did before.” She smiles, her green eyes looking over my face.
I laugh. “That was nerves. But now that it’s over . . . well, I’m just glad it’s over,” I laugh out.
We stick around a little longer. We race go-karts and I watch as she climbs the rock wall. Nothing else is as exciting as bungee jumping, so we skip out early and start our journey back to her place.
“Want to come by my place for dinner?” I ask, glancing over at her from the driver’s seat.
“Are you cooking?”
I smile. “Well, I guess I could. If that’s what it takes to get you to come over again. I have to warn you, though, I’m not the best in the kitchen.”
“What can you make?”
“Bacon,” I laugh out.
“Well, I’m pretty good at making eggs. Want breakfast for dinner?”
I smile. “Nothing sounds better.”
We get to my place and head straight into the kitchen. I have no idea where anything is since I never cook, so I have to search through everything just l
ike she is. We end up finding two frying pans and we each stand on either side of the stovetop. I cook the bacon and she scrambles some eggs. The eggs get done much faster than the bacon, so she moves on to making some toast and buttering it. Within 30 minutes, we’re sitting at the island in the kitchen, eating breakfast at 6 p.m. on a Sunday night.
“So, tell me about this Bianca girl. What’s she like?”
It almost feels like the hair on the back of my neck is standing on end. Why does she want to know about Bianca? She seemed cool about her before. Is something changing with our agreement? I hope not. “What do you want to know?” I ask, taking a bite of my eggs.
She shrugs and takes a bite of bacon. “What does she do? What’s she like?”
“Uh, right now she’s working at her father’s company, Greer Holdings, but she’s finishing up her PhD in biophysics.”
Her eyes stretch wide. “Wow. So, she’s smart, huh?”
I laugh and nod. “Yeah, she’s pretty smart. Too smart if you ask me,” I add on.
“What does she look like?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I probably have a picture of her somewhere,” I say, pulling out my phone and going through the pictures until I find one, but I have to scroll for a while. I flip the phone around so she can see her.
Her face falls. “So she’s smart and gorgeous.”
I set the phone on the island. “She is, yes. You’re gorgeous.” I look up at her and feel how hooded my eyes become when I take her in. Harley obviously doesn’t see what I see. I don’t know how she doesn’t know she’s the most gorgeous woman on the planet.
Her cheeks flush with my compliment, but she doesn’t reply. Instead, she just stabs at a piece of egg and pops it into her mouth. Her head shakes slightly, but I can tell it’s because of whatever she’s thinking rather than directed at me.
“What?” I ask.
Her green eyes meet mine. “I don’t know. I was just thinking about nothing in particular.”
“Stay here tonight,” I request.
“I have to work in the morning.”
“So? Stay here with me.”
She doesn’t say anything, so I stand up and move around the island until I can pull her against me. Her arms wrap around my neck, and slowly, our lips find each other’s. I kiss her softly but teasingly. I can tell she wants to take it further—that she needs more—but I want to tease her. I want her to stay. Maybe if I dangle something she wants in front of her face, she won’t be able to refuse my request.
The kiss grows slowly in speed and intensity, and before I know it, I’m lifting her up by her hips and setting her on the island. My hands begin pushing her shirt up her stomach and over her breasts until I can pull it off completely. Her hands lift my shirt, but she doesn’t pull it off. Instead, she just moves it out of the way to unbutton and unzip my jeans. Her hand slides down the front, between my hips, and latches around my aching cock. Slowly, her hand starts moving up and down my length.
Unable to take it anymore, I knock her hand away and pick her up in my arms, carrying her through the living room and into my bedroom where we spend the rest of the night alone and wrapped up in each other.
Morning comes too soon, and long before I’m ready, the alarm is going off. I shut it off and get up, going for a shower. When I get out, Harley’s already up getting dressed. I walk into my bedroom only wearing a towel, and she rushes up to me and gives me a quick kiss.
“I’m going to be late. I have to go,” she says, quickly pulling away only to give me one more kiss. “Call me later?”
“I will,” I promise, standing back and watching her run for the door.
It closes behind her and I’m left alone to get dressed and ready for work. Mondays suck.
The day passes by unusually slowly. When lunch rolls around, I’m heading for the front doors. I’m planning on making the drive over to the shelter she works at with some lunch for both of us. I’m sure she’ll like this little surprise. But I stop in my tracks when Bianca walks in the door.
“Oh, hey. Glad I caught you,” she says.
“I was just heading out for lunch. What’s up?”
“Mind if I come with? We need to talk.”
Fuck. “All right. Let’s go to lunch,” I agree, opening the swinging glass door for her to step out.
Instead of dealing with the lunchtime traffic rush, we walk down the street to a little pub on the corner. We take a corner booth and pick up our menus.
“So, what did you need to talk to me about?” I ask, picking up my water and taking a drink.
She lets out a long sigh. “My parents.” Her hands move up to rub circles on her temples. “Have they been hanging out with your parents lately?”
I shrug. “I have no idea. Why?”
“They seem to be getting more pushy. Before, they’d say something about us, like, once a month. But now it’s practically every day. I don’t know how to keep avoiding them.”
I wave my hand through the air. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have my parents talk to them. They’ll just blame everything on me not being ready to settle down and the heat will be off of you.”
“There’s this barbecue your parents are having this weekend. Guess who’s invited?”
“Not me. I haven’t heard a thing about it.”
“Oh, you will. I’m sure of it. They invited my parents and me, and it’s been made very clear that I must attend. I’m sure it’s another setup. They want to get us together and make us feel the pressure.”
“Well, I have plans this weekend,” I lie.
“Will your father accept that, or will he force your hand?”
I scoff. “My father doesn’t make me do anything I don’t want to. I’m not a child anymore.”
“Then why don’t you just tell them you don’t want to marry me?” she throws back.
I laugh. “You know why. That’s a fight I don’t want to have anytime soon. Why don’t you tell them you don’t want to marry me?”
She lifts her glass and takes a sip. “Same reason, I guess. I don’t want to have to explain myself to my parents for what feels like the 400th time. I’m tired of trying to convince them I’m not just a commodity to marry off—that I have goals and dreams for my life . . . but even with all that, I still hate seeing the look of disappointment on their faces when I lay out all my reasons.”
“All right, then. We’ll address them when there’s no possible way to buy more time. But for now, I’m going out of town this weekend.” I wasn’t, but I am now.
“Where are you going?”
I say the first place that comes to mind. “Vegas.”
She nods. “With that Harley girl?”
Huh, not a bad idea. I bet Harley would be fun in Vegas. “I don’t know yet.”
“You don’t know?” she asks, drawing her brows together.
“Well, I haven’t exactly asked her yet.”
“Ah, afraid she’ll turn you down?” she smiles.
“Maybe,” I laugh out.
It’s not long after lunch when my father calls me into his office. I wonder if this has anything to do with what Bianca was telling me. I walk in and he’s sitting behind his desk, head down and hard at work.
“You wanted to see me?” I ask, walking over and taking the seat across from him.
“Yes,” he says, unwilling to pull his eyes away from the documents he’s signing. Finally, he finishes up and looks over at me. “Your mother has invited the Greers over for a barbecue this weekend. It’s been several months since we’ve last seen them.”
“I can’t this weekend. I already have a business trip planned. I’ll have to join you another time.” I start to stand up, but he opens his mouth and I sit back down, knowing we’re not done here just yet.
“Foster, this isn’t a polite invitation. This is mandatory. You and Bianca have been getting further and further apart lately. Did you know she’s been thinking about moving to New York? Her mother is scared to death since you haven’t m
entioned planning a move. How are the two of you going to get married if she’s across the country?”
I let out a long breath and run my hand through my hair. “Dad, we’re not even engaged. Hell, we’re not even seriously dating. She’s not even finished with school. We’re not there yet and I’m sorry if you and mom, or her parents, aren’t okay with that. You can’t rush these things.”
“Exactly my point. You should be together now. Hell, you should be engaged now so that when she finishes school, you can start planning the wedding. I thought we’d hashed this out.”
I stand up, tired of hearing the same old stories. “I’m sorry, Dad, but I have plans this weekend. We’ll have to do it another time.” Without another word, I turn and walk out of his office.
I end up leaving work early, too tired and annoyed to do much of anything. All I’ve been able to think about today is Harley and how we went bungee jumping yesterday. I love the way she makes me feel: free, able to do my own thing, fun. She doesn’t remind me that I have responsibilities and obligations. She doesn’t remind me that my future is set in stone. She just lets me be who I am. I wish I could be more like her. She’s a take charge of your life kind of person. She doesn’t let others force her into things. She’s what it means to be free.
I’m not even paying any attention to where I’m going. All I know is that I got into my car at the office, and when I snap out of my thoughts, I find myself parked in front of the animal shelter. I open the door and climb out. Walking in, I’m greeted with the sound of barking dogs. I walk up to the woman behind the counter.
She smiles as her eyes take me in. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, I’m looking for Harley. Is she around?”
“She is. Just let me give her a call to make sure she isn’t with a client.” She picks up the phone and speaks in a low whisper. Moments later, she hangs up the phone. “Just head down this hallway and she’ll meet you.”
I start down the long hallway that has doors on either side. The barking only grows louder. A door to my right opens and Harley steps out. When she sees it’s me, a smile forms and her green eyes light up.
My Accidental Forever (Love You Forever Book 5) Page 7
