“We’ll see about that,” he teased back. “Do you want to discuss safe words in case things get weird?”
“Seriously?” I asked with a scrunched up face and a light laugh. “Where are you really taking me?”
“Just blink twice if you want me to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of there,” he continued. We drove west towards the dive bar we were in the other night, but then continued even beyond that. As we headed down one of the side streets, a woman caught my eye.
“Slow down, I think I know her,” I said, pointing to the woman up ahead.
“I can’t imagine you know anyone around here,” he muttered, slowing his truck down a bit.
“I do, Sam and I used to give her sandwiches after our shift at the clinic on the weekends,” I said, recognizing her from her worn yellow shoes. “She looks like she needs help.”
“You know Crazy Jamie?” he replied in disbelief. “I hope you’re kidding.”
“Maybe she needs a ride or something, she looks lost.”
“For the record, you would never actually pick up a hitchhiker, right?” he asked, looking over at me.
“Stop the truck,” I directed as we caught up to her.
“What do you want to do?” he asked skeptically, pulling the truck over. The woman in the yellow shoes didn’t even seem to notice a vehicle had stopped behind her. She just kept slowly walking.
“I don’t know, maybe she needs money or she’s hungry or something. She told me she has kids. Why would she be out this late?”
“Syd, there are a lot of reasons people are out this late around here, but none of those reasons are usually good ones,” he said protectively. “I see her around here all the time. She’s bat shit crazy. I’ve never seen her with kids.”
“Just give me a minute,” I said, reaching for the door handle.
“Whoa, no,” he said, reaching over me. “Syd, I think this is a bad idea, I don’t want you getting out of the truck.”
I studied his face as he said it. His tone was somewhat domineering, but I believed he had good intentions. “I haven’t seen her in a couple months, she looks so frail. I want to help her,” I said sincerely. I rummaged through my purse. “I have some money we can…”
“Stay here,” he answered reluctantly, cutting me off. He climbed out of the truck, pushing the door lock behind him.
I watched as he approached the woman, rolling down my window just slightly to catch the conversation.
“Cr, uh, Jamie,” he said, catching himself on the nickname. “Your name is Jamie, right?”
“Aren’t you one of them Harlow boys? I’m not looking for any trouble,” she sneered.
“That’s not why I’m here,” he said softly. “My girl, she’s in the truck, she knows you. She said she used to give you food outside of the Mountain Ridge Vet Clinic?”
“Ah, those girls,” Jamie said with a fondness in her voice, “let me guess, that pretty blonde one? I never did know her name…”
“Yes, Sydney. She hasn’t seen you in awhile and just wanted me to check on you. Are you okay, do you need anything?” Cole asked her sincerely. He looked up at me in the truck and I smiled back at him.
Her response was muffled, and I wasn’t sure what she was saying to him. He reached into his wallet and handed her some bills. She patted him on the arm and he walked back to the truck. I quickly hit the unlock button so he could climb back in.
“What did I just do,” he groaned with a laugh.
“You helped someone, what do you mean?”
“I think I just gave her drug money,” he said, shaking his head at me. “Do you really do that kind of thing?”
“I try to,” I said honestly. “I mean not drug money, they should use it for food. There aren’t exactly a lot of homeless people in Mountain Ridge, I don’t know where they all go, but if I saw someone who needed something, yes, I would help them. You have to try.”
“You’re going to get eaten alive on the west side,” he muttered, still shaking his head. “You’re really something.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said playfully.
“Nothing bad,” he replied, flashing me a huge grin. “Just please, don’t come over to this side of town. You don’t need to see just how many people really need something. You won’t make it out of here. Or worse, you’ll start collecting humans instead of animals,” he teased.
“Is it that bad over here?” I inquired. Honestly I hadn’t ventured out much, but I couldn’t imagine anywhere near Lake Tahoe was really that bad.
He was still shaking his head in disbelief over what had just happened as we headed further down the road. Finally we pulled into a wooded area that led us to a decent-sized parking lot. He parked the truck and I saw a few other people walking from their vehicles towards the beach.
“Just promise me you’ll stay close,” he said protectively. “No wandering off to help crazy people.”
“Come on, she wasn’t that bad,” I replied, reaching for the door handle. Before I could pull it open, Cole slid over and pressed his lips on mine.
“Just stay close,” he reiterated. “And remember, we don’t have to stay here long. If it’s not fun, we can go.” We climbed out of the truck and headed towards the bonfire. It was actually a pretty impressive blaze and there were quite a few people there. Guys cheerfully greeted Cole, asking where he’d been recently like they hadn’t seen him around for awhile. There were groups of girls standing around with red solo cups, looking me up and down. I wished they looked a little more friendly, but I understood I was the outsider here. Everyone else seemed to know each other.
“Hey man, glad you made it,” a stocky dark haired guy said to Cole as they half-embraced.
“Yeah, it’s been a bit,” Cole interjected. “Sydney, this is Rick.” He shook my hand and I politely said hello, still conscious of all of the eyes on me.
“Hey man, can you help me with one of the kegs real quick?” Rick asked Cole.
“Um, yeah,” he replied reluctantly, looking at me. “Let me grab Luke and Tyler real quick, she knows them.”
Cole led me towards the fire where I recognized the two guys from Soul Punch. I smiled to myself, still unable to stop the amusement I got from that stupid band name. I obviously didn’t know them at all, but I guess they were the only familiar people around in the grand scheme of things. I suppose it would be nice to get to know the guy Sam was crushing on a little better.
“So, I’m still hanging with your girl Sam tomorrow, right?” Luke said as we approached them.
“Yeah man, two o’clock tomorrow?” Cole replied. “Hey, I’m gonna help Rick with the keg real quick, can Sydney stay here for a minute?” The two guys nodded. I was not looking forward to the awkward forced conversation.
“Great show the other night,” I offered with a compulsory smile as Cole walked away. So much for staying close to him all night. I wanted to blink twice so he would throw me over his shoulder and carry me away like he promised.
“Yeah? Glad you liked it,” Tyler replied, sipping on some drink out of a plastic cup. Luke was holding a beer bottle. “We’re still working on some things, but it’s really coming together. We’re trying to fuse all of our influences together, so we’re going for like a Beastie Boys meets Rage Against the Machine with a little early Metallica in there.”
“Oh, that’s the sound you’re going for?” I stated, trying not to laugh. That should not be a sound at all. A few girls walked up to join our conversation.
“So, new girl tonight? Let me guess, you picked her up at a show?” a girl with dark hair said with a negative tone towards Luke and Tyler.
“Nah, this is Cole’s girl,” Tyler responded. I could see by her expression that she was displeased.
“Figures he would bring some Ridge City LC to the party,” a tall blonde girl scoffed. I wasn’t even sure what that meant. They walked away as quickly as they arrived, and I could hear them still talking about me as they left.
; “Am I not welcome here?” I said, motioning my head towards the girls walking away.
“No, that’s just Britt for you, the blonde one. She’s Cole’s ex,” Luke said, shrugging them off. “She’s always a bitch, even when she likes you. Don’t pay attention to them.”
Cole finally made his way back to us and I was so relieved.
“Sorry,” he said sweetly to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “None of these other jackwagons are strong enough to get the keg off the truck,” he teased towards his friends. I imagined stuff like that happened to Cole often, the same way a tall co-worker of mine was always asked to get everything off the top shelf.
“Whatever man, we’re musicians, we don’t need muscles,” Tyler responded playfully. “You guys want a drink?”
“Syd, do you want anything?” Cole asked courteously.
“No, thanks, I’m fine for now,” I said politely.
“I don’t need anything either right now man, but thanks,” Cole replied.
“You guys are so lame,” another guy stated walking up, joining in on the conversation. “Keg stands in ten, come join in.” The guy walked away after he said it, joining another group of people behind us.
“So, are you impressed so far?” Cole teased as Luke and Tyler left us to go talk to some girls.
“It’s a nice night out at least,” I stated optimistically. “But the girls don’t seem too friendly.”
“Ignore them, come on,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I want you to at least meet a few of my friends. Then if the party sucks we can go.” He led me towards a couple guys standing on the other side of the fire. They were drinking beer and having an energetic conversation.
“Well look who showed up,” a guy matching Cole’s size exclaimed as we walked up to him.
“Sydney, this is my buddy Bryce. We work together at the bike shop,” Cole introduced us. We shook hands politely.
“Well hot damn, I guess you didn’t make her up,” he teased Cole. “But Sydney, where are all your friends? Come on Cole, you can’t bring a pretty girl to the party without her friends.”
“Luke already has a claim on one we’re going out with tomorrow,” Cole replied with a shrug. “You’ll have to find your own girl.”
“Yeah, another night of choosing from the Cove girls. That’s a jerk move,” a guy next to Bryce chimed in.
“This is Pierce,” Cole explained, and he pointed to another guy as well, introducing him as Jet. I hoped that was just a nickname.
“So you guys all work together?” I asked, trying to make friendly conversation. It made sense they were friends with Cole – they all looked oddly similar. Broad chests, big biceps, and tattoos on all four of them.
“Yeah, we all grew up around here,” Pierce explained, chugging down the rest of the beer in his bottle. “We all work at the bike shop.”
“When Cole actually shows up,” Bryce razzed him. “What’s old Harvey got you running now? You’re barely around these days.”
“Eh, I don’t know man, just some new people he’s been working with,” Cole shrugged. “He’s got some new projects.”
I wondered if these other guys knew about Harvey’s business. Cole seemed vague, even with them.
“You guys want to head out rucking next weekend?” Pierce asked the guys. “You could join us if you want,” he said politely towards me.
“I’m not sure I even know what that is,” I replied embarrassedly.
“Sometimes on the weekends we get together with our packs and scale the mountains,” Cole explained. “It’s pretty fun, but exhausting. I’ll have to take you out for a beginner’s course one of these days.”
“Hey, this is my buddy Chad,” Jet said to the group as another guy walked up and joined us. There was no way I would remember all of these names by the end of the night. Cole shook the new guy’s hand and introduced himself, which led me to believe he was an outsider like me.
“Do you guys know each other?” Bryce gestured towards Chad and I. “He’s a Ridge City guy too.”
What on earth was a Ridge City guy? Yeah, I lived in Mountain Ridge, but no one ever referred to it as Ridge City if that’s what he meant. This was the first I’d ever heard of that term, and it came up more than once tonight.
“Oh yeah? I’m in the graduate program at MRU,” Chad said towards me with a smile.
“I just graduated from there in May,” I replied. “Vet science.”
“Really? I’m in the MBA program, I’m working on a tech startup,” he continued.
“Cole!” shouted a voice from across the way. “Let’s unload the truck!” I couldn’t even see the guy yelling since he was pretty far back from the fire.
“Will you be fine for a sec?” Cole asked me courteously. Bryce and Pierce and Jet all looked like they were going with him.
“How many kegs did he bring?” Jet asked throwing up his hands. “I already helped him with one earlier. Do you want to come up with us Chad?”
“I’m not really a heavy lifter,” he commented, gesturing towards his body. He was skinny and only about five-foot-eleven, looking like a runt next to the others. I laughed at his self deprecating humor.
“Stay here,” Cole said politely towards me. “Jet, stay here too,” Cole ordered. He turned and left with Pierce and Bryce to head towards the parking lot.
“Always the protector,” Jet said, sounding a bit annoyed. “Hang tight, I need another drink.” Jet walked away and it was just Chad and I left for forced awkward conversation this time.
“So how do you know these guys? You may be the only other one from MRU here,” I said to Chad.
“Yeah, these guys are a trip. I have a BMW 1300 series, a motorcycle, and it broke down out this way the other day. Jet was awesome, he fixed it right up for me and we got to talking. The receptionist was flirting with me and somehow I got invited here,” Chad explained. “I wasn’t going to come, but they seem like pretty cool guys. And honestly the girl was cute, so that enticed me. I don’t know though, it seems like a whole different world out here, right?”
“Why do they keep calling us Ridge City people? I’ve never even heard that before,” I said, shaking my head. “We live like ten minutes away from them.”
“I know, and it’s the way they say it too, like they’re repulsed. They hear you go to MRU and they have to act overly unimpressed. Yes, mock me for having an education, that’s brilliant,” he stated with a laugh. I totally understood what he was saying.
A group of girls passed us, staring us both down.
“Who are they?” one of the girls asked in a stuck-up tone.
“That’s Cole’s LC,” another replied with a visible eye roll as they passed. “I don’t know who that guy is, but Cole’s gonna beat his ass when he sees him talking to her.” They giggled and kept walking.
“What’s an LC?” I asked offensively to Chad as the girls walked away. “They keep saying it, and it doesn’t sound nice.”
“I have no idea,” he replied. “But your boyfriend isn’t seriously going to kick my ass, right?” He almost sounded a bit nervous, which made me laugh.
“No,” I began, “and I’m not sure he’s technically even my boyfriend. But he’s not that kind of guy anyway, I don’t know why they’re saying that.”
Jet rejoined us, bringing me a red cup filled with something. It was a nice gesture so I accepted it, even though I had no plans on drinking it.
Chad and Jet talked about some of the girls, and Jet planned to wingman for him once the receptionist showed up. Finally Cole came back, carrying two plastic cups in his hands.
“You already have a drink?” he asked curiously, staring at the container in my hand.
“Yeah, Jet brought it over,” I said politely. “Thank you by the way.”
“This one is better,” Cole said, handing me a new cup with a wink. He grabbed the other one from me and poured it out into the sand.
“That was a fresh beer man, what are you doing?” Jet said, sounding co
mpletely offended.
“Come on, there are a few other people I want you to meet,” Cole said sweetly, putting an arm around my shoulders. We started walking towards another group of six or seven guys. “Try it,” he suggested as we walked, gesturing towards the cup in my hand. “I figured it out.”
“Figured what out?” I questioned, oblivious to what he was talking about.
“Your drink. I solved it,” he said, sounding proud of himself.
I took a small sip, smiling as soon as it hit my lips. “Yes you did,” I grinned. “Where did you get this?”
“Someone up in the parking lot had a bar out of their tailgate,” he snickered. “Sprite and grenadine, right? No alcohol?”
“Yeah,” I responded, still smiling. I thought back to two minutes ago when those mean girls suggested Cole would fight someone just for talking to me, while in reality, he seemed so far away from that type of guy. He was gone making me a Shirley Temple for Pete’s sake.
We made it to the next group of people and Cole introduced me collectively to them all at once. They were all guys he played beach volleyball with once a week. They all politely said hello and said kind things to me, encouraging me to come down and watch a game sometime. They all seemed really nice and cordial. It seemed the guys around here had far better manners than the girls. I was interested to learn that Cole even played volleyball, he didn’t really strike me as a team sports kind of guy. This seemed like good progress, learning these things about him. After some small talk, he excused us from the group.
“Do you want to walk down by the water?” he asked once we were alone. He held onto my hand and a shiver coursed through me as I thought back to the last time we held hands on the beach, when his lips were pressed against mine.
“Yes,” I said eagerly. “I have some questions for you.” I glanced over at him and he had a huge smile on his face.
“It’s barely after ten,” he remarked, looking down at his watch. “It’s nowhere close to midnight.”
“That’s not what I mean,” I said playfully. “What are all those girls calling me? A Ridge City LC or something? What is that?”
“Don’t let them bother you, they’re harmless,” he explained, leading me down to the water’s edge. We kicked off our sandals and set down our cups.
The Falling Kind Page 9
