Her eyes grow wide, tears gathering in the corners. “He wasn’t a soldier,” she tells me.
“Where the hell is he?” I growl.
“I think I scared him off,” she says, looking away from me.
“How?”
“When a blonde girl is screaming rapist in the middle of a diner parking lot with a dozen truck drivers and bikers around, it doesn’t end well for the accused,” she explains through a crying laugh.
Holy…this girl. Wow. “I’m impressed, doll-face. You can obviously hold your own.”
Regardless of what she’s been through, she looks a little proud hearing that. “Thanks,” she says. “I had no choice.”
“What happened to your wrists?” I ask, inspecting the wounds.
“Landon had me in handcuffs the whole way here. One of the truck drivers at the diner helped me out of them.” Even the thought of someone helping her out of cuffs makes me want to kill someone, but I’ll try to keep that to myself.
“Wait, where is Landon now?” I was going to ease up but, Jesus, I just realized he’s still on the loose.
“I attacked him. I don’t know. He has his car, though.”
“You attacked him?” Miss Sasha, who’s all of five feet plus a few inches and a hundred and ten pounds, attacked some man? Besides the fact that I would pay to see something like that, I don’t see how it’s physically possible. Cali, I can see doing this, not Sasha.
“Well, I head butted him and kicked him more than a few times in the…”
“Baby, say it for me…” I press with a smile. I shouldn’t be smiling right now but I have my girl, and she’s safe, so I can’t control it.
“I kicked him in the dick at least three times,” she blurts out. “And it felt amazing.”
“Ouch,” I shudder. “Note to self: Don’t mess with this bombshell.” I try to imagine the beauty of this scene playing out and it’s just awesome. “So, do you know where you left him?”
“About twenty miles back that way,” she points toward the highway. “His car was on the side of the road.” I didn’t see any car on the side of the road when I drove by. Fuck.
I pull my phone out and send Tango a quick message, letting him know I have Sasha but that Landon is still on the loose. God knows where the loser is now but at this point, he’s got to be taken out.
“I’m sorry,” Sasha says.
“You had no idea this was going to happen. We don’t know how he gained access to their house still, but this guy knows what he’s doing, which makes him a little more dangerous than we thought.”
“He didn’t show any hint of danger in the years I spent with him. How does someone just turn out to be like this? I don’t understand,” she says. “Am I really that stupid that I didn’t notice any odd behavior all that time?”
I lightly press my finger under her chin and urge her to look at me. “There’s no way you could have known.” There’s also no way to make it sound less offensive so I’m not going to say it but she’s lived in a bubble her whole life, and people like her don’t look for the bad in people. Being friends with Cali for so long, I would think she’d be more suspicious of everyone, but I know a lot of people have the mentality that things don’t happen to them. “There are some screwed up people in this world.”
“I don’t want to be around this anymore,” she says quietly. “This isn’t the kind of life I want.”
“You’re kind of a badass now, though, you know?” I tell her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and joining her on the hood of the car. “And the way you got rid of Manny…that was just fucking smart as hell.”
Sasha pulls in a sharp breath and tucks her hair around her ears. “Yeah.”
“I have an idea,” I tell her.
She looks over at me with question. “There’s a hotel a few miles down the road. A nice one. Want to hide out there for tonight?”
She bites down on her bottom lip and offers a small smile, so small it’s hardly there but it gives me something to work toward. “Your phone’s buzzing,” she says.
I look down at the three messages displayed on my phone. One from Tango, one from Cali, and one from Bambi. Bambi doesn’t know I found Sasha yet, and I have a text of nothing but ten question marks from her. “Everyone is pretty worried about you, doll-face. Even Bambi.”
“Greta,” she corrects me.
“Same thing.”
“I want to leave Texas,” she says. I’m not sure I expected to hear this from her, but I can’t say I’m overly surprised either. Especially after today.
“What about Cali and Tango?” I sort of figured she’d never leave them.
“I don’t know. I realize this stuff could follow me wherever I go but Texas is all I know, and I feel like I need a fresh start. I need to break away from what I’m on my way to becoming.”
“I’m not following,” I tell her.
She smiles a little and looks over at me. “I’m on my way to becoming someone’s housewife. That’s not what I want.”
“An apron, heels, and nothing else underneath? That does work for me.” I know that’ll earn me the incoming slap she’s preparing, but I’m kidding. Kind of.
With a light clap to the side of my face, she giggles. “I’m serious.”
I won’t dare tell her I am too. “Okay then.”
“You’ve talked about Boston a lot. You said the women are bitchy and tough as nails, and that the environment is completely different than Texas. Is that all true?”
“Well, yeah, it’s completely different out there. They get this white stuff too…it’s cold, and it turns black after a day. Sometimes yellow if you have a dog.”
“Snow?” she questions with a wry grin.
“Yeah, that shit.”
“I haven’t seen snow,” she tells me.
“How?”
“I’ve lived in South Texas my whole life. I don’t get out much, I guess.”
“Well, that explains it.” I get this feeling the conversation between us is about to fizzle, and I wish I had more insight to this split decision, or what appears to be a split decision.
“I’m going to leave. I am. I need to. For me.” She sounds like she’s still getting used to the idea herself.
I’d sound a lot like a chick if I asked about us right now. So I don’t. Us. It’s been less than a few weeks. There isn’t a defined us. This is the perfect time for her to pick up and leave. She has no commitments. She’s been polishing cars at my shop instead of working for her pissed-off dad, and I can’t think of one good reason why she should stay. Other than me.
“Then you should,” I tell her. But, I really don’t want you to.
A weak smile forms over her lips and I want to know what’s going through her head. Is this just in response to the trauma she went through today? If so, it’s understandable, and maybe she’ll change her mind in the morning.
Sasha wrenches her hand around the collar of my shirt and pulls me into her, kissing me so damn hard it almost hurts. Although that could be the pain in my heart I’m feeling too. With her legs resting over mine, I know exactly what this all means and I sure as hell wish it wasn’t a goodbye kiss.
“What’s that for?” I ask as she pulls away.
“You’ve changed my life in just a few weeks. I’m not sure I could thank you enough for that.” She’s saying goodbye.
“You want my car? It’s a rental anyway. I’ll settle the finances with it, and you can have the car. Make your way over to the east coast. Do you what you need to do, doll-face.”
She inhales a deep lungful of air and exhales the same way. “I can’t take your car,” she says. “But…you’d do that for me?”
“I’d do just about anything for you,” I tell her. This conversation is getting heavy. Heavier than I can handle. I don’t like when shit goes down like this.
She rests her head on my shoulder, nuzzling it into a comfortable crook and releases another bout of
air. “Will you hate me?”
“I couldn’t if I tried,” I tell her. But you might unknowingly break my damn heart. “I’d offer to go with you out there, but I’m getting the sense you need to find yourself a bit. You know, alone. Unless…that’s not what you want?”
She closes her eyes and thinks for a long minute. “I want you to come with me, but—” Yeah, the but. “I’m afraid I won’t end up finding myself if we do that.”
“I can respect that,” I tell her, feeling that ache grow in my chest. I didn’t think my chances with her were a possibility in the first place, so this shouldn’t be so shocking. She’s on a different level, one among a different class of people. I’m dirt, and she’s a polished piece of gold. I’m Jack, and she’s lemonade. Spiked drinks don’t always taste so good, I guess.
“Take it. Take the car. Go,” I tell her.
“I have nothing with me. Not even my license or phone.”
“I have your purse. I figured you’d be missing it. I know how chicks are with their purses. It’s in the car with your phone. I brought you a change of clothes and your makeup too. I even have your charger. I figured we wouldn’t be home tonight, so I wanted you to you have your stuff.”
“You did all that? My charger?”
“Yeah, the one you lent to me weeks ago. I have it. The other stuff, I didn’t even think about, I just did it.” My mind was everywhere while I was grabbing shit to leave and come get her. I wish I had known while I was racing to find her that when I did, I would have to let her go. Here I was imaging the worst being that she wouldn’t be here when I got here. Now the worst is that she’s here and leaving here without me.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” she says. “I’ve been too scared to make the move, and I didn’t know where to go. Now, I think I’m too scared not to go. and Boston seems like a good idea, I guess. But right this second feels a little soon.”
I hand over the keys to my car. “If you need this, you should just do it. Don’t think about it.” What am I saying? Fucking think about it. Don’t leave me, Sasha. God, I feel like I finally found you, someone, maybe “the one,” and you’re leaving. And I’m pushing the car over the ledge again. “Will Cali be okay?”
“She’s told me to go a million times, just so I can experience something.” I slide off the hood of the car and pull her with me. “How will you get back if I have your car? This is absurd. I’m not leaving right now. I need to plan things out first.”
“What’s left to plan?” If you’re leaving me, just do it. Don’t drag this out. Don’t take my heart and make it melt a million more times before you wave your last wave to me. Damnit to hell, this fucking sucks.
“How will you get home?” She asks again.
“I have people for that,” I tell her, laughing to put her at ease. Laughing to hide how I truly feel because I feel something I haven’t let myself feel before. I feel so much that I just want to do what’s best for her and what will make her happy. That’s a lot of feelings for me. I liked it better when I felt nothing at all.
“People, like them?” Sasha says, pointing behind us.
“I couldn’t stop them from following me. They had to get Tyler from school first, so they got a little behind.”
Cali’s running across the parking lot, and she throws herself into Sasha in non-Cali-like fashion. “I was so worried about you,” Cali says. She pulls away and looks her in the face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” Sasha says.
“You’re my sister, Sasha. You’re my family. I can’t lose you too.” I know she lost her blood-sister, and Sasha has been there for her ever since, so I can’t see how Sasha picking up and moving across the country so suddenly will be easy on her.
When Cali backs away a bit, I grab Sasha’s hand and drop the keys into her palm, squeezing her fingers around it.
“Cal,” Sasha says softly. “I’ve had a lot of time to think today and…I’m going to make that move.”
“What are you talking about?” Just as the conversation begins getting heavy again, Tango limps across the lot perched on crutches, and Tyler is on his back. The plates came out last week, and he’s in more pain now than he was right after the accident, but at least the man can get a pair of pants on now. The hospital gown was getting a little nasty after the second week of him wearing nothing else.
“I’m making my cross country trek. I’ve made a decision that I’ve needed to make for a long time. I could sit and think about it a little longer, or I could just go. I guess it’s possible that if I don’t do it now, I won’t ever. This could be my chance to start over and leave all this crap behind me. Landon, especially. Wherever he is.” If she doesn’t leave now, she may never go. I can change her mind. Then she might hold it against me some day, and that won’t end any better.
“Landon’s still alive? I would have thought you’d have that taken care of, Sash,” Tango says through laughter. “Well, I can assure you, it won’t be that way for long. Actually, I can promise you that.”
“Tango,” Cali says. “It’s been weeks, and no one has been able to find that douche bag. We can’t make promises like that, babe.”
“Auntie, are you leaving?” Tyler asks quietly.
“You know I’ll come home and visit you, peanut,” Sasha tells her. Whether there is truth behind that or not, I don’t know. But I hope it’s the truth, for my selfish sake.
“Oh,” Tyler says, resting her cheek on the top of Tango’s shoulder.
“Auntie has to do this, Tyler,” Cali says to her before turning back to Sasha.
“It feels sudden,” Cali says. “But I get it.” Cali leans in to hug her again and whispers something in her ear.
“I know. Bad timing,” Sasha says. “But who knows what the future holds, right?”
“Right,” Cali says.
“You sure this is what you want?” Tango asks her. “I’ve got men out in Boston. I’ll get you their numbers if you ever get into trouble.”
“She’s going to be fine,” I snap at Tango. She has my number too.
“I know this is weird, and we’re sitting in the middle of a gas station parking lot, but…”
“Go,” we all tell her. They sound a little more confident than I do, but it’s the right thing to do.
“We’ll give you two a minute,” Tango says. “Cal, come on.”
Cali gives Sasha one more hug. “I love you, Cali-girl,” Sasha tells her.
“I love you more, sis.” Both girls have tears in their eyes. I’ve heard some of the stories about how many times these two have had to say goodbye to each other, but when you love someone, it doesn’t hurt any less when you have to say goodbye again.
“Bye, Auntie,” Tyler says softly. Tango hobbles over to give Sasha a hug, and Tyler kisses Sasha’s forehead. “You call us if you need anything. Keep your doors locked and get an alarm installed wherever you settle. Promise me, kid?”
“I promise,” Sasha tells Tango.
Tango gives her a kiss on the cheek and squeezes his arm around her tightly. “Take care of yourself. Call us when you get there.” He’s quick to turn around and head back to his truck. I know he’s grown attached to Sasha over the past few years. He’s told me about it like she’s their family. We’ve all had to say goodbye to family too much. All of us except Sasha. Maybe it makes us stronger, makes us who we are in life when we break away from everything we love.
Cali and Tango are back in the truck, and I’m staring at Sasha—the scared look in her eyes. She’s leaning against the driver’s side door, and I want to pin her between my arms and selfishly never let her go. Instead, I pin her between my arms and kiss her. I press my lips into hers and inhale all of her air, leaving us both breathless. With my arms wrapped around her, I pull her into me, holding her as tightly as I can without hurting her. Her arms are around my neck, and I lift her up to bring her face in front of mine. “It’s been only a few weeks, huh?”
<
br /> “Doesn’t feel like it,” she says.
“So, is it okay if I tell you that you’re the first woman I’ve ever loved? I guess when you know, you know. And I know. Jesus, do I fucking know. I’ve spent so long hating so many people for so many different reasons that it isn’t a question in my mind about how I feel for you.”
“Jags,” she says.
I press my finger over her lips. “I don’t want you to respond to me, okay? I’m the fool that fell in love with a girl so quickly. It’s like pre-ejaculation. You can’t always control it, as you’ve learned.” I try to laugh. It’s a joke. It’s dirty. It makes her uncomfortable, and I obviously have to leave her with that.
“That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me,” she says, through muffled words beneath my pressed finger. “But, Jags.”
“No, Miss Sasha. Don’t. For me. Don’t say anything else.”
“Okay, Mr. Jags. Jason. You know, I’m a little bummed we aren’t going to stay in that hotel room you were talking about tonight. But I guess Cali and Tango might not be up for that with Tyler if they have to drive you home.”
“Hold that thought,” I tell her. That’s something I don’t have to debate. It’s getting dark anyway, and who wants to drive four hours in the dark tonight? And Sasha shouldn’t be starting her cross-country trek at night.
I run to Tango’s truck to see what they want to do.
“Would you guys by any chance mind grabbing a room down the street for the night. I’m not sold on Sasha driving across country tonight after the day she’s had. I don’t want her staying alone here, either.” By the looks on their faces, staying in a hotel down the street wasn’t on their agenda, but they wouldn’t say no to me. Or Sasha.
“Yeah, man, of course,” Tango says. “I’m sure I can find a way to keep Cali from getting bored in a hotel room tonight.” Cali jabs him in the gut and Tyler giggles at something she does not understand. These two.
“Thanks, guys. You can follow me. I know where the place is.”
I force Sasha to climb into the passenger seat and take off from this sleazy parking lot we’ve all spent too much time in today. “Do they mind?” Sasha asks.
Spiked Lemonade: A Bad Boy Sailor and a Good Girl Romantic Comedy Standalone Page 25
