Pedal to the Metal

by Stephanie Nichole

  I look up at him while trying to catch my breath. “I love you Jagger James.”

  “Lucky me. I love you too Londynn Parrish," he says before I reach up, wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him like crazy just like Farrah suggested.

  ****

  Later that night I wake up next to Jagger. He’s actually asleep which must be a first. Normally I wake up and find him awake, unable to go to sleep. It’s a nice change I think as I study his face. He’s so unguarded and relaxed when he’s asleep. I trace the muscles of his chest and abdomen with my finger, careful not to wake him. I lay my head back on his chest. I’m almost asleep when the doorbell rings sending us both bolting straight up in bed. Jagger looks over at me “What the hell?” I shrug. He’s out of bed and slipping on a pair of sleep pants before I even move. “Stay here.”

  I wait until he’s out of the room then I scamper out of the bed and grab one of his t-shirts. I stand at the top of the stairs where I see Connor standing at his door. Connor looks worried and I’m guessing that Jagger senses it too because the muscles of his back are tense. “Jagger, I’m sorry we all tried to call but I think your phone’s dead.”

  “It probably is. What’s wrong?”

  I’ve almost reached Jagger when Connor lets out a long breath. “It’s Ace. There was a fight and he’s…he’s in the hospital.” Connor shakes his head. “It doesn’t look good.”

  I can see the walls instantly fly up around Jagger. This is hurting him, but he’ll never admit it. Just when things seem to get on a good track something else happens. JI know Jagger is going to push me away but I’m going to be there for him every step of the way. I don’t care what he says because when he looks back he’ll remember that I was there.

  ****

  Jagger

  Tonight, had been so perfect until Connor had showed up to tell me about Ace. The instant he had said it my heart had fell to my stomach. I love my brother. I knew he was difficult and he caused a lot of shit, but he was still my brother. And even though there was no excuse for his ass like behavior I understood why he felt the need to behave that way. Most people didn’t even know the real Ace, they only knew his reputation. The real Ace was just the little nine-year-old boy who came home from school to read to his mom, only to find she had passed away and he never go to say goodbye. Our mom had been his best friend and losing her had hurt him more than the rest of us. He was terrified of loving someone because he knew he ran the risk of losing them. He loved Kynlee, but he had refused to recognize or admit it and now he might never get the chance to.

  After Connor left Londynn had pulled me back up to the room and helped get dressed then she quickly did the same. She ushered me back down the stairs to her car. She never said anything and neither did I, it was like the night that I had lost Harlyn and Harper, I was on autopilot. I was moving but I didn’t really know how. Now, I’m sitting in the passenger seat of Londynn’s car while she weaves in and out of traffic. I should tell her to be careful or slow down, but I don’t. Instead I keep replaying what Ace had told me about how we were doomed in the love department and maybe he’s right.

  Maybe, I’m fooling myself by thinking of a future with Londynn. Maybe, the James’ are meant to be alone or just always lose what they love. I glance at Londynn from the corner of my eye and I know I can’t let what happened to Harlyn happen to her. If I am doomed, then I refuse to take her with me. She tells her car to call Sadie. “Hey, were about to pull up. I’m going to drop Jagger off up front the go park. Where does he need to go?” she asks.

  “I’ll meet him outside," Sadie replies then hangs up.

  Londynn pulls up in front of the doors and lets out a ragged breath. “Okay, I’m going to go park then I’ll be in there.”

  It’s now or never. “No.”

  “What?” she asks.

  I shake my head and stare blankly ahead because if I look at here and I see that hurt in her eyes I’ll cave. “I said no. I don’t want you here. I want you to go home. Now.”

  “But Jagger…”

  “No this is a family matter and you’re not family.” With that I open the door and walk off to meet Sadie. I don’t look back to see what Londynn does because I know if I see those tail lights what’s left of my heart will break. When I reach Sadie, she pulls me into her arms. “How is he?”

  She shakes her head “Not good but he’s in surgery.”

  I start heading for the door and Sadie stops “Aren’t we waiting for Londynn?”

  Shaking my head “No, she’s leaving. Why is he in surgery?”

  Sadie looks like she wants to say something, but she keeps her mouth shut and I’m thankful because if I had to tell her why Londynn is leaving she’ll probably slap me then give me her motherly like wisdom which will send me running in search of Londynn. “He got beat pretty badly and he was stabbed a few times. Once in the abdomen and twice in the lower back area. He lost a lot of blood before anyone found him.”

  The anger the rolls through me is as bad or worse than when I first saw Londynn after Ryce had beaten her. I turn around in the silent hallway and punch the wall. Sadie quickly grabs my arm and examines my hand. “Did anyone see who did this?”

  She shakes her head “No but it had to be more than one because there’s no way just one guy could cause this much damage to Ace. You know him, he’s one hell of a fighter. You all are so I know it was more than one.”

  “You’re right.” We continue down the hallways to the surgery waiting room where my brothers and Kynlee are waiting. When I walk in my brothers are on their feet hugging me. I walk over to Kynlee and sit next to her, she glances up at me. The beautiful girl I had first met is gone. Instead of her warm brown eyes they look hollow. The redness and puffiness surrounding them is enough to break anyone’s heart. She really does love my brother and it kills me to know that he loves her, but she may never get to hear him say that.

  I reach out and wrap an arm around her shoulder. “It’ll be okay Kynlee.”

  “What if it’s not?” I hear her mumble through her tears.

  I try to lighten the mood with a small laugh “He’s a James, we don’t go down without a fight.”

  She looks up at me. “I know Ace is difficult and not the nicest guy but who would want to do something like this? I mean how do you just jump someone, stab them then leave them for dead? It’s crazy!”

  “It is. I’m sorry Kynlee.”

  “Why are you telling me you’re sorry? You didn’t do this and he’s your brother, I should be telling you I’m sorry. I’m just so mad at myself right now," she says fiercely.

  “Why are you mad?” I ask her.

  She shakes her head and I notice her eyes fill with tears again. You’d think as humans we’d eventually run out of tears, but I know firsthand that never happens. “Because he was only at Red Hott because I wanted to get a job there which caused a fight between us. I stormed out and I think he assumed I went there. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me.”

  “Kynlee you’re allowed to have a job if you want. Ace needs to chill with her protectiveness. I love him but it’s true. Besides how bad could the job be?”

  “It’s a cocktail waitress but he thinks the uniform is too short and I don’t even get it! I mean he makes it clear all the time that we’re just friends or just sex so why is he so protective of me? It’s not like he really cares.”

  I shake my head “That’s not true. He may not show it, but I know that my brother loves you. He may never say it because he’s actually terrified of getting hurt, but he does love you, that’s why he’s protective.”

  A small smile flashes across her face then she scans the room. “Where’s Londynn?”

  “She went home," I reply.

  I watch as the confused look on Kynlee’s face changes to knowledge. “Londynn loves you, you know?”

  I shake my head at her then rest my head against the wall staring at the ceiling. I know she loves me but that’s why I have to let her go. Ace is ri
ght, we’re doomed.

  Chapter 27

  Jagger

  At some point while waiting for news on Ace we had fallen asleep all over the waiting room. In the middle of the night the doctor came out an announced the surgery had been successful and he was now in recovery. He warned us that Ace would be kept in ICU for observation over the next few days and might even require another blood transfusion, but he was optimistic he would make a full recovery.

  Axell turns to face our circle of family. “Okay Sadie and I want to stay here. Bowie will you take Jovi home and make sure he gets to school. Jagger, can you go into the shop this morning and make sure everything is on schedule?”

  “Yeah but I need a ride. Londynn had to leave and she drove me over here," I tell them.

  Bowie squeezes my shoulder “I gotcha.”

  Axell turns to face Kynlee who is standing next to Sadie. “Are you staying?” She nods, and Sadie wraps an arm around her shoulder.

  “Okay, let’s go," Bowie says. “See you guys around lunch," he tells Axell, Sadie and Kynlee as we turn to leave.

  As we make our way down the hallways to the parking lot Jovi asks “Where’s Londynn? I figured she’d be with you.”

  I sigh “We kind of had some words. Well, no actually I kind of took my stress out on her and I told her to leave because she wasn’t family.”

  “Damn Jagger! What the hell were you thinking?” Bowie whispers fiercely at me.

  I shake my head in disappointment at myself.“Well it doesn’t matter now she left.”

  As we walk through the last set of doors I hear Bowie let out a low whistle and Jovi asks, “What if she didn’t?”

  “What?” I ask him and turn around to face the sterile looking waiting room. In the corner of the empty waiting room I see Londynn curled up in one of the hard-plastic chairs, asleep. I run a hand over my face. “I’m such an ass. Y’all go on ahead. I need to talk to Londynn.”

  “See you at work," Bowie tells me as him and Jovi turn and disappear into the parking lot.

  I walk over to where Londynn is asleep. For a minute I’m overcome with emotion, I had been horrible to her last night, yet she had stayed. She had slept in a chair that I’m sure wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world. She could have easily driven off and back to her place, to her comfortable bed. Instead, she stayed in an empty waiting room by herself after the way I had talked to her. I couldn’t dislike myself more than I did right now. I rested a hand on the side of her cheek and I saw her eyelids flutter, then those dark hazel eyes met mine. “Morning pretty girl.”

  “Morning. How’s Ace?” She asks.

  “He’ll be okay. He’s out of surgery and they expect him to make a full recovery. He’ll be in ICU for some time for observation and he may need another blood transfusion but he’s gonna make it.” As she sits up her hair falls forward and I move it out of her face. “I’m sorry about last night Londynn. I took everything out on you and you didn’t deserve that.”

  “It’s okay Jagger," she reassures me.

  I shake my head “No, it’s not.”

  She stands up and extends her hand down to me. “Come on let’s go get some breakfast.”

  I take her hand and we walk hand and hand out to her car. When we get there she hands me her keys and I open her passenger side door but before she got in I pulled her back towards me. I slip my thumb under her chin and tilt her head back to look into her eyes. “Why’d you stay?”

  She locks her arms around her neck and her fingers start running through the back of my hair. “Because I love you Jagger. I knew you were stressed so I didn’t take it to heart. I mean yes my feelings got hurt at first but I knew you didn’t mean it. Besides when you look back on this time I want you to remember that I was here for you because I love you and I don’t want you to face things alone. I’ll always be here for you.” She tip-toes and her lips meet mine. Before I know it were both so caught up in the kiss that we forgot all about the surrounding world and troubles. When we finally broke away we were both breathless.

  “I love you, Londynn," I tell her before helping her in the car.

  As I walk around the car I have to wipe at my eyes. I’m not sure why I’ve gotten so emotional but hearing Londynn tell me why she stayed had caused this reaction. When I start the car Kings of Leon comes over the speakers and I feel a smile cross my face. I drive until we reach this little beach shack that has serves the best omelets I’ve ever tasted. Once were out and heading towards the doors Londynn say “I’ve never been here before. Actually, I didn’t even know this place existed.”

  “A lot of people don’t.” The waitress that passes us as we enter tells us to take a seat anywhere. I lead Londynn out to the balcony that overlooks the ocean. You can feel fall in the air, there’s a cool and crispness to it. “Is this okay?” I ask Londynn once were seated. I wasn’t sure, but I thought maybe it was too chilly here for her.

  “Yes. This is beautiful," she says, staring off at the ocean and rising sun.

  I follow her gaze and look out over the ocean. I might have been born and raised in California, but I was not a fan of the beach or ocean. Yes, it was beautiful especially this time in the morning, but the ocean held a certain fear to me. It was so large, so immense that it was kind of terrifying. Not being able to see the end in sight was more than a little overwhelming. Bowie and Jovi were both surfers, but I had never even set a single foot in the ocean. “It is beautiful but a little scary too.”

  “Scary?” She asks turning back to study me.

  I shrug, “Yeah I don’t know there was something scary about the immensity of the ocean, something so large and deep that you can’t see the end in sight.”

  “There are a lot of things in life that hold immensity within them, that doesn’t mean they should be scary.”

  “I know but they are to me," I admit to her.

  The waitress appears and takes our orders once she’s gone again Londynn turns back to me. “So do they have suspects on who did this to Ace?”

  I shake my head “No, no one at Red Hott saw it but I’m sure they’ll want to talk to Ace once he’s awake.”

  “Red Hott, isn’t that a strip club?” She asks looking more than a little disgusted and confused. I just nod my head yes then she asks, “What was he doing there?”

  I take a deep breath before explaining. “Apparently, Kynlee wanted a job there an— “

  “Kynlee wants to be a stripper?”

  I laugh at her reaction. “No, she wants to be a cocktail waitress because she thinks it will help her with her career in the long run. You know she wants to be a lingerie and swimsuit model and eventually a playmate, right?”

  Londynn scoffs, “No I didn’t.”

  “Yeah apparently, it’s why she moved to L.A. but anyways I guess when she told Ace about her new job he wasn’t too happy, and they had an argument, she left, and I guess he decided to go after her and figured she would be there only she wasn’t. When he was leaving out he was jumped, we think.”

  “Oh my gosh, that’s horrible. I mean I know that Red Hott isn’t the safest place and it isn’t in the safest part of town but that’s horrible and poor Kynlee I bet she’s a mess," Londynn replies.

  “Yeah she was kind of a mess," I admit to Londynn. Afterwards we ate in silence and Londynn dropped me at home before heading back to her place to get ready for work. I felt like I needed to do something to make up for how horrible I had been to her last night, but I’d have to think of something or ask Axell for advice. I got dressed and headed to work.

  ****

  Londynn

  Half way through my shift I started to feel the effects of last night hit me. I was getting sleepy and I couldn’t seem to stop yawning. By the time my shift ended I was ready to just crawl into bed but as I left the store I saw Jagger leaning against my car with a bouquet of red roses. When I got closer he extended them out to me “Hello there pretty girl.”

  “Oh Jagger, they’re beautiful. Thank you," I tell h
im as I take the roses from him and bring them to my nose and inhale deeply.

  “So, I wanted to make up for last night. Ace is awake, and the cops are going to talk to him. We’ve been asked to be present and since you are family I was hoping you’d come with me," he tells me.

  I hesitate for a moment because I’m not sure if he actually does want me there or if he just feels like he as to in order to make up for last night. I step closer to him and look up into his amber colored eyes. “Jagger, I’ll be more than glad to go with you if that’s what you really want but I don’t want you to feel obligated to take me because of last night. It isn’t necessary that I go.”

  “Londynn, I want you to come with me. You’re a part of this family, my family. Please come with me," he says.

  I nod my head and hand him my keys since I didn’t see his car anywhere. He opens the door for me then walks around to the driver’s side. When we arrive at the hospital I spot Jagger’s brothers, Sadie and Kynlee all standing around waiting for us. As we get out and approach the group they all welcome me which helps calm some of my nerves. I’m not sure why I’m nervous though. We all gather around Ace’s bed with two detectives whose names I’ve already forgotten because the sight of Ace makes me sick to my stomach. One side of his face is nothing but a swollen, bruised mess. He can’t even open his eye on that side. He’s got multiple cuts, stitches and bruises on his body from what I can see. An IV is in his hand distributing fluids and a medicine of some sort.

  Everyone is standing around and gawking at Ace like he’s an alien, myself included when Ace finally says, “Damn I knew I felt like shit, but I had no idea I looked like it too.”

  It makes us all laugh which is exactly what we needed right now. I notice that when Ace tries to laugh with us he winces and grabs his side like he’s in pain. As suddenly as the laughing had started it ends. One of the Detectives steps forward and says. “We need to ask some questions about last night while it’s still fresh in your mind.” Ace nods for him to continue and the detective gets out a small notebook and a pen. The detective asks a series of questions, most of which we already know the answers to thanks to Kynlee. About what time he believed he arrived and left Red Hott, what he was doing there, did he have any enemies but the one everyone wanted to know the answer to was finally asked. “Did you see who did this to you?”