by Imani King
“Look, I know you, Adele.” My sister gave me her best drunk-serious look. “You want kids. You want to settle down. You also want to be a vet. You can do it all.”
“Not like there are men lining up to play baby daddy,” I said.
“Speaking of which, have you talked to Braden since getting back? Mr. One Million babies? I think he might be wanting to line up—”
I nearly choked on my drink. His name alone was enough to bring back a slew of memories. The night of graduation. The fight. My stupid morals, his ridiculous need to keep me away from his family. We were both so wrong. Yet he always felt so right.
“Is he still in town?” I asked nonchalantly.
“Oh, yes. He’s one of the local firemen. I haven’t seen him in a while, though. Usually, he’s cooped up in his ranch. I never thought he’d be such a hermit.” As she explained this, she jumped off her stool, fixing her skirt. “I do know he’d like to see you.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” She snatched her purse and scampered toward the back of the bar.
The neon sign that spelled out ‘The Dive’ flickered ominously. Such a stupid name for a bar, especially when most of the décor consisted of blank picture frames and quasi-hunting trophies. Hipsters sure did have a strange sense of style. Not that I was complaining. At least the booze was good…
I was about to take another sip when I realized that my glass was empty. My cheeks were already warm. I knew I shouldn’t have another.
Wanting to occupy myself until my sister came back, I turned slowly, surveying the crowd. For the most part, people were engaged in light conversation. A few girls were leaning into their counterparts, trying to score a free drink or two. The men, of course, drank it all up, their eyes wandering over their curves with obvious hunger.
A pang of desire flared inside of me. How long had it been?
Just then, someone walked through the doors. The overhead bell chimed with a soft twinkle of sound.
The second I saw him, my heart skipped a beat.
No. It couldn’t be him. Could it?
Our eyes locked.
My breath hitched in my throat.
Braden.
Of course he would show up. Just my luck. Then again, this was the only bar in town. It was almost guaranteed that I would run into someone I knew: I just didn’t expect it to be him.
He smiled at me, his blue eyes blazing.
I don’t know how it was possible, but somehow, he had become even more attractive. His shoulders were broad, his physique well-toned. Had he gotten taller? The subtle five-o’clock shadow suited him well, softening the hard edge of his jaw.
I tried to be subtle in my staring, but I knew I was doing a horrible job of it. I just couldn’t look away.
“Hey, I’m back.” Dahlia tapped me on the shoulder. “You ready to go home?”
“Um, actually… I think I’m going to have another drink.”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “I was under the impression you were done drinking with all these young kids.”
I proved my point by beckoning over the bartender. He placed a fresh drink in front of me.
“Are you alright? You’re acting strange and your face is all red.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” I tried to play it cool, but all I could think about was Braden. I could feel his eyes burning a hole into the back of my head.
“Adele. Girl, come on.”
“What?” I could feel my cheeks grow even redder.
“What happened while I was in the bathroom?”
“Nothing happened.”
“I know you’re lying.”
“Shut up.” I took the tiny red straw between my lips, thinking the alcohol would calm me down. I couldn’t understand why my old high school boyfriend was having such an effect on me. I hadn’t seen him in almost ten years.
“And now you’re sipping your drink through a straw? There’s definitely something wrong with you.” She placed her hand on my forehead. “You’re burning up.”
I swatted her hand away. “I’m not one of your first-graders. You don’t have to take my temperature.”
“Then tell me what on Earth is going on.”
I sighed. “Fine. To the left.”
She immediately craned her neck, trying to see past me.
“Not so conspicuously! Jeez.”
She giggled, a mischievous glint in her eye as she stood on the rungs of her stool, hoisting herself above the crowd.
“Dahlia!” I tugged her down. Leave it to my baby sister to make a scene.
“Was that Braden?” she cooed, a bright smile on her face. “Did you guys make out or something while I was gone?”
“No!”
“Then, why are you smiling like that?”
“We just… Looked at each other.”
“And that made you all bashful?” she asked, unconvinced.
Well, I wasn’t about to tell her that the mere sight of him had stirred up a slew of fantasies, most of which were on the naughtier side. I couldn’t help it. He was drop-dead gorgeous and had always reeked of sex, and I was attracted to him. It wasn’t my fault that my mind had already undressed him ten times over, trying to imagine what he was hiding under that tight t-shirt of his.
I’d returned to those fantasies dozens of times while I was away. I had skimmed over the parts about how we left things. I’d pushed away that fight that ended everything.
And right then, under the veil of alcohol, the fight was increasingly hard to remember. All I remembered was the way he smelled, the musk of his skin. The tight, sinewy grip of his muscles.
“Well, are you going to talk to him?”
“Are you kidding?” I snapped, coming back to reality. “After what he did to me?”
“Do you even remember why you two broke up?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget?”
“Alright, so why did you?”
“You know why,” I shot back, my voice taking on a sharp edge. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have.
“If you ask me, you two should bury the hatchet and start fresh.”
I sighed. Maybe she was right.
But, then again, I didn’t know if I could forgive him. Braden had been dishonest with me and once you break my trust, it’s not easy to get it back. Still, we were just kids. Did we really know what we were doing?
These thoughts swirled around my head like an angry vortex as I struggled to make sense of them.
Thud, thud, thud.
Heavy footsteps headed our way. I looked up to find a brick-wall of a man standing right in front of me. He smirked as he leaned onto the counter. “Can I offer to buy you ladies a couple of drinks?” he asked, his speech slurred and his breath putrid with the stench of booze.
“No thanks,” I answered politely. “We were just going home.”
I slid off my seat and started for the exit, but before I could make much leeway, he grabbed me by the arm and reeled me into his body. “Oh, come on baby, don’t be like that,” he whispered into my ear as his beefy arms wrapped around me like a vice, threatening to snap me in half.
“Let go of me!”
“I just want a little kiss. What do you say, baby? Can you do that for me?” His lips approached mine.
The urge to vomit stirred in my stomach.
“Let go of her, you big brute!” Dahlia hit him with her purse, but to no avail. “She already said no!”
He growled, like some sort of aggressive dog. “Stay out of this, you little bitch.”
Dahlia gasped, her face growing red with anger.
Suddenly, I sunk my teeth into his arm.
He howled in pain and stumbled backward. “Now, why did you have to do that?” His beady eyes darkened with malice. “I just wanted to buy you a drink, but now, you’ve made me angry.” He advanced toward us, his fists clenching and unclenching by his side.
I step
ped back, trying to maintain my distance. “Look, I don’t want any trouble.” I tried to reason with him, but I should have known better. There was no reasoning with a horny drunk man.
“Is this man bothering you two?” A deep, husky voice rang out in the dark of the bar.
My eyes widened when I saw Braden standing there. Even though he was tall and well built, he was dwarfed by the man that stood before him.
“Who the hell are you?”
Braden just smiled a knowing smile before he wound up a punch, letting it fly toward the man’s face. His attack was so quick that I barely saw it happening. One second, the brute was standing there and the next, he had collapsed into a heap on the ground.
I watched in disbelief, my jaw practically hanging agape.
“Come on, let’s get you two out of here.” The second Braden hooked his arm with mine, it was like my whole body exploded with a surge of energy. After the initial shockwave, it shimmered under my skin, reached every nerve ending until the colors of the world became brighter and the air sweeter.
Our eyes locked once more and for a second, it felt like the whole world had come to a screeching halt. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“Don’t mention it.” Gently, he pinned a strand of my hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering on my cheek.
I found myself leaning into him, my heart pounding in my chest.
After all these years, he still made me feel the same way. It was as if we were still in high school.
The fight was gone, forgotten.
I tried to focus on it for a moment — the yelling, the insults hurled back and forth. The harsh words I’d held onto for years and years.
But instead, I focused on Braden’s eyes. The curve of his full lips, the long line of his jaw.
And just like that, I was back where I was all those years ago.
In his arms, about to make a fool of myself.
I guess some things never change.
Chapter 3
Braden
I escorted the girls to the parking lot, one arm around Adele’s shoulders. It was an instinct — protecting her — even though it had been so many years since I’d seen her.
“Are you two alright?” I asked once we were beyond the blare of music. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Adele shook her head, causing her dark curls to bounce along her shoulders. She looked at me with her wide-set, deep brown eyes. There were a few hints at lines at the edges of her eyes, but apart from that, she looked exactly like she did when she was eighteen. She was just as beautiful as I remembered, maybe even more so.
“Good, because if he had, I would need to march back in there and kill him.”
Dahlia started to chuckle, and then she laughed — hard.
“What?” Adele snapped.
“Nothing. I just find it cute that Braden still wants to play the knight in shining armor for you. It’s sweet.”
“Old habits die hard, I suppose.” I wrapped my arm tighter around Adele’s shoulders, pulling her tight against my chest.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at me. Seeing those soft, full lips once again, I nearly lost it. All I wanted to do was lean down and kiss her and make up for all the lost time.
Suddenly, she pushed away. “If you don’t want to drive us home, then we’ll just call an Uber.” She paused. “I mean — I know it’s late. And you’re doing whatever you’re doing these days. Ranching or — I’m not really sure.”
“Fighting fires,” Dahlia interjected, but I didn’t pay any attention to her. My eyes were locked on Adele.
“Nonsense.” I unlocked my car, opening the door for her. “After you.”
She ducked inside. I waited for her to settle herself before I closed the door.
“Don’t let her go this time around,” Dahlia whispered, a hand on my chest. “She won’t forgive you twice.”
I mulled over her words, trying to make sense of them. Did this mean that Adele had finally forgiven me? The thought inspired me with a burning hope deep within my chest. Maybe I still had a chance to make things work.
With this thought in mind, I rounded the car, jumping into the driver’s seat.
“What happened to your motorcycle?” Adele asked, refusing to look at me. Instead, she peered out the window, staring off into the distance.
“I had to sell it.”
A look of confusion washed over her. “But, you loved that thing.”
I shrugged.
She turned to look at me as if the answer was written on my face or something.
“Do you mind telling me the way to your house, Dahlia?” I glanced in the rearview mirror. She had this amused look on her face. When we were younger, she thought Adele and I were the cutest couple on the planet. She always pined for a relationship like ours. I bet she never thought it would end the way it did.
Why did I do it?
“Sure!” She leaned forward. “You’re going to take Route 2 all the way down to Mulberry Street. From there, it’s about a mile, and then you’ll turn left into Whitechapel. It’s the bright blue house on the right.”
I nodded. “Not far from my ranch.”
As silence settled in the car, I turned on the radio. Soft rock spilled from the speakers, reminding me of the first-ever slow dance I had with Adele. It was at homecoming, sophomore year. I was incredibly nervous—so nervous that I was sweating through my shirt. Still, I mustered up the courage to ask the prettiest girl in school to dance with me. Through some miracle, she said yes. It was from that day forward that we started dating. Best two years of my life.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at the bright blue house. Dahlia quickly scampered out of the car and waved at us. Subtly, she winked at her sister, thinking I wouldn’t notice. I did.
“So, I’m guessing you want me to take you home now…” I trailed off, hoping she would say anything but ‘yes.’
“Did you have something else in mind?”
“Well, my ranch is just up the road. We could have a few drinks, and I promise not to hit on you. Much.”
She laughed. The same bubbly laughter that I remembered so well.
“Is that a yes?”
“I mean, I don’t have anything better to do. I haven’t started my new job yet,” she said, her voice a bit tentative. “Or school. I don’t have any obligations…”
“I’ll take it.” With a wild grin on my face, I put the car into gear and sped down the road. The world passed us by, the town giving way to the wide open fields and the mountains beyond.
“So, what’s the real reason you got rid of your bike, Braden?”
I sighed. I didn’t want to tell her about my ex-wife, but at the same time, dishonesty is what got me into trouble the first time. I didn’t need history to repeat itself. I wet my lips, carefully choosing my words. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing and push her away yet again.
“Well?”
“My ex-wife made me sell it.”
Adele didn’t say a word. Her fingers were tugging on a loose thread on her jeans. Her eyes were downcast, making it impossible for me to read her impression.
“So, you got married then?”
“Yeah…” I frowned. “I only—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself.” She held up her hand to keep me from talking. “It’s not like anything we said back in high school was real. That was a long time ago.” There was a hint of something in her voice — something unsure, or hurt, or maybe a tiny bit sad.
My lips pressed together, unsure of what to say or do. The air in the car became thick. I drove a little faster, eager to get back to the ranch. Maybe once I was on home turf, things would go my way.
We rode in silence the rest of the way, but soon, I couldn’t take it anymore. “What about you?” The question came flying out of my mouth like a bullet.
“What about me?”
“Are you married? Seeing anyone?”
“I was at a dive bar, alone, with my sister. What do you think?
”
“That’s a good point.”
“So, you didn’t find anyone when you were away?”
“No. A war zone isn’t the best place for that, you know?”
“Right,” I said. “I thought about you a lot, out there. How was it?”
“It was good. Humbling, but good.”
I just nodded. When I found out Adele had enlisted as an army medic, I had marched to her home with the intent of stopping her, but I had gotten there too late. Her mother simply turned me away at the door. That day, I felt like I had lost a piece of my heart. My chances at rekindling what once was, felt like they had been lost forever.
But, now she was back, and I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
I pulled into the driveway and looked at her, rubbing my hands against the rough fabric of my jeans. It felt like my heart would burst out of my chest at any moment. “Adele?”
Before I knew what was happening, she cupped my face, pulling me toward her side of the car. Our eyes locked, forehead to forehead. Her soft breath caressed my lips, making me shiver with desire. Electricity sparked through the air as my hands fell to her hips, squeezing her tender flesh. Oh, how I had dreamed of this moment.
Without hesitation, I leaned forward and kissed her. Our lips locked together like two puzzle pieces, finally coming together to complete a long-awaited puzzle. Fiery passion spilled out of my soul as I pulled her closer, practically dragging her onto my lap.
A deep, carnal desire overwhelmed me. I wanted this woman.
No.
I needed her.
Desperate to taste her, my tongue darted into her mouth, tangling with hers. They started their erotic dance as my right hand slid down her body, creeping between her legs. She spread them for me, her body naturally giving itself up to mine.
Neither one of us could wait any longer. This moment was years in the making.
But, just when things were starting to get good, she pulled away. She was breathing hard and the corners of her lips twitched like she was just about to smile, but instead, she shook her head and got out of the car.
