If I Never Knew You Trilogy Bundle

by Aubrey Bailey

"Are you afraid?" Orion asked.

  "Only for you," I said, picking the helmet with more padding. "And how bad your pride is gonna hurt when I whoop your ass." I flipped my head upside down so that I could get my hair into the helmet before putting it on my head. "Umm, can you help me, please?"

  "Sure, boss," Orion said. He stepped forward and fastened the helmet on for me, but I noticed that his fingers stayed on my skin longer than necessary.

  "Okay, you two are next," the employee in charge of the pit said to us.

  I climbed into a blue cart and Orion chose a black one.

  We went around for about twenty laps, as we had lots of tickets. I wasn't counting, but near the end, the guy in charge would hold up his hand and drop a finger to show how many laps we had left. I was ahead of Orion for the most part, but on the last lap he was right beside me the whole way. I couldn't tell, but I figured he might have been letting me win when he spun out a couple times and caught right back up. When our last lap was done, I pulled into the pit with him right on my tail, so I guess you could say I won. At that point, I figured I had had so much fun that I didn't care if he let me or not.

  "Wanna go to the arcade and see if we can decide a clear winner in those games?" Orion asked me.

  "Psht, you're just mad I beat you at your own game," I laughed.

  "Yeah, yeah, rub it in," he said, unconvincingly.

  We went through the doorway leading to the parking lot and passed a rather attractive couple. The girl looked at us as we went by.

  "Madison?" she said, suddenly. I stopped and turned. She had red hair and hazel eyes. "Madison Summers?"

  "Oh, my God!" I said, suddenly recognizing her. "Nora!" She was one of my friends from high school, but I hadn't seen her in a few months. I had been so busy with my work and Damian that I had not kept up my high school friendships.

  "I haven't seen you in ages!" Nora cried. "Everyone was saying you were pregnant."

  "Uh, no," I said, coolly, somewhat offended that she would believe such gossip.

  She looked at Orion with an expression of curiosity on her face.

  "Hi, I'm Orion. Nice to meet you, Nora," Orion said, stepping forward and shaking Nora's hand.

  "Hey, Orion. Are you Madison's boyfriend?" Nora asked, giving me a sly look.

  "Sure, why not?" Orion replied.

  "Cool!" Nora said. "This is Colby." She motioned for the guy with her to come over. "He and I have been together for three months next Monday."

  "Oh, that's nice," I said.

  "Good to finally meet you," Colby said. "Nora's told me some nice things about you."

  "Really?"

  "So where are you guys going?" Nora asked.

  "We were just heading over to the arcade so Madison can try and beat me at a few games," Orion said with a grin.

  "Dude, you know the rule...you're supposed to let the ladies win," Colby said.

  "Do you two wish to join us then?" Orion asked.

  "Sure, if that's okay with you, Madison," Nora said.

  "Why not?" I said, smiling.

  Nora and Colby went back and got in their cars and I climbed into Orion's. "Why did you do that?" I demanded an answer when Orion got in.

  "What? She's your friend," Orion said in his defense.

  "Okay, I can understand the invitation to the arcade," I said, "But why did you tell her that you were my boyfriend?"

  "Well, what else was I supposed to do?"

  "Say you were a friend."

  "Well it's too late now," Orion said.

  We drove to the arcade without speaking until he pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car. He leaned in close to me. "Hey, if it's really all that bad, I'll fix it. I'll tell her that I was just joking and that we're just friends, alright?"

  "Don't worry about it. It's not like I'm planning to see her again after today anyway." In all honesty, I liked thinking that Orion was my boyfriend. That idea gave me a warm, secure feeling that having a boyfriend should give you.

  After a few minutes, the other car pulled up. "Well, it's show time, Mad. Let's give 'em a hell of a show, right?" Orion laughed.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I LEANED BACK against Orion as he took hold of the control stick for some fighting game we were playing. Colby was going against Orion in this game and it was going to be an exciting match. Nora was standing next to the machine. I had originally been playing Colby, who destroyed me-so much for chivalry-and now it was Orion's turn. I tried to move aside to give him room, but he just came up from behind and wrapped an arm around me, telling me to stay put.

  "Hey, do you guys want anything to drink?" Nora asked.

  Orion and Colby were both mashing furiously at buttons and muttered that they wanted cokes.

  "Madison, would you like to come with me?" Nora asked.

  "Alright," I said. We walked out to the long snack bar, which was crowded at lunchtime, and waited in line.

  "So how long have you known Orion?" Nora asked, as we waited for our drinks.

  "We've been together for a couple of weeks," I lied.

  "Really? You guys seem like you've been together forever," Nora said. "How did you meet?"

  "Through my brother," I said, not really wanting to give further information. Nora always did seem too nosy for her own good.

  I ordered a large blue raspberry slushy and told Nora that I intended on sharing it with Orion even though I was also getting a coke for him. Nora got a chocolate milkshake for herself and a coke for Colby. We also decided to pick up two large orders of fries that we would share with our "boyfriends".

  "Hey Madison, think you could still beat me at Dance Evolution ?" Nora asked after we finished our lunch.

  "Oh, I so could," I boasted, hoping that I was still good at it.

  "Well, we'll just have to see about that," Nora said.

  We found the game unoccupied and I took a long draw from my slushy and handed it to Orion before jumping on the game. Nora and I went through about fifteen minutes of dancing on the highest level, desperately trying to beat each other. Sweaty and tired, I won in the end. Nora gave me a congratulatory hug and we rejoined the guys.

  "We should probably be heading back home now," I said. "I'm guessing Andy will be there by now."

  "Yeah, we should," Orion said. "It was fun getting together with you two."

  "Same for us," Nora said. "Oh, Madison," She gave me a piece of paper with her phone number. "Please give me a call sometime, okay? I really miss you."

  "Will do," I replied, put the paper into my pocket and hugged her again before Orion and I left the arcade.

  "Nice girl," Orion commented.

  "Yeah...I feel so bad about having ignored her texts and calls, though. She sent me a few after we graduated, but I never got back to her. Luckily, she didn't ask me why. God, I'm a crappy friend."

  "No, you're not," Orion said. "You just have a lot of other things to deal with."

  I realized that what he said was true, thanks to my jerk father, who, besides just leaving us without notice a few years ago, rarely visited Andy and me. This really bothered my mother, who already had enough troubles already, so that she didn't need any more emotional turmoil. That is one reason we were all so close-we all got left and we all had to pick up the pieces together. Together, we were a family; alone, we were nothing.

  I realized I was discussing some of these thoughts out loud when Orion got so distracted that we started drifting into the other lane. "Geez, what am I doing?" he shouted.

  After we both calmed down, Orion changed the subject and decided to ask me about my relationship with Damian. "So, Andy tells me he's some sort of provider or something?" Orion asked. "He helps you and your mom with bills and other things? What does he get in return?"

  "Don't worry about it," I said. "It's none of your concern."

  "What happens to my friends is my concern, Madison," Orion said.

  "I'm telling you not to worry about it!" I shouted.

  Suddenly, he pulled the car off
to the side of the road and put it into park. Turning to me, he said,

  "I'm just worried about you and Andy. I may have only known you a few days, but it's not that difficult to pick up on what's going on. Every time his name gets mentioned, you never want to talk about him. Every time he calls, you don't want to answer. But you do." Orion sighed. "He is intimidating you, isn't he?"

  I looked away from him and out the side window.

  I felt his hand on my arm, light and gentle, which made me relax somewhat.

  "Madison, would you please just look at me?" I turned my head back to face him. "I don't know what's going on with you and him. I don't even think I want to know."

  "Then why are you going on about it?" I asked.

  "Because I'm worried about you," Orion said. "I know I don't really have any right to be, but I do care about you. You're my best friend's sister, and you've become one of my friends too. I don't want to see you getting hurt in any way."

  "I'll be fine," I said. "But thanks...for the concern."

  Orion nodded and began driving again. We were at my house within minutes. "Thanks for today, all of it," I said as I gave him a hug.

  "It was my pleasure," Orion answered. "Please remind Andy that I'll see him at seven tomorrow, alright?"

  "Sure thing," I said. I opened the car door.

  "Madison," Orion said. "Andy doesn't have this number, so..." He wrote down something on a small card and handed it to me. "That's my cell phone number. If you ever need to talk, or need me for any other reason, like pretending to be your boyfriend," He grinned broadly, and I giggled at what he had said, "don't hesitate to call, alright?"

  I thought about it for a few seconds, before nodding and getting out of the car. I watched him pull out of the driveway and disappear around the corner before I went inside.

  "Where have you been?" Mom asked, almost instantly. "I know you and Orion went go-karting, but does it take that long??"

  "We were at the arcade, too," I said. "We ran into Nora and her boyfriend Colby, so we hung out with them for a while."

  "Oh," Mom said. "Well Damian called a few times. I told him you were at work."

  "Oh, thank you so much." I said. "Good thinking. Have you eaten yet, by the way?"

  "Yes, Andy and I had left over Chinese," Mom said.

  Andy now walked into the room. "Uh, your work called for you. They were wondering if you could do the night shift, eleven to seven."

  "I guess so," I said. "Do I need to call them back?"

  "Yeah," Andy said. His eyes looked dreadful.

  "You okay?" I whispered, when mom left the room.

  "Yeah, I'm fine." Andy said. I raised an eyebrow. "I just don't like you working that shift."

  "Andy, nothing really happens," I reassured him. "I just help with some cleaning and stuff like that."

  "I know, but there are always the drunks who come in and they always hit on you." Andy said.

  I laughed. "I promise to stay away from the drunks," I said. Andy just nodded, although I knew he wasn't happy with the idea. I was at least glad that he didn't tell Mom about the drunks. She would probably want me to quit and get another job, as she was a worrier like Andy. I was more carefree like my father. "Hey, I'll be home when you get home from school."

  "No, you won't," Andy said. "Remember, you're working three to eleven tomorrow."

  "Oh yeah, right," I said. Geez, I don't go to work for almost two days, and then I forget the majority of my shifts! I called the restaurant and told them I could do the shift. I then went and got a couple of hours of sleep before coming down the stairs in my uniform at ten.

  "I asked Orion if he could pick you up tomorrow morning," Andy said.

  "Andy...you didn't," I started.

  "He agreed instantly," Andy said. I glared at him. "All I did was ask if he would do you a favor, and he said, 'Sure, what does big sis need?' So he'll be here at seven tomorrow morning."

  "Andy, stop trying to get us together. It's not going to happen. Even if he does break up with Crystal, there's no way I'm getting away from Damian, unless he gets bored of me or something like that."

  "Hey, I can hope and pray, can't I?" Andy asked. I rolled my eyes and kissed his forehead. "What was that for?"

  "Just cause," I replied. I put on my work shoes and jacket.

  "Do you have your key?" Andy asked. I took my keys out of my bag to show him, before putting them back.

  I headed for the front door and opened it, but jumped back when I saw Orion there with his hand raised, ready to knock. "Orion!"

  "Sorry," Orion said, putting his hand down.

  "Oh, Madison," Andy said. Orion and I looked at my brother. "I'm sorry I forget to mention he also agreed to drive you to work too." I gave Andy one of my looks.

  "Well, now you don't have to leave this early," Orion said.

  "Fine, fine. Come on in, Orion." He and I watched some TV for a while with Andy and Mom before they went to bed. Then Orion and I left for my shift at Wayside.

  On our way to the restaurant, Orion asked me, "Do you know how to drive, Madison?"

  "I took the test." I said. And I passed. I'm just not fully licensed yet, but I can drive. "Why you ask?"

  "I was just thinking that I might as well start teaching you, if I'm going to be teaching Andy," Orion said. "If I start with you soon, then you can help me help him."

  "Okay," I said. "What's the catch?"

  "No catch," Orion said. "Like I told you earlier, we're all friends who help each other out."

  "Do you have a job, other than playing in the band?" I asked, changing the subject.

  "Yes I do, and you'll find out about it eventually," Orion said. I was curious, but didn't press the matter.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A FEW DAYS later, I walked into my house just after midnight, exhausted from another day of double shifts. For the last few days I had been going crazy with work and I felt as if my whole body might crumble into pieces at any moment. I was lucky that I was young had lots of energy when I needed it, even if I was dead tired when I finished work.

  "Madison?" I looked over at the couch to see Mom waking up.

  "What's up?" I asked.

  "I was watching TV and I must have fallen asleep." she admitted. "Let's both go up to bed, okay?"

  When we got to the top of the stairs, Mom noticed Andy in front of his computer in his room.

  "You have school tomorrow," she said.

  "No, I don't," Andy countered. "Tomorrow's a teacher work day, remember?"

  "Oh, right," she said, rubbing her eyes. "What are you planning to do tomorrow?"

  "I am going to spend most of the day with Warren. His family is going on vacation around my birthday, so he won't be here then. We're hoping to go to the arcade."

  Mom and I said goodnight to Andy and retreated to our rooms exhausted. I was so tired I think I even slept in my dreams. I remember Orion making an appearance or two. Mom and Andy were both in my dream, as usual. But that's all I remember, really.

  I woke up at ten the next morning. I sat around for a while before taking a shower. I went downstairs and took my uniform out the dryer and put it into my bag. After changing into dark blue jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt, I styled my hair, put some library books into my bag, got my shoes on, and went to the bus stop. The great about the library was that it was only a few minutes away from the restaurant, so I could linger for a while if I wanted and not have to worry about rushing off to work.

  At the library, I dropped the books into the return slot then I browsed through the novels in the Fiction section. There wasn't really any particular book I was looking for, but I wanted to read something on my breaks.

  "May I help with anything, Mad?" I turned and smiled, as my eyes met a pair of very familiar brown ones. "I haven't seen you in a while, Madison."

  "It's only been a few days," I said.

  "A few days is still a long time for not having seen you," Orion said, smiling. I felt myself blush and quickly looked
back at the shelf next to me. "What type of book are you looking for?"

  "Just something light to read on my breaks this evening. What are you doing here?"

  "This is where I work." I looked at him, wondering why he hadn't told me about this job. "I work from 3 to 8 four days a week-Tuesday through Friday," he explained.

  "Come with me," Orion said, reaching out and taking my hand. "There's something I would like to show you while I'm on a half hour break now." I let him lead me away from the books to behind the checkout counter, and into another room.

  Orion smiled mischievously, before leading me through a few racks of movies, before stopping at a red door. "Where are we?" I wondered.

  "We are standing in front of my office," Orion said. "My dad runs the library services in Knightsbridge, so I was able to get this part-time job as assistant to the Head Librarian. Molly is the other assistant and we both share this office-but on different days, of course. Would you like to see?"

  "That depends. What are you planning on doing?" I asked, surprised to find myself flirting.

  "That depends on your reaction to my office." Orion said.

  He opened the door and pulled me inside, before closing it again. Since Molly had worked there longer than Orion, she used the side of the room with the large window, while he got the side with the shelving. Each of them had their own desk. Orion's desk had a bunch of papers on it and, stepping closer, I could see that most of them were the beginnings of songs. On top of a filing cabinet was a stack of CDs and on the table next to it was a CD player.

  "Well...this definitely screams you," I remarked, turning around to look at Orion. He was leaning against the door and still smiling. "What?"

  "Nothing," Orion said..

  I couldn't help but smile when he began to look nervous. "Orion?"

  "Just," Orion started, "Would you be mad if I said you were beautiful?" I cocked an eyebrow. He slowly smiled. "I mean it."

  I laughed slightly, but inwardly I was thrilled that such an attractive guy would also be so sweet to me. The next thing I knew, he leaned down and pressed his lips carefully against mine. At first, I was a bit nervous being where we were, but then I allowed myself to relax and pressed my lips harder against his. My arms draped over his shoulders as his wound around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I could tell he was restraining himself just as much as I was, since we both had partners. I guess we were cheating, but, somehow, that didn't really matter to us.