by Pj Fiala
Soon Jeremiah’s family found them chatting and joined them. It was comfortable with his family. They were all very genuine people, Joci thought. Emily, Jeremiah’s mom, had a great sense of humor and ribbed his dad quite a bit. She called him an old coot more than once, and he feigned hurt, but his laugh gave him away.
Soon enough, it was time to get rolling again, so they all started back to their bikes to get packed up and ready to ride. Joci and Jeremiah finished their waters, threw the bottles into the recycling bin, and walked arm in arm to his bike. When they got to the bike, Jeremiah pulled Joci in for a hug and kiss.
“I have competition, I see.”
She looked up at him, her brows furrowed. “Really? Mind filling me in?”
Jeremiah laughed. God, he was handsome. His smile lit the whole sky. He had beautiful straight teeth, and his eyes sparkled when he laughed.
“The old guy couldn’t talk to you enough. My mom noticed it, too. I saw her smiling, and at one point, she looked at me and winked. Not that I blame him, I’m pretty hung up on you too.”
She hugged him and pulled back to look up in his eyes. “Just remember, if you leave me, I have options.”
A smile spread across her face, and he leaned down and pecked her lips. He held her head in his hands and kissed her—long, slow, deep. She thought her toes were curling up in her boots. Crazy sensations zinged through her body, landing in her core. Her stomach flipped at this new affection and how demonstrative he was.
Jeremiah put his forehead on Joci’s. “It’s going to be painful riding with a raging hard-on. Look what you did to me!”
He ground himself against her a little so she could feel his hardness.
“That’s not fair. You’re making me wet,” she whispered.
Jeremiah hugged her tight. “If I have to suffer, so do you. But, when we get home…don’t expect any sleep tonight.”
She moaned as her nipples pebbled into hard peaks, and her core throbbed just thinking about how he felt last night. It was dream-worthy.
“Seriously, you two need to get a room.” Joci turned to see Sandi and Jon. Joci hadn’t had a minute to talk to Sandi this morning.
“That’s what I was just telling, Joci. How are you two?”
Jeremiah and Jon shook hands, and Joci hugged Sandi and then Jon. Joci and Jeremiah gave them the number of riders and bikers. They talked a little, and the whistle sounded that it was time to get ready to roll.
Sandi leaned in to hug Joci again. “Did you have a great time last night?”
Joci giggled. “God, yes. I can’t wait to talk to you.”
Sandi hugged her again. “I love you. I’m so happy for you. Let’s talk at the next stop.”
They parted, and Jeremiah jumped on his bike, kicked the kickstand up, and nodded to Joci to climb on. Once she was seated, she leaned forward and hugged him.
“It’s been a great day today. Thank you. I’m beginning to love riding on the back.” Jeremiah leaned his head back on Joci’s shoulder and looked back at her.
“It has been a great day.” Joci tightened her arms around him. “And, for the record, you can ride on back anytime you want. I love having you back there.”
She squeezed a little harder and kissed his neck. She wanted it to work out; she really did, but she was just so afraid to let herself believe it was going to last. The smorgasbord comment LuAnn made sure didn’t make her feel any better.
The bikes started up, and they were on the road again. This next leg was only about 32 miles. Hills and curves created a mesmerizing ride. Some of the road was canopied by trees which sent a chill down her arms as the sun was hidden from them. Then the canopy would open, and the sun felt warmer than before. Joci was amazed at all the locals along the way waiting out by the roads or at the ends of their driveways to watch all the bikes ride past. Most of them waved American flags and cheered as the bikes rode by. Many of them had little canopies and coolers and whole driveways full of cars. They invited people over to watch the bikes and make it a party. Some people made signs thanking the veterans, and some of them had signs stating where they had served.
People were taking pictures and waving and yelling thank you. At one point, Joci teared up; she was so overwhelmed by the show of support for the veterans.
She leaned forward and hugged Jeremiah. “Does that make you feel good about serving, Jeremiah?”
He nodded, unable to speak. A couple of farmers had huge tractors with big cherry-picker baskets on them, and they parked them next to the road across from each other and strung a big banner between them over the road that said, “Thank You Veterans.” Some people went all out for this. Now she understood why they mailed the fliers out to each home along the route.
The weather was just perfect. They didn’t have to wear jackets or sweaters. The sun was shining, the roar of the bikes, Jeremiah in front of her, rubbing her leg and pushing his back into her so he could feel her. Life was made of fantastic moments like this. Joci would remember this for the rest of her life.
She hadn’t been able to make this ride last year, but Gunnar had told her about it. It was why she agreed to help out with it this year. Gunnar talked about it all year. He was so excited about it; Joci wanted to see it for herself. She was very glad she had. First of all, she met Jeremiah. Second of all, this was amazing.
All too soon, they were pulling into the next stop. It was a resort just out of Mansfield, a small little town out in the country. The resort had plenty of parking and bars had been set up outside for people to buy drinks. Jeremiah and Joci were walking to one of the bars when Sandi and Jon caught up with them. They walked together to get drinks.
They stood talking and watching people mill about. Soon, JT and Ryder came over to say hello, and not long after that, Bryce and Angie stopped by.
Angie was very pretty, as were the other sisters-in-law. The Sheppards were a beautiful family. Angie had short blonde hair and light blue eyes. She was about Joci’s height. Bryce was smaller than Jeremiah in height and weight. He had darker hair—a light brown where Jeremiah and Dayton had blond—and he had brown eyes. They were a striking couple.
Jeremiah leaned over to Joci. “I’d like to go in and say hello to the manager and thank him. Would you come with me?”
Joci smiled. “Sure, I’d like to use the restroom anyway.”
Saying goodbye, they walked hand in hand into the resort. Once inside, Jeremiah maneuvered them to the bar and asked the bartender where he could find Smitty. The bartender nodded to a door at the other end of the bar, and Jeremiah waved two fingers in thanks and off they went, weaving their way in and out of people.
As soon as they were able to get to the door, Jeremiah knocked and was greeted with a terse, “Yeah.”
Jeremiah opened the door laughing. “Hiding out?”
Smitty quickly stood up and shook hands with Jeremiah and nodded to Joci.
“This is my girlfriend, Joci. Joci, this is Smitty.”
“We have over eighteen hundred people today, Smitty. Best turnout ever. Eighteen hundred and three!”
“Holy shit, Dog. This thing keeps growing, we’re going to be too small for you. It brings a lot of money to us. The guests here just love looking at all the bikes and cars. The past couple of years, guests ask when the ride is going to be here because they want to come and see all the bikers.”
“Great to hear. We’ll manage with the numbers, no matter what. We need to run, but I wanted to stop by and thank you and introduce you to Joci. See ya around.”
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, Joci. Ride safe.”
They turned to leave the little office, and Jeremiah leaned down to Joci’s ear. “The restrooms are right over there. I’ll wait right here at the bar for you.”
She made her way to the restroom and waited in line for a short while. She loved looking at all the women and their clothing and jewelry. She used the toilet and washed her hands. As she walked out of the restroom, she was making her way to where Jeremiah said he wo
uld be. Joci froze.
Jeremiah faced her direction. LuAnn stood between his legs with her arms wrapped around his neck, and they were kissing. Jeremiah looked up and saw Joci staring at them. She was frozen in place. She and Jeremiah stared at each other for what seemed like forever—though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds. Joci two finger saluted him and weaved her way in and out of people to get out of the bar. She would not cry, she would not cry, she would not cry. Tears threatened, but she refused to let them fall. She’d been down this road before. She could handle it.
Once she got to the door, she took in a deep breath and walked over to lose herself among the cars.
“Hey, what’s up with you?”
Joci turned to see Sandi walking toward her. Joci couldn’t help it— the tears started flowing.
“Oh, Sandi, I don’t know what to do.”
Sandi hugged Joci to her. “Tell me what happened.”
“I walked out of the bathroom and saw Jeremiah and LuAnn kissing. I’m devastated, Sandi. I can’t compete with LuAnn. She has everything a man like him wants. I don’t. What am I going to do now? I’m stuck on the back of his bike until we get back to the shop.”
“It probably wasn’t what you saw, Joci. Did you ask him to explain?”
“No. I didn’t want to cry in front of her. I just turned and walked away as quickly as I could.”
Sandi grabbed Joci’s hand and held it. “Maybe it’s a good thing you have to ride with him. You’ll have to talk to him. You at least owe him the opportunity to explain what you saw. And he owes you an explanation. From there, depending on the explanation, what you do will be clear. I love you no matter what and I doubt that Jeremiah is interested in that slut. I would bet she set it up for you to see. She’s been dogging you guys all day, pardon the pun.”
Both women giggled.
“Joci?” Jeremiah called. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” She looked over to see him quickly walking toward them.
Sandi squeezed her hand and smiled. “I’m going to find Jon. Call my cell if you need me.”
She kissed Joci on the cheek and began to leave. Sandi looked at Jeremiah with her brows up in the air as she walked away.
Jeremiah sighed loudly. “Joci, baby, I know it looked bad, but it wasn’t what it looked like. I saw you coming out of the bathroom in the mirror behind the bar and turned to face you when LuAnn jumped in front of me and kissed me. I swear to you that’s what you saw.”
Joci was staring at the ground. “Have you slept with her before?”
Jeremiah put his fingers under her chin and turned her head, so she was looking at him.
“No, I haven’t slept with her.”
Joci’s chin trembled as she moved to turn her head. Jeremiah leaned forward and held her face between his hands.
“Joci, I’m not interested in her. I don’t want her. I want you. I’m only interested in you. Just you.”
He moved in to kiss her, but she pulled away.
“No. You smell like her, and you still have her lipstick on your lips.”
She turned away, swiping under her eyes and hoping her makeup wasn’t a mess. Jeremiah rubbed the lipstick from his lips with his fingertips. He pulled his shirt out of his jeans and used the tail of his shirt to wipe his face.
“Joci, please look at me.” He pulled his shirt off and threw it on the ground. He reached over and grabbed Joci and pulled her in for a hug.
“I swear to you, I don’t want her. I’ve never wanted her.”
Joci took a deep breath. “Why do you keep her at the store if she’s like this all the time? Why would you tolerate this? She doesn’t exactly give your store a great reputation. She dresses like a pole dancer. You must like it. And what about her comment that you like a smorgasbord? I don’t know, Jeremiah. I can’t go through this again. I just can’t.”
She pulled away, planted her hands on her hips and squared off.
His brows drew together as he searched for the right words. “I can’t explain why I keep her around. Please believe me. She was just being bitchy with her smorgasbord comment.”
They heard the whistle blow, and Joci closed her eyes. “We have to go.”
She started walking toward their bike. She felt numb, not knowing what to think. He couldn’t explain why he kept LuAnn. She wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. She was loud, obnoxious, and irritating. The only thing she had going for her was she was pretty. The guys all said she was hot.
Now, she was going to be a royal pain in Joci’s side, one that Joci wasn’t sure she was willing or able to handle on a daily basis. Jeremiah started walking with Joci. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the chaser truck. Joci tried pulling away, but he held on tight. When they got to the truck, he threw his shirt in the back and opened a box and pulled a new shirt out and pulled it on. Once he had the new shirt on, he turned to Joci and grabbed her hard and hugged her tightly. He cupped the back of her head and wrapped his other arm around her waist. She could feel how tense he was, and his breathing was ragged.
“Joci, I need you to believe me. I know you have trust issues, and that sure didn’t help, but I swear to you, I didn’t initiate anything with LuAnn. I’ll tell her to stop this behavior immediately. I don’t want her, Joci—I only want you.”
They stood that way for a few moments, and Thomas and Emily walked over to get into the truck.
“Hey, you two, you’d better get on your bike.”
When Joci looked up, she smiled weakly and nodded. Thomas saw the look on her face and looked at Jeremiah with his brows furrowed. Jeremiah shook his head and pursed his lips. They started walking toward his bike. Silently.
When they got to the bike, people were catcalling and yelling at them.
“’Bout time. Making out in the back?”
Jeremiah climbed on the bike and kicked up the kickstand. He waited for Joci to get on. She leaned back against the backrest, not ready to lean into Jeremiah just yet. Her stomach was rolling and twisting.
Jeremiah’s gut felt like it was filled with stones. Fucking LuAnn. He knew Joci was having a hard time with this. With her trust issues, this was a real blow. He was going to have another long talk with LuAnn. He couldn’t chance her pulling shit like this again. But right now, he had to get Joci to realize he wasn’t cheating on her. How to do that was a mystery. He had better think quickly since they only had about an hour before returning to Rolling Thunder. One thing he knew, Joci had the stubbornness of a fucking mule, so he’d better be on his A game.
The last leg of the ride began. He had 40 miles to figure this out and make sure she didn’t get on her bike and ride off. He wasn’t a game player, but he had work to do.
Jeremiah reached to the side and touched her leg. He wrapped his hand around her ankle and squeezed, just trying to keep contact with her.
Finally, they pulled into Rolling Thunder, and Jeremiah rode around to the back of the building. JT, Gunnar, and Ryder were right behind them.
Jeremiah didn’t shut his bike off. He looked at the boys. “We’re going home to get the truck. Be back in a few.” He maneuvered the bike out of the back driveway.
Joci was surprised at this revelation. As soon as they pulled into his garage, he shut the bike off, closed the garage door, and got off. Before she could climb off, he was standing right there.
“We need to talk, Joci.”
Joci looked at him and sighed. He held his hand out to help her off the bike. She looked into his eyes; her mouth turned down at the corners, but she took his hand and allowed him to help her off the bike. He held her hand and led her into the house. He led them to the sofa, then sat and pulled her down next to him.
He turned to face her. “Tell me what you need. I’m at a loss here. What you saw was not what it looked like.”
Joci stared at him. “I can’t give you the answer you want, Jeremiah. I don’t have it. You know what I’ve been through. I just can’t turn it off.”
Her lip t
rembled, but she refused to cry. He leaned forward and lightly touched his lips to hers. Feathery light. She felt his lips tremble, and she softened, just a bit. Then it dawned on her that he was so worried, he had brought her home to his place while there were two thousand people at his shop partying and celebrating a great ride, listening to music, and having a few drinks, but he was here with her.
“Jeremiah, I’m sorry. I told you last night you might want to walk away.” Joci took a deep breath then said, “We should get back to the shop.”
Jeremiah slid his hand behind her head and held her close.
“I’m not leaving here until I know we’re okay. I want to know that tonight; you’re coming home with me, and I’m going to sleep with you in my arms. I need to know that you’re not running from me.”
Gray eyes met green. For several heartbeats, they sat that way.
Joci sighed. “I don’t know, Jeremiah. It’s too much. My stomach is in knots. I don’t understand your connection with LuAnn and you don’t seem to want to explain it. It’s suspicious. I don’t want to venture into this relationship any further to find out you’ve been lying to me. I just can’t go through that again.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly let out a long breath.
“Joci, LuAnn means nothing to me. I swear it. I owe her brother a favor, so I keep her employed to repay that favor. That’s it. I swear it.”
Jeremiah never looked away from her. She stood and took two steps away, turned and walked a few steps in the other direction. Placing her hands on her hips, she looked out the large window to the street and saw a younger couple walking their dog, while their child rode his bicycle in front of them. The flowers in the neighbor’s yard were blooming, and the brilliance of the new spring grass made her think of fresh starts.
Joci sighed deep and long. She turned to see he had stood up, fingers tucked into his pockets, trying to look casual, but his rigid posture and shallow breathing proved him anything but. The shit of this whole thing was, she knew he was different than the men in her past, but she reacted badly to situations like the ones LuAnn insisted throwing her way. It didn’t absolve LuAnn from her behavior, or Jeremiah for tolerating it and by ignoring it, allowing her to continue to behave as she had been.
