Dog Days of Summer

by Fiala, PJ

  “Yes, but you’re not in love with me.”

  Joci’s voice was so soft it was hard to hear. “No, I’m not in love with you.”

  A tear slipped down Joci’s cheek. She didn’t want to hurt him. He had done so much for her and Gunnar over the years. Joci always thought he had taken on Keith’s guilt as his own. Connor had once told her he felt guilty that he hadn’t tried harder to make Keith see the error of his ways. Then, he felt guilty for maintaining a friendship with Keith, because of Joci and Gunnar.

  Connor sighed and scraped his hand through his hair. He swallowed hard. “Okay. Well, I just needed to know. I’ll talk to you later.”

  With that, Connor turned and walked away. Joci watched for a few steps and the tears started rolling faster down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her fingers. She turned and walked toward Gunnar and Jeremiah. They both had worried looks on their faces.

  “You okay, Mom? What happened?”

  “I’m okay. It’s nothing.” Joci smiled weakly.

  Jeremiah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked at Gunnar and then back at Joci. Gunnar’s brows were furrowed in worry. He glanced at Jeremiah and then back at his mom.

  Jeremiah put his arm around Joci’s shoulders. “He’s in love with you.”

  Joci nodded slightly. Gunnar looked at Jeremiah again with his brows furrowed.

  “You mean … as in in love ... in love?” Gunnar asked, disbelief in his voice.

  She nodded and hugged Gunnar. “Have a great rest of your day, baby. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  Joci turned to get into Jeremiah’s truck. Gunnar got into his own pick-up. He looked back at Joci and Jeremiah, still trying to process this revelation. Jeremiah slid in beside Joci and started his truck. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Do you love him, Joci?”

  A lone tear traveled down Joci’s cheek. “Yes.” Her voice cracked.

  Jeremiah sucked in a deep breath. “Jesus.”

  “But, I’m not in love with him. Jeremiah, I’m in love with you,” Joci said.

  Jeremiah and Joci sat in his truck, looking into each other’s eyes for long moments. Joci’s heart was racing in her chest, and she thought it would burst right out of her body, the beating so erratic and hard it made her body move with it.

  Slowly, Jeremiah touched Joci’s cheek with his left hand, running the backs of his fingers along her cheek to her jaw. His eyes never left hers. He swallowed hard, processing the beautiful words he just heard from her. She loved him. Thank God.

  The knot in his throat threatened to choke him but he swallowed it, moisturizing his throat in the process. “I love you, Joci James…I love you.”

  His fingers curled into her nape and pulled her head to his as he kissed her softly. His full lips lightly moved over Joci’s, needing the contact. It meant more than any other moment in time for him, her declaration of love. He had never been in love before and never had a woman he loved declare love to him. So, this was the big fuss. He understood it now.

  As their kiss ended, Jeremiah pulled back and looked into Joci’s eyes. “Are you okay? I mean…Connor. Are you okay with that?”

  Joci took a deep breath. “That was hard and I wasn’t expecting it. It caught me off guard.”

  Yeah, he felt sorry for the bastard, but he wasn’t sorry in the least. Now Connor knew the score on this front, and Jeremiah hoped that would be the end of his having to worry about Connor. Jeremiah leaned over and hugged her to him, then kissed the top of her head.

  “Sorry it was hard for you, but I’m glad he knows. I’m so damned in love with you.”

  Chapter 17

  Move In With Me

  Joci walked into Jeremiah’s around 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday. He was there, putting something together for supper.

  “Sorry I’m late getting home. I was in the middle of a project and lost track of time.”

  Jeremiah stopped what he was doing and smiled at her.

  “You just said you were late getting ‘home.’ You think of this as home.”

  He was walking toward her. Stalking was more like it, with a smile on his face.

  “Move in. Live with me, Joci.”

  He was watching her reaction and holding his breath. Joci saw him come closer and held his gaze. She did feel like this was home now. It was a Freudian slip that she called it home. But, that was a sign, wasn’t it? She took a deep breath.

  “It’s been four weeks. We’ve been playing this game—you running to your place during the day and coming back here in the evening. You’re practically living here. I want you here. You want to be here, don’t you?”

  Joci took a deep breath. “I suppose you have all the logistics worked out in your head?”

  “I do.”

  Joci smirked. “Tell me about it.”

  Jeremiah smiled and touched her face. He kissed the tip of her nose and then her lips.

  “There’s room here for us. Plenty of room. The spare bedrooms can certainly be rearranged, or the furniture can be removed for any of your furniture that you want here. One of the rooms can be converted to an office, for the time being. But, I have an office space at Rolling Thunder you can use. That way, you can meet with clients there. You told me once that sometimes you had to look for a space to have meetings because you were uncomfortable having people at your house during the day when you were there by yourself. You can use my conference room. You can have the office set up any way you like. I can see you all day. I can talk to you and be with you.

  Jeremiah took a deep breath and continued, “If there is furniture here you don’t like or would like to replace with yours, just let me know; we can switch it out. One of the boys would probably need some of the furniture, too. It can work, Joci. And, if after all of that, you aren’t happy here, we’ll buy another place. I don’t care where we live, as long as we’re together.”

  Jeremiah stared at her, willing her to say yes. Joci took a deep breath. This was big.

  “Say yes, Joci. You’re here most of the time anyway. Say yes.”

  Joci swallowed. Giving up her home, starting over at another place, living permanently with Jeremiah. Joci’s voice was soft, barely a whisper. “Yes.”

  Jeremiah whooped and lifted her up and spun her around. When her feet were firmly on the ground, he planted his lips on hers in a toe-curling, consuming kiss that had her light headed and dizzy.

  “I’m so happy, Joci. You won’t regret this. I promise.”

  As they finished making supper, they discussed the logistics of making this move.

  Joci began. “The first thing I need to do is talk to Gunnar and see if he wants to move into the house. His apartment is small and kind of crappy. Now that he’s been working for a couple of years and making good money, he might want a bigger place.”

  “You should sell him the house.”

  “Jeremiah, can you slow down? I want to keep it. For a while anyway. I’ll rent it to cover the mortgage payment. If Gunnar isn’t interested in the house, we can ask JT and Ryder if they might like to rent before I put an ad in the paper.

  “I’m not thrilled that you won’t sell the house. I still feel like I’m pushing a giant boulder uphill with you, Joci.” Joci opened her mouth to argue but Jeremiah held his hand up.

  “I’m trying, babe. I’m trying to be patient. It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

  Joci’s face softened. “I know. Thank you. I really do appreciate it.”

  “Okay, so we better get going. We have tonight’s shop ride starting in about twenty minutes, and it’s Gunnar’s turn to lead. A couple of other riders are coming too, not only staff. He’s been skipping around, pumped up all day.” Jeremiah shook his head with a smirk on his face.

  “Also, we have our own private Rolling Thunder shop ride this weekend. I found a house for us to rent on Lake Pentenwell. But LuAnn will probably be along. You good?”

  Joci rolled her eyes. “I don�
��t have a choice, do I?”

  Jeremiah was pulling his hair back into a band at the nape of his neck. He looked at Joci, and she stood with her hands in her jeans pockets, her hip against the kitchen counter.

  “Babe…she’s nothing to me. Why can’t you understand that?”

  “But you seem to be a lot to her. Does she still touch you every chance she gets? Does she still shove her boobs in your face and show off most of her body to you?”

  Jeremiah crossed his arms over his chest. “Me and everyone else. She’s an attention whore. I can’t change that. I don’t want to expend the energy.”

  Joci huffed out a deep breath. Fuck.

  Walking toward her, Jeremiah gripped her shoulders in his big hands. “I want you to move in with me before this weekend.”

  “Jeremiah, that’s only two days away!”

  “We’ll get it done. Tomorrow night after work, I’ll get the boys and my brothers over there to move what you’re moving here. You can talk to Gunnar tonight. I’m not negotiating on this.”

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the garage door before she could say anything.

  Chapter 18

  Roll Me Away

  By Friday afternoon, they had finished moving all of Joci’s clothes and the furniture she was bringing with her into Jeremiah’s house. They had to quickly pack and get to the shop to leave for Lake Pentenwell for the weekend. It was about a two and a half hour ride to get there. Luckily, Gunnar and JT weren’t moving in for a week or so, so she could get over there and clean next week.

  Joci quickly packed and was strapping her bag on her bike when Jeremiah came out to the garage carrying his bag, and placed it on his bike. He was taking the bike he and his sons had built.

  “Do you need to put anything on my bike, babe?”

  Joci smiled at him. “No, I think I’ve got it.”

  “What are you smiling at?” Jeremiah said, grinning back at her.

  “I love that you call me ‘babe,’ and ‘darling,’ and ‘sweetheart’.”

  Jeremiah finished strapping his bag on his bike and walked over and hugged her tight. “I’m glad you like it. I don’t plan on stopping.”

  He kissed her and hugged her again. Then he teasingly slapped her ass.

  “Gotta get going, babe. We’re going to be late.”

  He winked at her and went back into the house to check everything over one last time.

  Soon, they were on the road heading for the shop. They pulled in around 5:00 and most of the employees were pulling in at the same time. They had signs up on the doors all week letting customers know that they would be closed this weekend. It was the only weekend of the year the shop was closed.

  Together, Jeremiah and Joci walked into the garage and the employees who were there were standing around talking excitedly. Joci was introduced to Deacon’s wife, Julie. She was sweet. Dark like Deacon and had tattoos all over her body. She was a tattoo artist, which explained where Deacon’s tattoos came from.

  Joci was also introduced to Angel’s husband, Ray. Angel was the clothing manager at Rolling Thunder.

  Janice was there, and she rode her own bike. JT, Ryder, and Gunnar were there as well, each riding alone. Chase showed up, and he seemed to be in a pissy mood. No LuAnn. Perhaps that had something to do with Chase’s mood. Usually, when there was a shop event, LuAnn rode with Chase.

  Joey was a bike designer. He rode alone. Ricky and Bear were in parts sales at Rolling Thunder. Ricky was riding along, and Bear had his girlfriend, Ashley, there.

  Frog was a mechanic at the shop, and he was riding alone, too. That left LuAnn, who so far hadn’t arrived. Joci hoped that meant she wasn’t coming along this weekend. Everyone was talking, and Jeremiah looked at his watch. It was 5:30 and he announced it was time to go. Everyone headed out to get on their bikes while Jeremiah locked up.

  As they were getting on their bikes, a bike pulled into the parking lot. Fuck, LuAnn was coming after all. She was riding with someone on a ratty-looking older bike that needed a lot of attention. It was spitting and sputtering and coughing all the way. Of course, LuAnn was wearing short shorts and knee-high, black high-heeled boots, a bra top, and a ton of jewelry. Her messy blonde hair was blowing around like a whirlwind.

  She jumped off the bike as soon as he stopped so everyone could get a good look. She shimmied around and yelled as loud as she could. “I’m glad we aren’t late. We were … kind of busy.”

  Gross. That woman had absolutely no class.

  JT was the first to say anything at all. “Get on the bike, LuAnn. We were just leaving.”

  She shrugged her shoulders and climbed back on the bike, without ever introducing her “date” to anyone.

  Jeremiah climbed on his bike and motioned for JT to take off. He was leading today. Everyone started pulling out, and soon they were on the road. Joci ended up in the back of the pack, which she didn’t mind at all. She could watch everyone riding up ahead of her. Directly in front of her were Jeremiah and Gunnar. She could ride behind him any day. It gave her a chance to look at his strong arms gripping the handlebars, his hair blowing around. Though he pulled it back into a ponytail, little tendrils made their escape. His massive shoulders tapered down to that fabulous ass of his. Yeah, great.

  About an hour into their ride, an older Ford Mustang pulled up behind Joci. It was way too close. Joci was watching the car in her mirrors and became uncomfortable with how close the car was to her. Soon, the Mustang pulled into the left lane and drew up alongside of Joci.

  “Hey baby, you wanna ride me?” The other guys in the car laughed hysterically.

  The guy in the back seat leaned out of the car and yelled, “Hey, sugar, want to fuck?”

  Jeremiah and Gunnar were watching this go on. Jeremiah pulled out into the left lane in front of the Mustang and Gunnar followed. They slowed down so the car had to slow down. Joci pulled ahead, and Jeremiah motioned for her to move up in front of him and over to the inside of the lane. She moved, and Jeremiah slid into the lane next to her. Gunnar stayed behind her. JT and the others were watching this, and picked up their speed.

  The guys in the Mustang yelled out to Jeremiah, “Fuck you, buddy. We’re just having a little fun with the hottie.”

  Frog and Bear, with Ashley on back, pulled out into the left lane then, to slow the Mustang down and the rest of the group pulled ahead quickly. As soon as the group had made some tracks down the road, Frog and Bear pulled back into the right lane and increased their speed to catch up. The guys in the Mustang were not to be swayed and tried keeping up with the bikes, but the bikes were faster and eventually, the Mustang was caught behind some traffic, which the bikes were able to weave in and out of.

  Joci’s heart was racing. This shit happens once in a while, but she never got used to it. It was so dangerous when cars got so close. One wrong move, one big pothole in the road, and it could be deadly. Idiots.

  JT pulled into a gas station about twenty miles up the road, and they each went to available pumps to fill up. Joci dropped her kickstand and stood on shaky legs.

  “Are you okay, baby?” Jeremiah asked.

  Joci smiled at him. “I’m good. They’re just idiots.”

  “I know, but that could have been bad. You’re a good rider, Joci. You knew just what to do when I pulled over.”

  She wrapped her arms around Jeremiah’s waist and soaked up his strength. He kissed the top of her head and held her tight.

  After they filled their tanks, Jeremiah and Joci moved their bikes off to the side as the rest of the group filled up. Once they had their tanks full, they came over and joined Jeremiah and Joci. LuAnn’s “date” pulled up last and shut his bike off. LuAnn was adjusting her clothing and trying to get anyone to notice her.

  Finally, Chase said, “What the fuck is your problem, LuAnn? Aren’t you getting enough attention?”

  LuAnn gave him the finger. She turned to the guy she was riding with and winked.

  “This is Boyd.”


  Boyd’s chin jerked up as he waved at everyone.

  Jeremiah looked at the group and said, “Listen up. For the rest of this ride, Joci is not to be last in the group. I want all of you to make sure she has a spot in the middle of the pack. I don’t want any more bullshit like we just encountered back there. For that matter, Janice and Julie should not be at the end of the group either. No woman should ride in the back. As we saw, men can be pigs.”

  Jeremiah smirked. Everyone nodded and mumbled that they agreed with that.

  Gunnar looked at his mom, “Are you okay, Mom?”

  Joci smiled at him, “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for helping Jeremiah move me forward, I appreciate it.”

  Gunnar hugged Joci. “Always.”

  LuAnn gave a loud, “Geez, you act like she was in danger or something.”

  Everyone ignored her, but Joci got the feeling that this might be a long weekend.

  They got back on the road; Jeremiah and Joci rode in the middle of the pack. The weather was beautiful and enjoyable. As they got close to the lake, the humidity in the air increased, making it very comfortable riding. They pulled up the driveway of their rented house, and JT opened the garage door so the riders could pull their bikes in out of the weather. It was around 8:15 and the sun had just gone down below the horizon. They had worked out all the sleeping arrangements at the shop. The house had six bedrooms. Jeremiah and Joci got the master bedroom, which was absolutely amazing. It had its own bathroom with a big garden tub in it.

  The other five bedrooms had multiple beds in them. Two of the bedrooms had a set of bunk beds and a double bed. Everyone was able to sleep in a bed. There was a gorgeous kitchen and two other bathrooms in the house.

  “Okay, listen up. Since it’s after eight o’clock, we can either find a bar to hit or go buy some drinks and stay here at the house. What does everyone want to do?”

  “I want to go out and shake it,” LuAnn piped up.

  Joci spoke up then, “I think it would be better if we stayed and drank here so no one is driving after drinking. I’m happy to go and pick up the drinks.”