by Sky Winters
He was wearing dark blue jeans and a black button up shirt. She had a momentary lapse in judgment, thinking that he looked sexy like that, but then she gave her brain a mental slap and leapt off the bike with Doug. They both quickly removed their helmets and set them aside.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped at the man she used to love.
“I came here looking for my wife,” Jake said. “I thought you’d be hiding out with one of your old friends. And here you are. Who the hell is that?” He gestured to Doug who was standing behind Melanie, slowly cracking his knuckles as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
From the front window of Casey’s house, Melanie could see her friend was watching. She didn’t see Stevie. Casey had most likely ushered him into his bedroom at the sound of the yelling outside. Thank goodness, Melanie thought.
“If I wanted to be your wife anymore, I wouldn’t be hiding out with one of my friends,” she pointed out to Jake. “Anyway, I’m not hiding out. I’m living my life and taking care of my son. It’s over, Jake. So why don’t you just get in your car and go back to Ohio?”
“It’s not over!” Jake yelled. “I’m sorry about the other night, okay? But you have really got to learn to stop talking back to me.”
“The only person who has anything to learn around here is you,” Doug said. “She said she doesn’t want to be with you anymore. Leave her alone.”
Jake pointed a finger at Doug. “You stay out of this, pal.”
Looking him over, Jake appeared to be taken aback by the fact that Melanie was now spending her time with a biker guy. “You leave home and end up gallivanting around with this freak!” He tried to approach Melanie, but Doug pushed him back when he came close. “Melanie, what are you doing hanging around this- this jailbird?”
“He’s not a jailbird,” she replied. “He’s an American hero.”
Jake scoffed. “Oh, please.” He tried to push forward again, but Doug pushed him back even further.
“I said leave her alone!” Doug bellowed. Suddenly, he punched Jake squarely in the face, sending him reeling backwards. He was all set to hit him again, but it turned out that the one punch had been enough to get Jake good and dizzy. “How surprising, the big man who hits his wife can’t handle one measly punch.”
Clutching his cheek, Jake shook his head as blood came from his nose. “You’re both bullshit,” he spat. “I’m not wasting my time with either of you.” He got into his car without another word and drove away. Melanie didn’t think that he would be back again. She was with the man she needed now.
“Are you okay?” she asked Doug, giving him a gentle hug. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
He shook his head. “My hand hurts a little, which is strange because I only punched a numbskull.”
“Aww, let me kiss it and make it better.” She kissed the knuckles on his right hand.
Just then, the front door opened and Casey came outside. “Is he gone now?” she asked, frightened. “I heard him in the driveway and I didn’t know what to do. I made sure to keep Stevie in his room. I’m so glad you two were here to get rid of him!”
When she got a look at the handsome – if unique-looking – Doug Albright, she smiled at him and Melanie. “Please come inside.”
They went inside Casey’s house and sat down in the kitchen.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she told Doug as she poured three cups of coffee. “Melanie has told me about you, but not enough!”
Melanie blushed. “I didn’t want to divulge every detail.”
He thankfully took a mug of coffee and took a long sip. “Mmm,” he said, “Thank you.”
Smiling, Melanie got out of her chair and went to the bedroom to get Stevie. She brought him out by the hand. “This is someone I want you to meet, Stevie.” The little boy looked up at the tattooed veteran. “This is Doug Albright,” she told her son. “He was a soldier and now he rides a motorcycle so he can help other soldiers.”
Stevie appeared to be deeply impressed.
“Hello, Stevie,” Doug said to him, smiling.
Looking at him, Stevie pointed. “You have a tiger on your arm.”
Doug chuckled. “That I do… What’s your favorite animal?”
Stevie thought about it. “I like tigers,” he said. “Did you know that tigers are the largest member of the cat family? I used to think it was lions, but no.”
Melanie grinned proudly and pet Stevie’s hair. She loved that her son was smart and had gotten away from her horrible ex-husband unscathed.
“Hey, Stevie, have you ever been on a motorcycle?” Doug waggled his eyebrows.
“No, of course not,” Melanie said. “He’s only two!”
“Only two?!” Doug asked, pretending to be shocked. “I thought you were a graduate student!”
They went outside to show Stevie the Harley and Melanie agreed to let Doug put him onto the bike – just to sit! – for a picture. “He’s a cool kid,” he said once Casey had taken Stevie back inside for his dinner. “I like him.”
Melanie smiled up at him. “Well, I’m glad you approve.”
They kissed and Doug soon rode off on his bike. He had a Stars and Stripes meeting to attend and she was not about to make him late. After all, his motorcycle club was made up of heroes.
The End
QUARTERBACK
Dropping herself heavily in a chair, Tessa Johnson was feeling conflicted about whether or not she wanted her Human Biology II course to begin or to end. Rumors had been floating around campus that her professor was going to be forcibly pairing his pupils together. Just the thought was enough to make her groan in foreboding.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like her fellow members of society, but her Human Biology II course was filled with boys from the football team. Whoever made it a mandatory course needed to be found and put on trial for betraying academic progress.
Rifling through her backpack, Tessa pulled out her large notebook and textbook, as other people filed into the room. Unfortunately, when she glanced up, the first person she saw was Lucas Brown, the infamous arrogant womanizer. An even more unfortunate occurrence was his state of being. Carefully checking him out from the corner of her eye, Tessa could completely understand why girls fawned over him. Lucas was a varsity college football player.
The best quarterback the school had in years.
His dusky blond hair matched his golden boy looks and broad shoulders; his impressive 6’4” height meant he towered over her meager 5’5”.
Shaking her head slightly, Tessa could not afford to let herself get distracted- not when she was trying to get into medical science. It would take her six years of college, and that was if she worked her butt off.
Ten minutes into class and most of the football team were drooling over their desks as Professor Kirkpatrick droned on and on about the fragility of the human bone. True, it could withstand the test of time and wear once skin and flesh were gone, but when being used and abused it was as fragile as glass. That, Tessa thought with a slight smile, was complete crap, but she didn’t dispute the things on the projector as she scribbled them down in her notebook.
As class wore on, slowly and with great stubbornness, Tessa began to relax. If Professor Kirkpatrick didn’t assign a lab yet, he probably wouldn’t at all. That was the thing with older teachers- they were stuck in their ways and it wasn’t hard to determine their next moves.
However, she’d gotten ahead of herself when gnarly, long fingers suddenly shut off the projector and his voice became loud enough to wake up the more reluctant participants of the course.
“Alright! We’re going to be doing presentations on the structural integrity of bones. I’m going to assign partners, so everyone listen up! This isn’t a project that will be done on my time, so be prepared to work outside of this institution!” Damn, Tessa grumbled in her head as she leaned back in her seat, she’d been so close- so damn close. Professor Kirkpatrick just loved to make her annoyed.
Tes
sa waited for her middle aged professor to announce who was assigned to her. She crossed her fingers for someone good. Someone who would complement her working skills and would yield the best grade as possible but when Mr. Kirkpatrick announced her name and her partner, her jaw literally dropped.
“…Tessa Johnson and Lucas Brown.” Tessa had to actively stop herself from jumping out of her seat to dispute her partner. Lucas Brown. The nerve of such an esteemed professor to set Tessa up with such a halfwit astounded her. Never in her life had she been paired with someone so disinterested in a class, course or lecture.
Besides, everyone knew that Lucas and his fellow football team were only in Human Biology II because they needed to know this kind of thing in case they broke a bone.
Sinking back against the amphitheater style benches that rose up from the pale linoleum floor, Tessa bit her lip hard. There was no way she’d let Lucas walk over her and make her do all of the work for this project. She wasn’t going to be a tool, no matter how hot he was, or how popular he was.
Doodling disgruntled little circles at the edge of her notes, Tessa kept her eyes firmly on her paper even though she could sense Lucas coming over to her.
“Hey, Tessa. I guess we’re partners.” Rounding the edge of the stand to sit next to her, Lucas’s introduction made Tessa frown before glancing up from under her eyelashes. He already infuriated her and he’d only said six words.
“Yeah, hi.” Mumbling, Tessa leaned over to grab her Human Biology text book from where it lay on top of her backpack.
“Do you even pay attention in this course or am I going to have to get a horrible mark for lack of a competent partner?” Obviously Lucas wasn’t expecting the snappy comeback, but Tessa was full of them. She read a lot, had a sassy vocabulary, and could be subtle as well as bold.
“Yes, I do pay attention, if you must know. What would I do if I broke my leg and had a shitty doctor?” Rolling her eyes, Tessa silently commended the man for his diligence. He really loved football, and it showed. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t know a single thing about the sport. It was boring, and the ball hardly ever moved.
“Good. This will be easy then. I’ll work on the power point and you can come over to my house whenever you get out of practice.”
Glancing at the clock, Tessa couldn’t wait for this disaster of a class to be done with. However, Lucas’s chuckle made her tense a little from the unexpectedness, and she swerved her head to glare at him.
“I don’t have practice today, Tessa.”
Well, peaches. All the more reason to watch the clock, so this course goes by slower.
By the end of her four course day, Tessa was getting worried as she made her way to the parking duplex that housed her beat up Nissan Altima. Maybe inviting Lucas to her house had been a bad idea- not that she could take it back or suggest something different. Then he would know with certainty she was nervous, and that just wasn’t going to fly. At least, she thought with a slight smile, the day was beautiful. The low, light winds and sun shining with a nice, buzzing heat that didn’t make her sweat were ideal for late fall.
“Tessa, hey.” Rubbing her hands on her jeans at the call, Tessa paused her trek and glanced behind her to find Lucas jogging her way. What it must be like to be so strong. The fact that he could jog with a back pack full of textbooks made her a little envious. However, she kept it to herself and plastered a smile on her face- better to make nice than get a bad mark, after all.
“Hey. Do you want to follow me or something?” There were a lot of things a lot of people knew about Lucas, but Tessa didn’t know if he took a bus, or drove a car. These things just didn’t interest her, and although she’d heard rumors she’d never actually seen him drive to campus. Her thoughts were proven correct when he gave a shrug as he stopped beside her, adjusting his pack on his shoulders.
“I take the bus. Saves money. Can I ride with you?” Thankfully Tessa had braced herself for the question, and she nodded quietly before continuing her way to her car with Lucas only a step behind.
“So, I was thinking we could do the presentation from big to small.”
Furrowing her eyebrows as she pulled out of her space, Tessa had no idea what Lucas was getting at. This is why he should read. When he didn’t elaborate, she glanced at him to find her looking at her dash board with a frown, his face slightly pinched.
“You know, start with the big aspects and move down to cells and all that.” Blinking slowly, Tessa only hummed in acknowledgment. That’d been what she was thinking too, and it was nice that they were on the same train. Pushing her foot down on the gas pedal, she drove a steady 15mph down the winding road that would lead her out through the back entrance of the campus, which led directly to her house. Other than the initial statement, Lucas was quiet, and she was glad she wasn’t expected to hold a conversation with him.
However, the silence was broken when she pulled into her mother’s driveway and saw a car she didn’t recognize.
“By the way, my pops and I don’t live far from here, so you won’t have to worry about chauffeuring for me.” Scowling a little at the teasing jibe, Tessa cut the engine and pushed open the door to climb out of the driver’s seat. Hauling her back pack over her shoulder, her scowl only deepened when she noticed the car in front of her that she didn’t recognize.
“Hey, that’s my dad’s car.” Lucas exclaimed. Tessa started gnawing on her bottom lip at the exclamation. Her brain worked overtime to connect the dots, but had no luck. Walking up to her front door, with Lucas behind her, she pulled out her keys and frowned when she heard her mother laughing inside. That definitely meant something big was coming.
There was a silent understanding to go in quiet, both Lucas and Tessa were overly curious as to what was going on, but whatever she was expecting, it wasn’t to find her mother and his father making out in the kitchen.
Jaw dropping shock rippled through Tessa, and she accidentally let her back pack fall with a heavy thud, tearing the two older people apart.
“Mom! What are you doing?” Practically yelling, Tessa wasn’t sure how to feel about the situation. Her mother hadn’t been around a guy since her father died almost 6 years ago, and it was freaky to say the least. Staring, wide eyed, the older woman shook herself visibly before a smile broke out on her round, pretty face, framed by large curls that took hours to perfect.
“Tessa, you’re home- and you must be Lucas, right? Wait, why are you here? Ron, did you tell him to come?”
Tessa’s eyes flew from her mother to Ron and back again in confusion, and she sighed irritably. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be the only one confused, if Lucas’s response was anything to go by.
“Uh, no, we’re working on a school project together. Uh, wait a minute. The woman you’ve been dating is Tessa’s mom?” Tensing up at the inquiry, Tessa didn’t know her mother had been dating anyone. Honestly, she felt a little betrayed- she was 20 years old, after all, and not a teenager that’ll lash out at change. Not only that, but dating was a huge step for her mother, and she wanted to know she could be trusted to be confided in.
“Actually, we’ve decided to get engaged.” If possible Tessa’s jaw dropped even lower. They wanted to get married, something that took time and commitment- something that meant they’d been dating for a long time.
She hated being out of the loop.
Frustration welled inside Tessa and she wordlessly took in her mother’s form. The older woman looked so happy, her mocha skin seemed to glow, and she looked neat and clean- a far cry to when Tessa’s father had died and she couldn’t even get out of bed. She even wore a light coating of lip stick.
“Married?” Honestly, Tessa didn’t want to be a wet blanket because her mother was so obviously happy, but she couldn’t help it. She positively exploded.
“You want to get married! You didn’t even tell me you were dating someone and now you want to get married!” It was a shame that Tessa had inherited her father’s anger, although it took a lot to
get her to the point that she was.
Turning on her heel, Tessa ignored her mother’s crestfallen expression and stormed up the stairs like the teenager she’d just compared herself to in a much different light. The shock was wearing off, and she felt like a failure, although it was irrational because her mother had intentionally kept this from her. Questions swirled around in her head, but none had a good answer.
Was Tessa not important enough to know about her mother dating someone? Did her mother not want her to know about it because she didn’t trust her? The list went on and on.
Pacing her bedroom, Tessa didn’t even know what to do with herself and tears sprang to her eyes. She was happy for her mom, in theory, but her own self-doubt rose up and squandered it. Life was already hard, and now it’d been jumped up a few notches.
“Tessa, open the door.” Pausing her rigorous circling, Tessa wiped her face with her shirt sleeves and scowled at the door. Lucas was the last person she wanted to talk to right now. However, she stalked towards the barrier anyway and flicked the lock before yanking on it.
“Go away, Lucas.” Glaring at the much taller man, Tessa was going to shut the door but Lucas wedged his foot in the crack and pushed it back. It was only when he shuffled his way in that she noticed he was carrying her pack, but it quickly fell to the wayside. Crossing her arms over her chest, she watched him frown deeply before opening his mouth.
“Let’s just start the presentation, okay? Get your mind off it for a while. Trust me, I know how it feels. I had a suspicion, but my dad never told me outright.”
Honestly, it surprised Tessa that Lucas was being so perceptive and nice. Usually he was a cocky asshole with his brain in his pants, or that was what she’d heard. Setting her back pack on her bed, he set his on the floor before taking a seat in her swivel chair. Narrowing her own gaze on him as he stared at her expectantly, Tessa felt like he was just a little too comfortable.
“Fine, whatever, but you’re leaving as soon as we get to a good stopping point.”
