by Molly McLain
“Probably.” I slow my roll before we hit the main floor. “You think he’s offering up Dante to cover his ass?”
Tito shrugs. “Hard to tell with him.”
My thoughts exactly. Trey’s always been cool with me, but I know he’s no saint. Hell, I witnessed it.
“You know what’s even more fucked up?” Tightening my goggles around my helmet, I glance at my friend. “Louie said McKinnon came to my defense, too. Said he knew I was getting screwed over.”
Tito’s eyebrows shoot up. “You mean, he knows something more than the rest of us do?”
“Don’t know.” On the other side of the floor, the devil himself flies up a ramp and pulls off a clean double grab. “But I sure as hell plan to find out.”
“You have to admit—he’s getting better.”
Being a good rider has never been McKinnon’s problem—except when he’s messed up. “If could keep shit out of his nose, he’d be golden.”
Tito snorts and I pull on my helmet. Enough chit-chat. I have three days worth of practice to make up for.
I climb on, kick start my ride, and gun the throttle to get the juices flowing. The vibration between my legs spreads through my body just like it always does, waking my nerves and amping up my adrenaline like the flip of a switch.
I fucking love this feeling. The excitement, wondering if maybe this will be the day I catch a little more air or nail a new trick. The anticipation of another climb and another launch and that incomparable sensation of flying without wings. The knowledge that I’m in control at all times—and yet one wrong move could end it all.
Tito takes off, throwing dirt in my face, so I scream after him and, for the next two hours, we do what we do best. Tito works on his tsunami, which for a stocky guy shouldn’t be difficult as it might be for a taller guy like me, but he struggles.
“You’re in your own head, man,” I tell him when we break for water. Sweat pours down my back and my face, but it feels damn good to push myself. “You hesitate just long enough to fuck up your timing.”
He gulps down half a bottle, then holds it against his forehead, where his curly hair sticks to his skin. “Keep thinking about the road rash on my back if I go all the way over.”
I shoot him a grin. “And, what? You’ve never had road rash before?”
He flips me off, slams the rest of his water, and climbs back on his bike. He tears off and another bike skids to stop in his place.
McKinnon.
“Glad to see you back,” he says, raising his voice over the revving engines. “Was worried you’d said fuck it all.”
“More like you were hoping I did,” I correct him and he shakes his head.
“You ever plan on cutting me a break?”
“Not in this lifetime.”
“The fuck, man.” Frustrated, he snaps his attention to the ramps in and we both watch as Tito makes another attempt at the big wave. He botches it, but he doesn’t go over the handlebars or jack up his back. Score on that front.
“You get your head straight and maybe I’ll reconsider,” I tell McKinnon. “But that’s as much as I’ll give right now, even after your little chat with Louie.” I expect him to have a cocky comeback, but instead he just glances back to me, face serious.
“It was the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t have to.”
“Liz may be my agent, but you and I go back.” He lifts a shoulder. “Friends or not, I learned a lot by watching you. I know you don’t want me here, but I’m damn appreciative of the opportunity to glean what I can from you and Brandon.”
Hold up…is that respect I hear in those words?
“Listen, I don’t want to get my ass in a bind, too, but watch your back, man. Liz is out for blood.”
But why? “She tell you that?”
“More or less.”
“Did she happen to mention what I did to piss her off, other than the obvious?”
One corner of McKinnon’s mouth turns up into a smirk. “The more popular you became, the more she made, man. It’s not rocket science.”
Money? She did all of this just to make a few extra bucks?
“What, did you think she was jealous? That she wanted the D?”
I grimace, and he throws his head back and laughs.
“Sorry to tell ya, but she likes ‘em a little rougher around the edges.”
What the hell does that mean? “Elaborate,” I demand, but he gives his head a resolute shake.
“Would rather not. Bad enough I had to walk in on it.” He shudders and revs his engine. “Not an image I’m likely to get out of my head for a long time.”
“Who?” I bark, but he doesn’t hear me. He’s already riding off, leaving me in the dust…and to wonder what the hell my agent—er, my former agent—has up her sleeve.
- - -
Taylor
When I finally get back to Madison at dinnertime, Adam is already home from his day at the field. Planted in front of the TV, he braces an arm against the back of the couch and shoots me a grin. “How was class, T-Swizzle?”
“Didn’t go.” I drop my purse onto the island, kick off my flip-flops, and yawn. Six hours of sleep is more like a nap when you’re almost three months pregnant, I’ve decided. I’m beat, and every muscle in my body hurts just because it can, I’m sure of it. “I had a family emergency. Ended up going home last night.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”
“My parents are headed toward Splitsville.” I’d given him the scoop on my dad’s drunk driving accident before I moved in, so he’s familiar with the long-standing tension in my family. “I probably didn’t need to go, but I reacted and was on the interstate before I could think better of it.” My butt hits the cushion next to his and, almost immediately, my eyes flutter shut.
“You’ve had one hell of a week.”
“Six days,” I correct him. “I’m sure something just as horrendous is going to happen tomorrow, though. Seems to be my luck.”
“How’d it go with the baby daddy?” he asks with a wry lilt.
I crack one eye open and glance up at him. “Fine. We worked out our issues.”
“Yeah, I heard. Would’ve pegged you as more of a screamer, though.”
Nice.
“You tell about the bun in the oven?”
“Not yet.” I give him an update on Col firing Liz and telling Bria to kiss his ass. “He still needs to figure some things out. I don’t want to stress him out any more than he already is.”
“Oh, you mean like you are?”
Ouch. “I’m fine.”
“You’re full of shit,” he counters. “You’re burning the wick at both ends and, any moment now, you’re going to meet your breaking point. Even I know that’s not good for the kid.”
I blow out a breath and wet my lips, though it even takes effort to move my tongue. “I know, and I’m trying the best I can to keep things to a dull roar.”
Adam tips his head back and grunts. “Sure are. That’s why you hopped in your car at, what—midnight?—to run all the way to Maribel?”
I don’t expect him to understand, and it’s okay that he doesn’t. My decisions are just that—mine. I’m slowly learning to own them, though sometimes I need a little guidance to actually implement them. Case in point Colton’s step-by-step directions to get me out the door last night.
“My dad didn’t call on the house phone, did he?”
“Not that I’m aware of. No messages when I got home.”
Weird. I would have expected him to call me by now. Maybe I should call him…
“Don’t do it,” Adam warns and I frown at him. “Less stress, healthier baby.”
Ugh. “You don’t even know what I’m thinking about.”
“You’re thinking about mending fences that aren’t yours to mend.”
Seriously?
“See?” He points at my face with a smile. “It’s plain as day in your eyes.”
“Too bad Colton d
oesn’t like you—you two are a lot a like.”
Adam chuckles. “You don’t want a man who’s too confident in himself. Best to keep him guessing.”
I roll my eyes at the irony. “Listen, Adam, Col and I talked quite a bit this weekend—”
“Between the monkey sex?”
My elbow connects with his ribcage and he groans. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.”
“Just calling it like I heard it!”
Oh. My. God. I move to get up, but he snags a belt loop and tugs me back down.
“I’ll stop. Scouts’ honor.” He holds up two fingers.
I eye him warily, then come out with it before he changes his mind. “I’m going to California with Colton next semester.”
“Don’t you think you should tell him about the kid first?”
“Obviously, I’ll do that before I make any solid plans.”
“Hmm…” His eyes narrow suspiciously and I laugh. He’s not even fazed about my leaving him in the lurch, is he?
“Where’s the Well, shit, Taylor, that’s a breach of your lease. You owe me an extra million dollars?”
“Haven’t we talked about this already? Your lease agreement?” he asks, brow creased.
“We talked about me bringing a baby into the apartment in February.”
“Ah, well, the same principle applies: shit happens.” Lifting a shoulder, he turns back to the TV for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I like you, Taylor Swift. I know what we agreed to, and if you can go back on your part of the deal, so can I. I won’t screw you over just because I can.”
My gut feeling about this guy was right from start—he’s a damn good person. “Thank you.”
He curls his upper lip, trying to look tough. “You know what I told you about letting this shit get out, though, right? Keep it on the down low, yeah?”
I smile and lean into his side. “I think I might miss you when I go, Adam Levine.”
Laughing, his big body shakes next to mine. “Not the first time I’ve heard that, believe me.”
“So smug!” I poke him playfully in the nose as a rap sounds on the door. “You expecting anyone?”
“Nope. Maybe it’s your boy toy showing up without warning. Again.”
I flip him off, and toe up to the peephole to see a huge bouquet of flowers on the other side instead of an actual face or person. “Pretty sure you have the wrong address,” I tell the delivery guy when I open the door.
“Taylor Jansen?” he asks, looking at the name scrawled on the card.
“Um, yeah. Wow.” Not the first time I’ve been given flowers before, but this is by far the largest arrangement. Overkill much, Col? I take the mixed bouquet with a smile, immediately sticking my nose in a huge American Beauty rose.
“Holy crap.” Adam gives a low whistle. “Someone must want more of that rabbit fucking.”
“I take back the missing you stuff,” I tease as I snatch the card from its holder, tear into the envelope…and burst into tears.
My dear baby girl… Thank you for being such a great support for your mom, not only last night, but the last four years. Let me do my part now. Love always, Dad.
Chapter Thirteen
Colton
“Last shoot, huh?” Tito pulls his attention away from the women’s beach volleyball match on TV just long enough to flash me a grin as I make my way to the foyer, suitcase in tow. As soon as I wrap things up at Flint’s—for good—Tito and I are off to the airport, bound for Phoenix and not a moment too soon. Normally, I like to get a solid day of practice in at the venue, but this damn photo shoot’s crimping my style.
“Thank Christ.” I’m half-tempted to bribe him with a first-class upgrade and all the booze he wants if he’ll come along to the shoot, but I know how much he enjoys watching the scantily clad ladies jump around in the sand. “You’ll meet me at the airport at two o’clock?”
He nods, still smirking. “Yup. Hey, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I talked to Bria about the likelihood of the kid being mine.”
“And?”
“She said the timing doesn’t work out with her due date. She got pregnant at least a week before Vegas.”
“When’s she due?”
“Middle of February.”
I do the math in my head, but something’s not right. “Vegas was eight weeks ago and she says she got pregnant nine weeks ago. Technically, she’d be eleven weeks pregnant then, right?”
Tito blinks at me. “How does nine equal eleven?”
“It’s a thing women and doctors came up with to screw with us simple-minded men.” Whipping out my phone, I find a pregnancy site and plug in the information. “If she’s really eleven weeks, she’d be due the end of January.”
“She said she had a sonogram picture if I wanted to see it for reassurance.”
“And?”
“I declined. I don’t know what the hell I’d be looking at.
Clueless son-of-a-bitch. “Text her and ask for a picture.”
“What’s that going to prove?”
I chuckle. “That she’s a lying bitch, that’s what.” Either she made up the entire story or she’s not as far along as she says she is, which sends her right back to the top of my shit list. On the flip side, Tito would be in the clear.
He digs out his phone and starts typing
“If she doesn’t respond before I leave, forward it to me. I’ll take a look at it.” And if nothing else, ask Taylor to decipher. She’s a chick. She probably knows about that baby stuff, right?
He nods and, when I take off at a jog back to my room, the doorbell rings.
“Grab that, will ya?”
He flips me off as I duck down the hall, and a moment later I hear the murmur of voices. The conversation isn’t loud enough to make out, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure whoever it is isn’t here to see me anyhow. I’ve had precisely one visitor since I moved in with Tito well over a year ago. That was Liz, and she’s more likely to bomb the building than have balls enough to show up at my door.
Charger in hand, I swing back toward the main part of the apartment and something about the hushed, decidedly feminine voice gets my heart racing before I even round the corner.
“Hey, handsome,” the most gorgeous girl in the world says the second my eyes land on hers.
Taylor. With a suitcase.
- - -
Taylor
He sprints the few yards that separate us and swings me up into the air, his arms hugged tight around my waist. “What are you doing here?” His question is muffled because his face is buried in my hair, sucking in breath after deep breath. Like he can’t get enough of me.
“I gave my notice at the coffee shop and one of the new girls offered to take my shifts. I figured—”
He kisses the words right off my lips, slow and precise, coaxing and hungry. One hand wanders down to cup my butt as his tongue teases my mouth open. He tastes me like a starving man, so I let him. Right there in front of his roommate.
After what feels like forever—and yet no time at all—Tito coughs. Col pulls back from the assault on my mouth, leaving me breathless and really, really glad I decided to surprise him with the visit.
“If I didn’t have to be in a cab in five minutes, I’d take you back to my room and welcome you properly,” he rasps, with hot lips pressed against my ear. I’m pretty sure my face turns a hundred shades of pink. I wish we had time, too.
“Where you headed?” I ask innocently. Like I hadn’t planned this entire weekend around his schedule, thanks to Tito, who just smirks behind Colton’s back.
Col pulls back, arms still holding me close. “Last ProFit shoot. You want to come with?”
I wouldn’t have caught the redeye out here if I hadn’t. “Sure. Sounds fun.”
He snorts and glances back to his roommate. “Can you look into another plane ticket to Phoenix?”
His roommate gives a thumbs up and we share a secret smile. Thank God he’d given m
e his number in Vegas. I couldn’t have done any of this without him.
“We really need to run.” Col squeezes my hand. “I’m not sure if Liz will show or not, but, if she does, I don’t want to be late and give her another reason to bitch.”
An Uber driver already waits in front of his building when we get downstairs and we climb in, still clinging to one another. I freaking love it. He’s always been my favorite person, and being able to touch him and love up on him now is heaven.
“You smell so friggin’ good,” he says, nuzzling behind my ear. “Cherry and vanilla lotion, right?”
I laugh softly as his lips brush against my skin. “Impressive.”
“Nah, I just snooped through your things a couple years ago. Drove me wild, whatever it was. Had to figure it out.”
“You could’ve asked.”
“Would’ve given myself away. Besides, the lotion wasn’t the only interesting thing I found. Your choice in lingerie is fucking impeccable.” The hand he has pressed against my thigh lifts to my belly and I hold my breath as his fingers slide beneath my shirt. He goes no further than the skin between my capris and my navel, though. Just lets his big hand rest comfortably against the small swell of my stomach.
A hard lump forms in my throat, spreading down to my chest. I couldn’t take another breath again, even if I wanted to. The intimacy of the gesture is just too much. Too significant, though there’s no way he could possibly know.
“Col?” I ask quietly.
“Hmm?” His mouth moves down the column of my neck, leaving tender kisses in his wake.
“What do you think Tito will do if Bria’s baby ends up being his?”
He’s kisses me a half dozen more times before he rests his head against the top of mine and sighs. “Not sure. It’s not like they even like each other, you know?”
I wet my lips and nod. “He’d step up to the plate, though, right?”
“Hell, yeah. Tito’s a good guy.”
“Do you think he’d try to make it work with her? For the sake of the baby?”
Colton’s quiet for a long moment. “He and Bria aren’t like me and you, Tee. They’re way too different for that.”
“What do you mean?”
He clears his throat and gently caresses my belly. “I’d make it work with you.”
