Lead Me Home: A Fight for Me Stand-Alone Novel

by A. L. Jackson

  Rex shrugged and flicked some of the water from his hair. “It’s Nikki with the boyfriend, anyway.”

  “Stupid boys,” Nikki muttered under her breath, wanting to crawl into a hole and disappear.

  “Aww, so cute,” Meredith sang. Nikki knew she was trying to be nice, but it felt like a dig.

  He wasn’t looking in Nikki’s direction, but she saw it. The way Ollie stiffened and the roll of something angry that shivered along his strong back.

  Nikki felt that itchy feeling again. It tingled across her skin—something that felt good and bad and right and wrong. As if she didn’t know herself anymore.

  Kale ignored the whole exchange and tugged his shirt over his head. “Come on, let’s go check out Stillhouse. Haven’t been in there since last summer.”

  “Lucky if it’ll still be standing,” Rex said.

  Nikki chewed her bottom lip. “You know it’s not safe to go sneaking around in there.”

  Rex grinned. “Always so scared, Nik Nik.”

  “I’m not scared. I’m just not dumb. It’s not my fault I hang around with bunch of stupid boys.”

  “I want to go,” Meredith agreed, looking at Ollie with eyes that were begging him to take her along.

  Nikki looked at Sydney, praying that she’d get it. That Nikki needed to get away. She didn’t think she could handle watching Ollie with Meredith for a second more. “It’s a bad idea.”

  And still, she was climbing to her feet, the same way Sydney was doing, because that was just what they always did, always following the guys around.

  Sydney held out her hand to Nikki to help her stand. Excitement blazed in her eyes when she squeezed Nikki’s hand and whispered just so she could hear. “Fly, fly, dragonfly.”

  Nikki sucked in a breath and gave her a nod, following her up the slope to where they’d left their bikes. Kale had already climbed onto his and was taking off down the trail, Rex right behind him, Sydney scrambling to catch up.

  Nikki watched them. Rex looked over his shoulder at Sydney like he was challenging her to catch up. Beckoning her to his side. Something special moved through the air between them.

  Nikki would bet that something special was something Ollie wouldn’t like.

  Warily, she moved to pick up her bike, but all her movements felt slowed.

  Sluggish.

  As if she were trudging through a muddied bog. Held back by that same feeling Ollie radiated like his own special glow.

  A brand the boy wore that only she could feel.

  She peeked over her shoulder, and he was still there with Meredith, but looking all hard and pissed.

  She shook it off. Her private life wasn’t any of his concern, and what he did with Meredith was definitely none of hers.

  She focused on peddling up the trail, through the weeds that had grown high, the long, floral spines of the purple blazing stars poking up through the spikes of the tall grasses.

  As soon as Ollie was out of sight, she peddled harder, faster, thinking she might finally break away. She topped the hill and wound back around the trail toward the abandoned buildings down on Row.

  What used to be a dirt road was now an overgrown path that was barely discernable, just like the earth that had grown up around the crumbling, deserted buildings.

  They weren’t supposed to go in, but they’d been doing it for years. It’d always felt like an adventure.

  Thrilling.

  A little scary.

  A little wrong.

  Nikki guessed that was what made it so much fun. What made her stomach still twist with the thought of sneaking inside.

  She dropped her bike in front of the three stories of splintered wood and rusted steel.

  Inside were old, vacant offices, metal filing cabinets tipped open with the drawers emptied and gaping. Canning facilities with battered, broken-down machines.

  When they were younger, it had been a hide-and-seek heaven.

  Right then, the only thing Nikki felt like doing was hiding. Because she knew she was stupid for even having these thoughts about Ollie. These feelings that welled so big inside her it made her start to think she was losing her mind.

  And she just couldn’t stomach the way Ollie had looked at her when she’d taken off.

  As if he was angry.

  Disappointed.

  Just a dumb little girl who couldn’t think for herself or decide what she really wanted.

  Maybe she really, really was dumb, because what she wanted was him.

  Her breaths came short, and her heart raced as she slowly inched toward the hole in the wall they’d always snuck through.

  “What, are you scared?” She heard Rex shouting at Kale from inside. A reverberation that left a long echo through the vast stillness.

  “Not even, dude. You’re the only pussy around here.”

  Nikki angled to the side and slithered through. Inside the building, it was dark, the dusky space only illuminated by the murky rays of light. They stole through the cracks and the hazed-over windows situated up near the high ceiling that was caved-in on one side.

  The urge to escape hit her, and Nikki fumbled for the stairway off to the right, her hands gliding over the splintered walls so she could find her way. Slowly, she edged up the stairs as quietly as she could. No matter how light her footfalls, the aged wood creaked with each movement.

  Laughter rang through the cavernous space.

  Echoes and joy.

  Sydney.

  Always so free and brave. Living life the way Nikki had always wanted to.

  Nikki made it to the second floor, not even sure where she was going. The only thing she knew was she needed to get there.

  The wood moaned when she stepped onto the second-floor landing, and she weaved deeper into the old halls where she’d hidden so many times as a child.

  She shrieked when a hand latched on her wrist, and she was suddenly pulled into one of the rooms.

  Ollie.

  He was there, backing her into a wall, that same look on his face that he was wearing when she’d left him standing down by the river.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  A glittering beam of light lashed across Ollie’s face, one part aglow and the other a shadow. He grinned in that way that made her spirit sing a million songs.

  “What does it look like I’m doing,” he whispered. “Finding you.”

  He’d always had an uncanny way of sniffing out her hiding places.

  “We’re not playing,” she managed. She swallowed the big lump that had grown in her throat. Trying to pretend she didn’t have that feeling again. “We haven’t played that game in years.”

  Two only.

  But that summer felt like a lifetime ago. Before everything got strange and different and better and worse.

  She could almost hear the tinkle of Sydney’s laughter. “That’s what growing up is. It hurts and it’s amazing at the very same time. That’s called living, Nik. Don’t ever be afraid to live.”

  “No? With the way you went running, I sure thought we were.” Ollie’s voice was a rumble, so much deeper than it’d been.

  She shook her head. “I was just looking for everyone.”

  She tried to shake out of his hold, duck away. The funniest thing about that was he wasn’t even touching her.

  “Where’s Meredith?” she asked, her voice feeling too fragile.

  His lips pressed into a thin line that looked like frustration. “Downstairs. She decided she didn’t want to come up.”

  “You should be down there with her.”

  Nikki didn’t know a whole lot about relationships, but at least she knew that. Ditching your girlfriend in a deserted warehouse was not cool.

  She could see the shift. As if the lightness he’d found her with had only been a mask, and she stood there watching it be peeled away. Beneath it was confusion. A kind of disorder and anger she hadn’t seen him wear before.

  Something about it made her shake.

  He s
uddenly reached out and took her by the chin. “Is it true?”

  She jarred back a fraction. “What?”

  “That you have a boyfriend?”

  Her gaze dropped to the side.

  “Look at me,” he demanded, and her eyes fluttered open, just like the flutter in her belly.

  He stared at her, eyes drawing together, teeth gritted. “I don’t like it.”

  A sound scraped from her throat. “You have a girlfriend, but you’re telling me you don’t like it?”

  His jaw clenched, and lines pinched his forehead as if he were trying to make sense of something. “I don’t like it. The way it feels. The way it makes me feel.”

  His eyes moved over her. Nikki felt as if he was looking at her for the first time.

  He hesitated, and his tone twisted in confusion. “You make me feel different.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  He fiddled with a piece of her hair.

  Softly, watching the movement as if he was in awe.

  Her knees wobbled. “Ollie.” His name was close to a whimper, and if she hadn’t been tied to him in this unseen way, she would have floated through the ceiling.

  “It means I want to take care of you.”

  She tried to clear her head. “You have a girlfriend. Right downstairs. Remember? And I’m not a little girl anymore.”

  He looked at her in that strange way again. “No. You’re not. But that doesn’t mean you won’t always be mine to protect.”

  Footsteps clattered up the steps and came their direction. “Hey, assholes,” Rex shouted, “We’re coming for you.”

  Ollie jumped back, putting a couple of feet of space between them, looking away from her as if standing that close to her was a sin.

  Kale’s voice carried, getting closer and closer. “Come on, shit sticks! We’re heading to the lake. Cliffs are calling my name. It’s hotter than the devil’s backside in here. Think we walked right into the pits of hell.”

  “Alabama is hell. Thought you would have figured that out by now,” Ollie shouted back.

  “Ollie! Come on. It’s hot in here, and this place is super creepy. I want to leave.” Meredith’s voice echoed through the worn walls, a bit of frustration behind them.

  Nikki stumbled away. Confused and somehow hurt. “Just go. I need to go check on my sister, anyway. I promised her I’d take her to the movies today.”

  Ollie wavered, unsure before they heard Sydney’s shouted words filter through with a laugh. “We are three. Forever and ever. You and me.”

  “Hey, what about me?” Rex’s voice echoed.

  Sydney laughed. So carefree. “No way.”

  Ollie gave a last fleeting glance at where Nikki stood trembling against the wall before he relented and headed for the door. “Comin’. Nikki is headin’ home.”

  He was leaving her.

  Was it stupid that hurt her, too?

  “What?” This from Sydney. Nikki could hear her friend’s footsteps growing closer while the guys clanged down the steps.

  “Where are you?” Sydney called.

  Nikki eased out of the room. Trying to play off whatever had just happened between her and Ollie. It felt so different. So wrong and so right, and Nikki was sure she’d never been so unsure of anything in her whole life.

  “Come with us?” Sydney asked, stretching out her hand, head angling, knowing something wasn’t right.

  “I think I’d better go check on my sister.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No.”

  She squeezed Nikki’s hand. “We are three. Forever and ever, you and me.”

  Swallowing hard, she let Sydney guide her out through the motes that floated in the dusky air. The steps creaked and groaned beneath them as they headed down the flight of stairs.

  Nikki could feel it, though there was nothing she could do.

  The wood giving, splintering beneath her foot.

  Nikki screamed as the plank busted, and her leg wedged through the hole.

  Sharp arrows of wood cut into her skin. Pain and fear turned her stomach again.

  “Oh my God, Nikki!” Sydney cried, and footsteps were bounding again, and Ollie was right there.

  His face was twisted in shock and concern.

  She didn’t want to find comfort in it.

  She didn’t want to feel as if he made her feel everything would be all right.

  But she did.

  His touch was gentle as he eased her leg from the hole, careful to wind her ankle and foot free so she wouldn’t get any new gouges.

  She definitely didn’t want the tears that broke free when Ollie pulled her into his arms, but a sob of relief broke free when he held her close and whispered, “I’ve got you. I won’t ever let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”

  She wound her arms around his neck and buried her face under his jaw. His scent was all around her as she clung tight.

  She couldn’t make out all the words people were shouting around her.

  Because Ollie had her.

  And that meant everything in her world was right.

  15

  Ollie

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. I wasn’t sure why my damned heart went haywire because of it. Maybe it was because I was praying it was Nikki. Hoping she’d just text to shoot the shit, tell me how her day was going, or maybe ask me about mine.

  Hell, I’d settle for a text just to remind me I was an asshole again.

  Anything would be better than the two of us acting like the other didn’t exist.

  Two days of tiptoeing around my house.

  We’d been walking on eggshells since I’d brought her there in the first place, just waiting for something to crack.

  Come loose.

  But now . . . now it was different. A boundary had been crossed. A dam busted. It left me walking through a fucking flood of need.

  I was up to my goddamned eyes with it.

  Twice, I’d passed her in the hall, and it’d taken every fucking thing I had not to grab her and press her delicate, delicious body up against the wall.

  Needing to devour that mouth.

  Desperate to take it further.

  To slide my hands up her skirt and slip my fingers into her heat.

  I’d felt it. How fucking bad she’d wanted me. It was almost as potent as the anger she felt for me.

  The fear.

  At least she hadn’t taken off.

  Sucking in a breath, I pulled out my phone and squinted at the text on the screen.

  Sage: Got a call. Think I have something you might be interested in.

  Sage was one of the guys at the shop I’d invested in where I had all my cars restored.

  Disappointment was probably not the reaction he was going for, but I deflated with a heavy exhale as I tapped out a response.

  Me: What you got?

  Sage: ’55 Bel Air. Seller is bringing it by in about 15. Thought you might want dibs.

  His offering almost brought on a smile.

  Me: Yup. I’ll be there.

  Sage: Cool.

  Tucking my phone into my back pocket, I grabbed my keys and headed out the door, going straight for the elevator and riding it down into the basement. I hopped onto one of my bikes, figuring the fresh air would do me some good. Rid me of some of the anxiety and need bottled in my limbs.

  Kicking it over, the engine roared to life. Metal vibrated beneath my hands. I took it to the road. Heavy on the throttle. Weaving through cars as I let the heat blast at my face and beat some of the bullshit away.

  Could almost feel it scatter like fall leaves blowing away to reveal what they concealed.

  Damp earth.

  Darkness.

  Blood.

  Bones.

  Dirt.

  That date loomed. Right around the corner. A reminder that Sydney was what I was fighting for.

  Ten minutes later, I took a left and then a right, winding down into the industrial section of Gingham Lakes. I passed by warehous
es and shops and dingy offices.

  Slowing, I made the last right through the big metal gate into Roke’s Restorations. I was itching to get my fingers on something good. Something that could be brought back. Something that was safe.

  The massive rolling doors of the shop had been lifted. Gliding to a stop, I set my boots out to balance the bike and kicked the stand. I swung off and rushed a hand through my windblown hair as I ducked through the door and into the shop.

  Place was in its usual state.

  Disarray with the promise of something good. Cars and bikes and parts sitting everywhere in varying states of repair.

  When he heard the thud of my boots echoing on the concrete, Sage eased out from under a hood of a classic Pontiac. He lifted his chin, grabbed a rag. “Hey, man, you made it.”

  “And miss the chance at getting my hands on a Bel Air? Think you know me better than that.”

  He turned up one of his confident grins. “Which is exactly why I got with you first. Guy said he’d picked it up local and wants to turn it quick.”

  We both turned when we heard a car rolling into the lot.

  “Ready to check this out?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  Side by side, we headed out the garage doors.

  Rolling into the lot was a four-door sedan that had to be ten or fifteen years old, beat to shit, and seen better days. But it didn’t come anywhere close to looking like the hunk of rusted-out metal being towed in behind it.

  How the fuck he even towed it out of whatever dump he’d found it in was beyond me. The tires were flat and rotted, and every inch he moved forward was met with the shrill sound of metal grinding.

  Taking a look at the kid behind the wheel of the car, my first thought was desperate times called for desperate measures.

  He put it in park and cut the engine. A dude that couldn't have been older than twenty came springing out of the driver’s side, scrawny as fuck with ratted out clothes. Cheap ass, second rate, hacked out tattoos littered his arms.

  “You Sage?” he asked.

  “Nope.” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans and rocked back on my heels.

  My gut instinct made itself known.