Crash Into Me (The Wicked Wingmen Series Book 1)

by DD Sparxx

Still smiling she replied, “No, I think I’m good on the caffeine. Let me just get an iced water, please.” Once she walked away Ella turned to me, “I forgot you don’t drink coffee, why didn’t you suggest meeting someplace else?”

  “I don’t mind, iced tea is good anywhere. How have you been?”

  “Great! Wonderful! Life has been really good to me. I’ve got a career in real estate that I love, I’m healthy, I have an amazingly supportive family, and some fabulous friends. How have things been for you guys, I mean you?” she blushed.

  “Things have been great for me. I’m still flying. I was upgraded to Captain at Easy Rider a little over a year ago.”

  “Congratulations, that’s wonderful! Is there anyone special? Someone fortunate enough to finally lock you down?” she looked at me curiously, pointedly looking at my left ring finger, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

  “Nah, you know me, I’m a ‘play the field’ kind of guy.” I knew where this was headed, so I jumped right in. “And for the record there is no one special in Ford’s life either. Not since about seven years ago.”

  Her face registered her surprise. “Mine either… I honestly think I haven’t been able to move on because of the way I left things.”

  The waitress quietly brought our drinks and retreated.

  He leaned in, “Why did you leave the way you did? He was completely gutted! I’ve never seen him that way before.”

  “I knew if I waited for him to come back, I’d never be able to do it. I wasn’t happy with myself. I felt like I was such a disappointment, like I was going to let him down. He had this whole life mapped out for us. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to live up to his expectations anymore. I had no clue what I wanted to do with mine after...” she paused changing gears. “At 25, I should’ve had some sort of direction. I didn’t deserve him. Plus… never mind, it doesn’t matter.” She looked down at her hands in her lap, before sighing and looking back up at me.

  “What doesn’t matter?” Sipping my tea, I cocked my head to the side trying to figure out where she was going. I knew she had some sort of secret. I could tell. Something had happened.

  “I can’t, it’s private. Not even Ford knows. Do you think he’d want me to reach out to him? Or do you think I’d be disrupting his life? I don’t want to cause him any additional pain.” Again, she glanced away but not before I saw the tears that filled her eyes. She sipped from her water glass, almost as if she was afraid of how I would answer her.

  “I don’t know for sure. I didn’t tell him I saw you. I figured if you wanted to see him, you’d wait around for him after the flight the other night. But when we deplaned, you were gone and I was glad I hadn’t told him. I was still hopeful you’d reached out, though. And after talking to you today, I think you both could use some closure.” I paused to take another sip of my tea. “We’ll be going out tomorrow night to a club in Scottsdale. If you want, I can text you the name when we decide. If you really want to reconnect with him, you’ll show up,” I raised my hands and did air quotes, “unexpectedly.”

  “Ok. Thanks, Jax, for the giving me a chance. I mean I know I could’ve tried to track him down through social media or whatever, but I didn’t know what his life was like and I didn’t want to take the chance of ruining anything he might have going on. I mean, I’m not saying I want us to get back together, but he was my best friend and I really miss him. Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?”

  “I don’t know, but you’ll never know if you don’t try.” I’d never had anything like what they shared in my life, so I was definitely the wrong person to ask, and seeing how broken Ford was when she left, made me not want anything like it. Love was like a sucker punch to the gut. But I knew Ford hadn’t been the same. I was sick of him getting sucked into the past and looking sad and miserable.

  She nodded in acceptance, her eyes downcast when she answered. “I know you’re right. Thanks for your help. I hope you’ll still consider me a friend because I’d like to be able to consider you one, even after everything that’s happened. I didn’t know if you’d forgive me.” She looked up at me with hope in her eyes.

  “Of course, I still consider you a friend and I do forgive you, but I’m not the one whose forgiveness you really want.”

  She just looked at me, but didn’t respond to my statement. “I’ll make sure to have my phone powered on tomorrow. I really do appreciate it.” She started to stand and gather her things. “I guess I’ll see ya tomorrow.” She smiled confidently.

  I smiled back, we’ll see I thought to myself, “See ya then,” I said out loud.

  She left with so much hope in her voice that I hoped I made the right decision. I mean it should be Ford’s choice how he reacts when he sees her. It threw me for a loop on the plane and I’m not the one who was in love with her. Might still be in love with her.

  The waitress came back and offered me a refill, which I politely declined. When I pulled out my wallet she told me that my friend had already paid the bill.

  I smiled to myself as I walked to my car, this felt like the right thing to do.

  18

  Ella

  My “coffee date” at The Grind went well this morning. I couldn’t wait to call Sadie and see what she thought. I, for one, was feeling really hopeful.

  I dialed as soon as I got into my SUV and it went straight to voicemail. Dang it, she must be with a client, so I texted instead. “Call ASAP, I just left The Grind.”

  My news didn’t feel any less climactic when she finally got back to me an hour later. “Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. The dealership is busy today since we’re so close to the end of the month.”

  “That’s ok, I’ve been tied up with some property searches anyways. Hang on a sec, let me step outside.” I walked out to my SUV. “Girl, this morning went even better than I could’ve hoped for…” I continued on to tell her what went down.

  “So, to quickly recap, Ford is single, Jax forgave you, and he’s going to text tomorrow at some point to let you know where they’ll be tomorrow night? But again, most importantly, Ford is single!” Sadie cut right to the heart of it.

  “Yeah. Am I crazy to feel nervous, scared, and yet a little excited? Maybe even hopeful?” I asked as I played with my clicky pen that I was still holding on to.

  “I think what you’re feeling is completely normal. I don’t know how I would feel if I was in your shoes because I’ve never had a great love in my life. I mean the closest I had was that one-year relationship with the asshole who cheated on me, repeatedly. And I never really felt like I was actually in love with him. In lust, maybe, but not love. So, you’re sure you’re finally ready to see him face to face again?”

  “I think so. After talking to Jax, I feel somewhat optimistic. Even if it’s just to get some sort of closure. It’ll suck if he’s a complete dick to me, but at least then I have my answer and it will help me move on with my life.” Even as I hear myself saying the words I don’t know if I believe them. “Whatever happens is my fault, though. I’m the one who left the way I did.”

  “Yeah. I know you had your reasons, but you never told him-”

  “I know I never told him,” I cut her off. “And maybe that was due to my poor decision making skills back then, or the fact that I just plain wasn’t thinking clearly, but I’m still the one who made the choices that I made. No one forced me to choose the way that I did, and I’m the one who has to live with the regrets of what might have been every day. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, and all that.” Sadie was the only person besides my family and myself that knew my secret.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just meant, you know that seeing him will bring all of this back up to the surface again. I want to make sure you’re prepared for it. If you say you are then I believe you. I love you, you know?”

  How could I argue with that? I knew she loved me and was only trying to look out for me. “I know you do, I love you too. And I think I am finally ready. It’s been way too long at this p
oint.”

  “We still on for the 10K in the morning?”

  “Yeppers. I’ll pick you up at 8:15 and we’ll head to the stadium together.”

  “Ok, see ya in the a.m. Bye.” Sadie signed off.

  The race was for The Live Lively Foundation a non-profit organization that promoted healthy living. It taught today’s youth and their families how to make healthy choices in life regarding food and physical activity. Not only that, but it also taught them leadership and resiliency skills.

  It was a race we participated in together every year for the past six years. Sadie introduced me to it shortly after we met and she had been running it for nine years prior to that. She had another friend who had introduced her to it that had actually used the organization’s help to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle. Since then she has always run it so she can help give back a little bit.

  I thought back to when she first approached me about doing it. It sounded like such an amazing foundation, that I knew I wanted to help out as well. After we finish the race, we always head out for a healthy breakfast to celebrate our little victory, with mimosas, of course.

  I had been a slacker all week with respect to working out, and if I was running a 10K in the morning I needed to at least get my butt to my hot yoga class tonight. I knew it would do me some good to get everything stretched out before tomorrow’s run, plus mentally it would prepare me for whatever tomorrow would bring.

  19

  Ford

  The week passed by in a blur of workouts and errands. One of the hardest parts of being on the road so much was getting all my errands done during business hours when I was actually in town.

  I took the Tundra for an oil change/tire rotation and interior detail job, dropped off and picked up my dry cleaning, went to the post office, paid bills, did grocery shopping, cleaned my condo, worked out, etc., and suddenly, here it was Friday night and I had nothing on my to-do list. I did still have Trina’s number on my fridge…

  I decided to text Jax instead. “You in town?”

  “Yep. Got home late last night. Only had a quick out and back. What’s up?”

  “Wanna meet up for some basketball and then get pizza and pasta to carb up for tomorrow’s race?”

  Instantly thought bubbles appeared, “Where do you want to meet? The park on Indian School Rd?”

  “Sure, how ‘bout 45 minutes?” I typed back.

  Thought bubbles, “See ya then.”

  On the court, I was in my happy place. We started out playing one on one, but surprisingly a few more people showed up and it turned into an all-out game. We played basketball together for years, so we were a force to be reckoned with. We ended up winning every game we played. It’s too bad no money was wagered or we would’ve had our dinner paid for. After, we drove separately to the pizza joint.

  “Good evening, gentleman,” the host greeted us. “Inside or on the patio this evening?”

  “Patio, please.” I’m sure we stunk to high heaven after all the sweating we just did and I didn’t want to offend anyone.

  Our server came over to take our drink order, two Hop Knot IPA’s. Since we normally ate really healthy, we were completely deviating from that tonight.

  Looking over the menu I couldn’t decide what to get. “What looks good to you, brother?”

  “I’m thinking the ultra meaty pizza and the chicken alfredo pasta. I can rationalize it because I’m not only getting a bunch of carbs but lots of protein as well,” he shrugged at me.

  “That sounds perfect. Wanna get the extra-large pizza and split it?”

  “Sure, get your own pasta though, I haven’t had alfredo in eons and I plan on tearing that shit up,” he laughed.

  I laughed along with him, “Dude, I wouldn’t dream of touching your pasta. I know how you are when it comes to you and alfredo, and I don’t want to lose a limb!”

  We placed our orders and talked about the beating we just handed out to the randoms at the court. Then made small talk until the food arrived.

  “I forgot to tell you about one of my neighbors I had the pleasure of meeting the other day. Dude, she was a hot little number with curves in all the right places.” I recapped our roof incident, leaving out my boner and what followed when I went back to my condo, alone.

  “I’m shocked you walked away from that one.” He looked at me with disbelief in his eyes.

  “You know that saying don’t shit where you eat? Well, I feel it applies to where you live too. I mean I wouldn’t want her to end up getting all clingy and living only a few floors away from me, popping by whenever the mood struck her. Ugh, just the thought makes me wonder where I would move to! I love my condo and its location.” I dropped my voice to a whisper, “No pussy is worth all that!”

  “And maybe that wouldn’t have been the case at all? Maybe once would have been enough for her. Maybe she’d of hit it and quit it,” he smirked.

  I tilt my head and look at him like he’s lost his mind. “Fuck you. Let’s be honest. That literally has never happened to me. I’ve had plenty of one-night stands, but that’s only when they know ahead of time that’s all it’ll be. The ones I haven’t been so upfront with are always the ones hoping for more. Flowers, cards, candy, dinners out at the most exclusive restaurants. There’s no one I want that stuff with.” At least not anymore.

  “Well, did you at least keep her number in case you change your mind?”

  “Yeah. In fact, I considered using it tonight but changed my mind. I mean, even I could have a momentary lapse in judgment at some point, but I really need to just throw it away. Like I said, no shitting where I’m eating, so to speak.”

  “I, on the other hand, might be able to help with your neighborly dilemma. I’ll happily shit where you eat.” He joked. “Let me know if you need someone to help take her off your hands,” he offers.

  “Dude, seriously? So you can screw her over and she can still come and harass me? No way!” I literally start belly laughing at the mere thought. “You’re more of a womanizer than I am or could ever hope to be.”

  “Not true,” he actually looked slightly hurt. “Ok, maybe it is true.” He laughed back. “I just haven’t found anyone who could hold my attention for more than five minutes, except maybe Kaya. But those are solely sex minutes, I know nothing else about her and there’s nothing else I want to know about her at this point. But you never know what could happen down the road if I actually continue to keep in touch with her. There might be some potential there,” surprisingly he looked almost hopeful at the end of his sentence and I felt things turn more serious. “Do you ever think you want more than this?”

  “I did, once upon a time. Now, I don’t know.” I felt myself getting pulled into the past again, so I hit the brakes and changed directions. “You totally crushed that alfredo. It was pretty kickass tonight.”

  “I know it. Ready to settle up?”

  I nodded and Jax flagged down our server, who swiped our cards right there at the table and checked us out.

  “Time to head out and get some rest for our race in the morning. Wanna ride together? I can pick you up around 8 o’clock.” I offered.

  “Ok. Did you remember to register us online?”

  “Yep, it was on my to-do list for the week. You owe me $25 bucks by the way, and I have your pin-on number in my truck. I’ll stick you at eight in the morning, hope you’re ready for me.” I joked with him as we walked across the parking lot with our leftovers.

  “Just what I’ve always dreamed of hearing you say, that you wanna stick me. I always knew you secretly had a thing for my ass,” he laughed back.

  20

  Ella

  I got to Sadie’s right at 8:15 and we headed out to the race. Thankfully she had our numbers. I was super competitive with most things, but this race was one I was content to run with my friend, just as we had every other time we ran it. We always paid a little extra upfront to get the assigned parking. It was so worth it to not have to try to figure out where to
park.

  We pulled into the parking garage and hopped out. We pinned each other’s numbers to our backs and walked to where the huge crowd had already formed near the front of the race. I loved to be near the head of the pack. I started stretching and was so glad I went to yoga last night, every muscle felt long and limber.

  I looked around at all the faces. I was proud to be even a small part of a big cause that so many people supported.

  As I was looking, I couldn’t help but smile at all the people. Sadie had been saying something to me, but suddenly I couldn’t hear her voice anymore, I could only see her lips moving.

  I felt my heart literally stop beating. At first, I thought it just looked like Ford from behind, some things you just don’t forget, and I could have chalked it up to coincidence until I saw who I knew was Jax standing next to him.

  He was even bulkier than he had been. He had on mesh shorts and a sleeveless runner shirt. His calves were sculpted, his ass looked firm and muscular, his shoulders looked even broader, and his arms were massive. My mouth watered just looking at him. He looked hot as fuck. He started to turn his head towards Jax and I spun quickly on my heel.

  I was ready to see him, but not looking like this! I had on runners shorts and a sports bra, and my hair was piled on top of my head in a half pony.

  “Ella? Earth to Ella?” Sadie’s voice finally cut back through and she was waving her hand in my face. “Did you hear what I just said?”

  “I, uh, I’m sorry,” I stumbled over the words trying to get my brain to work again. “No. What did you say?”

  “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  I took a chance to glance back over my shoulder and could see the two of them standing there talking waiting for the race to begin. “I have, kind of. Look behind me, nonchalantly, of course. Do you see the two men talking approximately twenty feet away at 10 o’clock? One has dark hair and skin, wearing red mesh shorts and a black tank, the other is a really tall, muscular, blonde in gray mesh shorts and a white tank?”