Autumn Unlocked (Summer Unplugged)

by Amy Sparling

  Jace’s lips squish to the side of his mouth as he glances at me. “Sorry. This is my day off.”

  The girl sighs extra dramatically and flips her braids over her shoulders. “Come on, it’ll only take an hour. My bike is already here and I can be ready in ten minutes. You know I need more practice on my turns or I’ll be screwed for the races tomorrow.”

  “I…um, I can’t JoJo. I’m sorry.”

  “What is so important that you can’t take just one hour to help me? Please? I’ll pay you double.” She says the last part with a smile that makes Jace chuckle. I don’t even want to know why her form of payment is funny to him.

  I roll my eyes from my place in the corner of the room. Her desperation is so great, I can almost smell it.

  Jace glances at me again, only this time it’s as if to ask permission. I lift an eyebrow. He isn’t seriously asking me if he can ditch me to spend an hour with some girl?

  “What?” I say in response to his look.

  “Do you mind if I help her real quick? You can hang out on the bleachers with Alyson.”

  Blood trickles into my mouth from how hard I’m biting the inside of my lip. I cannot believe that my boyfriend brought me here for the weekend only to ditch me for this girl. I know it’s not for the money, either. He has plenty of that. I guess what he’s missing in life is another set of boobs to stare at.

  “Do whatever you want,” I say as I turn on my heel and walk out of his office, letting the door snap closed behind me.

  Thank god I didn’t have time to say I wanted to have sex with him.

  CHAPTER 8

  The metal stairs that wind down and around the office tower make an echoing clashing sound with every step I take. I barrel down the stairs two at a home, holding on to the railing because although I want to get out of here as soon as possible, I definitely don’t need to fall face first down two flights of stairs. I’m humiliated enough at having my boyfriend ditch me to spend an hour with another girl—I don’t need a broken nose and black eye added to this nightmare.

  When I arrive safely on the ground, I head straight toward the bleachers, not because I want to go sit with whatever-her-name-was, but because I have no idea where I’m going. To my left is the dirt bike track which is marked off with a fence of multi-colored plastic triangle flags. To my right is a whole bunch of nothing exciting. Trucks, motorhomes, even some camping tents. Parked dirt bikes and people lounging around in lawn chairs. It’s a massive field of parking lot and camping sites and none of that appeals to me. So, with nowhere else to go, I head to the bleachers.

  When I’m halfway there, the delicious smell of kettle corn fills the air and makes my stomach grumble. I haven’t eaten in a while, and damn, that smells amazing. I look around and find a tiny box truck parked behind the bleachers, painted a bubble gum pink. The concession stand. My cold, angered heart softens a tiny bit. If gallons of sugar and salty snacks can’t make me feel better, nothing can.

  I wait in line behind a mother and her toddler-aged children who can’t decide which flavor snow cone to order. I hadn’t realized I was hungry back in Jace’s office, but now as I wait for what feels like a thousand years, my stomach cramps up in hunger pains that threaten to make me drop dead on the spot. Plus the smells coming from the food truck aren’t helping one bit.

  When the kids decide on cherry snow cones and the mother orders “just a water because I’m watching my weight,” they finally freaking leave so that I can order.

  “Hey there lady,” the man behind the tiny ordering window says. He wears a disposable paper chef’s hat that makes him look like a cartoon character but I recognize him from earlier this morning. He’s the one who wanted to sell signed posters of Jace.

  “Hi,” I say, feeling like he thinks we’re friends when I don’t even know him.

  “What can I get for you?” he asks.

  “Kettle corn,” I say without bothering to look at the menu. I know he has it in there because I can smell it. “And a Coke.” I glance at the hand-painted menu to my right and gaze over the selections. “Um…and a pickle, please.”

  He laughs and shakes his head. “Can’t say anyone’s ever ordered kettle corn and pickles together. That’ll be six-fifty.”

  “Thanks,” I mumble as blood rushes to my cheeks. I hope that wasn’t some kind of pregnant joke. Because I am so not pregnant. I reach into my back pocket and as my fingers glide over nothing but denim material, a lump forms in my throat. Shit. I don’t have any money. My purse is in Jace’s apartment and Jace isn’t here to bail me out.

  Now the blood really rushes to my cheeks. “I’m sorry,” I say as quietly as possible since I know there are people in line behind me. Not wanting to admit that I’m broke, I lean forward and mumble, “I…uh, left my wallet back in the car. I’ll come back.”

  The strong scent of men’s body wash fills my lungs as someone steps in front of me, slapping a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. “Nachos and Redbull, please.” The blond shirtless guy turns toward me and winks. He winks at me. “Plus whatever she ordered.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” I say quickly but he shakes his head.

  “It’s no problem. You clearly forgot your purse or something, right? Plus I haven’t done anything nice in a while so I figure I’m overdue.” He smiles this captivating smile and if I didn’t have a boyfriend that I love (despite being a little pissed off at him right now) I’d probably flip head over heels for this guy.

  “Well, thank you,” I say as the guy in the chef hat places my kettle corn on the counter. I take it and shove a handful in my mouth as lady-like as possible.

  Mystery guy helps me carry my food over to the bleachers where we sit on the bottom row. Normally I wouldn’t want to talk to some strange guy, but right now I like the distraction from how angry I am at Jace. Plus this guy and his cocky attitude just kinda screams douche-bag, so it’s not like I’m flirting with him. I’m just being polite.

  “So I take it you don’t know motocross,” he says after asking my name and a few other pointless questions.

  I shake my head. “Not really, why?”

  He shoves a nacho chip in his mouth and shrugs. “Because you aren’t batting your eyelashes at me and begging for an autograph or a picture to make your Facebook friends jealous.”

  I ponder that for a moment, wondering why the hell I would want his autograph. “Are you some famous guy, too?” I ask.

  He laughs. “I’m Ryan Russo. Number ninety-six on Team FRZ Frame Energy.”

  He watches me expectantly, I guess waiting for the metaphorical light bulb to turn on in my brain, making me remember who the hell Ryan Russo is. “Sorry,” I say with a shrug. “The only famous motocross guy I know is Jace Adams.”

  “Psh,” he snorts, almost choking on his nachos. “That guy ain’t famous.”

  I cock an eyebrow. “Excuse you, yes he is.”

  He shakes his head. “Not anymore. He went and let a girl fuck his head up. Now he’s ruined.”

  Bits of kettle corn crumble under my fingers as I try to contain my anger at this stupidly-handsome idiot. I inhale a deep breath and then stand up, taking my food with me. “He isn’t ruined. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

  Ryan shrugs and glances out at the track in an effort to dismiss me. Well, I won’t let him dismiss me because I’m dismissing him first. With my food clutched to my chest and my drink in my other hand, I storm away from the bleachers and I don’t look back. I’m sure he has his own reasons for not liking my boyfriend, but I’m not going to sit around and listen to them.

  I’m especially not going to listen to stories about Jace’s ex-girlfriend.

  With nowhere else to go, I end up standing behind a row of plastic triangles that mark off the track from the rest of the motocross park. I set my drink on the ground in between my feet and munch on kettle corn while pretending to care about the bikes going around and around on the track. I know somewhere out there is that stupid girl Jac
e is training, so I don’t pay attention to the riders as they pass.

  Someone clears their throat next to me and I turn to see a girl with long brown hair, wearing a purple Mixon Motocross Park t-shirt. Walking up behind her is another rider, a guy dressed in riding gear with dreadlocked hair. The girl smiles at me in a friendly way. “Ryan is an asshole.”

  I shrug. “I kinda deserved it.”

  She shakes her head. “No one deserves to be treated the way he treats girls. I saw you yell at him just now and I had to come tell you that even though Ash told me to mind my own business. I love him and all, but the boy should know that I never mind my own business.” She tosses her thumb backwards toward the guy behind her, who I assume is Ash.

  “Thanks,” I say. “I don’t even know him. He just insulted my boyfriend and I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

  Ash snorts as he messes with his cell phone. The girl punches him in the arm. “I’m Hana Fisher. Yes, that Hana Fisher,” she says with a quick roll of her eyes. I’m getting a little tired of people assuming I know who they are. Maybe in a town as small as Mixon, everyone is famous.

  “I’m Bayleigh,” I say with a shrug. “I have a last name but it doesn’t matter because you won’t know who I am.”

  “Wait,” she says, holding out her hand and glancing back toward her boyfriend. “Bayleigh as in, Jace’s Bayleigh?”

  I nod. I really like the idea of being called ‘Jace’s Bayleigh’ even though I am currently mad as hell at him. “How did you know that?”

  Ash slides his phone into the back pocket of Hana’s shorts. “Because the boy doesn’t shut up about you.”

  Hana nods eagerly. “I’m so excited to meet you. Jace gave me special instructions to keep you entertained if he got busy, but I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

  My heart floods with butterflies and mushy feelings about Jace that quickly freeze up and crack into pieces. I cross my arms over my chest. “Well it would have been nice if he’d asked you to find me today too, since I’ve been ditched for some peppy blond skank.”

  Hana lifts an eyebrow. “You’re gonna have to explain that one.”

  I tell her about how Jace practically begged me to come to Mixon with him a day early and then when we were supposed to spend the day together, he left me to go teach lessons to some girl. Halfway through my story, Ash excuses himself with a kiss on Hana’s cheek, saying something about practice, but I think he just wanted to escape girlish gossip. When I finish telling her what had happened, it takes a lot of energy not to cry. Even though it’s not that big of a deal, my heart still feels broken.

  “I mean how many other hot girls does he see on a daily basis that will make him forget all about me?” I say, tugging at the ends of my hair.

  Hana had kept quiet during my story but now she gives me a sad puppy look. “Girl, you’ve got it all wrong, I promise. Jace is crazy about you.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat and shake my head. “How do you know?”

  “That girl you’re talking about was most likely JoJo because she is the only female client he has, I promise.” She points to the logo on her shirt. “My dad owns this place and I work here full time so I’d know if Jace trained other girls.”

  “Okay, so there’s just one girl. Why do you think I shouldn’t be worried about her?” I ask.

  Hana laughs. “Because she’s his cousin. She’s going to be the first girl in Texas to race in the all-male Pro class at the races tomorrow. She’s been trained by Jace for her whole life. That’s why she said she’d pay him double…it was a joke because she doesn’t pay him anything.”

  The tight pain in my chest slowly unravels, releasing my heart from the grip of heartbreak. Then embarrassment sinks in. I’ve been a total idiot. “Oh god,” I say with my head in my heads. “I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

  Her hand touches my shoulder. “Don’t stress. It happens. Hell, I’m pretty sure Ash is going to propose to me any day and I still freak out when girls ask for his autograph.”

  We hang out on the bleachers for a while, chatting about motocross and boys. Hana seems like a really cool person and she’s just as crazy in love with Ash as I am with Jace.

  “Hey honeybun,” Hana says, noticing Ash walk around the side of the bleachers before I do. He’s talking with someone and my heart skips a beat when I see the guy next to him—Jace.

  His skin glistens with the sweat of having been outside in the sun for the last hour. Ash sits next to Hana and Jace sits to my right. Ash kisses Hana on the cheek and Jace… well he doesn’t do anything.

  CHAPTER 9

  The roar of dirt bike motors fill the air and makes it hard to hear the story Ash tells Hana now, something about Team Yamaha. I glance sideways at my boyfriend, watching him watch the track in front of us.

  “Hey,” I mumble as I squint to look at him with the setting sun blinding my vision.

  “Hey,” he says back.

  "How was your lesson?"

  He shrugs. "It was good, I guess."

  I rest my chin in my hands and stare at the metal railing under my feet. I'd bet if you looked up the word awkward in the dictionary, it would show a picture of Jace and I sitting right here, right now.

  "That was some exit you made earlier." Jace's words aren't exactly mean, but they aren't exactly nice, either. I turn to look at him. He gives me a half smile and some of my anxiety melts away. Jace and I don't have fights and I'd really like to avoid having our first one at Mixon Motocross Park, in front of dozens of people on the bleachers.

  "Yeah I know," I say, returning his half smile. "You could have told me she was your cousin, you know."

  He shrugs. "I don't see why it matters."

  My mouth falls open in disbelief. I have to suppress the urge to punch him. "If you don't know why it matters, Jace Adams, then there is something wrong with your head."

  He grabs the finger I had unknowingly pointed at him. His fingers wrap around it, pulling it closer to his chest. "It doesn't matter if my client is my cousin or not. I am in love with you and no one else matters." He pulls my hand into his and brings it to his lips. "But it was fun watching you get so upset," he says right before he kisses the back of my hand.

  My eyebrows draw together. "Thanks, asshole."

  He laughs and this time I do punch him, but in a playful way. Hana and Ash stand up from the bleachers, lost in their own conversation. Jace tells them bye and they wave before heading to the concession stand.

  When they are out of earshot, I lean over and let my head rest on Jace's shoulder. "Why didn't you just tell me that she was your cousin when she walked into your office and then we could have avoided this whole thing? Why didn't you run after me and explain things?"

  He shrugs and my head bobs up and down with this shoulder. "You needed time to cool off. And I needed time to think about the fact that my girlfriend is crazy jealous."

  I lift my head and look at him. "I am not crazy jealous."

  He gives me a sneaky grin and kisses my forehead. "Like I said, it's fun watching you get upset."

  "Oh my god," I say while shaking my head. "I am going to kill you."

  "Aww, shucks," he says. "You don't really mean you want to kill me."

  "Maybe not kill, but… I would like to do bad things to you."

  He hops off the bleachers and sticks his tongue out at me. "Let's get out of here and then you can ‘kill me’ all you want."

  CHAPTER 10

  The words are on the edge of my tongue, holding on for dear life and refusing to let go. Jace cuddles up against me, all wrapped up in the stupid television show and completely unaware of the mental war going on in my head. All I have to do is tell him. Just tell him that I want to have sex and he would be thrilled and life could go on for both of us, sex-filled and wonderful.

  But of all the times in the world for me to suddenly get shy, my personality chooses this time. I nuzzle against his chest, closing my eyes and trying to memorize every second of this time w
ith him. Because after tonight, I’ll go back to sleeping alone in my own bed again. Talk about torture.

  Mom has only called me once since I arrived yesterday and it was just to make sure I wasn’t dead. I sent her a text this morning and again this afternoon telling her I was still alive and having fun and all I got back from her was a one word reply: okay. That’s so freaking weird and out of character for her. Maybe all Mom needed for the past few years was a man in her life, someone to make her happy and take her mind off the stress of working and raising two kids. My dad left before Bentley was born, leaving nothing but a stack of bills behind him. No note, no reason why, and definitely no kiss on the forehead.

  Mom paid the bills, worked her ass off and always kept her head up, acting as if dads left all the time and it wasn’t a big deal. I knew she cried in bed at night when she thought we couldn’t hear her. A pang of guilt hits me, making my chest tighten. I shouldn’t have treated her so shitty over the last couple of years. All she did was try to protect me from dating that loser Ian, and all I did was rebel against her.

  “You’re doing it again,” Jace whispers in my ear. I look sideways at him and lift an eyebrow. “You’re thinking really hard about something.”

  I smile. “It’s not about you. I was just thinking about Mom and how it’s so weird that she has a boyfriend now. I mean, I guess you could call that a boyfriend. They were already sleeping together. How long do adults wait before they have sex?”

  Jace shrugs. “I would hope he’s not a one night stand, but who knows. You should be happy for your mom. She deserves someone to make her happy.”

  “How long should we wait?” I gasp right after the words come out of my mouth. Holy crap, I can’t believe I finally said it.

  Jace answers without skipping a beat. “Until you’re comfortable. I’ve been ready,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.