Out of Alignment (Hearts & Horsepower #5)

by A. K. Evans

  Knox barely got the words out when Avery scolded him. “Why would you say that? Are you hoping he suffers some heartache?”

  Knox shook his head, but it was Logan who spoke. “I don’t think Knox wishes for that at all, Avery,” he cut in. “But I have to agree with him that it’s strange to see Nash even more relaxed than usual.”

  “Why is this shocking?” I questioned them. “I mean, look at Ryker. He was miserable before Scarlet was back in his life, and now he’s a far cry from the grouch we all knew him to be.”

  “Thanks,” Ryker grumbled.

  I laughed. “Anytime.”

  “It’s different from Ryker because we all thought that all the years they spent apart was the worst of it for them,” Kieran explained. “Obviously, we learned it could get worse for them just like it did for Logan and Kendall, Knox and Avery, and Elise and me. Doesn’t the possibility of things going south for you and Parker worry you?”

  I shook my head.

  “Not at all?” Ryker asked.

  Shaking my head again, I declared, “She’s the one.”

  “The one?” Avery repeated, her eyes practically falling out of her head.

  I dipped my chin and confirmed, “The one.”

  “Isn’t it… kind of early to make that sort of declaration?” Logan wondered.

  After swallowing down a gulp of water, I answered, “I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter to me. I know what I feel, and I know she’s the one. Whatever happens along the way will happen. Why would I stress myself out about it?”

  They stared back at me with looks consisting mostly of shock. Sure, I’d witnessed all of my friends find the woman meant for each of them. I saw what they went through, and maybe it made me crazy, but I couldn’t wait to experience that level of emotion with Parker.

  In the end, as long as we were together, that’s all that would matter. None of the other stuff would even be a factor.

  So, I welcomed the next few weeks and months that would allow Parker and me to get to know one another a lot better. I looked forward to fiery passion and heated arguments. Those disagreements would only mean that we both believed there was something there worth fighting for.

  I wasn’t sure why my friends thought I wouldn’t want to experience that. Maybe that made me strange, but I didn’t care.

  Life was entirely too short to sit around feeling worried about things that would inevitably happen. All I knew was that I’d do whatever I needed to do to make sure that Parker found her way through those instances, appreciating them for what they would ultimately do.

  They’d bring us closer.

  “You’re a brave man,” Kieran said.

  “No, I’m just realistic,” I told him. “And if I don’t want to get myself into an unnecessary argument right off the bat, I think I need to get my ass back out there and back to work.”

  I got a round of nods.

  As everyone started cleaning up their mess, Avery asked, “Do you think Parker will be up for a girls’ night in one of these days?”

  I didn’t know. She had made it clear that she liked my friends, but I didn’t know what her comfort level was with getting together like that with Avery, Kendall, Scarlet, and Elise after having only met them once. And considering I had to practically beg for her to give up a yoga class this week, I wasn’t sure how flexible her schedule would be for that kind of thing.

  “I’m going to be honest,” I started. “I know her schedule is tight this week and weekend, but you can reach out to her and see what works for her.”

  “I didn’t grab her number at the track,” Avery said. “Would you mind checking it’s okay with her before passing it along?”

  “Sure.”

  Grinning, Avery declared, “Awesome. In the meantime, I’ll talk to the rest of the girls and see what works for them.”

  With that, I gathered up the rest of my trash, tossed it in the can, and made my way out to the shop to get back to work. And I did it thinking about what I was going to do with Parker when I saw her on Wednesday. Even though I told my friends that I wasn’t the least bit concerned about Parker and me having tough times ahead of us, I did have to admit that I wasn’t above doing what I needed to do to make sure that when they arrived, Parker would have plenty of good stuff there that would make her think twice about walking away.

  I hated surprises.

  Always have.

  My distaste for them was likely because it was generally never a good thing any time I experienced something unexpected.

  Hell, I hadn’t even had a surprise birthday party when I was growing up.

  So the fact that it was now Saturday evening and I was anticipating a surprise shocked me. I had asked Nash what he had planned for our date, but he refused to tell me what he had up his sleeve. The only bit of information he gave me was to tell me that I could just be relaxed. He went so far as to tell me that if I wanted to wear a pair of sweats, I could. While it thrilled me to know that we were this early in the relationship and Nash seemed to have no problem with me putting absolutely zero effort into my appearance, I had no intention of being that relaxed just yet.

  But I had to admit that I was intrigued.

  Best of all, I was slowly learning that not all surprises were a bad thing. This was thanks to Nash, who’d given me little glimpses of them over the last few weeks.

  There was no doubt he knew how to keep things interesting. And apparently, he was turning things up this week. On Tuesday evening, I’d received a text from Nash asking what time I’d be home from work. When our planned date night rolled around the next evening, he arrived within minutes of me walking through the front door.

  And he was filled with surprises that night. The first thing that caught me off guard was seeing him standing there outside my door wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers.

  My eyes roamed over his body before returning to his face. Then I greeted him, “Hey.”

  Nash stepped forward, kissed my cheek, and squeezed my hip. “Hey,” he returned.

  After looking down at my work clothes, I explained, “I just walked in the door.”

  “That was the plan,” he replied.

  Jerking my chin to the side, I shot him a questioning look. “Am I right to assume that tonight’s dress attire is going to be casual?”

  Nash grinned and nodded. “Actually, I’d say it’s less casual and more active,” he clarified.

  “What are we doing?” I asked.

  Slipping his hands around my waist, Nash pressed his body firmly against mine. Then he shared quietly, “As you already know, I didn’t want to wait until Saturday to see you again when I left here on Monday morning. Since my work schedule wasn’t going to allow me to see you on Friday, you were gracious enough to give up yoga tonight. While I appreciate your willingness to do that, I don’t think you should have to give it up. So, we’re going to take a yoga class together.”

  My eyes widened. “What?” I rasped.

  “Is that okay?” he questioned me. “I’m not stepping on your toes or entering some sacred territory of yours, am I?”

  “No, it’s fine,” I insisted. “I just… have you ever taken a yoga class?”

  Nash shook his head. “Nope.”

  Suddenly, I felt bad. Here I had a man who just wanted to spend time with me, and when he’d initially asked for that time, I had essentially told him I was too busy. I even called my sister and told her I was worried that I’d end up changing and giving up everything for him.

  That was when I received the next shock of the night.

  Maybe Nash wasn’t like every other guy I’d known and been close to.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked. I’d already resolved myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to be going to yoga that night, so I really didn’t see the point in making him follow through on something he was doing to make me happy.

  Nash dipped his chin and confirmed, “Yes. I’ll try anything once, so I’m actuall
y looking forward to it.”

  All I could do was stand there and marvel at him. He really was something else.

  When too much time passed without a response or visible reaction from me, Nash urged, “I can’t say for sure since I don’t know where we’re going, but I think you’re going to need to go change now if we’re going to make it to the class on time.”

  That snapped me out of it. I shook my head as though attempting to clear the thought I had about Nash from my mind and lamented, “I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll be right back.”

  Nash chuckled, pressed a soft kiss to my lips, and whispered, “Hurry up.”

  He released his hold on me, and I quickly took off to get myself ready for the yoga class. I’d been taking classes for several years at different spots but finally found a location that worked well for me a couple of years ago. The yoga instructor’s name was Leni, and I just happened to like her teaching style the best of all the instructors I’d ever had the opportunity to take classes with.

  While I had been taking classes for a long time at Leni’s studio and was what could be considered a regular, I wondered what she and the other students would think when they saw me walking in with Nash. I felt some anxiety, but I mostly felt a bit of a thrill.

  And I tried my best to focus my attention on that feeling from that point forward. As necessary as it might have been, I knew it would be far too difficult for me to really think about how good it made me feel to know that Nash was willing to do something so far out of his realm of comfort so that I wouldn’t miss doing something that had become part of my routine. Maybe he didn’t know how crucial sticking to my schedule had been for me, but he was certainly helping me feel better about the things I’d felt such concern over.

  In the end, Nash ended up giving me one final surprise. While it was evident flexibility was not his forte, there was something to be said for his impressive physical strength and stamina, as well as his determination to have some fun. He even told me afterward that he wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to going to another class in the future.

  Given Nash’s unpredictable nature, I really had no idea what to expect when it came to what his plans were for this evening. All I knew was that I was excited for them, whatever they were. And I was going to be doing them in my favorite jeans, not my sweats.

  When my doorbell rang, I felt the butterflies fluttering madly in my belly. That had been a new thing for me, too. I felt giddy over the prospect of seeing Nash.

  Opening the door and seeing him standing there, I beamed a big smile at him. He returned one, stepped inside, slid his arms around my waist, and lifted me so he could kiss me. It was beyond delicious.

  No sooner had I moaned into his mouth when he pulled back and set me back on my feet.

  “Missed you, sunshine,” he said.

  The moment I heard his admission, I realized I felt the same. I hadn’t seen him since Wednesday, and since we’d both been busy at work during the remainder of the week, we hadn’t managed to exchange more than a handful of text messages with one another.

  “I missed you, too,” I replied.

  There was a look of appreciation mixed with a touch of surprise that appeared on Nash’s face. Seeing it, I realized I liked being able to give him something that made him feel good, but at the same time, it saddened me to think that he wouldn’t have heard the same sentiment from me.

  Did I come across to him as unfeeling?

  “Are you ready for tonight?” he asked.

  I shrugged and confessed, “I think so. I’ve been so curious all day long trying to figure out what you had planned. I don’t typically do well with this kind of thing.”

  “What kind of thing?”

  “Surprises and facing the unknown,” I admitted.

  Nodding his understanding, Nash noted, “Well, you’ll just have to wait a little bit longer. I promise it’s going to be fun.”

  “Okay, then I guess I’m ready,” I told him.

  “Good,” he replied. “Then, the first thing I need to know is, do you like Chinese food?”

  I bit my lip. There was no doubt in my mind that if Nash thought I needed to find a way to live a little that he was going to be blown away by my response to his question.

  “I’m afraid to admit that I’ve never had it,” I answered.

  Nash blinked in surprise. “Are you kidding me?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  He tipped his chin to the side, gave me an assessing look, and pressed, “How old are you?”

  “Thirty-one,” I replied, feeling a bit thrown by the question. “Why do you ask?”

  “You’re thirty-one years old, and you’ve never had Chinese food?”

  “No,” I insisted. “Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. I did have a friend when I was in college who had gotten vegetable fried rice. I tried it, but I feel like that’s probably not a proper or accurate representation of all that Chinese food is supposed to be.”

  “You would be correct in your assumption,” he advised. “Are you open to trying it for real tonight?”

  I didn’t have any particular food aversions, and I did want to be a bit more adventurous, so I shrugged and said, “Sure. Why not? Besides, you tried yoga, so it’s the least I can do.”

  With an accomplished look on his face, Nash puffed up his chest. I giggled.

  “Let’s get going then,” he urged. “Grab your keys to lock up. You won’t need anything else. We’ve got one stop to make before we get dinner.”

  “I should get my purse,” I said.

  “You don’t need it, Parker,” he insisted, his voice firm.

  The only time I’d ever heard the tone of his voice like that was the day in the laundromat, right before he walked out and left me standing there. He also had a bit of an irritated edge to his tone that first time he was in my office when he had injured his back.

  Any time I heard it, I hated it.

  It made my insides shake with fury and something else. Something much, much worse.

  And because I wasn’t about to allow him to tell me what I needed to bring with me, I said, “I’m going to grab my purse before we leave.”

  He sighed, and his shoulders fell. He was certainly disappointed I hadn’t listened to his orders, but he didn’t fight me and waited while I got what I wanted to bring with me.

  By the time we made it to his truck, any of the frustration Nash might have felt had dissipated. I didn’t know if he realized he was wrong for trying to tell me not to bring my purse or if he was just that laid-back that he refused to stay mad about anything for too long. Either way, I didn’t necessarily care. All that mattered to me was that our little tiff didn’t ruin the rest of our night.

  Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up outside the mall. While I didn’t think I knew everything there was to know about Nash, I thought I knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t the type of guy who liked to go out shopping.

  “We’re going shopping?” I asked.

  “Just to one store,” he said before he opened his door and got out.

  After meeting me on my side, Nash took me by the hand and held it as we walked through the parking lot. He didn’t let go of my hand even after we had entered the mall.

  I wanted to get caught up in how much I liked having my hand enfolded in his strong, protective one, but I couldn’t. I was too excited and curious about where we were headed.

  Nash never let on where we were going. He simply held my hand and guided me to the destination. Soon enough, Nash brought us to a halt. I looked around at the stores surrounding us and still had no clue what we were doing.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  Grinning at me, Nash declared, “We’re building Legos tonight.”

  My eyes widened as I glanced to my right and saw that he’d stopped us right outside the Lego store. When I returned my attention to him, I was certain he couldn’t miss the disbelief I felt. But just in case he couldn’t tell, I asked, “Really?”


  “Yes. Really,” he confirmed. After giving my hand a gentle tug, Nash led me into the store.

  And there was another surprise.

  I would never have thought it would be so difficult to decide which set I liked best, but thirty minutes after we entered the store, I still wasn’t sure which one I was most interested in building. After we’d walked inside, Nash told me to pick out whichever one that I wanted. So, I took my time walking through the store and examining each set.

  When I finally narrowed it down to two sets and couldn’t decide, I turned toward Nash and said, “I’m stuck.”

  “What’s the problem?” he wondered.

  “I can’t decide between the donut shop opening or the ski resort,” I told him. “I’d be happy building either one, so I think you should make the final decision.”

  Nash looked at both sets before pinning his gaze on me. Then he stated, “We’re getting both.”

  “Both?” I repeated. “Nash, I’ll choose one. There’s no need to get both.”

  Cocking an eyebrow, he asked, “You don’t think we can do both of them?”

  Shaking my head, I answered, “I’m not saying that. It’s just that it’s a little ridiculous to buy both.”

  “I’m buying both,” he decided. Then he took off toward the register, and I had no choice but to follow him there.

  An hour after Nash made his purchase, we were back at my place with two brand new Lego sets, and more Chinese food than I believed was possible for any two people to eat.

  Once again, I’d shown my indecisiveness when we stopped for food. As I stared at the menu, feeling overwhelmed, I realized I would need a bit of help making a decision.

  Nash was patient, and when I asked about any particular meal, he took his time telling me what it was. He even encouraged me to pick a few different ones to try.