by Elias Taylor
She had made plenty of mistakes in high school. Maybe she had sacrificed too much for dance. Her parents had certainly worried that Heather put too much pressure on herself. But when Heather stepped into that studio, she didn’t care. The pressure evaporated. She could just dance.
With a great sigh, Heather heaved herself up off the floor. She shook out her long legs. They were still long and lean with muscle. Broken but not beaten.
One more time, she played the song. And she just danced. She let everything else—all the stress about the future, all the pain of the past few weeks—she let it drift away.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty close. When she was done, Heather allowed herself a small smile of victory.
A headlight reflecting off the window caught her attention. Heather glanced out towards the intersection and saw a motorcycle pulling away.
She shivered as she was hit with the memories. She had been at this studio every day and after each lesson, she had changed into sneakers or boots and dashed out to meet Hayden.
He had waited for her on his bike, right at that light. He was always telling her how cute she looked in her dance clothes.
Hayden. He had been another old habit.
When he had shown up in her English Lit class junior year, the other kids had whispered about him. Biker family, totally scary dad, just out of juvie. Heather had been inclined to believe it. With his too-long hair and dark baggy clothes, Hayden certainly looked the part.
Then one day, Heather’s friend in the class had been out sick, and they had to pick partners for a project. Heather and Hayden had been the last two standing.
It had taken Heather only minutes to realize that beneath his tough exterior, Hayden was smart and funny and kind-hearted. She had fallen hard into a massive crush.
She had dated other guys before him, but none of them were like Hayden. He didn’t make a big deal out of asking her out. He just asked if she wanted to grab a burger after class one day.
Heather had stammered that she had dance class.
“No problem,” Hayden had said with an easy grin. “I’ll pick you up after.”
And so it had begun. That had felt good too, Heather reminisced. Her old classes in this studio had always been tinged with extra excitement when she knew that Hayden would be waiting for her outside when she was done.
In the end, he was a habit she had to break. Heather had wanted one thing for all of high school: to get into the dance program at Juilliard.
Every single thing she did was with that end goal in mind. Except for Hayden. He had been a deviation from the plan. For a while, it had been amazing, but then Heather had gotten scared.
Because Hayden was committed to his family’s biker club. Hayden wanted to stay in Lyndon and work as a mechanic and make sure the club stayed true to its values. Heather had respected that. Despite all the gossip about him, Hayden had more drive and determination in his finger than most of the other guys in high school.
But Heather knew she couldn’t stay. Her dreams were on a faraway stage and she had to chase them.
Hayden had always supported her dancing. Loved it, even. He had never griped that she spent too much time at the studio instead of with him. Heather had doubted that would last. She figured eventually; Hayden would make an ultimatum. Him or dance.
Besides, getting into Juilliard took effort and hard work. Heather feared that Hayden would be a distraction. Her parents had been nice about it, but they had agreed.
So, Heather had ended it. It had been the hardest thing she had to do. Harder than all the dance practice, harder than her Juilliard audition, harder than moving across the country.
Heather closed her eyes as she remembered Hayden’s face when she told him. When they had been dating, Hayden had opened up and shrugged off the gloomy vibes he wore when he got out of juvie. He had been light-hearted, and he had showered Heather with smiles. God, Hayden had been handsome when he smiled.
When Heather told him it was over, Hayden looked just like he had that first day in class. Absolutely miserable.
Heather turned away from the intersection and headed for the door. As she switched the light off, she shook all thoughts of Hayden from her head. She had to teach her first class tomorrow and she needed to figure out a lesson plan.
She had to focus on her future, not her past. And dwelling on Hayden Russel would only lead to unnecessary distractions.
Chapter Four: Long Gone
Something had been unlocked in Hayden’s mind the night before when he saw that dancer in Heather’s old studio.
Even the next day at work in the auto shop, Hayden couldn’t stop thinking about it. Something about how the silhouette whirled through the studio had triggered an avalanche of memories. All the sunny afternoons he had sat on his bike waiting for Heather came back to him. He had loved to watch her dance. He had even gone to every one of Heather’s performances while they were dating.
Hayden had felt out of place, sneaking into the auditoriums to watch the elegant ballets. Even so, he believed he was the luckiest guy in the world to be going out with Heather Carlson. He wasn’t going to waste a single second. He never would have admitted it to his brother or friends, but Hayden even enjoyed some of the ballet. When Heather was dancing it, anyway.
God, she had been gorgeous. With those legs for days and her wavy brown hair.
As Hayden gripped a wrench over an engine, his hand spasmed just from remembering the feeling of burying his fingers in Heather’s hair.
He didn’t know where he had gotten the guts to ask her out in high school. She was an accomplished student with a bunch of pretty and popular friends. He was an outcast with a criminal record. But after they started chatting in class, Hayden decided that if he didn’t at least try, then he was going to regret it for the rest of his life.
She had said yes to a first date and somehow Hayden had ended up with even bigger regrets.
“Yo.”
Hayden jerked his head up to see Georgie strolling into work fifteen minutes late. Georgie was like that, always late or half-prepared. Somehow he managed to talk his way out of trouble every single time.
“Hey,” Hayden said.
“How was the meeting?” Georgie asked.
“Shitty,” Hayden said. “My dad is heading full steam toward risky plans and no one can find the brakes on him.”
“I bet you tried,” Georgie said.
“Yeah,” Hayden said. “He was pretty pissed.”
“Hey, keep trying,” Georgie said. “For all of us brothers.”
Georgie gave Hayden a rare serious look. Hayden nodded and turned back to the car.
As Georgie greeted some of the other mechanics and grabbed coffee, Hayden’s mind wandered back to Heather.
On their first date, she had ordered a chocolate shake. She had kept looking down at the table and then up at him and fidgeting. When he finally asked her if she was ok, she had given him a brilliant smile.
“I’m just so excited that you asked me out,” Heather said.
She had been a straight-shooter. She never wasted time or played games. She had liked Hayden and she let him know that. Usually Hayden was closed off with people, but he had let all his walls down for Heather.
Heather’s upfront nature had been a good thing while they were together. She had never stopped telling Hayden how happy he made her. Her candid words turned poisonous on the day she told him that she couldn’t do it anymore. It wasn’t working. She had to focus on dance and he was a distraction.
Hayden hadn’t even bothered arguing. When Heather made up her mind about something, that was that.
Even now, Hayden couldn’t bring himself to resent her for that.
“Where’s your head at, bro?”
Hayden jerked his eyes up to see Georgie peering down at him, a paper cup of coffee in his hand.
“You remember Heather Carlson?” Hayden asked.
“Fuck, do I remember her?” Georgie said. “Of course I remember
the girl who was attached to your fucking hip for an entire year.”
“Well,” Hayden said. “I’ve just been thinkin’ about her lately. Drove by her old dance studio last night.”
“Jesus H. Christ,” Georgie said. “It’s wild that you still hold a flame for that girl.”
Hayden shrugged as he considered his friend’s words. It was true that Hayden had never had a serious relationship since Heather. He had taken some girls out and he had no problem getting laid when he was in the mood. There were women in Lyndon who were all too happy to hop in bed with a young and fit biker. But no one had ever come close to what he had with Heather.
“She was special,” Hayden said. “I might always have feelings for her.”
“Fuck, that is depressing,” Georgie said. “What ever happened to her?”
“She’s long gone. Last I heard, she’s a big-time dancer out in Chicago,” Hayden said. “She got everything she always wanted.”
“As far as I could tell,” Georgie said. “All Heather really wanted was you.”
Hayden rolled his eyes and scoffed. Heather had a crush on him. All good girls went through a bad boy phase. When that crush faded, she woke up and remembered who she was.
“I’m not bullshitting,” Georgie said. “That girl was into you. The way she used to look at you, man, it made me jealous back in the day. I wanted a girl to be that far gone on me.”
Suddenly, Hayden didn’t want to reminisce anymore. It was getting too painful.
“Well, I’m never gonna see her again,” Hayden said.
He stood up and headed towards the other side of the shop. He pulled out some welding tools and made a vow: he was never riding by that dance studio again. He would take other routes to avoid it. He needed to focus on his job and the Hogs right now. He had no time to mope over some chick from high school.
“Hey, boys,” Louis shouted from the office. “Someone needs a tow out on the freeway!”
Hayden jerked his head up. He could use the space, especially if Georgie was going to continue to pry.
“I’ll go,” Hayden said.
He grabbed the keys to the tow truck and headed out. It was a hot day and Hayden pitied whoever was stuck on the side of the road.
Hayden didn’t love giving tows. It was tedious and boring work most of the time and usually it didn’t bring in a ton of money, unless the car that needed repairs commissioned the shop. If he ever opened his own shop, he was going to stick to the custom work on classic cars. He wanted to be known for doing a specific thing really well. It was better to offer quality over quantity.
He saw the car in the distance. It didn’t look like a flat. The driver had pulled the hood up and steam was gushing out the front.
Hayden pulled up behind the car and hopped out of the truck’s cab. As he approached, the owner of the car got out. It was a woman with long legs clad in skintight jeans. The right kind of tight, Hayden noticed. The woman was lean and beautiful, with knock-out curves. She was wearing a flowing floral top that hung off her shoulders to show off her well-defined clavicle. Her dark brown hair was piled in a bun on top of her head.
The woman looked down at her car and then turned to look up at Hayden.
For the first time, he could see her full face.
Hayden froze.
Standing there in front of him, on the side of the Freeway, was the girl he thought was long gone.
It was Heather Carlson.
Chapter Five: Moving Forward
As a rule, Heather didn’t really curse. Not in public anyway. Foul language wasn’t exactly befitting of a ballerina.
But when she saw Hayden Russel walking towards her and her broken-down car, Heather was tempted to let loose an F-bomb.
God, he was tall. He must be over six feet, Heather mused. Had he been that tall in high school? He certainly hadn’t been as broad. Heather tried not to stare at his wide shoulders clad in the blue mechanic shirt.
He had the same face. Strong jaw peppered with stubble now that he was older. Dark hair just a little too long. And then those green eyes that Heather used to get lost in.
She pushed a strand of hair that had escaped her bun out of her face and tried to force her lips into a pleasant smile. The kind of smile you might give an old friend you haven’t seen in a while. It didn’t feel successful.
“Heather,” Hayden said. “Heather Carlson.”
It wasn’t a question. He knew who she was. He had grown into a man, but Heather figured she hadn’t changed much.
“Hi,” Heather said. “My car broke down.”
How was she supposed to treat the guy she had tossed to the side ten years ago? A guy she had totally adored. A guy who used to make her feel like the only girl in the world when he held her.
“I see that,” Hayden said.
He twisted one side of his mouth up in a sly grin.
Heather’s stomach did a somersault. He was so handsome. How had he gotten even more handsome?
Hayden walked towards her, and Heather froze. For a second, she thought he was going to hug her in greeting and she was unsure if she wanted to let him hold her or sidestep that kind of physical contact. At the last moment, she decided it might be nice to feel his arms around her again.
Only Hayden didn’t hug her. He walked past her and towards the car.
He peered under the hood for a few minutes.
Heather took advantage of his focus on the car to suck in several breaths. This was an awkward situation, but it didn’t have to be a big deal. She would be calm, cool, and collected. And then she would move on with her life.
Heather allowed herself a small smile. Melinda was going to freak when she heard that Hayden Russel had shown up in the tow truck. Melinda had tried to update Heather on Hayden’s life throughout the years, but Heather had shut it down every time. Melinda eventually stopped trying.
Clearly, Hayden was doing just fine. He was working as a mechanic and probably still with his biker club. Just as he had planned.
Her life’s dream was in total shambles, but so what? That was no longer Hayden Russel’s business.
Hayden walked back towards her and Heather flashed him a smile. Cool and collected, she reminded herself.
“What’s the verdict?” she asked.
“Overheated engine,” Hayden said. “I’ll tow you back to the shop and we can go from there. It won’t be too tricky to fix.”
His eyes were guarded and closed off. Heather knew she had hurt him, but even so it wasn’t pleasant for him to be so stiff with her. He was talking to her like she was any other customer.
Heather chastised herself. She was just another customer. Everything between her and Hayden was long over.
“Great,” Heather said.
Hayden turned and led her back to the tow truck. He opened the door for her. Heather climbed up into the cab. She almost leaped out of her skin when she felt his hand on her back, helping her up.
She buckled her seatbelt and sat with her knees clamped together and her hands tightly clasped in her lap as Hayden pulled the tow truck in front of her car, then hopped out and hooked the car to the back.
She should have taken her car to get a tune-up. She had barely used it in Chicago, she should have known it wouldn’t last too long with daily use out in California.
“So you’re back in Lyndon, huh?” Hayden asked. “It’s been a while.”
“I’ve been back before for holidays,” Heather said. “To see my family.”
She didn’t know why she was being so defensive. She just knew that something about the way Hayden was studying the road and acting like he didn’t know he was making her snappy.
Heather reminded herself that he didn’t know her. Not anymore. She was just some bitch who broke his heart in high school.
“Of course,” Hayden said in an even tone. “I just thought you were in Chicago, dancing.”
“I got hurt,” Heather said. “I’m here to heal my knee and figure things out.”
Sh
e crossed her arms and stared at the glove department.
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Heather,” Hayden said.
Something in his voice made Heather look up. He really was sorry, she could tell.
“Hey, at least you got to dance Tchaikovsky,” Hayden said. “You always wanted to do Swan Lake, right?”
That was the thing about Hayden Russel. Just when you were ready to write him off as a gruff (albeit handsome) biker guy with a bad rep, he went and said something unbelievably sweet. Like remembering Heather’s endless chatter about ballet ten years ago. Just the way he said “Tchaikovsky” made Heather’s breath catch. Without even realizing it, she relaxed her posture and leaned towards him.
“Yeah,” Heather said. “It really was amazing, while it lasted.”
“Hey, it’s not over,” Hayden said. “The Heather Carlson I knew never gave up on her goals, no matter what.”
Heather smiled with pleasure. Hayden glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, and she saw that he was smiling too.
“Thanks,” Heather said. “I guess I can be stubborn. I did the same old routine about fifty times last night.”
“Oh?” Hayden said.
“Yeah, at my old dance studio actually,” Heather said. “I’m staying in the apartment upstairs and Mrs. Newsome is letting me teach a few classes.”
“You’ll be good at that,” Hayden said.
“I’m excited to teach a few new things,” Heather said. “I’ve had some really great instructors with lots of cool dance styles.”
“So you’ll be around, at least for a while?” Hayden said.
Something in the way he asked threw Heather for a loop. He spoke in a slow measured way. She couldn’t tell if he cared if she was in Lyndon or if he was just making conversation. She used to be able to read Hayden like a book. Now this man was an utter mystery.
“I guess,” Heather said.
“Here we are,” Hayden said.