by Amanda Lance
I shook my head and pulled away. “That was my fault—”
“No,” he said sternly. “It was mine. I practically made you do something you weren’t that into in the first place, and then I told you something you weren’t ready to hear.” Now, William looked at the ground instead of me. His eyes and voice softer somehow, though I wasn’t sure why. “I’m just as bad as that asshole who forced you—”
I cut him off by standing on my tippy-toes and taking his face in my hands. Though I loved the way his eyes popped, I waited until later to say it to him. “Don’t you say that to me, William O’Reilly. You’ve always looked out for me and never forced me to do anything I didn’t want to do. You’re the most generous, kindhearted, honest human being I’ve ever met. You’re the guy that I freaking love, and if you ever compare yourself to something like that again, I’ll set your entire car on fire.”
This revived his spirits considerably. His head came back up and his smile grew like it had never been gone at all. When I realized what I said exactly, I grew warm and looked away— ironic, considering how I had almost literally died from lack of love from him.
Sensing my embarrassment, William gently took my chin in his hands and lifted my head until our eyes met. There was no escaping his gaze now.
“You love me, Jumper?”
Overwhelmed by the lump in my throat, I only nodded.
He inhaled sharply. “Really?”
I pushed his hand away and pushed into William’s arms instead. His laugh was my reward.
“Okay.” I dared to look up at him just as he looked at me. “So maybe I love you more than baking and racing combined. What? You want an award or something?”
“You better be kidding, Jumper. You loving me is the best thing I could have ever asked for, better than any car I’ve driven, or any finish line I’ve ever crossed. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to get over you, only to breakdown completely. But if you love me, I get to have a life again.”
Unsure, I pulled away from him. “D-does that mean you’re coming back to the area?”
“No, none of us are. Because of all the auto theft, the county is starting a new task force. We’re selling the shop and starting over.”
“That’s why your still here.” Sure, that made sense. William and the guys needed to get rid of their apartments and sell the shop. If Tabby was going with Eggs, then she would need to search for a new job, the guys would have to see where else street racing was popular before settling down… “…you’re here to say good-bye.”
William shook his head as if angry. “I’m here to ask you to come with me.”
Taking a full step back, I studied his expression for lies. In the early dark of night, however, I feared I only saw what I wanted to see: sincerity. “W-what?”
“I was thinking about going home, to Boston. We can go anywhere we want, of course. But I think you’d really like it there, it’s a big food town, and between my share of the shop and selling Mary—”
I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “You sold Mary?”
“Had to, the cops had a description of her. Anyway, we could get a place near my sister Cora and bother her all the time like I used to when I was a kid. Her guy is a cop, so that’ll be good for business. And if Eggs and Tabby are going to Atlantic City like they say, then it won’t be hard to get together—”
Equally excited, I shouted over him until he stopped talking. “Okay!”
William’s brows knitted together. “Okay?”
“Very okay!” I laughed and proceed to explain. “I got into a great culinary school in the middle of the city. The semester doesn’t start until August, but that just gives me more time to look for a job there—”
Then, once again, he smashed his lips into mine.
Epilogue
There are few things in this life better than fruity desserts.
Maggie O’Reilly understands this just as much as I do. Like her only son, she has a sincere appreciation for the desserts I create with them. Which was why I was happy to volunteer to do dessert for the Fourth of July and—just maybe—go a little overboard in the process. I had known William’s sisters and mother for about four months, and although I was assured they liked me (loved me even), I still occasionally felt the need to prove something.
So in addition to the orange cake and cherry pie, I had grilled peaches for a sour tort. On top of that, miniature cheesecakes had been topped with strawberries and blueberries for a patriotic feel and strawberries had been covered in white chocolate and blue sprinkles in a similar fashion. If everything came out the way I hoped, maybe I’d send a picture to Mom and Dad. I’d already wished them a happy fourth, but considering Mom had only just started talking to me again I thought some extra communication couldn’t hurt.
“Lottie, will you come out here already? It’s too hot to be in that kitchen!”
The sound of Cora’s voice made me stand on my tippy toes to look out the screen window. Under the umbrella on a worn out picnic table sat Cora, Ashlyn and Maggie. Meanwhile, too impatient to wait for the sun to go down, William, Finn, and Cora’s now fiancé Connor were playing with sparklers. Pie in hand, I watched them for a minute and laughed. If I thought William was perfect in California, he was even more perfect in Massachusetts. His smile was more pronounced around his family, more dedicated somehow, and once the spring came around his blond hair became even lighter, making him look more like a surfer boy than a criminal.
“Hey, hey, Jumper!” William called to me. “Come and see this!”
I shook my head and laughed before headed down the small stairwell that led outside. Despite the surprise that the O’Reilly family seemed to know about me before I even left for Boston, William was the only one who still called me Jumper there, and I was the only one who called him William. And even though months had passed, it still put flutters in my stomach when I thought about it.
“There you are!” William ambushed me the second I set foot on the grass. Taking the platters from my hands, he set them in the shade and palmed his hand in mine. In vain, I tried to pull up the brim of his sunglasses and wipe a smear of sunblock from his forehead, but he pulled me along.
I laughed along with him, my eyes already spotting the display of duct-taped sparklers that the boys had put together. Struggling to light a match, Finn swore loudly enough to get Maggie’s attention and she called out to all of us.
“Don’t you boys go and burn that lovely young lady!”
As usual, William called back and waved her away. “Don’t worry, Ma!”
William released his hand from mine and stepped behind me to wrap his arms around me instead. Instinctively, I stepped back with him, laughing when he said, “Keeping you out of trouble is a full-time career.”
I frowned and tried to look at him from the corner of my eye. “How do you expect me to have any fun without trouble?”
Declan must have got the match lit because the tower of sparklers went off, crackling in the sunlight.
William grinned into my ear, his thumb intentionally but subtly stroking my abdomen. “I’m sure if we put our two heads together we could think of a few things.”
I squeezed him tighter against me. “There’s no doubt about it.”
Though it was easily ninety degrees, I shivered. “For example, what do you plan on doing with the rest of those strawberries?”
Laughing, I kissed the bottom of his chin. “I’m sure my syrup deity will help me think of something.”
A native of New Jersey and lifelong nerd, Amanda Lance recently completed her Master in Liberal Arts at Thomas Edison State College after her BA in English Literature and AFA in creative writing.
She currently resides in Easton Pennsylvania with her boyfriend and their spoiled hound dog. She is a cliché booknerd who is terrible at math, clinically obsessive, and prone to addictive behavior. She may or may not be a recluse.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
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Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue