Uncaged: A Fighting for Flight Short Story

by J. B. Salsbury

  He runs a hand through my hair and pulls me down for another kiss, this one longer and wetter and it leaves me breathless. “No way. I’m the lucky the one. You are and always will be my angel. You gave me life, gave me two amazing kids, give me you. All I have to give you… is me.”

  “That’s enough.” I settle back in and smile. “You’ve always been enough.”

  Jack

  I’m going to kill my dad for showing up at the movie theater tonight.

  He knew how long I waited to ask Sadie out on a real date. He knew how much tonight meant to me. When I felt that tap on my shoulder in the theater just as the opening credits were rolling and I turned and saw him scowling at me, I’d never wanted to hurt my dad until that very second.

  I grind my molars and try to let the sound of Ryder’s new band Faithless calm my jacked up nerves.

  “This is really good,” Sadie says and nods toward the stereo. “My Dad said Ryder got picked up by some well known band but I didn’t think he’d be drumming for Jesse Lee.”

  The way she says the name Jesse Lee all dreamy-like makes my stomach sour. Not that I should be surprised, even my mom has a crush on the Grammy winning rock god. Barf.

  His voice pours through the speakers like sex and hot honey so I hit the power button earning a weird look from my date.

  “Sorry. The music was distracting and there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She folds her pretty hands in her pretty lap and—my God, I am such a goner for this girl. “What is it?”

  That dreamy wistfulness in her voice is replaced by worry and I want to kick myself for making her sound like that. Why can’t I be Jesse Lee? Whatever. “Yeah, well…” I clear the nervousness from my throat. “I wanted to apologize again for my dad. I honestly don’t know what he was thinking. I hate that he ruined our first date.”

  She smiles and tilts her head so fucking adorably I have to remind myself I’m operating a vehicle to keep from falling into her gorgeous eyes and staring at them forever. “He didn’t ruin it. He fell asleep like five minutes after he got there. Not that I blame him.”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, that movie was a snoozer. I had a feeling one of our parents might follow us so I picked the most boring movie.”

  “Really?”

  I shrug feeling a little uncomfortable. It’s true, but it’s also true that I didn’t want to see a movie I would be into because I wanted to spend the entire time watching Sadie, sharing popcorn, holding her hand if she’d let me. “Yep. I thought for sure it would be my mom though. She’s like a tiny ninja spy.”

  She giggles and the sound stirs up all kinds of havoc in my chest. “I’m just grateful it wasn’t my dad. He can be a little overprotective.”

  “That’s good.” I catch her eye and hold her gaze for a serious second. “I’m glad he’s like that, Sadie. You’re worth protecting.”

  Her cheeks turn the slightest shade of pink that I wouldn’t be able to see in the dim light if it weren’t for the glow thrown by the lighted dash and stereo. “Thank you.”

  I catch the entrance for the park up ahead and turn into the lot.

  “Where are we going?”

  “It’s only ten. I’ll get you home a little early but I’m going to milk my last fifteen minutes.” I wink at her and she grins so wide it makes my chest cramp.

  “Are we going to go on the swings? It’s kind of cold.”

  I turn, angling my body toward her with my back against the door. “Actually, I hoped we could just talk.”

  She mimics my body language, even pulling up one leg and I grin when I see her Vans. It’s as if she was made just for me. “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

  “You.”

  Her big blue-green eyes grow even bigger and I wonder if I shouldn’t have just blurted that out. Way to sound like a creeper, Jack!

  “I mean…us.”

  Nope, still not the right thing judging by the way her lips fall open a little.

  I rub my forehead and chuckle. “I’m sorry, I mean…what I mean is—”

  “I like you, Jack. You’re funny.”

  My gaze snaps to hers. “You do?”

  She looks around her as if to say, yeah, well I’m here aren’t I?

  “Right, but…you like me, as in, you like me more than a friend?”

  “Yes?”

  I squint one eye. “Is that an answer or a question?”

  She laughs so hard she throws her head back and cracks it against the window. “Ow!” She laughs even harder now rubbing the back of her head.

  “Oh my God, are you okay?” I’m laughing now too, but leaning forward and wanting so badly to pull her head to my lips and kiss the bump that’s sure to form on the back of her head.

  She must see my inner struggle because she sobers and her smile falls.

  “I don’t want things to get weird between us.”

  She drops her hand from her head and knots her fingers together in her lap. “Me either.”

  “But at the same time I don’t want to be just friends anymore.” I blow out a long breath and dig for the courage to say what I need to say. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

  “You have?” she whispers.

  I rub the back of my neck feeling like the heat of a hundred spotlights is shining down on my head. Just say it, Jack. Just spit it out already, it’s what you’ve been waiting for. I set my eyes on hers and let ‘er rip. “I’ve been in love with you since…well, since as long as I can remember knowing you exist.”

  She blinks rapidly, almost as if my words carried a strong breeze filled with dust that blew straight into her face.

  “I know that’s probably a lot to take in and I don’t want you to feel bad for not feeling the same, but I can’t live with this secret anymore. Your parents wanted me to wait until you’re seventeen and you are and I want to date you, Sadie Slade. Like, more than once. All the time. Every day.” I wait for a response, anything, but she simply stares like she’s trying to translate a foreign language. “I want you to be mine. The way you’ve always been mine in here.” I tap my chest just in case she doesn’t quite understand what I’m asking.

  She licks her lips and I brace for her rejection. This is what I’ve prepared for, what I decided was worth the sacrifice because I couldn’t stand to live another day with all these feelings I couldn’t act on.

  “So, does this mean I’m your girlfriend now?” She lifts one eyebrow in a sweet and teasing way that makes me stutter.

  Yep, I fucking stuttered.

  “I…I…y-yes. I, yes. Please?” I laugh. “No, not please. Or please, yes, I don’t—”

  She presses her palm to my knee. “Jack, just say yes.”

  I blink away from the visual of her perfect hand with dark blue painted fingernails on my knee. My knee! “Yes.”

  “Good.” She grins and takes her hand away.

  I stare stupidly at the spot she left behind strangely still feeling the heat of her touch. “Does this mean I get to hold your hand at school?” I look up at her. “Carry your backpack? Walk you to class?”

  “You don’t have to do that—”

  “I want to…Sadie…I’ve always wanted to. I want everyone at Belleview, hell, everyone in the world to know you’re mine.”

  “When you put it like that...”

  I love the way she bites her bottom lip to hide her smile.

  “Does this also mean…” I curse the crack in my voice and clear my throat. “Does this mean I can kiss you now?”

  “Sure, but you should know you’ll be my first.”

  A heavy swell fills every available space behind my ribs and I have the strangest urge to jump on the roof of my car and beat my chest. Instead, I say, “Good. But, I already knew that. We kissed when we were six years old. My mom has the picture to prove it.”

  “That’s because you kept hopping after me swearing you were a frog and I should kiss you and see if you’d turn into a prince.”
/>
  I remember. I wouldn’t give up until I got her to kiss me. “It took me days to convince you.”

  “Yep.” Her expression grows serious. “And it worked.”

  “I’m not a prince,” I whisper so softly I wonder if she even heard me.

  “You are to me.”

  As if drawn together by some cosmic force, we lean in at the same time meeting over the center console. Her bottom lip quivers slightly.

  I reach forward and cup her jaw, absorbing the warmth of her soft skin and run my thumb along her lower lip. “Don’t be scared, Sadie girl. Not of me.”

  She moves a few inches closer. “I’m not scared. I’m excited.”

  With that I tilt my head and watch as she closes her eyes and presses her lips to mine. I fight to keep my eyes open because I want to record every visual of her this close to my memory, but the softness of her mouth and the sweet cherry blossom scent of her skin swirls around me, and my lids drop closed. I part my lips just enough to pull her lower one with the smallest suction and she leans in even closer. She tilts her head and I use the tip of my tongue to wet her lip, a gentle request for entrance.

  Blood surges through my veins as she parts hers and our tongues slide together for the very first time. My hand dips deeper into her hair and I gently hold her close making sure she knows she can easily pull away whenever she wants. But she shocks me by gripping the front of my shirt, fisting it, and tugging me in. Our kiss is sweet, wet, and once our teeth knock together we laugh and pull apart. She drops her hand from my shirt, but I keep my hold at her nape.

  “Would you be alright if I kiss you at school?”

  She scrunches up one side of her face adorably. “Like that?”

  “However you’ll let me.”

  “What if we get caught?”

  “I’ll get expelled for you.”

  She laughs. “What if my dad finds out we kiss like that?”

  “He’ll kill me.” We both laugh even though it’s not really funny. He really will kill me, one hand, he’d crush me. “But I’d happily die for you.”

  “I don’t think you’d need to do that—”

  “I would, ya know. If anyone tried to hurt you I’d kill them or die trying.”

  “Wow,” says on a breath.

  “That’s how much I love you. Do you get it?”

  Her hand holds my forearm and I almost expect her to push me away but she doesn’t, she only grips me tighter. “I love you too, Jack. I always have.”

  I can’t even imagine there’s a cool way to smile when it takes over your entire face. From my chin to my hairline and everything in between hurts from the force of my grin—even my eyes are smiling. “Really?”

  “Of course. I thought you always knew. I thought that’s why you chased me and drove me crazy.”

  “So this is it. We’re finally going to be together.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What about Collin Shen?” Just saying the name of the kid who’s been after Sadie since freshman year has jealousy ripping at my insides. Collin’s a football player, quarterback, and smart—obviously, he’s in love with Sadie. He’s the school’s golden boy, the star, my biggest competition.

  “He’s just a friend.”

  “He’s not going to like that we’re together.”

  “He’ll get over it.”

  Wow… this is really happening. My Dad may have ruined the first part of the date but it ended better than I could’ve imagined. I check the time on the clock. I don’t want to screw up what will be our first date of many by pissing her parents off. I need to stay on their good side. “I should get you home.”

  She leans in close and drops one last kiss on my lips. I hold back a ridiculous urge to say “thank you” even though it’s what I’m feeling.

  Thank you for giving me your first kiss.

  Thank you for giving me a chance.

  Thank you for loving me back.

  Stay tuned for two Fighting series spin-offs.

  Free to Fly – Jack and Sadie’s story

  Faithless: A Rockstar Romance – The story of Jesse Lee

  BONUS FIGHTING SERIES SHORT STORIES

  A Christmas to Remember

  Rex

  “It was stolen! It had to be!”

  I tilt my head and study Gia, her pretty face twisted in outrage and worry. “It’s okay to just admit you lost it.”

  Her expression falls slack and she parts those perfect lips so adorably I have to hold back from kissing them. Even in freak-out mode, the woman is fucking gorgeous. “I didn’t lose it, Rex. How can you even say that? I never take it off.” Her long slender fingers absently rub the spot on her neck where her necklace would lie. The single diamond solitaire I put there Christmas morning three years ago.

  I toy with my lip ring to keep from smiling. “So, you’re saying someone slipped in late at night, bypassed everything else in our home that’s worth money, walked right past your jewelry box with all the other bigger and more impressive diamonds, and stole the one off your neck?”

  Irritation fires in those dove-gray eyes and I have to shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans to keep from pulling her to me and stripping her naked. Who knew being in love would mean getting turned on by all her moods, even—or especially—her bad ones.

  She tucks a long strand of her sleek, red hair behind her ear and moves a step closer, crossing her arms at her chest. My tongue flicks at my lip ring hoping it’ll help squelch the desire to run it over the creamy skin of her clavicle. Her delicate scent calls to me. The urge to dip into the valley between her breasts she has so prominently on display makes my mouth water.

  “Don’t look at me like that.” Her voice is softer now, but there’s the underlying current of frustration lacing her words.

  I lift a brow and run my finger along my lower lip.

  “I’m serious.” She moves a step closer and I cup her neck, running the pad of my thumb up and down her throat. The rumble of her moan vibrates against my skin. “We’re supposed to be at the Slade’s in ten minutes.”

  “We’ll be late.” They wouldn’t care, hell, they probably wouldn’t even notice, and even if they did, they’d understand.

  Christmas is special to me and Gia. It always has been.

  She closes her eyes for a few beats and when she opens them they shine with unshed tears. Oh, shit. Gia’s anger I can take. Her tears, I cannot.

  “Baby, please…” I pull her to my chest and hold her tightly. “Don’t cry. It’s Christmas Eve, you cry and you’ll scare off Santa’s reindeer.”

  She laughs against my chest and sniffs. “I lost my necklace, Rex.” Her voice is so tiny, so… broken. “I lost the promise you made to me.”

  I bury my nose into her hair, breathing her in. “It’s just a necklace. The promise is what counts and that’s still in play.”

  She shakes her head and sinks deeper into my hold. “I want it back.”

  “We’ll get it back, Gia. I’m sure it’s around here somewhere. It’ll turn up.” Unable to resist her for another second, I pull back and bend to press my lips to hers. What starts off as innocent quickly turns heated until she’s nipping at my lips defiantly, enticing me to punish her in all the ways she loves.

  “I’ll give you what you want, baby…” I suck her full upper lip and release it with a pop. “But I’m not going to give a shit about ruining your hair or makeup. And as much as I love you in this dress, the way I’m feeling, I can’t guarantee it’ll survive what I have planned.”

  She sucks in a quick breath and gazes up at me, her eyes flashing with excitement. “Maybe we wait until tonight.”

  I slap her ass and groan. “Tonight.”

  A shadow of worry crosses her expression.

  “We’ll find it, okay?” I run my thumb along her frown. “No more of this.”

  “Okay, we should probably go.”

  I reach for her jewelry box and pull out a kick ass ruby necklace I bought her for Valentine’s Day. She picks u
p her hair so I can drape it around her neck. After securing it, I run my lip ring along her bare shoulder. “I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Needing to get this show on the road, I snag her coat and meet her at the door. She moves across our apartment turning off lights and making sure the patio door is locked and I wonder if I’ll ever get tired of watching her. As the years pass she only manages to fascinate me more. We’ve been through hell, had our therapist dig so deep into our souls we thought we’d never come out the same, and managed to fall even deeper for each other.

  She meets me at the door and I put her coat over her shoulders like I’m a regular fucking gentleman. Her lips curl into a grin, as if she can hear the direction of my thoughts, and I roll my eyes and slap her ass to remind her I’m far from gentlemanly.

  Less than fifteen minutes later we pull into the Slade’s circle driveway that’s already filling up with trucks and SUVs.

  “Fuckin’ hell, I should’ve brought my sunglasses.” I squint. “Looks like the Disney light parade barfed all over Jonah’s pad.”

  Gia giggles. “It’s for Sadie. Raven said Jonah hired a company to come out and cover every square inch in lights.”

  “The fuck is that?” I nod to a group of larger-than-life cartoon characters all lit up and in various positions around Jonah’s front fountain.

  She sighs. “The one in the blue is Queen Elsa.” She points to the red head. “Her sister, Ana, the snowman is Olaf, the guy is—”

  “How the hell do you know that?” I shut the truck off and stare at her.

  “Babysitting Sadie. I’ve watched Frozen like six million times.” She shrugs and gets out of the Escalade.

  I round the hood, grab her hand, and lead her to the front door. Pressing the doorbell, I cringe as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer chimes in place of what used to be a simple ding-dong.

  “He’s lost his fucking mind,” I mumble.

  She rocks into my side, smiling. “No, he’s just madly in love with his daughter.”

  The door swings open to reveal my six-foot-five, two hundred and fifty pound, heavyweight champion friend, Jonah “The Assassin” Slade, dressed up like a fucking elf. “Merry Christmas!” He holds his arms out wide grinning so big both those girlie dimples dig deep into his cheeks. “I’m an elf.”