Always Series Box Set

by Becs, Lindsay

  “Two years and then I’ll be back with you for good.”

  “We can do this,” she says with confidence.

  I pull her hand until she’s lying on top of me. “I love you,” I confess before I kiss her goodbye.

  I pull back, rolling her to her back to deepen our kiss before I have to go, then I stand, pulling on my jeans. I finish dressing, and when I sit on the bed to put on my shoes, I feel her arms drape over my shoulders. Her lips kiss my neck. I pause, closing my eyes to remember the feel of her lips on my skin. “I love you,” she whispers in my ear with a sniff.

  As she dresses, neither of us says anything or even looks at each other, knowing that if we do, we’ll crawl back under the covers to hide.

  I drive her car to the airport, holding her hand in mine the entire way, still in silence. Pulling up to the curb, I put the car in park and stare out the windshield for a second before turning to look at her.

  And when I do, I see her tear-stained cheeks. Cupping her face, I kiss her. I know I’ll see her again, but it doesn’t make the goodbye any easier. I have to use every ounce of self-control to pull away from her. I give her one last soft kiss on the lips and look into her blue eyes. No words are said. We both already know.

  Grabbing my bags, I see her blow me a kiss. I smile back at her before I turn and walk into the airport, leaving my home behind.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Penny

  I’m bent over a truck at Pretty Girl when I hear someone whistle behind me. I smile to myself, but my smile quickly fades when I stand and see it’s Zander and not who I thought it was.

  “Alright, clearly I’m not who you wanted me to be,” he says as he walks with swagger to where I am.

  “Nope,” I tell him honestly, getting back to work.

  I hear him chuckle. “Come on, Penny, don’t tell me you haven’t missed me.”

  “I haven’t missed you.” I’m not in the mood for him today. “That much.” I add because I have missed him some.

  It’s been six months since Jesse left to get back to his military life in Vegas. I haven’t seen him like I was hoping I would, but we talk almost every day. I still miss him like crazy, though.

  “Damn, Pen, why are you so bitchy today?” Zander asks.

  I stand then to face him. “Look, Zander, last time I talked to you, it almost ruined the best thing in my life. I do have a lot of work to do today, so excuse me, I need to get back to it.”

  “That’s a shitty way to talk to one of your people.”

  “What are you talking about?” I ask with a huff, standing up again.

  “You know, since Pretty Girl is a sponsor of Royal King and all. If I don’t wear your brand, you don’t get all this business.”

  “Don’t be a jerk, Zander. That’s not you.”

  “You’re right; it’s not. But would it kill you to take a break and have lunch with me? I do actually have a reason for being here.” He sounds sincere, so I agree.

  After cleaning myself up, I meet him at Tilly’s place, Sugar Stacked, for lunch. She greets us, and I introduce her before we order and sit.

  “Alright, so why are you here?” I ask him once we’re seated.

  “OK, straight to the point, I see. So, the thing is, Poppy is bugging me to teach her to ride.”

  “My Poppy? Like my niece who’s fourteen Poppy?” I ask surprised.

  He nods his head slowly, and now I understand why he wanted to talk to me. Tatum and Benton don’t know.

  “When? How did this all come about?”

  “Obviously, she’s around the track a lot. She’s been asking King, but he keeps pushing her off,” he starts.

  “Obviously,” I agree, annoyed.

  “Look, I get it; she’s young. But if I don’t help her, she’s going to find someone else to do it. Wouldn’t it be better for her to learn from someone who knows what they’re doing and cares about her?”

  “So, what? You want my blessing to teach my fourteen-year-old niece to race motorcycles?” I ask him, irritated with this entire thing. What is Poppy thinking?

  “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking. She begged me not to say anything to her parents, and I promised I wouldn’t. But someone needs to know.”

  “You’ve clearly already decided to do this.”

  He nods his head slowly. “But know that I’ll teach her right. I promise.”

  I stare at him for a minute, thinking about all of this. I should call my sister right now, but I think that would do more harm than good to everyone.

  “You better wrap her in freaking bubble wrap. If anything happens to her, I know four guys who will hunt you down and kill you,” I warn him. “And I’m telling her that I know.”

  “No. Don’t. Let me do this. I’ll keep you in the know about everything. I promise, Pen. I won’t do anything to harm her. You know me. I may be a cocky asshole, but I’m not a bad guy. At least now when it comes you and your family.”

  “I know. It’s the only reason I’m not calling my sister right now. You know she’d be waiting at the airport ready to cut your balls off,” I scoff. “You’re crazy. When she finds out, she will kill you. No matter how good Poppy may be.”

  “Yep. I figured. I’ll be wearing a cup from now on.”

  I huff a laugh at that. My sister can be one scary woman, and when you mess with her kids, watch out. “Good luck,” I tell him. “I have to get back to work. You staying in town long?”

  “Nope, just flew up to talk to you.”

  “You could have done this over the phone, Zander.”

  “Yeah, but as I told you, I missed you, Penny.”

  “I’m not sure if it’s safe to say I missed you or not with what you’re about to do.”

  I give him a quick hug and say goodbye before heading back to work for the day. I’m nervous about him teaching Poppy, but he’s right. If Benton won’t teach her, she’ll find someone else, and Zander is the next best person.

  I feel stressed and exhausted from the day by the time I get back home to Jesse’s. Guess it’s my house now, too. I live here full-time with Bear.

  My phone is ringing as soon as I step out of the shower. I barely make it to answer but get it just in time.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Nugget. How’s your day been?”

  “Stressful,” I say, lying down on the bed.

  He chuckles into the phone, the sound making me relax. “Why is that?”

  “Zander stopped by to talk to me about something. Stressed me out.”

  “Everything alright?” he asks cautiously. Jess is not Zander’s biggest fan.

  “Yeah, just King stuff,” I tell him, not completely lying.

  “I have good news for you. I’m buying you a ticket to come out here. I can’t stand not seeing you any longer.”

  My smile is instant. “When?”

  “Tomorrow alright?”

  “I need to talk to Dad about the garage. We’re busy right no—”

  He cuts me off. “I already talked to him yesterday. Go pack, Pen. You leave first thing in the morning.” I scream in excitement. I can’t wait to see him.

  We talk for a little bit longer before hanging up, and I start to pack. I call my dad to be sure he’s OK with the garage and taking care of Bear while I’m gone for a few days. He, of course, agrees.

  The next afternoon I land at McCarran Airport and leap into Jesse’s arms when I see him waiting for me, holding a sign that says ‘NUGGET’ on it. Our lips instantly fuse together.

  “Fuck, I missed you,” he says into my mouth. All I manage is a “hmm” in agreement, needing to kiss him more.

  When we finally pull apart, he takes my hand as we get my bag and walk out to his truck.

  “We are never waiting six months again. That was too fucking long,” he says while driving to his place.

  We barely make it inside before he’s pulling my shirt off, hoisting me up to wrap my legs around his waist and carrying me to his bedroom. We’re both savage to g
et to each other. To feel each other. We’re both homesick, but it’s for one another. Because wherever we both are, that’s home.

  I’m in Vegas for four days. Lying here against his chest, I already know it’s nowhere close to long enough.

  Resting my chin on his chest, I look up at him. “Let’s get married.”

  “What?” he asks surprised.

  “Let’s get married, Jess,” I say, sitting up now. “We’re in freaking Las Vegas, the capital of instant marriages. You want to marry me, right?”

  He lets out a breath before answering. “Of course I do, but don’t you want to have your dad walk you down the aisle? Have your family there?”

  “We can do that, too. I just want to be tied to you.” I smile.

  Lacing our hands together, he leans forward to kiss me. “I was going to ask you tonight, but since you beat me to it,” he says, turning and reaching for something in the drawer of his nightstand.

  He hands me a silk bag. I look at him confused, but he nods for me to open it. Reaching inside, I pull out a vibrator. I start to laugh, but then look at it and see a diamond ring is on the small probe.

  “You first won me over with a cup of lemonade that tasted like disinfectant.”

  “It did not!” I interrupt him.

  “It did, Nugget, but I drank every cup you gave me because I knew you were special. You’ve been my best friend since I was a confused and angry ten-year-old boy. I knew you were made for me when you introduced me to your little collection of vibrating friends. And every day in between, I’ve known it was always you. You were meant for me, and I was meant for you. Will you marry me, Penelope Gellar?”

  “Will you use that,” I ask, pointing to the vibrator, “while I wear your ring?”

  “I will do just about anything you want for the rest of our lives if you wear my ring.”

  Smiling at him, I nod my head. “Yes!”

  And then he does what I asked while I stare at the ring on my finger that makes me his forever.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jesse

  Penny agreed to marry me, and then I talked her out of a quick wedding. I knew she’d regret not having her dad there. And honestly, I think it would gut him not to see his little girl get married. We did agree to wait until I’m finished with my time here before we do it, but at least we both know what awaits us.

  “You sure you don’t mind hanging out with some of the guys?” I ask her as she gets changed.

  She shrugs her shoulder. “No big deal.”

  “They really want to meet you.”

  We make our way over my friend Calvin Chase’s house. He and his wife invited a few of us over for dinner. I introduce Penny to Chase and his wife, Sarah, Thompson, Jerez, and she sees Alvie again.

  Penny has been great. Everyone seems to love her like I knew they would. Sarah even told me she was glad to see me happy. She reminds me a lot of Tatum with her hard exterior, but she’s got everyone’s best at heart.

  All the guys think it’s awesome that Penny is a mechanic. They always rib me about it being so hot that she knows her way around an engine, making it as dirty as possible any time they can.

  Now, they’re grilling her, trying to trip her up. They keep giving different car issues for her to diagnose, and she’s nailed every one to perfection. Jerez, I can tell, is impressed, and he’s a damn good mechanic. His dad owns a garage like Penny’s, so he knows his way around cars as well as we do.

  “Are we done playing stump the chump now, guys?” I ask after an hour.

  “She might be better than you at your job, Jones,” Thompson jokes.

  I nod, smiling at her. “Probably.”

  Penny’s phone rings through everyone’s laughter. She excuses herself to take the call, but her face doesn’t look happy. When she walks back to look at me, I know we need to go. We quickly say goodbye and head for my truck.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I need you to take me to the practice track for Royal King.”

  “Why?” I ask hesitantly.

  “Because I need you to punch someone.”

  I huff a laugh. “Alright, can you give me more information?”

  “Yeah, it’s Zander. Just bring up the memory of when you thought I was dating him,” she says stone-cold serious.

  “Penny, what is going on?”

  “He’s teaching Poppy to ride and race. She laid down a bike tonight.”

  “What?! Is she alright?”

  “She is. But he’s not going to be for long.”

  I drive us to the track, and when we get there, I follow her. The track lights are on, but it’s empty. We hear voices as we near.

  “Aunt Pen? What the hell are you doing here?” Poppy asks. Probably not the best lead, kid.

  Penny walks straight to Zander and shoves him, although he looks more intrigued than anything that she’s pissed. “I told you to be careful and you promised me you would be!” Penny yells at Zander.

  “Aunt Pen—” Poppy starts again, but her aunt turns to her.

  “Poppy, don’t. Are you hurt?”

  Poppy shakes her head. “No. I had on leathers. I’m OK.”

  “Good. Get your butt home, or I call your parents.”

  “But—”

  “Now!” Penny yells at her niece. I’ve never seen her this upset before.

  Poppy huffs before stomping off. “This is so unfair!”

  “Is that really the way you want to handle this, Pen?” Zander asks her, and it grates on my nerves that he’s talking to her like that, but I stay silent in the background.

  Penny takes a deep breath, rolling her eyes. “Fine,” she grits out. “Poppy, wait.” The girl stills and turns around with obvious tears in her eyes.

  “What happened?” Penny asks both of them with her hands on her hips, frustration radiating off of her.

  “The brakes stuck,” Poppy says quietly.

  Penny turns to Zander to confirm what she’s saying. He nods his head in agreement. “She picked up riding right away. She’s a natural. She’s been doing great, and we’ve gone slow. Only straights the last couple days. Today was the first time I brought her here. She was doing awesome and then spun out at the corner,” Zander tells her.

  “You taught her all the safety stuff, right? How to crash and everything?”

  “Penny, yes. I’m not an amateur. And honestly, neither is she. She’s been around racing and riding her whole life,” Zander answers.

  Penny turns to Poppy then. “You sure you’re alright?” Poppy nods. “Alright. Tell me what happened with the bike.”

  Poppy describes it, and Penny doesn’t wait to pull out tools and get to work. She yells at me for a few things, but she’s in her element and I love watching her like this. I never got to see her work on these bikes, but watching her here, it’s pretty awesome.

  A couple hours later, Penny has fixed the problem with the bike and Poppy climbs back on. We watch as she rides around.

  “She’s pretty badass,” I say in Penny’s ear.

  “Don’t you dare tell her that,” she says, making me laugh.

  “I told you, she’s a natural,” Zander says, still watching her and looking proud of Poppy and her skills. “It’s only been a few days and she has it. She’ll kick serious ass in the IMR in a few years.”

  Poppy finishes her lap, and when she comes in, she’s all smiles as she pulls off her helmet. She runs straight to her aunt, giving her a big hug. “Thank you for believing I could do this.”

  “Zander is right; you’re pretty good. It’s almost like it’s in your DNA or something,” Penny tells her, nudging her shoulder.

  Poppy smiles over at Zander in gratitude. “Dude’s been a great teacher. I just wish my dad would see that I’m ready to train.”

  “You know it’s more than that, Soda Pop. We’ve talked about this. It sucks, but right now, there aren’t women racers. You could definitely be the first, but you have to give it time,” Zander tells her.

  “I�
��m going to do it. I’m going to show everyone when I win the whole IMR one day,” Poppy says full of confidence. “I’ll even beat your ass,” she adds to Zander.

  “Watch your mouth, Poppy,” Pen tells her as she gets an eye-roll in return that she, no doubt, learned from her mom.

  We all say goodbye and head to our cars. Zander leaves to take Poppy home, and Penny and I head back to my apartment.

  “Well, that was a crazy turn for the night,” I tell her.

  “I’m sorry. I was so mad at first. I’m so glad she was alright,” Penny says, sounding relieved.

  “It was warranted. But it looks like Poppy is in good hands. Zander seems alright.”

  She smiles over at me. “He really is. Sorry you didn’t get to hit him.”

  “It’s just fine. I’d rather use my hands for different things tonight,” I respond, wagging my brows up and down, making her laugh.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Penny

  It’s the night before I fly back home, and I’m not ready to go another day without seeing Jesse. The fact that we have to go a year and a half before he can move home completely sucks.

  “I don’t want to leave,” I tell him.

  He kisses the top of my head. “I wish you didn’t have to.”

  “What if I moved here?” I slowly ask.

  “What?” he asks back, surprised by my question. He sits up, taking me with him.

  “I mean it. What if I talked to Benton and Matthew about working for them again until you’re finished here? I don’t need a big wedding, just my family. We could have everyone fly here for a weekend and get married. I can move here with you until your time is done. Am I totally crazy?”

  He nods his head. “Yep. Totally crazy. But lucky for you, I love your crazy.”

  “Really?!”

  “Really,” he says, cupping my face in his hands. “I hate not being by you, Nugget.”

  “Wait!” I yell. His hands go up in surrender. “I still want a small wedding, but can you fly home for a weekend?”