by Kira Blakely
“About what?”
“Just come down here. You’ll see.”
I hesitated for a moment, not sure what game Jude was trying to play. Curiosity won, though. There had to be a good reason for Jude to be back in Gypsum with the Games in a few days. I pushed the window open all the way to crawl out to the lattice alongside the house. I turned to face him as he frowned at me.
“You could’ve used the front door,” he said.
“I don’t want to wake my parents,” I said. “We cleaned out Andy’s room today. I didn’t want to wake them up with you at the front door.”
“Good point.”
Silence stretched between us. The entire town of Gypsum was quiet, aside from the sound of sprinklers in the distance. The moonlight brought an ethereal quality to Jude’s eyes as he gazed up at me.
“I read the article,” he said.
Nerves tugged at me. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep myself from fidgeting underneath the intensity of Jude’s eyes.
“I know it wasn’t what we agreed upon,” I started.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Jude interjected passionately. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this before, Ava?”
I kept my eyes focused on the ground. “How am I supposed to tell you?”
“Everything in that article, you could’ve told me. I would’ve stepped out a long time ago if you told me all of that.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I couldn’t ask you to do that, Jude. My fear can’t hold you back.”
“That’s my decision to make,” Jude said readily. “I’m here because I want this to work out, Ava. I want to find a way to make it work.”
My heart pounded in my chest. Here I was, terrified of getting close to Jude when he was offering to give up the one thing in his life that he loved the most. He had flown back to Gypsum the second he read the article. That intensity provoked an entirely new type of fear in my heart. I never knew how it felt to have someone who was willing to give up everything to be with me.
“Let’s go for a walk.” Jude held out a hand for me. “To the cornfield where we used to go. I don’t want your parents waking up to hear us talking out on the front lawn.”
I reached out to take his hand as he led me down the street in the direction of the cornfield, directly alongside the neighborhood. Neither one of us spoke until we were ducking through the rows. The entire night was motionless and breezily warm. I let go of Jude’s hand as we walked along the rows of corn.
“What is it going to take for you to be with me?” Jude asked. “I’ve done everything that I can think of to make it clear that I want to be with you.”
I swallowed thickly at the question. “There really isn’t anything you can do, Jude. I can’t ask you to give up what’ve you’ve been doing with your life.”
“That’s what you’re afraid of?”
Moonlight poured through the corn stalks as we walked slowly along. I ducked into the next row to hide the tears in my eyes because I couldn’t bear the thought of staying with Jude if he continued to pull dangerous tricks for a living.
“I’m terrified of the risk,” I whispered. “I can’t stand it, Jude. I really can’t stand the risk of loving you and losing you.”
“You’re right. It’s dangerous. I can’t lie about that.”
“And I can’t ask you to give up the one thing you live for,” I continued on, shaking my head. “It’s your passion. You live for it every single day. I can see it in everything that you do.”
“You’re wrong.”
Those two words stopped me right in my tracks. I heard Jude stop next to me.
“It’s not motocross that I live for,” he said. “I live for you. I love you, Ava James. I’ve loved you since I was a little boy. It took me a long time to figure it out, but that’s why I’m here. I’m in love with you. I wasn’t just riding that bike to get away from my parents. I was riding it to you.”
Chapter 25
Jude
I waited with my heart pounding in my chest. The moonlight poured down upon us while a warm breeze swayed through the corn stalks. You couldn’t hear anything for miles. Gypsum was dead silent in the distance.
There. I had said those three little words that I never once believed that I would say to another person.
The corn row parted suddenly as Ava jumped through it and into my arms. I wrapped my arms tightly around her as she bounced up to her tiptoes to give me a long and steamy kiss.
“I love you, too,” Ava whispered, running her hands down my arms. “I’ve always loved you. I didn’t realize it, either, until I was touring with you. I knew then that my feelings had never changed. Not since we were kids.”
I smoothed my hands over the curve of her waist. Lust spiraled through me at the feeling of Ava’s body pressed up against mine. We were utterly alone on the outskirts of the cornfield. No one would see us, let alone hear us. This had been everyone’s favorite make-out spot back in high school. You couldn’t beat the combination of privacy and romance.
“Let’s just enjoy the night for right now. We can figure everything out later.”
Ava smiled sweetly up at me. “Kiss me.”
Not hesitating, I leaned down to press my lips against hers in a deep kiss that sent shudders through both our bodies. Her lips moved against mine the way she knew would drive me crazy—light and soft, like she was barely there. I slid my hands down to give her ass cheeks a quick squeeze before hooking my hands behind her thighs. My wrist ached when I lifted her to wrap her legs around my hips, but Ava’s hands in my hair were a pleasant distraction from all the aches I felt.
An entirely new one coursed through me. An ache to be buried in Ava, as close and as deep as I possibly could.
Our kisses grew sloppy and wild as I carried her through the cornfield blindly, in the direction where no one would be able to see us. I had walked through this cornfield thousands of times in the direction of Ava and Andy’s house. Hell, Andy and I had taken girls here a few times. It was the only sprawl of land that the sheriff couldn’t drive by to see what people were doing.
Amusement trickled through me at the thought as corn stalks brushed up against us. What would the sheriff say now that we were both consenting adults? We had no one to punish us for being together. We didn’t have to worry about parents any longer.
Satisfied that we were far away from the road, I sank down to the dirt with Ava straddling my lap. Her hips rolled up against mine in a silent invitation to take it further. I broke the kiss to stare down at her swollen lips, then up to those dreamy, lustful eyes. The moonlight filled Ava’s eyes as she gazed back at me. I was lucky. So damn lucky to have a woman like Ava James in my life.
“What?” she inquired softly. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just thinking about how lucky I am to have you,” I said huskily. “Just taking in the beautiful view in front of me.”
Ava rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, sure. Put up the charm right now. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not pushing you away.”
“I’m being totally serious,” I murmured against her neck. “I’m not trying to be charming. I’m just thankful that you snuck out like you were a teenager when you could’ve gone through the front door.”
“Shut up,” Ava groaned, tilting her head back to give me access to her throat. “I’m not ready to go that route with my parents just yet. They’ve barely even accepted the fact that they have to forgive you and Andy.”
“They will eventually, on their own time. They’ll have to get used to us being together, too.”
“In time,” she said, reaching down to tug at my shirt insistently. “Now, are you going to talk the entire time? Because you’re killing the mood here by saying all this stuff.”
“Right. No more talking, so shush, Ava.”
She giggled when I swept her up into another deep and tangling kiss. We broke apart briefly to pull both our shirts up over our heads. I laid mine on the dirt behind
Ava as she fiddled with her bra clasp. Once the garment was tossed to the ground, I pushed Ava back onto my shirt to suck on a nipple, while my other hand played with the other one. Ava groaned softly as she arched up against my mouth eagerly. Her thighs were squeezing my hips sensually as she rolled her hips up against the bulge of my cock straining through my jeans. I trailed kisses down her stomach to undo the button of her jeans.
The warm breeze caressed our skin. I knelt back to help Ava pull down her underwear and jeans before taking in the sight of her in the moonlight. Smooth, flawless pale skin. Perfectly rounded breasts. Not an ounce of silicon or Botox. She was warm and real beneath my hands when I reached around to grip her thighs tightly. She reached up to undo the buckle of my belt before shoving the fabric of my own jeans and boxers down my hips.
I sat back to kick free of them, but I was pleasantly surprised when Ava shoved me back onto the ground. Soft dirt pressed up against my back as she climbed on top of me. Dark waves of hair cascaded around her petite shoulders. Her hot flesh pressed up against my aching cock but she pulled back when I attempted to lift her so I could sheath myself in her happily. Her eyes danced mischievously as she leaned down to press a teasing kiss to my lips. She didn’t stop there. She trailed kisses down the center of my chest, past my stomach, and then, that hot and tight mouth circled the tip of my throbbing erection.
I grasped Ava’s hair to keep myself under control. My teeth clenched together while hot pleasure sent my senses scattering in every possible direction. I could barely think past the feel of her mouth bobbing up and down in time, with her fingers grasping me firmly.
“Fuck,” I panted, trying desperately to keep myself under control. “Ava, stop. I’m going to come in your mouth like that.”
She let go promptly with a smack of her lips. Desperate, I gripped her hips to drag her back up and center her above my straining erection. Her fingers dug into my shoulders to steady herself as I lowered her down over me. We let out a mutual groan of satisfaction as I sheathed myself to the hilt. Her hips rolled intuitively against mine in search for pleasure. It sent fire straight through me as she rolled her hips again.
I dug my fingers into her thighs to keep her going at this pace. I let my head roll back to enjoy the view of Ava’s nipples, hard and dark in the moonlight. Her hair shifted each time she moved against me. Sweat gathered on her upper lip as she reached between us to rub at herself each time she rolled her hips. Unable to stand it any longer, I pressed my feet down into the ground to anchor myself.
I pushed her hand away to press the pad of my thumb against the bundle of nerves there. Ava’s back arched in pleasure at that, while I gripped her hip with my other hand to thrust up hard. The movement nearly sent her toppling off me. She clawed frantically at my shoulders as I rubbed at the sweet little clitoris until her inner-muscles contracted against my throbbing dick.
“Jude!” she cried out while pleasure contorted her face. “Oh, fuck!”
My own release came hard and fast. I thrusted up to let those inner-muscles milk me for everything that I had left. She slouched over me, chest heaving while she tried to catch her breath. I let my head fall back to the ground, not caring about anything in the world besides the feel of Ava’s soft skin against mine. The night breeze felt good against our sweaty flesh as Ava slowly eased herself off of me to grab her clothes from the ground.
I sat up a second later to gaze at her through the moonlight. “This is never going to get old. I can tell you that right now.”
“We’ve had years of foreplay since that one night,” Ava said, laughing. “Years of it to make it feel good. We should get dressed, though, in case there are teenagers who still come here to do what we just did.”
“Probably would be a good idea,” I said.
We brushed dirt off each other before dressing again. I took ahold of Ava’s hand to lead her out of the cornfield in the direction of her parents’ house. We walked slowly along the sidewalk, listening to the crickets before Ava turned to look at me.
“What now?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked, squeezing her hand. “I’m walking you back to your house right now. Being a gentleman and all.”
Ava giggled as she smacked me on the chest playfully. “That’s not what I meant. I meant, what is going to happen now that you are here?”
I reached up with my free hand to rub at my jaw. I hadn’t given much thought about what I wanted to do if I stepped away from motocross. I had enough money to buy a piece of land to build a house anywhere I wanted to. I could run my merchandise lines from Gypsum if I wanted to.
“I think there’s a couple acres of land for sale outside of Gypsum,” I said. “Maybe build a house there.”
“You were being serious about wanting to stop riding?”
We stopped walking to face each other. I reached out to pull corn silk from Ava’s hair before pressing a soft kiss against her lips.
“Yes,” I said. “It terrifies you. I’m getting old, too, and this is a young man’s sport.”
“You’re not that old, Jude. You’re still in your prime.”
I laughed shortly at that. “No, not really. I’ve been injured many times before this. It takes longer every single time to recover. That’s just the nature of this sport.”
“I can’t ask you to quit,” Ava said. “It doesn’t feel right to me.”
Riding was everything to me. It had been for a long time, but, at the end of the day, I was alone in a fancy tour bus with money that I wouldn’t spend. It was empty because I had no one there to share it with.
“You know that saying? People who are unhappy when they get money will always be unhappy?” I asked.
Ava frowned. “Sure. Money doesn’t make people happy.”
“That’s all this sport has turned into,” I said. “Chuck, the team. All of it is about money. I don’t want to live like that. I just want you, Ava. That’s it.”
Tears filled Ava’s eyes, then. I leaned down to press a kiss to the center of her cheek.
“I’m pulling out of the Games,” I said. “Not because you asked. Because I want to.”
Chapter 26
Ava
Disbelief filtered through me. No matter how many times Jude insisted that he was going to stop riding, I never believed him. Not once. The Games meant everything to him. The Games was the biggest event of the year. Millions of dollars were at stake. Endorsement deals. There would be fans everywhere in the world wanting to watch Jude perform his stunts. He had his own line of merchandise to be officially released.
It was too much for him to give up because of me.
Jude stared down at me as he cradled the side of my cheek in his calloused palm. He waited for me to react to the news.
“I can’t let you do this,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s too much, Jude. I know how much all of this means to you.”
He kissed me deeply. “You mean more to me, okay?”
I didn’t know what to say as Jude took a step back from me. Pressing one last kiss to the back of my hand, he nodded to the front door.
“Go to bed,” he said. “We can talk more in the morning. I’m renting a hotel room across from the restaurant if you want to meet for coffee.”
I managed a nod because I didn’t trust my voice as I walked along the pathway to the front door. Finding the spare key beneath a pot of flowers, I unlocked the front door to step inside the dark foyer. I paused to look back over my shoulder as Jude waved goodbye to me before continuing on his way down the sidewalk in the direction of Main Street.
“Ava James.”
Lights clicked on from above. I shrieked in surprise at my father’s voice as I whirled around on the rug. My parents sat waiting on the bottom steps of the stairs. Their faces were stretched in visible disapproval as my father rose to lock the door behind me. My heart pounded furiously while I sucked in deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I felt like I was sixteen all over again.
“Let me explain,”
I started as my father came to stand in front of me.
“What the hell is going on between the two of you?” he demanded. “I’ve been reading things in the papers that I hoped were just rumors. Now, here you are, sneaking out with the kid who killed your brother.”
I winced at the harshness in his voice while I mentally braced for a long argument. Andy’s death had to fall on someone’s shoulders—not his own. Jude happened to be the perfect target, even though I was there, too. I had tried to convince him not to go. I could’ve stopped it as easily as Jude.
“Jude didn’t kill Andy,” I said.
My mother’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re defending him now?”
“I am defending him,” I said, tilting my chin to meet their gazes as bravely as possible. “I’ve done a lot of thinking about this. None of us want to think that Andy could’ve done this to himself but he did. He drank before getting on that bike. We were all drinking that night. Jude tried to tell Andy not to do it but he wouldn’t listen to him. He didn’t want to listen to me, either.”
“I don’t understand,” my father said, shaking his head. “You told me—”
“I told you that Andy and Jude had been drinking because I was angry with both of them. It took me a long time to realize that I could be angry at Andy, too, for being stupid. Not just Jude for letting him.”
My father paced the foyer anxiously in front of me as he tightened the belt of his bathrobe around his waist. “Ava, this is Jude Jacobs that you are getting your heart tangled up with again. Look at him. I heard that he’s been drinking and partying on this tour. His father—”
“Jude is not like his father,” I argued, shaking my head. “He is not anything like his parents. He has done everything he can to make sure that he doesn’t end up like them.”
“He isn’t that way now, Ava. All of this can change over the years. Alcoholism and drug abuse.” My mother’s face contorted in disgust. “God only knows what sort of things that boy has caught over the years, being famous.”