Becky wanted Aiden to go slower than everyone else. I could tell that she was a little nervous letting him ride in such a big group, but everyone was cautious of the seven-year old. We didn’t ride as hard or as fast as we usually did.
It was about a ten-minute ride to our regular mudding spot in the clearing. We had to go through the swampy area, so by the time we actually made it to the clearing, the majority of our legs were covered in mud. Especially mine—Tessa liked to hit every puddle that she could, laughing with delight every time she showered us. Her mood was infectious, and I laughed along with my best friend.
Years ago, Brock, Gordon, Grady and another one of their high school friends had created a large track in the clearing with miniature jumps for the ATVs, nothing too drastic or dangerous. The clearing had a couple of springs underneath running through it, but the ground wasn’t as muddy as it usually was due to the lack of rain we’d gotten that month.
We all took turns running the track and eating the sandwiches Becky had made. Aiden hooted and hollered when the guys decided to race. Tessa and I, never refusing a challenge, demanded to be included. Tessa was as fast as they were, and she won the race by half an inch. I came in just behind her on Becky’s ATV, beating out Braden and splashing him directly in the face when my rear tire squealed through the mud.
I smirked when I saw how muddy Braden’s face was, but my laughter died on the tip of my tongue when he brought his shirt up to wipe away the guck from his eyes, exposing the taut muscles of his stomach. My heart sped up, my blood heated, and I ached for his touch again, the heat pooling between my thighs as if my body remembered in exact detail what it felt like to be beneath him.
Wrinkling my nose with disgust at my own traitorous body’s response, I pressed my thumb hard on the gas and shot forward, driving back to where Becky and Aiden were waiting.
I turned off the machine and climbed off to the sound of Aiden begging to participate too. “Come on Mom! Just one race? PLEASE!?” he pleaded, his Miller blue eyes wide with hope.
I had no idea how Becky could refuse him. If I had a child half as cute as him, with eyes like that—so much like Braden’s—I’d be powerless and give in to his every request.
“I don’t know, Aiden,” Becky said, her uncertainty ringing in her voice.
“But Mom!” he whined, pouting. “Even the girls got to race!”
“Hey now, that’s not fair,” I interjected, my hand on my hip. “Why are you using us girls as an example here, kid? Girls have every right to race. Hell, we’re better than your uncle!”
“I know,” Aiden replied sheepishly, his pout growing as he kicked at the dirt. “But I’m seven now! I can race too! I bet I’d beat Uncle Braden. It doesn’t look hard at all!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his response.
“You can race me little man,” Travis offered, grinning at Aiden. He ran a hand through his wavy, dark blond locks. Becky’s eyes shot to his, and she frowned.
“Now I really don’t know,” she scowled.
“I promise, it’ll be fine,” Travis assured her, his eyes lingering longer than necessary on her face. I could have sworn I saw a look of longing pass across his features. Becky sighed heavily. Intrigued, I watched as her lips lifted in a reluctant smile.
“Fine, just one loop,” she told Aiden.
We all watched while Travis and Aiden raced around the track. I thought that Aiden wouldn’t do more than twenty-five miles per hour, but he surprised us all by going almost sixty. Becky practically bit her nails off watching. She didn’t relax until Aiden had finished the loop first and was tossing his fists up in victory.
By the time we’d had enough, every last one of us was covered in mud.
“Let’s go swimming,” Braden suggested, and almost everyone agreed. We finished our snacks and loaded the coolers back up. Before I could climb onto the back of Tessa’s ATV, she was taking off down the trail.
“Seriously?” I grumbled, glaring after her when she tossed a satisfied grin across her shoulder at me.
Braden revved his ATV from behind me. “Hop on,” he instructed, the corner of his lip shooting up in a half-smile. Since most everyone else had left before Tessa, I had limited options. I climbed onto the back and tried to sit as far away from him as I could.
But Braden’s ATV didn’t have the same passenger grips that Tessa’s ATV had. When he pressed down on the gas, we shot forward so fast and hard that my only option was to grab onto him for dear life. I heard his chuckle as I clung to his waist.
Holding him again like this did strange things to my heart. It thudded wildly in my chest. I could pretend it was the sudden jump forward, but the real reason my heart was hammering had less to do with the speeds Braden hit and everything to do with how close I was to him—and how hard and tight his abdomen was beneath my frantic grip.
We pulled up to the beach after everyone else had arrived. Tessa was waiting for me by her Grizzly, still wearing a smug smile. I hopped off the back of Braden’s ATV the moment he stopped it, as if he was covered in thousands of tiny spiders.
I stalked over to my traitorous best friend. “How could you do that? Leave me with him like that?” I hissed.
Tessa winced apologetically, her amber eyes seeking my forgiveness. “I’m sorry, he paid me off.”
“How much?” I sighed.
“A hundred bucks, actually,” Tessa chuckled. “I figured we could split it.”
“No, I’ll be taking it all,” I informed her.
Before Tessa could say another word, I was scooped up from behind. I knew from the feel of the calloused hands, strong arms and hard chest that it was Braden.
“Don’t you dare!” I practically screeched, trying to wiggle my way out of his arms.
But naturally, Braden didn’t listen, and Tessa’s laughter followed me as he marched purposely down the dock. A moment later, I was submerged in the cool water of the lake, his arms still around me.
Braden
It was the best one hundred dollars I’d ever spent. Feeling her arms wrapped around me from behind, having her warm breath against the back of my neck and her scent enveloping me while we raced back down the trails was heaven.
But Elle hadn’t been thrilled about the arrangement at all, and the moment we got back to the beach, she’d started hissing angrily at Tessa. I felt bad that my soon-to-be sister-in-law was getting the flack for my idea. I figured that Elle needed to cool off a little, so I picked her up and ran off the dock with her in my arms. I held her as long as I dared before releasing her.
“You’re such a dick, Braden,” she said, but her eyes were light and she was laughing.
“I know,” I murmured, swimming closer to her. We stared at each other for several long moments, the air between us wrought with tension and longing. She had mud on her cheek, and I absently brought my hand up, using my thumb to gently wipe it away. Her eyes were fixated on mine, as if she was locked in a trance. In that moment, I almost kissed her. I wanted so badly to press my lips against hers, to feel her surrender in my arms.
Her hands came up to my chest, her fingers curling into fists, nails gently pulling against my soaked t-shirt. Goosebumps erupted across my skin, and I moved my lips closer to hers, my hand still cupping her cheek. She inhaled when I exhaled, and we breathed each other in, our eyes locked on one another.
Her brow furrowed and she broke our gaze by looking away. Her chest heaved as she drew in another deep breath. Shaking her head slightly she pushed off me and swam away, back towards the beach.
I remained in the water for almost a minute longer, trying to figure out what the hell all of this meant and what I was going to do about it. I ran my hands through my hair, brushing it back from my eyes as I walked out of the lake.
“Could you try any harder?” Gordon ribbed, punching me in the shoulder when I came to a stop where he was standing by the picnic table with Ezra, Peter, and Tommy. I was dripping wet, my t-shirt clung to my skin.
“Fuck off,” I told Gordon,
pulling my shirt off over my head with one hand and twisting it to ring it out. I felt Elle’s eyes on me, and out of the corner of my eye I saw her scowl. I smirked.
“I think it’s kind of sweet,” Ezra remarked. The sympathy I saw in his eyes pissed me off almost as much as Gordon’s ribbing.
“Sorry man. I think you’re kicking a dead horse. Elle’s stubborn as shit, and she hates your guts.” Tommy interjected, shaking his head ruefully.
“I know she’s stubborn,” I said carefully, working hard to keep my jaw from grinding. “But I’m more stubborn than she is, and she doesn’t hate me.”
I knew Elle better than anyone else, and I knew the only thing she hated was the fact that she still wanted me.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Gordon said, chuckling softly.
* * *
Gordon and Tommy’s words rumbled around inside my brain, echoing like a freight train in a tunnel for the rest of the afternoon. I couldn’t help but watch her from afar as she splashed around with Aiden and Tessa, torturing myself with doubts and insecurities. I wanted to grab the beer bottle from Tommy’s stupid hand and toss it back, put a stop to all the nonsense roaring around in my head, but I resisted.
When dusk fell, everyone started to get their stuff together to leave. It was almost time for the community bonfire, and nobody in town missed that event. By that point, my shorts and t-shirt had dried completely in the stifling summer heat. That’s the benefit of wearing all black. The downfall is that the horse flies are drawn to the colour black. I grew up in the bush, and horse fly bites barely phased me anymore.
Elle’s clothes were still damp, and I knew she’d get cold if she wore them to the bonfire. “Want a lift home?” I offered, gesturing to my truck.
She gnawed on her bottom lip for a moment, her teeth sinking in to the plump soft pink flesh, and all of my blood immediately started to travel south.
“I’ve got some spare clothes in the cabin if you want to borrow something?” Tessa suggested, probably to make up for having ditched her with me on the trail earlier. She shrugged at me apologetically when Elle wasn’t looking.
“Thanks Tessa.” She smiled with relief that cut into me more than I cared to admit. I watched her follow Tessa up to the house, the doubt consuming me. I knew Elle wanted me, I knew she was warring with herself about it, but for the first time…I couldn’t help but wonder if that stubborn determination of hers would win out.
I stomped over to the cab of my truck, reaching through the open window to grab my pack of smokes from the cup holder. Smoking was a dirty habit, but it gave my hands and mouth something to do when the thirst got to be too much for me to handle.
In that moment, it was too much to handle. I turned around and leaned against the door, my gaze lifting towards the cabin.
I tapped the bottom of the pack against the palm of my hand and watched as Elle moved in front of the large master bedroom window. She paused in front of it and looked outside. It was almost like she was looking straight into my soul. I drew in a breath, pulling a cigarette out and holding it between my lips, my eyes still locked on her for several long moments.
The sound of boots on gravel had me turning my head to watch Ezra walk up, his hands in his pockets. He came to stand beside me, leaning up against the side of my truck. By the time I looked back up to the cabin, Elle had closed the curtains and moved away from the window.
“I hope you’re not still pissed about what Gordon and Tommy said. Those two are clueless when it comes to women,” he told me, puffing out a small laugh as he stared over at our friends. Gordon, Tommy, and the girls they brought were standing beside Gordon’s truck. “Just look at them. Gordon can’t make a relationship last past the three-month mark and Tommy doesn’t even know what’s in front of him.”
“What do you mean?” I squinted, looking at the girl standing in front of Tommy. She had hair a few shades lighter than Elle’s, all of it piled under a Blue Jays cap. Her face was makeup free and she gazed at him with hopeful eyes.
“She looks at him like he’s a god. She’s super sweet, too, she’s just not his usual type, so all he sees is a friend.”
“What’s your point?” I grumbled, irritated.
“I already made it,” Ezra said, flashing me a toothy smile. “Don’t listen to Tommy or Gordon. I don’t think for one minute that what you have with Elle is a lost cause. I see the way she looks at you. That girl is still in love with you, no matter what she’s telling herself. She always has been.”
Ezra had always been the smarter one. We spent every day together through middle school and high school. He always had my back and I always had his, without question. I knew he wouldn’t give me anything but the truth.
Grunting, I nodded once. I tried to leave it at that, but Ezra looked like he was waiting for me to say something. I brought my hand up to scratch at the back of my head. “Well, what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Krista,” I gestured over my shoulder. Ezra followed my gaze, and he smiled wistfully. He’d had a thing for Krista longer than I could remember, but he was too sweet and trigger shy to do anything about it.
“The girls who stay around here dream about guys who aren’t from here,” he shrugged. “She wants new and exciting, not an old friend.”
I put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Sorry man,” I told him, feeling bad. “She might change her mind one day.”
“Maybe,” he shrugged. I opened my mouth again, searching for something else to say, when my gaze was drawn back up to the cabin as the door opened. Tessa and Elle piled out, both dressed in tight jeans, tank tops, and plaid long sleeve shirts left unbuttoned. Tessa was in blue, and Elle was in red.
I had always loved it when Elle wore red. It made her cream-coloured skin all the creamier, and the dark brunette ringlets that hung down her back seemed richer. She was beautiful, the kind of beautiful that took your breath away and made you believe in something almighty.
“Let’s try and take as few vehicles as we can since parking will be ridiculous as always,” Tessa suggested as they came to a stop in front of us.
Tommy, Samantha and Annaka ended up going with Gordon while Grady, Paige, and Peter rode in Grady’s truck. Travis hopped into the front seat of Becky’s car, and I ended up sitting in the backseat cab of Brock’s truck with Elle and Krista wedged beside me and Ezra.
We pulled into the jammed parking lot of the fairgrounds. It took Brock nearly ten minutes to find a parking spot, and when he finally did, Elle cursed loudly.
“What?” Tessa peered over the headrest.
“I forgot my purse in Braden’s truck,” she sighed, running a hand through her long locks.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you covered,” I said quickly, the corner of my lip lifting.
“See? No worries,” Tessa smiled. “Let’s go have a good night!”
We piled out of the truck, and I grabbed the blankets that Tessa had carried out for us to sit on. We met up with everyone else and walked together, finding a spot on the grass big enough to house our large group.
Blankets were spread down and the majority of the group took off towards the beer tent or food trucks. “Can I get you anything?” I froze at the sound of her voice, closing my eyes for a moment to try and pull it together. Elle’s hand brushed against mine gently.
“How about a second chance?” I mumbled, my eyes opening and landing on hers. Her hand was still inches away from mine.
“How about a bottle of water, or a pop?” she suggested instead, trying to repress the smile that threatened to grace her lips.
“That works, I guess. Water, please.”
“I’ll need your money,” she reminded me, a smirk dancing across her mouth. Chuckling, I pulled out my wallet from my back pocket and handed her a couple of twenties. The tips of her fingers brushed against mine, and electricity pulsed between us. It was so much like it was before, back when she was mine. It was like the last few years had never e
ven happened. She was smiling at me in that same challenging way, the way that always made me press my lips to hers and kiss her until she stopped smirking and gave into me.
I knew she was just as affected as I was from the way her long lashes fluttered against the top of her cheeks. She swallowed, pulling her hand holding the bills to her side. She tossed a look back over her shoulder at me as she walked towards the beer tent with Tessa.
I fell back onto the blanket, pulling my black cap down over my eyes.
Now that I was back, I had no idea how I survived being gone all those years, how I was able to justify being away from the ones who meant the most to me. I had no idea how I was able to let her stay gone.
I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life, even if it wasn’t the way I preferred. Ideally, I wanted her to be mine again. I wanted her to trust me and love me the way she did before. But even if I couldn’t have that, I wanted her friendship. Her laughter, her smile.
Elle
After the embarrassing events of the previous weekend, and my confusing thoughts regarding Braden, I threw myself into being the best maid of honor I could possibly be. Every second of my time—every spare thought—went to planning the bachelorette party. The night was going to be perfect—I'd made sure of it. Becky, Katie, Krista and I took Tessa to her favourite restaurant in Toronto for dinner, then we headed back to the hotel room to wait for the rest of the bachelorette party guests to arrive.
Our hotel room was big enough for the seven of us to crash comfortably. There were two queen sized beds and a pull out couch. Tessa, her cousin Cheyenne and I snagged one bed, Becky, Krista, and Katie snagged the other bed while Tessa’s friends from Barrie—Olivia and Laura, would share the pull-out couch.
I couldn't wait to see Tessa's face when she saw all the fun stuff we had planned. I had printed off ten dare cards to hand to our beautiful bride-to-be throughout the night. Most of the items on the list were sure to embarrass her, but I was sure my friend would be a good sport. I gave her three passes—she could pass off three of the dares to any member in the bridal party to complete without question. I had a feeling I knew which ones she'd pass up, and I couldn't wait to see if I was right. Dare card number one would undoubtedly embarrass the shit out of Tessa, and that made me positively gleeful.
Rebel Heart: (Rebel Series Book 2) ((Rebel Series)) Page 15