by Kira Blakely
“What’s the problem?” she asked. “You signed up for this, Ava. Remember?”
“I know that I did. You don’t understand. This is—”
“I’m well aware of who Jude Jacobs is. If it makes you feel better, your brother and his friend Dean are tutoring him in other subjects as well. In every single subject, now that I think of it.”
“That’s my point. He’s a bit of a lost cause.”
Mrs. Parks sighed in exasperation. “Look, Ava. I’ve already told Mr. Jacobs that his passing marks rely on him actually doing the work this summer. If he makes you uncomfortable in any sort of way, I won’t hesitate to flunk him for trying to charm you. I’ve already had a very serious talk with him. Comforting?”
I deflated in defeat because there was no talking my way around this. I was going to be the summer tutor of Jude Jacobs– Gypsum’s bad boy. We were going to talk about Wuthering Heights and Pride & Prejudice. I snorted cynically at the thought. I’m sure that Jude Jacobs would love the idea of talking about books with me.
“Not really,” I said, taking the stack of books from her. “I won’t get a bad mark if he doesn’t cooperate, right?”
“Your grade will be safe,” she said assuredly. “I won’t write a bad reference for you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Parks. I appreciate everything.”
I left her classroom to walk through the empty hallway in the direction of the front doors. Much of the school had emptied out quickly, with only two weeks of school left. The seniors were already done for the school year. I hugged the stack of books that I needed to hand over to Jude whenever I saw him. In one year, I would be walking these hallways for the last time, and nothing sounded better than getting out of Gypsum.
Andy and I had talked about it at length the other night, about finding an apartment together in New York while we both went to college. We had held each other’s hands in our mother’s womb as unborn babies. We grew up playing with one another. I couldn’t imagine going to college without my brother at my side to keep me safe as he always did.
I pushed through the front doors to step out into the hot afternoon. There were a few cars left in the Junior parking lot alongside the building, but I recognized the blaring sound of a motorbike engine in the distance. I rounded the corner to find what I expected to find—Jude Jacobs on his motorbike, surrounded by his usual gaggle of friends, along with Andy.
They all turned to watch me approach. I swallowed thickly when Jude’s eyes swept over me with visible interest. He smoothed a hand over his rich black hair and bounced easily from leg to leg as I stopped short in front of them.
“It’s the other James,” Jude said smoothly. “You’re much better looking. No offense, man.”
Andy scowled at him. “Watch it, bro. That’s my sister you’re making eyes at.”
I ignored the rush of heat that went through me when Jude shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just here to hand you these is all.”
“What?” Jude asked, eyeing the stack of books in disinterest. “I don’t read, in case you haven’t figured that out by now.”
“It’s your books that Mrs. Parks said you need to have,” I said. “For summer English, remember?”
Jude’s eyes widened a bit too gleefully. “You mean, you’re my tutor for the summer?”
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable about this,” Andy interrupted, giving me a long and hard look. “No offense, Ava, but I don’t think Mom and Dad would agree with it, either.”
“I’m a gentleman,” Jude protested. “I wouldn’t do anything horrible.”
My cheeks burned when the rest of the group chuckled, except for Andy, who looked downright furious with the arrangement. I handed the books over into Jude’s lap as he sniffed in irritation.
“Fail English for all I care,” I said. “I’m doing this for my own grade. Your lack of success won’t affect me at all.”
“No need to get snippy,” Jude said. “See you this summer, then. I’ll call you.”
Andy draped a protective arm around my shoulders as we walked along the parking lot to his car. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Ava. I know how Jude is with the girls. I don’t want him messing with you.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” I said. “I’d never go for someone like Jude. He’s too rough for me.”
“You’d be surprised how many girls like him for that reason,” Andy replied, jamming the key into the door to unlock his side. “Just promise me that you won’t get wrapped up in the magic of JJ. It’s hard to resist him.”
“Cross my heart,” I said, making an X over my heart. “Don’t worry about me. You resist his magic. You hang out with him a lot more than I do. Mom and Dad don’t like it, by the way. They want you to stop hanging around all of them.”
Andy laughed at that. “Don’t worry, sis. I’m not going to get caught up in the magic of JJ. I can promise you that.”
The sound of the front door startled me awake, jolting me out of that memory from years ago. I opened my eyes to gaze up at morning sunlight dancing across the ceiling of my bedroom. My old bedroom from high school. The wallpaper was still a purple floral design. My mom had insisted on keeping everything the same in the house because it reminded us all of the good times.
I pushed back my blankets and sheets to slip out of bed with a painful grimace. The mattress needed to be replaced or flipped, though. That needed to be changed at least.
Car doors closed outside. I peeked through the window to find my parents backing out of the driveway to head off for morning church services. If anyone had told them about that kiss last night—
I cut that thought off when my stomach fluttered at the memory of Jude’s lips pressed up against mine. He had always been an excellent kisser who could unhinge every single defense in me. He had done it to me without any effort after years of feeling torn on how to feel about him.
The house was quiet as I padded out of my room and down the hallway with a bag of clothes and makeup in hand. I didn’t care if my mother insisted that I should unpack and put my things back in my dresser drawers. I think she had a small hope that I would stay home if I took out my things to place them in drawers, but I couldn’t stay here in Gypsum. I had a plane to catch on Monday morning to head back to New York. There were a few articles that I needed to hand over to my publisher to save my ass anyway. The last cover piece I had pitched went straight into the trash bin on my computer. I needed to come up with something fast.
The door to Andy’s bedroom was still closed. Like he was still asleep in there, even though his bed was covered in dust. Mom never went in there. She kept the door shut on that part of our lives because it was the only place left behind that was Andy’s. My fingers itched to open it like I had done so many years ago, but I couldn’t bear it, either. I couldn’t bear looking into a room full of dust and cobwebs because that was all that was left.
I took a long hot shower before slipping into a modest black skirt and a cream-colored blouse with black ballet flats. I was going to meet my parents for lunch after church, as usual. The walk from our house to the restaurant was only five minutes in the afternoon summer heat as I walked along the cracked sidewalks of quiet neighborhoods to a lazy Main Street. None of the local stores were open, besides the restaurant. Church bells echoed in the air while I waited for my parents to join me in a booth. I watched their faces anxiously as they approached, but it appeared that no one had mentioned the kiss last night to them.
“I’m sorry that I missed service,” I said as they sat down in the booth in front of me. “It was a bit of a late night for me.”
My mother smiled at me. “We didn’t want to wake you. You rarely get to sleep anymore it seems.”
“I’m just stressed, is all,” I replied, cradling my cup of coffee with a sigh. “I have to come up with a few interesting pieces this afternoon to pitch to my editor tomorrow morning.”
“That’s why I’m not sure being a freelance writer is the best job for you,” my father sai
d, adding sugar to his own coffee. “It’s an unreliable source of income, in my opinion. Dean said that he could put in a good word for you at the high school as an English teacher.”
“We’ve been over this before, Dad,” I said. “I can’t see myself as a teacher. I see myself as a writer. That’s it.”
“I understand that, but sometimes, you have to do things in life that you don’t want to do. All I’m saying is—”
A tap on the window startled the three of us. I looked over to find the last person I wanted to see this morning on the other side of the window. Jude stood in front of me, dressed in a pair of tattered jeans and a muscle tank that showed off all the tattoos on his arms that weren’t visible last night. He still had that ruined pompadour, showing off the fact that he had yet to shower. He motioned for me to come outside, ignoring the glares that were being sent in his direction. Including my own glare, because he knew it put me in a bad position.
“What does he want?” my father growled, setting his coffee cup down. “I swear. I’m going to—”
My mother placed a warning hand on his forearm. “Don’t do this, Mark. It’s not going to bring Andy back to us.”
“Andy would be here if it weren’t for him. Please tell me you aren’t going to talk to him, Ava.”
“He’ll just stand there until I do,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”
I slid out of the booth before the conversation could go any further. I didn’t want to hear the blame game because I had gone through it already. Pushing through the front doors, I waited for Jude to walk away from where he had been standing. I crossed my arms as he grinned at me in a predatory way that instantly set off alarm bells in my head.
“What do you want?” I asked. “I’m sure there’s a reason you’re here.”
“I have a job proposition for you,” Jude said, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Actually, my manager Chuck and I have a once in a lifetime opportunity for you.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Such as?”
“Well, I have a tour coming up after leaving here tomorrow morning. Six cities with plenty of cameras and endorsements. I mentioned to my manager that you were a freelance writer. He wanted to extend a deal to you.”
“A deal?” I repeated skeptically. “What sort of deal?”
“A personal piece on me,” Jude said. “We’ve already turned down several high-ranking journalists over the years because I didn’t trust them. I trust you, so here’s your opportunity. It would put you on the map for many magazines around the United States.”
There was no doubt that Jude was about to explode. I had done my research on him the past year out of sheer curiosity. He was signing with a few major retailers as well. Journalists were drooling over the opportunity to interview him.
I chewed on my lower lip while I searched Jude’s face for any sign of deception. I couldn’t spot any signs, but I also couldn’t shake the feeling that he had his double motives. It meant traveling closely with him. It meant being too close to him for the first time in years.
“You have bills to pay,” Jude continued, sensing my hesitation. “I’ll pay you for it. A hefty check, in fact. No strings attached, either, but I won’t complain if it goes that way.”
“It won’t go that way,” I said. “I’m a professional, Jude. I don’t sleep with the people I’m interviewing.”
He held up his hands. “Fine. I’ll keep my hands to myself. What do you think?”
I knew that getting close to Jude meant getting close to trouble and danger all over again but he had a point. I had bills to pay, and my editor would jump at this. This was my ticket to get where I wanted to go.
“I’ll do it,” I said and met Jude’s eyes. “No funny business, though. This is a professional relationship. Got it?”
“Got it,” he said.
Chapter 5
Jude
Bright and early sunlight streamed through the hotel room’s windows. I hadn’t even bothered closing them the night before after stumbling in drunk from the wedding reception. Groaning, I buried my face deep into my pillow to avoid the light. A headache pounded in my temples furiously.
I had spent the previous night at the bar because I didn’t want to go back to my hotel room alone. No one at the bar cared who I was. All they had cared about was the fancy American Express that I tossed at them to open a tab. Drinking the night before had been a mistake. It meant that I had a hangover.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
“Fuck,” I snapped, lifting my head to glare at the hotel phone before picking it up. “Who the hell is calling me this fucking early?”
“Your alarm clock,” Chuck responded cynically. “I knew you were out last night. I wanted to call and remind you that you have a flight to catch today from Gypsum. Remember?”
“Thank God,” I said, relieved. “I want out of this shithole of a town.”
“I figured that you probably did. You were the one who insisted on flying out on Monday morning. Did Ava take your offer?”
“Yes.” I sat up to rub at the back of my aching neck with a grimace. “She took it. Be prepared to cut a good check for her, too.”
Chuck sighed into the phone. “Are you sure that you want to do this? You’ve turned down every single reporter in and outside of America.”
“They wouldn’t get the facts right,” I said. “I know Ava. She gets me. That’s all I can say about it.”
“It’s your call, boss. I just think this is a lot of work for getting a woman back in your good graces.”
“I can’t do anything less. Besides,” I said, sweeping a hand through my hair with a yawn. “I owe it to the family. I get the sense that money is a bit strained on her end.”
“Always the noble one, you are,” Chuck remarked wryly. “Get up. Get showered. Get Ava to the airport so you can get to Chicago on time. Tight schedule to make up here.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get there on time.”
I took a long, cold shower to get my body back under control. Six cities. I had at least six cities’ worth of opportunities to get back in Ava’s good graces again. I had six cities to try and express how sorry I felt for what happened to Andy that summer.
The sight of Andy’s body contorted in various directions when the motorbike had fallen onto his chest. Blood. So much blood. Ava’s horrified screams in the distance.
It still felt like a surreal and dark dream that I could never wake up from. It was sheer habit to pick up my phone at times to scroll through, find Andy’s old number, and start up a text message to realize that he was dead. He was dead because of me. That was what Ava and Andy’s parents had told the sheriff that afternoon at the hospital. “He was the one telling Andy to do the tricks! He should be arrested for murder.”
I should be arrested for a lot of things. That much I was confident about. My entire career was built upon breaking the rules and breaking bones. I lived on the outskirts of danger and trouble because it was better there than anywhere else. I had no home to go back to. My parents had divorced years ago. My father was a homeless, raging drunk prick. My mother refused to have anything to do with me. Except when they needed money. Which was every other month.
I packed up my things from the hotel room before checking out. I stopped short in surprise, though, when I saw Emily, Dean, and Ava all standing by my car in the parking lot.
The three of them appeared to be in a heated discussion, and it looked like Ava was on the losing end of it. I took in the tight cream-colored capris that hugged her hips and legs perfectly with a stab of lust. She wore a simple black tank top pulled taut by a juicy rack. Her dark hair was straight and loose over her back. I made a mental note to have Chuck keep a close on eye on her whenever I wasn’t around. There were too many riders who would try to take advantage of a woman like Ava. Groupies and sluts got old after a while.
“I’m just saying that this might be a bad idea,” Emily was saying when I walked up to them with my duffle bag draped over
my shoulder. She stopped when she saw me coming. “JJ, do you honestly think this is a good idea for Ava to come along with you?”
I caught sight of Dean’s exasperated eyes. He shrugged apologetically from behind Emily’s back.
“Why not?” I asked innocently. “Ava’s a grown woman, Emily. She can either come or stay behind to work a shitty ass job. It’s up to her.”
“I’m going,” Ava said. “It’s the only way that I’m going to crack through. I’ve thought about it for a while. Trust me.”
Emily shot me a scathing glare. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just don’t trust JJ.”
“Do you just read gossip tabloids for a living?” I shot back, irritation swimming in me. “I’m not really in the mood to talk about what people say about me because they have nothing else to do with their life.”
“Hey,” Dean interrupted, placing his hands on Emily’s shoulders. “We’re still your friends here, JJ. There’s no need to bite anyone’s head off.”
Ava picked up her duffle bag from the ground next to the car. “Let’s just go before anything else can be said.”
“Call me if you need anything,” Emily said and embraced Ava quickly as I took the bag from her to toss it in the back seat of the rental. “I’m serious. If he does anything—”
“I’ll be fine,” Ava said assuredly. “Enjoy your honeymoon. Call to tell me when the baby is due.”
Emily smiled at that. “Of course. You.” She turned to look at me when I closed the passenger door after Ava slipped inside. “I’ll break your neck if you break her heart. Got it?”
“Whatever you say,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Beautiful wedding. Have a good trip to wherever you are going.”
“Hawaii,” Dean said. He clasped my hand with a tight-lipped smile. “Be careful, okay? Remember that Ava is watching you from the stands this time around.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
I hopped in behind the steering wheel to start the car and back it out. Ava clutched the edge of her seat as I picked up speed once we hit the outskirts of Gypsum, heading in the direction of the private airport a few miles out.