“I fucked up, Paige and I will tell you every day until I die, that night has been my number one regret for the past seven years.”
“Your regret doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“Then come away–”
Paige’s ringtone started blaring, and she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “It’s Gwen.”
“Good. Tell her she needs to hang with your aunt this week.”
“I can’t,”
“You can.”
“I can’t just run away and expect someone else to take care of everything I should be doing.” The phone stopped ringing but not even ten seconds later it was ringing again.
“Please, Paige. We both need this. After this week, if you never want to see me again, I’ll disappear forever. I promise.
Paige’s finger hovered over the accept button on her phone, and she closed her eyes. “Son of a bitch,” she mumbled as she swiped her finger left. “Hey, Gwen,” she chirped into the phone.
I heard Gwen demand to know where Paige was and if she needed to come and kick my ass. I rolled my eyes and prayed that Paige wasn’t going to tell her to come beat the shit out of me. “Um, we’re actually headed to Demon’s truck.” Paige cleared her throat and shuffled her feet in the snow. “So, do you have any plans this week?” I couldn’t hear what Gwen said, but Paige closed her eyes and dropped her head as Gwen talked. “Do you think that you could go over to Aunt Rose’s house this week and do her shopping for her. I had something come up that is going to take me out of town for seven days.” Paige turned around, and I heard Gwen fire off fifty questions wanting to know what Paige was going to be doing for seven days. “Just check on Rose, and I’ll be back next Sunday.” Gwen screeched into the phone, and Paige listened for ten seconds before she ended the call and shoved the phone back into her pocket.
She turned back around to me and propped her hands on her hips. “Seven days and if I never want to talk to you again after, you do what I ask and leave me alone.” She held her hand out to me, and I looked her in the eye.
“Seven days, Paige. Seven days to make you fall in love with me again.” I grabbed her hand, shaking it firmly as she rolled her eyes at my words.
“Fine. Have at it, but if you even want a remote chance at that happening, we need to leave now, because I know that Gwen will be hunting us down in minutes.”
I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed Paige's hand, tugging her in the direction of my truck and looked over my shoulder to make sure Gwen was not behind us.
I had seven days to make Paige fall in love with me again, and I knew I was going to need every second of them.
Game on.
________
Chapter 15
Paige
I needed to be institutionalized. I was absolutely crazy to agree to seven days alone with Demon. We had been driving for two hours and had just stopped at a huge truck stop for gas but mostly because I had to pee for the last thirty minutes.
“Head on in, I’ll be in after.” Demon motioned to me, and I didn’t need to be told twice. The Tom & Jerry’s and the hot chocolate from before had caught up with me, and a bathroom was my number one concern.
Thankfully, Demon had picked a nicer truck stop with a well-lit parking lot, three restaurants attached to it and best of all, clean bathrooms.
After I had hit the bathroom, I was wondering around, gathering snacks in my arms when I remembered that I still needed to call Marg. I had the day off tomorrow so the worst that would happen if she said no was that Demon would have to take me home before Monday.
It was after ten o’clock, but I knew that Marg would still be awake. I set down my bevy of snacks on the counter next to the soda machine and pulled out my phone. I had turned it off ten minutes after we had left because Gwen, Meg, and Cyn wouldn’t stop calling me. I had only talked to Gwen once, listening to her rant for thirty seconds on why I was making the worst decision of my life and then had turned my phone off.
After I had powered it back on, I saw that I had four more missed calls, all from Gwen, and numerous text messages from Meg and Cyn. Apparently, everyone thought they knew what was best for me. Hell, I didn’t even know what was best for me.
I cleared out all the messages and calls, not looking at any of them, and swiped left on Marg’s name and put the phone to my ear.
“Either you’re calling because you want to kill motorcycle man, or you need a condom because you’re ready to rip his clothes off, and you want to be prepared.”
I shook my head and leaned against the counter. “That would be a no to both,” I laughed.
“Well, I guess that’s good, except I don’t know why the hell you’re calling then.”
“Um… I was hoping I could have next week off. All of it.”
“What? Did something happen, hunny?” Marg’s voice was filled with concern, and I could only imagine what she was thinking. She probably thought someone had died, but when in reality, I had just shoved all of my responsibilities aside and ran away with Demon.
“No, no. Everything is fine. I’m just going to be out of town until Sunday.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you had a trip planned.”
“I didn’t. I’m with… Demon.” I swear I could hear Marg’s jaw drop when I said Demon’s name.
“Holy mother of God. Rod, get me my inhaler,” Marg mumbled into the phone. “Paige ran off with that motorcycle man I was telling you about.” Great, Marg had told Rod about Demon. How had I gone from no one in the whole world knowing about Demon and I, to now everyone I talked to knew?
“I didn’t run off. I do plan on coming back. Next Sunday, as a matter of fact.” I held the phone up with my shoulder and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m really not sure what I’m doing, Marg,” I whispered.
“Oh, hunny,” Marg cooed. “You’re finally listening to your heart and not your head.”
“But my head won’t shut up, Marg. Everything is telling me to run, but yet here I am, standing in a gas station, lord knows where, with a man that broke my heart and left me with nothing.”
“No, hunny. You’re with a man who knows he messed up and will do anything to get you back.”
“But I'm not sure if I want him back,” I whispered so quietly that I didn’t even think Marg heard me.
“You’ve already answered that question by agreeing to go away with him. You want him back, Paige.”
“But what if–”
“But nothing. Stop lying to yourself. He hurt you, hunny, there is no denying that, but now you need to move past it and get that happy ending you wanted.”
“You make it sound so easy, Marg.”
“It is easy if it’s meant to be, Paige. Trust me, and trust your heart.” The phone clicked in my ear, and Marg was gone. She had never agreed to me having the week off, but I had to assume she was okay with it if she was telling me to follow my heart.
“Everything okay?” Demon asked, walking up next to me. He had two bottles of soda in one hand and a giant cup of coffee in the other.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, shoving my phone into my pocket. “I just called Marg to let her know that I won’t be in next week.”
Demon juggled his drinks in his hand and helped pick up all of the snacks I had gathered earlier. “You think you got a big enough peppermint patty?” Demon asked, holding up the half pound round package.
I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed it from him. “I had no idea they made them so big. I’m not going to eat the whole thing.” Demon shook his head, not believing me and headed to the cash register. He apparently remembered my love affair with peppermint patties. I could eat twenty of them in one sitting and still want more. “You think you got enough caffeinated beverages?” I asked, mocking his question about my peppermint patty.
“We’ve got another three hours on the road before we get to where we are going, and I don’t plan on stopping until we get there.”
“Where are we going?” I asked as I watched the cashier ring up al
l my junk food.
“You’ll see once we get there.”
“Well, I’m assuming we’re not in Wisconsin anymore, Toto,” I giggled.
“You’re right about that one, Dorothy,” Demon smirked, grabbed the bag full of goodies and we headed back to the truck.
“So, you’re really not going to tell me where we are going?” I slid into the truck, clicked my buckle into place and looked at Demon who was standing outside my door.
“Nope, you’re just going to have to wonder until we get there.” He handed me the bag and slammed the door shut.
I ripped into my huge peppermint patty, gnawing off a huge bit as Demon slid in next to me. “I see you lasted a whole five seconds before you had to open that. I remember every time we went to the store you would always buy one and have it gone before we even made it to the checkout. You always made me hand them the empty wrapper, making them think I was the one who ate it.”
I shrugged my shoulders and couldn’t deny it. What could I say, peppermint patties were my weakness. “You’re not supposed to remember that.” I broke off a chunk and wrapped the rest up and stuck it in the bag.
“I remember everything that you and I did.” Demon looked over at me, his eyes warm and a small smile on his lips. “You’re not easy to forget.”
“Neither are you,” I whispered.
He put his arm across the back of the seat and brushed my hair off of my shoulder. “I’m glad that we can agree on that.”
“I think we can also agree that there are some things we wish we didn’t remember.” His hand cupped my cheek, and I leaned into his touch, His thumb stroked my cheek, and it felt like all the years we were apart disappeared.
“There were one hundred times more good things than bad things, baby. I made mistakes back then, but now I’m going to fix them.”
I sighed deep and leaned away from his hand. “Well, let’s get this truck back on the road and get this makeshift kidnap back underway.”
Demon chuckled and stuck the key in the ignition. “It’s hardly a kidnapping if you voluntarily get in the truck.”
I shrugged my shoulders and took another bite of my candy. Demon pulled out of the gas station and headed west, or at least I thought we were headed west.
Demon reached over, broke off a chunk from my peppermint and popped it in his mouth. “Hey,” I scolded him. “You should have bought your own if you wanted some.” I shoved the rest in my mouth and struggled to chew it.
“You never were good at sharing, were you, baby?”
I glared at him as I managed to swallow some of it down and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Next time we stop you’re buying your own.”
“I’m hoping not to stop at all until we get there.”
I leaned back in my seat and tried to think of what was five hours away from home. I pulled my coat tight around me and rested my head on the back of the seat. “Well, I hope you’re not thinking I’m going to help keep you awake. It’s past my regular bedtime and today’s activities wore me out.”
“I suppose getting drunk at four in the afternoon really takes it out of you,” Demon laughed.
“Whatever,” I muttered. I curled up in the seat, tucking my legs up on the seat and closed my eyes.
“Just sleep,” Demon mumbled. He turned the radio on, keeping the volume low and I heard him humming along to the song that was playing.
“Wake me up if you need me,” I whispered, already half asleep.
Demon reached over and brushed my hair off of my forehead and ran his fingers through my hair. “I’ll wake you when we get there.”
I drifted asleep, on the road to somewhere I didn’t know, next to a man I never thought I would see again, let alone give him a second chance.
I had no idea what I was doing, but it felt right.
________
Chapter 16
Demon
“Baby, time to wake up.” I gently shook Paige, but she didn’t move. This was another thing I remembered from when we dated, she hated waking up. “Baby, the trucks on fire.” She mumbled in her sleep, but still didn’t budge.
This was starting to look like it always did when Paige used to fall asleep in the car; I was going to have to carry her. I managed to slide my arm behind her back, scooped her up into my arms and bumped the door shut with my hip. She wrapped her arms around my neck, held on tight, and I headed down the cobblestone walk, careful of my step. It had been years since I had been here, and back then this sidewalk had been hazardous.
“Hmm, are we there yet?” She mumbled into my neck.
“We’re here, although right now all I want to do is sleep. I forgot how long of a boring ride that is.” All she did was whimper and try to burrow even further into my arms.
I managed to unlock the door with Paige still wrapped up in my arms and headed straight to the bedroom. I opened the bedroom door, the moonlight offering enough light that I didn’t need to turn on any lights and laid Paige down on the bed.
“Where are you going?” She asked, not letting go of my neck.
“I just gotta lock the door quick, and I’ll be right back.” My words pacified her enough that she let me go and laid her head down on the pillow.
“Two minutes, Demon.” She scurried under the blankets with her coat still on and burrowed into the warmth of the thick comforter.
I made my way back down the hallway, actually looking around and saw that this place was exactly how it had been the last time Paige and I were here. The only difference was the fresh blanket of snow on the ground outside.
After I had stoked the fire in the wood burning furnace, I locked the front door and sent off a quick message to Stan who had gotten the cabin ready for us and told him we had made it.
“You do know it has been way longer than two minutes, right?” Paige grumbled when I walked back into the bedroom. Her coat was thrown on the floor, and she was laying on her side, watching me. “I have no idea where I am.”
“Yes, you do know where you are, baby. Merkmeir Lake.”
“No, we’re not. It used to take us forever to get here.”
“It used to take eight hours, but now that we live in Rockton, we’re only five hours away.”
“Hmm, funny how that works,” she giggled. “You do realize that I’m somewhat awake now, and it won’t be so easy to sleep in the same bed as me now.”
I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it in the corner. “Well, I’m telling you right now. You are laying in the only bed in this house and that so happens to be the same bed that I’m going to be laying in about thirty seconds.”
“The couch pulls out into a bed, Demon. You can sleep out there.”
“The couch used to pull out into a bed until I got rid of it and bought a new one.” I bent over, untied my boots and toed them off. “Now it’s just a couch.”
“Why would you get rid of that couch? It was a classic.”
“No, baby. It was a classic seven years ago. Now, it’s rotting away in a landfill.”
“Well, I bet you’re regretting throwing it away now because you’re going to have to crash on the ‘just a couch’ for the next seven nights.” Paige rolled over, tucked the pillow under her head and sprawled out in the middle of the bed.
“It’s a big bed, Paige. If you scoot over to one side, I can lay on the other side, and we won’t even touch.”
“That would be fine and dandy if I didn’t sleep the way I do.”
I smirked and tugged on the blanket, pulling it down her body. It was hard to forget how Paige slept. She could fall asleep straddling the edge of the bed, and I’d wake up with her wrapped around me, every inch of her lush body touching me. “You just gotta control yourself, Paige. It really shouldn’t be my fault that you can’t seem to keep your hands off of me.”
Paige grabbed the pillow out from under her head and threw it at me. It bounced off my chest and landed at my feet. “Move over, before I make you move over.” I grabbed the pillow and threw it at
the head of the bed. “You got ten seconds to move.”
Paige shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.
I counted down from ten, and when I got to two and pulled the blanket all the way off, she finally realized that I wasn’t joking. She rolled over, her back to me and huffed under her breath. “You’re not playing fair, Demon.”
I slipped into the bed, pulling the blanket over us and threw my arm over my head. “I’m not playing a game, Paige.”
“You could have fooled me,” she whispered.
“I want you, Paige. I want all of you again, including your heart.”
Paige huddled even closer to the edge of the bed, and she lightly sighed. “You never lost me.”
________
Chapter 17
Paige
I was on my third cup of coffee and Demon still wasn’t back from wherever the hell he had gone this morning. I had woken up to an empty bed, Demon’s pillow wrapped up in my arms and a note on the side of the bed from Demon. All it had said was he had to run to town and would be back soon.
Well, that had been over an hour ago, and I was running out of things to do. I had discovered that winter at the cabin was a bit different than summer at the cabin. Demon and I went hiking and swimming all the time when we used to come here, but with over a foot of snow on the ground, both of those options were out of the question.
There was barely any food in the fridge so to keep my mind off of my grumbling stomach, I snooped around the cabin, discovering that although everything was updated, it was still very much the same. It was only a one-bedroom cabin with one full bath and one huge room at the front of the cabin that was the living room and the kitchen. It was small, but I had always loved coming here. It was a little vacation without having to go too far.
I was perched on the stool in front of the kitchen island when Demon finally came through the front door with six grocery bags filled full hanging from his arms. “You’re awake,” he said, surprised.
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