by Amy Sparling
Instead of handing my phone back, he presses the home screen button. He frowns. “Well, that’s not going to do,” he says, looking up at me.
“What’s not going to do?” I ask.
He glances around then gives me a mischievous look. “Can I come back there or is there some no customers allowed behind the counter rule?”
“Technically, that’s a rule I guess, but you’re not a customer. You’re Aiden Strauss and I’m sure my dad would let you do anything you want.”
“Even date his daughter?” he says, his eyebrows lifting.
I blush a furious shade of red. I hadn’t even thought about that when we talked last night. If I’m going to pretend date Aiden, my family would find out. Should I tell them the truth, that it’s a lie?
Aiden walks behind the counter, rules be damned, and holds up my phone. “Time for a new background photo,” he says.
With the camera on, he holds it out and wraps his casted arm around me. I smile like we’re taking a selfie, but at the last second, Aiden presses a kiss to my cheek. Snap.
He lets go of me and I feel the sudden urge to press myself against his body again, but I’m sane enough to hold back. He grins and hands me my phone.
“There you go. Perfect background photo.”
I look down at the screen. He’s already set it as my wallpaper. We look good. Happy. We look like a real couple.
“Text it to me?” Aiden asks as he walks back around the counter to the customer side. “I need a new background, too.”
While I’m texting him the photo, my dad pops out from the back of the shop, and calls out Aiden’s name.
“Good to see you!” Dad says, clapping him on the back. “What can I help you with today?”
“Oh, I’m just here to see Jenn,” Aiden says. My dad’s smile widens. Whatever I thought my dad’s reaction would be, this isn’t it. “Well, here she is,” he says, motioning to me. “You take good care of my boy,” Dad tells me before walking off to join another customer.
“That’s Aiden Strauss over there!” Dad tells the customer, his voice booming with pride as if Aiden were his own son.
“Your dad’s cool,” Aiden tells me.
I roll my eyes. “He’s starstruck.”
A little boy runs up to Aiden and taps his arm. “Mr. Strauss?” he says in a tiny voice. When Aiden turns to him, he holds out a crayon and a coloring book. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Sure you can, little buddy.” Aiden kneels down and takes the crayon, holding it awkwardly in his casted hand.
The coloring book is dirt bike themed, and Aiden turns to a fresh page that features a cartoon guy on a dirt bike. He signs it real big.
A few feet away, I see the boy’s mother watching him with a smile on her face. “Tell him thank you,” she whispers to her son.
“Thank you!” the boy practically yells as Aiden hands back the autograph.
“You’re quite welcome,” Aiden says.
He’s so cute when he’s talking to kids. His voice gets softer and sweeter.
Over the next half an hour, all the customers want to talk to him, and he seems happy to talk back. He signs autographs and poses for photos, and gives some riding advice to a few teenagers I recognize from the track.
After a while, everyone clears out because the races are about to start. I pretend to be busy on the store’s computer while my dad talks with Aiden a bit. But once Rafael calls Dad back into the shop with a question, we are once again alone.
“The celebrity of Breaux Valley,” I say, tossing a wadded up post-it note to Aiden.
He catches it in his left hand. “I like people,” he says. “I really like them when they’re not asking about my brother.”
“Your brother?” I say without thinking. Then I remember. Mikey Strauss—the famous motocross racer who came on the scene a few years before Aiden did. He was arrested for drugs and I haven’t seen him again. It was a pretty big scandal in the professional motocross world.
I shrug. “You’re not your brother.”
“That’s for damn sure,” Aiden says, running his finger over a sticker on the counter. “He had all the natural talent. I’ve had to work my ass off to go pro. He just slid into it like the entire sport of motocross was made for him.”
“Does he still ride?” I ask, choosing my words carefully because I can tell this is a sensitive topic for Aiden.
He shakes his head. “Every day I’m worried he might start back, but he’s too out of shape and lazy these days. Jail kind of ruined him. Actually—it was probably the drugs.”
I don’t know what to say, so I just nod quietly.
“Anyway,” Aiden says, smacking his good hand flat on the counter. “I’m here to take you on a date.”
“A date?” I say with a snort. “I’m at work.”
“So after work.”
I hesitate, trying to figure out if this is joke. “I have a ton of homework to do.”
Aiden is undeterred. “So tomorrow then. Sunday.”
“Why are we going on a date?” I ask.
“Because we’re fake dating,” he says, whispering the last two words. “You can’t pretend to date someone without going on dates.”
I tuck my hair behind my ears. “I didn’t think we were actually doing that.”
“Of course we are,” he says. “Until that jackass ex of yours realizes the mistake he made.” He reaches across the counter and puts his hand on top of mine. “So, girlfriend, are you free tomorrow for a pretend date that’s going to blow your mind?”
I laugh. “If it’s pretend, we could just pretend we went on a date and not actually do it.”
“No way. This is a small town, babe. We need to be seen in public. You can’t just call up your ex and tell him you found someone new—it doesn’t work that way. You have to be out in public. Have someone else see you and tell him. Trust me, he’ll hate finding out that way. He has to find out from the grapevine that the best girl he ever dated has moved on to someone better.”
The look he gives me sends a shiver right up my spine. God, he’s gorgeous. I would give anything to have him ask me on a real date. But I guess this is all I get. Better strike while the iron is hot and all that.
“Okay,” I say. “Sunday it is.”
He grins. “I’ll pick you up around noon. Wear clothes like you have on now.”
I look down. “Shorts and a Thirty Six Cycles shirt?”
He grins. “Yeah. No high heels or anything fancy. I’m taking you on a fun date.”
“I’m intrigued,” I say.
He taps his fingers on the countertop. “Oh, and I’ll be picking you up in my sister’s car. Which is actually your old car.”
I laugh. I love that Aiden is fun and laid back. I love that he doesn’t get all alpha male and refuse to drive a black Camaro that belongs to his sister. Jay hated my car. He would never drive it and he hated when I wanted to drive us somewhere. He had to be in his massive monster truck and he had to be in charge, always.
I never realized it back then, but now I do. A guy who is comfortable driving his little sister’s car is a much sexier trait than any positive thing I ever saw in Jay’s personality.
Chapter 9
Bella pokes her head into the guest room that’s temporarily my room at Grandma’s house. She watches me while I stare into the mirror, attempting to fix my hair that’s always messy. It’s like I’ve got permanent helmet hair from pulling the thing on and off my head so many years of my life.
Besides my jacked up hair, I think I look good. The red cast isn’t exactly a trendy fashion accessory, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I slip on my shoes and take one last look at myself in the mirror.
“So where exactly are you taking my car?” Bella asks. “You look way too excited to be going somewhere boring.”
Last night, when I asked to borrow her car today, she agreed without so much as a second thought. Now she’s watching me with narrowed eyes like she thinks I’m tryin
g to pull one over on her.
Well, I guess I kind of am. I decide not to lie to my little sister.
“I’m taking Jenn somewhere fun for the day.”
Her jaw drops. “Jenn? Aiden, she has a boyfriend!”
I shake my head. “Not anymore. The bastard cheated on her.”
“What!” My sister’s eyes widen. “How do you know this and I don’t?”
I shrug and get my wallet off the nightstand. “I ran into her at the gym and she told me. And now we have a plan to get revenge on the asshole.”
Bella walks inside my room, hands on her hips. She looks slightly intimidating even though she’s so much shorter than I am. “What does that mean? You can’t just steal her when she just broke up! You’ll only hurt her again.”
“No, it’s not like that, Bells. I promise. She wanted to get even with him for cheating on her, so we’re pretending that we’re dating. It’s just to piss him off.”
Bella seems to consider it for a moment, but she doesn’t take her hands off her hips. “If you’re pretending to date, why are you going out together today?”
I tap my phone on top of her head before I put it in my pocket. “To keep up appearances,” I say.
She sighs and follows me out into the hallway. “She’s my friend, Aiden. Don’t hurt her.”
I turn to my sister, giving her a sincere look. I wish I could tell her that I’m the only one in danger of getting hurt here, but I’m not about to reveal that embarrassing detail. I put my hands on her shoulders and smile. “You don’t have to worry. We’re friends. We’re just messing with her ex. The plan is that she’ll dump me in a few weeks before I go back to racing and she’ll look like the badass who dumped Aiden Strauss.”
Bella rolls her eyes. “That’s a stupid plan.”
I grin and take her car keys off the hook near the door. I can’t say I disagree with my sister—it is a stupid plan—but people do stupid things when it means they get to spend time with a beautiful girl.
I follow the GPS on my phone as it leads me a few miles across town to the address Jenn gave me. The house looks like a two story garage, with a garage on bottom and a house up top. There’s a matching brick home on the other side of the yard that’s much bigger than this one. I’m guessing her parents live there. I’m glad this small garage house has its own driveway, because if Mr. Doherty saw me drive up at his house, he’d probably rush out here and beg me to hang out with him all day.
I’m weirdly nervous as I get out of the car and walk up the outside steps to the second floor. I’m trying to think about the last time I had a date. Have I ever had a date?
I remember this time in eighth grade when Mikey drove me and Amber Sosa to the mall where we walked around holding hands for two hours until we had to be back home. I guess that was a date. Then there was a couple of motocross girls who followed me around the race track and kissed me in the bed of Mikey’s truck. I never really took those girls on dates. They just showed up every weekend at the races and acted like my girlfriend. I lost my virginity in the back seat of my first truck when I was eighteen—not because I was in a loving relationship but because Leah Brant and I had been flirting all weekend and got drunk off a bottle of Jack Daniels that I found in Mikey’s ice chest.
Damn. I’m seriously out of practice.
And I have not had an amazing dating life.
I swallow my nerves and knock on the door. Jenn opens it, smiling at me in this way that washes away my nerves. Her hair is tied into a bun at the top of her head, with little wispy strands hanging in front of her face. It’s cute as hell.
“How do I look?” she says, taking a step back and motioning to her clothing. “Is this casual enough for the day’s activities?”
She’s wearing black shorts that show off her tanned legs and a white V-neck shirt with a black beaded necklace.
I say the first word that comes to mind. “Beautiful.”
She laughs like I’m being silly and slings her purse over her shoulder. I’m still standing outside at the top of the stairs, but the scent of sugary sweetness, like cupcakes, flows out of her living room. It smells just like the car does, and it’s a good smell.
“Ready to go?” she asks.
I nod and step out of the way so she can come outside and lock her door. The whole walk back to my car I’m wrestling with wondering if I should open her door for her or not. If this were a real date, then yeah, I would. But it’s technically just a fake date and no one is around right now to see us so—
Fuck it, I open the door.
She slides into the passenger seat of her old car, looks up at me and grins. “Thanks.”
Looks like I made the right decision.
I don’t use the GPS because I want our destination to be a secret, so instead, I ask Jenn to give me directions to the main road. I’ve memorized how to get there once we get off the back roads.
“So what’s been up?” I ask, not wanting to look over at her because I’m afraid I’ll get caught up in staring into her gorgeous eyes and won’t be able to drive safely.
“School,” she says, blowing a raspberry with her lips. “So much school work.”
“Oh? Like what kind of work?”
Normally I’m a regular guy. I can talk and hang out and make small chit chat with anyone. Half of my job requires talking to fans and interviewers and my teammates. Yet as we drive, our bodies so close together in this car that smells like her, and I listen to her sweet voice talking, I feel like a little kid with a crush so big it’s suffocating me.
Since I don’t trust myself to talk, I just ask questions and let her talk about her college work. Soon, I see the exit sign and I pull off the road.
“Hmm,” Jenn says, watching the road. “I still have no idea where we’re going.”
I grin. “You’ll see in about two minutes.”
She looks over at me, her eyes wide and eager. “This is exciting. Jay never took me on surprise dates.”
I don’t know why but my heart really warms up at that.
There’s no hiding where we’re going once I turn into the parking lot. The building takes up the entire space, like it was made out of an old Wal-Mart or something.
“Whaaat!” Jenn says, her mouth opening wide as she peers up at the JACK’S TRAMPOLINE PARK sign. “No way!”
I park and look over at her. “Have you been here before?”
She shakes her head. “No, but it looks awesome.”
“Let’s go see for ourselves,” I say.
I’d spent no less than three hours Googling all over Louisiana last night, trying to think of a great place to take Jenn on a first fake date. The movies are lame, and getting dinner is lame. Plus, she’s newly heartbroken and stressed with school and work, so I thought we should do something fun. Who cares if we’re in our twenties and not exactly kids anymore? Even the website said adults were allowed.
We step into the trampoline park and I’m sure my eyes are as wide and excited as Jenn’s. The building is huge. The walls are painted in bright colors, and just beyond the registration desk, the entire flooring turns to trampolines. There are trampoline dodgeball courts, and freestyle courts with angled trampolines on the walls, a ball pit and a foam pit with really high ledges you can jump off.
To the left is the party room and an unlimited pizza buffet. To the right is an arcade room. This place has everything.
Jenn grabs my hand and squeezes it. “This looks awesome!”
The smile on her face tells me I picked the perfect place. I pay for both of us to have an unlimited all day pass, shooing Jenn away when she tries to pay for herself.
“This is a date,” I tell her. “My treat.”
She rolls her eyes but thanks me anyway.
We leave our shoes and the contents of our pockets in a locker and put on these big fluffy socks they give you that’s supposed to make the trampolines more fun.
“I’m surprised they let you in here with that broken arm,” Jenn says as she stands
up, admiring the way the socks swallow up her feet.
“Did you see all those liability waivers we signed?” I say with a laugh. “I don’t think they care.”
“Where to first?” Jenn says, peering out at the trampoline park. The dodgeball area has a serious game going with two dozen kids, and I know we’re not about to join them. They’d slaughter us.
“Let’s jump our way to the ball pit,” I say, throwing her a cocky grin. “First one there wins.”
We take off running, up the stairs to the trampoline floors, and then we both slow down. Turns out it’s hard to run on lots of trampolines.
Jenn laughs and starts jumping on one, and our competition is forgotten. We bounce around and race each other from one end to the other. When I get to the end of the line, I turn and bounce my back off the trampoline against the vertical wall. After two tries, I start to get cocky and I bounce into it and do a backflip.
When I emerge, hands in the air and victorious, Jenn is standing on a nearby trampoline watching me with this look that makes my insides melt.
“That was … cool,” she says. Her cheeks are flushed, and I want to think she’s blushing over me, but it’s probably just because we’re running around acting like maniacs.
We play around for another hour, and I can see Jenn’s stress melting away with each jump. I think my stresses are disappearing too, and I hadn’t realized I had so many things that were bothering me. Missing motocross sucks. It’s the only thing in my life, and my main stress. But there’s something else too, some hidden pain lurking just under the surface and jumping around with Jenn is making me realize what it is.
Loneliness. I’ve spent so many months being alone. Working out, riding, racing, traveling. Sure, the guys are with me a lot, but it’s not like you talk about serious things with the guys. I hadn’t known my sister moved out. I don’t even know what hairstyle my mom has right now—not that I care to know—but I never see my family anymore. I didn’t want anyone or anything in my life until recently.