“I-I brought you this.” I extended the cake toward him.
His eyebrows shot up. “Devil’s Food cake.”
“Yes. It used to be your favorite.”
“It still is.”
“Good.” Seeing as he wouldn’t take it from me, I stepped to the side, and left the cake on one of the worktables.
Ryan stared at me, his hazel eyes completely lost, and I returned the stare. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I wouldn’t back down. I would be here for him, even if he didn’t want me to.
I sat down on a stool next to his bike. “So, why haven’t you finished this one yet?”
He picked up the black shirt over one of the toolboxes, hiding his incredible physique, then crouched between the bike and me. “I did spend quite some time away.”
Damn, couldn’t I have touched a lighter subject? “Sorry,” I whispered.
Ignoring my apology, he continued, “Besides, I like working on it. If I finish too fast, I’ll have to find another one to play with.” My gaze shifted to the other bike, to his racing bike, destroyed against the wall. “I didn’t fix that one after the accident. It’s a good reminder of how stupid I can be.”
“Sorry,” I said again.
He shot me a hard stare. “Stop apologizing, Jessica.” He looked like he would have said more if it wasn’t for the loud dings coming from my cell phone, one right after the one. His cold eyes fixed on my phone. “Looks like someone wants to talk to you.”
I fished my phone from my pocket and looked at the screen as three more dings filled the tense air. As I suspected, the messages were from Gavin. Without reading the messages, I pocketed my phone.
“He can wait.”
His brows knotted, and I thought Ryan would shut down again or snap at me. Instead, he pointed to the toolbox behind me. “Hand me that wrench.”
There were at least six different wrenches in the toolbox. I picked up a random one. “This one?”
“The one on the left side of that one.” The corner of his lips tugged up.
I handed him the right wrench. “Is this funny?”
“A little.” He turned his attention to the bike.
It was at the same time odd and comforting to be here with Ryan, this close to him, while he worked. We spent most of the two hours I stayed in silence, and when I left, I felt like the weight on my shoulders had lessened by a pound or two.
Chapter Eighteen
Jessica
“Do you think we got enough beer?” Sophie asked, pushing the cart with two packs of thirty-six cans of beer through the aisle. There were also two whiskeys and few wine bottles.
I snorted. “If they drink half of that, I’ll be worried.”
Behind us, Rachel pushed another cart with the food. Hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, steak strips, potatoes, carrots, and a lot more.
Her parents were out of town, and they had allowed her to have us over for a fun but quiet evening barbecue around the pool. I was wondering if they knew her friends, because quiet probably wasn’t on the menu.
We exited the aisle, aiming for the cashiers, when a blond girl cut in our way.
Caryn.
Wearing a mini jean skirt that looked more like a belt, a sports bra top, and with too much makeup for a Saturday morning, she put her hands on her hips and stopped in front of our cart.
“Jessica, there you are,” she said, the venom in her voice dripping with each word. “We need to talk.”
“I don’t think so.” I steered the cart to the side, but she stepped in the way. “Let us pass, Caryn.”
“Not until you tell me what you think you’re doing?” She leaned over the cart. “Going to Ryan’s garage after work. Are you trying to win him back?”
“What?”
“You have no right to march in here and claim him. He’s mine.”
“Caryn, Ryan can’t stand you,” Rachel said.
She snorted. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He loves me.”
Sophie pulled the cart back. “Ignore her.”
“I won’t be ignored,” Caryn said, her voice louder.
A few heads turned to us.
“Caryn, back off,” I said.
“Back off?” Caryn took a step toward me. “Back off Ryan? Never, bitch. He’s mine.”
“Are you hearing yourself?” Rachel asked. “You sound like a nut job.”
Caryn glared at me. “I was there for him when nobody else was. I was there for his hearings. I went to visit him in prison twice a week. And I still take snacks to him while he’s at that damn community service.”
The guilt came back, followed closely by jealousy and frustration.
I turned my back to her, intent on going around the back of the aisle, or someplace else, as long as I escaped this girl.
A hand closed around my bicep. “I’m not done with you, bitch,” Caryn said.
I jerked my arm free, but she was ready to grab me again. Her inch-long nails scratched my upper arm, and I hissed as sharp pain spread through my muscles. Shocked, I looked down. Three red lines marked my skin—the middle one even drew a few drops of blood.
“What the hell?” Rachel snapped. She pushed Caryn back. “Get out of here right now.”
Caryn raised her chin. “Or what?”
Two guys with the grocery store T-shirt approached us.
“Everything all right, ladies?” one of them asked. The label on his T-shirt read Carter.
“Not really,” Sophie said. “This woman just attacked us.” She pointed from Caryn to my arm.
Carter turned to Caryn. “Ma’am, I have to ask you to leave.”
Caryn started arguing with the guy, and Rachel steered us around them. We paid for our stuff as both guys escorted Caryn out.
“Are you all right?” Sophie asked. “Does it hurt?”
I looked down at my arm. It had stopped bleeding, but the scratches would stay there for a few days. “A little.”
I couldn’t wait to get home and scrub some antiseptic on my entire arm. She had called me a bitch, but she was the bitch here. And she was even a bigger bitch for being there for Ryan when I wasn’t.
***
Ryan
I wasn’t so sure about going to Rachel’s house for a barbecue, but after the three evening visits from Jessica while I was working on my bike, I thought I could handle being around her at a small party.
When I arrived, Jason was already in control of the grill. Ethan was beside him, instructing like a boss, and I had no idea where Luke was. I could see Rachel and Sophie through the kitchen window; they seemed to be arguing about how to prepare something. Seated alongside the pool were Jason’s friend Marvin and his girlfriend, Lara, and Shana and Natalie, two girls from Sophie’s school.
I told myself I wasn’t looking for her, but I didn’t see Jessica anywhere.
I made my way across the yard and stopped beside Jason and Ethan.
“Don’t burn all of it,” I teased.
Jason tsked. “I’m the grill master.”
Ethan chuckled. “He wants to be one, but so far, our barbecue has been overcooked.” He offered me a beer, but I shook my head and grabbed a Coke from the cooler behind him. “Sorry, man. I keep forgetting you don’t drink much anymore.”
“I don’t drink much,” I repeated his words. “Sometimes, one sip here and there is nothing. But today I think I’ll stick to this.”
Jason looked at something over my shoulder. “I think that’s a good idea.”
I followed his line of sight and the air fled my lungs. Jessica walked into the backyard. She looked amazing. Her flowing golden hair shone with the rays of the setting sun, and her summer dress hugged her in all the right places. The skirt was a little flowy though, and it did wonders for her legs every time she took a step.
She was holding a big bowl of something, and I instinctively moved to help her. But Ethan cleared his throat and I snapped from the trance.
Smiling, Jessica set the bowl on one of the tables set up around the pool. She greeted the others then turned to us. Her eyes met mine and her smile died.