Daniel stiffened, his eyes on Josh. “What is she saying? You’re not leaving.”
“I am.” His shoulders rolled back.
“You will not disobey me.” Daniel jumped up, his face red. “You’re not leaving. That’s final.”
Josh stood with his hands in his pockets, chin lowered, and his body angled toward his parents, but his eyes cut to the side and met hers. A small smile played around his lips. “No more requirements.”
She swallowed around a lump of guilt and moved to stand beside him.
He reached for her hand and looked at his dad. “I’m not leaving you. I’m leaving your rules.”
He was telling his dad, man-to-man, how he was going to live his life. She was certain he’d never done that before. She wished his parents could see what she saw. Joshua Carter would never be enchained by someone else’s rules. He was a man of strong convictions. His own convictions.
Emily sagged against the chair back. “You don’t even have a car.”
“I’m taking the bike.”
Chapter 47
Josh moved through his bedroom with a high-energy buzz and an overwhelming lightness in his chest. Before Liv, his path was narrow and predetermined. Now it was a wide open field that reached the horizon and beyond. He wanted to fling his arms up, break out into a run, and whoop like an idiot.
Liv lingered by the door with a gleam in her eyes and a smile struggling to punch through her stern expression. “What bike?” She closed the door and crossed her arms. “I stalked you for weeks. I would remember a bike.”
He transferred her clothes from the grocery bag to his backpack. “I’ve got an engine strapped to two wheels.”
“That sounds safe.” She arched an eyebrow.
Said the girl who threw herself out of airplanes. He grinned. “I started putting it together out in the shed when I was fourteen. Old school pipes. Uber fat tires. It has enough torque to make my parents stutter through their prayers.”
She joined him at the bed and helped him fit her clothes in the bag. “They wouldn’t let you ride it.”
“Nope.” Not even slow in the driveway. “But it still runs. I fired it up yesterday when you were in the shower.”
She stuffed the last shirt in and put her hands on her hips, staring at the sum of every possession she owned. “Where are we going?”
He opened a drawer and tossed a few shirts, briefs, and jeans on the bed. “We need to go to a bank, open an account, and transfer your funds. We need phones so my parents can call us. Oh, and helmets for the bike.” He sidled in front of her, prompting her to look up and meet his eyes. “We can go to Austin and live near Livana. Or we could call Camila. You think they have room for two more in their house?”
“Nine adults in one house?” She threw her head back and laughed, her gorgeous brown eyes alight with amusement.
Probably not the best idea, especially given the way the guys tracked her every move. “Tonight…” He wrapped his arms around her lower back and squeezed her addictive backside. “We’re staying in a hotel with no keypads and no parents and…” He scanned his room, his attention snagging on the hook behind his door. That would work. He released her, grabbed a leather belt from the hook, and held it out to her. “And this.” She could strap him to the bed or shackle his wrists or whip his backside. A pulse of warmth curled through his groin. He needed to buy more belts.
She took the one from his hand, folded it, and whacked her palm. Her upturned face glowed, her soft cheekbones curving with her smile. “You want me to beat your ass, you dirty slut?”
Her cool voice sent a shiver down his spine and stiffened his penis to a throbbing hard-on. “Yes, Mistress.”
She twisted her fingers through the hair at his nape, her long lashes blinking slowly. Then she pulled him down for a kiss that tunneled his vision and rocked his hips. She released him and stepped back. “Finish packing.”
He adjusted himself and returned to his dresser for one more thing. Digging beneath the clothes he would leave behind, he pulled out his favorite childhood toy. He clutched her wrist and set it on her palm. “I want you to have this.”
Her slim eyebrows pulled together, her face arranged in an adorable expression. “A Rubik’s Cube?”
The square stickers peeled at the edges, each of the six sides grouped by color. “I solved it when I was eight.” He laughed, shaking his head at the memory. “Took me a year. I refused to undo it after I figured it out.”
“Wow.” She stared at it, confusion lingering on her face.
“It wasn’t the satisfaction of solving it that was meaningful. It was the experience in pursuing an endeavor of my choosing. I never found another puzzle I connected to the way I did with this one.” He touched her chin, held her eyes. “Until you.”
She clutched the cube to her chest and pulled his forehead to hers. “Thank you.”
He kissed her nose. “My jersey number was based on that cube. There’s fifty-four squares.”
A huge smile spread beneath her glistening eyes. “My name.”
Roman numeral LIV. His favorite number, his fate, his freedom.
An hour later, he hugged his dad in the driveway. The bike rumbled a few feet away. Liv stood beside him with everything they owned on her back.
“Love you, Dad.”
Dad squeezed him until his ribs complained.
Mom’s embrace was gentle but no less caring. “You call us as soon as you have a phone.”
“Yep.” He climbed on the bike under the remorseful gazes of his parents.
Their lips pressed tight, their expressions stony, but they were there to see him off. They loved him, and time and patience would soften their disappointment.
Liv straddled behind him and curled her arms around his waist, her thighs clenching his hips. He licked his lips and pointed his feet forward. A breeze ruffled his hair. The sun warmed his skin. His heart beat a steady, peaceful tempo.
He twisted his neck and collided with her eyes over his shoulder. “Where to?”
She didn’t look at the road. Didn’t gaze at the sweeping hillside. She raised her eyes to the sky and smiled.
Chapter 48
Three months later, Liv gulped the cool air rushing through the open door and gripped the bench seat beneath her. The aluminum walls of the narrow cabin vibrated with the roar of the wind. Her palms collected sweat in the thick gloves. Her goggles steamed with humidity. And her smile was so big her cheeks hurt.
Josh sat on the bench across from her, his complexion a kaleidescope of grays and greens. He looked like he was going to throw up all over his red jumpsuit.
Mom had always said to reach for the sky, so she’d decided to do just that and followed Mom’s jump boots. Liv’s instructor position at the skydiving school outside of Austin enabled her to take Josh on his first jump without the nervous chatter of other newbie skydivers. It was just her and him and the sun-bleached sky.
She leaned forward and shouted over the shrill of the engine. “Changed your mind yet?”
He snapped his arms out and bellowed some kind of indiscernible battle cry. Then he flashed her a panty-soaking smile.
The man had balls, and fuck her but she loved those balls. She’d had them bound in a ball stretcher the previous night while she paddled his ass to a gorgeous shade of red. The memory kindled a damp heat between her legs. She wiggled, grinding her pussy against the seat.
His boot nudged hers. “You thinking about me?” he yelled.