I saw something in his eyes. Something familiar. Only I didn’t have the words to describe what it was.
“Your mother know you’re out here alone?” he asked.
“My mother left me when I was ten years old. So no, she doesn’t know where the fuck I am.”
“Sorry.”
“Fuck off, Boomer,” I snarked, narrowing my eyes at him. Normally I was cheerful, happy. It was part of the costume. But there were times I hated being mistaken for a child.
“I ain’t no fucking Boomer, kid,” he sneered, taking a step toward me.
“And I ain’t no fucking kid.”
His phone rang, and when he looked at it, I saw it again. Something familiar. Pain... no, loneliness, maybe.
“Yea?”
I couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but he never took his eyes off me as he spoke. And I never took my eyes off him. I studied him. His dark hair was shaggy, like he’d missed too many haircuts. Though his beard was trimmed and well maintained. It was a contradiction, but it worked.
He was handsome. He probably knew it too. I’d noticed the cut. You couldn’t miss the way it hugged his chest. I licked my lips without thinking and the flare of his eyes was so small and quick, I would have missed it had I not been staring at him.
“Yeah,” he answered.
I glared back at him. Something about the way he looked at me made me angry. Like he could see inside me. Like he somehow noticed all the parts I tried so desperately to keep hidden.
“Have I ever fucking missed it before?” he barked out at whoever was on the other end. “Then don’t fucking question me.”
He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing. Just been a shit day.”
He turned away from me then, and I couldn’t help but feel for him. I understood having a shit day better than most. But he had something I didn’t. Someone he could share those days with. Share those feelings.
I didn’t have that. Not without my brother. I could share with him. He would understand. I couldn’t share them with Val. She had enough shit to deal with; she didn’t need mine.
I suddenly wondered if he had an old lady. Was that who he sniped at? No, it wasn’t her. I mean, he might have one, but he wouldn’t yell at her, not like that. He might be able to see inside me, but I could also see inside him.
Like saw like.
“Yea.” He swung a leg over and sat on his bike. Though, he didn’t start it up right away. He just sat there, the phone to his ear as the other person spoke to him. I wanted to know what they were saying that made him look so defeated.
He slid his phone into his cut, and I shocked myself by asking, “You in that club in town?” My feet had moved on their own and I found myself standing closer, not wanting him to leave.
His eyes trailed over my body, heating me with his obvious perusal.
“Yea,” he said, twisting the key. The bike roared to life, drowning out anything else I might have said. He left me standing there alone, feeling stupid.
He was older than me, probably by a lot. In his eyes, I was a kid. Why that bothered me, I didn’t want to think about.
I walked to where he had been when I got here. Looking out over the edge, I waited until I saw him enter the road from the hidden path. He never looked back. And I wasn’t sure why that bothered me as much as it did.
Shaking my head, I fisted my hands. My nails dug into my palms. It was starting again. I needed to move. If I stayed here, I would add to the lines already scarred over.
I clenched my hands tighter, praying it would tide me over. Hoping it was enough to stop the thoughts that raced through my mind. In an attempt to convince myself I wouldn’t still do the inevitable, I trudged to my bike. My hands trembled as I started her up.
I closed my eyes and let the vibrations course through me. I rode down the path, closer to the edge of the brush than I’d been when I rode up.
The feel of the branches hitting my arms was a balm to my soul. I felt them slap against my shoulders and knees, then stick and pull at the sleeves that covered my arms.
When I reached the bottom, I rode toward the clubhouse. I told myself it was to watch over the women and child that were living there. The truth was, I wanted to see him again.
