I’d been with her all day but suddenly, I couldn’t remember how to speak. The room was too quiet. The atmosphere too intimate. Were we friends? Because I was generally good at picking up vibes from a chick. Until Cece mentioned Cruz, we were definitely vibing.
But I couldn’t say she hadn’t been vibing with Cruz in the back of that garage. Up until she told him to walk.
“I feel like I owe you an explanation.” She released a shaky exhale. “About what happened with me and Cruz.”
I scooted back on the couch and pivoted toward her. “You don’t owe me anything, McKelle. You have history with Cruz. He obviously wants to work it out.”
She ran her fingers along the edge of the quilt. “He says nothing happened with Jinx.”
“He’d be an idiot to fuck around on you.”
She sighed. “We’ve had issues in the past with boundaries. But I don’t think he cheated this time.”
“Fuck him if he’s cheated before. You deserve better.”
“It’s not that. We don’t see our relationship the same way. I thought we had one, but I don’t think he ever did.” She licked her lips. “It feels off to talk to you about Cruz.”
“We don’t have to talk about him.” My gut twisted with insecurity. Whatever she had going with Cruz wasn’t over, but he could fuck off if he thought his threat was going to keep me away from her. After a day, she wasn’t ready, maybe she never would be, and I wasn’t expecting her to be. “Actually, I’d prefer to talk about anything else.”
“I just…” She took a breath to speak, thought for a moment, then said, “I guess I’m overthinking.”
A soft laugh crawled up my throat. I propped one bent knee on the couch. “Look, I want to hang out more. I had a great time today. But I don’t want to be a rebound boyfriend.” I wanted to be her next boyfriend. “I think you’re beautiful. But I know how to be friends with girls.”
“No expectations.”
“I didn’t say that,” I teased. “You have the trifecta of family. Kickass dad that races bikes, a mom that cooks, and a little sister. Now, you bring me up to this massive room. I’m about to become a level five clinger. Your reality is my fantasy.”
She laughed. “The sweet life. But yeah, I also work for my parents, and I don’t see that changing. At some point, I’ll get a place of my own, but I’m going to be close to home.”
“I’d never leave.”
“Mom always has an intern working for her. She has a guy coming in on the weekends because I’m usually with my dad or…” She paused for a moment then shrugged. “Or I was with Cruz.”
“It’s cool, McKelle.” She didn’t have to avoid his name. At some point, our paths were going to cross. He was a Heller, and so was Romeo. I wasn’t going to avoid the MC just because her ex was there.
McKelle grabbed her phone and opened her social media. “My dad and Jay—I don’t think you met him today, but Dad mentioned him at dinner—have a private coaching business. I run their website and socials.” She handed me her phone.
The top of the website had McKelle nearly parallel to the ground, her left leg hugging the bike and her right knee scraping the track. Her gaze was laser-focused, and her blonde braid followed the line of her spine.
“You have the coolest fucking family I’ve ever met.”
She smiled as I handed her phone back.
“It’s good, but it’s not perfect.” McKelle stood, crossed to the bookcases, and grabbed one of the photos. When she returned, she sat next to me and handed me a framed photo of a kid on a motocross bike. His helmet and clothes were splattered with mud, but he wore a wide, toothy grin. McKelle, with her hair in braids and just as muddy, stood next to him.
“Cayson had just won regionals,” she said. “I’d started competing, but my brother was a beast on the track. I can’t even wrap my head around how good he could’ve been.” Her voice grew quiet as she took the photo back and ran her thumb around the carved wooden frame. “This was his last race. He was so happy.”
I stayed quiet as her eyes glistened with emotion, her voice grew somber, and her mind remembered. “On the way home, he complained of a headache. But it had been a hot day. Mom told him to take a nap while she made dinner.” Her breathing grew shallow. “When it was time to eat, she sent me to go get him.”
Tears dampened her lashes and slipped onto her cheek. “I thought he was asleep on his bed, only his eyes were open, and he wasn’t breathing. I tried to wake him.” Her voice broke. “He was still warm.” She curled her hands into fists. “I don’t remember calling for my mom, but she said she’d never forget how I screamed her name.
“I remember every word she screamed at my dad.He doesn’t have a heartbeat. He isn’t breathing. He isn’t fucking breathing.” She bowed her head. “I couldn’t move. I was petrified with fear.”
I stared at the photo of the happy kid. “How old were you?”
She lifted her head, and her glassy eyes connected with mine. “We were twelve. Cayson is my twin brother.”
Her words landed with finality. Her lips trembled, and her head barely tilted as she breathed out a weighted exhale. I felt her pain and heartache, but I couldn’t relate to losing someone…anyone. Romeo had been the closest I’d ever come to having a family. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, to hold her, and tell her how sorry I was. But we were in the early days of whatever this was becoming. Still, I reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
