“Hey,” she says and picks up her backpack.
I take it out of her hands and swing it onto my shoulder. “Hey, goody.”
She smiles and grabs her helmet. She doesn’t even realize what that means. I doubt Damon told her.
“Do you know why Damon has that helmet?” I take her hand and pull her out into the hallway.
She stops and locks the door, looking over her shoulder at me with a questioning brow.
I smile and take her hand again. Feeling her small warm hand in mine is one of my favorite things about having her as my girlfriend. “When we started riding, Hawk thought it would be a great way to pick up chicks.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“That probably contributed to your numbers.” She rolls her eyes, but there isn’t any jealousy in her tone. No bite like earlier this week.
I smirk. “Probably.”
She holds out the helmet. “So Damon bought this to get chicks?”
“Hawk said we should all get helmets for chicks, but he’s the only one who did it.” I shake my head. “Damon started riding when his mom was sick.”
We push out into the evening air. The sun was making its way down, but there was still light everywhere.
She stops at my bike and looks at me with a question in her eyes.
“His mom always wanted to ride a motorcycle. He bought her that helmet so she could ride with him.”
Evan looks at the helmet with tears gathering in her eyes. But they’re different than the tears from this morning. She lifts her blue-gray eyes to mine. “Did she?”
I shake my head. “They talked about it a lot. About how they’d go out for a ride in the countryside, when she felt better...” I cough to clear the sudden lump in my throat. “He’d take video for her to watch when we got back from riding. We all loved her so much. She was our hockey mom. Every game, every practice, she’d be there cheering us on.”
Evan wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head on my heart. “I’ll be there when I can.”
“I know, goody.” I cradle her head against me and take in a deep breath. “No one wore that helmet until you. Damon wouldn’t let anyone ride on his bike, because that’s where she was supposed to be. But he gave it to you because it’s his connection to his mom. Because you’re important to him.”
A soft sob comes out of her, and I hold her tighter.
“Everything’s going to be okay, goody. I know it.”
EvanAnn
Cam brings me home and walks me inside.
“Cam, right?” My mom comes out of a room and holds her hand out to Cam. “I’m Heather, EvanAnn’s mom.”
Cam takes her hand and shakes it. “Nice to meet you, Heather.”
Mom looks from me to Cam and back to me. “Would you two want to have dinner with me? Or are you going out? Do you only go out together? Will Hawk be joining you?”
I must look like a deer caught in headlights. Yeah, I told her about the guys, but I wasn’t expecting her to be cool about it. In fact, I secretly thought she’d go in the opposite direction and forbid me from seeing any of them. Not that I’d let that happen.
“Adam took Damon to Crowne Mawr.” Mom gestures for us to follow her to the dining room.
With a little chuckle, Cam practically pushes me to follow her.
“Have you planned your college trips, Cam?” Mom asks and gestures to the table that’s been set for two. The server brings out another setting and sets it up. Still too weird.
Cam smiles. “Thanks, Adelaide.”
