9.

R OSIE

I'd been a passenger on a motorcycle more times than I could count, with my father first and then often with my friends, but had never taken a ride that was as winding and scenic as the one I was on right now.

The trees and landscape were beautiful but not nearly as breathtaking as the sharp curves that had us practically hugging the rock wall and in danger of falling down the side of the mountain to our death.

I had never really been a risk taker. Okay, that was a lie. Growing up in my friend group ensured that I had taken more than my fair share during my childhood, but as an adult, I usually followed the safe and predictable path. Somehow, Rooster had blown that out of the water in every way. From the one-night stand, which was not like me at all, to revving up the mountain in the waning light of the evening, the man had kept me on my toes.

Speaking of toes, mine were chilly. The crisp fall air, which was much cooler than I thought it would be, was exhilarating. I had to admit that I was glad Rooster sent me back to my to put on another couple of layers before we left and then gave me a pair of his sister's riding gloves and one of her beanies.

I could tell from the second I wrapped my arms around him when I got on the motorcycle that there were quite a few beneath the leather cut he wore. There was a long-sleeved plaid shirt beneath his cut, and I knew there was a hoodie beneath that and probably the T-shirt he had been wearing earlier beneath that. At the time, it seemed like overkill that I had on a long-sleeved T-shirt, a hoodie, and a lightweight coat, but right now, I appreciated every fiber that covered my top half and wished I'd thought to layer up on the bottom half too.

Suddenly, the bike started to slow, and when we went around the next curve, Rooster pulled over into a small paved rest area that was bordered by large rocks. I gasped when I got a look at the view, and without even thinking, hopped off the back of the motorcycle and walked closer to the edge. I felt Rooster's warmth at my back just seconds before his arms wrapped around me and pulled me against him.

He didn't say a word, just stood behind me and took in the beautiful scene before us for what seemed like forever. Even though it was getting cooler by the minute as the sun set, I felt like I was snuggled in a warm cocoon in his arms.

When the sun disappeared behind the mountain across the valley from where we were standing, Rooster hugged me a little tighter and said, "We've got just enough time to get back home before we lose the light."

"I don't want to leave," I said as I tilted my head to the side and looked up at him. "I've never seen a more beautiful place."

"There are a million more around here if you know where to look. I'll show you one every day if you want."

"Every day?"

"It's a date."

"You'll take me for a ride every single day?"

"Can't always be on the bike because some places I'd like to take you aren't exactly safe to navigate on two wheels, and most of our short trips will have to happen in the morning after I drop Kerrigan off at school, but yes, I'd love to take you out every day."

"I'd like that."

"Now we have to get home."

"Okay. Then what?" I asked, not sure what his plans were, but somehow hoping we might have a repeat of what we experienced our first night together.

While I had been standing here marveling at the view, I had come to the decision that I'd accept this time with him in this magical place and enjoy every second I could, even though I knew there was an end date looming. Denying myself the pleasure, and oh, there was a whole lot of that involved when we were together, was like staring at a buffet of delectable food and not eating a bite because I knew that it would spoil some day.

I fully intended on making Rooster a buffet that I could gorge myself on until my time in the mountains ended. From the hard length I could feel pressed against my lower back, even though all the layers of clothing we were wearing, I had a feeling he wouldn't mind.

I decided to take the bull by the horns and ask, "Will you spend the night with me?"

Rooster gave me a quick peck on the lips before he turned me in his arms and smiled down at me. "I can't think of anything I'd love more, however, I've got something important I've got to do before that happens, and I've also got to do my evening chores."

"Okay."

"You're welcome to come with me, but it might take a while."

"Do with me what you will."

"Oh, I'm gonna have fun with that."

"Promise?"

"You have no idea."

◆◆◆

After Rooster cheerfully greeted the person working the front desk, I followed him through the door I'd noticed when I registered. We ended up in what I had no choice but to assume was a playroom for Kerrigan and her siblings since there were toys here and there along with a couch and television. It looked like a fun place for kids to hang out with a kitchen set, a few beanbags, and countless trucks and motorcycles were scattered around the room. My guess was that this was where the kids entertained themselves when Dianna worked the desk and her husband was busy in the restaurant.

Rooster stopped in front of a purple door with a familiar yellow frame centered at eye level, and I laughed when I saw that inside the frame was a magnetic white board, also from the same television show.

As Rooster pushed the doorbell he said, "This is Mad's place. Obviously, she's a fan of Friends. "

"I can see that." I looked around and asked, "Where do the other doors lead?"

"Growing up, this entire space was my parents' home. They portioned off this one-bedroom apartment for Dianna after I went to prison. After Mom died, we made some changes, and now, Dianna and Clark are raising their family in the larger apartment, and Mads lives in the one-bedroom." With an impatient sigh, Rooster pushed the doorbell again, but this time he kept his finger pressed against the buzzer. "She's avoiding me, but this will piss her off so much that she won't have any choice but to answer."

"Why is she avoiding you?"

"She always avoids me on shot days."

"Shot days?" I asked just as the door was yanked open.

Madison stood there glaring at her brother and then realized I was with him and her face transformed, complete with a big smile. "Hi, Rosie!"

"Hi, Mads."

"Did you enjoy your ride?"

"We did."

"Good! I'm glad you made it back safely. Goodnight!"

Madison tried to slam the door, but Rooster was too quick and put his hand out to stop it. "Nope!"

"You're busy," Madison said before she put her entire weight against the door and tried her hardest to push it closed. She grunted with the effort and then sighed as she rested her head on the doorframe. "Come on, Roo! It's been a great day for all of us. Don't ruin it."

"Let's make it quick, and nothing will be ruined." When Madison still didn't step back and open the door, Rooster asked, "Do you want me to go get Kerrigan so she can give you some moral support?" Madison looked horrified and jumped back from the door so quickly that if Rooster hadn't grabbed the knob, it would have hit the wall behind it. He chuckled before he said, "That's what I thought."

As Rooster walked past her into the apartment, Madison sneered at his back and said, "This is a violation of my privacy."

"I'm not going through your shit, Mads, so I'm not violating anything," Rooster argued as he walked further into the apartment, leaving me at the threshold. "Come on, Rosie. Looks like we might be here a while."

I looked over at Madison, and she sighed before she said, "Welcome to my house, Rosie. You're welcome to come in even though I wish you hadn't brought my brother."

"I'll come hang out by myself soon," I promised as I walked inside. I looked around and gasped when I saw the living room and then spun around and said, "Your home is gorgeous, Mads!"

"Thank you!" she said proudly. She walked past me and gave me a tour, complete with an explanation about where she found each piece of furniture and the story of how Rooster had helped her refurbish or reupholster it, whatever the case may be. "I've almost got everything just right."

"I think it's perfect. I feel like one of the friends could come walking through the door any minute now."

I heard a yip and then saw the little dog I'd cared for this morning running my way. "Aww, look at . . . Oh no!"

"She's fine," Rooster said as his head fell forward.

"But she's limping!"

"I'm sure she's okay," Madison said as she scooped the dog up and put her on the couch.

"I checked her paw but couldn't find anything wrong. She seemed okay when she left, but now she's limping again."

"She's okay. I promise," Madison said as she took my hand and pulled me across the living room. "Come look at my bedroom. I just got a new comforter and . . ."

"The house tour can wait, Mads. I know you need to get to bed soon, and we need to get this over with."

"I already did it."

"If you keep lying, all your hair is going to fall out."

"I asked my doctor if that was the truth, and she said you're a liar."

"Well . . ." Rooster sighed and then shrugged his shoulders. "It worked for years, so I can't really complain."

"You can go home. I'm sure the animals are hungry and . . ."

"I'm sure they are, so we should get this show on the road."

I couldn't stand it and had to ask, "What exactly are we doing?"

"I have to take a shot every two weeks," Madison said sadly as she walked toward the kitchen. She opened the cabinet, pulled out a tote, and set it on the counter as Rooster sat down on one of the barstools. He pulled out the one next to his and motioned for me to join him as Madison said, "Rooster comes over to help and talks to me while I refill my medicine trays."

"If you're not comfortable doing that with me here, I can . . ."

"It's not you. It's me."

"That's what she said," I blurted without thinking. Rooster and Madison laughed, and it seemed to break up some of the tension. As Madison started lining up prescription and vitamin bottles along the counter, I told them about my friends and how that was a running joke between us.

"Do you have a lot of friends at home?"

"I do."

"Then why are you here?" Madison asked bluntly.

"Mads . . ." Rooster started, as if to warn her.

"It's a good question," I interrupted with a laugh. "My friends are just . . . a lot, you know? It's like a huge family, and there's always someone popping by and getting in my business or interrupting me while I try to work. Don't get me wrong, I love all of them, but I just needed a little space to get my head right and try to realize my dream of writing."

"How's that going?" Madison asked with a pointed look at her brother.

"I got a lot of writing done today, so I'm proud of what I accomplished and am glad I got to treat myself with a bike ride and now a visit with you."

Rooster laughed and said, "Have you ever thought about going into politics?"

"How could you insult me like that?" I asked in mock outrage. "I wrote more today than I have in the last three, and I'm refreshed after our motorcycle ride and that beautiful sunset. If I get a good night's sleep, I think I can get just as many words in tomorrow."

Rooster's heated gaze told me that I might not get much sleep tonight, and I didn't see a problem with that. As a matter of fact, I was excited about the prospect and had barely been able to think about anything else since the second I got onto the seat behind him to come back.

"What she's saying, Madison, is that if you don't get in gear and get this stuff done, she's not going to get enough sleep and then she won't accomplish her goal tomorrow."

"You're not nearly as good as Mom at that, you know?"

"At what?"

Madison looked at me and asked, "What's the word?"

"Bullshit?"

Madison burst out laughing, and Rooster pretended to be angry, but then the laughter won out and he joined us before he said, "I think the word you were looking for is guilt, Chicken Little."

"I heard him call his daughter Chickadee, but I didn't realize that he had a nickname for you too."

"When I was little, my favorite book was Chicken Little, and he read it to me over and over again. Since his real name sounds so much like Rooster, I guess I thought that was what I was hearing, so that's what I called him."

"What's your real name?" I asked.

"I'm not sure how we veered off onto the subject of names when there's work to be done," Rooster said with a pointed look at Madison. "Why don't you let me do the refills while you get your injection ready."

"I'm good." When Rooster just stared blankly at her, she said, "I already took it, remember?"

When his gaze didn't waver, she stomped her foot and said, "Fine! I'll do it! Let me go change clothes."

As if he'd done it a million times before, Rooster got to work refilling Madison's medication tray, and even though it was none of my business, I said, "She's so young. Why does she have to take all these meds?"

"She was born with a hole in her heart, but that fixed itself. However, she has other issues that require medication, so she takes daily pills for her thyroid, hormones, digestion, and then different vitamins to go along with them. Every other week, she needs a B12 injection, and I think it's important for her to learn how to give it to herself just in case one of us isn't around to help her, just like sorting her medication and all that. We've kind of made it a competition, and that seems to really help get her motivated."

"You two have such a fun relationship," I mused as I looked around the apartment. "Madison is a very lucky young woman to have you in her life."

"We're the lucky ones. That girl has been a ray of sunshine since the day she was born."

"Okay. I'm doing this!" Madison said as she breezed back into the room wearing a pair of shorts in place of the pajama pants she had on a few minutes ago.

Rooster kept working, opening different bottles and dropping the pills in the correct slots, and didn't even look up at her when he said, "If you can do it within the first fifteen minutes, I'll give you ten bucks."

"I make more than that in tips in five minutes."

"Okay, moneybags. I'll hit you with something else. If you can't do it within fifteen minutes, you get to clean out the chicken coop."

"No!"

"Can you do it?"

"Yes. Maybe. Yes." I had to cover my mouth so that Madison couldn't see me trying not to laugh, but she wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to me. Her sole focus was on her brother when she said, "Let's make a deal."

"Okay."

"If I can do it within fifteen minutes, you'll start singing again."

"Nope."

"If I can do it in ten minutes?"

Rooster looked thoughtful for a second and then shrugged. "With your track record, I know I'm going to win, but we need to figure out the details. I'll sing tomorrow night if you can do it within five minutes."

Madison looked at the dark glass vial on the counter and then sighed. "You sing tomorrow and next weekend if I do it on the first try."

As the brother and sister stared each other down, neither willing to budge, I wondered why this was so important to each of them. For some reason, Rooster didn't want to sing . . . Whether due to stage fright or something else, I had no idea, but I found that I really wanted to hear him. His voice was so smooth and sexy when he spoke, I couldn't imagine what it would be like if he was singing . . . and if he could play guitar at the same time? Shew.

I might very well fall in love with the man.

Growing up in Rojo with the friends and family I'd been surrounded by my entire life - mostly a bunch of rough and tumble bikers, I'd attended so many cookouts and parties that I couldn't even begin to count them. They were always wild and crazy with loud music and lots of laughter and funny antics, but the times when my parents' friends - the fathers of some of my good friends - pulled out their instruments and started singing together were some of the best times I could remember.

Watching those gruff and handsome men sing to the women in their lives or the children they loved made my heart melt. I had always loved to not just listen to them sing but to watch them as their eyes landed on the women they loved during specific songs or lyrics.

I could only imagine how special it would be to be serenaded, knowing that the emotions in their voice were because of me. To imagine Rooster's gaze aimed my way while he sang a song that made him think of me made my stomach do backflips.

I shook off the feeling because that wasn't going to happen. I barely knew the man, although I could catalog every dip and curve of the muscles of his chest and could draw the tattoos I'd studied that night while he slept beside me. He didn't know me well either and wouldn't be singing a song to me anytime soon or probably ever since I would be leaving in a month or so.

"If you can do it on the first try, I'll do a set tomorrow and next weekend. If you do it on the first try next time, I'll give you two more weeks."

"That can be our deal forever?"

"I'm good with it, although I'm a little rusty, so I'm not sure you're gonna want to hear me . . ."

"I always want to hear you sing, Rooster. You should be on the radio."

"I don't know about all that but . . ."

"You're even better than the guys in my favorite band," Madison assured him. "You're not quite as good-looking as them, but you're okay."

"I don't quite measure up to Memphis or Rocky, huh?"

"Not at all."

"Memphis and Rocky?" I asked with a grin.

"Her favorite band is the Kings or something like that. Some of them were at Dub's wedding, and I got their autograph for her. I even got a picture with that one guy with the streak in his hair. What's his name?"

"Lucky Marks," Madison said dreamily. "He's hot, but Memphis and Rocky are even hotter."

I knew exactly who she was talking about since their parents were close friends with mine. As a matter of fact, I had known every member of that band their whole lives and even had pictures of myself holding one or two of them soon after they were born. I decided to keep that information to myself so that I could surprise Madison with a video chat or call with a few of them, but I'd need to talk to them first.

But knowing the kind of men they were - rough and tumble with a good heart, just like their fathers, I knew they wouldn't mind talking to my new friend or sending her something that would make her happy.

"It's a deal," Madison said as she carefully drew the liquid from the small bottle into the syringe she had just unwrapped. She carefully put the cap on it and then hopped up on the stool between me and Rooster. He handed her a marker, and she drew a circle on her outer thigh before she gave it back. Once she had the alcohol wipe out of its package, she carefully scrubbed the area inside the circle she had just drawn and then looked at him for approval.

When Rooster nodded, she took a deep breath and then blew it out through her nose before she picked up the syringe and uncapped it. She carefully pushed the plunger up just a fraction until a bead of liquid appeared at the tip of the needle.

"I can do this. I can do this. I can do this," she chanted in a harsh whisper. "Come on, girl. You can do it."

"You've got this, Chicken Little. You know how. Don't think about it too much, just do it."

"First try. I can do it."

Madison seemed frozen as she sat with the needle poised less than an inch from the skin she'd just cleaned. Her breathing became harsh, and I could see that she was about to break and was shocked when Rooster started to sing.

His voice was like warm honey, flowing over me as he sang a simple childhood song. I had no idea the man could get any hotter until just this minute when he proved me wrong and "You Are My Sunshine" took on a whole other connotation.

Suddenly, Madison stuck the needle in and let out a loud squeal of excitement as she slowly pushed in the red liquid. She was panting by the time the syringe was empty, and then under her breath, she slowly counted to ten before she pulled it out with a shout.

"I did it! I did it!" she cheered as she waved the syringe in the air.

Rooster was grinning when he reached up and caught her wrist with one hand and took the syringe from her with the other. As he capped it, he said, "I knew you could, Chicken Little. You're fucking awesome, and there's nothing you can't do when you set your mind to it."

Once the syringe was capped, he tossed it onto the counter and then pulled his sister into his arms for a celebratory hug. When he looked at me over her head, I saw the pride in his eyes, and I was a goner.

How could something so simple be so momentous at the same time?

I wasn't sure, but I knew that one day, when I looked back on my life, I would have to admit that sitting in the small apartment with his sister between us as she celebrated her small win was the moment I fell head over heels in love with Rooster Mannin.