11.

G ARVEY

“Are you sure you’re okay to ride with me?”

“What the hell kind of question is that?” Zoey snapped. She closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath before she said, “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m sure I can ride with you.”

“I can tell you’ve spent way too much time around the men in my family.”

“Why do you say that?” Zoey asked as she walked out the door ahead of me.

“You’re just as grumpy as they are.”

Instead of being insulted, Zoey laughed before she said, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the women aren’t much better.”

“Believe me, I’ve noticed,” I assured her as I rubbed my stomach where my cousin had slapped me earlier. “Lark was always a bossy pain in the ass, but I think she’s just gotten worse with age.”

“I wonder what has changed about me since you left.”

“Since I ran away and then got locked up,” I corrected.

“Same thing.”

“Leaving sounds like it was some sort of peaceful decision. That was not what took me out of Rojo.”

“Then what was it? I always wondered why you ran.”

“One morning, I woke up and had a moment of clarity, and believe me, those were few and far between at that point in my life.”

“Clarity?” Zoey asked. She looked confused, but before I could say anything, she nodded without arguing the point because there wasn’t any argument to be had. I was a lying, thieving, cheating addict, and everyone knew it. “What happened?”

“I woke up and found one of Daughtry’s motorcycles in pieces.”

“You crashed it? I thought . . .”

“I stole it and took it apart so I could piece it out.”

“Crashing it would have been easier to explain,” Zoey said with an exaggerated wince. “Probably easier to recover from too.”

I burst out laughing and agreed, “I think you’re right.”

We stopped next to my motorcycle, and Zoey stood there looking at it for a few minutes before she said, “I always thought I was so special because, other than Marley, I was the only woman to ever ride your bike.”

“If that’s how you’re gauging it, then you’re still special - except in this case, Marley hasn’t ever ridden this one, so it’s all you.”

“Pfft,” Zoey scoffed as she stepped aside so I could get on.

Once I was seated, I flipped down the foot pegs and waited for her to climb on. When she didn’t, I looked over my shoulder and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to hold on tight, okay?”

“Please do.”

“I’m nervous.”

“You know I can ride, Zo. I’ll do my very best to get you home in one piece.”

“Yeah,” Zoey said with a chuckle. “To my home, that’s right across the road from my brother . . . and not too far from some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles.”

“You live out by the . . . place?”

“The place?”

“Yeah. Where you were earlier. What’s it called?”

“Um . . .” Zoey looked uncertain for a few minutes before she said, “The business will have a name, but should the neighborhood?”

I shrugged and said, “It might make the ladies feel more at home.”

“I’ll think on it,” Zoey assured me before she stepped up onto the foot peg and threw her leg over the bike.

I waited until she was settled behind me, and when she patted my stomach like she used to, I put the bike in gear and slowly took off, using the easy pace through the parking lot to adjust to having someone on the back of my bike. I wasn’t worried that she’d throw the bike off-balance since she was an experienced rider, but I was used to riding alone. It would take me a little to adjust my balance when having her behind me.

I knew from experience that the ride to her house didn’t take very long, but I liked having her arms wrapped around me so much that I decided to take the long way, looping around the edge of town and picking up speed for a few miles until we got to the exit that would take us directly to her family’s business and the neighborhood they’d created years ago.

When we pulled up in front of her house, it was dusk with just enough light in the sky to see the outline of the house where she’d grown up. It wasn’t too far away but just enough to make it feel like she wasn’t under the watchful eyes of her parents.

I turned off the bike before I said, “I like your place. It’s definitely giving forest creature vibes.”

Zoey burst out laughing and said, “I know, right? I asked for lots of windows, a porch, and eaves for Christmas lights. This was the first drawing Cyrus showed me, and I decided on it instantly. It’s called cottage style, but I like the forest creature description better.”

“Cyrus built this house for you?” I asked.

“No. He drew up the plans, and a crew from Conner Construction built it for me. They built Zane’s house a few weeks later.”

“Even the houses are just like the two of you,” I mused as I looked at the house across the street. It was almost identical in style to Zoey’s except for the double garage on the side. “He’s always been into cars, and you were more of a minimalist.”

“Even after we wrecked my car, I still had my truck.”

“After I wrecked your car.”

“Whatever,” she said dismissively.

“Do you still have that old truck?”

“Uh, yeah,” Zoey said, as if that had been a dumb question. “Do you want to come in?”

Zoey used my shoulders for leverage as she stood up on the foot pegs and threw her leg over the bike to stand.

Once she was beside me, I asked, “Do you want me to come in?”

Zoey rolled her eyes and motioned toward her house before she said, “I apologize. The formal invitations are still at the printer.”

“You’re such a smartass.”

“Yes, Gravy, I want you to come in. I wouldn’t have invited you otherwise.”

I glanced back over at her brother’s house and asked, “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“I’m a grown woman who wants a grown man to come into her home. My brother doesn’t factor into that equation.”

I got off my motorcycle and stood in front of her for a second before I said, “He’d probably disagree, but I’m willing to risk it.”

“He’ll come around.”

I burst out laughing and said, “You’ve got more faith in him than I do. I don’t blame him for being pissed.”

“Let’s call it hesitant.”

“Homicidal.”

“Cautious.”

“Bloodthirsty.”

“Hypervigilant.”

“I could do this all day,” I assured her as I motioned toward the wrought iron gate separating her front yard from the expanse of field around her house. “We might as well go inside.”

“It’s good for me to spar with you like that,” Zoey said as she opened the gate and held it for me to pass through. As she started up the sidewalk, she explained, “I’ve had some language issues, mostly memory, not really speech problems, so it can only help to come up with . . .”

“What?”

“Shit! What’s the word I’m looking for?”

“Synonyms?”

“Yes!See?It’s helpful!”

“I’m glad I could be of service,” I said as we stepped onto the porch. I looked at the cushions on the wicker chairs and said, “This is very you.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked as she punched in a code to unlock the door.

Instead of answering her question, I asked, “How much time do you spend out here reading?”

“I’ve come to appreciate air conditioning much more than I did back then, but I enjoy the occasional cup of morning coffee here on the porch.” Zoey pushed the door open and then smiled at me before she said, “Wait until you see the back of the house. You’ll understand what I mean.”

Walking into Zoey’s home felt like a dream. I finally got to see the woman she’d turned into rather than the girl I knew. Of course, I’d done nothing but look at her every chance I got, studying the changes in her body, from the limp she tried to hide to the way she rubbed her head when she thought no one was looking. I wasn’t sure what those new traits were about, but I was very interested in learning.

However, walking through her home was going to teach me more about her than I thought she may understand.

The girl I knew still had posters on her bedroom walls, not that I got to see them often since her parents had a hard and fast rule about us being alone in her room together, but I remembered different bands and athletes in bright and colorful clothing decorating her private space. She had a wildly patterned quilt on the bed, clothes scattered around, scarves and hats hanging on pegs on her wall, and shelves full of books and little things that were important to her - from a pretty rock she found while hiking in the canyon to a glass bottle she turned into a fairy lamp.

Her house had a completely different vibe.

We passed through the foyer and took a left into a huge room with vaulted ceilings. The darkly-stained wood beams of the ceiling matched the hardwood floors, and the silky cream of the wall paint highlighted the variations of the natural wood.

To my left was the kitchen - a large open area with a bar for seating in the middle, and to my right was the living room with furniture that looked so inviting, I could barely resist falling onto it to nap. I left her standing there as I walked closer to the living room and felt her come up beside me a few seconds later.

Zoey’s home looked nothing like the bedroom I remembered other than the plants dotting the shelves here and there and the colorful blanket thrown on the large chair in the corner next to a table stacked with books.

The colors in her home were very muted and almost outdoorsy, which made sense because Zoey used to love exploring nature.

There were pictures in mismatched frames, but the ones that caught my interest were lined up on the table behind the couch. I took a look at them and recognized almost all the faces but was surprised to see a snapshot of my brother with his arm thrown over Zoey's shoulder as they showed off the medals hanging from their necks. They were covered in mud and looked hot and exhausted but happy too. I felt a twinge in my chest at the thought of missing so many times like that.

“Who came in first?” I asked as I picked up the picture frame.

“That’s from the mud run a few years ago. I got first place in the women’s division, and he got first in the men’s,” Zoey said proudly. She walked around the chair that looked so inviting and plucked another frame off the floor-to-ceiling shelves that made the corner before she handed it to me. “This is Marley and I doing the new obstacle course at The Gauntlet.”

“What’s The Gauntlet?”

“Lazlo Hamilton and Colt Evans branched out and merged Protect the Queen and Evans’ Gym to open The Gauntlet. They’ve got obstacle courses, paintball, a track for runners, and a few other outdoor activities. It’s a lot of fun.”

I couldn’t help but groan before I said, “I’m going to have to start doing cardio so I can keep up with y’all, aren’t I?”

“I’m not nearly as fast as I used to be,” Zoey said under her breath before she walked toward the kitchen, absentmindedly scratching at her chest the entire way.

“Shouldn’t you take something for those bites before they get out of hand?”

“Yes, doctor,” Zoey grumbled before she opened a cabinet and spun the lazy susan inside of it until she found the bottle she was looking for. “I hate this stuff because it makes me sleepy, but I’d rather have that problem than scratching like a dog with fleas.”

“My offer to rub Calamine on you still stands,” I reminded her with a grin.

She rolled her eyes before she tossed a couple of pills into her mouth and then bent forward to sip from the faucet she’d turned on. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and said, “I’m going to take you up on that, but we need to eat something first.”

“You cook?”

The look on my face must have been a mix of horror and surprise because Zoey burst out laughing before she said, “I do, and I haven’t poisoned anyone in at least three weeks!”

“Your skills in the kitchen were legendary back in the day. I can’t imagine how much destruction you caused over the years, but three weeks without killing someone is probably a record.”

“It was a small fire, Gravy. Get over it.”

“My mom was glad to get new kitchen cabinets out of the deal, so I guess it wasn’t that bad.”

“I still think the microwave was defective.”

I chuckled before I reminded her, “The insurance adjuster didn’t agree with you.”

“He wasn’t there,” Zoey said dismissively before she walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door to look inside. “I’ve got water, apple juice, lemonade, and . . .”

I waited a few seconds for her to finish her sentence, and when she didn’t, I asked, “And?”

“And nothing. Nothing at all.”

I burst out laughing and said, “I’m glad to see that you still suck at lying.”

“I’ll have you know that my poker face is much better than it used to be.”

“I’m not going to start tweaking if you mention that there’s beer in the house, Zo. I can control myself.”

“It belongs to Zane anyway, so I’ll just have him take it home the next time he comes over.”

I didn’t want to think of that prospect because even if I wasn’t here, the fight between the twins would be epic. Finally, I asked, “What’s for dinner?”

Zoey looked back into the fridge and started stacking things in her arms before she walked over and set them all down on the counter next to the sink. “We’ll have roasted chicken and vegetables with a salad on the side.”

“You’re really going to cook?”

Without turning around, she said, “Don’t doubt me, Forrester. I’ve grown up a lot since we once knew each other.”

“I can see that,” I said as Zoey bent forward to find something in one of the lower cabinets, giving me a wonderful view. I had just sat down on one of the stools at the bar when Zoey lost her balance and fell forward. Before I could jump up to help her, she braced her hand on the cabinet and muttered something under her breath. “Are you okay?”

“Just one of the perks of being me,” she said mysteriously as she slowly stood up and put the pan she’d retrieved on the stove. She stood still for a few seconds and then got back to work.

To fill the silence, I asked, “How did you learn to cook?”

“I learned a lot from Lark over the years, but I’m also a regular at Stir the Pot.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s Frankie Stoffer’s place. She teaches cooking classes.”

“I might have to look into that.”

“You can’t cook either?”

“I’ve learned a few things since I got out, but it’s mostly cooking on the grill.”

“Now, that I can’t do,” Zoey said with a bark of laughter. “Basic meals using the oven and on the stove are stretching my abilities, but I’ve learned that cooking with fire is not in my wheelhouse and never will be.”

“We’ll make a perfect team.”

Zoey slowly turned toward me, and I tried to ignore the knife she pointed at me when she said, “Don’t do that, Gravy.”

“What?”

“Don’t get my hopes up and talk about the future if you don’t mean what you say.”

“What makes you think I don’t mean it?”

Zoey didn’t answer my question when she said, “If you’re still around a year from now, I might start to believe you, but until then, let’s just live in the now and take things one day at a time.”

I burst out laughing and said, “Now you sound like you’re hosting a meeting.”

“Make yourself useful, and come wash these vegetables instead of sitting over there spouting bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit,” I argued as I walked around the counter to help.

I took it as a personal challenge when she said, “Prove it.”

◆◆◆

By the time I finally got to sit down on that inviting couch, I was so full that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get up again when it was time to go, not that I had a place to go since I had refused my parents’ offer of my old bedroom and had checked out of my hotel this morning. But I’d think about that later. Right now, I was stuffed full of a wonderful dinner and enjoying the company of a woman I never dreamed I’d see again.

That woman yawned loudly and then shivered, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight. I’d never seen anyone else do that other than Zoey, and I thought it was one of her cutest quirks.

When she did it again, I said, “I guess I should go.”

“Where?”

“Well, as much as I’d love to spend the night here with you, I know that . . .”

“I told you I had a house for you to stay in,” Zoey interrupted.

“You did, but we didn’t really work out the details of that before you ended up in the back of an ambulance.”

“Well, I’m not going to have you sign a lease or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“No, but I don’t even know which house you want me to stay at,” I told her with a laugh.

“Are you being obtuse . . . Is that the right word? Anyway, what I’m saying is . . . Hello? This is a house. You’re in it, and it’s dark outside. I invited you in and want you to stay. Duh.”

“That was the right context for the word ‘obtuse.’ And, duh? Really?”

“I told you that the formal invitations are still at the printer, so yes, duh.”

“I want to kiss that smirk off your face.”

Zoey laughed before she said, “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

“You’re serious right now?”

“Did you bump your head?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, Gravy. Good Lord, just kiss me already, why don’t you?”