They ended up at the Getty Center for no reason except that it was the first thing Cade thought of as they sped away from Grand Park. He realized only as he was searching for a place to park that his brain had subconsciously picked it because it was the next thing on his LA attractions list. Which was just as well, because Cade didn’t think he would be finishing that list on his own time. After his encounter in Grand Park, he was inclined to get the hell out of this city by morning. Of course, that was an issue in and of itself—because Jenna could not leave with him.

He parked his bike on a street-side space and cut the engine. Jenna released him from her death grip and slid off the seat, staggering onto the sidewalk. She was still holding the can of mace she’d sprayed Pete the biker with. She stared down at it, turning it around in her hand, like she couldn’t believe it had finally come in handy. Eventually, she shook herself from her stupor and tucked the small can into her purse. Then she adjusted her disheveled suit and eyed Cade.

“Do you have any first-aid supplies?” she asked.

“What?” he snapped. “Are you hurt?”

She blew air through her teeth. “Not for me, idiot. For you.”

Oh, right.

Cade probed the side of his head and flinched when his fingers made contact with the bloody wound on his scalp. It stung badly. And it wasn’t just one cut either. The bark on that tree had basically shredded a layer of his skin. It was going to take a while to heal, and it would be incredibly conspicuous. He’d stand out in a crowd with a wound that specific. Which was the exact opposite of what he needed right now.

He dug around in one of his saddlebags and found his small first-aid kit, which he handed to Jenna. Then he swung himself off the bike and toddled over into the shade of an awning. The Getty Center was just up the hill, a short walk away, but he needed to catch his breath first. And recover his balance. He had been able to ride without too much effort—it was second nature to him now—but walking took considerably more coordination. He leaned against the side of the squat brick building the awning was attached to so he wouldn’t embarrass himself by falling on his ass.

Jenna popped the top on the first-aid kit and pulled out disinfectant, a thick gauze pad, and some medical tape. “This will have to do for now. You should really get that looked at by a doctor though. You could have a concussion.”

He nodded. “I do have one, I’m pretty sure. But the last thing I want is to be admitted to the hospital. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

Jenna cocked an eyebrow. “Hospitals generally help people, not hurt them. Do you mean a financial disaster? Do you not have insurance or something? Because you don’t have a job? Or…?”

He shook his head—slowly. “Nothing like that. It would just keep me in an easy-to-find place for too long. My family might track me down.”

Now Jenna’s interest was really piqued. As she uncapped the disinfectant, she said, “Okay, look, you’re not obligated to spill your life story to me, like I blurted out mine earlier, but saying cryptic shit like that is a really good way to annoy me. Either come out and tell me what your problem is, oh mopey biker man with a mysterious agenda, or shut up and let me patch you before your brain falls out of your skull.”

Cade glanced at the nearby museum. “Patch me first. We can talk while we take a nice walk around the grounds at the Getty Center. If nothing else, it’ll make a more dramatic place to tell a tragic backstory than beneath the awning of some random building.”

Jenna snorted. “You’re a moron, you know that?”

“Yes, I know.”

She proceeded to clean and dress his wound with the lightest touches possible. When she was finished, it still stung, but the touch of the gauze reassured him that at least he would be less likely to get an infection. Once Jenna repacked his first-aid kit in the saddlebag, she hooked her arm around his and led him up the road toward the Getty Center. (He figured she was worried he’d stumble over his own two feet.)

The grounds were sprawling, and though it was close to closing time, there were still lots of people milling about the walkways and green spaces, so they blended in, just another couple out for a nice evening. At a convenient moment when they were out of earshot of everyone around them, Jenna asked softly, “So, how many times have you gotten into trouble like that before?”

Cade sighed. “None, actually. Which is surprising, considering how reckless I’ve been these past two years.”

“Two years?” she asked.

Cade steeled himself. He’d never actually talked to anyone about Maddie before. Not even his own parents. He’d shut himself away for two weeks after the accident, and then he’d left. Just like that. No warning. He’d been a massive coward about confronting the truth of the whole situation. “First thing you need to understand: I’m rich. Filthy rich. My dad is a multimillionaire, and my trust fund is seven figures. That’s why I can get away with not having a job.”

Jenna opened her mouth in shock. “Millionaire? No way. You? With the dusty leather jacket and jeans?”

“Money doesn’t necessarily equate to fashion sense, I’m afraid.” He chuckled, but the sound was hollow. “Anyway, the second thing you need to know is that I ran away from home, but in a much different way and for a much different reason than you. Two years ago, shortly after I graduated from college, when I was about to start working that position in my dad’s company, there was a terrible accident. My girlfriend, Madison, who I’d been dating since high school, she…”

He choked on his words, like there was sand in his throat. “We got into a really stupid argument. Just young people duking it out over dumb shit. I said some BS and stormed out, leaving her behind at our apartment. She was so pissed that she went by herself to the beach to go surfing. Something we usually did together. Thing is, it was night surfing, which is a dangerously stupid thing only young morons do anyway. But we’d never had a problem before. I guess she figured she wouldn’t have a problem that night either.”

“But she did?” Jenna asked with hesitation. “Something happened?”

Cade swallowed the lump in his throat and managed to breathe out, “They think she got caught in a riptide. It dragged her down to the bottom, and she couldn’t escape in time to get to the surface. Maybe she went too far out. Maybe she lost track of her position and didn’t realize where she was, and because she didn’t have anyone spotting her…” He closed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter why. It happened. She drowned.” He fought back tears, tears he hadn’t dared to spill since the day after. “I got a call from a friend of mine, telling me something had happened to her. I made it to the beach just as they were loading her into a bag.”

Jenna stopped walking, tugging him to a halt as well. She reached up with her free hand and gently cupped the bruised side of his face. “Oh, Cade. I’m so sorry.”

“I really don’t deserve that sympathy.”

She balked. “Of course you do! It wasn’t your fault that Madison decided to go surfing alone. Her actions weren’t your responsibility.”

“No, but mine were. And still are.” He stared at the ground. “I couldn’t handle it. The funeral. Her parents asking questions about why I wasn’t there. My family giving me pitying looks. I couldn’t stand it, Jenna. I felt like I was suffocating. And the weight of Maddie’s death was hanging from around my neck, making it even worse. So, I…”

“You ran,” she finished. “You got a motorcycle, and you rode away, and you didn’t go back. Not for two whole years?”

He gave her a thin-lipped smile. “Not exactly the big, strong man you thought I was, huh? Though I guess you already figured out you’re the bigger hero here, seeing as you probably saved my life back at the park.”

She huffed. “We’re not keeping score. Plus, I almost pissed myself when I stepped out in front of that guy with the knife.” She ran her fingers down his face, then flicked his chin. “But, in case you’re open to a little life advice, I will tell you this: You might have found your family and friends overbearing in the immediate aftermath of that tragedy—they almost always are; that’s just how grief works—but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a second chance. A loving family isn’t something you should take for granted. It’s something that can be snatched away just as easily as Madison, so you should treasure it as long as you have it.”

Cade’s stomach tied itself into a tight knot. She was right. He knew it. And the fact he’d abandoned his own family while she was working so hard to save what remained of hers…God, he was truly pathetic.

“Cade, look at me,” she ordered in a firm tone.

He dragged his gaze up, but couldn’t meet her eyes.

So she dipped her head to force the eye contact, her beautiful blues peering up at him. “I understand that guilt you’re feeling right now, and that regret. I feel it too, all the time. But before I sink too low, before I fall too far, I always remind myself that I still have the opportunity to fix the mistakes I’ve made. I can still rescue Dylan. He’s still there, waiting for me. And you”—she tapped his nose and smiled—“you can still reconcile with your family. At the bare minimum, you can call them. They’ll answer. They’ll always answer. Because they love you.”

The floodgates broke. All the pain Cade had kept cooped up inside his heart for the past two years came rushing out, and it was all he could do to bury his face in Jenna’s shoulder so he wouldn’t start openly sobbing. She held him, rubbing circles into his back and whispering reassurances into his ear for a long while. Eventually, the tide went out and Cade was left feeling both drained and somehow…washed clean. He stepped back, wiped a stray tear off his face, and then kissed Jenna on the cheek. “Thank you,” he murmured, voice heavy. “I really, really needed that. If there’s any way I can make it up to you, the bikers, this embarrassing meltdown…”

“You don’t owe me anything. You paid for all my meals, plus my new motel room, remember?” She winked at him playfully. “But, if you still feel so obliged, there is something I want to see before I get sucked into Marvin’s conference nonsense tomorrow. Do you think you’re up for another ride?”

“I’m always up for a ride with you,” he replied, cracking a smile of his own.

She pouted in that familiar way that suddenly didn’t hurt him as much as it had before. “Watch it, biker boy. Even you aren’t but so attractive with a cry face.”