Chapter 4

Ava

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Mrs. Parks,” I said, exasperated. “I can’t be Jude Jacobs’ English tutor for the summer. Can’t someone else do it?”

Mrs. Parks looked up from the list of names she had been checking off for the end of summer tutors. I had volunteered at the beginning of the school year for good references and college experience. If I would’ve known that Mrs. Parks, my favorite teacher, planned on handing me over to Jude Jacobs to talk about Wuthering Heights… I couldn’t even finish the thought without a grimace.

“What’s the problem?” she asked. “You signed up for this, Ava. Remember?”

“I know that I did. You don’t understand. This is—”

“I’m well aware of who Jude Jacobs is. If it makes you feel better, your brother and his friend Dean are tutoring him in other subjects as well. In every single subject, now that I think of it.”

“That’s my point. He’s a bit of a lost cause.”

Mrs. Parks sighed in exasperation. “Look, Ava. I’ve already told Mr. Jacobs that his passing marks rely on him actually doing the work this summer. If he makes you uncomfortable in any sort of way, I won’t hesitate to flunk him for trying to charm you. I’ve already had a very serious talk with him. Comforting?”

I deflated in defeat because there was no talking my way around this. I was going to be the summer tutor of Jude Jacobs– Gypsum’s bad boy. We were going to talk about Wuthering Heights and Pride & Prejudice. I snorted cynically at the thought. I’m sure that Jude Jacobs would love the idea of talking about books with me.

“Not really,” I said, taking the stack of books from her. “I won’t get a bad mark if he doesn’t cooperate, right?”

“Your grade will be safe,” she said assuredly. “I won’t write a bad reference for you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Parks. I appreciate everything.”

I left her classroom to walk through the empty hallway in the direction of the front doors. Much of the school had emptied out quickly, with only two weeks of school left. The seniors were already done for the school year. I hugged the stack of books that I needed to hand over to Jude whenever I saw him. In one year, I would be walking these hallways for the last time, and nothing sounded better than getting out of Gypsum.

Andy and I had talked about it at length the other night, about finding an apartment together in New York while we both went to college. We had held each other’s hands in our mother’s womb as unborn babies. We grew up playing with one another. I couldn’t imagine going to college without my brother at my side to keep me safe as he always did.

I pushed through the front doors to step out into the hot afternoon. There were a few cars left in the Junior parking lot alongside the building, but I recognized the blaring sound of a motorbike engine in the distance. I rounded the corner to find what I expected to find—Jude Jacobs on his motorbike, surrounded by his usual gaggle of friends, along with Andy.

They all turned to watch me approach. I swallowed thickly when Jude’s eyes swept over me with visible interest. He smoothed a hand over his rich black hair and bounced easily from leg to leg as I stopped short in front of them.

“It’s the other James,” Jude said smoothly. “You’re much better looking. No offense, man.”

Andy scowled at him. “Watch it, bro. That’s my sister you’re making eyes at.”

I ignored the rush of heat that went through me when Jude shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just here to hand you these is all.”

“What?” Jude asked, eyeing the stack of books in disinterest. “I don’t read, in case you haven’t figured that out by now.”

“It’s your books that Mrs. Parks said you need to have,” I said. “For summer English, remember?”

Jude’s eyes widened a bit too gleefully. “You mean, you’re my tutor for the summer?”

“I don’t know if I feel comfortable about this,” Andy interrupted, giving me a long and hard look. “No offense, Ava, but I don’t think Mom and Dad would agree with it, either.”

“I’m a gentleman,” Jude protested. “I wouldn’t do anything horrible.”

My cheeks burned when the rest of the group chuckled, except for Andy, who looked downright furious with the arrangement. I handed the books over into Jude’s lap as he sniffed in irritation.

“Fail English for all I care,” I said. “I’m doing this for my own grade. Your lack of success won’t affect me at all.”

“No need to get snippy,” Jude said. “See you this summer, then. I’ll call you.”

Andy draped a protective arm around my shoulders as we walked along the parking lot to his car. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Ava. I know how Jude is with the girls. I don’t want him messing with you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” I said. “I’d never go for someone like Jude. He’s too rough for me.”

“You’d be surprised how many girls like him for that reason,” Andy replied, jamming the key into the door to unlock his side. “Just promise me that you won’t get wrapped up in the magic of JJ. It’s hard to resist him.”

“Cross my heart,” I said, making an X over my heart. “Don’t worry about me. You resist his magic. You hang out with him a lot more than I do. Mom and Dad don’t like it, by the way. They want you to stop hanging around all of them.”

Andy laughed at that. “Don’t worry, sis. I’m not going to get caught up in the magic of JJ. I can promise you that.”

The sound of the front door startled me awake, jolting me out of that memory from years ago. I opened my eyes to gaze up at morning sunlight dancing across the ceiling of my bedroom. My old bedroom from high school. The wallpaper was still a purple floral design. My mom had insisted on keeping everything the same in the house because it reminded us all of the good times.

I pushed back my blankets and sheets to slip out of bed with a painful grimace. The mattress needed to be replaced or flipped, though. That needed to be changed at least.

Car doors closed outside. I peeked through the window to find my parents backing out of the driveway to head off for morning church services. If anyone had told them about that kiss last night—

I cut that thought off when my stomach fluttered at the memory of Jude’s lips pressed up against mine. He had always been an excellent kisser who could unhinge every single defense in me. He had done it to me without any effort after years of feeling torn on how to feel about him.

The house was quiet as I padded out of my room and down the hallway with a bag of clothes and makeup in hand. I didn’t care if my mother insisted that I should unpack and put my things back in my dresser drawers. I think she had a small hope that I would stay home if I took out my things to place them in drawers, but I couldn’t stay here in Gypsum. I had a plane to catch on Monday morning to head back to New York. There were a few articles that I needed to hand over to my publisher to save my ass anyway. The last cover piece I had pitched went straight into the trash bin on my computer. I needed to come up with something fast.

The door to Andy’s bedroom was still closed. Like he was still asleep in there, even though his bed was covered in dust. Mom never went in there. She kept the door shut on that part of our lives because it was the only place left behind that was Andy’s. My fingers itched to open it like I had done so many years ago, but I couldn’t bear it, either. I couldn’t bear looking into a room full of dust and cobwebs because that was all that was left.

I took a long hot shower before slipping into a modest black skirt and a cream-colored blouse with black ballet flats. I was going to meet my parents for lunch after church, as usual. The walk from our house to the restaurant was only five minutes in the afternoon summer heat as I walked along the cracked sidewalks of quiet neighborhoods to a lazy Main Street. None of the local stores were open, besides the restaurant. Church bells echoed in the air while I waited for my parents to join me in a booth. I watched their faces anxiously as they approached, but it appeared that no one had mentioned the kiss last night to them.

“I’m sorry that I missed service,” I said as they sat down in the booth in front of me. “It was a bit of a late night for me.”

My mother smiled at me. “We didn’t want to wake you. You rarely get to sleep anymore it seems.”

“I’m just stressed, is all,” I replied, cradling my cup of coffee with a sigh. “I have to come up with a few interesting pieces this afternoon to pitch to my editor tomorrow morning.”

“That’s why I’m not sure being a freelance writer is the best job for you,” my father said, adding sugar to his own coffee. “It’s an unreliable source of income, in my opinion. Dean said that he could put in a good word for you at the high school as an English teacher.”

“We’ve been over this before, Dad,” I said. “I can’t see myself as a teacher. I see myself as a writer. That’s it.”

“I understand that, but sometimes, you have to do things in life that you don’t want to do. All I’m saying is—”

A tap on the window startled the three of us. I looked over to find the last person I wanted to see this morning on the other side of the window. Jude stood in front of me, dressed in a pair of tattered jeans and a muscle tank that showed off all the tattoos on his arms that weren’t visible last night. He still had that ruined pompadour, showing off the fact that he had yet to shower. He motioned for me to come outside, ignoring the glares that were being sent in his direction. Including my own glare, because he knew it put me in a bad position.

“What does he want?” my father growled, setting his coffee cup down. “I swear. I’m going to—”

My mother placed a warning hand on his forearm. “Don’t do this, Mark. It’s not going to bring Andy back to us.”

“Andy would be here if it weren’t for him. Please tell me you aren’t going to talk to him, Ava.”

“He’ll just stand there until I do,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

I slid out of the booth before the conversation could go any further. I didn’t want to hear the blame game because I had gone through it already. Pushing through the front doors, I waited for Jude to walk away from where he had been standing. I crossed my arms as he grinned at me in a predatory way that instantly set off alarm bells in my head.

“What do you want?” I asked. “I’m sure there’s a reason you’re here.”

“I have a job proposition for you,” Jude said, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Actually, my manager Chuck and I have a once in a lifetime opportunity for you.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “Such as?”

“Well, I have a tour coming up after leaving here tomorrow morning. Six cities with plenty of cameras and endorsements. I mentioned to my manager that you were a freelance writer. He wanted to extend a deal to you.”

“A deal?” I repeated skeptically. “What sort of deal?”

“A personal piece on me,” Jude said. “We’ve already turned down several high-ranking journalists over the years because I didn’t trust them. I trust you, so here’s your opportunity. It would put you on the map for many magazines around the United States.”

There was no doubt that Jude was about to explode. I had done my research on him the past year out of sheer curiosity. He was signing with a few major retailers as well. Journalists were drooling over the opportunity to interview him.

I chewed on my lower lip while I searched Jude’s face for any sign of deception. I couldn’t spot any signs, but I also couldn’t shake the feeling that he had his double motives. It meant traveling closely with him. It meant being too close to him for the first time in years.

“You have bills to pay,” Jude continued, sensing my hesitation. “I’ll pay you for it. A hefty check, in fact. No strings attached, either, but I won’t complain if it goes that way.”

“It won’t go that way,” I said. “I’m a professional, Jude. I don’t sleep with the people I’m interviewing.”

He held up his hands. “Fine. I’ll keep my hands to myself. What do you think?”

I knew that getting close to Jude meant getting close to trouble and danger all over again but he had a point. I had bills to pay, and my editor would jump at this. This was my ticket to get where I wanted to go.

“I’ll do it,” I said and met Jude’s eyes. “No funny business, though. This is a professional relationship. Got it?”

“Got it,” he said.