Chapter 15
Lucas
There was a knock at my door.
“Leave it!” I shouted at housekeeping from the bathroom, as I turned off the shower. Twice a day they dropped off food for me at my father’s request.
It’d been a long time since I needed someone to take care of me, but I could tell it made him happy to do it so I didn’t complain.
I was going to find a place outside of town, Dad wouldn’t hear it. He booked me an indefinite suite at the hotel he owned a few minutes drive from the main drag. It was the tallest building around and I was staying on the top floor.
I had a great view of most of the valley, but spent most of my time watching the Matt Baker Elementary school for signs of Molly or motorcycles. She often stayed late and I was always ready to rush over there at the first sign of trouble. Part of me was disappointed that trouble never came.
Selfish, I know, but it’d at least be a chance to see her again…
The knocking sounded again.
They were insistent today.
I brushed my hair back and wrapped the towel around my waist. I was still dripping wet when I decided to answer it. Maybe there was a problem with billing or a maintenance call or something.
I swung the door open and was about point out the Do Not Disturb sign hanging on the door, but all the steam went out of my aggravation when I saw who it was.
“Hi,” Molly said, adjusting her glasses. She wore a red button-down blouse, slacks and sneakers. Her auburn hair was pinned up, but had the telltale flyaways of a long day out of the house. She must have come right over after work.
“Molly,” I exclaimed, jerking backward so suddenly that my towel unfastened around my waist. “Shit.” I caught it, then shouldered open the closing door to keep it from slamming in her face. “Hi. Come in.”
After everything that happened, she was the last person I expected to see.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” She let her gaze drop briefly to the corded muscles of my lower stomach. The V in my hips showed more and more as I bunched the towel ineffectually.
Define bad?
Richard just announced he was seeing some politician’s daughter formally. I saw a picture of the girl; she looked fake and plastic like an inflatable doll given life. I wondered what happened with the short, spiky-haired brunette he was hanging out with. I was surprised they were together as long as they were; she didn’t strike me as his type.
Fuck it, I guess it doesn’t matter. If he’s formally with this new blonde chick, that’s no good for me.
“Nah, I’m good. Everything’s good,” I lied, holding the door open for her. “Are you alright?”
“I’m alright,” She said, looking around. There was something off about her voice. Was she lying too?
“Hold on a sec.” I found a clean pair of jeans in the back hallway and threw them on just out of sight. “How did you find me? I’m not listed downstairs.”
“Elmo is.” Molly peeked into the hallway, hoping to catch a peek but was too late. There was a spark of cunning in her eyes.
I snorted, zipping up my fly with a smile. Clever as always. I spotted a shirt, but left it. Let her see half naked. She used to like it when I went shirtless, and from the lusty look in her eyes, I could tell she still does.
It didn’t hurt that I put on twenty pounds of solid muscle since the last time she saw me.
“Jesus, your hands!” Molly glared worriedly at my bandaged up fingers. “Is that from the fire?”
“There was no fire. It looks worse than it is.” I wiggled my fingers, then let my smile fade. “Why are you here, Molly?”
“I can leave if you want.” Molly frowned and made her way to the couch. She looked worried about something. How worried did she have to be to seek me out?
The vivid image of her getting slapped outside the Black Chains MC was burned into my head. Was she in some kind of trouble?
I grabbed her a bottle of water from the fridge then joined her.
“Last time we were together, you made it pretty clear you didn’t want to see me ever again. Are you sure everything’s alright?” I studied her looking for bruises. “If that piece of shit touched you again, I swear to God—”
“It’s not that.” Molly reached out and put a hand on my knee. The warmth in her touch struck me like a blow. Fuck, I missed her. I missed this. I missed everything about my old life with her. “I heard your song, well most of it.”
“My song?” I hadn’t published anything new in years. What was she talking about?
“Your performance at the Family Room,” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, half of which got stuck behind the earpiece of her glasses. “It’s all over Youtube.”
“You mean your song,” I corrected.
“Yeah I guess so. It was beautiful. I’d like to hear the end of it.” She smiled, a glimmer of hope on a face that was prettier than any song I could ever write. “The video cut out when the sprinklers went on.”
“It’s not finished,” I said. “I don’t have an ending for it yet.”
I’d been locked away for days obsessively writing and rewriting the ending. I wanted it to be perfect, but just couldn’t get it there. If it was perfect, maybe, just maybe, she might come back to me.
“Oh,” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice that made my heart crack. It took everything I had not to reach out and touch her, to soothe that look away. “I don’t want to hate you, Luke. I’m hurt and pissed off, but that doesn’t undo all the good memories I have of you. I just want to understand.”
“Know that despite everything that’s happened,” I put my arm over the back of the sofa and lean in. “I never stopped caring about you.”
“Why did you leave me?” Her voice was so quiet.
“I—” I pushed my air out in resignation, thinking of the promise I made to my mother before she died. “I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.”
“I’m back now, though.” My fingers twitched at how close she was. I needed to touch her, to prove to myself that she was really here. When my hand grazed the side of her face I realized how lost I was. “And I’m never leaving you again. I promise.”
In the diffused light of late afternoon, Molly’s subtle freckles glowed like stars. I didn’t care if it took me the rest of my life, I’d memorize every single one of them.
“How can I trust you?” Molly’s eyelids got heavier as I closed in.
“You can’t.” My hand slipped behind her neck. I pulled her soft lips against mine; kissing her so passionately that it stole our breath for a moment afterward. “But I’m going to change that. I promise.”
The tension, the yearning, the longing, all of it popped like an overfilled balloon. I slid my other hand around her back in a tight hug and picked her up off the couch. Our mouths parted barely enough to take in air, I carried her into the dining room.
Neither of us could resist the gravity of each other and we crashed together with a sense of inevitability. It was like fate was screaming at us, “This was how it always should’ve been!”
Why did it take us so fucking long to see that?