19
19
Sadie
The autumn day was perfect. Not too cold and the sun was out, gleaming above us. Unfortunately, I wasn’t into the fall festival. I tried to put on a cheerful face for my mom, but it wasn’t easy, not after talking to Bryce yesterday.
He might not want me, but I sure as hell wanted him.
“He’s an idiot, you know?”
I turned toward Birdie. “Who?” Was she talking about Bryce?
“No matter what I do, I can’t get over him.” She whipped her long brown hair off her shoulders with attitude.
“By him, do you mean Raymond?” I asked.
“Yes. I’ve done everything I can think of, except move out of the state.”
I searched for my mom at the kettle corn stand. There was a long line, and she was somewhere lost in it. “As if your dad would ever let you do that.” I laughed, knowing full well Storm would handcuff her to his wrist so she couldn’t leave. He adored his daughter, much like my dad did me, but Storm would fall apart if his Birdie flew the coop.
“Exactly.” She sighed and twirled a section of her hair around her finger. “How can Raymond act like I don’t exist?”
“Didn’t look that way to me the other night, when he was playing on stage. He was looking at you constantly.”
“I didn’t notice.”
“Because you were pretending, he doesn’t exist.” Silly girl was playing the game all wrong. I’d offer to help her, but I hadn’t done so well myself recently.
I inhaled the brisk autumn air into my lungs. Pumpkins were everywhere, and the deliciousness of kettle corn and the scent of a burning bonfire swirled around me, reminding me that this was home. Strangely, I already missed being here, and I hadn’t even left yet.
“What else am I supposed to do when he won’t give me the time of day? Then there’s Dante, who texts more than I want him to, and Ember, who believes I’m playing both guys against each other.”
I gaped. “How do you know she thinks that?”
“Because she told me so. If Ray would just man up and face my dad, we could be together.”
“Does he want to be with you?”
“Well, he did that night.” She snapped her mouth shut. “Oh look, there’s Ember now.” She trotted away while I picked up my jaw off the ground.
That night he wanted her? Was she implying she’d been with Ray?
Oh mercy, this was the sort of juicy deliciousness I’d missed while in New York. I wondered what else I had missed and would miss after I left again.
“Here we are!” Mom hollered with a large bag of kettle corn in each hand. “Next up, the corn maze.” She passed me my favorite treat.
“I can’t wait to dig in. But after today, no more carbs or sugars.” I took a big whiff and stored it in my memory. There was no telling when I’d get to indulge in the sweet and salty yumminess of kettle corn again. It might be another five years…
“I couldn’t eat a strict diet like you. I love food, and your dad loves my curves. So I eat to maintain them.” She put a handful in her mouth.
My mom was a gorgeous, full-figured woman, and she flaunted her curves unapologetically. I admired her sass and confidence. But as a professional ballerina, I had to maintain my weight, or I’d be passed by. Maybe I should dance in Vegas like Mom had, then I could eat whatever I wanted.
Nah. Topless dancing wasn’t my thing.
We strolled toward the maze with our arms linked, just taking in the scenery like old times. My dad and brother were working at The Bullet’s barbeque-and-beer stand. Some of the old ladies had a baked goodies table, where all the proceeds went to homeless shelters in the Twin Cities. As I had told Bryce, the Knights gave so much to Minnesota as a whole, not just to Bastion and Winters.
The stubborn fool just wouldn’t listen. Well, it was his loss.
Mom paid the ticket gal, and we entered the maze.
“You’ll stick with me, so I don’t get lost, right?” I asked her, sounding like a child. “It’s been a while since I went through one of these, and I have to admit, it looks bigger than I remember.”
“They’ve expanded it.” She snuggled close to me and put another handful of kettle corn into her mouth.
“I can tell.”
We turned right, then left, weaving through the maze while munching on our favorite fall-festival treat. All the smells mixing with the brisk air were spectacular. And soon enough, winter would descend all around, and it would get so cold, snot would freeze in noses. I’d never been anywhere colder than Minnesota.
“We’re at a fork in the road. Right or left?” Mom asked.
I looked one way, then the other. “I wonder which way would make the fun last longer.”
“Excellent thought.” She tapped her finger on her lips. “Which way does your gut tell you to go?”
“Left, but most people usually go right, I think.”
Mom nodded. “Because most people are right-handed.”
“Exactly! Let’s go left and be different from everyone else.”
“Yes!” Mom wrapped her arm around me, and we took a sharp left as we laughed, and I smashed right into…
A firm chest.
“Sadie, are you okay?”
I lifted my face and saw the man of my dreams. “Oh. Bryce. I—”
“Sadie!” his girls screamed and wrapped their little arms around my legs.
“Sadie, where have you been?” Cat asked. She was wearing a gold puffer coat and a brown Carhartt beanie. Tori was dressed the exact same, except her coat was a burnt orange. My gosh they were so stinkin’ cute. I had missed them terribly.
“Why’d you stop watching us?” Tori asked next.
Oh, my heart. “I… Um…” I couldn’t take my eyes off Bryce, whose arm had snaked around my waist.
“Well, answer them, Sunshine. We’ve all missed you.”
“Way to throw me under the bus. It’s your fault I haven’t been around.”
He pulled me in closer and pressed his lips against my forehead. “I know. I was an idiot.”
“I won’t argue with that.”
“I thought you left days ago.” He continued to kiss my forehead. “I honestly thought I’d lost you forever.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow.” I put my hand on his chest and pushed him back. “What are you doing? My mom is right—” She was gone. I scanned my surroundings. “Where’d she go?”
“She snuck off with the girls. We sort of planned to bump into each other.”
“When?” Sure enough, the girls were nowhere in sight. I hadn’t even noticed when they’d stopped hugging me, wholly mesmerized by Bryce.
“I saw her at the kettle corn stand, after your dad told me she would be there.” He cradled my face in his warm hands. “I’m sorry for being a jackass. I’m sorry for not choosing you.”
I shook my head. “You always have to choose your girls first.”
“But I can choose all three of you, can’t I? I’ve made some dumb mistakes, thinking they were for the right reasons, but they were wrong. I care about you, Sadie. I want to see where we might end up together.”
“But I’m leaving tomorrow. My plane ticket is already bought. I cleared things up with my dance company.” If he’d told me he wanted to try sooner… “It’s too late, Bryce.”
“It’s never too late, Sunshine. We can try long distance. I’ll visit once a month. Maybe you can come here once a month. Just say you’ll give me another chance. I promise to make it worth your while.”
Tears blurred my vision. “But what about my family? They’re all bikers.”
“I’m not worried anymore. I should’ve thought about it before freaking out so easily.”
“Yeah, you should’ve.” I bit my bottom lip. I really wanted to give him a second chance.
“Come on, Sadie. Gimme another chance.” He pressed a kiss on my lips. “I promise you won’t regret it. We’ll be a real couple.” He kissed me again. “Start fresh.” And another kiss.
“I don’t think I can do a long-distance relationship.”
“I see.” He deflated before me but didn’t release me.
“So maybe I’ll put off returning to Manhattan, to see where this might go.”
“That sounds like a wise decision.” His arms snaked around my waist, and he reeled me into his embrace.
“I thought so. It’s a risk though.”
“Anything good is.”
“I might fall in love with you.”
“That would be amazing, since I’ve already fallen in love with you.”
A smile stretched across my face. “You have?”
“Oh yeah.” He kissed me again.
“You know, if we do this couple, relationship thing, it means you’re a part of the Knight’s Legion MC family. The girls too.”
He shrugged. “Could be worse.”
“How so?”
“I could lose you, and there is nothing worse than that. I know it hasn’t been long, but I feel it in my gut, Sadie. You’re it for me. I never wanted anyone more than I want you.” He captured my lips and kissed me passionately there in the corn maze.
“Those are the words I needed to hear. I want you too, more than anything.”
“Is it too soon to ask you to move in with me?”
I tossed my head back, laughing. “Yes, a little too soon. Ask me again in, say… a month.”
“Okay. Do I have to wait a month before I can make love to you?”
“Absolutely not. You can do that tonight.” I popped up on my tiptoes and smothered him with kisses.
I didn’t know what the future held for us, but there was one thing I knew for sure; I wanted to stick around my small town to find out.