Chapter 12 #2
Jeremiah nodded at Kevin and grabbed Joci’s hand. “Let’s go see how the boys are doing.”
They wove their way through the crowd and found Gunnar and Ryder talking to Connor. Jeremiah’s stomach rolled at that scene, but he didn’t want Joci to think he didn’t like Connor.
He didn’t dislike him; he just knew Connor was in love with Joci, even if she couldn’t see it.
He was worried that Connor knew her better than he did and maybe would step up his game to try to win her.
He was also a little worried that Connor would try and get to Joci through Gunnar.
He was going to keep his eyes on that. Luckily, Jeremiah worked with Gunnar every day.
Sheesh, listen to him—he was jealous! Jeremiah had never been jealous in his life.
They walked up to the boys, and Joci hugged each of them.
Everyone was excitedly talking about the ride and asking Joci and Jeremiah how many bikes and riders there were.
It was fun. After speaking with them for a little while, Jeremiah wanted to go and find his parents.
He and Joci walked off to find Thomas and Emily.
“They’ll probably be outside with the old car club, The Good Times Roll. There are about thirty old cars from that group. My dad chums along with some of those guys.”
As they walked up and down the rows of old cars, Jeremiah found his mom and dad speaking to one of the guys from the club in front of an old truck. It was an orange 1937 Ford pickup with an oak box and oak box rails. It was beautiful.
Joci asked the owner a slew of questions.
“Has this truck been in your family since it was new? Where did you find it? Did you refinish it? Do you take it out a lot? Is it easy to drive?” She was in love with that truck.
The owner lifted the hood and showed Joci and the others the engine, explaining all that he had done to the motor and lines.
He loved watching her excitement; her smile was bright, and her giggle infectious. Emily caught his eye and winked. He was staring like a little schoolgirl, but this was so new and fun.
* * *
Soon Jeremiah’s family found them chatting and joined them.
It was comfortable with his family. They were all very genuine people, Joci thought.
Emily, Jeremiah’s mom, had a great sense of humor and ribbed his dad quite a bit.
She called him an old coot more than once, and he feigned hurt, but his laugh gave him away.
Soon enough, it was time to get rolling again, so they all started back to their bikes to get packed up and ready to ride.
Joci and Jeremiah finished their water, threw the bottles into the recycling bin, and walked arm in arm to his bike.
When they got to the bike, Jeremiah pulled Joci in for a hug and a kiss.
“I have competition, I see.”
She looked up at him, her brows furrowed. “Really? Mind filling me in?”
Jeremiah laughed. God, he was handsome. His smile lit the whole sky. He had beautiful, straight teeth, and his eyes sparkled when he laughed.
“The old guy couldn’t talk to you enough. My mom noticed it, too. I saw her smiling, and at one point, she looked at me and winked. Not that I blame him, I’m pretty hung up on you too.”
She hugged him and pulled back to look up into his eyes. “Just remember, if you leave me, I have options.”
A smile spread across her face, and he leaned down and pecked her lips.
He held her head in his hands and kissed her—long, slow, deep.
She thought her toes were curling up in her boots.
Crazy sensations zinged through her body, landing in her core.
Her stomach flipped at this new affection and how demonstrative he was.
Jeremiah put his forehead on Joci’s. “It’s going to be painful riding with a raging hard-on. Look what you did to me!”
He ground himself against her a little so she could feel his hardness.
“That’s not fair. You’re making me wet,” she whispered.
Jeremiah hugged her tight. “If I have to suffer, so do you. But, when we get home…don’t expect any sleep tonight.”
She moaned as her nipples pebbled into hard peaks, and her core throbbed just thinking about how he felt last night. It was dream-worthy.
“Seriously, you two need to get a room.” Joci turned to see Sandi and Jon. Joci hadn’t had a minute to talk to Sandi this morning.
“That’s what I was just telling, Joci. How are you two?”
Jeremiah and Jon shook hands, and Joci hugged Sandi and then Jon. Joci and Jeremiah gave them the number of riders and bikers. They talked a little, and the whistle sounded that it was time to get ready to roll.
Sandi leaned in to hug Joci again. “Did you have a great time last night?”
Joci giggled. “God, yes. I can’t wait to talk to you.”
Sandi hugged her again. “I love you. I’m so happy for you. Let’s talk at the next stop.”
They parted, and Jeremiah jumped on his bike, kicked the kickstand up, and nodded to Joci to climb on. Once she was seated, she leaned forward and hugged him.
* * *
“It’s been a great day today. Thank you. I’m beginning to love riding on the back.” Jeremiah leaned his head back on Joci’s shoulder and looked back at her.
“It has been a great day.” Joci tightened her arms around him. “And, for the record, you can ride on back anytime you want. I love having you back there.”
She squeezed a little harder and kissed his neck. She wanted it to work out; she really did, but she was just so afraid to let herself believe it was going to last. The smorgasbord comment LuAnn made sure didn’t make her feel any better.
The bikes started up, and they were on the road again.
This next leg was only about 32 miles. Hills and curves created a mesmerizing ride.
Some of the road was canopied by trees, which sent a chill down her arms as the sun was hidden from them.
Then the canopy would open, and the sun felt warmer than before.
Joci was amazed at all the locals along the way waiting by the roads or at the end of their driveways to watch all the bikes ride past. Most of them waved American flags and cheered as the bikes rode by.
Many of them had little canopies and coolers, and whole driveways full of cars.
They invited people over to watch the bikes and make it a party.
Some people made signs thanking the veterans, and some of them had signs stating where they had served.
People were taking pictures, waving, and yelling Thank you. At one point, Joci teared up; she was so overwhelmed by the show of support for the veterans.
She leaned forward and hugged Jeremiah. “Does that make you feel good about serving, Jeremiah?”
He nodded, unable to speak. A couple of farmers had huge tractors with large cherry-picker baskets on them, and they parked them next to the road facing each other and strung a big banner between them over the road that said, ‘Thank You, Veterans.’ Some people went all out for this.
Now she understood why they mailed the fliers out to each home along the route.
The weather was just perfect. They didn’t have to wear jackets or sweaters.
The sun was shining, the roar of the bikes, Jeremiah in front of her, rubbing her leg and pushing his back into her so he could feel her.
Life was made of fantastic moments like this.
Joci would remember this for the rest of her life.
She hadn’t been able to make this ride last year, but Gunnar had told her about it.
It was why she agreed to help out with it this year.
Gunnar talked about it all year. He was so excited about it; Joci wanted to see it for herself.
She was very glad she had. First of all, she met Jeremiah. Second of all, this was amazing.
All too soon, they were pulling into the next stop.
It was a resort just out of Mansfield, a small town out in the country.
The resort had plenty of parking, and bars had been set up outside for people to buy drinks.
Jeremiah and Joci were walking to one of the bars when Sandi and Jon caught up with them. They walked together to get drinks.
They stood talking and watching people mill about. Soon, JT and Ryder came over to say hello, and not long after that, Bryce and Angie stopped by.
Angie was very pretty, as were the other sisters-in-law.
The Sheppards were a beautiful family. Angie had short blonde hair and light blue eyes.
She was about Joci’s height. Bryce was smaller than Jeremiah in height and weight.
He had darker hair—a light brown, unlike Jeremiah and Dayton's blond—and he had brown eyes. They were a striking couple.
Jeremiah leaned over to Joci. “I’d like to go in and say hello to the manager and thank him. Would you come with me?”
Joci smiled. “Sure, I’d like to use the restroom anyway.”
Saying goodbye, they walked hand in hand into the resort.
Once inside, Jeremiah maneuvered them to the bar and asked the bartender where he could find Smitty.
The bartender nodded to a door at the other end of the bar, and Jeremiah waved two fingers in thanks, and off they went, weaving their way in and out of people.
As soon as they were able to get to the door, Jeremiah knocked and was greeted with a terse, “Yeah.”
Jeremiah opened the door laughing. “Hiding out?”
Smitty quickly stood up, shook hands with Jeremiah, and nodded to Joci.
“This is my girlfriend, Joci. Joci, this is Smitty.”
“We have over eighteen hundred people today, Smitty. Best turnout ever. Eighteen hundred and three!”
“Holy shit, Dog. This thing keeps growing; we’re going to be too small for you. It brings a lot of money to us. The guests here just love looking at all the bikes and cars. The past couple of years, guests ask when the ride is going to be here because they want to come and see all the bikers.”
“Great to hear. We’ll manage with the numbers, no matter what. We need to run, but I wanted to stop by and thank you and introduce you to Joci. See ya around.”