Chapter 17 - Hayden
HAYDEN
The town was more of a village, and the village nothing but a collection of tiny mom and pop shops dotted along a stretch of ‘main’ road. Still, somehow we found pizza. It wasn’t New York pizza by any means, but it was warm and cheesy and it filled our bellies on a cold, snowy day.
I was grateful for the rest, the relaxation, and the company.
While none of them outright mentioned the events of last night, the boys flirted heavily with me throughout the day.
We held hands. We exchanged knowing glances.
By the time we found a place to sit down, have a few drinks, and enjoy the eclectic bar decor of rural, snowbound Maine, the rest of the night was a forgone conclusion:
We were going to have a really, really great time once we got back to the cabin.
I was on my third glass of wine as the sun was setting, and Carter suggested we get ‘home.’ I couldn’t wait.
I’d spent the day learning about all three of them, and answering their questions about me.
It turned out Bodie was a freelance accountant — go figure — and I got the impression Carter was struggling more than he liked to admit when it came to keeping the bar afloat.
I still didn’t know exactly what Sawyer did, other than help Carter keep the bar going, but there was something in the way he talked about the world that told me he’d seen a lot of it.
On the way back to the cabin we pulled into a gas station; because Bodie insisted we fuel up now so we wouldn’t have to do it in the morning.
It was all fine with me. My stomach had been nothing but butterflies since Sawyer pushed me against the wall and began kissing me in the back hallway of the bar.
I’d melted into a puddle when the other two came out of the bathroom to do the same, my heart pounding as they took turns and kept lookout.
Halfway through, it hit me that, yes, I’d just slept with three guys at the same time. And yes, I was going to do it again. One more time. For posterity.
Whatever the fuck that was.
Right now I was deep in the gas station’s mini-mart, having been entrusted with the task of last-minute drinks and snacks for the evening. A wall of beef jerky lay stretched out before me; end to end, floor to ceiling. It was so formidable in size, it was actually intimidating.
“So, do you know about the law of inverse proportion for beef jerky?”
I jumped as Sawyer materialized behind me. His hands moved to my hips, making me even more distracted.
“No, can’t say I’ve heard that one.”
“That’s because it’s my own personal theory,” Sawyer declared proudly. “The further from New York City you get, the bigger the beef jerky display. It works for any major city, really. But especially for New York.”
“So… in the Midwest?”
“Entire stores of nothing but jerky,” he smiled, sweeping an arm grandly. “Acres of jerky.”
“I see.”
“Anywhere in the five boroughs though?” he went on. “One or two choices, at best. Not counting Slim Jims, of course, because they aren’t jerky. Not that there’s anything wrong with Slim Jims, they’re just in a different family when it comes to…”
If Sawyer continued talking, I no longer heard him. And that’s because I was too fixated by what was going on at the front of the store.
No way.
Up near the counter, a man stood talking to the cashier in an animated, arm-waving fashion. And not just any man, but a giant man. A giant blond man.
No fucking way.
He was the same height, same width, same obnoxious stature. But then he spoke… and I heard his voice.
Oh my GOD.
My gaze shifted outside. Through the giant glass windows I could see Carter and Bodie. They’d finished refueling, and were climbing back into the truck. But just beyond that, on the other side of the gas pumps…
Cole’s Mustang.
“Best thing to do is get one of each flavor,” Sawyer was saying. “That way we cover our bases. Besides, who knows if we’ll ever see this big of a jerky selection ever again. We could go our entire lives, and never—”
“Sawyer, let’s go!” I hissed.
He looked down at me, totally confused. “You don’t like jerky?”
“No! We have to get—”
“Something else then?” he cut me off. “Combos? Pringles? Takis?”
He began picking them up. I plucked them from his hands, frantically.
“No, Sawyer—”
“You’re right, Takis are shit,” he rambled on. “They stain your mouth, and teeth, and they taste like battery acid.”
Grabbing his wrist, I tried pulling him bodily out of the store. It was like trying to tow a tank with a turtle.
“Please,” I hissed, leaning in close. “Don’t talk, don’t ask questions, just… just leave with me.”
I pulled again, and this time he followed without hesitation. We exited the store and made our way to the truck, with me looking over my shoulder the whole time.
“Hayden…”
I shushed him again and flung open the back door. The others looked confused as we climbed inside.
“Please,” I whispered, without even thinking. “We need to go.”
Carter’s brow furrowed as I climbed all the way back, into the bench seat. Bodie turned to look back at us.
“Go?”
“Just drive,” I pleaded. “NOW.”
There was confusion in their eyes as we pulled away. Carter spent the whole time looking at me in the rear-view mirror, his expression laced with deep concern. Bodie was staring at Sawyer, who only shrugged.
Was it really him? My mind rejected the whole idea, suddenly. Could it really have been Cole, though? This many miles away?
It certainly looked and sounded like him. From the back, anyway. And that was definitely his stupid car: the 60’s era Mustang he was so proud of, that he could barely squeeze his giant ass into. A cool car in theory, but not when the steering wheel is practically in your chest.
Of course, other people had old Mustangs. Even some people in Maine. Not to mention Cole had no earthly idea where I was, or how to find me. The sheer amount of messages he’d left could attest to that.
“Hayden…” Carter eventually ventured. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said, a little too quickly. “I just… I want to go home. I need to go home.”
Sawyer climbed into the back with me. He took my hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.
“Alright, no big deal. There’s still a few drinks and snacks back at the cabin. We can just—”
“No, I want to go home home,” I interjected. “Back to New York.”
Bodie lifted an eyebrow. “Right now?”
“Yes,” I muttered glumly. “Please.”
An uncomfortable silence blanketed the interior of the vehicle. I could see the struggle in their eyes, just beyond the disappointment. They wanted desperately to ask me what happened. They wanted to know what could’ve possibly changed in the last few minutes.
But all three of them were afraid to open their mouths.
You could just tell them, you know.
No, no way. Not after all the trouble Cole had already caused them. If God forbid it actually turned out to be him, and the psycho had driven all the way up here? Who knows what the hell he might do? Not to mention what they might do, in the event of a confrontation.
No, the idea of telling them was out the window. I’d caused them more than enough trouble. From here on out, my problems were my own.
“Alright then,” Carter sighed finally, working hard to keep a reassuring tone. “New York it is. Nothing wrong with leaving tonight, we’ll beat the traffic.”
“Thank you,” I sighed in relief. “I really appreciate it.”
With that I scrunched down in the sanctity of the big Yukon, letting the heated leather rise up around me.
The bench seat felt soothing as I settled into it.
It felt even more soothing when Sawyer pulled me into his two big arms and wrapped them around me, calming all ten thousand of my racing, conflicting thoughts.
I was asleep in minutes.