Page 14 of Crazy for You

“So when do we start?” she asked, reluctantly tucking her hand into the pocket of her jacket.

“Another week or two, once the weather warms up.”

“I’m not cold.”

He stared at her for a moment then shook his head and started walking back toward the main building. “You’re trouble, Emma Rush.”

She fist-pumped the air. “Exactly what I was going for. See? You’re helping me out already.”

The Harley roared beneath him as Ryan hugged the mountain roads outside Haven. The wind whipped at his face and filled his lungs, cold and crisp. He could taste spring in the air, see it in the green buds on the trees along the roadside.

He’d been back in Haven almost a year now. Sometimes, it felt like he’d never left. So many things were the same, like these roads and the invigorating mountain air. Some things had changed, though. He’d changed. He wanted to make something of himself at Off-the-Grid with Ethan and Mark, something permanent and worthwhile. And now, with Trent here, it seemed more important than ever. He wanted to be someone his little brother could look up to.

When the Lamars had first begun the process of adopting Trent, Ryan got suspended from school for vandalism and was looking at time in juvie. So once the adoption had gone through, they’d moved away with him, and Ryan never heard from them again.

He’d never known his dad so the one-two punch of losing his mom and then his brother had sent Ryan into a predictable downward spiral. He’d met Ethan and Mark in a group home, all of them wards of the state. The three of them had become thick as thieves, raising hell but also forming a bond, a brotherhood that had lasted into adulthood.

Those guys, and now Trent, were all Ryan had in this world.

He turned onto Mountain Breeze Road and gunned the engine, headed back into town. He was on his way to meet Trent for burgers at Rowdy’s, but he’d needed a long ride to blow off some steam and cool his head first.

Except every time he let his mind wander, he was remembering the feel of Emma’s arms around his waist when he’d driven her home last night, her sweet, floral scent, the way she’d crawled up his back and tried to kiss him. She’d gotten her wish all right—he was definitely not still thinking about her as the tomboyish kid she’d once been. Nope, he had seen the sexy, grown-up version of her, and he liked it, a little too much.

But he didn’t like that she’d asked him for help changing her image. Because now she was doing exactly what she’d accused him of: she was still seeing him as the hell-raiser he’d been back in the day. And he was not that guy anymore. He couldn’t afford to be that guy, not if he wanted to stay part of Trent’s life.

He roared past Off-the-Grid, waving at Ethan and Gabby standing by Ethan’s red Jeep, then grimaced when he saw what they were doing. “Yo, get a room!” he yelled.

Ethan flipped him the bird.

Shaking his head, Ryan followed Mountain Breeze Road to its end, then swung a right onto Main Street. As luck would have it, he rolled into an open spot right in front of Rowdy’s. Trent stood out front, hands shoved into the pockets of an oversized gray hoodie with MISSOURI COLLEGE written in big letters on the front and a black knit cap pulled low over his ears.

He couldn’t have looked any more like an awkward teenager if he’d tried.

Ryan pulled off his helmet and glasses. “Hey.”

Trent’s eyes were almost as big as his face. “That’s a sweet ride. It’s yours?”

Ryan nodded as he swung off the bike. “Hungry?”

“Yeah.”

Inside Rowdy’s, their waitress showed them to the table Ryan and his friends usually occupied—off to the side with a view of whatever game was on the big-screen TV over the bar. The place occasionally lived up to its name on a Friday or Saturday night, but at six o’clock on a Tuesday, it was a perfectly respectable place to bring his teenage brother for a burger.

His brother.

Ryan shook his head as he looked at the skinny kid across from him. “Still can’t quite believe you’re here.”

“My parents are super pissed.” Trent said it with the kind of smug satisfaction Ryan might have felt at that age. Today, it twisted uncomfortably in his gut.

“They know you’re here?”

Trent nodded.

“You got plans? Going home? Back to college?”

His brother shrugged. “Thought I might hang here awhile, if that’s cool with you.”

“It’s definitely cool with me, man, as long as you’re not using me to piss your parents off.” Ryan gave him a hard look.

---