Page 31 of Fly Back to Me
A cloud of smoke escapes his lips, the black leather of his coat obscured behind the white vapors. With his interest planted downward, a loose tendril mildly curls over his forehead. Then my eyes suddenly trace the way his full, stubbled lips purse around the rear of the cylindrical paper.
I yank my chin up, fastening my ogling to the exposed beams of the ceiling.
He’s a smoker.
I’m not attracted to smokers.
But even with that fact, I can’t thwart the way my lower belly bunches at the sight. Masculinity exudes effortlessly from him, the allure provoking me in the best and worst of ways. He harbors anedgethat I’m not quite sure of. Normally, I’d be running for the hills in the opposite direction, but instead, I’m galloping toward it with arms wide open.
I blame Lauren, honestly.
If it weren’t for her stupid recommendation tonight, I could’ve just buried the memory of Cade six feet under. Never to see or think of him again.
“Ready?”
Lauren’s voice peels me off the wall. “Shit, you scared me,” I breathe.
Her irises flash with concern when she rests a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
I smile, waving my hands in front of her. “No, I’m fine, I’m fine. Let’s go.”
When I spin on my heels, she’s trailing behind me until we curl left to exit through the glass doors. Our boots travel the concrete, and my hands slip into the pockets of my plaid coat to hide from the small chill.
The white fenders of Cade’s vacant Harley poke into my line of view—a Softail Deluxe. My legs decelerate, swerving gently inits direction as Lauren walks beside me. It’s agood-lookingbike, that’s for sure. And of course, he’d be the one to own and ride one.
My gaze skims over the white wall tires, creeping its way up to the handlebars. Until I notice something dangling from the chrome, and my body freezes all functions.
A blur of white amidst the nighttime, only to sharpen when my eyes finally adjust.
There’s not a chance I could miss it.
A white feather.
My heart plummets into the pit of my stomach, breaths jumbling beneath my chest and stripping me of the ability to speak a single word. Lauren’s voice fades in and out, her words circling me over and over again, but never penetrating my ears. Nor do I care for them to.
The feather delicately flutters with each whisk of the wind. A feather that’s the same length as the one I brought to Officer Bellmont several months ago.
Each soft swing of the keepsake whispers in my ear.
He’s come back for me.
He’s flown back to me.
“Liv, you’re scaring me!”
I jolt when two hands curl snugly around my upper arms, carefully shaking me to come to. My eyes expand as I look at her, her frightened expression lost on me. All I can see is the last five months, playing like a medley of events that led me right here.
To this moment.
To this person.
To him.
Images fall like a downpour of rain, crashing to the ground. Only for the thick droplets to bang against my ankles.
My ankle.
I rip my arms from Lauren’s grasp, snubbing her pleas whenI whirl around. If this is me throwing caution to the wind, so be it.
