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  "I don't think I'll feel those kind of sparks with anyone ever again. I only felt that way with Dylan because we didn't know each other. It was the unknown, the mystery about each other, that made us feel like that. If we were actually dating, it'd be different."

  "Are you sure about that? Because I've been dating Austin for almost a week and the sparks I felt when I met him are still there, and they're not going away. If anything, they're even stronger."

  She sits up. "You're not making me feel better."

  "Sorry. I just want you to be with someone you really like."

  "I like Matt. We just need to figure out that part of our relationship. I'll make him dinner tonight and I'll shove Dylan out of my head and then maybe the sparks will appear."

  "Maybe," I say, but I don't think they will. The chemistry is either there or it's not. I know Amber already knows that, but for whatever reason, she wants to keep dating Matt.

  As for my own man, I need to get back to him. He's probably wondering what's going on in here. I'm sure he heard Amber and me fighting, but I hope he didn't hear what we said. I still don't want to tell him the truth about what happened to me. I'd rather he never know. He doesn't need to. I'm fine now. My workouts are going well, and if I keep them up, maybe I could try competing next year. Even if it's just a local competition, that's a start. I just need to be a gymnast again, both for my family and for me.

  Gymnastics is all I've ever known. It's what I'm good at. It's what makes me happy. What makes me feel like me. Without it, I feel lost. I don't know who I am.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Austin

  I don't know what's going on, but right after Amber got home, she and Kira started fighting. They went in Amber's room and I could hear them yelling at each other. Matt said they fight all the time, but if they're best friends, why are they fighting so much? I hardly ever fight with my friends. Maybe it's a girl thing, although Callie, Ivy, and Jen are all friends and they never fight.

  "You already have the bracket up?" I hear Kira ask.

  I turn around and see her smiling, like everything is fine. "Yeah. It didn't take long." I nod toward Amber's room. "Everything okay in there?"

  "Yeah. We were just having girl talk. We can get a little loud."

  "It sounded like you were fighting."

  "We weren't fighting. We were just talking loud."

  She's not being truthful again. I know what I heard, and they were fighting, so why doesn't she just admit it? What is she trying to cover up?

  "I'm going to finish the shake you made me," she says. "You want anything?"

  "No, I'm good."

  She goes in the kitchen as I attach the TV to the bracket. When it's secured in place, I turn the TV on. "What do you think?"

  "Looks great!" I hear Amber say. I turn and see her walking into the living room. "Thanks for doing that for us."

  "Yeah, thanks," Kira says, standing next to Amber. "It's so much better than having it on the floor."

  "You guys heading out now?" Amber asks. She doesn't seem mad anymore and neither does Kira.

  "Yeah, we just need to get my bike. I'll go grab my keys." Kira goes in her room.

  "You're not going to work her too hard today, are you?" Amber asks, glancing down at Kira's room.

  "I think she'll be the one working me. You should've seen how fast she was going on those rollerblades yesterday."

  "Well, don't be afraid to tell her to take it easy. She tends to push herself too hard."

  "Okay, let's go." Kira's back, her keys in her hand.

  We go downstairs and get Kira's bike and put it in my truck. By the time we reach the trail, it's almost ten and a lot of people are already out. I picked a trail that winds through the trees to give us some shade. The sun is out and it already feels hot but at least there's a breeze.

  "Why don't we slow down a little?" I ask Kira after we've been biking at record speed for at least twenty minutes.

  "Don't you want a workout?"

  "We had a workout last night with the rollerblades. Today doesn't need to be a workout. We can't talk when we're going this fast."

  She slows down, but just slightly. "Is this better?"

  I slow down even more, but it's still faster than most people are going. "Let's try this."

  "This seems really slow."

  "You'll get used to it."

  At least now we can have a conversation. We talk about movies and music, and then I tell her how I got started with the band. An hour later, we decide to turn around and head back, but stop first for a water break.

  "This is fun," she says, stretching her legs out as we sit on the bench. "I'm glad you suggested it. Are we going again tomorrow?"

  I smile and give her a kiss. "You never stop, do you?"

  "I told you I like being active."

  "I know, but sometimes you need to rest. Why don't we keep it low-key tomorrow? Maybe take a walk somewhere."

  "I guess we could do that."

  "We could go to one of the parks downtown. They're having concerts there for the holiday. Speaking of that, you want to come over on Monday? My dad and I are cooking out. My brothers are out of town so it's just my dad and me."

  "I should probably spend the day getting ready for class."

  "What's there to get ready? Don't you just show up there on Tuesday?"

  She laughs. "Yeah. I guess I don't really need to get ready. But I don't want to interrupt your family time."

  "You're not interrupting anything. And if that's what you were worried about, then just tell me that. You don't have to make up an excuse. Be direct, remember?"

  "It's not always that easy to do." She drinks her water.

  "Sure it is. Just tell me what you're thinking. It's as easy as that."

  She turns to me. "So what are you thinking right now?"

  "About how hot you look." It's true. She isn't wearing much and I can't stop looking at her. That tight little body, those sexy curves, and her skin is smooth and soft with a deep tan.

  "I'm all sweaty," she says, wiping her forehead. "I don't look hot."

  I cup her chin and look in her eyes. "Trust me. You look hot."

  She kisses me. "Ready to head back?"

  "Just let me finish my water." As I gulp it down, I hear someone saying my name. I look over and see a girl walking toward me with a guy just behind her. The girl looks familiar. A tall blonde with long legs, a pretty face, and breasts that are too big and perky to be real. She has on one of those tight cycling shirts in a bright pink color and black bike shorts.

  "Austin." She comes up to me, smiling, and takes her helmet off.

  It's Lauren. We went out last spring. It was only for a few weeks, but we had a lot of sex in those weeks. Like A LOT. That's all she wanted to do, so what the hell? I wasn't going to say no. The girl is hot. I tried taking her on dates, but when I'd go to pick her up, we'd never make it out of her apartment.

  I get up from the bench. "Hey, Lauren, how's it going?"

  "Great. How have you been?"

  "Good." Kira is now standing beside me and I motion to her. "This is my girlfriend, Kira."

  Kira gives her a wave.

  Lauren glances at her, then points to the guy she's with. "This is Brian. My brother."

  "Hey." He gives me a nod.

  Lauren smiles at me. "Maybe we could meet for coffee and catch up. I'd love to see you again."

  I don't know why girls do this. Why they flirt with a guy in front of his girlfriend. Are they just trying to stir up trouble?

  I take Kira's hand. "We've gotta get going, but enjoy the rest of your ride."

  "Come on," her brother says.

  Lauren puts her helmet on. "I'm sure I'll see you at the bar. Maybe we can catch up then." She flashes me another smile, then she and her brother take off.

  "I'm guessing you dated her?" Kira asks as she gets on her bike.

  "Yeah," I mutter.

  She just nods and takes off on her bike.

  Great. Now K
ira's mad because Lauren was flirting with me. Now I know how my brother, Jake, feels. He dated a ton of girls before he met Ivy and they're always coming up to him and flirting, even with Ivy there.

  "You're mad," I say as I catch up to Kira.

  "I'm not mad." She glances at me. "I know you've dated other girls. Probably a lot of other girls. The thing that's irritating is that she flirted with you even after you told her I was your girlfriend."

  "I know. It was rude. Sorry."

  "She's the one who owes me an apology, not you."

  At least Kira's not blaming me for this.

  "How long did you date her?"

  "Just for a few weeks. Last April."

  "Where'd you meet her?"

  "She's a bartender at one of the bars we play at. Let's not talk about her, okay? I don't want her ruining our day."

  Kira smiles. "I wouldn't let her do that."

  "Good. So new topic. What are you thinking for lunch? I'm starving."

  "Me too. Maybe Mexican? I know it's not the healthiest but I'm really craving it."

  "There's healthy stuff at Mexican places. And I splurge on the weekends."

  "Then let's do Mexican. But I need to clean up first. I stink."

  "You don't stink, but yeah, I'll take you to your apartment."

  It takes an hour to bike back to my truck, so by the time we get there, we're both starving. I give her one of the protein bars I brought.

  "These are really good," she says, looking at the label on the bar. "Where'd you get these?"

  "They sell them at the gym. I'm friends with the manager so he sells them to me at cost." We're driving back to her apartment and I cut through a residential area to avoid traffic. "I could get you some if you want."

  "That'd be great. I love these peanut butter ones. If you could—"

  "Shit, hold on." I quickly pull over and park on the street because I just watched some old guy fall off a ladder. He's on the ground now, unable to get up. I turn off the truck and jump out and run over to him, kneeling beside him. "You okay?"

  He rolls onto his back, holding his arm. He's really old, like 85, or maybe even older.

  Kira races over to me. "Is he okay?"

  "I don't know."

  "I'm fine," he says, in a scratchy voice. "Just need some help getting up."

  "Does your arm hurt?" Kira asks him. "Maybe you should stay there. We'll call an ambulance."

  "I don't need one. Just help me up." He holds his hand out to me but I hold his arm instead while Kira takes his other arm. We help him up to standing. "Damn ladder," he says. "Gave out just as I was cutting a branch." He's looking up at the massive oak tree that's above us.

  "Why don't you just leave it?" I say. "The tree looks fine."

  "The power company's making me cut it back. Says it's growing too close to the lines."

  "Why don't you just hire someone? It's dangerous cutting branches like that."

  "I don't have money to hire someone. And this is my last day to do it before I get fined." He waves at us. "You kids run along. I'm okay. Just got a little scratched up."

  I look at his arm and see a big cut by his elbow with blood seeping out. Kira sees it too. We look at each other and I can tell she wants to help this guy as much as I do. No wonder I like this girl so much.

  "You need to get that cleaned up," Kira says, taking him by the arm. "Let's go inside."

  "I gotta cut those branches." He tries to yank his arm away from her but he's too weak.

  "I'll do it," I tell him. "You got a bigger ladder and maybe a better saw?"

  "Kid, I can't let you do that. Like you said, it's dangerous work."

  "I do construction for a living. This is nothing."

  He pauses, considering it. I hear him wheezing as he breathes. He's in rough shape. There's no way he should be cutting trees.

  He points to the garage. "There's a bigger ladder in there but I haven't used it for a while. Make sure the bolts are tight before you get on it. As for the saw, that's all I got."

  "That's okay. I might have one in my truck."

  "Harold?" An elderly woman is standing at the door to the house. "Everything okay out there?"

  "Everything's fine," he calls back. "Just getting some help with the tree. Scraped my arm up a little."

  "Let's go clean it up," Kira says, helping him to the door.

  I guarantee Lauren wouldn't be doing this. If Lauren were here instead of Kira, she'd be telling me to let the old guy cut his own tree so we could continue on with our day. But that's not how I was raised. I was taught to stop and help when someone needs it, and apparently Kira was taught the same.

  As she takes him inside, I search through the back of my truck and find a saw. It's not mine. I think Nash put it in there and forgot to take it out. I bring it over to the ladder and assess the tree. I don't know much about trees so I'm not sure where, or how much, to cut.

  I call up my dad. "Hey. Got a question," I say when he answers. We talk so often that I just skip the hello.

  "What do you need?"

  "You know anything about trees?" I explain the situation, then send him a photo of the tree and he tells me which branches to cut. I knew he'd be able to help. My dad is amazing. He can do most anything. I don't know where he learned all this shit but I find it impressive.

  "Be careful," he says. "And stay away from the power lines."

  "I will."

  "Austin."

  "Yeah?"

  "It's good you're doing this. Not many people would stop and help."

  "I'm just doing what you and Mom taught me."

  "Yes, but you're also a good kid. Have a big heart. You always have."

  I chuckle. "Don't start getting soft on me, Dad."

  "If that man needs anything else done, tell him we'll take care of it."

  "Okay, I will. Bye."

  A half hour later, I'm still cutting branches and have a lot more to cut.

  Kira comes out of the house and stands at the base of the ladder. "How's it coming?"

  "Slow. It might take me another hour or two. You can take my truck back to your place and pick me up later."

  "I'd rather stay here. Harold's wife made us lunch. She sent me out here to get you."

  "Tell her I'll just stay here and finish. I don't need lunch."

  "Yes, you do. You said you were starving and she really wants you to come inside. She has the table set and everything. Her name is June. She's so sweet. She reminds me of my grandma. Harold's a little grumpy, but I think all old guys are. Anyway, get down here. We'll have lunch and then you can come back out and finish."

  I climb down the ladder. "You sure you're okay with this? We'll probably be here the rest of the afternoon."

  "I don't mind. They need the help." She looks back at the house. "If we hadn't stopped, Harold would probably be in the hospital right now. He passed out. That's why he fell off the ladder. His wife said his pills make him dizzy. So I don't care how long it takes. He's not getting up on that ladder again."

  I take her face in my hands and kiss her. "You're awesome."

  She pulls away. "Come on. Let's go."

  We go inside the tiny one-level house. It has an old person smell and is cluttered with dog figurines. Beagles. Some are dressed in costumes. I don't see a dog anywhere but I'm guessing they used to have a beagle.

  The old lady comes up to me. She's tiny. Less than five feet tall. "Aren't you a handsome young man?" She winks at me. "I bet you're hungry. Right this way."

  We follow her into the eat-in kitchen. Harold's already sitting at the small square table, eating a sandwich.

  "He couldn't wait," she says, motioning to Harold. "He had to take his pill and he has to take it with food."

  "That's fine," Kira says.

  We both sit at the table, our food already arranged on our plates. There's a sandwich, some potato salad, and a square of green gelatin. A small dessert plate is off to the side with a brownie on it and we each have a glass of milk.

>   Kira smiles at me, then picks up her milk and takes a sip.

  "Go ahead," June says, encouraging me to eat.

  "Thanks for lunch, but you didn't have to make us anything."

  "Don't be silly. You saved my Harold from killing himself with that tree."

  "I would've been fine," he barks from the end of the table, his mouth full of potato salad.

  It's a struggle to eat the lunch. I hate mayonnaise, can't even stand the smell of it, and the sandwich is chicken salad made with a ton of mayonnaise. Same with the potato salad. And then the gelatin, another food I don't like. I almost gagged getting it down. But I ate everything on my plate and washed it down with the milk. At least the brownie was good.

  "I should get back to work," I say as June takes my plate.

  "So you do construction?" Harold asks. He hasn't said a word all through lunch. June did all the talking, mostly asking Kira about Michigan and her family.

  "Yeah, I work for my dad," I tell him. "He owns Wheeler Construction and Renovation."

  His brows pop up. "Wheeler, huh? I've heard of them. They do those historic buildings."

  "We do some of those, but we also do residential work and office buildings."

  He smiles. "Bet your father's real proud of you."

  I shrug. "I think he is. I at least try to make him proud."

  He nods. "You're a good young man. A hard worker." He looks at Kira. "You should keep him around. A boy like that is hard to find."

  "It's true," June chimes in.

  Kira just smiles and eats her brownie.

  "So what do your kids do for a living?" I ask. June mentioned them earlier but didn't say what they did.

  Harold answers. "Our daughter, Nancy, is a nurse, and Paul, our son..." He shakes his head. "He used to work in music."

  June lowers her voice like she's telling us a secret. "Paul got mixed up in the wrong crowd. Got himself in trouble with drugs. He's not into that anymore but it cost him his job."

  "Still lives in Los Angeles though." Harold coughs. "Don't know why he lives there. Costs a fortune."

  "Was he a musician?" I'm not sure if I should be asking since their son seems to be a sensitive topic, but I'm curious.

  "He started out as a drummer," June says, "but couldn't make a living, so he got a job at a record label and worked his way up to the top."