Why he didn’t untangle my arms and push me away was beyond my understanding, but he held on. Cupping one hand to the back of my head, he held me to his chest as best he could with the gear shift between us, running his other hand up and down my spine. The whole time he whispered soothing, nonsensical words until he finally made me laugh.
“I always knew I’d make an excellent human tissue.” He dipped his head so that his chin rested atop my head. “Thank you for letting me achieve that dream.”
He was one durable tissue.
When I finally pulled myself together, we left Morgantown. I needed to call my mom, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that yet. She’d support me no matter what I did with my life, but she’d loved watching me dance and compete. In a way, it had been her dream, too.
When we neared Martinsburg, I glanced over at Jase. “Do we have to go back yet?”
“No. We can do whatever you want.”
Going back to that dorm meant going back and facing the future. Like all the classes I needed to take more seriously. “I mean, you probably have—”
“I’m where I want to be,” Jase said, sending me a look that shut me up. “You don’t want to go back yet. Fine. I got the perfect place we can go.”
“You do?” My voice sounded stuffy, and while I was curious to what level of a hot mess I looked, I didn’t dare peek in the mirror.
“Yep.” He winked.
The corners of my lips tipped up as I tugged the band out of my hair. Silence descended between us as we took the road that led to his parents’ farm, but he veered off halfway, turning between two thick oaks.
I clutched the oh-shit handle, my eyes widening. “Is this a road?”
He grinned. “Yes. No.”
A narrow strip of ground was beaten down to where only a few patches of grass peeked through the packed soil. “If this is a road, it’s the kind those kids took in Wrong Turn.”
Tipping his head back, Jase laughed deeply. “Trust me. Where we’re going is much better than where they were heading.”
“That’s not saying much.” With my hand clamped on the handle, I swallowed hard as the Jeep bumped along. Jase gripped the steering wheel hard, and the grin on his face as he winged around trees and rocks was contagious. The motion didn’t hurt my leg, not with the brace on, and before I knew it, I was laughing as I hopped in the seat. In those precious moments, I forgot everything.
“Hold on,” Jase warned.
The Jeep dipped into a gully, and I hooted as we bounced back up. The trees cleared away, revealing a grassy field blanketed with tiny, white flowers. Several yards ahead, the field eased into a body of water. There was a wooden dock that looked rather lonely.
He slowed down, coming to a stop a few feet away from the dock. “Welcome to the Winstead Lake,” he said, turning off the car.
“That’s what it’s called?”
He laughed. “No. It’s really just a pond. But it’s deep enough to go swimming in the summer, and there’s a lot of fish in there. It’s where Jack caught his first fish actually. He did it the first time I brought him out here.”
I smiled, picturing the two of them sitting on the edge of the dock, fishing poles in hand, and one of them much, much smaller. “How old was he?”
“Three,” he said, a proud smile forming on his lips. “He’s got fishing in his blood.”
“And horseback riding?” I unbuckled my seat belt.
“Yep. And he rocks at drawing stick figures, too.” He flashed a quick grin when I laughed, and I was happy that he’d still talk about Jack so easily knowing that I was privy to the truth. “Stay put, okay?”
My hands froze near the door handle. “All right?”
Jase hopped out and headed around the back of the Jeep. The hatch opened and then shut. A few seconds later, he reappeared a few feet away. Leaning back in the seat, I reached down and picked at the brace through my jeans as he spread a dark blue blanket over the dainty flowers.
Emotion clogged my throat, and I struggled to get it to go away. God, sometimes when I was with Jase, it was like all my girlie fantasies were coming true, but even my imagination wouldn’t have created a scene like this.
Was any of this real?
My fingers trailed along the edge of the brace. It was real. The good and the bad.
When he returned to the Jeep, he opened the door and then stopped, looking concerned. “You okay? The ride didn’t hurt your knee, did it?”
“I’m fine.” I smiled as I blinked. I needed meds or something. “Can I move now?”
“Nope.”
“No?”
A lopsided grin appeared as he reached in and gently maneuvered me so that my legs dangled out of the Jeep. Our eyes met as he slipped an arm under my knees and the other around my back. “Hold on.”
My heart did a backflip. A perfect one. “You do not need to carry me.”
“I know,” he replied. “Now hold on.”
I folded my arms around his neck. My fingers fisted the shirt along his shoulders. “I could use my crutches.”
“And I’m using my brawny, spectacular muscles.”
“They are quite spectacular,” I admitted.