Adrenaline: A Fall Away Series Bonus Content Collection (13 page)

Madoc

“Hey, Jared?” I called out, shouting over the crowd at the Loop. “You know what you call two Mustangs at the top of a hill? A miracle!”

I chuckled, enjoying the sight of his back tensing as he knelt down in front of his tire. Tate cocked an eyebrow, shooting me a warning look as she rounded the Boss to talk to her husband.

I shook my head and smiled, turning around to face the crowd.

Still so easy.

Even after all these years, riling him up was as simple as tying my shoes. That’s what I liked most about Jared. He was predictable. He never threw my shit back at me. He took it in, absorbed it, and let his temper build. Which usually worked in his favor. He was probably going to win tonight despite the shade I was throwing at his car.

Sliding my hands into my pockets, I scanned the area, surveying the summer evening. The crowd was huge, the night clear, and music blared from all the speakers posted around. It was almost as if it was high school again.

Almost.

I spotted Jax chatting with Zack, both of them now able to sit back and enjoy the events without micro-managing the races anymore. It practically ran itself now.

His wife, Juliet, had a three-year-old flipped over her shoulder as she spun him around out in the field. She and Jax started taking in foster kids a few years ago, much braver than I would be, that was for sure. I could only imagine how hard it was to have to give the kids up when it was time for them to move on.

Their thirteen-year-old son, Hawke, stood a few yards away, tossing a football back and forth with my son, Kade, while my little sister, Quinn, sat on the grass, ear phones hanging around her neck and drawing pictures in her notebook as she kept an eye on my six-year-old daughter, A.J.

Since Quinn was nearly fourteen now, and old enough to babysit, we’d started keeping her pretty busy. Unfortunately, she’d also started requiring that we pay her, too.

Dylan and Hunter were...

Where were Dylan and Hunter?

I glanced left to right, and then all around me, which I pretty much did every twelve seconds of my life, counting kids and assessing that everyone was in one piece. I finally found Dylan sitting on a blanket with some of her friends.

At twelve, she definitely had her mom’s spunk, but she was also burdened with her father’s disregard for rules. Hopefully it wouldn’t get her into as much trouble as it had him.

Hunter strolled over and pulled his headphones off his neck, nudging Dylan’s shoulder as he handed them to her. Without a word, she took them and put them on, as if they’d done this a hundred times before, and she slowly began to bob her head to whatever song he’d wanted her to listen to.

I couldn’t help but smile.

Hunter was very different from Kade. Hell, he was different from me, Jared, and Jax, too. He was quieter, gentler, and he took notice of things the rest of us didn’t see. And while I used to suspect that Kade’s connection to Dylan was stronger, I was slowly starting to understand that maybe—just maybe—Hunter’s connection to her went deeper.

She took off the headphones, handing them back up to him with a smile and nodding her head as if giving him the go-ahead. They were working on a video yearbook for their middle school and collaborating on music, so whatever he’d found must’ve gotten her approval.

I crossed my arms over my chest, watching him just stand there, his feet shuffling nervously as he struggled to find his game.

Not like his dad. I was born ready.

But before he got a chance to say anything, a football came racing toward him, knocking him in the arm. I let out an aggravated breath and watched as he stumbled backward. He righted himself and shot a glare to the field where Kade stood laughing at him. The football had clearly come from him.

A few of the girls around Dylan giggled, as well, and I could see Hunter’s chest heaving. He was angry, but he wouldn’t do anything.

He never did.

I locked my jaw shut, every muscle tensing. Kade needed a kick in the ass, but unfortunately, Fallon disapproved of abusing the children.

As the boys had gotten older, they got along less and less, and while Fallon and I used to intercede and deal with the situations, trying to make peace, we eventually decided that they needed to work it out themselves. Hunter would learn nothing if we constantly ran to his aide, and punishing Kade only made Hunter feel weak.

Hunter’s entire body was stiff, and I could tell he wanted to react, but I could also tell he was embarrassed. People were laughing at him, and as usual, others’ rallied in his brother’s corner.

Hunter was always alone.

He dropped his eyes, his expression going flat, and then he left, giving Kade exactly what he wanted.

I shook my head, following him over to Jax’s car where it sat on the side of the track. He put his headphones on and folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back on the hood.

Stepping over next to him, I pulled the headphones back off his shaggy blond head. “He was joking around with you,” I explained, seeing the annoyed press to his lips. “Give it back to him or tell him to screw off. I know he makes you angry. You can tell him.”

He stared at the ground, anger still boiling under his skin. He wanted me to leave. He didn’t want to talk about his brother or about how he felt powerless around him.

“I don’t care,” he said in a flat tone. “They all think he’s so cool, and they like him more, so let them. I don’t need any of it.”

His jaw flexed, and I could tell he was grinding his teeth.

“Everyone seems to like him more?” I repeated. “Or one person seems to like him more?”

He raised his eyes, and I followed his gaze, seeing Kade and Hawke pulling the blanket up around the girls, making it look like Santa’s sack. Dylan yelled for them to stop, at the same time squealing and giggling with her friends.

“Like I said, I don’t care,” Hunter replied in an even tone, pulling his headphones back on.

But I yanked them back off again. “Do you care that he excludes you?” I pressed. “Don’t you want to do something about it?”

He looked away, and I wasn’t sure if I should keep going or leave him alone. He definitely didn’t want to hear it, but then you think he might NEED to hear it, so…

Parenting was hard. Like really fucking hard.

While Fallon and I had stopped interfering every time he and his brother got in an argument, I still wanted to be there for him. You know, keep the lines of communication open before he retreated inward, dropped out of school, became addicted to heroin, and we never heard from him again.

But then if I communicated TOO much, it might make him self-conscious, nervous, and then he could still get addicted to heroin, and we’d never hear from him again.

I tipped my head down, speaking frankly. “Life gets more complicated as we get older, Hunter. Especially where girls come in,” I added. “And standing up to Kade will be hard, but the thing is, it’s only hard the first time you do it. Everything is difficult until it becomes familiar.” I paused and then kept going. “You move to a new place, with no friends, and it’s hard. But then it becomes easier. You kiss a girl for the first time…”

“Dad…”

“And it’s hard,” I said louder, talking over him. “But then it becomes familiar, and it’s a piece of cake. Everything is easier once you get used to doing it. Except seeing skinny jeans on men.” I narrowed my eyes, shaking my head. “That trend should just never happen again.”

He rolled his eyes, looking like he was suffering the worst torture.

“Anyway,” I continued, “like I said, everything is difficult the first time. Like standing up to Kade will be. But once you do it, it’s going to get easier. Now, whether or not it’s tonight, next week, or five years from now, is completely up to you, but you’re her friend, too, and you have every right to be over there with them. Understand?”

He frowned, continuing to avoid my eyes.

I offered a small smile and finally stepped away, knowing I’d embarrassed him enough. But before I got too far, I turned around.

“And you’re wrong,” I pointed out. “Not everyone is a fan of your brother. Jared likes you more.”

Jared didn’t like Kade around Dylan, because Kade was too much like him. And the last thing we wanted for our daughters was men like us in high school.

I headed back to the track. Swinging an arm around my wife, she looked up at me as I stared over at Hunter retreating into his headphones again.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

I shook my head in thought. “Not sure what it is about him. I just feel like he needs us more than Kade does.”

“Hunter’s more like you. That’s why.”

Pinching my eyebrows together, I peered down at her. “How do you figure that?”

Kade was the confident one. If anything, he was the one who took after me.

But Fallon gazed down the track, nodding at Jared next to his car. “You know what it’s like to grow up in someone else’s shadow,” she remarked.

I breathed out a laugh. Okay, maybe she had a point.

Tightening my arm around her, I brought her in closer as I looked back at Hunter. “Storm’s coming, baby. I just hope she’s gentle.”

“I don’t think she’ll have any more control over that than they will.”

Jared

“Hey, Jared!” Madoc called behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder as I dumped some tools back in my car.

“I put chains in my trunk.” He smiled, holding his wife close. “Worse comes to worst, I can tow you across the line. At least you can finish, right?”

Fallon rolled her eyes, slapping him on the stomach as he and a few bystanders chuckled.

I turned back around, so he wouldn’t see the corner of my lips turning up in a smile. Madoc was so predictable.

He knew he might lose, so the best way to lose gracefully was to look like he wasn’t taking it too seriously. Crack some jokes, throw some insults, so he could just shrug off the loss as if it didn’t matter later. He’d always covered up his insecurities with humor, and it was one of the things I appreciated about him. Whereas I moped or retaliated through my self-doubt, his first instinct was to put himself and everyone around him at ease.

“Don’t worry.” Jax walked past me, slapping me on the back. “You’ll finish.”

And then he snorted, walking around the front of my car and attaching a small camera to the hood.

Really? Did everyone want to bust my chops today? I knew the prospect of a race between Madoc and me would bring in the crowd, despite the fact that we hadn’t raced here in years, but whereas everyone buzzed with who would win, I hadn’t really thought about it at all. I didn’t care.

When the hell had that happened?

“You’re quiet.” I heard a soft voice say as I fit the tools back into their case.

Looking up, I saw Tate standing next to the car, our five-year-old son, James, standing in front of her. Her arms were draped over his shoulders, hands locked in front of his chest as she gave me a thoughtful look.

“I’m always quiet,” I said in a low voice, shooting her a smirk as I closed the trunk.

She nodded, a knowing smile crossing her face. And then she looked down, nudging James. “Why don’t you go see if Jax needs help?”

His brown eyes got bright, and he immediately pulled away from her. I ruffled his sandy blond hair as he shot past us, off to look for his uncle.

Tate moved in close, tucking her long hair behind her ear. She looked so good in her jeans, white t-shirt, and brown leather jacket. I was already thinking of asking Jax or Madoc to take Dylan and James for the night, so I could take Tate and the car and just go get lost after the race.

“We haven’t raced here in a long time,” she remarked, looking around wistfully. “It was very different back then.”

I grabbed the cloth out of my back pocket and wiped off my hands “Different? Like how?”

“You were angrier,” she said, leaning back on the trunk. “You had something to prove. Now you’re…calm.”

“I’m happy,” I retorted.

She smiled, and I moved in front of her, lifting her off the ground and planting her ass on the trunk.

She sucked in a quick breath and then let out a small laugh. “You still make my stomach flip when you do that.”

“Do I?” I narrowed my eyes, peering at her. “Because a minute ago, you said I was ‘calm’. It’s starting to sound like I’m not exciting you anymore.”

She dropped her eyes and her voice to a whisper, blushing. “Please. You know that’s not true.”

Positioning myself between her thighs, I wrapped my arms around her waist, catching Dylan over Tate’s shoulder, out in the field, scowling at us. Then she rolled her eyes before turning back to her friends.

My chest shook with a laugh. If the poor kid had any idea how Jax and I grew up, she might be grateful rather than embarrassed to see her parents showing a little affection.

“It’s…I don’t know,” Tate went on. “Something’s just different now. The Loop feels different than it did in high school. You know?”

I stared into her storm-blue eyes, realizing I wasn’t imagining it after all. She felt it, too. It was different.