Beyond Doubt (14 page)

The moment the words escaped Gabby’s lips, a knot formed in my stomach. The thought of Aaron without anyone, family or loved ones, made my heart hurt just thinking about it. And it also explained his inclination to stay that way, alone.

“I mean I know it had to have screwed with him. Look at his dating life. He obviously doesn’t trust women so he just keeps them at a distance.”

“Has Jason ever mentioned anything?” I asked, tracing the pattern of the comforter. It was the one tip-off this house was owned by guys. The sheets and comforter cover were a Christmas pattern full of snowmen and miniature Santas in the middle of summer.

“A little bit. He tries not to put himself in between anything, but he’s mentioned a few things that had happened over the years, and it tore me up. When they were in the military together they formed a bond really quickly and became one another’s family. He did tell me that he doesn’t think Aaron has ever been in love before. Can you imagine?”

My heart started pounding and I felt Lily’s gaze on me.

“No. I can’t imagine,” I managed to say.

“Everyone deserves love,” Gabby continued on. “I hope he finds it sooner than later rather than continue on with those meaningless relationships. Actually, I don’t think they’d even qualify as relationships. I googled him, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with the same person twice.”

Exactly what I found. My cheeks began to burn, and I prayed the fresh tan would disguise my embarrassment at thinking that I had a shot at changing him.

“If only he could settle down with a nice girl like Lily,” Gabby teased. “That would certainly give him a run for his money.”

“I doubt you’d be fine with any of your friends dating him,” Lily scoffed.

“I wouldn’t care. If that made him happy or whoever... Who am I to say who people can or can’t date?”

My pulse quickened with this confession, and I suddenly wanted to blurt out that I had been Google-stalking her brother, but I kept quiet. Voicing that she doesn’t care who her brother dates was far different than actually witnessing it with her best friend.

“What sucks is that I think he can’t trust women because of our mom. Like he wants to punish women or beat them to the cheating thing.”

“That would make sense,” I agreed.

“Although, I don’t think he actually cheats on anyone because he doesn’t date anyone long enough for it to qualify as a relationship.”

“Does anyone want any more guacamole?” Lily asked, sliding off the bed.

If she thought that now was the time I was going to confess my love for Gabby’s brother, she was quite mistaken.

“I don’t need any,” I said, raising a brow.

I knew her tricks.

“Yeah, I’m fine too. I’d like to fit in my bikini tomorrow,” Gabby laughed.

Lily reluctantly climbed back on the bed and sat quietly. I glanced out the window and saw flames beginning to roll as the bonfires were started. I hoped Jason would get here soon.

“It’s funny where people find love,” Lily said, jolting me out of my daydreams. Her tone had softened, and this was a side of Lily that didn’t come out much.

“That’s so true,” Gabby said, pulling the blanket around her a little tighter. “I never thought a guy who we crashed into would turn out to be…” her voice trailed off and she blushed.

“The love of your life?” I finished.

She nodded.

“The way Jason looks at you is beyond lust. It’s pure love. He adores you,” Lily said.

“You think?” Gabby asked.

“Totally.”

“Have you ever been in love?” I asked Lily. We’d all been best friends for years, but there were a couple unwritten rules, and one of them included not getting too deep on the subject of love with Lily.

Lily looked down at the comforter, and the words that fell ever-so-quietly from her lips took both Gabby and me by surprise.

“Yes. I’ve been in love. Once.” Lily looked up, and I swore I saw tears in her eyes. Gabby reached over and grabbed her hand.

“At the time I thought I was too young, and it was impossible to love or be in love like I was. But I was wrong. I know that now, but it’s too late.” She glanced out the window and back to us.

“It was in high school, and in senior year he asked me to marry him. It wasn’t official. There wasn’t a ring, but the look in his eyes told me he was serious. He meant it.”

“What happened?” I asked, completely surprised Lily was finally allowing us into this part of her life.

“I accepted. And the last few weeks of school before graduation were amazing. It was like right out of a storybook. But my parents began interfering, telling me that I was too young. That there’s more fish in the sea…blah-blah,” she laughed bitterly. “He was so attentive. Completely wise beyond his years. I knew my parents were wrong. We lived in a small town and everyone’s business was every one’s fuel. I remember going to get my haircut a few weeks after graduation, and that’s when I heard the first of many rumors.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“That he had gotten some other girl pregnant. That he had planned on proposing to her to fix it and make it right. All sorts of things. The funny thing was that we had spent every waking and non-waking moment together so my logical side should have weeded the gossip out as gossip. But I didn’t. I fell right into the trap and believed everything. I was stupid. I was young. I boxed all my belongings up and shipped them off to college early and made my way soon after where I met you lovely ladies.”

“Did you ever talk to him?” Gabby asked.

“I called him and told him everything I heard and then before he even had a chance to say something, I hung up on him. Of course, both of my parents were delighted and helped move me right along. I was just a heartbroken barely eighteen-year old. That is the biggest regret of my life. So when I say that I know what love looks like, I mean it.” Instead of looking at Gabby she looked directly at me. “It’s not something to dismiss, no matter what complications might come with it.”

I nodded and smiled, privately thanking Lily for sharing something so personal with us.

“Did you ever find out the truth?” Gabby asked.

Lily shrugged. “I think I always knew the truth. I just took the easy way out, pleased my parents, and left the love of my life—potentially. I mean who knows what really would’ve happened.”

“You do,” I whispered.

Lily nodded in agreement.

The room was full of quiet tension. All of us slowly letting go of our secrets. Gabby telling Jason about her heart transplant, Lily admitting to herself why she bounces from guy to guy, and me wanting to confess that I might be falling for Gabby’s brother. But this was why we were friends. We never held anything against one another and when the time was right, we’d confess our sins.

“Ready to drink our hearts out?” Lily interrupted the silence. “I’m not big on confessionals and think I need to wipe it away.”

I threw the comforter off my legs and shot Lily a sympathetic grin. “Absolutely.”

I snagged one of the throw blankets to take outside with us in case the fire didn’t do its job, and we all trundled downstairs. And to think we managed to get to the heavy subjects before the drinking even started.

As we reached the porch and closed the door behind us, I heard a faint rumble in the distance and grinned at Lily. It had to be Jason. We walked down the steps, toward the closest bonfire. We could see the long drive from our vantage point, and the adrenaline pumped quickly through my veins. I loved surprises as long as I was throwing them for someone else.

“Do you hear that?” Gabby asked, as we wandered toward the flames. There was already a group gathered, passing around sticks, marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers as we made our way to the fire pit. “That sounds like a mean machine.”

“That it does. A mean, dangerous machine,” I added, standing next to the fire but trying to get out of the smoke drift.

Gabby started laughing. “Actually, it sounds like more than one.”

“Seriously?” I asked, straining my ears. Maybe, it wasn’t Jason.

The laughing and hollering around the flames got louder just as the roar of the bikes’ engines began to hit the driveway. She was right. It wasn’t the roar of one engine I was hearing. It was two. Gabby grabbed a marshmallow out of the bag and passed on the graham crackers as she poked the marshmallow onto the end of the stick.

“Hope whoever it is, lets me take a peek at their bike.”

“Isn’t it enough that you already own one,” I sighed, just as I saw the first bike come into view. It was definitely Jason. He was dressed in black leathers and a matching black helmet. Another bike followed right behind him down the drive.

Gabby glanced up and gasped. She turned around to look at me and hopped up and down. “You got him to come? Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Gabby dropped her marshmallow on the ground and ran toward Jason, who was leading the other biker down the drive.

I watched as the second biker pulled right next to Jason’s bike. It was obviously a man driving it. His broad shoulders filled out the leather jacket. He was dressed in black leathers too, but his helmet was matte black. His sunglasses looked familiar, and then suddenly my heart started pounding.

I turned to stare at Lily but no words would come out.

“Aaron?” she asked, reading my mind.

I nodded. “Think so.”

“Well, surprise, surprise.”

I watched the mystery biker pitch his leg off the bike and begin to unzip his jacket. Lily gently nudged me toward the driveway where Gabby was already wrapping her arms around Jason’s neck, and he was swinging her around.

“I can’t go over there,” I hissed.

“It would be weird if you didn’t,” Lily said. “Trust me. I’ll come with you.”

I heard murmurs behind me as some of the guys in the crowd admired the bikes from a distance. Jason whispered something into Gabby’s ear, and she giggled and waved at me.

As Lily and I walked over, I glanced at the biker who had now completely taken off his leathers, and my heart was pounding. It had to be Aaron, especially since he was leaving the helmet on for drama.

Typical. I tried to force the smile off my lips as my eyes ran over his tight fitting shirt and low slung jeans.

Once in earshot, I hollered to Gabby, “See why I brought the tent?”

She laughed and wouldn’t stop hugging Jason even as he attempted to secure his helmet to the handlebars. They had parked directly behind my car. Once we arrived, I leaned against the trunk and crossed my arms.

“So who is the guy who doesn’t want to remove his helmet?” I asked Jason.

Jason gave me a large grin, and I saw a twinkle behind his eyes that told me he knew something about Aaron and me. Not that there was much to know. But maybe Aaron had at least mentioned me and that I would take as a positive sign.

“That’s my brother,” Gabby laughed. “He thinks he’s too cool to show his face right away.”

Aaron reached for his helmet and loosened it before tugging it off his head.

“Hope you don’t mind that I invited him along,” Jason said, smiling a wicked smile.

“Not at all. I’m sure there’s a tree we can plop him under or something. We’ve got extra sleeping bags.”

I glanced at Aaron and was thankful I was already leaning against the car. The spark in his eyes as I mentioned sleeping bags about undid me. His hair was completely disheveled from the helmet, and his smirk was directed solely toward me. Thankfully, Gabby was all swept up in Jason, and Lily just enjoyed the show, doing her best not to laugh at the scene unfolding.

The longer Aaron stood there, the more I became less aware of everyone else standing around. The day had almost completely traded for night, and the remaining shadows traced along his cheekbones and jawline, which made him appear even more sensational than normal. This wasn’t part of my weekend plan.

“I bet you guys are starving,” Gabby said, as Jason slid his hand into hers. “We’ve got hot dogs we can go burn on the fire over there.”

Lily already wandered off toward the bonfire, which if I was to make an educated guess meant someone caught her eye.

“Sounds perfect,” Jason said, kissing her cheek tenderly.