The next morning, Jessica sat on the back porch of the clubhouse, enjoying her coffee. Layne had already left for the shop by the time she had woken up, and not many people were around the clubhouse on this day, so she decided to take advantage of the quiet and pulled out a well-worn notebook from her bag. She sat with her coffee on one side, the notebook in front of her, a pen in her mouth. If there was one thing she kept hidden from most of the world at large, it was the fact that she loved to write. The fact that she liked to write wasn't what was embarrassing, what was embarrassing was the fact that she wrote erotic romance. She never even wrote it on a computer for fear that someone would find it and trace it back to her. Every story she had ever written was written by hand, and she always took them with her, no matter where she went. This particular notebook that she was working on filling up was number ten. Two of them had been stolen in the burglary, and that was making her
"Layne, I'm surprised to see you this early today," Doc Jones said when she opened the door to his persistent knocks."Yeah, I'm sorry to spring this on you, ma'am," he told her, and he really was. "But I need to talk with you.""Don't be sorry, what's happened?" she asked as she ushered him into the room she used for her appointments. He had a seat on the same couch he had sat on the day before. "I'm pissed and I don't know how to deal with it.""Okay then, why are you upset?""I'm not. I said I was pissed," he told her again. "Upset and pissed are two totally different things with me.""Then explain to me what's going on here."He couldn't sit on that couch anymore, he had to get up, he had to be able to move, not feel like he was caged in. She didn't say anything when he did this, but her eyes followed him sharply as he made a circle around the room. "Jessica went to Goodlettsville, she doesn't have a cell phone, I can't get hold of her, and she didn't even tell me sh
"Thank you so much for inviting me," Jessica told Bianca and Meredith as the three of them sat at dinner after their marathon shopping trip. It had been nice being with them, away from the clubhouse, but nice also being a friend on a day trip with other friends. "I haven't done that, just for the fun of it, in a very long time." "Why not?" Bianca asked as she took a bite of the appetizer they had ordered. "Don't people, like, pay you to come shop in their stores? Just because of who you are?" "Yeah," she answered. "That's the thing; I haven't done hardly anything for just the fun of it in so long. I was beginning to wonder if I had it in me anymore. I can't even tell you the last time I went out with a couple of girls just for the hell of it. Usually we go out together so the paparazzi can be called and they can get a picture of all of us together. Then they can talk about how good of friends we are one week and the next week they can make up stories about how one of us slept wit
"Shit, they're waiting on the side of the road," Meredith laughed. Jessica scooted so that she sat in between the two front seats, leaning on the console. "Can they just do that? Sit in that construction zone where it says 'no U-turn'?"Bianca grinned. "You'll find out with these guys, they kinda just do what they want."Meredith sighed as she flipped on her emergency lights and pulled off at the exit that proclaimed itself the Natcher Parkway. "Umm, how are we going to get back on the interstate?" Jessica asked."It's one of those that you can drive through if you take the wrong exit. It's got direct access. They'll just block it for anyone coming off the Parkway trying to get onto I-65, but hopefully we won't even have to deal with that tonight," Bianca explained.They parked and waited for Tyler, Jagger, and Layne to make their way over to the truck. Meredith reluctantly let down the window and watched for the big Native American to make his way over."Hey, gorgeous,
Out of nowhere, the thought flashed across his mind that he had to be ready for something different. He couldn't keep dragging her along the way he had been for years. It wasn't fair to either one of them. He needed to man up or drop her, and now, after being with her, he knew he would never be able to drop her. He trailed his hands from her cheeks down to her throat. The bruises were still evident, and he closed his eyes rather than look at them. Dropping his head to the hollow between her neck and shoulder, Layne ran his lips across the injuries he had caused. "I'm so sorry," he whispered in her ear. "Please forgive me." His voice was low and deep as his lips traveled from her ear to her cheek."I know," she whispered back at him.In this quiet place, where it was the just the two of them, it was easy to pretend that things hadn't changed. That they were still the same young kids they had been when they first met. That was the feeling she wanted to give into, not the feelin
The ride back down Highway 185 took what felt like hours for Layne. He was so uncomfortable with Jessica on the back of his bike, her fingers digging into his side. He shouldn't have left things the way he had. He should have at least told her that she had been as beautiful as he remembered when she came, but those words didn't come from his mouth anymore. Unless it was anger, it was hard for him to express his feelings. Hard for him to be honest. Her head rested against his shoulder, and he wanted to turn slightly so that his lips could brush her skin, but he wasn't sure it would be welcomed. Finally they came to the convenience store, and he turned in, going around to the back where he saw the rest of Heaven Hill congregating, Bianca's car sat there too. Layne pulled to a stop and turned the bike off and waited patiently for Jessica to get off before he got off behind her. "Gotta take a piss," he told the group."I just bet you do," Jessica mumbled.He chose to ignore those wo
It seemed silly to ask Jessica if she was okay, obviously she wasn't, but Bianca couldn't stop herself. "Wanna tell me what went on back there?" The tone she used was one that most people used with hurt animals or small children. Bianca was worried that it wouldn't take much more to scare Jessica off for good.Jessica inhaled deeply, wondering what exactly she wanted to tell the other woman. Granted, they had become friends, better friends than she'd probably ever had in Hollywood, but it wasn't easy for her to let others in. It came from years of keeping things to herself, of not ever letting anyone get too close. It was something she figured she would struggle with for the rest of her life—opening up to others and knowing exactly when they were really her friend. "I don't know, it's stupid," she sighed, running her hand through her hair. It was a nervous gesture, one that many people had tried to make her get rid of."No, it's not. Anything that upsets you isn't stupid. And trust
The side of town that Heaven Hill was heading to was one that was unfamiliar to Layne. Sure, he had driven his bike through the Olde Stone area, but it was a gated community. He had never been able to time it just right so that he could get inside. He watched as Rooster pulled up to the keypad and punched in a set of numbers. The gates opened easily, and he motioned for them to follow him inside. Rooster—there were something that struck him as odd about there being a lawman on this bust. He wondered just what side of the law Rooster had decided to play. Since the incident at the school with Bianca, Rooster had been hanging around more and more at the clubhouse, and he had a feeling that Liam was trying to figure out just what in the fuck Rooster wanted to do too. It seemed as if he was at a transition point in his life.The houses were huge as they drove down roads that were laid out in what would have been a maze if they hadn't been following someone. He wasn't sure if he could get