Falling into Summer

Chapter 8

The next day I sleep in again, taking full advantage of my last week of summer vacation, being that I start at Full Sail next Monday. After my mother and I decide not to go out, and I suspect Carter is home from work, I call Sarah's house later on in the evening, and Jesse answers the phone.

"Hi Jesse, it's Haley, is Carter there?"

"Oh hi Haley. Um he's not available right now," he answers.

"Oh ok, can you just let him know I called then," I ask.

"Sure," Jesse agrees before we hang up.

An hour later, when I haven't heard back from Carter, I start to get suspicious. I draw two conclusions as to why he hasn't returned my call: (1) Jesse never gave him my message; or (2) he had but Leah is in town, and Carter can't call me back because technically I don't know she's here, because he never told me. Convincing myself of the worst-case scenario, I notice an anger brewing inside of me... I mean he had the opportunity to tell me last night and didn't. And now he's just going to ignore my phone calls because she's here, and not even explain why.

Deciding to go for a run to burn off some steam, I get changed into running clothes. Before leaving, I call Sarah's house again, simply intending to leave a message for Carter, explaining that I'd talk to him later since I was planning on staying in tonight. But this time, Sarah answers and with the sound of her voice, all my anger disappears. After catching up for a couple of minutes and her making me laugh, I wish her a happy early birthday before she hands the phone over to Carter, who's just walked in the door.

"Hey you, what are you doing?" he asks with ease, and it seems he's in a good mood.

"Nothing, are you just getting home?" I ask with confusion as I would have thought it was too late for him to be getting home from work.

"Yeah, I was out riding my motorcycle," he explains.

"Oh ok. I called earlier but Jesse said you weren't available; that he'd tell you I called," I confess, and I instantly feel silly for overreacting and for maybe being a little jealous.

"Jesse didn't tell me before I left, he does that a lot," he admits with a hint of annoyance. "I actually drove by your house, but it didn't look like anyone was home, so I didn't stop," he adds lightening his tone, and it makes me smile when I realize he was just here. "I was going to see if you wanted to go for a ride on my motorcycle?" he finishes.

"When right now?" I ask, a little thrown off guard being that I'm still in my running clothes.

"Yeah, if you're up for it," he insists.

"What about the movie?"

"I can come pick you up on the bike, and we can come back here and finish the movie, then we'll see," he invites, and when I weigh my options, I realize that if I decline, I'll regret it the rest of the night.

After changing into some jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops, twenty minutes later, Carter's helping me onto the back of his little red motorcycle. From the bullet-like shape, it appears this thing can easily go as fast as he wants it to.

"I didn't bring helmets, so you might want to tie back your hair," he suggests.

"Aren't helmets required?" I ask as I pull my hair back into a ponytail.

"Not in the state of Florida," he explains. Once I'm done fastening my hair, he helps me onto the back of the bike. "Keep your feet on these pegs ok," he says, moving my feet to where he's referring, so he can put his feet where they need to be. "And just hold on to me as tight as you need to," he instructs as he pulls my arms around his stomach. Once again, I notice my palms start to moisten at the close proximity between us. With my body forced forward because my seat is higher than his, it's as if he's wearing me like a backpack. With the adrenaline surging through my body, a shiver runs down my spine before I can stop it. "You ok?" he asks over his shoulder when he feels it.