Love's Broken Road

Chapter 8 - Missed Opportunity

Dakota’s P.O.V.

Another morning and another cup of coffee, I guess there are worse addictions are out there. I had my second cup while sitting on my front porch, and it tasted good as I was getting lost in my thoughts. Talking to Melody and Shea has helped keep me from falling back into my dark place.

I spend most of my time thinking of Melody. Shea was right. My attraction to Melody is more than I wanted to admit. I only need to figure out how to handle it. I mean, our flirting has gotten crazy. The funny thing is, we do it in front of Jayden, and he acts as if he does not care. Maybe he will be OK with us becoming involved, or he thinks we are messing with him still. Something was going to happen if we continued carrying on this fashion. I can not control myself around her.

A big grin spread across my face, thinking of smacking her ass last night. It was naughty of me, but damn, her ass was looking so hot last night. Then I kept running my fingertips up her back while she was sitting on my lap. I knew I left goosebumps where my fingers went. It impressed me she could control herself from the teasing. She walked me to my truck. Her eyes were begging me to kiss her. The problem is, I froze. I wish I could have kissed her. God knows I wanted to, but I ended up hugging her and heading home. The more I replayed it in my head as I drove home, the more pissed I got. It was my best chance, and I blew the whole thing.

I shook my head, trying to free the disappointment my failure caused. The shy bullshit needs to end. The next chance I get, I am taking it. With my coffee cup empty, I headed back to the house. I gathered up my riding gear in a bag and grabbed my helmet. The bike was in the truck’s bed, and I tossed my bag in the back. I hopped in and started heading out to meet everyone. The disappointment was still running through my head as I pulled into the driveway.

It appeared everyone was here when I pulled into the driveway. Coby had his bike unloaded. I jumped out of the truck, grabbing my bag as I headed towards the house to get changed.

“Nice to see you got your ass out of bed,” Coby smirk.

I flipped him off, “Bite me.”

Ah, brotherly love. We both started laughing. Shea came out of the garage as I was making my way towards it.

“Hey, big brother,” she giggled and hugged me.

“What, no ass grab today? I am so disappointed,” I winked at her.

That earned me another slap on the arm.

“What is with the big brother thing?” I asked.

“Why not? I do not have any brothers or sisters, and I enjoy talking to you. So you are now my big brother,” she smiled.

“So that means I get to do big brother things. First, I’m going to start with threatening your boyfriend,” I laughed.

She shook her head, “OK, but I am sure he will be afraid of you,” she giggled.

“Ha, I will be the judge of that that,” I chuckled as I headed into the garage.

I found Jayden in the garage getting his bike ready.

“Alright, you dickhead, Shea is a princess, and you will treat her that way. If you do not, I will chop off your d**k,” I growled at Jayden.

“What the f**k are you on?” Jayden gulped.

I could hear Shea laughing right outside the garage. I dropped my bag and stormed over to Jayden, and grabbed the front of his shirt, getting right up in his face. He looked as if he wanted to piss himself.

I busted up laughing, “I am f*****g with you.”

“What the f**k was that?” Jayden stammered.

“I am having fun with you. Shea told me she considered me to be her big brother now. So, my big brotherly duty to threaten any boyfriends, which at the moment you are,” I chuckled at him.

“You have screws loose in your head,” he chuckled.

“No worse than you,” I stated.

I picked up my bag and started heading back to the house to get changed.

I walked into the house and saw Melody sitting on the couch.

“Good morning, good looking.” I smiled at her.

“Hi,” she said.

She never looked at me.

Fuck, I knew it. I missed my opportunity, and now she is mad at me.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked, knowing the answer.

“Nothing,” she said, continuing to stare at the TV.

“OK, are you going riding with us?” I asked.

“Nope,” she answered, popping the P.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked, again knowing the answer.

“Nope,” again popping the P.

“Why are you only using one-word sentences?” I asked.

Now she shrugged her shoulders. f*****g awesome, I am a screwup.

“What are you getting into today?” I asked, trying to get her to talk to me.

“I am going to town with my friends,” she replied.

I raised my hands. It’s best to leave Melody alone right now. I walked to the bathroom and changed into my riding clothes. Melody was no longer on the couch after I got dressed. How can I make a girl dump me before we even date? That’s a record for me. I headed back outside and grabbed Shea.

“You talk to Mel today?” I asked her.

“Yeah, she wasn’t very talkative this morning,” she said.

“Great, she only answered me in one-word sentences,” I growled.

“What did you do?” she asked.

“I think I missed my opportunity last night. Damn it, I f****d up again,” I said as I kicked the ground.

“Chill out. You will be fine. Just let Mel cool off for a while and talk to her later,” she said, grabbing my arm to get me to stop acting stupid.

Why the hell didn’t I kiss her? I stormed over to my truck, slamming the tailgate and ripping the 4-wheeler to the ground. I threw my helmet on and started the bike. The bike’s exhaust screamed as I gunned the throttle and spun out of the driveway, heading for the motocross track. I needed to get my mind off what just happened. Why do I ruin everything?

I pulled off the road and started climbing the hill to the track. There’s no need to wait on the guys. I jumped on the course and began running laps. I pinned the throttled to its stops as I was taking my frustrations out on it. My speed was too fast when I hit the first jump. The bike landed on flat ground and bottomed out. It bounced, damn near bucking me off the bike. I need to chill out before I kill myself. The four-wheeler slid through the corner and lined up for the next jump. This time I was going at the correct speed and completed the jump without issue. I ran a few laps before the guys showed up and joined the fun. My anger subsided as I began concentrating on running clean laps.

We continued riding on the track for a few hours, taking breaks now and then. Jayden let Shea ride his bike for a while. She impressed me because she handled the jumps well. We took a break for lunch, heading back to the house for lunch. Melody’s car was not in the driveway when we got there. I knew she was avoiding me now. I hope she will be back later so I could talk to her.

We ended up cooking hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill for lunch, which I was thankful for because I was starving. We grabbed a plate and headed to the garage to eat.

“Why the burnout this morning, Dakota?” Coby asked.

“Nothing, I wanted to get started,” I lied.

“Alright,” he said, not believing a word I said

Shea gave me a concerned look. She knew why I was mad.

We finished eating without saying much more. We cruised around the back roads for a few hours later, ending up back at the house. Melody still wasn’t home from hanging out with her friends. I just sighed and headed inside and changed out of my riding clothes. Everyone headed for the garage and turned on the radio. We sat in there talking s**t and drinking beer until it started getting dark out.