Love's Broken Road

Chapter 4 - Excitement

Shea’s P.O.V.

I need a break. It was tiring trying to control Jayden’s dancing. He made me laugh because the boy doesn’t have any rhythm, but it was fun. I had to lead to take control of his spastic movements. Doing that work has made me thirsty.

“Hey, can you get me a drink?” I asked Jayden.

“You want a beer?” he asked.

“Water, please,” I scowled at him.

I have never drunk and don’t plan on starting soon. Jayden headed off to the cooler. I went looking for a seat and found Melody sitting on a tailgate talking to Dakota and Coby. When I made it over, then I hopped on the tailgate. What Dakota said earlier still annoyed me. It pissed me off when people think that I don’t know how to have fun because I’m a girl.

“You got my brother to stop dancing, I see,” Melody chuckled.

I laughed, “Yes, I needed a break. That boy is crazy.”

“You don’t know the half,” Coby smirked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“The boy has no fear. Jayden has done so much crazy s**t and keeps on doing more. So he is either lucky or crazy.” Dakota said.

“Such as?” I asked.

I dreaded what stories they were going to tell me.

“Well, let’s see. One time Jayden took his truck airborne off the railroad crossing on Jackson Hollow.” Dakota said.

“Or the time he was racing the guy on the interstate at one hundred fifty miles per hour,” added Coby.

My eyes widened in fear. Dating Jayden is turning into an awful idea.

“You two assholes need to stop scaring the poor girl,” Melody scolded them.

They laughed. I had no idea if those two were pulling my leg or not. Jayden showed back up with my water.

“What did I miss? Jayden asked.

“These two trying to scare the hell of your date with stories of your dumbass adventures,” Melody tattled.

“Oh boy, I hope they were wonderful stories.” Jayden laughed.

“Only the best ones for you, buddy.” Dakota grinned.

Jayden looked at the two guys, “I got something in the truck to show you guys.” He turned and said to me, “Will you be OK by yourself for a few minutes? I don’t want you to wander away.”

I laughed, “Don’t worry, Melody and I can girl talk without you here.”

“Yeah,” Melody agreed.

I waited until the boys were far enough away so as not to hear us talking.

“So… what’s the story with you and Dakota?” I asked Melody.

She looked at me as if I was crazy, “There’s no story.”

“Uh-huh, if you say so,” I said with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing is going on between us. Dakota’s only a friend,” she said while trying to hide her face because she was blushing.

“I saw the way you were dancing with him. You can’t tell me no sparks are going on between you two. Besides, you two looked cute together.” I kept pressing.

She was getting flustered now.

“I mean, he’s cute, but…” she began but stop.

“But what?” I asked.

“He’s been through so much. I don’t believe he likes me that way. Besides, he’s my brother’s best friend,” she said.

I gave her a sly smile.

“What?” she asked.

“You don’t believe that, do you? He may be your brother’s friend, but that doesn’t mean he’s off-limits.” I said.

“What gives you the idea he’s even interested?” she asked.

“Are you serious? Were you even paying attention while you were dancing? No man will sing to a girl while they are dancing if they don’t have feelings. He’s always talking to you when he’s not with the guys.” I stated.

She was getting flustered now, “I don’t know, he’s still hurting. He’s not ready for another relationship at this point.”

“Yeah, what if he needs someone to help him forget the pain?” I said.

“I still don’t think it’s a good idea, and I don’t want to be the rebound girl,” she said.

She had a point. I mean, Dakota has only gotten out of a long relationship.

“You could be right. If the circumstances were different, are you telling me you could pass up a piece of that?” I asked.

Melody gave me a devilish grin, “I’d jump that in a heartbeat.”

We both laughed at this.

A voice sounded behind us, “What’s so funny?”

We both jumped, Melody’s eyes popped out of her head. We turn to see Dakota standing there.

“Jesus, you scared the s**t out of us,” Melody said.

“Nothing that concerns you. How long have you been standing there?” I asked, trying to figure out how much he heard.

“I only got back here now. Why does that matter?” Dakota asked.

“You know it’s not polite to sneak up on people,” I scolded.

“I wasn’t sneaking, and you didn’t answer my question,” he said.

Jayden and Coby appeared behind Dakota.

“What’s going on?” Jayden asked.

“Thank god you’re back. I want to dance again,” I said while hopping off the tailgate.

“I’m still tired from earlier,” Jayden complained.

“But I want to dance,” I pouted.

“Go dance with Dakota. I’m sure he won’t mind,” Jayden said.

“What?” Dakota and I yelled together.

We both stared at Jayden, both of us annoyed with him.

“Why are you complaining? He doesn’t bite,” Jayden said.

Because I’m dating you, jackass, I said in my head. I mean, Dakota was a nice guy, but he still annoyed me earlier.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Jayden said.

“Fine,” I growled and grabbed Dakota’s arm and dragged him to the dance floor before he protested. He stumbled but kept his feet. That its self was impressive considering how much he has drunk since I’ve been here. We had arrived on the dance floor when a slow song started. Great.

“We can wait until a different song comes on,” Dakota said.

“No, it’s fine,” I said as I placed my hands on his shoulders.

He followed by placing his hands on my waist as we started swaying to the music. The annoyance clear to see on my face.

Dakota asked, “Did I do something wrong?”

It crossed my mind to hiss out a yes but changed my mind.

“No, he just pissed me off,” I replied

“Yeah, he’s good at doing that to people,” Dakota said.

“How do you handle him being a dumbass?” I asked.

“Beats me, we’ve been friends for so long I guess I’m used to it. I’m not saying it’s right, but Jayden’s just a natural dumb ass,” he said.

That made me a slight smile. Dakota smiled back. Being this near to him gave me a chance to study his face. He was sporting a five o’clock shadow, and that gave him a more rugged look. His damn green eyes are fascinating and have such a softness to them. I could see that he cherished the people in his life. No wonder Melody has hidden feelings for him. I wished that I had met him before Jayden. Wow, I should not be having these thoughts.

“If you don’t want to answer this, don’t. Why did you take someone back that hurt you?” I asked, trying to break the silence between us.

He glanced at the ground for a moment, let out a sigh, then said, “I guess it’s because I thought she loved me. I had it in my head that she was the one for me. I tried to move on the first time, but she showed back up as soon as I met someone. She did whatever she wanted, but I could never move on in case she needed me. And dumb ass me ran back every time. The thought of ending up alone terrifies me. I gave up so much attempting to hold on to a grain of sand. No matter how hard I tried, I lost it. It sounds stupid.”

“It does not sound stupid at all. Unfortunately, it takes two people to make it work, and she didn’t want to. From what I’ve heard, it sounded like she was toying with you. I’m going to let you in on a secret. You are too cute to end up alone. There are girls out there that would kill to have someone like you to care for them. Sometimes they are closer than you think.” I said.

God, was I talking about Melody or myself.

“Everything happens for a reason, good or bad. Just because things are bad doesn’t mean it will be that way forever. Sometimes you have to follow the road and see where it takes you,” I added.

He nodded his head, “I have a hard time letting go.”

“That will happen in time, once the right girl comes along and makes you forget her,” I smiled.

He laughed, “If only it’s that easy.”

“It’s easier than you think. Sometimes that person is there the entire time. You just have to open your eyes,” I said.

Shit, there I go again. Am I trying to talk Dakota into dating Melody or myself?

“You know what, you are the first person with who I’ve had a genuine conversation over this. You are so easy to talk to, and you never judged me or told me to get over it. And we just met tonight. It’s somewhat strange, but thank you.” he smiled.

God, that smile lit my insides on fire. I started blushing. Why the hell am I blushing? Get your s**t together, woman.

“You’re welcome. Sometimes you need someone with a fresh perspective.” I said, “Speaking of perspective, I saw the way you were dancing with Melody earlier.”

Now he was blushing, “What are you saying, Shea?”

“Um, I don’t know because you were singing to her while she laid her head on your chest,” I stated.

“W-w-we were only dancing. She’s a friend,” he stuttered.

“Yeah, right,” I smirked.

“What?” he asked.

“You can not tell me you do not have feelings for her,” I said.

“If I did, it doesn’t matter, she is Jay’s sister, and secondly, she doesn’t think of me that way,” he maintained.

“Did you ask her?” I asked.

“No, there’s no need. Yes, we flirt with each other to piss Jay off for fun. That’s it,” he said.

“Are you scared?” I smirked again.

“Of what?” he rumbled.

“That you will be too afraid to make a move,” I smirked.

Dakota’s look told me what I needed to know. We continued dancing, not saying another word. Near the end of the song, he stopped and tensed. I looked at his face, noticing that it was dark. His green eyes were coal-black now. He was staring across the group gathered on the dance floor. I twisted to glance in the same direction. I only saw a couple dancing across the dance floor.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You got to f*****g be kidding me,” he growled.

“What?” I asked, starting to get scared.

“It’s her,” he hissed.

At first, I didn’t register who ‘her’ was. Then it clicked. It was Dakota’s ex-fiancee dancing with her ‘friend.’ She must be brainless, bringing him here.

“Dakota, turn around, and walk away.” I pleaded with him, grabbing his arm to spin him in the opposite direction.

He glanced at me and saw the worry in my eyes. His face softened, and he turned. I went to lead him away when he stopped again. I peered back towards them, and Nicole was now kissing the new boyfriend. Dakota’s eyes flashed with rage when I turned back towards him. He started walking towards them. s**t, this will not end well.

I got in front of him, “Dakota, stop. Fighting with her will not do any good. Turn around and walk away.” I pleaded.

He pushed past me. I grabbed his arm to stop him, but he pulled from my grip. He’s stronger than he looks. I watched as he walked up behind the guy. In one swift movement, he grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and punched him square in the nose. The guy staggered back a few steps, his hand covering his nose. Dakota dropped his shoulder and charged him. His arms wrapped around him, then lifted him and drove him into the ground. Dakota didn’t waste a moment. As soon as they hit the dirt, Dakota bounced up, grabbed the guy’s shirt collar lifting him, and punched him again. The other guy grabbed Dakota’s shirt and pulled him back to the ground. They started rolling around, throwing punches. His ex-fiancee was screaming at him to stop, but Dakota didn’t stop. He kept throwing punches while rolling around in the dust with the guy. The other guy got a lucky swing in that connected with Dakota’s eye. That just pissed Dakota off even more. He grabbed the guy’s arm with his left hand and drew back his right to punch him again. Someone rushed in and grabbed his arm before he could throw another punch. It was Jayden, with Coby grabbing his other arm and pulling him off the guy.

“You f*****g son of a b***h!” Dakota yelled at the guy still sprawled on the ground as Jayden and Coby were dragging him away. Dakota shook them off, turning, and stormed back towards the trucks.

Jayden just looked at Dakota’s ex and yelled, “Are you f*****g kidding me, Nicole? Why the f**k did you bring him here?”

“It’s a party. We can go wherever we want,” Nicole yelled back.

“I suggest you take what’s left of him and leave now,” he said, turning and started chasing after Dakota.

“Why should we have to leave? He’s the one that started it,” she demanded.

Melody spun on her heels and got right into her face.

“Because if you don’t, I will make your face look that,” she growled while pointing at her new boyfriend.

His broken nose had blood coming out of it. I think she knew better than to mess with Melody. She helped her boyfriend up, and they left. We arrived back at the truck to find Dakota sitting on the tailgate. He had dirt and grass covering him from rolling around during the fight. Dakota’s shirt was ripped open in the front where the other guy had grabbed onto it. His eye was swelling. It’s going to be one hell of a shiner in the morning. Melody brought his hat back over to him. She even came with a bag of ice from the cooler for his swollen eye.

“You doing alright, Rocky?” Jayden chuckled.

“f**k no, I hope I broke his f*****g jaw,” Dakota hissed.

“You did a number on him. You at least broke his nose,” Coby laughed.

Melody took his hand, starting cleaning the dirt out of the scrapes on his knuckles.

“Why the f**k did she even show her face here?” she asked.

“I don’t get it, but I bet she is regretting it now,” Jayden laughed.

“Coby, go to his truck and get him another shirt,” Melody said.

Dakota was still shaking, the adrenaline from the fight in full effect. Melody finished cleaning his wounds and went to the cooler and got another bag of ice and a beer. The ice for his hand and the beer to calm him.

“Thanks,” Dakota said to Melody.

She smiled and started rubbing his back. They look even cuter together now, seeing her take care of him. Coby came running back with another shirt, which Dakota took and pulled off the torn one. My eyes trailed his shirtless upper body. He may have been skinny, but his muscular chest and back were getting me hot and bothered. He didn’t have bulging muscles, though they are very tone. I had to control my urge to run my hands over them. God, what am I thinking? How has Melody kept her hands off him this long? Thank god he covered his body with his other shirt.

“Well, this has been an exciting party,” Jayden laughed, “See what happens when you leave the house.”

Everyone started laughing, even Dakota.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just the life of the party,” Dakota chuckled.

“Well, you caused that excitement,” Melody said.

Dakota looked up at me.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop myself,” he apologized.

“It’s OK. You just scared me. At least you kicked that i***t’s ass,” I said.

He smiled and nodded his head. What an exciting night.