Unbreakable (2 page)

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

“Jess, are you in there?” Ava yells through the door. The knocking startles me and Gabe walks over to the door and unlocks it.

“There you are,” she says, pushing past Gabe and entering the room. “I was looking everywhere for you.” Walking across the room, she throws herself onto Gabe’s chair with a loud sigh, and scrunches her eyebrows together at the sight of me in Gabe’s t-shirt.

“Some asshole dumped an entire glass of beer down the front of my shirt, so Gabe let me borrow this,” I say, tugging at the oversized t-shirt.

“Well it’s a good thing Mom and Dad are here now to get us, because you aren’t going to get laid looking like a bag lady.” She snorts, and I realize how ridiculous I look.

“Ava, don’t fucking joke around about that,” Gabe says glaring at her.

“Relax Gabe, Jesus,” she says jumping out of the chair. “Miss Goody Two-Shoes wouldn’t give it up at a keg party anyway.” Ava rolls her eyes. “Give Jess her shirt. We need to go unless you want dad in here shutting down this shindig.”

Gabe hands me my wet shirt as Ava tugs me through his room. Glancing back over my shoulder, he is standing next to his bed with his hands on his hips and a small smile spread across his lips. Those lips will be my downfall.

“What’cha reading?” he asks, jogging over to get the basketball that has rolled to my feet.

“Some romance series that everyone is raving about.” I use my hands to shield the front cover so he can’t see the picture or title.

I’m distracted by the sweat that’s rolling down his large, muscular frame, along his golden bare chest, and over every last curve of his perfect abdominal muscles to the fine dusting of dark hair just below his belly button. I swallow hard then lose track of that little bead of sweat as it travels even lower. All of Gabe Garcia is perfection in my eyes—he is my Adonis.

“Any good?”

“Oh, ah…”

“The book Jess, is the book any good?” he’s laughing at me now.
Shit.

I nod nervously and pull myself out of my Gabe-induced coma.

“Yeah, actually, it’s really good. Anything is better than text books.”

His hazel eyes look greener today as the sun is shining directly on his bronzed face. His eyelashes are long and accentuate his beautiful almond-shaped eyes, and his dark brown hair is a tussled mess from playing basketball.

“You might actually enjoy it more if you turned it the right way.” He laughs, picking up the basketball and dribbling it back to the five guys that are standing there waiting for him. Looking at the book I’m holding in my lap, he’s right, I’ve been holding it upside down as I’ve spent the better half of the last twenty-five minutes ‘pretending’ to read it. Embarrassed that I’ve been caught, I toss my book into my large bag, and fold the blanket I’ve been sitting. Glancing back over my shoulder, I see him shooting free throws as I leave the park and walk down the street to his house.

I’ve known the Garcia’s since I was four years old. My dad moved us here to Santa Ruiz, California right after my mom died. He took a job as a firefighter and has made it his number one priority to work his way up the career ladder, literally, to become Fire Chief, which he finally made about five years ago. So while dad was burying himself in his career, our neighbors, the Garcia’s, essentially raised me.

I’ve had a crush on Gabe since I was around fifteen. For the past few years, I’ve watched him date other girls, go away to college, come home, and leave again. But it was last fall, on a visit for family weekend that something changed with us. We’ve never talked about that night, but the small glances, the touches here and there, tell me there’s something more.

Walking up the driveway to the Garcia’s house, this will be the last weekend that I will stay with them. Since Ava and I technically finished school yesterday, Dad made me a deal that I could start staying at our house alone when he was at work. After all, I’m eighteen, and it’s really about time that he can trust his straight A honor student to take care of herself. Shit, I’ve been practically doing it for my entire life anyway.

“How was the park?” Angelica, Gabe’s mom asks as I enter the side door that opens into the kitchen. “Hot.” I mumble reaching into the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“Yeah, it’s a warm one today. Don’t run until later Jess, it’s just too hot right now.”

“I won’t. I’m going to take a quick nap and then run later.” I kiss her on the cheek as I move toward the stairs to take me to the bedroom I share with Ava.

“Hey,” Ava says as I toss my bag onto our bedroom floor.

“Still working on your speech?” As Valedictorian, Ava is speaking at Saturday’s commencement and has been obsessed with perfecting her speech. Truth be told, she could stand up there with nothing prepared and sound amazing, it’s just her nature. She’s personable, outgoing, and feisty.

“Yeah. How was the park?”

“Good until Gabe and the guys showed up. They were so loud I couldn’t concentrate on reading.”

I notice Ava isn’t even listening to me because she’s so wrapped up in writing her speech. Pushing the headphones from my iPhone into my ears I turn the music on low and lie down on my bed. Closing my eyes, I try to fall asleep, but I all I can see is Gabe at the park: his eyes, the sweat, his bare chest—
shit.

Finally calming down, my mind still wanders to where that little bead of sweat traveled to as sleep slowly takes over.

Waking up I feel rested, full of energy, and ready for a run. Running is therapy for me. When I run, I don’t think or feel. Stress, worries, or anxieties temporarily disappear—it’s just me and my music. Lately I’ve been pushing myself harder, adding more distance or increasing my pace. I will admit there is something slightly disturbing about the excitement I feel when my lungs burn or my legs want to give out, yet I continue to push myself harder.

I change into a pair of black capri running pants and a hot pink tank top. Standing at the full-length mirror I look myself over from head to toe. I can pick out every flaw on my body in this outfit, which only motivates me to run faster, harder. I’m momentarily pulled out of my negative thoughts when there is a light rap on the door.

“Come in.” The door opens slowly and Gabe peeks his head in. “Hey,” he says with his deep voice and a smile.

“Hey.”

“Ava in here?”

“Nope. I just woke up and haven’t seen her.” I shrug and pull my long hair off of my neck and onto the top of my head as I tie a binder around the messy bun.

“Going for a run?”

“Yeah.”

“Want some company?” I pause at his question. He’s never run with me before, I try not to smile.
Of course I want him to run with me.

“Sure.”

“You don’t sound so convincing.” He laughs and steps closer. With two quick steps he’s directly in front of me, and I still. My throat tightens up with him this close to me. I can smell the light scent of his body wash. I take in the sight of him in a pair of faded blue jeans and a tight white t-shirt. Our eyes meet and I feel his hand brush my shoulder. His fingers slide under the strap of my tank top untwisting it. I hadn’t realized the straps were twisted with those of my sports bra.

“You were twisted,” he says quietly his hand still on my shoulder.

“Thanks.” I whisper, swallowing hard as I notice the flecks of gold sparkling in his hazel eyes.

“I should get changed. I’ll meet you downstairs,” he says, his hand falling from my shoulder, lightly running down my arm as he backs away toward the door. I release the breath I was holding and feel the adrenaline that is coursing through my veins. Grabbing my tennis shoes, I sit down on the edge of my bed and put them on. My heart is still beating rapidly and it amazes me that his touch can cause such an intense reaction.

I nervously rub my arms as I wait for him downstairs. A minute later he comes bounding down the stairs. He’s changed into a pair of black athletic shorts and a tight grey compression shirt.

“Ready?” he asks, placing his hand on the small of my back while guiding me toward the front door. His touch immediately sends a shiver through me.
How does he do that?

“Ready.”

“So where do you normally run?” he asks as we walk down the driveway toward the street.

“Usually just down Main Street to the entrance of Washington Park then back. It’s about three miles there and back.”

“You always run three miles?” he asks stretching his arms over his head.

“Usually around five miles, today is just a quick three miles though.” I see his eyes widen when I mention I normally run further. “I’ll keep my pace steady, just try to keep up,” I say starting into a slow jog.

“Try to keep up,” he says under his breath as he jogs along side of me. I keep our pace slow and steady, and less of a run, more of a jog. When we finally reach the entrance of Washington Park, I slow to a walk and let him catch his breath.

“So that was three miles?” He asks between breaths. Chuckling, I keep moving to keep my heart rate up. “No, that was a mile and half, we still have to run home to get our three miles in.” As he stands there with his hands on his hips and his head tilted backwards, continuing to take long deep breaths. I can tell he’s not used to long distance running.

“Let’s walk for a bit,” I offer and bump him with my shoulder.

“It’s still hot out here, and I’m thirsty. How do you run every day in this heat?”

“I don’t run every day, but I like running, it helps clear my mind. I just listen to my music and let my feet carry me. Sometimes I run and don’t even know how I got as far as I did. I like running,” I shrug. He leads us into the parking lot of a convenience store and I glance at him out of the corner of my eye.

“Water?” he asks, opening the door. The cool air-conditioning greets us as we walk in, causing my skin to break out in goose bumps. Grabbing two waters from the cooler, he pays for them and we retreat back outside to drink them. Dusk is setting in and the street lights have just turned on as we continue our walk back home.

“So are you excited to graduate?”

“Sure, I mean, I’ve never disliked high school, I guess I’m just glad to be moving on to college now you know?”

“Any idea what you’re going to major in?” he asks, taking a long drink from his water bottle.

“I’m thinking about broadcast journalism. It’s always interested me.”

“That’s right up your alley. You’re gorgeous, and your ability to find shit out is impeccable.” He laughs at me.

“Are you making fun of me?” I joke as I bump him with my hip.

“Me, make fun of you? Never.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t stay in Tucson for the summer,” I remark, wondering why he chose to come home this summer.

“Coach wanted me too, but it’s too hot, and…” his voice trails off before he continues. “I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to come home.”

“I’m glad you’re home,” I admit nervously.

“Me too.”

It’s times like this when we’re sharing little pieces of ourselves that I want to be back in his bedroom in Tucson with his lips pressed to mine. I want so badly to know if he thinks about those few minutes we shared, and if they consume him as they have consumed me. Neither of us has discussed the kiss, and I can’t help but assume he thinks it was a mistake. Shaking those thoughts from my head I ask, “So what are your plans for the summer?” I take another drink of water. Of course, me being clumsy, I spill it down the front of me. Stopping, I screw the lid back on the bottle.

“I don’t know. I was thinking about maybe taking a class or two this summer.” He reaches out and runs his thumb over my bottom lip, catching me off guard.

“Water,” he whispers, as he runs his thumb across my chin. His touch is soft and slow, and I want him to do it again.

Trying to appear unaffected I respond quietly, “But classes you take here won’t transfer back to Arizona right? These aren’t your general requirements anymore.” Smiling at me he starts walking, “You’re right, they won’t transfer. This is why you’d be a great reporter, you think quickly, and dig for more information,” he chuckles.

“Then why would you take them?”