Page 15 of Riding the Line (Willow Ridge #2)

Cherry

‘Put that pizza lid down or you’re going to let all the heat out,’ Duke grumbles at me from the driver’s side of his truck.

I’ve been so distracted by the two boxes of hot pizza on my lap, keeping my legs all toasty, and the sizzling cheesy smell wafting through the air each time I take a peek at the top one, that I hadn’t been paying attention to where we’re driving.

We managed to catch Piper’s Pizza Truck just as it was closing for the night – a food truck that sporadically pops up in Willow Ridge during the summer evenings when one of the chefs from Ruby’s Diner isn’t working – on the way to wherever we were going after I posed the closing time argument of pepperoni vs ham and pineapple .

So, now we’ve got one of each, after deciding the only way to truly settle the debate would be to do a taste test.

And because I’m a fiend for pizza.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ I yelp, shutting the lid quickly, and finally taking in our surroundings. We’re in the middle of nowhere, that’s for sure, racing along some dirt road track, with the twinkling lights of Willow Ridge behind us.

After the roller-skating incident the other day, I’d fully convinced myself that was the end of my bucket list with Duke.

If anything, the speed-dating idea was a blessing really, a good distraction to help me focus on talking to the opposite sex, and, as Montana pointed out, ticking off some items on the second half of that bucket list. But then Duke brought up about still owing me a small moment and suddenly the deal is back on.

It’s a few more minutes before we hit a slight incline, and the road climbs higher ahead of us, a nervous buzz filling my stomach.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not taking you too high up,’ Duke assures me, pulling over to the side of the road and cutting the engine.

It’s so empty, the pastures below completely drenched in nothing but silence and moonlight as I scour our surroundings.

‘I just wanted to get us a bit further away from the lights of the town.’

I furrow my brow at him while he unbuckles himself and climbs out of the truck.

He rounds the front, when I’m distracted by his phone lighting up in the centre console.

I chance a quick glance at the screen, only for my stomach to plummet when I notice several texts from a woman called Kelly.

He’s even got the setting turned on so he can see the latest text in the notification, the top one reading: Last night’s call was great. Excited about where this is heading.

I can’t think of a single woman called Kelly that would be age appropriate for Duke to be seeing in Willow Ridge.

Everyone knows everyone in our small town, so I’m aware of a few women Duke’s been with, even if he does try to keep most of his escapades infrequent and quiet. Not that I should care. Now, or ever.

Although there was that girl he was talking to at the bar the other night who was visiting a friend from out of town. Anyone could see how beautiful she was with her deep brown skin and a waterfall of black curls down her back, I’m sure Duke was just as enraptured.

Duke opens my door and grabs the pizza boxes from me. I jump out afterwards, teasing, ‘Getting me away from the lights of the town makes you sound a bit like a serial killer, not gonna lie.’

‘If I was a serial killer, then this has been a very elaborate, twenty-one-years-in-the-making plan to murder you.’

‘Well, joke’s on you, because I took self-defence classes at college.’ Duke shakes his head with a chuckle. Even though I tried to forget, I still find myself saying, ‘Your phone kept going off, by the way.’

‘Oh, thanks.’ Duke tucks the pizzas under one arm and reaches to get his phone. When I chance a glance back, he’s checking the screen, a small smile fighting to break out on his face. How nice for Kelly.

But then he pockets his phone, shuts the door, and gestures for me to follow him around the truck bed. It’s then that I suddenly notice there’s a bunch of blankets and pillows scattered in it, stopping me in my tracks. How did I miss those when we were leaving the bar earlier?

‘What’s all this for?’ I ask, peeking over the edge of the truck to inspect the set-up further. This seems like something you’d see on a Pinterest board, all cosy and snuggly. Maybe even … romantic?

Nope. Just a friend helping a friend. Besides, he probably does more for this Kelly girl.

Duke runs his hand along the truck before pulling down the tailgate. ‘I sometimes take my bike out here, when I just want to ride away from everything. From all the noise. And this is the best place to see the stars, in my opinion.’

My gaze travels up, finding a dark sea of glittering pinpricks above, their light raining down on us.

‘On a clear day, you can always see the stars,’ I’d told Duke years ago when I helped redecorate the bar. It’s why I put fairy lights along the rafters. ‘And when there’s a whole vast universe up there, it really does make you feel like your worries needn’t exist.’

It’s one of the things I miss about living in a small town like Willow Ridge – none of the raw beauty of the world is as filtered out as it is in built up towns and cities.

Wherever you are, you’ll always hear the whispering breeze through the pastures or the whinnying of the horses grazing there.

You’ll always get to watch the sun setting behind the mountains, it’s orange glow bleeding through the valleys and along the dirt tracks.

I can’t believe he remembered.

Even just being able to gaze up at them now, their glow already invigorates me.

‘Just reminding you of what you’ll miss when you’re gone,’ Duke says from where he’s climbed up into the truck bed, a flask in hand. I swallow as I take him in, because the sight zaps at my heart, making me wonder if it’ll be more than just the stars that I’ll miss.

I push out a smile. ‘Okay, this is a pretty good small moment, I’ll give you that.’

He bows at me. Trying to temper down my smile, I climb up into the truck bed before dropping into the blankets piled beneath me.

I don’t hold back from shovelling a piece of pizza down, going for ham and pineapple first because it’s my favourite, even if most people screw their faces up when I say so.

Duke follows suit and we chomp in a comfortable silence, occasionally tipping our heads up to watch the stars.

When I twist the cap off the flask to wash down my food, the smell immediately awakens me, because I’d know my favourite drink anywhere. ‘You brought me Jack and Coke?’

‘Diet Coke, actually – it’s your favourite, right?’ he checks.

‘The whole drink is, yeah.’ I’m a sucker for a Jack Daniel’s and Diet Coke – its taste always reminds me of laughter and dancing at summer rodeos. But I usually stay away from stronger drinks like whiskey when I’m under the prying eyes of the town.

‘Fuck, that’s good,’ I groan as I take my first sip.

Warmth immediately simmers through my limbs as the drink pours smoothly down my throat.

The smoky taste sends calm flooding into my bloodstream.

When I take another swig and let out a hum of pleasure, Duke shifts.

I wipe away a drop of liquid that catches on my bottom lip with my thumb, and I swear his dark eyes follow the movement.

He clears his throat shortly after. ‘Glad – uh, glad you like it.’

It’s difficult to force my brain not to read into this all – the stargazing, the bringing my favourite drink.

How it’s so thoughtful, it feels borderline …

intimate. But I remind myself that this is what Duke’s like.

He’s not the guy who tells his friends how much he loves them; he’s the guy who strives to help his friends whenever they need him.

He’s the listener, the one who probably knows you better than you know yourself.

Before I know it, I’ve drunk about half of what’s in the flask, sipping it down like it’s juice, and already a warm fuzziness spreads out in my limbs.

‘Yeah,’ I sigh out, shuffling around so my back is against the side of the truck bed. Duke twists and copies me. ‘Thank you. For all of this.’ I’m back blinking up at the stars, seeing if I can pick out any of the constellations Mom taught me when I was younger.

‘Like I said, we made a deal,’ Duke replies with a shrug.

As he also tilts his head up to watch the stars, chewing on a mouthful of the pepperoni pizza, I let myself be reckless and admire him.

The way his tattoos peek briefly out from his T-shirt, stretching with the column of his thick neck as he looks up.

The breadth of his shoulders and chest, like a wide shield, ready to protect you from harm’s way.

The quiet smile that always plays on his lips, forcing the corners up in a faint curve, even when resting.

The latter always gives him that approachable edge, one that makes you want to spill all your thoughts to him.

‘In all honesty,’ I admit, picking up another slice of pizza, ‘I thought you might not want to help me again after I squashed your size-thirteen dick.’ The words come out quicker than I can stop them.

Suddenly, Duke’s choking, whacking his chest with his fist. He reaches his hand out for the flask and I quickly oblige, letting the Jack and Coke save him from the coughing fit. After a few more gulps, he lets out an exasperated sigh. ‘Jesus, Cherry. Did you have to say it like that ?’

‘What?’ I laugh at the way his eyes have gone comically wide. ‘You wouldn’t care if Wyatt or Sawyer said it like that.’

‘Yeah, because they’re not—’

‘A girl?’ I cut in, angling my head at him. ‘You guys don’t exactly treat me like a girl.’

Duke’s jaw drops as if he’s going to protest, but he takes another long sip from the flask instead.

After screwing the cap back on, he tosses it between us.

‘Ah, it’s just … easier that way, Cherry.

You’re Wyatt’s little sister. It would be weird if we treated you like every other girl we know.

Imagine the shit you’d have to put up with from Sawyer and Wolfman. ’

‘I already put up with shit from those two.’ I chuckle, making Duke laugh too, his smile beaming even in the darkness of midnight. ‘They’re always doing and saying things in front of me to annoy Wyatt. It’s only you who doesn’t.’

With that, Duke’s expression softens, tempering any brightness in his eyes.

Slowly, his eyes trail over the pizza, and up my body to my face, leaving a fluttering in my heart and a heaviness settling deep in my stomach.

He swallows, dark eyes locked with mine.

‘I guess I’m just a really good friend.’

‘Right.’ I roll my lips together. ‘And you were being a really good friend when you pushed me into that racing crowd of people at the roller rink.’

A warm rumble of laughter fills the air. Duke stretches out his legs, letting them lie beside me. ‘It made you learn quickly though, didn’t it? Plus, I think you got me back when you fell on me.’

Copying him, I bring my legs out from underneath me where they’d been crossed and stretch them out beside his. I try to sneer at him, but my smile can’t contain itself. ‘Oh yeah, I mean the minor heart attack it gave me was totally on the same level as being kneed in the balls, I’m sure.’

‘Whatever you say, Baby Hensley.’ Duke rests his arms behind his head, leaning back so he can stare up at the starry sky. ‘But it was worth it. The way your face lit up when you finally got a hold of things was the best part of the evening.’

My body jolts at the words, while Duke’s completely stills. His eyes stay painfully trained on the sky above, but his Adam’s apple bobs. And there I thought he wasn’t watching me at that point.

After a long blink, Duke finally looks down at me. ‘Let’s just sit and watch the stars for a bit, yeah?’

I mimic zipping up my lips, eliciting a quick smile from Duke, before he’s looking up again. But that smile never leaves his face. Not for the long moment I continue watching him until I finally follow suit and bask in the twinkling glow of the stars above.

Boldly, I let one of my sneakers drop to the side and rest against his leg gently, testing the waters I thought were always too dangerous for me to dip my foot into, to see if he’ll move away.

But to my surprise, he doesn’t. Instead, he slides his own closer to me, letting the warmth of his calf diffuse into mine.

It’s the smallest touch, probably nothing compared to how he touches other girls, but it has my body lighting up brighter than all the stars speckling the dark sky.