The Wright Brother Read online

  “Hey, babe, you’ve got some straw between your boobs,” Julian tapped out on her spine. “I would get it but…”

  Laughing, she glanced down. “Do I really? Oh jeez, how in the world did that happen?” Yanking it out, she released it into the nippy fall breeze before turning and giving him a kiss. “Thanks.”

  Chastity’s mouth opened wide.

  Casting a worried frown at everyone else, who didn’t seem to be in on whatever kind of surprise Chas had just elicited, she asked, “What?”

  “Do you guys just speak by osmosis or what? Y’all are freaking me out just a little bit.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Roman snorted. “You mean that strange Morse code shit they do.”

  “Morse code.” Elisa rolled her eyes. “You guys are crazy.”

  “Its not even sign.” Chris nodded. “It’s weird, right? Rome and I always said that shit was weird.”

  Chastity and Luke nodded.

  “But,” Luke said, “I see them do it all the time.”

  “Do you really?” Chas turned to him before looking at everyone else. “I only saw you guys do it for the first time tonight on the drive here, and just now. What are you guys saying?”

  Blushing, even a little embarrassed, Elisa glanced at Julian. “Care to explain?”

  Nipping her shoulder, he tossed up his hands.

  “Oh, gee, thanks. You’re such a help, Jules, really.”

  He tweaked her nose.

  Pretending to be annoyed, she swatted him away. “I don’t know, we just talk. We can’t always look at each other when we do it, I guess we did kind of develop our own style.”

  “Um, yeah.” Roman leaned forward and began doing a dance of fingers across her bicep.

  Elisa gave him a perplexed frown. “And just what was that?”

  “My point exactly.” His blue eyes twinkled. “And for the record, I told you when you get bored of the kid, call me.”

  Julian flexed his fist, which set everyone off to laughing. But Elisa wasn’t laughing. If she allowed herself to think about their relationship too much, she’d almost scare herself—the way she needed Julian, the way she loved him, how they knew each other in a way no one else in their lives did, sometimes it made her feel like heart ache just waiting to happen.

  She shivered. Misunderstanding the source of the movement, Julian wrapped his arms around her and gave her a gentle squeeze. Kissing whatever part of his skin she could reach, which just so happened to be the side of his jaw, she decided that at least for the rest of the night she’d stop overthinking things and just have fun.

  And she was having fun, sitting around the fire, chatting with friends while being held by Julian, it was a perfect, idyllic night.

  Until it wasn’t.

  Somehow Julian had managed to coerce her onto the dance floor. He was making an effort to have fun. This was his scene about as much as it was hers, she’d like to think it had more to do with her dress and how she looked as she moved, more than the fact that Chastity had mentioned it probably hadn’t been fair to create invite them to a dance when Julian couldn’t enjoy it the way the rest of them could, but they here they were, slow dancing to a fast techno-pop song. Bumping into bodies and being bumped into.

  She didn’t care, though, they were under a canopy of stars, tucked away in an eerie forest of skeletal trees and Halloween decorations and it was all so beautiful. Her feet were killing her, though, and she’d managed to take off her jacket for a little bit, but now her skin was pimpling up from the cold and she was just about to ask Julian if he wanted to go back to the fire when something slammed into them.

  Shocked, Elisa yelped as she lost her balance.

  Even though the fall took all of a second, it was like time slowed to a crawl. Elisa had an almost out-of-body experience as she watched her arms windmilling, as her steps became crooked and her right heel caught on a divot, wrenching her ankle with a loud pop and dropping her like a sack of flour to the ground.

  Fire bolted up her calf and tears came immediately. Julian was down on his knees beside her, his fingers trailing along her kneecap. She bit down on her lip, hugging her leg to her body as her ankle literally swelled before her eyes.

  “Don’t think I didn’t see that, bitch!” Chastity’s shrill voice pierced through the fog of Elisa’s pain. “You tripped her on purpose.”

  “No, no, I swear,” Ava’s shrill voice rang with panic.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, trying to focus on anything other than the stomach churning queasiness of her throbbing right leg, Elisa shook her head. Right now she didn’t care if it was on purpose or not, hell, she wouldn’t have even cared if the woods were burning down. The only thing she did care about was getting to a hospital immediately.

  “Are you, okay? God, Elisa, I’m so sorry.”

  That voice didn’t belong to Julian, in fact the voice was so unexpected that she couldn’t help but react to it. Thomas’s soft blue eyes stared back at her. He was glancing between her and Julian with a concerned frown marring his forehead.

  Swallowing the bile on the back of her tongue, she didn’t have the energy to answer him. Elisa signed, “Jules, gotta get to a hospital, I think it might have broken.”

  Her ankle was already bruising.

  Scooting closer to her that it forced Thomas back on his heels, Julian scooped her up. She couldn’t help but cry out as another bolt of fiery pain tore up her body. Gritting her teeth, she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his collar.

  The ride to the hospital was nothing but a blur of pain. It was only three hours later, sitting in the emergency room, that she finally felt a little more human thanks to the high dose of ibuprofen they gave her. They’d wanted to give her something harder, but she’d turned it down. Last thing she needed was to fail a pee test because of drugs in her system.

  She lay on the cot with Julian rubbing her head softly as the doctor finally came in with her X-ray.

  “So it’s not broken, that’s the good news.” He showed her the X-ray photo and pointed to a spot on it.

  “Can I swim? That’s all I care about.”

  He grimaced. She did not like that grimace. Feeling like she’d just swallowed a rock, she clenched Julian’s fingers hard.

  “When’s your swim?”

  “Next week.”

  Giving her the look—the one she knew well, as this wasn’t her first rodeo getting an injury that forced her to suspend her swims—he shook his head. “I really don’t think that’s likely. You have what’s called a Grade II sprain.”

  There’d been a girl last year who’d gotten a Grade III from a taking a tumble during a hiking trip. The tear had been so severe it’d caused her to eventually lose her athletic scholarship because of it.

  Tears streamed from the corners of Elisa’s eyes. Forget the Olympics. How the hell would she pay for college if she lost her scholarship?

  “So I’m done?” Her voice cracked.

  “Well, you didn’t tear the ligament completely, so your recovery won’t take nearly as long had you had a more severe injury.” He thinned his lips, giving her the “I’m so sorry” eyes that she suddenly hated him for.

  Julian, sensing her distress, rubbed her shoulder gently. What was she gonna tell Coach?

  The doctor patted her knee and it was all she could do not to slap his well-intentioned hand off her.

  “You’ll need to make a follow up appointment with an orthopedic physician to see what your options are. For now all I can tell you to do is get some rest, put an ice compress on it, and elevate it. We’ll send you some of the good stuff home to help with the pain along with a pair of crutches, I definitely would advise against swimming competitively anytime soon.”

  With a nod in both their directions, he got up and left.

  Julian took the seat the doctor had just vacated. “I’m sorry.”

  No longer able to contain the tears, she dropped her head into her hands and bawled like a baby.

  An hour later
, Elisa and Julian were making their way out of the ER when she spotted a familiar face.

  It was Thomas, now dressed in a pair of jeans and sweater. He was sitting in the waiting room and he didn’t act surprised to see them come out.

  She frowned. “Thomas?”

  Getting up, he walked over to them. His hands were deep in his pockets and every so often he’d glance at Julian.

  The air between the three of them became thick and tension-filled.

  “What?” She cleared her throat, trying to fight the nauseous waves of pain as the Motrin finally began to wear off. “What are you doing here?”

  Licking his lips, he finally pulled his gaze away from Julian. “I wanted to come and make sure you were all right.”

  “Yeah.” She snorted. “I’m really not.” She hated that her voice trembled.

  “I broke up with her.”

  The hand that Julian had wrapped around her waist clenched up. Elisa patted it gently.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, but mostly because she had no clue what to say to a statement like that.

  His blue eyes gleamed intensely down at her. So heavy was his gaze that she swore she could almost feel it brush her flesh.

  “I’m not. I should have done it a long time ago. I’ll be reporting a couple things to Coach in the morning. Just thought you should know.” He caught his lip between his teeth.

  And it was such a familiar gesture from him that her heart gave a tiny pang. Thomas was a good guy; he hadn’t deserved what she’d done to him.

  Touching his sleeve, she nodded. “For what it’s worth, Tom, I’m sorry too.”

  Swallowing hard enough that she saw his Adam’s apple roll, he said a quick goodbye and turned and left without saying another word.

  She looked at Julian with the heat of tears still shimmering in her eyes.

  “That was him, right?” he asked.

  Elisa nodded as his jaw clenched.

  “Come on, Smile Girl, let’s go home.” He kissed the crown of her head so gently.

  “I love you, Jules. I hope you know that.”

  “I do. I know you do.” But his gentle smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  Julian tucked her into bed later that night, kissed her forehead, and was about to walk off when she stopped him with a touch of her fingers to his wrist.

  His eyes looked haunted when he turned back to her.

  “Where are you going?” she asked, her thoughts were sluggish, her tears dried up. The doctor was right; the drugs he’d given her were good.

  They were probably also banned, which would have disqualified her anyway. She’d tried to go an hour without them, but after nearly throwing up twice from the pain, she’d caved and decided that grinning and bearing it was for the birds.

  Bending over, he kissed her gently. “I’m going out.”

  She frowned, thinking how weird it was for him to want to go out so late at night, but the drugs had taken hold of her and she was helpless to resist its siren call.

  ~*~

  Four days later, with the help of Julian and a pair of crutches, Elisa sat in front of Coach Carl’s closed office door waiting her turn to go inside and see what her future held.

  Julian patted her knee. “You’re going to be okay. You won’t lose this scholarship.”

  Giving him a weak grin, she signed, “But they could—”

  “No.” He shook his head. “They won’t. Season’s almost over, you have time to heal before you need to train again.”

  Wiping nervous fingers against her lips, she sighed. As much as she wanted to believe his words, she couldn’t get the sick feeling out of her stomach that they’d find some loophole to drop her. Something to make them say they refused to waste any more money on her.

  The door finally swung open and Ava’s tear-stained face caught Elisa by surprise that she gave a gasp of disbelief and clenched her fingers in her lap.

  Ava looked like a mess today. So different from her normally slick and put-together outfits. Dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a baggy gray sweater, her hair was wild, looking as though she’d not combed it in a day or two, and her nose and eyes were red.

  “Elisa,” Carl’s grumpy-sounding voice rang out from the office, “you can come in now.”

  In the shock of seeing Ava, Elisa hadn’t noticed how tense Julian had gone. She turned to him to ask him for help getting up and noticed his eyes glaring holes at Ava’s head.

  “I didn’t do it,” Ava whispered in a broken voice. Tapping a fist against her thigh, she shot a glance at Julian quickly before repeating herself. “Whatever you might think of me, I wouldn’t have done…” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have done that.”

  “Why did you hate me so much, Ava? What did I ever do to you?”

  Ava’s jaw clenched, and for a moment Elisa thought she wouldn’t answer her, but finally she said, “Because he never wanted me the way he wanted you.”

  Elisa didn’t need to ask who the “he” was. For a second she felt the guilt all over again for what she’d done to Thomas. Julian’s fingers were gentle as he grasped her elbow and helped her to stand.

  “Elisa,” Carl called again, startling her.

  Glancing quickly over her shoulder one last time, Ava turned and walked away.

  Carl’s blue eyes were cold and aloof as Julian helped her to her seat. Arranging her crutches on her lap, she jerked her chin in Jules’s direction.

  “Can he stay here with me?”

  “I don’t see why not.” He shrugged and pointed to a chair sitting beside his large trophy case.

  Carl looked tired today. There were heavy bags under his eyes and he was rubbing his brow as though he were battling a headache. Sighing, he tapped his finger on his desk. The silence was deafening and made her feel even more sick to her stomach with each second that ticked past.

  “So how are you feeling?” he finally asked.

  She shrugged, fighting the tears in her eyes. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry, there was nothing that could be done. As much as she’d tried to convince herself she’d be good in time for the swim, there was no way. Her ankle was swollen and ached anytime she placed even a minimal amount of pressure on it. Elisa bit her tongue and swallowed hard.

  Nodding, as if coming to some sort of a conclusion, Carl looked between her and Julian. “Clive won’t be here.”

  Her fingers clenched. Not that it came as a surprise, but suspecting it and having it verified were two different things.

  “Obviously.” He pointed at her. “You’re out for the final heat of the season.”

  “And the…” She cleared her throat. “My scholarship? What about that?”

  “That remains to be seen. Since this happened at the end of the season we can hold off on making any final decisions until next year. I’ll obviously be following your progress, but if it looks like you can remain and stay competitive, I doubt you’ll have to worry about that. And as for Ava…” He leaned back in his seat, popping a Tums in his mouth. “You won’t need to worry about her anymore.”

  She turned her face to the side. “Ava swears she didn’t do it.” Elisa wasn’t sure if she was defending her or being sarcastic. Honestly, where Ava March was concerned she didn’t feel a whole lot other than quiet antipathy.

  “Yeah.” He snorted. “Whether she was the cause or not for this incident, there is reason to believe she’s done other things.”

  Frowning, she glanced up at him. “What other things?”

  “Thomas and a few others have come to me. Told me about a head-kicking incident a few weeks ago. And regardless of what she now claims there are many who can vouch that what happened to you that night wasn’t an accident. There is an investigation pending, of course. But I don’t tolerate this type of behavior. Not on my team.”

  Swiping at the lone tear had fallen out of her left eye with her palm, she made to stand, and Julian was by her side in a second.

  “Helluva thing, Elisa. Helluva thing,” Coach C
arl said. And she supposed that was as close as she’d ever get to hearing him voice any regret.

  Smiling through the tears that now fell in waves, she said, “I’ll see you next year.”

  Standing, he extended his hand to shake hers. “Yes, I’m sure you will.”

  ~*~

  Elisa sighed through the phone as she talked with Chas. It’d been two weeks since that night, and the what-might-have-beens would haunt her for years, she was sure, but it was done.

  “That bitch deserved it,” Chastity snarled. “I told you I saw her trip you. I’m glad Thomas did the right thing by speaking up.”

  “She swears she didn’t, Chas.”

  “Yeah, and if you believe that, then I’m a monkey’s uncle.”

  Exhausted from thinking of this, Elisa shrugged. “I’m at the point that I don’t really care. Whether she did that or didn’t, she’s done other things. I’m just glad the whole stupid thing is behind me now.”

  Elisa frowned as she stared at her still-tender ankle. Julian was probably the best nurse in the world, checking in on her every hour or so, bringing her tea and snacks whenever he felt she might be hungry, but she was tired of lying in bed.

  Thankfully the physician had agreed with her that no surgery would be required. Her ankle still ached like nobody’s business, but it would eventually heal on its own. Best part of the whole stupid thing, Ava had been kicked off the swim team. Indefinitely.

  She hadn’t gotten to the school on a scholarship, so, as far as Elisa knew, she would still be allowed to attend classes, but that was currently in review as well.

  “You serious? That’s all you feel right now? I’d be over at the bitch’s place and clawing her eyes out. The Olympics, Lisa, that’s what she cost you. Stupid, selfish wench. Not you, of course.”

  Shrugging, Elisa picked at her pink sweatpants. “We don’t know that. I probably wouldn’t have made the team anyway. I might be fast for college, but the Olympics are totally different kind of fast.”

  She said it, but she didn’t really mean it. Sometimes if she thought about it too much, she’d still cry. She’d never tell Chastity that she wished she’d never gone to that party, even though for the rest of her life she’d probably regret that decision.