the biker boy (completed)

seventeen

chapter seventeen:

"Down, boy," Bryan said to the new addition to his little house, Sammy, the Labrador.

The dog obeyed for a little while until Andy walked through the front door. Just a moment there Bryan felt like it was a complete family and he smiled at the thought of it.

"Good thoughts?" Andy asked as he gave Bryan a peck on the cheek.

"Wonderful ones," Bryan answered back and grinned.

There never was a dull moment when Carmen was with Jasper. She always had fun and he did too. She could never resist staring into those chocolate brown eyes and it seemed like a chocolate pit... a sand pit but it was filled with chocolate.

"How's this for a date?" Jasper asked while reaching out to grab ahold of Carmen's hand.

"The arcade? Sounds like fun because I bet I could win you in a few matches." She gave a cheeky grin. Carmen knew the arcade almost too well because she used to spend a ton of time there when her family was ruined.

"Oh really? I doubt it, love." Jasper chuckled at how silly his girlfriend was. It was weird for him to call her his girlfriend. He used to have girlfriends but he never committed to them.

"A loss per round on any game, the winner gets to read a text off the loser's phone," Carmen challenged Jasper. He thought about it for a while and wanted to be excused to delete some of it but Carmen caught him just in time. "No deleting, Jasp. A secret can condemn a relationship very badly."

"So does the truth, no?"

"Then I suggest you'd better step up and win at every game then, biker boy." Carmen laughed as she pulled him into the arcade and got some tokens from the cashier.

In the first few rounds, Jasper kept winning and he felt confident about keeping his winning streak. He definitely wasn't ready to be sharing what his inbox messages were filled with.

"You finally lost! Give me your phone. Come on," Carmen approached Jasper. He backed away for a little while and sighed as he handed his phone to her.

"Returning to the colonies! Take care, little brother. I'll see you during Christmas," Carmen read out and gushed a whole ton of aw's. "Kisses, C."

"Ah, that's my sister. Claire." He smiled at Carmen reading the text. He always had a strong sibling relationship with Claire even when she would disappear off to university for a few good years, their relationship never faltered.

"I win now! Phone, missy." Jasper held out his palm and Carmen left her phone on it.

"I think you've pretty much read my entire inbox," she added and rolled her eyes.

"Let's see..." Jasper grinned. "Not everything can be mended after all, Carmen."

"That... that was sent by Eddie a night before he... before he died at sixteen past eleven." Carmen shuddered.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have picked that," Jasper said softly and hugged her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. Let's get on then, shall we?" She quickly wiped away the tears and smiled.

"Alrighty then! Ready to lose, Adler?"

"Oh, I'm ready to win, love," Carmen added.

After two minutes of intense air hockey, Carmen won fair and square. When Jasper saw her scrolling through the texts, his heart was beating a little too quickly.

"Had a ton of fun last night. You're still damn good in bed. Call me up, anytime," Carmen read out in disbelief. She checked the date of the message and it was the week when Eddie passed away. She stared at the text and at Jasper back and forth hoping for a logical explanation.

"This is a stupid game. Let's go grab dinner?" Jasper asked, praying with all his heart that she would just shrug it off.

"Grab dinner? How are you feeling so neutral about this?" Carmen stared at him. She was shocked at how he thought this was normal and that cheating was alright.

"We weren't that official when that happened, Carmen." Jasper slid his phone into his pocket.

"We were still considered official, Jasp. That counts for something, doesn't it?" She shouted at him and stormed out of the arcade.

When she was out, she quickly dialled Bryan's number. She didn't know whether she should cry or just be pissed off.

"Hello?" Bryan answered groggily.

"I'm so sorry but something just happened and I don't know where to go and your place is the nearest from here. Bryan, I don't know what just happened," Carmen immediately spilled everything out.

"Woah, you're talking a little too quickly to someone who has just woken up," Bryan implied.

"I just... I just found out something awful, Bryan. Please, can I come over?"

"You do know that my house always opens its door for you right?" Bryan asked and she nodded even though he couldn't see her. "So, tea or coffee?"

"Tea, please."