Hidden(44)

I’m spinning with my arms stretched out. The trees are a blur of green as I spin. I’m dressed in white. The sun is shining bright up in the deep blue sky. The burnt orange leaves from the elm are raining down on me. I spin and laugh as they flutter in the air. I’m free. I’m finally free.

A chill causes me to stop. I wrap my arms around myself. Dillon? I spin slowly, looking for him all around me and then I see him. He’s on the other side of the fence in the darkness. No. I try to run to him but I’m frozen. He sees me and smiles, but then I see him standing behind Dillon. The faceless skinny man in the suit. I try to scream to warn Dillon but nothing comes out. I force my legs to run to him, but they won’t move. The man slowly walks towards Dillon.

“Dillon!” I scream. I finally hear my voice so I scream louder. “Dillon!”

“I’m here baby, I’m here.” I feel him shaking me. “Amy, it’s just a dream.”

I lunge at him and wrap my body around him. I don’t want to let him go. I felt him being taken away from me. I felt it. It was the worst pain. I squeeze him as tight as I can because I never want to lose him. Ever.





CHAPTER 17





Dillon



“Am I going to fast?” Amy asks as we creep down the dirt road in my F150.

“Are you joking? You’re going less than twenty miles an hour,” I tease her.

“It’s scary. This truck is too big. It feels like we’re taking up the entire road and then some. I can’t believe you're letting me drive.”

“You need to learn and I knew there wouldn’t be anybody on this road.”

“Thanks for the confidence.”

She looks hot driving my truck. She’s wearing another new skirt and a v-neck t-shirt that shows a bit of cleavage. She threw her hair up on the top of her head with a clip and it’s messy and sexy as hell. She’s all nervous, biting at her bottom lip while she grips the steering wheel and doesn’t even blink while staring straight ahead. Her legs are slightly spread and tense, one foot barely on the gas and the other hovering over the brake.

I move over as close as I can and put my hand on her thigh.

“Dillon, stop. You’ll get us killed.” She shoves my hands away.

“Then pull over.”

“Really?” she asks, trying not to look at me, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Yeah. Pull over. I need to kiss you.”

She immediately pulls over and as soon as she has the truck in park, I pull her into my lap and kiss her. I kiss her passionately. I don’t know if she realizes how much she’s woven herself so deeply into my life. How much I desperately need her. I didn’t know I was lonely until I met her. I thought I was satisfied with my life. Taking care of the ranch, having casual sex with Candice and watching the sunset alone. Since I met Amy, none of it is enough anymore. In a way, I need her more than she needs me. I wanted to tell her I loved her last night. What happened between us was beautiful. I’ve never felt so much emotion during sex in my life. That’s how I know without a doubt that I love her. I just couldn’t say it. I panicked.

She kisses me back with an equal amount of passion and when we stop to catch our breath, we don’t even disconnect. She inhales my breath as I inhale hers, as if we need each other to breathe. As we’re enjoying the peace and the calm of just being in each other’s arms, a loud horn makes us both jump. I practically toss Amy off of me to the floor of the truck as I see a large red truck barreling at us from behind. I bend my body over hers and prepare myself for the impact when the truck swerves around us, just barely missing us, and laying on the horn as it hisses by.

“Fuck! What the hell was that?”

“Dillon, what happened!” she screams from underneath me.

“I don’t know.” I sit up in the seat and watch the truck disappear up ahead of us. The hair on my arms stand up. I don’t have a good feeling about what just happened, but I don’t want Amy to get worried. “I think it was just some drunk asshole. It’s okay. They drive down this road all the time because they know it’s not travelled on much. Come here.” I pull her up onto the seat and give her a reassuring hug. “Let’s go.”

“Can you drive? I’m a little freaked now.”

“Yeah. I’ll drive.”

We drive another couple of miles to the drugstore to get Amy’s prescription filled. The pill. She’s getting on the pill. She’s also getting some sleep aids the doctor recommended, so I’m also thrilled about that.

We pull into the parking lot and I immediately notice the red truck. Amy didn’t see it since I threw her to the floor of the truck as it passed, so I don’t say anything. This town isn’t very big and I’ve never seen this truck before. I’m getting all kinds of red flags, but I don’t want to scare Amy. We walk into the store and I can’t help but to look at every single person in the place. While her prescription is being filled, we stand in the sleep aid aisle and I get the sense we’re being watched. I look up and down the aisle but I don’t see anyone.