“And four flat tires when you left.” Deb added. When Joe shot her a look she smiled at him innocently.
Jake shook his head as he wrapped his arms around Cara. He glanced up at the stage when he heard his sister’s voice. He pulled out a chair for Cara and she sat. He sat down beside her and stared up at his sister. Gone was the girl who tagged around him and Luke, begging them to play with her. There stood a beautiful young woman, who took control and orchestrated this entire event for him. He was proud of the woman she was and even more so that he could call her his sister.
“Testing. One. Two. Three.” Her voice shrieked into the microphone and Jake laughed out loud. She smiled brightly. “I always wanted to do that.” She said more to herself than to her audience.
“God she’s gorgeous.” Nick whispered beside him as he downed a shot. Jake glanced at him and patted him on the back. Poor guy; he had it bad. Nick shook his head and Jake turned his attention back to Sam.
“Thank you all for coming to Rudy’s tonight in support of my brother Jake.” She winked at Jake and he blew her a kiss in return. “Those of you, who know Jake, know that he has the most exuberant personality there is. There is no one who enjoys life and all it has to offer more than him. Six months ago, my brother was diagnosed with stage four Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I remember my family sitting around the living room after he told us his diagnosis. I was shattered. When I heard cancer, I immediately thought how I wasn’t ready to lose my brother.” Her voice caught and she paused. She looked down at her feet and tried to compose herself. When she lifted her eyes, they landed on Jake.
Jake watched her intently, and with one look he willed her to continue.
“I was na?ve because at that moment I forgot who, in fact, we were talking about here. Jake doesn’t let anyone tell him he can’t do something or can’t have something he wants. Jake decided that night, that he was going to fight because more than anything he wanted to live.” She smiled at him as tears fell from her eyes. “His journey isn’t over, but we have hope and we have a ton of faith. Nothing’s going to stand in his way and I am so very proud of him. You, Jake Lanza.” She pointed to him. “You’re my hero.”
He brought his fist to his chest and patted the spot over his heart as he looked at her. Tears fell from his eyes but he didn’t care. He watched her smile at him and wipe at her cheeks. The room was silent as she collected her bearings.
“Anyway tonight, is about awareness and about raising money for research to better assist those who struggle to fight cancer. Instead of Lighting the Night with a walk, we decided to make this more personal and more about Jake. He loves his motorcycles.” She smiled. “So those of you who have signed up to ride, it’s time to kick this thing off. Buckle your helmets, kick up your kick stands and let’s ride for Jake.”
The bar sounded with clapping hands as Sam made her way off the stage. Jake stood and caught her as she threw her arms around him. He hugged her with everything in him.
“Love you.” He whispered as he closed his eyes.
“I meant every word.” She said as she pulled back and stared at him for a moment.
Mostly everyone stood on their feet, and started to head towards the parking lot where the bikes were. Cara tapped Jake’s arm, and he released his sister to turn to her. She handed him his helmet and winked at him.
He stared down at the helmet she offered and took a deep breath. He was going to ride. A grin slowly spread along his mouth. He took his helmet and leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around him as if she was no longer afraid she would hurt him and let her tongue run along the seam of his lips. He smiled against her mouth before he parted his lips and slipped his tongue into her mouth. She tasted sweet and sinful all at once. His teeth grazed her lower lip before his tongue soothed it. She pulled away slowly.
“I have a surprise for you.” She whispered as she stared up at him lovingly.
His brows furrowed curiously, but he smiled.
“I’m all for surprises, especially when they involve you, but can it wait until after the run?”
She shook her head. “Nope.” She said and took both of his hands, tugging him towards the doors. Everyone followed them outside the bar.
Jake watched the excitement come alive in her eyes. She leaned behind him and reached on her tip toes to cover his eyes with her hands.
“No peeking.” She said against his ear. He laughed and wondered what she was up too. He could hear all the engines gearing up for the run and the adrenaline began to boil in his veins. Cara shuffled him to where he needed to be, her hands still covering his eyes.