Young Love Dies Hard: The Young Brothers, Book 1 by Nikki Lane (old books to read txt) 📗

The mama cat lazily lifted her head and then set it back down. She seemed unaffected as the other kittens crawled all over her.

“Is she okay?” I asked, glancing at mama cat.

Jacob let out a little sigh. “No, she’s sick. I think they’re going to put her down.”

I gasped. “What? Why?”

“There’s nothing more we can do for her.”

I held the kitten a little tighter against my chest.

“What’s going to happen to them?” I asked.

“Well, hopefully, they’ll be adopted soon.”

I brought the kitten close to my face and nuzzled her against my cheek. “I want to adopt one,” I said. “Can I?”

Jacob’s mouth curled into a small smile. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Never had a pet of my own before…except for a fish. But that didn’t work out well.”

“Okay,” Jacob said, taking the kitten from my hands. “I’ll get the paperwork done, and, as soon as she’s ready, we’ll take her home.” He tucked the kitten back into the kennel.

I smiled and latched my hand on the cold metal door. Soon, a throng of kittens were lapping and nibbling on my fingers.

“So, are you excited?” Jacob asked.

“I’m not sure.”

He’d been hinting about plans for my birthday for the last few days. I tried to act indifferent, but the curiosity was eating away at me.

“Are you ready to go?”

“That depends on where you’re taking me.” I’d spent a good portion of my morning staring into my closet, debating on what to wear. And it didn’t help any that Jacob had told me to dress for anything. That was a lot harder than it sounded.

“I told you it’s a surprise.”

“But how do I know I’m dressed right?”

He gave me a onceover. “Spin around.”

I have him a crooked look, and he twirled his finger. I spun while he whistled a catcall.

“Stop,” I said, giving him a playful push.

“Beautiful as always.”

Jacob finished feeding the rest of the animals and then did a quick change so we could head out.

We got in the car, with Jacob driving, and headed out of town. I gazed out of the window, watching the trees whizz by on the interstate. Where the hell were we going?

“This is the way to Aunt Meg and Uncle Jim’s,” I said.

Jacob nodded. “Yep.”

“We’re going to Aunt Meg and Uncle Jim’s?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

I huffed, leaned back in the seat, and crossed my arms.

“Don’t,” Jacob said.

“Don’t what?”

“Pout,” he said with a snicker.

“I do not pout.”

“You do to.” He reached for my hand and laced his fingers with mine. “And it’s strangely adorable.”

An hour later, and signs for a small airport were popping up every few miles. Jacob made a few more turns until we reached the airport parking lot.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” He unbuckled his seatbelt.

I stared at him, not sure what to make of our location.

“Aren’t you going to get out?” he asked.

“Are we going somewhere?”

“Maybe.” He got out of the car, leaving me to continue wondering.

When I was out of the car, I saw the sign posted on the chain link fence, just below the barbed wire. It was kind of hard to miss.

Free Fall Adventures

I stopped in my tracks. “No way,” I said, disbelieving.

Jacob stopped, too. “Yes way.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Excitement and fear hit me in a way that made me want to jump up and down and throw up at the same time. “But…I don’t understand.”

His eyebrows rose. “Don’t understand what?”

“Why this?” I squinted my eyes and looked at the sign again, just to be extra sure I’d read it right.

He patted his shirt, like he was looking for something, and then reached into the pocket of his jeans. In his hand was a folded piece of white paper.

He unfolded it, cleared his throat, and proceeded to read it out loud.

“Dear, Jacob. Another dull day. Nothing to do and without you here I’m sure I’ll go insane from boredom. Aunt Meg says I might be able to visit you soon. Made a list of top ten things I want to do before I die. Wanna here them? Number one: skydive. Number two—”

I grabbed the paper from his hands. “Where did you get this?”

“It’s an email you’d sent me.”

I checked the date. “I was thirteen. How do you still have this?” The paper was worn and creased in several spots.

“I’d printed it out,” he said. “Thought a list as important as the top ten things you want to do before you die would be an important one to remember.” He folded the paper back up and stuffed it into his pocket. “And I’d always hoped we could do most of them together.”

A small breeze could have pushed me over. I had a vague memory of sending him the list, but I hadn’t thought about it in years.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” I said. It’d always been a dream of mine, but now that I was looking it straight in the face, I thought my knees would give out.

“You’re not doing it alone,” Jacob said. “I’m going up with you.”

“But you’re afraid of heights,” I said.

“Yeah? And you were afraid to go out on a date with me and look at how well that turned out.” He flashed me a big, beautiful grin and started to walk toward the entrance. “Are you coming?”

I took careful steps and followed him, doubting the experience of jumping from a plane from two and a half miles in the sky could ever top the feeling Jacob gave me every day.

* * * *

I was strapped to a stranger. Some guy name Wild Bill. His full beard matched the color of his salt and pepper hair. Every time he said something, his bushy eyebrows rose with his excitement. I’d never been so uncomfortably close to someone before. Our bodies were sandwiched together, a harness and some tethers keeping us connected. I was strapped to a guy named Wild Bill, minutes from jumping out of a plane.

Holy shit.

Just an hour ago, I was standing next to Jacob in