by Kendall Ryan
“Who keeps calling?” she asked.
“No one. It’s just my sister, wanting to borrow money.”
Twenty-Two
MacKenzie
Ian had just completely rocked my world, shattering it into a million tiny pieces. His warm mouth on my core had been better than all the times I’d fantasized about him combined. And now he was looking at me with that hungry gaze of his and telling me that he wanted me. I could have melted right into the sea of blue mats in his gym.
Telling Chris about us wasn’t going to be fun, but I’d wanted Ian for the better part of a year now and I felt like I had just won the damn lottery. He was so hot and sweet, and made me feel things I’d never felt before.
His phone started ringing yet again. He checked the phone before answering. “Sophia, what on earth is so important—” His brow wrinkled as he listened to her. I could hear the faint but frantic lilt of his sister’s voice, but I couldn’t tell what she was saying.
“Where are you?” he asked, his body tense as he listened. “Stay on the phone with me. I’m coming to get you. Just a second.” He pulled the phone away from his face, his eyes filled with a mixture of panic and anger. “She was mugged. She says she’s okay, but I need to go pick her up.”
I nodded and grabbed my purse. “Let’s go.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t want you going. She’s in a bad part of town.”
“Your chivalry is endearing, but misguided. Remember where I live? Besides, she said she was okay, but would it hurt to have a nurse there?” I pointed at myself. “Just in case? She must be in shock, and might not realize she’s injured.”
His face grew even more fearful, and I wished I’d kept my mouth shut. I hadn’t meant to suggest she was hurt.
“She’s probably fine,” I said, “but I can still help.” I slipped my hand into his, and he squeezed it while he briefly mulled it over.
Finally, he nodded and led the way down to the parking garage while still holding the phone to his ear, talking to Sophia. The car alarm chirped as we approached his Escalade. I slid into the passenger side and he hopped into the driver’s seat. Wasting no time, he brought the car to life.
Surprisingly he ended up driving to my neighborhood, taking the usual route he took when he drove me home, only about five times faster. As he took a residential corner at forty miles an hour, I tugged on the seatbelt to make sure it was tight.
His brow furrowed, his muscles tense, he somehow managed to sound levelheaded as he talked to Sophia on the drive over. About a mile from my place, he turned onto one of the worst streets in that part of town. I was used to my neighborhood, but if Sophia was a trust-fund kid like her brother, she was way out of her element.
We rounded the final corner and my heart almost broke. I had no idea what Sophia looked like, but I knew the girl on the bus bench was her. She wore expensive heels. Her dress was designer, and would have been gorgeous if it hadn’t had black smudges on the bright yellow fabric, and a rip in the shoulder that would have exposed her if she hadn’t been holding it up. Her eyes were smeared with runny makeup.
Ian was out of the car before I’d managed to free myself from the seatbelt. He was pumped. Angry. And a whole lot out of control. Even more so than when he was preparing for a fight, if that was possible.
“Ian, wait.” I got out, following him to the bench where his sister sat. I hoped to God that whoever did that to her was already in police custody, because injury or not, Ian looked like he was going to kill someone. A vein throbbed in his neck, and his fists were clenched at his sides.
“Stay in the car, Kenzie,” he growled.
I was tempted to obey since he was seriously pissed off, but I was more worried about his sister, so I followed at a safe distance.
“I told you, I don’t remember what he looked like,” Sophia was saying as I approached.
“Where were you when this happened?” Ian asked. He leaned over her with his hand on the back of the bench. His gaze darted around, looking for anyone who might seem the least bit suspicious. Now that he was near his sister, he seemed to relax the tiniest bit.
“I don’t remember. I told you, I was dazed. I wandered a while before I thought to call you.”
That was all I needed to hear. I scooted in on the bench next to her. “Sophia, my name is MacKenzie. I’m a nurse,” I said. “Did you hit your head?”
“No.” She turned away from me, but I caught a glimpse of her eyes and my heart almost broke for a second time. Her pupils were dilated and her eyes were red. That combined with the insane pace her knee was bouncing told me all I needed to know. She was using. Probably cocaine from the way she kept wiping at her nose.
I searched Ian’s face for any indication that he knew his kid sister was coked-up out of her gourd, but it was clear he didn’t. Not that I could blame him for missing it. After all, the signs of her recent assault were much more obvious.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I was attacked. I got away before anything happened, but I just want to go home.”
“We should call the police,” I said.
“No,” they both said in unison, and Ian said, “I don’t want this shit behind bars where I can’t get to him.”
Sophia whimpered. “Ian, it was nothing. I told you I don’t remember who it was. Now can you please just drive me home?”
Ian surveyed the street one last time, then turned to his sister. “Yeah, let’s get you home.”
I tried to sit with Sophia in back, but she waved me off, saying she was fine, and pushed me to sit up front with Ian. She tried to get us to just drop her off, but Ian insisted on walking her upstairs and getting her settled.
“You don’t mind, do you, Kenzie? I’m sorry to drag you all over town like this.”
I shook my head. “No, not at all.” I was worried for Sophia, and glad he wasn’t just going to let her wander upstairs alone.
In the elevator, Sophia kept tapping her foot and bouncing against the wall, literally, by leaning back, then pushing off with her hands. It looked like she was going to explode any moment.
Ian and I followed her down the hall, and she opened the door. It was a nice enough apartment, well, probably a condo like Ian’s, but there was clothing and dirty dishes strewn everywhere.
Ian scanned the place, and concern filled his eyes. “What happened here?”
“Nothing,” she barked and tried to close the door on us, but Ian was having none of that. He pushed through the door, and I gave him some space before following.
He acted like this was all new, which meant he might not even know she was using. If she were my patient, I couldn’t tell Ian, but neither she nor her insurance were paying for my services. I didn’t want him to explode at her, though, so I watched him.
After wandering around to the various rooms, securing the apartment, Ian planted himself on the sofa. His eyes were sharp and he was about to snap, but not at her. He looked at her as if she was someone who needed protecting.
Ian could never hurt his sister. I would have to tell him; he could get her help.
“Just go, Ian,” she said. “Thanks for coming to get me. I’m just gonna take a shower and crash for the night, nothing exciting going on here. Thank you and good-bye.” She looked almost pissed.
I stepped forward. “Sophia, you and I both know he isn’t going anywhere until you’re cleaned up and he’s calmed down. Let’s go take a look at those scrapes.”
I took her hand and guided her to the solitary hallway, which had to lead to the bathroom. When Ian got up to follow, I said, “I’ve got this, Ian. You just relax. This is a girl thing.”
“Does Ian know?” I asked once the bathroom door had closed behind us.
Sophia folded her arms and turned away from me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” was her snotty little response. She was trying to push me away by being cold. I’d seen it before; she was desperate to be left alone to feed her addiction.
Not o
n my watch.
“Oh, right,” I said. I opened her medicine cabinet and started rummaging through the bottles of pills.
“Stop it.” She reached for a bottle of antihistamine and I swatted her hand away, taking the same bottle off the shelf myself and opening it.
“Are your allergies acting up? You want some of this?” I asked, tipping the bottle’s contents into my hand. No pills, just a small clear vial. It was almost empty, save for a tiny trace of powder. She reached for it, and I pulled it behind my back.
“Sophia, does Ian know you’re using?”
She took a deep breath as if to fight off tears. “No, please don’t tell him. He’ll tell our parents. I hardly ever use, and…I can stop. I’ll stop. I promise.” Her eyes were wide, but not because she was scared. It was because of how high she was.
I lifted the toilet seat and opened the vial, tapping the last pinch of cocaine into the toilet. Her hands went for the vial as I did so.
This was bad, and so heart wrenching. I felt my fist balling up. I’d known so many addicts when I was a kid. Several of my foster parents were. I always tried to be nice and encouraging to them in the hopes that they would stop. It wasn’t until nursing school that I learned addicts wouldn’t get help until they were ready. Sometimes that meant tough love. So as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t baby her.
“Clean yourself up,” I said, then let myself out of the bathroom.
Her faint sobs followed me down the hall, begging me to turn back and tell her it would all be okay. God, I wanted to. But I went back to meet Ian in the living room. Addicts needed tough love.
When I got there, he was still seated on the sofa, his head in his hands. I wasn’t sure what he was doing until I saw what was laid out in front of him on the coffee table. A CD case with a dusting of white powder.
I didn’t have to tell him his little sister was snorting coke. The evidence was right in front of him.
Twenty-Three
Ian
How the hell did I not know?
The signs were all there. MacKenzie told me they weren’t always easy to spot, but still, I should have seen them. Sophia was my little sister. I have known her all my life.
I thought back to the few times I’d seen Sophia in the past month. The way her leg had started bobbing up and down nervously, the irritability. She had been secretive, and had asked for more money. She was manipulative, even more so than usual. Only I hadn’t noticed because I was so wrapped up in my own career, so focused on my stupid injury. So now, here I was on her sofa, waiting for her to come down from her high so we could talk.
MacKenzie had spent several hours going through Sophia’s place. She picked up clothing, washed the dishes, did a load of laundry, and even mopped the floor. That, and everything else from the day had worn her out.
Now she lay next to me, her head in my lap, dozing quietly. I ran my fingers through her hair, so thankful she’d come with me. If she hadn’t been here, I’d have lost my shit. MacKenzie took control of the situation in a way I never could have. I was so hell-bent on finding the guy who mugged Sophia so that I could exact revenge, I couldn’t even see that there was something way more fucked-up going on. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t been here.
Hell, I guess I do. I would have ignored the signs and run off half-cocked to find whoever did this to Sophia. I still wanted to figure out who the hell had put her on to that shit. And I would be finding out once she was clean; I had to wait until she came down. No matter how much I wanted to punch whoever did this shit to her, I had to fucking calm down.
I looked down again at Kenzie. She was curled up on her side in the fetal position next to me. I’d offered to get her a cab, but she refused, insistent that she would wait out Sophia’s high with me.
I brushed my finger against her cheek. It was so soft. It brought me back to the moments we’d had together today before. I’d finally done it. I’d done what I had been wanting to do for the last six months, since the first night I met her—I committed myself to being everything I could be for her. God, it felt good to finally be able to give in to the need, to tell her how I felt about her.
MacKenzie stirred under my touch. “Sorry I dozed off. I meant to keep you company.” She stretched and sat up, scooting in so she curled against my side.
“No, it’s okay, you need rest.” I looked into her sleepy eyes. “You have to work tomorrow.”
That was the wrong thing to say. She groaned and buried her head in my shoulder.
My stomach sank. I wasn’t the only one who was worried about how Chris would take this. I put my arms around her and kissed the top of her head, wishing there was some way we could avoid telling Chris, yet knowing I couldn’t do that to him. He was a friend.
God, and this was all my fault for pushing him at her. I practically served her to him. I was such a fucking douche-wad.
Twenty-Four
MacKenzie
I’d never been sentimental about waking up next to a guy, and yet here I was curled up in Ian’s arms, unwilling to open my eyes in case it might all be a dream.
I pressed my nose to his T-shirt, and the familiar scent of his detergent, body soap, and a hint of musk filled my senses. I traced my fingers over his chest and down his abs. Even as he slept, his breathing slow, I could still feel the definition in his muscles. My leg was draped over his groin, and he had the hint of morning wood.
My grip tightened around his chest, and I tried not to think about it. I still couldn’t believe what had happened between us at his gym. The confident way he’d pulled my panties down my legs and licked my center… I shuddered and squeezed him tighter.
His sister lay sleeping in the next room; this wasn’t the time. She’d finally dozed off at six in the morning, and we’d curled up to get in a few hours of sleep before we had to take Ian to the doctor.
My stomach growled. I was hungry, but I didn’t want to move. Ian’s breathing changed and his embrace tightened. I finally opened my eyes because I wanted to see his face.
It was perfect. His square jaw was covered in stubble, which was only a little shorter than his hair. His clear blue eyes looked down at me with so much tenderness.
“Hey, Kenzie.” We closed the distance and kissed. “You ready to face the day?”
The reality of his words hit me. This was real. It wasn’t a dream. He couldn’t still want me this morning, could he? After all, this didn’t happen to girls like me.
“Listen, what happened back at your place…we were caught up in the heat of the moment, I understand if you…” I was giving him a way out, shutting down these growing feelings I had for him before he had the chance to fracture my heart again.
His forefinger over my lips quieted me. “Don’t pussy out on me now, Kenzie. I want this with you, I’ve wanted this for a long fucking time.”
He kissed the top of my head. Something he’d only done a few times, but I loved it and hoped he would make a habit of it. God, he was so sweet.
“Oh my God. Will you guys get a fucking room?” Sophia stood over us, her hair all matted. She’d forgotten to remove her makeup, which was now smeared up and down her face.
“Morning, Sis.” Ian sat up, and I followed. “You must have slept a whole five minutes.” He slumped down and bent his head over, rubbing the back of his neck as if he’d just remembered he was supposed to be irritated with her. “This is it, Sophia. End of the road. If you can’t stay clean, I’m kidnapping you and hauling your ass to rehab. Do I make myself clear?”
“Ian, you can’t force me to go to rehab. Besides, I don’t need it. I’m fine,” she said.
“Do I make myself clear?”
She frowned and averted her eyes. “Yes.”
“And that five grand I gave you really is the last you’ll see from me. If you need more to get through the month, I’ll buy you a case of ramen noodles. There won’t be any more handouts.”
“Ian, I was mugged yesterday. I really don’t have any money l
eft. The guy took it all.”
His eyes got wide. “Sophia, what the hell were you doing walking around that part of town with five thousand dollars cash?” He chuckled to himself. “Never mind. I think I know.” He started pulling his shoes on. “I have to go right now. I’ll stop by later with your case of ramen.”
“Ian,” she whined.
He slid his hand into mine, ignoring his sister completely, and gave me a look that could melt butter. “You ready to go?”
I nodded. Even though I was in no way ready for the day—dealing with Chris and all—I understood what Ian was doing with Sophia. It was time for some tough love, and it was time to get on with the day. In fact, it was important to get on with this day, so that it would soon be over. Then I could spend the rest of my time with this seriously sexy man.
He stood up and helped me to my feet.
“Ian, wait,” Sophia said.
He led me to the door, then turned back to her. “This is it, Sophia. You’re cut off. You can’t whine your way out of this one. I’ll be by later to check on you. Be good. You can do this.”
He gave his sister a hug and she squeezed him back, her eyes shut tight and her lower lip trembling. And with that we left.
Twenty-Five
MacKenzie
Ian pulled into the gym’s parking lot and let the car idle. He’d hardly spoken since we’d left the doctor’s office. I’d expected him to be silent. What I didn’t expect was how unruffled and in control he was, considering what the doctor had just told him.
“This means no more self-defense classes until you’re back on track,” I said to break the silence.
He shook his head, but the corner of his mouth turned up, hinting at a smile. “If you think a bad report card from the doc will get you out of self-defense lessons, you are sorely mistaken.” He slid his hand around mine and wove our fingers together. “I’ll get myself back on track. Don’t you worry about it. It’s not your problem.”