by Grace James
She studied me quietly for a second. “Okay, of course I will.”
“Great. Meet you after class tomorrow and we can go back to the mall?”
“Sounds good.”
70
I walked into the store a little sheepishly, avoiding eye contact with the staff. I didn’t know if any of them would remember me and my screaming fit, but I definitely didn’t want to witness the moment of recognition on their faces if they did. I was embarrassed enough already – and I didn’t even have back up. Mel had called me and said that she’d gotten a call from our super because there was a leak in our apartment, so she’d had to go home to wait for a plumber to arrive.
I grabbed the dresses that Mel and I had tried on and took them to the cash register. The cashier smiled politely at me – no sign of recognition at all – but I still exited the store with my head practically in my bag, pretending to study the receipt as if it held vital information on the location of the Holy Grail.
That was when I slammed headlong into a huge pair of breasts any Playboy Bunny would be proud of – and the poor woman attached to them got knocked on her ass.
“Oh my God! I am so sorry!” I yelped, dropping my bag and reaching out, offering her my hand. “Are you okay?!”
The woman glared at my hand like it was covered in puss-filled boils and pushed herself to her feet, her beautiful face screwed up in distaste. She flicked her long, chocolate brown hair over her shoulder and smoothed down her, already immaculate, top.
As I looked at her, a large hand settled on the nape of my neck. “Shit, Princess, you trying to kill my date?”
I turned to see Blake smirking down at me.
I pressed my lips together and looked back at his date. She was looking at me with intense dislike and I immediately realized why – aside from the fact that I had just knocked her flying – Blake practically had his arm around me. I leant down to pick up my discarded shopping bag and his hand fell away. “Are you okay?” I asked her again.
“Yeah, I guess, but maybe you should look where you’re going next time.” She turned her attentions to Blake. “You know her?” she asked, accusingly.
“Yeah, this is Amy. Amy, this is Heather.”
“Nice to meet you,” I offered.
She sniffed. “Sure, if I wasn’t on the floor at the time.”
“Heather, she already apologized. Don’t be a bitch.” Blake’s tone was mild but firm.
Heather stared at him like he’d just slapped her.
“Here.” He dug his wallet out of his worn jeans and gestured to the coffee shop across the way. “Go grab me some water and get whatever you want as well. I need to talk to my friend for a minute.” He handed her a bill and looked at her expectantly.
After a second, she shot me a stink eye and walked away.
I felt Blake’s eyes on me. “So what’s in there that’s so interesting?” He leant over my shoulder, peering into the bag.
I tensed at his nearness. “Nothing much, just a couple of dresses for me and Mel, for the show on Friday.”
“Show me.”
I snorted. “Like you care about what dress I’m going to wear.”
“Just showing an interest. Friends do that.” He winked.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“So you made up with Con,” Blake stated.
I nodded. “Just like you said.”
“Yeah, it’s like I’ve got a crystal ball or some shit.” He glanced across at Heather, who seemed to be giving some fairly complex instructions to a confused looking teen behind the counter. “I need you to do me a favor here, Princess, I’m bailing on this date –”
“What? Why would you do that?”
“I went out with her once before, a few months back, and I forgot how much of a fucking nightmare she is. When she comes back over here, I’m gonna make up some bullshit, just back me up, okay?”
“Um, how about I just leave you to it instead?”
“How about you just help out a friend instead?” he countered.
“This friend thing is really starting to bite me on the ass,” I muttered as Heather stalked back over to us, bottle of water in one hand, weird green shake thingy in the other.
“Thanks, darlin’,” Blake said amiably, taking the water from her. “Look, I’m sorry but I’m gonna have to take off, something came up.”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Like what?”
“Amy needs help with something. We’ll do this another time.”
She glanced at me. “She just suddenly needs help with something?” she challenged.
I started to feel sorry for her. God knows I’d felt like a fool enough times thanks to a Maxwell. I shot Blake a look that I hoped conveyed how much I wanted to kick him in the balls for forcing me to be a part of this. “I’m really sorry, Heather, I got a call from my roommate just before I ran in to you guys, there’s a leak in my apartment, it’s kinda serious. You know Blake’s good with that kind of thing, working construction and all.”
The look on her face told me that no, she did not know that.
“Anyway, he’s saving our lives by helping us out. I’m sorry for ruining your date. I’m sure he’ll make it up to you another time – hey, I know! Maybe you could double date with me and Connor?” I leant a little closer to Heather and away from Blake. “Have you met Connor? He’s Blake’s cousin, we’ve been dating forever.” I knew I was laying it on pretty thick but I wanted her to know she hadn’t been brushed aside for me; as unpleasant as she seemed, I didn’t think she deserved to be embarrassed.
The relief that washed over her was almost palpable as she looked back at Blake. “Okay, I guess you can make it up to me.” She leant up and kissed him lingeringly with plump lips. “You’ve got my number,” she purred against his mouth, giving his ass a firm squeeze before stalking away, hips swaying.
I tried to ignore the raging jealousy that flared inside me.
“Damn, Princess, that was fucking fantastic,” Blake said, grinning wide.
“You’re an ass,” I shot at him before I turned and walked away.
“Hey, hey! Wait!” He grabbed my arm and stopped me, tugging me back to face him. “What the fuck?! What did I do?”
I shook his hand off. “What did you do?! You were about to make that girl feel like crap and you used me to help you do it! You can’t just bail half way through a date!”
“Why not?” He seemed genuinely confused.
“Because it’s hurtful! How would you like it if a girl just turned around to you and said Gee, something just came up! Bye!”
He barked a laugh. “Honestly? If she’s not into it, I’d rather she just tag out. That’s no fun for anyone.”
“So you wouldn’t care if she just blew you off?!”
“Well, sure, I’d like her to do that first –”
“Oh my God!” I snapped, flushing as I realized my mistake. “That’s not what I meant and you know it!”
By then he was howling.
“You can’t just treat people like that!”
He sobered, his smile shrinking. “Not everyone’s like you, Princess. Some girls just want a one night thing or, even better, a couple hour thing. Heather’s one of them. I told you we hooked up before but I haven’t heard from her since then – ‘til today when she called me out of nowhere and asked me out. We both knew where it was leading. So I changed my mind and cut her lose, surely that’s better than taking her home and fucking her when I’m not really into it? Would you like to be fucked by someone who doesn’t really wanna do it? Wouldn’t you rather they made their excuses and leave than just go through with it ‘cause it would be ‘hurtful’ to call it off?”
Okay, when he put it like that he did have a point – but there was no way I was going to admit that to him. “That’s all well and good, but if the roles were reversed, you can’t tell me that you’d be okay with a girl just brushing you off and walking away.”
He grinned a little at my obvious rephras
ing. “Better than the alternative, Princess. Fucking should be mutually beneficial.”
“Whatever,” I muttered. “Forget I said anything, you don’t need to explain yourself to me.”
“You’re damn right I don’t.” He didn’t say it angrily – it was more like a statement of fact. “But I wanted to. It matters what you think of me.”
I almost asked him why it mattered to him what I thought, but I stopped myself – I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know the answer. “Okay, well now you’re free to go and find your next victim. I should get home – that leak I mentioned? True story.”
“Wait, your apartment’s really flooding?”
I started walking again. “At this point, who knows? Mel’s waiting for a plumber, the super can’t fix it.”
Blake fell in step next to me. “Well, shit, I’ll come with you and take a look.”
“You don’t need to do that. Like I said, we have a plumber coming.”
“Yeah, and they’re expensive. I’ll take a look. What was it you said? ‘Blake’s good at that shit’ or something?”
I snorted. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t say that exactly.”
“Well however you put it, you were right, I am good at that shit and I’m coming with you. I bet you fifty bucks I can fix it before the damn plumber gets there.”
“Exactly how useless is it to argue with you about this?”
“Pretty fucking useless.”
“That’s what I thought.”
71
When I pushed open the door to my apartment, I was greeted by a flustered Mel on her hands and knees in the kitchen, trying to soak up a huge puddle of water with a towel.
“Oh, hell, that looks bad,” I groaned.
“You should have seen it before.” She gestured to the open cupboard under the sink where one of the pipes was spewing water into a bucket. “At least I got it contained now, but it’s filling up pretty fast.”
Blake brushed past me, carrying a battered tool box that he’d pulled from the bed of his Chevy when we pulled up outside. “Hey, Mel, you little drowned rat, let me take a look.”
Mel’s eyebrows flew up almost to her hairline as she caught sight of him. “You’d look like a drowned rat too if you’d been here half an hour ago. Since when are you a plumber?”
“I took a class once.”
“You’re a qualified plumber?” I asked, incredulously.
“Not qualified exactly, but I think I learned enough to fix this.” He crouched down and ducked his head under the sink for a moment before ducking back out and pulling a wrench – or something, I really didn’t know – out of his tool box and ducking back in.
“Did you call him?” Mel whispered to me, clearly bemused.
“No, we bumped into each other at the mall,” I whispered back.
“You know it’s rude to whisper, right?” Blake called from under the sink.
“You know it’s rude to eavesdrop, right?” I snarked.
“Easy there, Princess. I can’t help what I hear.” He pulled his upper body out of the cupboard and cocked his head to the side, studying his handiwork. “Man, your super’s a crock of shit if he couldn’t fix that.”
“He didn’t take a proper look, just said he had a crisis in another apartment,” Mel explained.
“Well, Princess, looks like you owe me that fifty.”
“You fixed it already?!” I walked gingerly over the wet floor and leant down next to him, looking at the pipes.
“What you looking for? You inspecting my work?” Blake’s tone was amused. “You even know what you’re looking at?”
Of course, I had no idea what I was looking for; it was just the universal let’s-inspect-the-work routine that you go through after you have someone fix something in your home. I pursed my lips, trying not to smile. “Pipes?”
He grinned at me and I suddenly realized how close I was to him, I straightened up, flushing.
“I’ll get my phone and cancel the plumber,” Mel called, walking out of the kitchen, completely oblivious to my sudden unease.
I stepped away from Blake quickly, intending to head back across the kitchen, but I forgot how wet the floor still was. My feet slipped from under me and I let out a little screech of alarm as I started to go down – but strong arms caught me before my ass could touch the ground. Blake was still crouching, but he had twisted and put his arms out under my back as I fell, winding up cradling me against his chest. The breath whooshed out of me as I looked up into his face. His eyes danced with amusement as he gazed down at me. I stared back, my face so close to his that I could see every grain of dark stubble, every fleck of turquoise in his arctic eyes.
He was literally breathtaking.
For a second, his face was the only thing in the universe. I watched, mesmerized as the amusement in his eyes darkened to something else, something more primal. His pupils flared and I realized that his gaze was lingering on my lips. I felt almost positive that he was going to kiss me.
God help me, I almost leaned in…
Then I remembered Connor.
I went rigid in Blake’s arms, slapping a hand against his chest as I pushed away and scrambled to my feet, horrified at my reaction to him.
“Careful,” he warned, straightening up next to me and steadying me with a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t,” I whispered shakily.
Slowly, he let go, then looked away and gritted out a low curse.
“Well, that’s all taken care of,” Mel announced, breezing back into the kitchen.
She stopped short when she saw us.
I didn’t blame her, we practically dripped with tension. She narrowed her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Of course!” I grinned, and I knew I must have looked a little manic, but I couldn’t help it. “But we owe Blake fifty bucks.”
“You know that was a joke, Princess.” He picked up his toolbox and strode out of the kitchen and towards the front door. “You’re all set here. I should take off.”
“He’s got a hot date,” I stage whispered to Mel as we followed him to the door.
It was a stupid thing to say. I mean, come on, ‘a hot date’? It was something my mom would have said – but I was freaking out. I had caught the way she looked at us when she’d come back into the kitchen and my mind was spinning with what she might be thinking. I wanted to say something to throw her off.
Blake stopped abruptly and turned back to us. “No, I don’t,” he said bluntly.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Mel smiled wryly. “Thanks for this, Maxwell, we owe you.”
“Yeah, thank you,” I echoed.
Blake’s eyes held mine. “Any time, you know that.”
My mouth went dry. “Okay, well…see you Friday.”
“Yeah, Friday.” He nodded, before turning and opening the door.
When he was gone, Mel turned to me with her hands on her hips. “What was that about?”
For a fraction of a second, I almost considered telling her everything. I was desperate for someone to talk to but I felt like if I acknowledged the way that I felt out loud it would become real…and if I continued to deny it, it would all just go away.
I waved my hand dismissively. “You know Blake, he’s always looking for a reaction.”
She eyed me suspiciously for a second and I somehow managed to hold her gaze without faltering.
She pursed her lips, like she was considering something. “Come on, we need to clean up this disaster zone of a kitchen.”
I followed her back in, breathing a sigh of relief that she had decided to leave it alone.
72
The following Friday, Hayley drove us to Galvanize, where Sons of Sinners were headlining. We were on the guest list, so we managed to jump the huge line outside. Before the opening act had even finished, the venue was packed to capacity and we were crowded in on all sides.
“I’ve never seen so many Sons of Sinners t-shirts all in one place,” Hayley gri
nned as yet another fan walked past wearing their name and logo.
“They have actual, real fans,” Mel said. “I just overheard a guy say that he came from Phoenix to watch this show.”
“It is a little surreal,” I agreed. “And I feel a little bad for not owning a Sons t-shirt.”
Mel shook her head. “Bad groupie.”
“Derren gave me one,” said Hayley. “He likes me to wear it in bed.”
“I’ll bet he does!” laughed Mel. “His ego probably loves that!”
“Not just his ego.” Hayley winked and giggled. “Come on.” She gestured to the stage. “The guys will be on soon, let’s get to the front.”
The stage lights winked out as we snaked through the crowd, eventually finding ourselves right against the railing at the front.
“We’re close enough to distract them,” Hayley smirked evilly.
“The crowd is so big tonight they won’t even realize where we are,” I said.
“If you flash them, they’ll soon realize,” Mel quipped, grinning.
I laughed. “We won’t be able to distract Connor, even with boobs. He’ll be in the Drum-Zone.”
She shrugged. “So flash someone else.” A mischievous grin lit her face.
“Whichever one of us makes them screw up the most wins!” Hayley announced.
“We can’t really do that!” I looked at her incredulously.
“Oh, we so can!”
“I don’t want them to mess up, this is a big show.”
“Come on Amy, they won’t really mess up. No one will pick up on it apart from us –we’ll only be able to tell ‘cause we’re making them screw up and because we’ve seen them perform these songs so many times. Remember when that drunk dude threw a beer bottle at Kane’s head and he barely even missed a note?” Hayley was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet like she was warming up for a boxing match.
I pursed my lips to stop from smiling. “What do we win?”
“A Sons t-shirt from the merch stand.”
“You already have one,” I pointed out.
“Then you can buy me a CD.”