Expect the Unexpected

by L. M. Heidle

  ALEX

  I opened my eyes, blinking as the morning light came through the blinds. It took me a moment to get my bearings, but when I did, I smiled. I was in Tray’s bed, wrapped in his arms. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. Then the reasons for why I was here started filtering in. I’d been shot at. My heart started beating erratically, but then I took a deep breath and got a big whiff of Tray’s cologne. The knowledge that I was in his arms and how amazing it felt overshadowed yesterday. I laid still trying to get every second possible with him, but unfortunately, his cell ringing broke the moment.

  He kissed below my ear before rolling to his back grabbing the cell from his nightstand. His voice was still deep and gritty from sleep when he answered. “Hello?” The sleepiness from his voice was almost instantly replaced with revulsion as he jerked upright, pulling me with him. “Don’t tell me what to do, if she wants to call you she will.” Lucas no doubt. He hung up without another word muttering. “Non sopporto quel tizio.” I loved when he spoke Italian. Unfortunately, it rarely came out unless he was mad. When he hung up he turned toward me, “Does the name Jerry Zeal ring a bell?”

  Newspaper clippings from the accident started flying through my head at the mention of Zeal. “Jerry no, but Zeal yes. Jessica Zeal was my brother’s girlfriend. She was injured in the accident.”

  “Jerry is her brother. He was the one shooting yesterday. Apparently, he isn’t happy about your brother’s release. He made some comments to a neighbor about making Trip pay, so the neighbor called the police.”

  My brow furrowed as I tried to understand. “That doesn’t make any sense. Jessica walked away with only a broken arm.”

  “Protecting family is a powerful motivator, no matter how misguided.”

  I sat curled into his side as I thought it over. I understood his love of family, but to shoot at me in a mall parking lot? Endangering innocent people? I didn’t understand that. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “No,” he whispered as he placed a kiss on my head. Another a ripple effect from the accident, but at least, this time, no one was hurt. He gave me one more kiss before picking me up and sitting me on the floor. “Your friend said the police know, so they’re going to want to talk.” The moment he stood his phone went off again. He checked the screen. “My uncle.” I mouthed bathroom and turned on my heel.

  After I went to the bathroom and washed my hands, I tried to tame my crazy hair by French braiding it. Once that was done I used his toothbrush to brush my teeth, something I never thought I’d do, share a toothbrush. I slipped out of the bathroom, finding him in the exact position I’d left him in. I wrapped my arms around his waist and cuddled into his side, my favorite place.

  I heard bits and pieces of the conversation. Something about making me choose and working with Playboy. My heart stopped. I couldn’t choose between two men I love. I may love them in very different ways, but I still loved them both. He must have felt me freeze up because he squeezed me in tighter and kissed my forehead, his lips lingering.

  We stood in silence after he hung up as I tried to put my thoughts in order. Finally, I whispered, “Tray, please don’t make me choose. He’s like a brother to me.” I squeezed him tighter, speaking into his chest as I laid everything out there. “Please don’t make me choose between two men I love.” Complete silence. My heart beat at a rapid pace as I tried to figure out if that was a good thing.

  His voice was deep when he finally replied, “What did you just say?” When I didn’t say anything, he tipped my chin back with his hand. I expected to see shock, but what I didn’t expect was the huge grin that reached his eyes. “Alex?”

  “I’m sorry if it’s too soon, but I love you, Trayton.” I didn’t realize saying three little words could be so nerve-wracking, but once I did I felt lighter.

  “I love you too, angel.” Saying the words may have made me lighter, but hearing them made me soar. I stood on my tiptoes, slamming my lips against his.

  ALEX

  “I never thought you two were coming out of there.” I blushed as I walked into the kitchen. After grabbing chocolate milk and a bagel, we made our way to the couch.

  “So, what’s new with you and Mark?”

  She blushed, yes you heard that right. She was the one to blush this time, something I rarely saw her do. “He’s amazing!” She held her hand up when I opened my mouth. “Don’t say it. I know I always say that, but this time, it’s different.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that.” She had skepticism written all over her face because normally I would say that. I’d seen the twinkle in her eyes since they started dating. It also didn’t hurt I’d hung out with him on a few occasions, and I thought he was a good guy. “Kass, I wasn’t. Mark is a good guy. That being said, if he’s a jerk, he’ll have to deal with me.”

  She wrapped me in her arms and whispered, “Thank you.”

  I squeezed her back just as hard. “No need to thank me.”

  She pulled back wiping under her eyes. “You’re making me all emotional.” Not exactly a hard thing to do with her, but whatever. “Has Trayton heard anything?”

  “Yeah, Lucas called this morning.”

  She snorted. “Bet that went over well, so what did he say?”

  I leaned back into the couch, turning my head to face her. “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t get to talk to him.”

  She put her hand to her heart and gasped. “I’m so shocked,” she replied with sarcasm.

  I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, you remember Jessica Zeal?”

  She nodded. “Trip’s girlfriend.”

  “The shooter was her brother. He’s not happy about Trip’s early release.”

  “Wow.” My thoughts exactly. “What happens now?”

  “I’m not sure. Tray said eventually the police will want to talk to me.” I felt him as soon as he walked in. It’s like his body has some weird control over mine because I could instantly tell when he’s near.

  “They’ll actually be here in about ten minutes.” Both of us whipped our heads around to see Tray walking toward us. Kass because he startled her, and me because my body decided it wanted to. His slightly damp hair made him hotter than normal, which I didn’t think was possible. The holey jeans and Henley he wore fit him perfectly, only adding to his overall appeal. It really was unfair that he always looked like he belonged on a runway.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Our local gangbanger.” I frowned, I hated that they didn’t get along. “Sorry, Playboy called. They left his place about thirty minutes ago, so they should be here soon.” He slowly ran his gaze up and down my body, setting me on fire. I was still dressed in his t-shirt that almost hit my knees. “Clothes.” One word. Not a question or a request, it was a demand. I crossed my arms and waited. He wouldn’t get away with that crap with me. He lasted maybe five seconds. “Please.”

  I smiled sweetly as I walked past him. I stood up on my tiptoes to whisper, “Why didn’t you just ask?” With that, I hustled to the bedroom to get dressed.

  TRAYTON

  I opened the door for the two detectives, stepping aside to let them in. “Have a seat. Alex will be out in a minute.” I didn’t like having cops in my apartment. I’d seen too many opportunistic, dirty cops to trust any of them. I didn’t want her to have to go to the precinct to make a statement either, so I chose the lesser of two evils.

  As I led them into the living room, I discreetly studied them. The older one was definitely a lifer who took his job very seriously. He studied my entire apartment like it was a crime scene, trying to find something to help his case. The younger one I immediately didn’t like. He was what my uncle would consider unpredictable. He was either dirty as hell or trying to make a name for himself any way he could, possibly both.

  Thankfully Alex came out distracting everyone. She was twisting her fingers together and biting her bottom lip, both signs she was nervous. I walked over to her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You’re going to be fine. You didn’t
do anything wrong. I’ll be here the entire time.” That seemed to do the trick because she dropped her hands and stepped closer to me.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

  “No problem,” the older detective said. He stepped forward and extended his hand to her in a greeting. “I’m Detective House, and this is my partner Detective Moore.” From the frown Moore gave House, it was obvious he didn’t like having a partner, especially one that took charge. “If you don’t mind I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  I put my hand on the small of her back, gently nudging her toward the couch. After she sat the rest of us followed. Her momentary calm was replaced by her shaking like a leaf as soon as she sat down. I pulled her hand into my lap and started rubbing circles on her hand with my thumb, hoping to calm her down.

  “Ms. Parker, were you at the mall yesterday when the shooting took place?”

  “Yes,” she said with a shaky, barely there voice.

  “Can I ask why you didn’t come forward right after the shooting?”

  She peeked at me, unsure how to answer. “Sir, our first priority was her safety. At the time it wasn’t clear if she was a target or not.”

  “Why would she be the target?” Det. Moore asked.

  “I don’t know, officer, isn’t that your job to find out?” He scowled at me as his partner continued asking questions.

  “Ms. Parker, are you aware of whom Jerry Zeal is?”

  “Yes, his sister was in the accident with my brother.”

  "Well, after we checked video camera surveillance we determined he was the shooter. Do you have any idea why he'd be shooting at you?"

  She started picking at invisible lint on her jeans. "Probably because my brother is getting paroled."

  “Some would call it an injustice that he’s getting out,” Det. Moore said.

  Her spine straightened as she stared into Moore’s eyes. “My brother made a terrible mistake, and he’s spent the last four years in jail because of it, but that’s nothing compared to the emotional prison he’s been in. He has to live every day with the knowledge that he caused the accident that killed our parents. Jessica was injured in the accident, and I know my brother regrets that as well, but she walked away with a broken arm. What my brother did pales in comparison to what Jerry did. He opened fire in the middle of the mall parking lot, so instead of insulting my brother, build your case against Jerry.” She stood up and stormed off to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

  I slowly rose and walked over to my wallet on the kitchen counter and pulled out a card. Then I walked to the door opening it. “It’s time for you to leave.” I handed Detective House the card. “If you have any more questions please contact my lawyer.”

  ALEX

  I could barely contain my excitement. Today was finally the day! I hadn’t been able to think about anything besides picking up my brother for the last week. I was pretty sure I’d failed the pop quiz in Algebra, but I couldn’t care less at this point. It’s not like I was going to need to find x to solve y in real life.

  I stood in front of the prison leaning against my brother’s car—the car he didn’t know about yet—biting my nails. Seeing my brother’s face when he saw this car was almost going to be as good as holding him. Almost. Both Lucas and Tray pulled strings with the Secretary of State to get my brother a temporary driver’s permit. He had to blow into a breathalyzer and ride with a licensed driver for three months, but at least he got to drive. They had to work together to accomplish it, and they’d hated every second of it. I, on the other hand, thought their pouting was hilarious.

  The prison door buzzed, and I took off running. I swerved around the guard and jumped into Trip’s open arms. I squeezed the hell out of him as I sobbed into his shoulder. Holding him made a part of my broken heart click back into place. I truly had my brother back.

  The guard cleared his throat. “Sorry, guys, but I need to get back in.” I blushed when I realized we were blocking the door. Trip gave me one more squeeze before sitting me down and pulling us aside. “Take care of yourself.” Trip nodded before slinging his arm around me.

  “So what did you drive? Hopefully not the bucket of rust.”

  “Hey!” I elbowed him in the stomach. “Don’t diss my car, or well, old car. Lucas told me he wouldn’t work on it anymore and had it scraped.” He stopped walking, his bag slipping from his hand as he stared at the car.

  Without taking his eyes off the car, he asked, “How?”

  “I found a slip of paper when I went through Dad’s paperwork. He’d bought it and put it in storage.” I’d debated since I found the car years ago if I should give him the card from Dad. It said the car was a graduation gift that they’d work on together before he went to college. One last father/son project before real life took over. I still hadn’t decided, but I definitely wasn’t giving it to him today. “Lucas did most of the work to get it running.” He side-eyed me. “Okay, so he did all the work, but I picked the paint color.”

  “Lolly, I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Nothing, Dad wanted you to have it.” He turned to me with tears in his eyes. My heart clenched when I saw the pain mixed in with the happiness. I wrapped my arms around his waist and whispered, “Trip, don’t. He’d still want you to have it.” I listened as he tried to get his breathing under control, and when he did, I stepped back, putting my hands in my pockets. “We figured you’d want to tinker with it, so we didn’t completely restore it.”

  He gasped as he ran a hand down the fresh black paint. “Tinker with it? You don’t tinker with a 1984 Stingray Corvette.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Sure you don’t. Are we going to stand around all day gawking at a car or are we heading home?”

  “Driving, definitely driving.” I threw him the keys before opening the passenger door.

  His gaze moved back and forth between me and the keys. “Alex, I can’t drive. My license is outdated.”

  I tried hard to hide my smile. “Center console.”

  He leaned in and saw the permit sitting in the cup holder. He leveled his eyes at me. “Alexandria, what did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything. That was all Lucas and Trayton. You have to use the breathalyzer and have a licensed driver in the car for three months. After that, you can apply to get your license back.”

  “It’s manual,” he groaned in ecstasy. He slid in, caressing the steering wheel as he examined the car. I opened my mouth to give him crap, but he shut me up. “Shh, I want to hear it purr.” He turned the ignition and groaned again. What was it about cars that had guys acting like idiots? He finally put the car in drive and headed toward the gate. “Where are we headed?”

  “That depends on you. I talked to your parole officer, and he said you listed my address as yours. That’s completely okay, but you’d have to sleep on the futon in the living room. You can’t stay with Lucas for obvious reasons. Uncle Joey, of course, would love for you to stay with him. Tray also said you could crash with him for as long you needed. Your parole officer said any of those residences would work, you just have to call him tomorrow to let him know.”

  “Not sure Uncle Joey would appreciate me bringing home women because that’s one of the first things I’m gonna do.” I threw up in my mouth at the thought of my brother. I shivered. Nope, not finishing that thought.

  “My place is out because that’s NOT happening in my living room.”

  “Well, it looks like I’m rooming with your boyfriend.”

  “Alright, I’ll send him a text. Just head toward the college, he doesn’t live too far away.”

  “Gotcha, but we’re stopping for food first.” He turned into McDonald’s so fast the tires squealed. “I want a cheeseburger with extra-large fries and a large chocolate shake.” He went to park, but I pointed toward the drive-thru. He laughed as he parked. “I don’t want a greasy fast food smell in my car.” I rolled my eyes as I followed him in.

  Half an hour later, two Big Macs, two extra-lar
ge fries, and a large chocolate shake—all of which Trip ate—we pulled into Trayton’s parking lot. I pointed to the left. “He said to park in 10D.”

  He whistled as he climbed out. “Damn. This place is nice.” I grabbed his hand as soon as he started to look around. I knew we’d be down here forever if he saw Trayton’s vehicles. “Whoa, what’s the rush?”

  “Umm, just want you to see everything I got you.”

  He laughed as he followed me into the elevator. “Lucas told me you made him go pillow shopping.”

  I smiled as I hit the elevator button. “Don’t let him fool you, he loves to shop.” He snorted. Lucas hated shopping more than Trip, and that was saying something. Shopping had me thinking about the shooting. We’d all decided not to tell Trip for now, so I quickly diverted the conversation. “Promise me you’re going to be nice to Trayton.” I stepped off the elevator turning right to get to Trayton’s door. I paused with my hand on the door. “Promise me, or I’m not opening this door.”

  “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll be nice to him.” As I knocked on the door, I heard him say, “For now” under his breath.

  The door swung open, and I was pulled into a familiar pair of arms. Trayton placed a kiss on my forehead before stepping back. He held his hand out and introduced himself. “Trip, I’m Trayton. Nice to meet you.”

  TRAYTON

  I’d seen pictures of her brother, and for the most part, he was the same excluding his eyes. His eyes told a completely different story. I’d seen that hardness in several of my uncle’s men. He was haunted, and I could understand why. I just hoped he was able to bounce back for his sake and Alex’s.