by Jas T. Ward
Emma rolled her eyes and scoffed as she turned to put the treats in a box to go. “You can have them. I never want another one. Ever.”
“Hey limp dick!” Reno smarted at Evan’s greeting when he walked into the meeting slash party. He hadn’t really been in any groups or crowds, as he did his best to avoid them, and already he was feeling all antsy and nervous. He rolled his eyes at Evan as the man laughed when he joined the other Breakers leaning against the bar.
The club was shut down for the night with a sign on the door that said ‘Private Party’. The house lights were up and the music was playing medium loud on a juke box in the corner. There were tables set up around the dance floor with food, drinks, and snacks.
Reno stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and looked around as he nudged Evan with an elbow. “So, I thought this was a meeting? Kinda looks like a meet and greet party sorta thing?”
Evan snorted as he sipped a beer and shrugged. “Well, it’s both. They’ll tell us any new procedures and then we’ll do the,” Evan’s eyes grabbed those of a young pretty Relay as she walked by, “meeting and greetings.”
Reno followed the Breaker’s eyes and rolled his own. He had no interest in the after meeting activities, especially after the disaster the last time he had even attempted. Dropping his head to tune out all the chatter, he felt something that caused his eyes to lift and go to the door.
Emma.
Everything seemed to creep to slow as his eyes locked to watch her walking in. It seemed to Reno that all that moved was her, smiling as she walked in carrying trays of what looked like cookies with her sister Lily following right behind. Even in this light, to him Emma looked like something unreal and heavenly. She laughed at something Lily said causing him to let out a long sigh full of want. He wanted that laugh. He would have settled for just the air that she let out of those sweet lips in making the sound.
“Dude. Out of your league.”
He was snapped out of his mental pause and glanced over at Evan, not even realizing he wasn’t very covert about his worship. “What?”
Evan shook his head as he pointed at Emma and leaned in to say,. “She’s out of your league. So might as well just focus elsewhere, my man.”
Reno’s eyes went back to watch Emma set up her tray of snacks and frowned at Evan’s words.
“What do you mean? She’s a Relay. And I don’t even know who you’re talking about.” Reno turned around and he hated that now he couldn’t see her until he realized his eyes were able to focus on her once again by watching her in the mirror over the bar in front of him.
Evan turned as well to lean on the bar and shook his head with a snort. “Come on. You can’t hide what you were thinking, or who you were looking at, for shit.”
The Breaker’s gaze came up to meet Reno’s in the mirror. “Emma is Jess’ ex-girlfriend and everyone,... and I mean everyone knows to leave her alone. Stay away.”
Reno looked down to hide the fact that he even knew who Jess was but mainly to cover the rage at the thought of Emma being considered... Jess’. His eyes staggered back up to find Emma again in the mirror as he hissed out, his gaze narrowing.
“Really? And why is that, Evan?”
Evan raised a brow at the sudden flash of anger from Reno. “Well. Basically, he’d gut you. Or any of us that dared to go near her, much less touch her. It’s an unspoken rule. One that you need to obey. Jess is basically Bounce’s enforcer and sharpest shark in the Grid pool. Best not to even sniff in the Emma territory.”
Reno bared his fangs as he turned and growled out to Evan. “That’s bullshit.”
He had no idea what drove him to walk over to the snack table but all that burned in his mind was that Jess had labeled Emma as his without even caring about her. As if Jess was doing all he could to keep Emma from having love and a life without being brave enough to give those things to her himself. It was pissing him off because he knew what that was like.
“What are you doing? Stop. Do not be an idiot. Hey! Stop. Seriously. Stop! I will so find a way to hit us in our own damn balls. Please don’t make me. But I’ll do it!”
Emma was laughing at Sierra, who was a waitress and a Relay who worked for the club, when she felt a warm pulse of air inside as if some small current of breeze spread from her heart.
She pondered the sensation with her brows coming down and then knew somehow to look over her shoulder.
Reno stopped just a few steps from Emma after drinking in the way her dark hair cascaded down her back in a long wavy ponytail, his eyes skirting over the dark Relay mark on the back of her neck. He once again found himself wondering if it would sizzle under his tongue. Cue arousal instantaneously.
When she turned her head to look at him, his motion froze and his voice squeaked out a single word. “Hi.” Would he ever stop being an idiot?
“No. You won’t.”
Emma smiled as she turned to face the Breaker and responded with a soft “Hi” barely above a whisper. He looked just as cute and delicious as he looked the last time she saw him. Sans the bullet holes and blood; but somehow even those looked hot on him then. She heard a giggle from Lily behind her and rolled her eyes as she lifted up a tray of cookies. “Sorry. Long day. Cookie?”
Reno’s lips slowly spread to show a smile as he liked the way her cheeks took on a soft pink glow that matched those luscious lips. His eyes reluctantly pulled from that sight to the tray of cookies she held in her small hands. They looked incredible and he was sure she put a lot of work into them.
Normally he couldn’t turn down sugar to keep his other issues at bay, but cookies were far from his mind at this moment. He shook his head as his eyes lifted back up to meet hers, smoldering with something way beyond baked goods. “It’s not cookies I want.”
The color in Emma’s cheeks darkened as her breath caught at his words. The room seemed to vanish as that warm inner breeze heated to inflame her blood and make her feel like melting. She brought her tongue out to lick her lips and met his eyes that were the most azure blue she had ever seen with long lashes and laughter crinkles spreading out at the sides.
Breakers weren’t known for laughing and fun, but something about Reno seemed to go hand-in-hand with amusement. Except when he was looking at her like he was starving and then amusement even stayed out of his way.
Emma opened her mouth to speak and nothing sounded from her lips but a wanton sigh so she had to focus to try again. “Well, what is it you do want?”
If he thought the beauty of her blush had him going brain-numb with desire, the huskiness that now laced her voice about made him go into a coma with it.
Reno’s smile spread and he was about to say what came first to his mind when suddenly Evan was grabbing his arm and pulling him away.
He glared at the Breaker as they got to the side with his eyes drifting back to Emma. “What are you doing, Evan?”
Evan got up close and said under his breath, “I told you. She’s off limits. No touchy. No talky. Nothing. You stay away from her.” The Breaker looked over Reno’s shoulder at Emma and then back at Reno, his face as serious as a man with his finger on the trigger of a bomb. “Got it? You want the Cowboy to wipe the floor with you?”
Reno rumbled out a snort of dismayed frustration and crossed his arms to give a glare right back to Evan. “He’s not even here.” Or he hoped Jess wasn’t here anyway as his eyes skipped around the place to come back to rest on Evan. “I think I can handle Jess.”
Then he pulled away from Evan even when the man tried to grab his arm again to stop him from going back towards Emma.
Emma was where he had left her and was both puzzled and amused at how Reno came back. She had her suspicions about why some of the Breakers - no - all the Breakers avoided her except when healing was needed and she hadn’t really minded. She wanted nothing to do with the bad-asses beyond what her job on the Grid entailed.
Reno came back with a lope that spoke of determination and her smile and amusement wavered at the in
tensity of his approach.
This time Reno didn’t stop as he walked straight up to Emma and just let the words go past his lips before he could stop himself. “Will you go out with me?”
Maybe he should have made sure his volume was in check as the words came out far too loud and everyone heard. So much so that the whole room stopped as the party-goers turned to look and stare followed by gasps, whispers, and murmurs as they now had an audience he had totally forgotten about.
He was sooo bad at this kind of stuff. And Sundown was laughing at him so hard in their head that he would have loved to cut out his dark side at that exact moment and jumped up and down on it in a temper tantrum.
“Yes.”
Reno blinked at that one word with his jaw opened and realized Emma was doing the same as if neither one expected it to be said. He smiled and let out a soft laugh of relief.
“Really? I mean, you’re saying yes to going out with me right?” His hand came up to circle a finger in mid-air slowly in an effort to make sure he wasn’t having one of his frequent ‘special’ moments. “I mean, of course you are. I didn’t ask, wait, did I ask any other questions?”
His brows came down to think about that for a second as his eyes drifted right and then left before coming back to her for validation that she just made him the happiest special guy on earth.
Emma laughed and looked up at the ceiling then back as she smiled to let out an amused sigh. “Yes. I’ll go out with you.” She had no idea why she had said yes, much less said it a second time. But it felt so right, and no seemed so wrong, especially when she saw his happiness caused his eyes to light up even more than before, as if from some inner light.
“Oh okay. Good.” He turned and then stopped to slowly turn sideways on his heels to look at her and lifted a finger once more. “Uh. Sorry if I embarrassed you.” He leaned in to whisper as his eyes searched hers still finding it hard to believe or maybe it was joke, “So, we are going out, right? I mean, just you and me?”
Emma nodded and said softly as she fought not to get lost in those blue eyes. “Just you and me.”
Chapter Ten
Grey or Black? Or Grey? Or Black?
“Oh come on.”
He stood in front of the full length mirror in his bedroom after trying on what must have been the twelfth black or grey button up shirt. They were all basically the same but none of them looked right, or maybe it was the jeans?
He fisted his hair and stared at himself as he glanced back at the clothes thrown all over the bed.
“Its just clothes you fucking moron. Might as well wear all black so there will be no need to change your ass for our funeral.”
He smirked at Sundown’s mocking in his head and flipped himself off in the mirror knowing his dark side would see it. “Look. I know your thoughts on my going out with Emma. But it’s just a dinner, not a date. We’re not even as friends at this point. So shut up.”
Sundown had lectured him all day. So much so he barely got any sleep, which teamed up with nerves of what he was going to be doing tonight.
Going on a date. With. Emma. Emma. His Witch. Him. Her. On a date. He had never been on a date. He had never had more than their one night. With her. Emma. His Witch.
He’d never had a single date with another person. Nor had a meal with anyone really in a public place; he wasn’t sure of the manners, the rules, nothing.
“Oh god, I’m going to pass out. Or something. Why did I even do this?”
“Because you’re an idiot? I believe I’ve said that before. You never listen to me.”
He stepped back to sit on the mound of clothes on his bed with yet another dark shirt dangling from his hand. “I know. It’s not a good idea, okay?”
His voice went soft and his brow crinkled as the other hand came up to rub his forehead. “But I didn’t even think. I mean. Jess has her off limits? But he doesn’t want her? No way. That’s not right. I just asked. I was surprised that she said yes. I really didn’t know she would say yes.”
“You are by far are the stupidest person I’ve ever met. This is going to be bad. Real bad. Note that. When this goes tits to the brim crooked to stupidville remember then that I knew it now. It won’t take long. Betcha.”
Reno let out a growl and stood and settled on the dark grey shirt he wore. At least it matched the jeans. All black, so that was a no brainer at least. Shit kickers were black too.
Sundown went silent after believing he was heard as Reno shook his hands out to calm his nerves before grabbing his keys. No way was he risking a blur- he’d probably end up in the bay because of freaking out about the date. Then, he’d have to start all over again with the clothes.
Emma put her hair up and then put it back down only to put part of it up then once again set the dark locks free. She had no idea why she felt like she was going on her first date. Ever.
“Stop being stupid, Ems.” She brushed her fingers through her dark brown hair and settled with pulling it back into a ponytail, which was her usual style.
Bringing a fingernail up to chew on the tip as she looked at herself in the mirror at the dark red dress she wore, she wondered why she wore it. She knew its cut accented her cleavage, hugged her hips and made even her ass look good.
She had sat all day and had not even opened the shop, lecturing herself for snapping her primary rule right in two: don’t date Breakers.
She tried justifying it by saying it wasn’t a real date as they barely knew each other. But that seemed remotely off despite the complete fact of it.
There was just something about Reno that made her feel like she had known him her whole life. As if he was that magical Prince Charming from the fairy tales her mother used to read her as a child. She smiled as she remembered the lack of social graces Reno had as well as how he stumbled around Mr. Hahn’s. Prince Charming probably had impeccable manners and never tripped over his own feet.
But she doubted even Prince Charming would have that dazzling easy smile, full of joy when it easily showed, or those beautiful blue eyes that reminded her of night, as well as a body that seemed made to do bad things with.
“Of course Ems. Breaker? Hello? They’re made that way.”
But as she smoothed her dress over her stomach to then slip on her heels she couldn’t help but think...
He was made for her.
Chapter Eleven
The Second Night is Sooo Much
Better Than the First
Reno could watch Emma eat for hours. He was leaning forward with his elbows on the table, his fists laced together so he could rest his chin on them. He’d be perfectly happy to watch her beautiful lips, white tiny teeth and pink tongue caress each bite. She wasn’t aware of it, but he was completely enthralled by this love fest she was having with the pasta.
He had laughed at each story she told as she talked about her sisters and thought, maybe, okay, he could watch her eat and listen to her talk for hours on end.
“Lily is a lawyer for the Grid and is really good at it. But she’s so super-organized about,” Emma let out a soft laugh, “everything. And she doesn’t know why I’m not.” She sat back as the waitress came to bus their table and then leaned forward to rest her upright arms on the table to then drop her chin in the palms of her hands. “So. Enough about me. What about you? Your past? Before you became a Breaker? I know you’re a new one. The Grid Boards said so.” Emma stopped that string of words and thought because she didn’t want him to think she was a stalker type personality.
Reno frowned and sat back to drape an arm on the back of his chair as the other arm reached out to spin a butter knife on the table with his fingers. “Uh. I don’t really have one. Not really.” His brows came down as he stared at the knife and whispered out a breath. Please let that be the end of it. Please. Please, please drop it.
Emma watched Reno’s face and could almost see some mental shield drop in place to lock away something that apparently he really wanted to hide. She reached forward to wrap a hand a
round his to stop the spinning of the knife.
“Reno. It’s okay. You can trust me.”
He fixated his gaze on her hand over his. He thought Emma’s hand was so small and delicate over his larger, scarred one before he slowly pulled his away to put in his lap. Reno cleared his throat and thought how to stall. “I uh...”
What could he tell her?
He had no idea what stories Jess had told her and that was the only past he had. And up until a few years ago? He didn’t even exist. His memories as well as he past were as shared with Jess as much as the cowboy’s body once was.
Bringing a hand up to rake his fingers through his hair, he stalled by reaching for his wine glass and brought it to his lips to then stare at the amber liquid that swirled along the sides of the surface.
“I uh. I don’t have a past. One I can talk about...I...” He kept his eyes down as his voice became soft with his lips pressing in a tight line. “I mean. I don’t have one since becoming a Breaker. Not my own.”
It wasn’t a lie necessarily but it was nowhere near the truth. He started feeling uncomfortable as an amused hum of laughter strummed through his head to taunt him.
Stop it. Please. Not tonight.
The laughter got louder as the buzz bloomed in his head to alert him of an oncoming train wreck in the grey matter.
That brought Reno to his feet fast and in the process he hit the table with his leg causing the glasses to titter and fall over, sending red wine all over the white table cloth. The people at the other tables around them stopped eating to watch and whisper about them as he waved a hand in the air trying to calm down. His head was getting louder and his nerves felt like they were crawling out of his skin.
“I need to go. Sorry.”
Reno was heading to the door, trying to get past the people and ignoring the waiter that rushed to clean up the mess. It was all a blur as his head started buzzing louder as his vision started tinting red when suddenly it all stopped.
He looked down at the hand on his arm and tilted his head to make sure it was actually there. “Reno?”