by Zara Teleg
Amber: [photo of a bottle of wine]
Amber: Stole this goodie from Sully. I need a break, wanna help me out with this?
Amber might be just the distraction I need, and the wine wouldn’t hurt either.
Me: [typing bubbles]
Amber: Well?
Me: ok, I could use a break, and I would be stupid turn this down.
Amber: Be there in twenty [happy emoji, wine emoji]
She arrived right on time. I ran down the steps, happy to let in my new friend. I never was one to have many girlfriends, and even fewer once I lost my sister. I always wanted an Ivy of my own.
I tugged at the heavy foyer door, inviting Amber in.
“Hey!” She smiled warmly, opening her arms for a hug. “Thanks for having me.”
I gave her a light squeeze. “I’m glad you came.”
We sat on the floor, drinking wine and sharing stories. She was happy to give me the low down on all the employees that worked at The Ridge. She spoke kindly of most, but there were a few women she obviously felt disdain toward. Two hours later, we finished her bottle, and the other half of mine that was in the fridge. We were giggling fools. She did an impression of an angry Sully as she told a story. I laughed so hard I could barely breathe.
Three hard knocks rapped at the door. I tried to catch my breath before swinging it open to a frantic-looking Kai.
“Are you okay? Are you crying? I could hear…”
Amber came around me, tucking her head from behind my shoulder.
“Relax, Kai. We were laughing. When did you get so uptight?”
Kai’s face changed when he saw Amber. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She turned her back, emptying the last of the bottle into her glass. “Having a few drinks with my new friend. Why? Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Biker?”
Kai rolled his eyes, following us into the room. The annoyed look he wore had me giggling.
“Kai, Are you okay?” I wasn’t that annoyed with him anymore. The wine probably helped.
“I’m fine.” He reached out, grabbing my wrist. “Can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?”
Amber rolled her eyes and waved her hands. “You two stay here. I need a smoke anyway.” She reached into Kai’s T-shirt, pulling a cigarette and a lighter from his pack. “Be back in a few.” She giggled and closed the door.
I pulled my wrist from Kai’s grasp. “What could your problem possibly be now?”
“I know you’re working with Amber, but I don’t think it’s a good idea if you become too friendly with her. Rage won’t like it. The girl is trouble.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and tilted my head, looking directly into those bedroom eyes of his. “First off,” I pointed my finger at him, trying to keep a straight face, but the wine was making that difficult, “not Rage, you, or anybody, is going to tell me who I can or can’t be friends with. Second… I, um, I forget.” I burst into laughter and held the edge of the sofa. “I think I need to sit down.”
Kai walked toward the kitchen.
“Hey, where are you going?”
He took a glass from the shelf and began filling it from the water crock that was perched on my counter.
“Drink this.” He pushed the glass to me.
“Thanks.”
“Look.” He swept my hair from my eyes, kneeling to my level. His voice was soft and calmer. “I’m trying to look out for you. I have known Amber for a long time, and you should know—”
Just then, the door opened. “Woo-hoo! Look what I found tucked in the bottom of my purse,” Amber yelled. She danced, pumping the perfectly rolled joint up and down in the air. “Who wants to share this bad boy?” Amber offered the joint back and forth in both our directions.
“I’m good,” we both said.
“Nah, don’t let Kai come in here and break up our party.” She pouted.
“I’m just getting tired,” I confessed, putting my arm around her. “Not tonight.”
“Alright, I got to get up early tomorrow anyway.”
“I’m going to leave this with you so we can have it next time.” Her eyes scanned the room, landing on a candle sconce. She tucked it behind the base. “Next time. Okay, well, I’m going to stop downstairs and say hi to Donny while the wine wears off.”
“Are you sure? I could make coffee,” I offered.
“Nah.” Amber pulled me in for a squeeze. She whispered in my ear, “Paige, I had so much fun. I’m so glad we met. I know we’re going to be great friends.” She left a sloppy kiss on my cheek before waving Kai a middle finger. “Bye, Kai.”
I really liked her.
Kai
I woke up not feeling comfortable with the choices Paige was making. First, getting a job at The Ridge, and now hanging around Amber.
I swiped the screen on my phone, finding Rage’s number. I wanted to see how much he knew about what was going on with Paige. He picked up on the third ring.
“This better be important. I’m in the middle of a session.”
“Oh, a workout or with Juliet?” I had to do it—taunting the always-grumpy brother was such great fun.
“Fucker. I’m working with a client, hang on.”
I can hear Rage telling him to take five.
“Now, what’s going on?” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Kai, you never call me. It’s Paige, right?”
“Well, now that you mention it, I was just curious if you knew she got a job.”
“Juliet said she was talking to a clinic hoping to get her a job there, why? What’s the problem?”
“She’s not working at a clinic. She’s working at The Ridge”
“What?” I pull the phone away from my ear. “How? Why?”
“She said Ivy got her the job.”
“Of course she did,” he grumbled. “I will be speaking with her about that. It’s dangerous for a little thing like her. I don’t like it.”
I thought it might be better if I did not mention what happened the other night. “One more thing.”
“Yeah, what?”
“Paige made a friend.”
“Kai, just spit it out. Who?”
“Amber.”
“Jesus,” he whispered, exasperated.
“Of all the girls there. Amber? That girl has been trouble for as long as she’s lived in Sugar Maple.”
“Yeah, I told her it wasn’t a good idea to hang around her. She didn’t seem to care for my opinion.”
“Keep your eye on that situation. I’ll come by in the next few days to talk to her. She’s still refusing to speak to Juliet. I tried to give her time to get acclimated, but I don’t like how upset Juliet has been over it. She doesn’t need that. Look, I gotta get back to my client. We’ll talk soon. Hit me up if anything else comes up.”
I didn’t see much of Paige over the next week. Rage had said she’d been avoiding his and Juliet’s calls. I hoped she was doing alright.
I knocked on her door once, twice, three times. I knew she was home. There was music on, and her pickup was outside.
“Coming.” Finally. “Who is it?”
“Your dream man.”
“Oh, Hack, I thought you weren’t coming until later.”
“What? No!”
The chain slid, and the door began to open.
“I knew that would get you.” She smiled in satisfaction, brushing her nails against...
My eyes nearly fell from my face. Paige was a dream. Wrapped in a towel, hair dripping wet, without a stitch of makeup, those enchanting eyes boring into me.
“What’s up? What do you want, Kai?”
I shook my head. “Do you always answer the door in a towel?”
“It’s only you. I wouldn’t have opened for someone else. I heard the knock a few times, so I rushed out of the bathroom. What, you shy or something?” She snorted.
“No. It’s just not a good idea.” I kept my eyes locked on hers, trying not to look down at…other bo
dy parts.
“So, why are you here?” She strolled to her vanity and began to apply lotion to her arms.
“I have to go to the bike shop and get some parts. I know you have been dying to get out of Sugar Maple to shop. We could take your truck if you want to tag along. They got way more stores up there.”
“Oh, is it the town that has the Whole Foods?” She started getting excited.
“Yeah, they have one there.”
Thank you, Hack, and my eavesdropping skills.
“Yes! When should I be ready? I just have to change.”
“Say, thirty minutes?”
We stopped at the bike shop first. Paige was like a little kid running around the store sitting on all the bikes. Big Mike thought she was adorable and kept encouraging her. Her laugh was like music and couldn’t help but make you smile.
Then we arrived at Whole Foods, and there Paige was really in her element.
“Do you really need all this? Your kitchen isn’t that big.” She had explored every aisle up and down, not missing a thing.
“If this is the closest store, I’m stocking up!”
“Clearly,” I grumbled as I pushed the cart.
She bought food to make me dinner as a thank you for bringing her along. The day was much more pleasant than I expected. On the ride home, we dug into some chips she bought.
“We can eat at my place and watch a movie,” I suggested.
“You don’t have plans tonight?”
“Nah, I could use a movie night.”
“I don’t watch many movies. I mostly read. What movie did you have in mind?”
“That depends. How easily offended are you?”
“I’m no prude. If I’m going to spend my precious time watching a movie, I want it to be a tall order. Action, love, comedy, a little violence. I’m a hard woman to please.”
“Alright, I know what we’re watching. You make the food and be at my place at seven.”
“Is it safe to eat there? Scratch that. Is it safe to sit and watch a movie there? Or should I wear a hazmat suit?”
That earned her a chip to the face.
After arriving home, and attempting to clean up, I realized she had a point. I guessed I kind of was a pig. I cracked the windows and lit a candle that some chick had left here. I wiped down the surfaces and gathered all the dirty clothes into my room. I even vacuumed. What the hell got into me?
There was a knock on my door at seven o’clock on the dot. I took the bags from her hands. “Wow, that’s a lot of food.”
“I had so many choices, so I made a few. We got a Mexican feast. I made Spanish rice, homemade guac, and tacos with all the fixings.”
“Tacos. Perfect.”
“So, what are we watching?”
“Deadpool.”
“Who or what is Deadpool?”
“Oh, hunny, you live such a sheltered life. Just watch.”
She looked around. “Your place looks nice. And it smells good, like apple cinnamon.”
We fixed our plates, dimmed the lights, and turned up the surround sound enough to have Donny, the downstairs tenant, banging on the door, asking me to turn it down.
You could tell a lot about a woman when she watched a movie, like how much she could handle and if she had a sense of humor. Paige blew me away. She laughed till she couldn’t breathe, cursed at the bad guys, and cried at the love story. She didn’t flinch or close her eyes once during any gory scenes and didn’t seem fazed by the sex.
When the credits rolled, I turned up the lights and asked, “Well, what did you think?”
“I freaking loved it! This was exactly what I needed. I was feeling a little off lately, so thanks for today and tonight.” She wrapped her arms around my waist. The top of her head barely came to my pecs. I leaned down and smelled the intoxicating scent of her shampoo.
“So…when’s your next night off?”
“Um, next Thursday.” She looked at her phone, confirming her schedule.
“Well, if you are interested in doing this again, there is Deadpool 2.”
She bounced up and down. “Yes, I’m in. I hope you like Cajun food!”
I’d eat anything you make as long as you keep smiling like that.
Chapter Seven
Paige
It had been four weeks since I sent in the DNA test. I anxiously checked every day for an email or any update. But the tab on their website kept saying, “Results pending.”
I had dodged calls from my sister; even Rage had tried to get me. I didn’t realize the anger that was building inside me. I was resentful that Juliet had a whole damn good life here while I was stifled in Austin. It was her fault I’d been terrorized and abducted. Now, I was stuck in this tiny town with all these new people, trying to start over.
The only silver lining had been Kai. He may be a man-whore, but he’d also become a good friend. The nights I didn’t have to work, we spent binge-watching movies. He swore I must be Amish ‘cause I had not seen any of them. I was trying to keep my crushing on him at bay.
I was painting a French manicure on my toes and listening to music when the pounding on the door had me smearing the nail polish. One after the other—Boom! Boom! Boom! They were not the sexy taps that Kai made. I rose from the sofa and pulled on some sweats over my tiny boy shorts.
“Paige, we need to talk, open up.”
I recognized Rage’s deep grumble. What the hell? I probably should have answered his calls.
“Paige, I hear your music. I know you’re in there.”
I threw my head back in defeat and stomped my way to the door. I flung the door open, and Rage’s hand nearly struck me instead of the door.
“Don’t you ask who it is before opening?” He towered over me, looking down with disapproval in his eyes.
“Rage, I knew your voice, and this is my place. What do you want?”
He made my apartment feel even smaller, his attitude adding to his size. Crossing his arms over his chest, he began the lecture.
“You haven’t answered any of Juliet’s or my texts or calls. It’s been weeks since she has been home, she’s still recovering, and you haven’t called or visited her. She is worrying more about you than herself. Paige, you need to wake up and be her sister. I don’t know what your problem is, but it’s affecting Juliet, so now it’s my problem.”
“Can I speak now?” His words had my blood rising from my feet to my neck. “You wanna know why I haven’t been in touch with my sister?”
Was he kidding? She was the damn reason I’m in this situation.
“Juliet,” I said her name with expansive air quotes, “is the whole reason my life was hijacked. She’s had me living in fear and under the radar too long. This last situation nearly got us both killed.” I could feel the venom as I spoke. “You all think you’re doing me a favor having me move here. Well, if my world hadn’t been turned upside down, I would have moved somewhere else. Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice right now.”
“Who do you think you are, princess? This place isn’t good enough for you?” His eyes narrowed at me. “Your sister would have laid down her life for you. You were all she was concerned about.”
“Oh, really? When did she have the time? When she was living her nice new life here? Teaching yoga, making friends with the town, partying with your MC, or fucking you?” I matched his gaze with my own. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me. “She ruined my life while she was here having her own little happily ever after.”
“Little girl, you have no idea what she’s gone through or how hard I’ve worked to even have her give me a chance.” He pointed his finger in my face. “You better get your head on straight and talk to your sister. Christmas is coming, and I expect you to sort your shit and be there at the party. It’s important to Juliet and the club who saved your life and has you under their protection.”
“Don’t tell me—”
He put his hand out and turned his head. “It’s non-negotiable.”
I
just shook my head, squinting death glares at him. He huffed, taking steps toward the door before spinning around.
“One more thing. I don’t like to hear that you’re working at The Ridge, and even more, that you’re friends with Amber.”
“Oh, really? You can get the fuck out of my apartment. Don’t even think you’re going to tell me where I’ll work or who I can be friends with.”
“You are a spoiled brat. Juliet is wasting her time worrying about you.” He took his final steps and slammed the door.
Who do I think I am?
The tears began to sting. That is exactly what I was going to find out.
Kai
The pounding on Paige’s door had me immediately reaching for my knife. My body relaxed when I noticed Rage’s bike in the lot. I knew it was only a matter of time before Rage came by to have words with Paige because she’d been ignoring him and Juliet.
I had made a bad habit of smoking on the fire escape while I checked in on, or some might say stalked, Paige. I didn’t hear Rage pull in the lot because I was caught up in Paige’s singing as she painted her toes for what seemed like forever. Her excellent taste in music made my snooping a lot more tolerable.
She rose from the couch to answer the door. I watched as Rage stormed in her space. Her body stiffened, and arms protectively crossed. Damn, I wished I could hear what Rage was saying. She moved her hands to her hips.
Since I could hear better inside through our thin excuses for walls, I climbed in my window before Rage caught me. I went to my bedroom, which was the best spot to listen.
At first, all I heard was mumbling from Paige’s studio. Then, I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds of their voices. Rage was much louder; he was pissed that Paige was still refusing to speak to Juliet. He droned on about how sisters need each other.
The room grew quiet before the door slammed so hard my wall rattled. Well, that didn’t go well. That was no surprise since Rage was an ass. I wanted to go to Paige and comfort her. I wanted to protect her from pain and upset. It was an odd feeling because I had never felt protective of a girl like this before. No, that wasn’t exactly true. A sharp pain in my heart gave me a swift reminder. I pushed the thoughts of Daisy out of my head. That was a lifetime ago, and it didn’t count.