“Rusty!” Toby bellowed.
Rusty shook him off. He could feel his eye swelling. Dan struggled to his feet. His lip had split, and blood trickled down his chin. He took a step toward Rusty, but Toby immediately stepped in the middle. “Stop it, for Christ’s sake!”
Rusty felt the fury drain out of him. He wasn’t angry at Dan, not really. He loved these guys more than anything in the world. They were his real family, and here he was, trying to destroy it. “Dan…”
“Was she worth it?” Dan was so angry he was near to tears. “You’ve destroyed her, Rusty. She’s so upset she could barely speak to me.”
“Don’t…” His chest hurt.
“Was it worth destroying our friendship for a quick shag?”
“Stop saying that! It was more than that.”
Dan tipped his head in exasperation. “You going to tell me you love her now?”
The room fell silent. Rusty’s legs gave out, and he sank onto the sofa and put his head in his hands.
Eve came forward to stand beside Toby. “He does love her, Dan. He told me.”
He turned on her, eyes blazing. “You knew about this?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“No, and I wonder why!” She took a deep breath. “I know you think you’ve let Faith go, but you haven’t yet, not really. Rusty’s not completely to blame for this. He shouldn’t have slept with her behind your back, but she wanted him to—Dan, she’s loved him since she was twelve, didn’t you ever guess?”
Rusty looked up at her, shocked. She glanced at him and then back at Dan. “Oh for fuck’s sake, don’t tell me neither of you realised.”
“I knew,” said Toby. They all looked at him, stunned. “What?” he said. “I’ve got eyes, haven’t I? I saw her face after you kissed her in the garden that night on her eighteenth. She looked like Johnny Depp had ridden up and whisked her off for a snog.”
Rusty put his head back in his hands. His eye was throbbing.
Dan looked down at him. “Is it true? Do you love her?”
Rusty didn’t look up. “Yes.”
Dan was silent for a moment. He sat into the nearby armchair and leaned back heavily. Toby heaved a sigh of relief and sat in the chair opposite. Eve perched on the arm of Dan’s chair and stroked his hair.
Dan kissed her hand, but continued to look at Rusty. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to find another job, as soon as I can.”
To his surprise, Dan laughed. “What sort of answer’s that?”
Rusty looked up at him warily. “What do you mean?”
“I meant, what are you going to do to fix it? Are you going to tell her you love her?”
“I already have.”
Dan frowned. “So…what’s the problem?”
Rusty stared at him. “You’re kidding me. After all that…” He gestured at the floor.
“It was one thing to think you’re trying to get into her knickers only to dump her afterward. It’s another thing to know you love her.”
Rusty was temporarily speechless. He stared at Toby, who shrugged, then at Eve, who was beginning to smile. He felt a brief surge of hope, which quickly faded when he remembered why he’d promised himself he was going to leave.
“I haven’t got anything to offer her,” he whispered. “This is me we’re talking about, Dan.”
Dan studied him. “You mean Rusty Thorne. One of my best mates. Secondary school teacher, steady job, reliable income. Honest, solid, trustworthy. Well, until tonight.” His lips twitched.
Rusty glared at him. “Don’t mock me. You know what stock I’m from.”
“You’re not a fucking bullock, Rusty.”
“You know what I mean. You know what my family are like. Every man for the last fifty years has been an alcoholic.”
“But you don’t drink,” said Eve, confused.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s not inside me.” He tapped his chest. “I can’t get rid of it—the family gene will always be there. Do you think I want to curse her with that? I couldn’t bear to hurt her, Dan. I just couldn’t.” His voice broke and he put his head back in his hands, fighting to retain some semblance of control.
Dan tipped his head onto the back of the chair for a moment. Then he looked back up. “You know your problem?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me,” said Rusty tiredly.
“You’re an egomaniac. You think you’re responsible for the whole world. You think there’s this gigantic, enormous, gargantuan—”
“That’s three words that all mean the same thing,” Toby pointed out.
“This colossal…” Dan glared at Toby, “…monster inside of you. And mate, there’s really not.”
“You don’t know that,” Rusty whispered. “I can feel it sometimes.”
“Dude, we all get angry.” Dan gestured to himself and Toby. “We’re all bloody Neanderthals.”
“Speak for yourself,” mumbled Toby.
Dan ignored him. “We can all beat our chests and roar our frustration at times. That doesn’t mean we’re going to turn into monsters, and it doesn’t mean we’re going to beat the women we love.”
Rusty met his eyes. “I couldn’t do it,” he said simply. “I couldn’t risk it, Dan. I love her too much for that.”
Dan studied him mutely. All of a sudden, he stood. “Toby.” He pointed at a cupboard in the corner. “Get out three glasses.” He walked off into the kitchen.
Toby looked at Rusty and smirked. He got up and did as Dan bid, retrieving three tumblers from the cupboard.
“Er…” Rusty watched him warily.
After a few crashing noises in the kitchen, Dan came back into the room carrying two bottles of whisky and a bowl full of ice. He sat back in the chair and showed the bottles to Rusty before putting them on the table. “Lagavulin and Laphroaig—two of the best Islay malts a man can buy. Completely wasted on you. This is how much I love you.” He twisted the top off one, and poured a large measure into the three glasses.
“I don’t think so,” said Rusty, looking at the tumblers.
“You screw my sister, you do as you’re told.” Dan dropped a couple of cubes of ice into the glass and held it out to him.
Rusty shook his head. “I can’t, Dan.”
Dan didn’t move. “We’re going to get you pissed as a fart, mate, and then we’ll see just what monster you’ve got inside you. And if there is one there, and it comes out, we’ll meet it together, all three of us.”
“Four of us,” said Eve indignantly.
Dan shook his head. “I need you sober. You know what to do, later, when the time comes.” He met her gaze. Her lips curved, and she nodded.
Rusty felt a huge wave of emotion sweep over him. He’d just flattened Dan, given him a fat lip, screwed his sister when he’d warned him not to, brought their friendship to the brink of destruction. And still Dan wanted to help him.
The problem was, Rusty didn’t want to leave the school and he didn’t want to leave the town. He didn’t want to leave his friends, and the thought of never seeing Faith again was just about killing him. And because of that, he was finally willing to do something he’d never done in all his adult life, something he was so afraid of, it made his hand shake as he reached out and took the glass.
Unable to speak, he held the tumbler up. Toby took one as well, and they clunked the glasses together.
Rusty took a suspicious sniff of the amber liquid. “Fucking hell. It smells like the kind of medicine a great aunt would give you.”
“Hold your nose, then.” Dan knocked back half the glass in one go and Toby did the same.
Rusty held his breath and took a large swallow.
Faith had dozed off in front of the TV. It was late, around eleven thirty, and the half-eaten tub of chocolate mint ice cream in her lap was slowly melting.
The sharp shrill of the phone made her jump and splosh some of the sticky
dessert in her lap. Cursing, she put the tub on the table. Her heart thumped. Was it Rusty? Who else would be ringing at this hour?
She answered it with a cautious, “Hello?”
“It’s Eve.”
Faith felt a brief flutter of alarm. “Are you okay? What’s up?”
“Everything’s fine. Kind of. Look, you need to come around.”
“At this time of night?”
“I really need you here. Are you okay to drive?”
“Yes, but…I don’t understand…”
“You will when you get here. Can you come?”
“Of course. Give me ten minutes.”
“See ya.” Eve hung up.
More than a little concerned, Faith changed her clothes hurriedly, grabbed her purse and left the house. She puzzled over Eve’s words the whole way, wondering if they’d had another argument, but then why would they want her there? Taking the turnoff for Eve and Dan’s house, she drove down the long drive and parked out the front.
She got out of the car to see Eve outside, waiting for her. She could also hear music—well, singing, to be more specific. “What the…” She stood there for a moment, staring at an amused Eve. She could make out Dan’s baritone and Toby’s deeper voice. And there was a third too. Rusty?
“What are they doing? Starting up a band again?” As teenagers, the three of them had once played in a group, along with a couple of other boys. They’d played terrible heavy metal music that had no rhythm and nobody ever wanted to listen to.
“Not quite,” said Eve, beckoning her in.
Faith finally deciphered what they were singing. It wasn’t heavy metal. It was Lionel Richie’s “Hello”. Her eyes widened. “Oh my God.”
“You think this is bad? I’ve had to put up with them singing Bryan Adams’ ‘Everything I Do’ for about half an hour, making up the words. Eat a pie for you. Wear a tie for you. You name it.” She opened the door and went in.
Faith walked slowly into the house and closed the door behind her.
The room was dark, lit only by a table lamp in the far corner. Toby sat in an armchair, turned in the seat so his head was on the arm and his legs hung over the edge. Dan sat opposite him, slumped so far down in the chair he was almost on the floor. The back of the sofa faced her, but she could see Rusty’s feet on the arm, crossed at the ankles.
Two bottles of whisky stood on the table, both about a third full.
Eve walked over to Dan and perched on the arm of the chair. “Faith’s here,” she said quietly to him.
Dan looked over at her. He was quite clearly plastered, his eyes coming to rest on her slowly. “Hey.”
She stared at the whisky and the glasses in his and Toby’s hands and then at Rusty’s feet. Surely not.
Dan went to scratch his nose, poked himself in the eye and swore. Eve rolled her eyes. Dan rubbed a finger under his nose, blinking at Faith slowly with the intense concentration of someone trying to pretend they weren’t as drunk as they seemed. When he spoke, he said the words very slowly and carefully. “I haven’t done anything. I’ve just tried to help out a mate, that’s all.”
“By getting him drunk?” She stared at him. “Oh my God, you know. About Rusty and me.”
“Yep. The whole sordid affair.”
She studied his split lip in horror. “What happened?”
“I called him a cunt and knocked him flat. After he’d hit me, obviously. Then we kinda got drunk.”
Almost too scared to find out what state Rusty was in, she walked up to the sofa and leaned over.
He had a tumbler in his hand, filled with a half-inch of amber liquid. The bottom of the glass rested on his chest and moved up and down as he breathed. Clearly, he hadn’t heard her come in, or registered what Dan was saying. His eyes were closed, but she could see the left already bruised and starting to swell. He was singing softly. “Is it me you’re looking for?”
She glanced up at Eve, who met her gaze and started to smile.
Faith looked back down. Her heart thumped. “Hey.”
Rusty opened his eyes and winced. The glassy green orbs were clear and bright, however, and he didn’t seem to have trouble focussing like Dan. As he blinked, however, his lids moved in slow motion, and she could see he thought he was dreaming. He was quite clearly outrageously drunk.
“It’s me,” she said. “You’re not imagining things. Are you okay?”
“Faith?” He studied her face. “Wow, your eyes are, like, so weird. They make me think of dendrochronology.” It took him three goes to get the word out. Faith raised her eyebrows. “Tree rings,” he explained. “They’re beautiful.”
“Wow. You’re completely rat-arsed, aren’t you?”
“No. No.” He blinked. “A little bit.”
“Hey!” Toby had finally realised she was in the room. He pointed at her shirt. “Woo-hoo! Lady in Red!”
Together, the three of them started a rendition of Chris de Burgh’s classic. Eve sighed and stood up. “I think that’s my cue to put the kettle on.”
“Coffee all around,” agreed Faith, unable to hide a smile.
She walked to the end of the sofa and leaned on the arm, looking upside down at Rusty. “Why did you do it?”
“Dan wanted me to unleash the demon.” He gave a slight hiccup. “I think he thought of himself as St. George. You know. Slay the dragon.” He imitated a spear thrust and nearly spilled his drink in the process.
“And?”
He sighed. “Well, you know I thought there was this terrible monster inside me?”
“Yeah.”
“It turns out that it’s less a T-Rex, and more a…hamster. Dan’s quite disappointed.”
Faith started laughing. “So you don’t feel bad?”
“Nope. Just kinda tired. And miserable. Until you showed up.” He blinked at her. “I’ve been an arse, Faith. A terrible fucking idiot. I know I deserve to be hung, drawn and quartered for the way I treated you. Can you ever forgive me?”
Faith studied him. His green shirt matched his eyes, and his hair was ruffled and unkempt. He was so gorgeous it made her ache. Unable to stop herself, she leaned over him and pressed her lips to his, upside down.
When she pulled back, he blinked at her and said, “Oh.” He leaned across and put his glass on the table. Then he said, “I think I need to sit up.”
Faith stood and watched as Rusty pushed himself up and swung his legs around. “Whoa.” He leaned forward, elbows on knees, and stared hard at the table. “Who moved the house?”
Dan and Toby started laughing. Faith sighed and sat next to him. “Jeez, you’re going to have a hell of a hangover in the morning.”
“Only what I deserve.” He gave her a rueful smile and ran his hand through his hair. They studied each other for a moment. Her heart felt light as a butterfly, full of hope. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Faith.”
“That’s okay,” she said softly.
“No, it’s not.” He looked away. “I was awful to you. And it was totally unprovoked.” He stumbled over the word, but got it out eventually. “You’re much too good for me. You’re, like, an angel. An archangel. With a halo.” He gestured around the top of his head. “And I’m…”
“Beelzebub?”
He shrugged.
She laughed. “Sweetie, you’re so not. You’re a good man. I wish you’d start believing me.”
He studied her, his eyes wide. “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
Faith’s cheeks grew warm, aware Dan and Toby were listening with interest, and she heard Eve’s muttered “At last” as she came in with a tray of coffee cups. Faith ignored them all, however, concentrating on Rusty.
“Yes, I know.”
He blinked. “Will you marry me?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Faith stared at him. The other three cheered and then burst out laughing. Rusty glanced at them before looking back at Faith. “What’s so funny?”
“I have no idea,” she said firmly. She
handed him a cup of black coffee. “Drink this up, and then I’m taking you home.”
“Oh yeah.” Toby gave her a wink.
“Yes, like he’s in any fit state to be doing anything like that,” she said tartly, passing him a cup as well. “I have to say, guys, I think you’ve been incredibly irresponsible. You’ve probably given him liver poisoning.”
Dan waved a hand airily. “He’s a man—he can take it.”
“Hmm.” She looked back at Rusty, who appeared slightly confused.
“I meant it,” he said.
“Ssh.” She gestured to the cup. “We’ll talk about it later.”
He took a sip of the coffee and winced. “Fucking hell! This is strong.”
“It needs to be,” Eve said. “Now drink up, all of you. You want to go home, Toby? Or crash here on the sofa?”
“I’ll stay here,” he said, looking like a forklift would have struggled to move him.
As Rusty finished his coffee, Faith said goodbye to the others. “I’ll have words with you tomorrow,” she told Dan firmly, but he just pulled a face at her.
She gave Eve a kiss. “Thanks for ringing me.”
“No worries.” Eve’s eyes sparkled. “Rusty Thorne proposing. Who’d have thought?”
“He’s out of his tree.”
“Even so. Will you say yes?”
“I need to see if he meant it, first. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She helped him to her car. He walked carefully, his arm heavy around her shoulders. She opened the door, and he slid in while she protected his head. Then she leaned across and clipped his seatbelt in.
He caught her as she did so and put his arms around her. She leaned on the seat, suddenly breathless. Even hammered, smelling strongly of whisky, he was still the most gorgeous guy she’d ever seen.
He kissed her, and she lingered for a moment before pulling away. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
“Home where?”
She shut the door and walked around the car to get in the driver’s side. “My place. I’m not leaving you alone in this state.”
Seven Sexy Sins Page 24