by Lynn Rider
“Sweetheart, is that your car?” the driver asks over his shoulder.
I look toward the red digital numbers on the cab fare display and throw fifty bucks, that I can’t afford to spend, over the seat. “It used to be,” I mumble, grabbing my bag and sliding into the cold.
I walk slowly, examining the remnants of my car. Burned to a charred frame of metal, covered with a light dusting of snow, it sits in my driveway as another reminder that Paul is watching.
“Mia?” A distant voice calls my name. I turn in time to see Mr. Levinson coming down the steps of his front porch with a piece of paper in his hand. “The fire department left this for you.” He’s holding up the paper as he’s crossing our snow-covered yards. “They said you can call this number to talk to someone about the fire,” he says, handing the paper to me when he gets closer.
“Thanks, Mr. Levinson.”
He looks toward the car. “That was some fire. I saw the glow from my front window and called the fire department.” His gaze swings back to mine. “Mia, you’re a quiet girl. Never causing any problems for anyone, but do you think someone did this? Lorraine said she thought she saw someone over here last night and seeing as how you weren’t home last night when the fire department was here and you’re just driving up in a cab now, it wasn’t you.”
I look toward my car, knowing exactly who did this. “No, it wasn’t me. I stayed with a friend last night.”
He nods, looking at the car again. It’s mesmerizing in a morbid sort of way. “Maybe it’s faulty wiring. That can sometimes cause a car to just combust without warning.”
“I’m sorry for any trouble. I’ll get it taken care of soon as possible.”
“Oh, no trouble. A little excitement for a Friday night.” He laughs softly before thinking better of it and sobering. “I’m sorry it had to come at your expense. Are you going to be okay?”
I force a smile. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.”
“If you need anything, you know where we are.” He turns and waves over his shoulder walking back over the same snow-covered path he came.
I stand in the cold for a while longer, looking at what Paul has done. When the snow starts falling I head inside, despite knowing I won’t find any reprieve from the freezing temperatures in my cold, powerless cottage.
I pull my phone from my pocket and call Audrey. “Are you on the road?” she asks, hopefully.
“There’s been another problem,” I say quietly. The tears are there. I feel them, hear them in the tremble of my vocal chords, but they won’t fall. Be careful what you wish for Mia. When they do, they’ll probably never stop. I’ve taken about all I can take. Maybe if I just give up, reminding Paul it is Audrey’s debt, he’d feel sorry for me and do it with one single painless bullet.
“What’s the matter? Are you still with Chance?” Pain slices at my chest at the mention of his name and the first tear falls. Not because of my car, not because my death is imminent, but because I left the only person who has brought me the slightest bit of happiness since my parents’ death. For one night, I forgot all about how sour my life has turned. I want to yell at Audrey. I want to hate her for taking it all away, especially now that I realize how good it can feel.
“No.”
“Shit, did you sleep with him? I thought about my advice again and was going to call you back last night, but I fell asleep. You know Aunt Donna has me up before dawn these days. I’m like an old woman falling asleep with the sun. Anyway…you can’t put out too soon. He’s the type to discard you like yesterday’s trash. In order to get his protection, he’s going to have to treasure you. Guys like him have to chase you for that to happen. You didn’t sleep with him, right?”
“No,” I lie.
“Fuck Mia, could you say more than one word answers? I’m worried.”
I let out a manic laugh. “You’re worried, Audrey? Really, because I’m standing in my house that’s as cold on the inside as it is on the outside because rather than paying my bill, I paid a piece of your debt to your dealer. Every credit card I have is maxed out and I have no job. Therefore, I have no way of paying off your debt or my own. When I look out the window, a charcoaled piece of metal that is hardly recognizable as my little red car sits in my driveway and to top it off, my heart is broken. You caused this and didn’t worry for one second as you were racking up a bill with a man that’s so dangerous, I thought his type only existed in the movies. So don’t tell me you’re worried, Audrey! It’s too little, too late.”
“What about Chance?”
“I’m not bringing him into your shit, Audrey! It’s time you grow the fuck up and take responsibility! You did this and you’ll have to live with it for the rest of your life!” I hang up, not wanting to hear her voice for one second longer. The phone rings and I press ignore before I shut it off completely.
The tears begin as I lie down on the couch, covering myself with a blanket and give up. I know it’s only a matter of time before Paul shows up and I’ll be here waiting…if I don’t freeze to death first.
A sharp bang startles me. I pop up from the couch, realizing I’d fallen asleep at some point and pass it off as a dream…or nightmare. It was probably the gun Paul used to kill me. A shiver grabs hold of me with the near freezing temperatures and I wrap the blanket around me again. The house is dim, but it’s still daylight. I could take a bus. I look around at all I’d leave behind and fall back against the couch cushions.
The loud bang happens again and my heart pounds heavily. This is it.
“Mia!”
I jump from the couch.
“What in the hell?” Chance asks, storming through the unlocked door and pointing to the car. A sob breaks free and the tears start again. “Jesus, Mia,” he says, softening his alarm as he steps closer. He wraps his arms around me. His warmth covers me like a blanket and I snuggle tighter, realizing just how fucking cold I am. “Don’t ever leave me like that again,” he whispers. “I was so fucking worried when I drove up and saw your car. What in the hell happened?”
He wraps me tighter, nuzzling into my neck when I don’t answer. “You’re shivering babe. It’s cold as fuck in here. Pack your shit. You’re coming home with me.” I step back and swipe at my tears. Chance grabs my arm and waits for my eyes to meet his. “All of it. You’re not staying here anymore.”
“I don’t—”
“I’m not leaving you here. We’re both staying or both going, but, Jesus, Mia…I don’t know…after last night…” his words drift off, his thoughts as scattered as my own. “Please,” he says softly and I nod, not wanting to think about my lack of options or the gravity of the situation I’m putting him in.
I glance around my small space. “I don’t have boxes,” I say quietly.
He pulls his phone from his pocket. Presses the screen. “Can you get me moving boxes over to Mia’s house?…Now…Thanks,” he says and hangs up. “They’re on the way.”
I nod and I fold easily back into his arms, just needing to be held again. “It’s okay…everything will be okay,” he softly repeats against my hair until the tears stop. “We don’t have much time to get you packed. That storm is moving in and we need to get home. We can come back for furniture and that kind of shit, but get the pictures now.”
We break up, silently piling photo albums and framed pictures onto the couch.
Thirty minutes later a knock sounds at the door and my heart jolts with fear. His name freezes in my throat as he steps to the door and flips the handle to open it. Sheer panic immobilizes me until I register the large frame standing on my small front porch. It’s his big friend that delivered my car. He ducks his head and steps in, a wide bundle of boxes under his arm and rolls of packing tape in a clear plastic bag.
“You’re really pushing my boundaries today. First grocery delivery to the boys, now moving boxes,” the big guy says with a grin as he steps further into my small cottage.
“Thanks man,” Chance claps him on the back and turns toward me. “You guys kind of
already met, but Smith this is Mia. Mia, this is Smith.”
“Nice to meet you,” I mumble, forcing a smile at the mountain-sized man.
He smiles with the same force and nods before looking around the small space. He rubs his palms together and then blows a steamy deep breath into their centers. “Seeing as I’m here and it’s cold as fuck in here and the roads are a nightmare already, you may as well use my packing expertise today, too. I’ll give you the trifecta of skills,” he grins over to Chance and they both laugh.
Chance and Smith begin boxing the stuff we previously piled up on the couch, teasing and joking with each other as I robotically go in search of more. Having them caught up in one another takes the pressure off me. I’m still on the verge of losing it. I don’t know what in the hell I’m doing, moving in with a near stranger…getting him involved in Audrey’s shit. Each time I feel Chance’s lingering gaze, I disappear into the bathroom to hide behind the only walls in the house in fear I’ll crack.
I carry a small bag with all my bathroom stuff toward the couch and for the first time, register the two of them in my small space together. If I thought having Chance here was like having a bull in a China shop, Smith is like an elephant. The two of them together is a force to be reckoned with. My mind momentarily drifts to Paul and a shudder ripples up my body.
“You okay?” Chance asks, noticing.
“Just cold,” I force a smile and turn away from his watchful eyes.
The two of them make quick work of boxing everything I bring them, teasing with one another as they do and before I know it, everything I had hoped to take to Texas and then some is packed and sealed, ready to be loaded in Chance’s truck.
23
Chance
Mia sits quietly in my passenger seat with the same vacant look in her eyes that she had when I arrived at her house. I don’t know how long she was there, but I sensed she hit her breaking point long before I arrived.
When I drove up and saw the snow-covered shell of the little red car that sat there just yesterday, I couldn’t get to her fast enough. I ran up the stairs, prepared to knock the door down if necessary, but when I saw her wrapped in a fuzzy pink blanket, tear-stained face and a dejected look in her eyes, every ounce of anxiety rushed from me with the overwhelming need to coddle her taking over.
I pulled her into my arms, taking a heavy relieved breath that she was okay. I muttered something to her, my worry coming out in questions that in that moment, held no importance, but when my eyes landed on the photograph of her with her family and that beautiful, carefree smile of hers, it spoke directly to my heart and I was more determined than ever to make her mine.
The painful clacking of her teeth fill the silence, my gaze turning to her. She bites down firmly stopping the chattering, but the subtle quiver of her bottom lip gives away just how fucking cold she is. With the heat already on high, I push the last vent her direction and grab her hand, breathing heavily into her palm. If the roads weren’t such a fucking snowy disaster, I would have her in my lap, wrapped around me, and giving her my body’s warmth.
She’s still shaking when I park in my garage. I jump from my truck, racing around to Mia’s side as Smith parks behind me. When I open the door to help her down, she falls into my arms, wrapping her arms and legs around me, not letting go. Smith gives me a chin lift, silently telling me to do my thing and I waste no time in carrying her in the house and up the stairs.
With her body still clinging to mine, I turn on the faucet to the large tub before setting her on the counter.
“You okay?”
She nods, and I begin to tug at the laces of her shoes. With every piece of clothing I remove, it becomes more obvious she’s chilled to the fucking bone. If I’d known she was this fucking cold, I would’ve had her sit in my truck while I packed up her shit myself. Her arms wrap around her waist after I lift her sweater and tee over her head and her jaw let’s lose, teeth clacking quickly before she catches them, biting down again.
I wrap myself around her, feeling her cold skin. “Mia, you’re freezing. You need to get in the bath and wait for me,” I say, lifting her from the counter. She steps from her pants and slips off her bra and I help her up the two steps to the edge of the tub. A short hiss fills the room when she steps into the water. “Too hot?” I ask.
“No, just a shock,” she says before biting back down, trying to hide her shiver. She slowly lowers into the water, acclimating her body to the warm temperature. When I see another shiver ripple through her body, my desire to strip and climb in with her almost wins, but then I remember Smith downstairs unloading boxes. He wouldn’t be too happy if I were up here getting lost in my girl.
I kiss the top of her head. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“How long will you be gone?” Her eyes have that vulnerability I’ve seen before, but not one trace of the strength I’m used to seeing with it. She’s at her limit today and it really bothers me that she thinks she’s in this alone, because she isn’t, not anymore.
“Not long beautiful,” I say, kissing her forehead and forcing myself out of the bathroom. I race down the stairs and out to the garage. Smith has half the boxes already unloaded and stacked against the wall.
He looks over and grins. “I knew putting those tires on that woman’s car wasn’t purely out of the goodness of your heart,” he teases.
“And the good friend you are, never questioned me when I’d said it.”
“I didn’t think it would get to this point, man.” He smiles, getting another box from the back of my truck and adding it to the pile. “It’s not like you to get caught up on a woman.” He pauses thoughtfully. “In fact, I can’t recall one woman in all the years I’ve known you, but sometimes good pussy messes with our heads. This is all kind of fast.” He glances toward the stack of cardboard boxes. “Most women tend to want something…at least in my experience. She’s not a gold digger, is she?”
A surge of fight washes over me with his words, but I let it go. Smith is just giving me friendly advice. I may not get involved with women for longer than it takes to blow a nut, but he’s no stranger to how evil some of them can be.
“I don’t know what her story is, but she’s not a gold digger,” I say with absolute conviction. I found Mia, not the other way around. “She never asked for any of this, Smith.” I wave my hand toward the house.
“What about her car?” he asks skeptically.
My mind flits back to the guy at the club. “I think it’s a jealous ex-boyfriend.” I crack my knuckles against the palm of my hand. “Nothing I can’t handle.” I smile, welcoming the idea of him to come near her.
“You sure you want to get into something like that? You got a fight coming up.”
“She’s a good girl, Smith. Some pansy ass ex isn’t going to be too hard to shake off. Once word gets out that we’re together, he’ll probably never even show his face. You won’t even have to get your hands dirty.”
He smiles. “Come on now, where’s the fun in that? You know I like a good beat down every now and again.” He chuckles, but I see the disappointment behind his dark eyes.
Smith and my childhoods were very different. Whereas I was alone, he was surrounded with violent people. I fought to survive. He fought to escape. We both needed out and Vic gave us what we needed, but I sometimes wonder, with his boxing career over, why he hasn’t returned to that when he’s admitted on numerous occasions he misses the adrenaline rush of a good fight.
“What do you know about her?” He looks toward the stack of boxes again. “Other than her new address,” he says through another chuckle. I know he can’t believe it. I can’t fucking believe it. I just believe that when she’s here, with me, my life is better.
“Her parents died in a car accident a couple of years ago. Her sister lives with their aunt in Texas. She danced at The Big Shebang.”
His face tightens with surprise. “No shit?” He grins. “Vic is going to have a field day with this one,” he chuckles.<
br />
“He’s already lit into my ass about her, only he doesn’t know the woman I’m seeing is the same one he chewed me a new ass over.”
“The picture?”
“Yep!”
“This ought to be good,” he mutters, grabbing the last box.
Forty minutes later, I bound up the stairs, two at a time, still wound up from talking about Mia’s ex-boyfriend coming back into the picture. She’s out of the bath and tucked into my bed. Fuck, she looks perfect there. I toe off my boots, strip my clothes, and climb in next to her. She scoots back against my chest and I wrap my arms around her, getting lost in the flowery scent of her hair.
“This is where I’d hoped you’d be when I got home from the gym this morning.”
“Sorry,” she mutters.
“Last night wasn’t just a one-night stand for me, Mia.”
“I didn’t know…”
I feel her shudder with a silent sob.
“Hey, everything is going to be okay.” I roll her over and brush the hair from her face, looking into her eyes. I wipe a stray tear from under her cheek as it falls. She reaches up and softly brushes the wisps of hair away from my forehead. I close my eyes, relishing in her gentleness.
“Why are you so good to me? You don’t even know me, yet every time I fall, you seem to always be there to lift me back up,” she whispers. Her honey-colored eyes dance with mine in the dim light. I know she’s searching for answers. Answers I can’t really provide.
“Have you ever thought that it is you that lifts me up?” I ask, meaning it. I can’t explain what I feel, I’m not even sure I can sort through it yet, but with Mia, I see things differently and want things that I have never wanted.
“But you don’t know me and—”
I shake my head, silencing her because I know there’s nothing this beautiful woman could say to change what I want. “I want you here with me, in my house, in my bed, in my life Mia. We’ll figure it out as we go.”