Bigger Than the Sky (Serenity Point)

by Harper Bentley

  Cassie comes up and yells over the music, “You bitch!” and we die laughing. Then she yells, “Do it, Mill!” and starts popping her booty again, and this time alcohol’s not so fine a thing because I actually start doing them with her. But I’m laughing and having a good time, so it’s worth it.

  I do what I think are sexy body and chest rolls all the way around and when I feel eyes on me once again, I just smile, gazing through the crowd as I turn so I can annoy Peyton some more when my eyes suddenly land on two intense steely gray ones staring at me in what looks like anger.

  Kade.

  Cassie comes over and takes my hips from behind, rolling her body into mine, making me mimic her movement. As I’m doing this, all I can do is stare back at him.

  “Ignore him,” Cassie says into my ear. “He’s just pissed because he’s dating that cunt.”

  I gasp out a laugh and she turns me to face her then winks as we continue our, for lack of a better term, stripper dance, giggling as we finish the song, throwing in some more booty pops for good measure before going back to our table where Lacey and London are waiting on us.

  “That was hot, ladies!” London squeals.

  “It so was!” Lacey concurs. “It kinda made me horny. If I were a lesbian, I’d so be hitting on you guys right now!”

  We all burst out laughing at her and she giggles with us. Martina’s brought us more drinks and as I take a sip, I hazard a look back to where I’d seen Kade but he’s gone.

  ~~~

  I think pigs must be flying or hell’s frozen over or that Bieber kid’s finally gotten cool because I have to use the restroom and none of my friends need to. What the hell? Women always go to the bathroom together, but noooo, my friends can’t be bothered this time because each of them is canoodling (again, see how you talk when your grandparents raise you?) with hot guys, all of which I know from high school. Cassie’s at the table talking to Jeremy Pitkin, who’s now a fireman. She’s had a crush on him since, like, fifth grade, and I’m glad he’s talking to her. Lacey’s on the dance floor slow dancing with Mark White, who I found out she’s been flirting with for a while, and London’s out there too, practically mouth raping Brett Thompson who she’d had a dalliance with back in the day.

  So I, the fifth wheel, stumble my way to the back and use the restroom by myself, mumbling on the way out how you can’t count on anyone to have your back these days when a large body suddenly blocks my path.

  “’Scuse me,” I say as I try getting around it but then I’m grabbed by my upper arms and pushed into the wall. “What the…?” I yelp out in surprise as I frown then look up, up, up into Kade’s scarily fierce yet still handsome face. And I know it’s weird, but the number cruncher in me comes out right then as digits start running through my head, and all I can think is that I’m normally five foot six and I’ve got on four-inch heels which now makes me five foot ten, yet I’m still having to look way up at him. So I start calculating more inches, throwing a little geometry in there as I take in the angle at which my head’s tipping back to look at him and figure he’s about six foot four. Pretty good for a drunk, huh? But then I remember I already know this because at one point, I knew everything about the gorgeous man standing in front of me. Duh.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he hisses as he leans down getting right in my face, and I frown again, staring back at him trying to figure out what he means. When I don’t say anything, he shakes me by my arms as if trying to wake me up. “Again. What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?” he growls out slowly as if I’m too dense to have understood what he said.

  Apparently, he wants an answer, so I give him one. “Well, I was just dancing. I mean, you saw me! Remember? You were standing right there! But then when I got done, I guess the bourbon must’ve run through me, so I just used the restroom, see?” I lift my hand a little to point to the bathroom door. “And all my friends are talking to hot guys and didn’t want to come with me, which is so a breach in the girl code and just a dadgum (thanks, Papaw) shame! And it’s also a shame that I don’t have a hot guy to talk to, not even at home, so I’m all alone… as usual.” Boy, am I drunk.

  “You know what I mean,” he states and narrows his eyes at me, but they’re softer now and I’m not sure what that means.

  It’s then that I swoon a little from all the alcohol I’ve had tonight. “Don’t… feel so well…” I mumble, putting a hand out to his chest, which is so hard it’s like steel under my fingers. Dang!

  “What’s going on, Kade?” I hear Cassie say as she comes up behind us.

  “His chest is rock hard, Cass! Oh, my God! Come feel it! It’s like sh-olid rock,” I slur drunkenly at her as I push my hand and fingers into Kade’s chest over and over in awe then I start giggling which instantly makes her start giggling too. “Wait, I mean, sh-olid. Sh-olid! What’s wrong with my tongue?” I ask her. We look at each other for a second and then our giggling intensifies. She puts her back against the wall and promptly sinks to the floor landing on her butt with a plop as we both continue laughing.

  “Christ,” I hear Kade mutter.

  Now the next part is in bits and pieces because that’s how it always seems to go when you’re drunk—it’s like time speeds up and you start losing parts of it. When I “come to,” I’m hanging over someone’s shoulder and they’re walking down the street. My hands and hair are hanging straight down as is my head.

  “Well, for fuck’s sake,” I mutter, completely flabbergasted as to what’s going on.

  As I hang there, I push my hands into the hips of the mystery person carrying me, noticing with confusion that I’m now wearing a flannel shirt over my silver tank top, and pulling my head back a bit, I see that whoever’s got me has a nice ass.

  “You have a very nice ass,” I tell them sweetly because they are after all, carrying me and I doubt I could be doing such a fine job of it on my own, and I think the least I can do is be nice and show some gratitude for their effort. I then hear a gruff “harrumph” coming from the person, and at that I gather it’s got to be a man because it’s a manly sound and this is a rather manly ass.

  As we continue on our way, my upper body bobbing against this man’s back, I relax and feel like I lose time again because when I “wake up” it now occurs to me through my drunken haze that maybe what’s happening isn’t such a good thing. I mean, this could be a serial killer who’s now got me. Holy shit!

  “Uh… hey?” I say, but to no avail as he keeps walking with me and not answering. I speak again, this time trying to lighten the situation because maybe this serial killer has a sense of humor and he’ll like that about me and decide to let me live. “Um, you know, the whole caveman role-playing thing has always been a fantasy of mine. I mean, what woman wouldn’t love to be swept off her feet by a hot macho man, alpha male?” I wait for a response and when one doesn’t come, in the hopes of buttering this guy up and keeping him from murdering me, I tack on, “And one with a nice ass to boot!” Still no answer. In a last ditch effort at diversion, I petition, “But, I, uh, think it’d probably be best if we just, you know, go our separate ways because clearly we have a lack of communication going on here.”

  “Shut up, Amelia.”

  And I freeze.

  Kade has me.

  Holy fucking shit.

  You know, I never thought I’d be weighing in on this option, but if right now I had to choose between Kade or a serial killer having me, well, Jack the Ripper, c’mon down! You have been chosen as the next contestant on the Slice is Right!

  And my sense of humor astounds me.

  Ugh.

  Chapter 4

  I next hear a key in a lock and a door open and close, but have no clue where I am. I’m taken up some stairs then tossed onto a bed where I bounce and let out an “Oomph!”

  I try sitting up, but fall back to the bed as my head spins then feel the bed dip as Kade sits. He picks up one of my feet and tries taking off my shoe but I see he’s
having a hard time of it as I watch him through half-slit eyes.

  “Michael Kors,” I mumble in explanation and hear him mutter a “Huh?” so I keep going. “These are my Michael Kors super strappy sandals deluxe. I don’t know why I wore them when it’s so cold out, but they went with my jeans and shirt, so I had to match, right? And I love them ‘cause they’re just sexy and hot, don’t you think?” When he doesn’t answer, I close my eyes and clarify, “Zipper. Heel. Down. Off.”

  And I’m out.

  ~~~

  I wake to someone banging on the door of the shop downstairs and lie there hoping they’ll go away, but the banging just gets louder. Looking at the clock on my bedside table, I see it’s eight in the morning. Great.

  I don’t usually get hangovers, so as I sit up I’m hoping my body keeps up with this awesome little asset, which it thankfully does, and I find I only have a touch of a headache, which means I’m dehydrated but I’ll live. Getting out of bed, I glance down and see I’m in my panties and bra. Huh. How the heck did I get home last night?

  And then I remember.

  Kade.

  Holy crap!

  He carried me home over his shoulder. And apparently he undressed me. Ack!

  The banging on the door begins again so I grab my robe and pull it on, tying the belt as I go downstairs to see who the hell can’t wait until a decent hour to wake me.

  “I’m coming!” I shout as I make my way to the door trying to smooth my hair a little because I’m sure it looks wonderful. When I come around the corner, I see Brody standing at the door smiling at me. “Hey, Brode,” I say when I open the door. “Is it the Apocalypse?”

  He looks at me funny.

  “Is Armageddon upon us?” I ask.

  He chuckles and says, “No.”

  “Is that Alcide guy from True Blood waiting outside to propose to me?”

  He smirks and shakes his head.

  “Then why the hell is it necessary to get me out of bed at eight on a Saturday morning?” I ask, hand on my hip.

  He holds a cup of coffee out to me. “Thought you might need this,” he says as he puts it in my hand and walks inside.

  “Oh. Thanks,” I say, sniffing as the smell of the divine drink drifts up to my nose.

  “Heard you got a little trashed last night,” he says, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

  “C’mon in,” I tell him frowning as I turn and walk toward the back. I stop at the little kitchen area to look for sugar. “Damn. Should’ve gotten sugar,” I mumble.

  “Already in there,” he says. “One cream, two sugars. Just like you like it.”

  “You’re my hero,” I say as I turn and give him a smile. “Let’s go up.”

  He follows me upstairs and sits on the loveseat as I go to the sink to get myself a glass of water then another with an aspirin chaser. Next, I make a trip to the bathroom to check out the damage from last night and gasp when I see that it’s extensive. My brown hair with its blond highlights looks like overnight it’s channeled Helena Bonham Carter’s style (which always looks great on her but horrendous on me) and I grab my brush to try to tame it as my blue eyes stare back at me, rimmed in smudged mascara making me look like a panda bear. Lovely.

  “You could’ve warned me that I looked like Madame Thénardier,” I say to Brody when I come out of the bathroom.

  “Who?” he asks.

  “Les Misérables?” I say as I grab my coffee off the kitchen counter then walk over and sit on the side of the bed.

  “Lay who?” he questions.

  I snort. “Never mind.” I take a drink and moan. “Carolina?” I ask. Man, his mom always made the best coffee ever.

  “Yep. She sent it especially for you.”

  “Didn’t think you’d remember how I took my coffee.” I raise an eyebrow and chuckle. “Tell her I said thank you.”

  Carolina Kelly is one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met. And I don’t know if I can face her just yet. I mean, I ran out on her son, which means I basically did the same to her and the rest of the family. God, who knew that with one act of panic and selfishness I’d have hurt so many people.

  “So, you guys tore up the joint, huh? Cass said you rocked it on the dance floor.” He laughs when I duck my head, resting my forehead in my hand.

  “My dancing probably looked better in my mind,” I say with a groan, raising my head and shaking my head at him.

  “Heard you got a special escort home too.” He raises an eyebrow at me then grins when I shoot him a look.

  “Forgot how news travels in a small town,” I say with a frown. “I don’t remember a whole lot after my third or fourth Maker’s Mark,” I confess.

  “From what I was told, I guess you and Kade relived the good ol’ days in the sack.” He purses his lips and nods at the look of shock on my face as he delivers that awesome little morsel of data.

  I gasp. “Wh-what?” Annnd the day just keeps getting better. He continues nodding giving me a that’s what happens when you can’t hold your liquor look. But then I narrow my eyes at him remembering he’s a perpetual smartass and I’m hoping he’s just trying to rile me. “You’re lying.”

  He bursts out laughing and I throw a pillow at him. “Hey, now, watch the coffee!” he whines.

  “I think I’d remember if Kade and I, well…” My face turns red because I don’t want to talk about this with him. “Besides, even drunk I wouldn’t do anything since he’s in love with someone else.”

  “Who said he’s in love with her?”

  “Well, they’re together, right? I mean, that’s usually what comes next when you date someone for a certain amount of time.”

  “He hasn’t really dated anyone since he’s been back. Might’ve fucked a lot of ‘em, yeah, but gotten serious? No.”

  Well, that’s something I didn’t need to hear. Ugh. And where are these feelings coming from? It’s got to be this town. Just being here’s making me remember the past, that’s all. If I were to leave today and go back to Richmond, I wouldn’t think about any of this again. At least I don’t think I would. It troubles me that I’m not sure.

  “But he’s been with Peyton the longest. Before her, I hadn’t seen him stick with one woman for over a month.”

  Great. So he might not be in love with her, but he likes fucking her. It’s making me angry just hearing about this even though I don’t have a right to be mad. But it’s something I’ve never really thought about before, Kade moving on, and hearing about it pisses me off. God, I’m such an idiot. What did I think would happen, he’d just stay celibate for the rest of his life pining away for me?

  “So do you ever actually work as a fireman?” I say snottily to Brody because he’s being a jerk and agitating me and I need to change the frickin’ subject.

  “Yep. One on, two off, usually, but I’m off for a week right now. Why?”

  “Because it seems you’ve just had tons of time to be a pain in my ass,” I tell him, giving him a hateful look.

  He barks out a laugh. “That’s what little brothers are for, you know.”

  And he has been just like a little brother to me from day one. He’s two years younger and was in kindergarten when I moved here when Cassie and I became best friends. Over the years when I’d go to their house for sleepovers, Brody was always the one who bugged the crap out of us, and we’d finally end up tackling him or shoving him in a closet, making him cry so he’d leave us alone. Kade, on the other hand, was the broody, unattainable older brother who barely showed himself when I was there but when I did see him, I practically drooled all over myself.

  “And you’ve got it down perfectly,” I say. He makes a goofy face and I laugh because I could never stay mad at him for too long.

  We sit in comfortable silence, drinking our coffee when he asks, “So what are your intentions with my brother?”

  I jerk my head back giving him a funny look. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, wha
t’s going on with you two?”

  I huff out what I hope is a nonchalant laugh, because I really don’t have a clue what’s going on with us either, but something inside me is definitely getting a good stirring up. “Nothing. Why?” He holds my eyes for a few seconds then looks away and scratches the scruff on his cheek, the concern clear on his face. “What’s going on, Brody?”

  He looks at me again. “You really hurt him, Mill. I know he’s a big, tough, badass ex-SEAL, but when you left, it broke him… damn near killed him. He’ll never admit to it, but I saw what it did to him.”

  I suck in a breath and avert my eyes from his, the guilt of what I did smacking me right in the gut. I rub my eyes with my thumb and finger then look up at him and say quietly, “I’m so selfish, Brody.”

  He grimaces, clearly not wanting to have this conversation but I know he feels he has to protect his brother. “It was a pretty selfish thing to do, Mill.”

  I look at the floor and nod in total agreement with him.

  “I just don’t wanna see him get hurt again, is all,” he says. “And with you not planning to stay, well, I hope you keep your distance from him.”

  I keep nodding and staring. He’s right. I need to stay away from Kade. And that’s been the plan anyway, but after seeing him yesterday and last night, I hate to admit it, but it awoke some long dormant feelings I’ve always had for him and it just felt… right.

  I look up at him, tears stinging the backs of my eyes. “You’re right. I’ll stay away. And, yes, it was so very selfish what I did. I mean, who the hell do I think I am that I can just waltz back into town as if I didn’t wreak havoc the last time I was here?” I’m getting a little hysterical now but it’s only because I’m finally facing the consequences of what I did. “God! I’m such a bitch!”

  Brody chuckles. “I wouldn’t go that far. I mean, I’ve seen you pretty bitchy before, but it’s not like you’re some cold, calculating person.”