Death Blooms

by Yolanda Olson

  “Later.”

  “Promise?” she asks, narrowing her eyes at me.

  “I promise,” I confirm, leaning my head against the back of the couch and smiling at her. Aiden loves to see my pieces when they’re done, and I appreciate her feedback and critical eye when it comes to some small detail I may have overlooked. In a weird and wonderful way, it’s Aiden’s version of training me. I help her with her strength and discipline, while she helps me be a better artist and allows me to keep holding on to that last thread of humanity I have.

  “Breakfast is ready,” Penn announces as he walks into the living room. I turn toward the sound of his voice and smile when he hands a plate to me, then one to Aiden before he goes and takes his place on the recliner. I wonder why he likes that spot so much?

  “Thank you,” I say to him. Aiden already has a forkful of pancakes in her mouth, but she points from me to Penn with her fork and gives him a thumbs up. “Aiden says thank you as well,” I translate with a laugh.

  Penn chuckles in response as he pulls the lever to recline the seat and turns his eyes toward the ceiling. I turn to my meal of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage, folding a leg under myself and begin to indulge. If last night doesn’t lead to anything more than the bliss we shared, maybe I can pay him to cook for me and Aiden every now and then.

  “You’re not hungry?” I ask Penn between bites.

  He shakes his head, his eyes still on the ceiling, and crosses his arms loosely over his chest.

  “I usually don’t eat as soon as I wake up—it fucks with my stomach when I do,” he explains before giving me a suspicious look. “What’s upstairs?”

  My eyes immediately cut to Aiden. My heart is racing, and I don’t know if I have it in me to lie to Penn, so I hope my best friend can pull me out of this fire before the flame is even lit.

  “It’s where Gray keeps all of his monsters and dark secrets,” Aiden replies sarcastically with an eye roll. “And if you think his silences can be scary, you should see what happens when he spends time up there. Why don’t you take a walk to the elevator and go on up? See what you can find out when something that obviously is none of anyone’s business is just one floor above your head.”

  A small smile forms across my mouth and I have to turn my face away so that Penn doesn’t see it. In her telling him the somewhat truth, she makes it sound so damn outlandish that he probably thinks she’s sassing him.

  “Give him the keys, Gray,” Aiden continues, nudging me with her foot. “Maybe if he sees the Boogeyman for the first time in his life, he’ll learn it’s not nice to poke around in people’s private affairs.”

  “Good Lord,” Penn remarks, rolling his eyes at her. “All you had to say was that it’s off limits instead of babbling like you just did.”

  She gives him a toothy grin then turns back to her food. I glance over at Penn who’s now busy picking his fingernails and sigh. I don’t want these two to go at each other, but I know the tension of her being here right now is getting to all three of us.

  “Pussy,” she teases him.

  Penn raises an eyebrow at Aiden, then stands up and walks over to the couch. He holds out one his pale hands, the long fingers extending toward me. “Give me the keys.”

  “The keys?” I echo nervously through a mouth full of food.

  Aiden may have underestimated this one.

  “Yes; the keys. To upstairs,” he says again.

  I glance desperately at Aiden. I need her to stomp out this little fire she began, and I need her to do it fast.

  “Penn, I never thought of you as the gullible type,” she finally says with a laugh. Her foot brushes imperceptibly against my leg to let me know she has every intention of keeping him down here with us. “It’s just storage. Gosh. I wonder if you believed me if were to tell you that I was born with two heads and a dick.”

  He purses his lips, takes a step over toward Aiden, and leaning down. He’s so goddamn close to her that she ends up recoiling a bit, stealing a confused glance in my direction.

  “Be nice to me,” he tells her softly. “You may have him wrapped around your finger, but I’m not him and it’ll take a hell of lot more than a few cuddles and your sharp wit to make me fold under whatever delusional hierarchy you live in.”

  She screws her face up at him and I’m wondering how it is that I ended up a casualty in their little tiff.

  “No offense,” he says, glancing at me quickly and grinning. “I just know from the little bit of time I’ve spent with the two of you that you’d move mountains for Aiden.”

  “That doesn’t make me anything less than a damn good friend,” I say softly, looking down at my half empty plate. “Excuse me.”

  I leave them in the living room, ignoring their protests. The way they just treated each other, the way I just got dragged into it, made me lose my appetite and I wonder how much weight I’ll end up losing if I keep these two around. If it’s not my nerves turning my stomach sour, it’s their newfound negativity toward each other that does the job.

  I empty what’s left of my breakfast into the trash can, then turn on the faucet in the sink and proceed to clean off the plate.

  “Hey.”

  I ignore him.

  For the first time since I’ve fantasized about being someone good enough for Penn Harris, I ignore him completely.

  “We were just kidding,” he says, coming to stand next to me. I continue to wash the plate, then the fork, then the base of the sink. Anything to keep from having to look at him right now. “Gray,” he continues, placing his chin on my shoulder. I can feel his breath against my neck and it makes me stiffen slightly. “Don’t be angry with us. That’s just how me and Aiden talk to each other—don’t be mad, okay? Please?”

  In a world where shit doesn’t make sense, where only last night things became clear to me, the scent of cinnamon and cranberries starts to invade my senses again. Penn Harris is actually begging me for something and that doesn’t make much sense to me.

  “I’m not,” I reply, turning off the faucet and turning around. I lean back against the sink, my fingers drumming along the stainless steel base and give him a tight smile. He moves to stand in front of me and places his hands loosely on my sides and I shake my head. “Aiden’s going to catch us.”

  “Then let her catch us,” he replies with a scoff. “I don’t care if she knows, and I’m sure she’s going to find out sooner or later, anyway. I just want to make sure that you’re honestly not mad at me because all I can see is the prospect of having another night together flying out the fucking window and swan diving to a painful death below.”

  I roll my eyes quickly and glance toward the couch on the other side of the room. Aiden’s curiosity hasn’t gotten the best of her like I thought it would have by now. Instead, she’s rearranged herself and the only thing I can really see from here is the top of her head as she lazily changes channels on the television.

  “I have to finish getting her ready,” I say to him quietly, looking down into his eyes.

  Penn nods in understanding as he lets his hands fall down to his sides and chews his lower lip.

  “How much time do you guys need?”

  “We’ll see you at the fight.”

  He looks at me for a moment, almost as if he’s trying to figure out if I’m playing some kind of game, but when I clench my teeth and begin to drum along the top of the sink again, he nods.

  “Give her hell.”

  Penn leans forward and tries to kiss me, but I turn my face toward Aiden, reminding him that she’s still here. He sighs and shakes his head, making his way back toward her.

  I can hear him tell her that he’ll see her in a few days and that he knows she’s going to do great. I can hear him tell her that he’s proud of her for getting the balls to do it all over again and I can hear him tell her that she’s lucky to have a friend like me.

  “See you crazy kids later,” he finally calls out as he makes his way to the door. He laughs at something Aiden
says, pausing in the doorway for a moment, then turns his gaze toward me. I haven’t moved. I’m still in the same rigid spot with the same rigid soul waiting for him to do something else to attempt to get me to ask him to stay. I give him a solemn nod, and he lets out a sigh as he turns and walks out.

  There will be plenty of time for fucking and maybe a little more later.

  My main concern right now is making sure that I still have a best friend in a few days.

  “Alright, kid. Get up—we’ve got shit to do,” I call out as I start walking toward her. Aiden glances over the armrest of the couch and groans as she turns off the TV, but she manages to pull herself up to her feet. She knows as well as I do that she’s going to need every last bit of help I can give her to be able to last another dance with Max.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Jesus fucking Christ, Gray! Are you trying to kill me?” Aiden asks, as she drops to her knees. I smile down at her and raise an eyebrow.

  I reach down and wipe the sweat off my bare stomach and size her up. Aiden’s wearing one of the sports bras she left here before and some kind of tight workout shorts. Since she’s more than dressed for the occasion, I plan on making her do some work.

  “When did you become such a weakling? You used to be able to pass me up and down these stairs.”

  “Yeah; one flight! Not the entire goddamn building,” she shoots back, giving me a dirty look.

  “Well, little lady, I just want to make sure that you’re at pique condition and I’ve only got a few days to do it. Once you catch your breath, meet me outside,” I say, wiping my face with my towel, then slinging it over my shoulder. “Bring those two big water bottles from the fridge too, okay?”

  Aiden mumbles something under her breath that I can almost make out and I laugh as I head back down the stairs. She knows that if I’m asking her to step out of the building, things are about to get fucking messy.

  I have an idea, a plan of sorts to make her stronger than ever before, and even though she’ll look at me like I’ve lost my goddamn mind, she’ll know she has no choice but to agree.

  Everything I intend to do—every moment of pain she will feel, every tear that I will have no choice but to ignore, and every mercy I’ll withhold will be for her.

  Once I’m outside, I take in a breath of the fresh air that’s eluded me for the past couple of days and smile.

  Things seem to be looking up.

  Aiden is taking her training seriously so far. Penn seems to want more than just a one-night fuck, and I’m almost done with my new piece.

  Another ten minutes of feeling the sun on my face and Aiden finally appears.

  “Here,” she says, holding out one of the bottles of water. I smile at her and jerk my head to the left. She rolls her eyes and follows me as we walk around the building. She doesn’t know what I’m up to, yet she understands that she can’t say no.

  When we reach the back, I take a huge swig of water and tell her to do the same. She uses her towel to clean off the sweat from her face while I place my bottle down and pick up a pair of sparring gloves.

  “Put these on,” I say tossing them at her.

  “What the fuck, Gray? Are you gonna make me hit the building now?” she asks, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

  “Nope,” I say, leaning down and swooping up a second pair. As I begin to pull them on, a look of horror and realization falls over her.

  She gets it now.

  “I’m going make you hit me,” I tell her softly, getting into a fighting position. “And I’m going to hit you back. I’m sorry if I hurt you, but you know this is the only way.”

  “You … you want me to fight you?” she asks uncertainly.

  “I want you to put me down, Aiden. I’m not going to make it easy for you, but neither is he—now get ready to knuckle up,” I say in a serious tone.

  Aiden shakes her head as she secures the gloves on her hands and mirrors my position.

  I extend one arm out to her and she briefly hits my fist before she steps back and begins to circle me, like a predator ready to kill their prey, and I couldn’t feel more proud of her.

  “Show me what you’ve got,” I tell her, and she lunges forward, landing a hook to my ribs. I stagger for a moment on my feet because I forgot just how strong this little shit is when she’s in fight mode, but as she takes her second to be smug, I jab her right in the jaw and she stumbles on her feet.

  Aiden grunts angrily.

  She knows that I’m not here to play a game—she knows that she has to fight me or take a beating instead.

  “Come on,” I taunt her, furrowing my eyebrows and stepping around her as she lunges at me and misses. I’ve never known Aiden to miss one of her swings—ever. She doesn’t want to hurt me even though I told her to, so I’m going to have to teach her a lesson.

  I take a deep breath and move toward her quickly, bobbing and weaving to either side, confusing her with my speed and hook her right in the stomach when she least expects it.

  She lets out a pained cry but takes the opportunity of me being so close to uppercut me and I almost lose my footing again. I spit some blood onto the pavement and motion for her to attack me again.

  That’s the only advantage she needs. She takes a step back to size me up and then the next thing I know, she’s coming at me like a hurricane, landing fist after fist to my chest, ribs, stomach, and one last blast to my face to knock me onto my back.

  I land with a dull thud and grimace when I feel the dirt and small rocks crush into my bare skin. Aiden walks over and glances down at me with a tired, yet triumphant expression on her face.

  “You okay?” she asks between bated breaths.

  “Never better,” I reply, putting my gloved hands over my eyes and laughing.

  “Are we done now? Can we just hang out for today or do I have to mess you up again?”

  I peek through my fingers at her, then reach up quickly, and yank her down onto the ground next to me.

  “Ouch!” she yells with a laugh. “I’m gonna end up hating you before this is all said and done, Gray.”

  “Yeah, but at least you’ll be in one piece too,” I reply, glancing at her with a grin.

  “You let me win, didn’t you?”

  Yes.

  “No.”

  She rolls her eyes and turns over onto her stomach, pushing her hair out of her face. The look she’s giving me tells me that I’m in for an interrogation, and I may indulge her considering she’s been doing such a good job with her training.

  “So …” she says, her voice trailing off, and her cheeks turning red. It amazes me that wanting to ask me about my personal life always has this effect on her, when she’s always so open about her dalliances all the damn time.

  “Yes, we had sex.”

  “Oh my God, Gray!” she squeals. I appreciate her enthusiasm for me getting laid, but she’s so goddamn loud that I end up having to cover my ears in an attempt to get the ringing to go away. She sits up and crosses her legs underneath her; with wide eyes and a huge grin she begins to press me for details.

  “How was it? Was he good? Who fucked who? Or did you take turns? Oh my God, tell me everything!”

  “’Who fucked who?’” I echo her, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Have I ever asked you something as asinine as that before, Aiden?”

  “No, because in my cases it’s always been obvious,” she replies with a grin. “With you, one can never tell. Though if memory serves correctly, aren’t you a pitcher?”

  “’A pitcher,’” I repeat with a laugh as I shake my head. “Sure, kid. Whatever.”

  Aiden giggles nervously, “Sorry; I didn’t mean to sound offensive, I just don’t really know how it works is all.”

  “Same way as it does with you, except there’s no snatch,” I reply, tilting my head to look at her. She wrinkles her nose at me in response and my grin widens. “Anything else you’d like to know?”

  “I already asked what I wanted to know most, and you ignored
it,” she replies dryly. “Oh wait, did you go down on him?”

  I prop myself up on my elbows, letting the dirt and pebbles dig into my skin and snicker. “He did me. I didn’t go down on him, but he went down on me. Yes, it was good—honestly, it was fucking amazing, and the only reason I didn’t say anything when you barged in earlier asking questions is because it’s not just my business that I would be telling you and I don’t know how he’s dealing with this yet. He seems to be okay with it, but I don’t know exactly know Penn Harris outside of my random moments of salivating for him, which is why I kept hushing you up.”

  “Would you like to know about him?” she asks as she uncurls her legs and stretches. Aiden leans back on her hands and crosses her legs at the ankles and gives me a questioning glance, and I nod. I know she can’t tell me his entire life story, but anything would be nice at this point.

  “He’s pretty strange, which I’m sure you’ve noticed by now. Well, maybe you haven’t,” she corrects, rolling her eyes, “all you probably see is that face. Not that I’m judging you for it—what’s the point of spending time on chasing someone you’re not attracted to, you know? Anyway, he doesn’t really do shit except for go out and party with his friends. He’s clean though—addiction wise I mean. But then again, depending on how you two interact the next time I see it, I’m sure he’ll already have his narcotic of choice picked out. A little bit of advice though, Gray? ”

  I sit up and nod, waiting for Aiden to continue.

  “Okay,” she begins with a heavy sigh. “He can get really weird around the rest of the Trust Fund Brigade, so if you see him at the fight on Thursday night, it’s best to let him approach you first. Otherwise, if he’s not completely comfortable with what happened last night, he’ll do his best to make you feel like you’re two feet tall. It’s his defensive mechanism.”

  I chuckle as she gives me a sympathetic smile.

  It doesn’t bother me as much as it should because I should have expected it all things considering. I sigh and get to my feet, content to let my inquiry into the life of Penn Harris die a slow, painful death, and extend a hand down toward Aiden.