“No. This was a complete accident. He was too drunk to function and said some stupid things.”
Her body relaxed. “What did he say?”
“He was just being an asshole. It was stupid and he was drunk.” I got up off the bed and made my way into the kitchen, Declan hot on my tail.
“You’re not getting off that easily.” I dug in the freezer for ice to make a pack for my eye. “Obviously he said something that hurt you.” I shut the freezer not able to look at her. She turned me to face her. “Alex, whatever it is, you can tell me.”
I sighed and met her sympathetic gaze. “He told me I was beautiful.”
Her face fell into confusion. “Wait, you’re telling me you’re mad because he called you beautiful?”
“Yes…no.”
“Gee Alex, I wish I got annoyed and angry at a good-looking guy who told me I was beautiful,” she said sarcastically.
“He was drunk Declan. How did you think I felt?”
“You two need to just do it and get it over with.” She pushed past me to the coffee machine. My jaw dropped. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s obvious to everyone but you two. We all see how you act around each other. It’s a clear case of wanting something you can’t have because you’re too stupid to admit you like each other.”
“One, that doesn’t even make sense and two, I do not like Casper and he does not like me.”
“I still think you should just at least do it once. Come on Alex, it’s been like a month?” Two, but I wasn’t going to admit that out loud. “When are you going to get your head out of the clouds and realize Colby is just like any other jackass out there?”
“What does me getting laid having anything to do with Colby?”
“It has everything to do with Colby. I know your sorry ass has been moping around this place since he’s been back and you have yet to see him since your tattoo.”
“It has nothing to do with that. In fact I just saw him a week ago and he asked me to go to lunch.” Then he canceled on me. Something about a client’s tattoo taking longer than he expected.
“Alex, I don’t even understand why you even try? You guys could never have a real relationship. Jasper would never allow it.”
“Who said anything about wanting a relationship? We’re just having fun.” I shrugged. More like were, in the past tense.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“And sleeping with a dickhead who pukes all over my car and elbows me in the face in a sad attempt to get me to spend the night with him is the better way to go?”
“I never said it was better. I just worry about you Alex.”
“I’m fine and you wouldn’t have to worry so much if you were actually around.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it…it’s just ever since you started dating Colton I never see you. And not that I’m not happy for you, I am. I like Colton, I just, well…I miss having you around.”
“Oh Alex, I’m sorry,” she threw her arms around me. “I know I have been spending a lot of time with Colton and I promise I will make it up to you starting this weekend.” She pulled back and clapped her hands excitedly. I raised a brow. “It’s your birthday silly. You didn’t think I would forget my best friend’s twenty-first birthday, did you?”
“I wouldn’t be mad. I forgot.”
She frowned. “How can you forget your own birthday?” I shrugged. “Well, everything is going to change this weekend. You’ll see. Things will be different from now on. Now go get dressed.” She gave me a pat on the behind and jogged down the hall.
“Just get dressed for what?”
“Our run,” she called back. I stifled an eye roll. “I didn’t even get to eat my breakfast.”
“We can stop and get something on the way back.”
Just freakin’perfect.
The air was clear and the temperature was perfect for early August. It made our run a little more bearable. Declan decided she wanted to head back on one of the local trails instead of keeping to the back roads. She spouted some crap about wanting to get in touch with nature. I didn’t argue. I told her it would give me the perfect opportunity to find a spot to hide her body for the next time she pissed me off. She just rolled her eyes.
We rounded a corner just a few feet from the creek. To my right was a clearing followed by a lightly wooded area. Just off the brush I saw a small speck of black. I slowed down to get a better look. Declan noticed my jog turn into a walk and turned back to join me. “What is it?”
I bent down and put my fingers out calling to it. “I think it’s a kitten.” Declan squinted in the direction of the little creature. “Here kitty, kitty.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I don’t know.” One eye was half closed and its fur was matted on its back. The closer it got you could see its eye was pus-filled and how filthy it was.
Declan flinched and grabbed my arm to pull me back. “Don’t touch that thing. You have no idea what it has or what’s wrong with it.”
“Declan, it’s just a baby.” It was black with spurts of brown throughout its fur.
“Alex, you cannot touch that thing. It probably has fleas.” The kitten opened its mouth to meow but no sound came out. My heart broke, shattering into a million pieces. I wanted so badly to help this kitten, but Declan was right. “Alex, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing you can do. Come on. Let’s go.” I felt horrible for leaving it there. The kitten started to follow us down the trail. Declan pushed me along even though she knew it was killing me.
At the diner we stopped at for a late breakfast, Declan made notice of my sour mood. “Please don’t tell me you’re still upset about the kitten.”
I nodded. “It was just so small and innocent and I wanted to help it so badly.” I rested my chin in my hands while the waitress refilled my water.
“If it will make you feel better we can call the humane society and tell them where we found him.”
“No, because then they’ll just put him to sleep.” I sighed, at a loss for what I could do. I had nothing to capture it with nor did I have money to help it get better.
Declan reached across the table with an open hand. “Alex, you can’t help every wounded creature you come across.”
“I know.” I gave her hand a light squeeze.
“Okay good, because now I have a surprise for you.”
My frown deepened and I tucked my hand back in my lap. “I don’t like surprises.”
“This one you will. In honor of you turning twenty-one I’m taking you shopping for a new outfit,” she cheered, her light blue eyes glistening with excitement.
“Declan, you know I’m not a fan of shopping.”
“I promise after today I will change your mind.” Shopping was Declan’s thing and I knew she was excited to do this for me so I put on a smile and agreed to let her drag me to the mall.
Declan promised this shopping trip wouldn’t be a torturous one. She said she just wanted me to have a new outfit for my birthday and I couldn’t argue. By the third store I had found an outfit. Declan insisted I should keep looking but I reminded her how much I loathed shopping and she let me be.
I ended up finding a red strapless dress. Red was my favorite color which is why I chose the devil costume at work. The dress had an empire waist. It fit tight across my curves and hit just at mid-thigh. Happy to have found the perfect dress, I was ready to leave when Declan dragged me to the lingerie shop, insisting I had to get a new bra and panties to go under my dress. I hesitated, remembering the trauma of the day when Jack had to take me bra shopping. All it took was one horrifying hour spent in Victoria Secrets. Jack called Declan’s mom to come help me out. The moment she arrived, he pointed in my direction and took off. I was braless until I was thirteen. When all of a sudden they appeared out of nowhere and I refused to wear only sports bras and shirts two sizes too big to hide them, Jack had no choice but to take me. To this day I did
n’t know who was more embarrassed. I swore to never step inside a Victoria Secrets again. I just normally got my bras at Target, but Declan promised it would be fine.
After getting over my initial fear, I managed to enjoy looking around at all the frilly lingerie. I found the perfect strapless, red lace bra with matching hipster undies. I figured while I was there I would pick up a few other things and update my undergarments. Declan was always teasing me and saying I had more granny panties than her actual grandma. I explained while that wasn’t true, cotton underwear was just more comfortable and cost efficient.
A hundred dollars later, I was spent and ready to go home, but Declan informed me we weren’t finished. I was about to tell her this so-called early birthday surprise was turning into my worst nightmare when she told me it would be our last stop. I groaned all the way down the mall until we stopped in front of the shoe store. My smile instantly returned. This was where my girlie side kicked in. I loved shoes. I could drop a few hundred dollars on a pair of shoes. Declan knew this too and I think that was why she saved it for last. I found the perfect pair of wedges – along with a few others – and charged them to my account knowing I’d have to pick up a few extra shifts at work to make up for my little shoe-extravaganza, but it would be worth it.
I threw all my bags into the back of Declan’s car and crashed into the passenger side with a contented smile.
Chapter 9
Casper
Colton woke me up an hour before we had practice. “Dude, you look like hell. What the hell did you do last night?”
I sat up and rested my elbows on my knees. “I drank, a lot.”
He sunk down on the end of my bed. “I heard. Declan called me.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. I didn’t remember much from last night, but the few things I did I wanted to forget. “Is there anything I need to know?” he asked, hinting.
“I fucked up…bad.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“What did Declan say?” I was hoping maybe she didn’t say anything so I could dance around the truth a bit.
“I want to hear it from you.” Colton pulled one leg up and wrapped his arm around, getting comfortable.
“I puked all down the side of Alex’s car.” Colton’s head dropped down to his knee. “That’s not the worst part.” He looked up slowly, not sure if he wanted to hear the rest. “I asked Alex to spend the night with me and ended up giving her a black eye when she tried to leave.”
His leg fell and he stood up. “You did what! Of all the dickhead things you could have done.”
I stopped his angry rant. “It was an accident. I swear. I didn’t mean it. Hell, I didn’t even remember I did it until I stopped by her house and saw her eye.”
“Jesus Cas.”
“I know, but what am I supposed to do?” I shrugged. It’s not like Alex and I were really friends anyway.
“You could start by saying you’re sorry,” he suggested in a tone saying that should have been the obvious answer.
“Sorry won’t be good enough for her.” Not for Alex. I hate to admit it but she deserved more than a pathetic apology. The memory of last night came crashing back in to my head like a tidal wave. I was such an idiot.
“What was she even doing here?” Colton had calmed down and was sitting back on the bed.
“I got hammered last night and Gus made her take me home.” I shook my head. Colton chuckled to himself. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m just picturing what would have happened if you actually managed to sleep with her.”
“That would have been monumental and disastrous at the same time. I should be lucky I woke up with all my organs still intact.”
Colton chuckled. “She’s not that bad.” I wrinkled my brow. “Come on. All that time you spend at the bar slinging insults. She has to have at least grown on you, a little bit.”
She had but I wasn’t going to admit that out loud, let alone to Colton. He was right. I had been spending a lot of time at the bar and every night I secretly hoped of bumping into Alex. At first I went to just let off some steam and to get away from Colton and Declan. New love was always annoying, especially with those two. But after a while I started to enjoy my encounters with Alex, pleasant or not, plus she wasn’t bad to look at.
“Don’t stress it. I’m sure she’ll get over it,” Colton said, getting up.
“Really?” I asked, looking up at him.
“No,” he laughed. “You’re fucking screwed. Have fun in hell,” he said, laughing all the way down the hall.
F-U-C-K.
We just made it to the point where we could tolerate each other and now I had to go do something stupid and open my mouth. Did it really matter if Alex was pissed at me? Did I really care? I put my head in my hands as the night’s memories came flooding back to me. I hit on her and told her she was beautiful. And I meant it. Then I tried to get her to stay and elbowed her in the eye.
Shit.
I grabbed my keys and headed out.
When she opened the door my first reaction was to cringe. Her eye looked pretty bad and the scowl on her face told me she was still pissed. When she tried to slam the door in my face, I stuck my foot out to block it from closing. “Alex, please just give me a minute.” The door swung open and she stood there with her hands on her hips. “I’m sorry. I was an idiot and I didn’t mean what I said last night.” Her green eyes turned into fierce slits.
“If this is you trying to apologize you suck at it.” She was about to shut the door on me again but I quickly jumped through. “What the hell are you doing?”
“That’s not what I meant. It came out wrong.”
“Which part?” she glared, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
“Last night is still a bit hazy.”
“Let me refresh your memory. Your dumbass got so drunk I was forced to take you home. You puked all over the side of my car and then I had to practically carry you up the steps to your room because you kept falling over.” That would explain all the bruises and why my body hurt so badly this morning. “And to top it all off you hit on me and try to get me to spend the night with you and when I tell you ‘no’ I get a black eye. Is that refresher enough!?!” She threw my ass out the door and slammed it in my face, locking it.
Fuck.
I leaned up against the door. “I’m sorry,” I said again and then left knowing it was better not to push. Clearly it was going to take a lot more than an apology for her to talk to me again. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. When I walked back outside I spotted the mess I had made of Alex’s car. Damn, this was going to be a hard one. Nothing else to do, I went home and got ready for our gig tonight.
When I arrived at the bar it was early enough that there were only one or two other customers in the bar. I found Declan in the corner restocking. I took a seat at the bar and waited until she was done. “Hey,” I said. She gave me a dirty look. “Don’t tell me you’re mad at me too?” I said, exhausted by this whole situation. She stopped what she was doing and walked around the bar. Standing in front of me, her eyes narrowed, she flung her hand out and smacked me on the back of the head. “Ow, seriously?” Why do all these damn chicks stick together and gang up?
“Do you even know what you did?”
I sighed. “Unfortunately, Alex was kind enough to remind me.” Declan looked at me funny. “I stopped by your place to apologize, but I didn’t even know what I was apologizing for.”
“Are you kidding me?” she said, eyes wide.
“What’s the big deal? I’ll make sure to have her car cleaned. No harm no foul.”
“What about the black eye you gave her while being a pervert?”
“I’m not a pervert.”
“Oh yeah? Maybe you’re just a jerk then.”
“Stop being so melodramatic. It’s not like Alex and I are friends. We don’t even like each other. We made a truce to get along for your sake,” I pointed at her, getting angry. Declan took a step back. “Yeah, because we actual
ly care about you guys, Alex and I made a truce to get along so you and Colton wouldn’t have to worry.”
“I didn’t…Alex never told me.”
“Who’s the jerk now?”
She glared at me, taking a step closer and got in my face. “I never got hammered, told someone they were beautiful, and then asked them to spend the night with me just before I punched them in the eye when they said no.”
“I didn’t punch her, I elbowed her, and it wasn’t because she said no it was because she was trying to get away.” Declan pulled back, her expression oozing anger. “No, that didn’t come out right. It was an accident. Clean and simple.”
“It’s not as simple as you think it is.” She was right. I told Alex she was beautiful, and I meant it. In that moment when I looked into her eyes, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. But with that beauty came a lot of anger and issues, a lot more than I wanted to deal with. Still, I needed to make it right between us. I enjoyed our encounters and to think I screwed it up because of one night of me being an ass. I didn’t want to lose our truce. Not just for Declan and Colton’s sake, but for Alex too. There was just something about being around her that made me feel different. She had a way of making me feel calmer, which is ironic considering the source.
“How do I fix it?”
She sighed. “It’s not going to be easy. She was pretty pissed off and rightfully so, after what you did. The best thing you can do is give her time to cool off.”
I agreed and finished my drink so I could help the boys set up the equipment.
I ran into Alex after our first set. Her eye looked worse than before. She didn’t even try to hide it with makeup. Instead she doubled up on the other eye to make it blend and not stand out as much. It looked painful. How could I have damaged those exquisitely striking green eyes? I knew Declan had told me to give her time to cool off but every time I looked at her eye, it was a painful reminder of what I did. The guilt ate away at me making my stomach hurt. “Alex,” I called out to her. She ignored me and kept walking. I jogged to catch up to her. I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She spun around swinging. I ducked just in time. She glared at me with warning.
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