Burn For Him

by Kristan Belle

  “What am I going to do with you?” Harper shook his head in mock despair.

  My plan for the day was to eat as much junk food as was physically possible. Harper was going to be disgusted. He knew how much I loved to pig out on junk after a night out. Sure, he was a bit of a health food freak and often mocked me for my choice of food, but he was never overly pushy about his opinions. Sure, he was the one who encouraged me to take up kickboxing as a way to get me off my unfit ass, but that never stopped him from running down to the late night store if I was in need of a tube of Pringles when the mood took me. And it didn’t stop him from pigging out with me every so often.

  “So, what are you planning on watching today?” he asked as he set about making some kind of fruit smoothie.

  “I’m not sure yet but I can feel Mr Cullen calling to me.”

  Harper groaned. “Not again.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. I haven’t decided yet. Are you training today?”

  “No. Mitch has pulled a muscle and wussed out on me.”

  I had to laugh. There wasn’t much that could stop Harper from working out so he had obviously planned to chill out at home with me and was probably secretly glad that Mitch had cancelled on him. Not that he would be overly impressed at having to sit through The Twilight Saga again, but he would.

  “Morning.”

  We both spun around to see Destiny standing looking blurry eyed in the doorway to the kitchen. She looked like she could have slept for a week and I wondered what had got her up and out of her pit so early.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked her while I made a move to make her some coffee. I sure as hell hated the stuff, but she looked like she was in dire need of it this morning.

  “Like shit.” She grumbled and pressed her head to the cool wall and closed her eyes, looking pained.

  “Hhmpf.” Harper made a noise under his breath as he moved to walk out of the kitchen, refusing to acknowledge her. I didn’t think he’d still be so pissed this morning, but it was going to take quite a bit of grovelling from her to make things right again.

  “And what is that supposed to mean?” Dee looked up at him, her eyes flashing with barely concealed anger. I guessed that she wasn’t ready to grovel yet and feared that a full blown argument was about to erupt.

  “You wouldn’t be feeling quite so shit if you hadn’t gotten so out of control last night.” Harper snapped back at her.

  “Get a life and loosen up, Harp.” She shook her head at him. “I wasn’t out of control. I was just having a bit of fun. You might want to try it sometime.”

  “Not out of control? Are you joking? You call getting pawed by some rough looking dude that you don’t even know in a club, having his hand up your skirt in the middle of the dance floor and throwing up by the side of the road in control?”

  “Will the pair of you please stop bitching at each other? You’re both giving me a bloody headache.” I banged down the empty cup to make sure that I had their full attention. “I don’t really care if you are pissed at her for getting so drunk she couldn’t walk last night, and I don’t care if you’re in a bad mood because you’re hung-over,” I took them both in my sight, “This is my day off. This is my one free day. You both know how hard things are for me at work at the moment. I am not going to let the two of you spoil it just because you can’t stop fighting like little kids!” I turned and threw the rest of my chocolate bar in the bin and stormed off into the lounge, leaving them both staring at me open mouthed.

  Well, I didn’t give a rat’s ass. I’d had more than enough of them already and they had only been back in each other’s company for all of five minutes this morning. I wasn’t prepared to be around them if they were going to act like this all day.

  I didn’t know what was said between the two of them in the kitchen, but soon enough, they both joined me on the sofa and acted as if they had never exchanged a cross word in the entire history of the world.

  We sat around like that all day, watching television and eating our weight in junk food. It was perfect. Well, it was for me at least. I knew that, despite the happy front he was putting on for my benefit, that Harper was still annoyed at Dee and that she was nursing a monster hangover, but at least they were both making an effort to get on with one another and trying to relax and enjoy the peace.

  It wasn’t all that often that we fought among the three of us. Lately, the amount of trouble that Destiny got herself into and how it was usually alcohol that was the root of the problem was getting to Harper lately. He’d had more than enough of her. I had to admit that she had been more out of control lately and in a way I hoped that last night would trigger the end of this intensely wild streak. I knew that she was having a hard time of it at home with her father at the moment, but I wished that she’d find a less destructive way to release all that stress and tension.

  I could understand why it was all getting to her. I hated that there was nothing I could do to ease the burden. Even her father’s nurse had advised her once again that it was due time that she started thinking about looking for a place where he could live full time with round-the-clock care. But, it didn’t matter how much she was struggling caring for him and juggling her own life, Dee wasn’t like that. She wouldn’t want to give up on him just yet. For some warped reason, she thought she owed him better than that. He was her father and she wanted to live up to that ridiculous promise she had made her mother. Dee didn’t like to speak about it much, but I knew.

  Just before Harper was about to put on the last film of the evening, Destiny announced that it was time for her to be going home. It was still pretty early so I knew that she was just making excuses this time. It was obvious that she felt like crap and she wanted to go home and get some sleep before the nurse left them to their own devices. I couldn’t say that I blamed her really. If she felt half as bad as she looked, then I knew that it was going to take more than a couple of pain killers and a few hours’ sleep to set her right.

  I decided to hit the hay early as well. I was due for an early start in the office in the morning and last night had drained me. I knew that Harper would be getting up early to go and hit the gym so he gave me no argument.

  Going out just wasn’t the same as it used to be. I could remember how I used to be able to go out six or seven nights in a row and still be able to function in my normal, everyday world. Not anymore. I guessed that it was my age and the ravages of real life that were starting to creep up on me. Isn’t that just great? Twenty three and I couldn’t hack it anymore…

  How depressing was that?

  The week passed by in a blur. I spoke to Dee every single day, but I didn’t have the chance to catch up with her in person. Work was beyond hectic. We were halfway through a major project and I was working with my boss, Steve, closely on it. It was a special project that required attention to detail, nothing could go wrong. This was big bucks for the company and Steve was trusting me to do my best. It wasn’t easy, but it was a hell of a lot of fun. We were running through different swatches of material to see which the client would prefer to go with.

  To say that Steve was stressing about it was an understatement. This special client was a personal friend of his who was mega rich and could bring in a lot of business if he was satisfied with our work. We were responsible for re-designing their up and coming modern bar/restaurant that was in the centre of town, and Steve’s friend was a complete pain in the ass. No sooner had they accepted one design that they found something wrong with it and wanted to change the whole goddamn concept.

  I knew that it was all starting to get on Steve’s nerves and I was getting thoroughly annoyed, but what could we do? They were paying top dollar for us to work on this for them and as they say, the customer is always right.

  Well, I don’t actually believe in that saying. In this case, the customer was clearly wrong, making my life a misery and was acting like an ass.

  Ladies and gentlemen, this was my dream job and I was loving every second of it.
/>   Chapter Four

  “So, what are we doing tonight then? What have you got planned?” Harper asked Dee as she danced around him in the kitchen before popping a square of milk chocolate into her mouth. I made a face at her. Chocolate was one of my favourite treats, but in my opinion, chocolate and alcohol do not mix well together.

  “’Um. We’re going out, aren’t we? That was the plan, wasn’t it?” I laughed, looking down at myself. It would have been pretty pointless to get all dressed up like we had and then plan to stay in for the rest of the night with a pizza. We had all been in good moods and it would have been a total waste not to go out and enjoy it, especially when Destiny had managed to talk her father’s nurse into staying overnight to look after her father.

  “Yeah, but I more mean where are we going to go?” Harper rolled his eyes as he moved around Dee to grab another beer. “We’re banned from going to Revolve, remember?” He didn’t say it in a way to make Dee feel bad because he was over it now. He was just stating a fact that we were going to have to make a decision as to where to go.

  “Well then, we’re just going to have to go and try out somewhere new, aren’t we?” I said.

  “Yeah, but any ideas where?”

  “You do know that there is more than just the one club in this city.” I laughed. “What about Voltz? Or Underground?” I started ticking names off on my fingers when Dee suddenly jumped up to sit on the counter, swinging her ridiculously long legs in front of her.

  “What about that new place?”

  “What new place?” I asked her.

  “Damn. What’s its name? It was in the paper last night. Looks like a pretty extreme night out.” Dee grinned.

  “You mean Milligan’s?” Harper asked as he necked his beer, making a face. He was more of a spirit drinker, but seeing as the beer was cooling in the fridge, he’d opted for that.

  Destiny clapped her hands together. “Yes! That’s it! That’s the place. Milligan’s. It sounds like a pretty awesome night out from everything I’ve heard about it. What do you think? Do you guys want to go and try it out?”

  I grinned and looked over at Harper. Destiny must have noticed that he was looking a little hesitant as she quickly added, “And I won’t be drinking tonight, so you don’t have to worry about me causing any problems. We’re just going to go and have some fun.” She even had the decency to look a little sheepish.

  “So, you learnt your lesson last weekend then?” Harper asked her with a raised eyebrow.

  “No.” Dee laughed. “I’m still suffering from the after effects of the last hangover. I don’t think that my liver could handle another binge like that again just yet. At least give me a couple of weeks…” She winked at me as she hopped back down off the counter. I couldn’t help but laugh at her. She knew that she had screwed up and she had been trying to make things right with both of us over the past week.

  I had been snowed under at work and had no time for a social life so although I hadn’t seen her, we had still been in contact via text. That was about all I had time for and now that I could finally let my hair down and relax, I was going to take full advantage of the fact and have me some fun.

  I was surprised she had mentioned last weekend. Both Harper and I knew why she had lost control like that, but it had taken some time for me to explain more to Harper and he had agreed to cut her some slack.

  I hated to see this rift between them. They didn’t seem to talk to one another like they used to. The three of us were as close as ever, but Destiny confided in me a lot more than she did with Harper. I guessed that it was a girl thing. Plus, Harper and I were close anyway, even more so because we shared a home together. It meant that we shared more of our lives, whether we wanted to or not. We weren’t able to hide things from each other as easily as Destiny could.

  I had to admit that I had the best of both worlds with having Harper and Destiny as my best friends. With Dee, I had all the girly things that I needed in my life. She was like a sister to me. And, with Harper, he was able to give me a different level of support and perspective on things. It was great having a guy for a best friend. Sure, it often scared off potential boyfriends, but it they couldn’t handle me having Harper in my life, then they weren’t worth knowing anyway.

  “You’re going to have to make more of an effort if we’re heading out to Milligan’s.” Destiny said as she glanced over my outfit.

  “She looks fine to me.” Harper said loudly as he stuck his head in the freezer, searching for ice. I knew that we didn’t have any, but seeing as he didn’t bother listening to me when I told him that earlier, I let him carry on with it.

  I looked down at myself. It was a girl thing. Harper didn’t understand. I knew exactly what she meant by that comment. If we were going to go out and try a new club, we were going to have to jazz up my old outfit a little bit.

  Destiny had on her usual BDSM/leather get up. It was becoming her trademark look. Me? There was no way I could get away with wearing something like that. Dee had a kind of exotic look going for her and she suited that more adventurous look. I didn’t.

  “Come on.” Dee grabbed hold of my hand and dragged me back towards my bedroom, shouting over her shoulder to Harper, telling him to hurry up and get ready and get sexy. I knew without even looking at him that he would have been rolling his eyes at her. Saying that though, he would do what she asked and make more of an effort. It wouldn’t be as extreme as Dee would have liked, but he’d try.

  She shut the door behind us and I stared at her with wide eyes. She meant business. Destiny turned and started to shuffle through the clothes in my wardrobe, tutting and shaking her head, casting aside most of my things and throwing a select few items on the bed. Half of the things she’d found I had forgotten that I even owned. And, they were things that I would never, ever think of wearing. They were the kind of items that I had bought on a whim, probably when I’d been out shopping with Destiny and had never had the guts to wear, and had obviously forgotten to get rid of.

  “You’re wearing this.” She held up a ridiculously short skirt with an obscene split in the side. “With this.” The top she held up didn’t seem too bad at first – that was until the light hit it and I realised that it was virtually see-through.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” I said, knowing full well that she wasn’t.

  “Nope. You’ll look great in this. You know you’ve got a killer figure. It’s about time you started showing it off.”

  I looked at her like she was stark raving mental. I knew that the outfit she had picked out would look great – on her. Not me. I didn’t have the confidence to wear something like that, even if I did have the figure for it.

  “Come on, Carrie. For me? Please?” She could do the puppy dog eye thing better than anyone else I knew. She knew how to make it work and she was using it to her full advantage right now.

  “Really?” I looked at the outfit again with weary eyes.

  “Really!” She turned to rummage through the clothes she’d flung on the bed. “You could put this underneath it if you wanted to.” And she held up another top with spaghetti straps that would cover up a little more flesh, but not much more. I would still be showing way more than I was normally comfortable with, but I thought that it might be fun to dress up for a change, go for something out of the ordinary.

  I shook my head at her and held up a fist, pretending to be mad. Destiny grinned like a loon. I grabbed the clothes out of her hands and stalked over to the bathroom. It was just lucky that I have my own small bathroom as Harper was hogging the main bathroom, trying to make sexy like Dee had instructed.

  My bathroom was little more than a box, but it was enough for my needs. I looked in the mirror and knew that it was going to take all of my courage to actually put this outfit on, let alone actually leave the apartment in it. I was much more comfortable wearing my form fitting jeans and band tee-shirts. This was going to push me to my very limits.

  I tugged on the clothes and tried my best
to pull the skirt down a little lower to cover up a bit more thigh, but it kept on riding up again the damned thing. I didn’t have a full length mirror in the bathroom so I couldn’t see the overall affect, but I had a good idea of how ridiculous I looked. Taking in a deep breath, I pushed open the door to my bedroom.

  “Oh my God! Oh my God! Carrie! You look hot! Wow!” Destiny sounded genuinely amused at the transformation and the surprise in her tone at my changed appearance was evident. I wasn’t too sure whether to feel complimented or insulted at her surprise. It wasn’t like I dressed like a tramp the rest of the time. I always made the effort to dress up and look good when we went out. I just never opted to show off this much flesh all at once. That was Destiny’s thing, not mine.

  In the end, I had to laugh at her enthusiasm. Turning to walk around the bed to go and have a proper look at myself in the long tilted mirror that stood in the corner of my room, I nearly fell flat on my ass when Dee made a sudden grab for me.

  “No! Wait! Let me do your hair and make-up before you have a look at yourself.” There were those puppy dog eyes again. Oh, what the heck. How much worse could it get?

  I sat down on the edge of the bed and avoided trying to sneak a peek in the mirror. Well, while we were playing dress up tonight, I thought we might as well go the whole hog. We’d probably give Harper a heart attack, but we’d deal with that when it happened.

  Dee grabbed her bag from the other room, running back quickly before I could change my mind and change into something more appropriate. I was pleased to see that she was only grabbing her phone to reply to a text. I was worried for a moment there. My own make-up was a lot more understated than what Destiny wore.

  Tutting all the while about my total lack of colour, she didn’t take too long with the rest of the make-over. I had already done my make-up for the evening, so she was really just putting some special finishing touches that she thought it needed. A knock on the door made her finish up with an exaggerated flourish.