by Anna Brooks
Her brows rise slightly over her frames. “Yes, because I don’t even know you and I’m talking about something that two people who don’t know each other really shouldn’t be talking about. So where are you from?”
“Wisconsin.”
“Oh, that’s …”
“Not exciting, I know. But it’s home. The people are friendly, the beer is good, and it’s a great place to live.”
“Isn’t it cold all the time?”
“Pretty much. But the summers can be wicked hot, and it makes up for the negative temps in the winter. I like it, actually. I’d get sick of the same weather every day.”
A large sigh passes through her lips, and she nods. “I can see that. I mean sunny and hot is so overrated.”
It takes a second for me to realize she’s being sarcastic and it draws me even closer to her. “Pretty and funny, huh?”
Even with the little light, I see her cheeks brighten the sexiest shade of pink.
She pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “So tell me about this family that loves you so much.”
“Well, my parents have been married forever. They own our family’s bar, Kelly’s Pub. My sister, Meara, is a couple of years younger than I am, and my brother, Declan, is about six years older.”
“Are you close with them?”
“Yeah. I am. I have a cousin who’s a couple of years younger than Meara, and she’s just like a little sister. My brother and I are both really protective over the girls, but Charlotte, she’s my cousin, is married to my friend Travis, so I don’t really worry about her anymore.”
“That must be nice.” She smiles a genuine smile and tucks those loose strands of hair under her beanie.
“Do you have any siblings?”
“Nope. So what do you do?”
Okay, family is a sore subject. “I own a gym.”
“Like, lifting weights gym?”
I chuckle a bit and shake my head. “Not really. I have some weight machines and a couple of rows of cardio equipment, but it’s an MMA gym.”
“Oh God, you’re one of those guys.”
“What guys?”
“Ya know? One of those, ‘I am man.’” She lowers her voice and hits her chest like a gorilla. “Those guys. The cocky ones.”
My arms cross in front of my chest, and I laugh at how false her statement is.
“What? What’s funny?”
“First, I’m not a professional MMA fighter. I’m trained in several forms, but the main thing I do is teach kids Tae Kwon Do. Fighters use the rings to spar and train, but my focus is not to train for fights. It’s to develop confidence and to teach kids self-defense.”
Her mouth parts and she licks her lips before she swallows. “And second?”
I lean in just a tad closer and her scent, vanilla — delicious — hits my nostrils. “Second, I’m confident that I’m the kind of guy you’d want in your corner.”
Her fingers twirl the ends of her blanket and she crosses her legs at the ankles. “In my corner, huh?” She giggles nervously and I lower my voice. “Yeah, angel. Trust that.”
Her laughter abruptly stops and her eyes search until they find mine. They dance over my face and she takes a deep breath. “So what do you do when it snows?”
Another subject change. Interesting how she’s only interested in hearing me talk. Her body is turned fully toward me, and she nods her head, listening closely. I haven’t moved my lower body an inch since I’ve been leaning against this ledge, so when I push away a bit, I sway, the effects of the alcohol definitely still swirling around.
“Whoa.” She reaches out and grabs my arms. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good. Guess I shouldn’t have taken that last shot. I’m gonna sit, though.” This is the worst. I hate not being in control — hence why I rarely drink. And now, of all times, to be drunk … damn it. I take a few steps toward the lounger and plop down. My head spins, so I close my eyes and lean back.
The heat from her body tells me she’s sitting next to my legs. “How did you get up here anyway? There’s only one entrance.”
“I climbed up the fire escape.”
“You what?”
I peek an eye open to find her with her mouth agape. “What?”
“You climbed up the fire escape?” she asks, genuinely surprised.”
“Yeah.” I open my other eyelid and try to blink away some of the dizziness. “Why?”
“Nothing. I’m just shocked.”
Her body shakes as a breeze passes, and I hold out my arms. “Lie with me. I’ll keep you warm.”
“Oh, I shouldn’t.” She looks back, and I follow her gaze to a door I didn’t notice before.
“Someone looking for you?” I ask, suddenly angry at the fact that she could have a boyfriend. Because I want her. I want to be her boyfriend, her protector, her man. I want to be her everything. I’ve never believed in any of that love at first sight stuff because I’ve never experienced it. Until now. Until her. I don’t let myself question it; I just know I’m not walking away from her.
Chapter 2
Ruby
“NO. NOBODY IS LOOKING for me.” Not that I know of, at least. My mom is in her room and who the hell knows where Dad is, but he never checks on me. Stanley is asleep, so I have a few more hours of peace. Just a little bit longer to be able to breathe.
“Then come lie with me.”
Pierce’s invitation is tempting, but I don’t know him, really. I wish I did. I wish this were another life where I could even fantasize about the idea of having a boyfriend. Unfortunately, it’s not, though. It’s this life … my shitty life, and I have to deal with it.
My body and my heart are telling me to stay, but my brain is saying I should go. It’s not smart for me to be here. “I should go.”
“Please, only for a little while. I just want to talk to you. You don’t have to sit by me if you don’t want to. Everyone in this place is so fake, and you just seem real. I like talking to you.”
I bite my lip in contemplation and his eyes dart to it. God, those eyes, a light brown that matches his hair perfectly. His jawline is set hard and his fingertips are turning white as his hands tighten on the armrests. He’s not like any man I’ve met before. He’s kind and sweet. Listening to him talk about his family just shows how good he is.
“Pierce … I don’t think it’s a good idea.” I want to … so bad. Even for a minute, to just be held. To take a moment to feel safe because even though I don’t know him, I know that he’d keep me safe. I can just tell. I really do want him in my corner.
He smiles and sits up a little straighter. “Brr. I’m really cold.” His hands run up and down his muscular arms and he dramatically shakes his body. “I sure wish someone had a blanket they could share with me.”
My resolve fades. “Cute and funny, huh? Fine!” I laugh and sit next to him, then throw the blanket over both of us. He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me back until we’re both lying down, staring at the sky.
He scoots so his body is flush with mine, and I move my head so it rests on his shoulder. “Much better.”
“It’s perfect,” I whisper.
Neither of us speaks for a little bit. This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more. This feeling is something I try to emulate in the stories I write to escape my reality. I’m nothing but a commodity. An inconvenient convenience. My life doesn’t really matter, but since I’m here, I might as well be played in the game, used as a pawn to suit whatever needs are to be met.
Pierce points at a star as it shoots across the sky. “I’ve never seen one of those before.”
“It’s pretty, right?” I ask.
“Never seen anything more beautiful in my life.”
When I turn my head, our noses brush against each other. He brings a hand up and rests it on my cheek, rubbing his thumb against the side of my jaw. I relax my neck and lean in to him, my forehead against his. This is bad; this is so bad. If I got caught, if they knew I was up here with
him, it wouldn’t end well … for me or for him.
“Pierce, I …”
“Shh,” he whispers. “You don’t need to say anything.”
He searches my eyes, and when he sees what he’s looking for, he leans forward and kisses my forehead. He leaves his lips there, lingering, burning. He slides them down and they ghost over my own; a warmth forms in my belly and I gasp at the unexpected feeling. His lips seek mine; a small peck then a longer, wetter kiss, one that’s more demanding.
His tongue peeks out and I open my mouth, anticipating what’s to come. The second his tongue glides over mine, I whimper into his mouth. His fingers press tighter against my face and he kisses me deeper. My heart beats against my chest faster than ever before, and the warmth in my belly is now boiling.
A frustrated growl vibrates in his throat; he breathes into me and kisses me harder, and then pulls back and throws his arm over his eyes.
I sit up and pull the blanket tighter, worried I angered him. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t even know.” He reaches up and pulls me back down so I’m lying half on top of him. “This feels more real to me than anything I’ve ever felt before, and I’m supposed to be leaving on Sunday. I don’t even know your name or where you live or what you’re doing here.”
I’ve gone my whole life being essentially alone and living in a state of nothingness. I’ve learned to be inside my own head and the stories that sit in my brain are pretty amazing. I have so many … so many dreams and fantasies and wishes, but to have one come true — alive and in person — is so foreign to me. Since I came up here a little while ago and ran into Pierce, he’s been the one leading the conversation, making the moves, and doing all the talking. It’s not that I don’t want him to know about me; it’s that he’ll never be able to.
“We have time,” I lie, covering my mouth as I yawn.
“We’ll just stay like this all night.” He kisses my forehead again, and I close my eyes. I make sure this moment will be one I never forget because I don’t think I’ll ever get another one like it.
* * *
Pierce
I wake up as the sun is rising on the roof, wrapped in her blanket. As soon as I sit up, a piece of paper rustles against my hand. When I open it, a short note scrawled in feminine handwriting says, I had to go but meet me here again tonight … same time. Xo
My eyes burn from both the lack of sleep and the brightness, so I rub them with my fists and stand up, folding the blanket before I link my fingers together and raise them above my head to stretch out my back.
The fact that she wants to see me again outweighs my irritation that she left without saying good-bye. This trip just suddenly became exciting.
I walk over to the door that I’m assuming she came from, but it’s locked. Hmm. Deciding the best way to get back to my room is the way I came, I swing my legs over the edge and make my way down to our room’s balcony and knock on the sliding glass. The curtain is ripped back before Nik’s groggy face appears. He shakes his head and opens the door.
“What the fuck, Pierce? I tried calling you when you never came back to the room.”
“Sorry, I fell asleep.”
“I’m going back to bed. Zack is pissed as shit at you. I figured you were just with someone, but he thought something happened to you.” He drags himself back to bed.
“I’ll apologize.” It was a crappy thing to do, leaving my friends and not letting them know where I was. I’d be mad if they did the same to me.
“Wait.” He sits up, propped on his elbows. “Why the fuck were you on the balcony?”
“I was on the roof last night.”
“So why were you on the balcony?”
“I climbed up the fire escape.”
“Couldn’t you have taken the stairs or something?”
“I didn’t see any, actually.”
“Whatever. Wake me up again and I’ll kill you.”
He throws the covers over his head, and before I’m even to the bathroom, his snoring reverberates in the room.
I try to get some sleep, but my body is wired just as much as, if not more than, my brain. I can’t wait to see her again and find out more about her. Maybe she lives close to me or something. We could alternate weekends to see each other, or maybe I’d have to fly. I would fly to see her again. Hell, I’d do just about anything to see her again.
The guys and I finally leave the room around two and grab some food. I don’t tell them much about what happened last night because I know how it’ll sound, and I don’t need them giving me a hard time for it.
What I do need is to figure out how I can make this work with her. I don’t even know where she lives. Maybe I’m thinking too much into this. She was just a girl I met in Vegas. Drunk. I bet the alcohol played a factor in this insta-lust I’m feeling. Her smiling face flashes in front of my eyes, and the center of my chest warms … nope, it’s real. Damn. I didn’t see this happening.
Zack’s still tired, so he goes to the room while Nik and I head to the gym to work out. Sweat pours out of me, damn alcohol, but I continue to push myself to do at least six miles on the treadmill. Since it’s just a hotel gym, they don’t have much more than machines and cardio equipment, so after the run, we stretch a bit and add in some push-ups and burpees.
“Can I ask you a question without you giving me shit?” I ask.
Nik sits up straight and nods. “Of course.”
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
He pretends to tie his shoe, but his shoulders shake from laughter. “Sorry. Sorry.” He takes a deep breath then looks at me again.
“Forget it.” I stand to go, but he grabs my forearm.
“Dude, I said sorry. I just wasn’t expecting that from you.”
I turn and lean up against the wall, crossing my arms out of frustration. Not with Nik, but the whole situation. “Why not? I mean you know I’ve never really been into the whole one-night stand thing.”
“Yeah, I know. I just …” He finishes his bottle of water and tosses it in the trashcan. “I have to believe it exists. Other people I know say it’s happened to them. Have I ever experienced it? That’d be a big fat hell no.”
“But do you think that just by looking at someone or spending a few hours with them, you know?”
“Know what?”
“That you can’t live without them? That they have the power to either destroy you or make you feel like you’re the most important person in the entire world? That you love them?”
He crosses his arms and contemplates my questions. “No. I don’t. I think to love someone you have to know them. And that takes time, more than a few hours. Why? Is this about last night?”
“Yeah.” I push off the wall and walk over to the window that faces out to the desert. “I can’t get this girl out of my head. I swear it’s like I met my soul mate.”
“Fuckin’ A, Pierce.” He doesn’t hold back his laughter this time.
“Yeah, that was bad.” I punch him in the shoulder as I walk by. “Tell anyone I said that and I’ll kill you.”
Chapter 3
Ruby
“RUBY. MEET EDWARD TELLANO.”
I shake the man’s hand in front of me and smile, already having a sinking feeling in my gut. For this particular dinner, Dad had my hair and makeup professionally done. “Hi. Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Sir?” He laughs and brings my hand up and presses a kiss to my knuckles. “Call me Eddie.”
I pull my hand back with a little too much force. “Fine. Eddie, it is.”
“Ruby,” my dad warns, his voice on the verge of a growl. If he’d just tell me what the hell I’m supposed to be doing here, things would be a lot easier. But no, I walk into tonight completely unprepared, and since my eighteenth birthday was last week, my fear is becoming more of a reality.
My mom walks into the room, looking every bit the trophy wife she is: long blond hair, big fake boobs, long manicured nails. “Eddie, how nice to see yo
u again.”
“Mrs. Russo. You look lovely this evening.”
She has the decency to look embarrassed. “Oh, thank you. Doesn’t our little Ruby look stunning as well?” She wraps an arm around my shoulder and uses her other hand to make a spectacle of showing off my long hunter green evening dress.
“Yes, she looks beautiful.” He looks into my eyes and tilts his head then addresses my dad. “Father just phoned. He apologizes but says he’s running a few minutes behind. He said not to wait for him to eat.”
“Nonsense, we have no trouble waiting. How about a drink?”
“That would be perfect.”
Eddie follows my father out of the room, and I shrug out from under my mom’s arm. Something is up; this isn’t a normal dinner to impress people. Something else is at play here, and I wish they’d just have the balls to tell me.
“What the hell is going on?”
Mom takes a deep breath and grabs my wrist, pulling me out of my dad and Eddie’s line of sight. “Everything will be just fine, Ruby. Okay? Just do what your father says and everything will be fine.”
“What are you talking about?” I want her to say the words. She could at least have the decency to tell me to my face.
“Well, where is she? Where’s my future daughter-in-law?” The robust voice of a man makes my eyes widen. I’ve seen him before several times doing business with my dad, walking through the casino and going into Dad’s private business office.
When the reality of what he just said hits me, I open my mouth to protest, but my mother quickly covers it and shakes her head profusely. “Please, Ruby. I’m so sorry; just do what your father says. Please. Please. You have to.”
I rip her hand away and dig my nails into my palms. “You expect me to marry Eddie fucking Tellano? What is this—”
“There she is. Ruby, come here.” My father’s voice beckons me, and from the intensity of it plus my mother’s pleading eyes, I take a deep breath and turn with a fake smile on my face.
“I’m right here.”
So this is it. This is my life. I thought that since I had just turned eighteen, I’d be able to get out of this hellhole. That I’d get to leave and go to college — finally experience freedom — but apparently, Daddy-O has other plans. I was afraid of this, and on one hand, I’m so frightened to get taken out of my bubble. As much as I hate it here, I’m still comfortable. But then again, maybe leaving wouldn’t be that bad.