The Significant Other (The Relationship Quo Series Book 4)

by Nicole Strycharz

  I stopped and the truck picked up speed again.

  Then I felt someone touch my shoulder. I turned around in time for Chance to cup the back of my neck and head. He whispered, “Better to die from too much electric than from standing still…” he said before pressing his lips down on mine. His kiss was indeed electric. It started with a light pressing of our lips but then he was opening me and exploring me. The feel of his body against mine made my blood run hot as I pressed him closer and touched him in all the ways I wanted.

  The truck went right past us; I could feel the wind of its departure as the storm rushed our way to swirl overhead. “Chance,” I said into his neck before everything went black.

  I woke up from that crazy dream and panted from the thrill of it. I was looking up at a gabled ceiling I didn’t recognize. Then it hit me where I was. The Bed and Breakfast. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead with the heel of my hand. After the meeting, I came back to the room and napped.

  “You move a lot in your sleep,” said a deep voice from the corner.

  I sat up on my elbows and squinted in the direction of the sound. Chance was sitting at our frilly table with the frilly lamp and the frilly phone. This is actually quite a sight. It’s like seeing Iron Man sit at a Polly Pocket tea party.

  He’s swallowing the chair with his presence and drinking what I assume to be black coffee from a delicate tea cup.

  I scratched my scalp. “When did you get back?”

  “While you were at the meeting I slept, then went to check on the car. Just got back in time to listen in on your wet dream,” he drank some more.

  I sniffed, “It wasn’t a wet dream.”

  “You said my name.”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t mean anything. I could’ve been chasing you with an axe.”

  He shrugged, “Whatever turns you on.”

  I frowned but then followed his eyes to my lower half where my body was betraying me. “Fuck,” I adjusted myself and stood up to shake the haze. “Could you be less of a dick?”

  He set down his cup, “What was I doing in the dream?”

  “Drop it.”

  “Was I any good?”

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  “You can’t, I’m your ride back to the city.”

  I went to where he was sitting and took the coffee craft to pour myself a cup. “Don’t they have mugs?” I complained.

  He flicked the side of the teacup, “Nope.”

  “What’s up with the car?”

  “Won’t be fixed until tomorrow morning. The guy had to order a tire.”

  I slammed the thermos down, “I’m not staying here.”

  He crossed his ankle over his knee, “Suit yourself. I doubt the harmless old lady at the front will let you out of her hotel California any sooner.”

  I swore. “Then we at least need a separate room.”

  He smiled, “Worried?”

  I drank my coffee and walked to the window, ignoring him, but yes I’m worried. That dream was so realistic and the feelings it woke me up to was intense. Now I have thoughts in my head and they aren’t about Trixie.

  “Why don’t you flirt with Chloe and sleep in her room tonight?” I joked.

  “Chloe has a boyfriend back in California,” he told me.

  “You guys talked?”

  “After you both got back from the meeting and you passed out, she and I went for a walk.”

  I’m not even going to ask myself why that bothered me. Chloe is hot and I get it. She’s a pole dancer dripping with appeal. “I have a girlfriend and it doesn’t stop you from trying.”

  He stood up and opened the window I was standing at; forcing me to step back, “She’s in love. You can see it all over her face.”

  I frowned, “I’m in love with Trixie.”

  He lit a cigarette, “No, you are partners, there is a difference….”

  I hate his smug wisdom and I hate his ability to see through me. “You don’t know anything about us.”

  He straightened and stood close to me. We challenge one another all the time. Even now over something as simple as standing ground, we hold ourselves like we are testing the waters. Like Trix once said, we are two alphas constantly struggling for dominance.

  He flicked his smoke out the window and looked me in the eyes. “I know more than you think.”

  His nearness was putting a strain on my self-control.

  Then we heard the door open and looked to see a kid, no older than two waddle in. He was adventuresome and bold as he made his way to our nightstand to open the drawer and dig around.

  I hadn’t locked the door.

  I laughed at the blonde haired toddler as he dug through that drawer with a pacifier in his mouth and a frown of determination.

  Chance walked the kid’s way and hunkered down beside him, “You look motivated to get to something,” he said in that rumble of a voice.

  The toddler made a ‘shhh,’ sound around the pacifier and put his chubby hand over Chance’s lips.

  We both laughed.

  “Where’s he from?” I asked coming over.

  “I saw a woman in the dining room with a stroller,” Chance told me, “Maybe he’s hers.” He poked the boy’s side and won himself a hard giggle.

  “Daddy,” said the boy, poking at Chance’s face.

  “Nope,” he said standing. He picked up the kid and settled him on his side.

  It was easy to imagine it to be Chance’s kid, considering they are both blonde and blue eyed. “You’re good with toddlers,” I observed.

  “He shifted the boy in his arms, “I have a soft spot for kids.” He started for the door, “let’s find the parents before they put out an amber alert.” He set the kid down and held his hand, looking taller, stronger and ten times more attractive.

  We walked the halls in silence and went down to the parlor where a very worn out looking mom was asleep on the sofa, out like a light. She had kid’s toys scattered on the rug but our buddy had gotten bored apparently.

  “Ma’am,” I gently touched her shoulder and she snorted before sitting straight up.

  “Jacky!” She called.

  We both looked behind me to find Chance sitting on the floor, his long legs stretched in front of him as he played with primary colored blocks and toy trucks. Her son Jacky was climbing over him to add to the tower they made and I saw Chance smile. A real smile. It wasn’t condescending or smug, just pure happiness.

  “Oh my God, did he wander off?” the mom rubbed at her eyes, “I am so, so sorry! I haven’t slept in days and one second on this couch totally killed me.”

  I laughed and sat by her when she moved, “You are fine. He just came in our room and started checking stuff out. No harm done.”

  “He went upstairs?!” She panicked.

  Chance handed the boy a truck, “He’s okay,” he told her calmly, “just being a typical boy.”

  She smiled sadly, “We came to be with his Daddy while he went to a meeting…”

  We found out she was the wife of one of the Arts & Hopes investors that conducted the meeting today.

  Chance got lost in playing with Jacky while his mom and I talked. Even if I didn’t want to, I ended up looking his way a lot. Chance on his own is mind-blowingly hot but Chance around a kid is off the charts.

  After our visit, we went outside to walk so he could smoke. “Do you have kids?” I asked. Wow, that was personal.

  He didn’t answer right away in true Chance Fashion, “No… wanted them, though.”

  “You want kids?”

  “Is that such a crazy surprise?” He looked out as he asked.

  I rubbed my hands together for warmth, “You own a night club, live above it, have a reputation for being a player and have a shady convict past…”

  He put on his sunglasses and pulled up the collar of his coat. He looks like a poster child for the bad boy. “One decision could change all that. That’s how life works. You get dropped in a path and you either follow it or
run from it. There’s no standing still.”

  His words put goosebumps on my skin. They reminded me of the dream I had. “You and that guy…did you guys talk about kids?”

  He shows pain on his face whenever the military guy comes up. His brows knit together and his jaw gets tight, “All the time.”

  “I’ve been trying to convince Trixie for like… a year. I want a family, but at the same time, there’s our music.”

  Trixie makes our conversations tense but she’s all I have to talk about.

  “She’s got a great voice, why doesn’t she sing solos?” He questioned.

  “She’s not confident enough.”

  “Do you encourage her?”

  Here he goes again, thinking he knows shit. “She doesn’t want to do lead vocals. I’m not going to push her.”

  “Couples are supposed to motivate one another. Challenges make it hot. Or is her shell easier to work with.”

  I stopped and faced him, “Sometimes people are comfortable where they are.”

  “Nothing is comfortable about standing still.”

  The eerie feel to this conversation that so mirrored my dream had my heart speeding up.

  He blew smoke from between his lips, “When I was growing up, I told you; life was pretty bad. I learned real early that nothing happens if you don’t make it happen. I made all the changes in my life happen. I manifested them; I didn’t sit on my thumbs.”

  “Like going to prison three times?” My snarky reply felt forced from my mouth like a reflex.

  He let go of his cig and ground it out with the toe of his shoe before explaining. “Don’t pretend to know shit about my life, Adam. You didn’t walk in my shoes. All my mistakes led to where I am and everything I’ve got. I might not have walked the right roads every time but at least I kept walking. I assume you never ate something from out of a dumpster, or slept on pavement. No matter how bad your life got, I doubt you had someone trying to put you in a foster home. I don’t think you have scars on your body that remind you about bad things. Most of all…”

  He put himself in my space again, “I doubt you’ve ever felt the kind of love that can’t be touched. The kind of love that gets found in dark places. The kind of power that comes from seeing all the ugly of the other person and still wanting them, still fucking them, still needing them… you don’t have that. When you are ready to sell your soul to things that go bump in the night, for a can of soup, to feed that person… then you can judge me, Adam. Not when kissing your woman in public is your biggest fear.”

  He walked away from me, leaving a gash in my chest. I’ve never heard so much agony laced in words before.

  There are levels and floors to Chance and I only just walked into the lobby.

  Chapter Twelve

  TRIXIE

  Snow. It’s snowing. I got up from the bed in our loft and rushed to the window. I am a snow brat! Born and raised in Colorado, I live for fluffy, glistening snow.

  I jumped into leggings and my tall black boots then donned a long, warm, white sweater. I wrapped a scarf around my neck and threw on my coat. I ran to the apartment next to us and banged on the door, over and over until it opened. A naked blonde wrapped in a bed sheet stared back at me with squinty sleep eyes. “Can I help you?” She asked in a fog.

  “Uh…is Blaze here?”

  “Who is Blaze?”

  Blaze stumbled our way, shirtless with boxers on, “Hey,” he groaned.

  “It’s noon guys,” I reminded.

  “And last night was Valentine’s Day,” he told me. “If Adam was here you would look the same way.”

  I smiled, “Well, I guess this means you don’t want to go play in the snow with me?”

  He looked behind him at the window, just seeing the snow, “Um, Mary wants to stay in bed, I think.”

  The blonde sighed, “Cary, not Mary. I told you that three times last night.” She walked back to their bed and I stifled a giggle.

  He mouthed the words, “Whatever,” about her name then kissed my cheek and closed the door.

  I called Knox but he was getting lunch with my sis. Diego picked up on the third ring as I was going out of my apartment.

  “Hola, Bella Dama!” He greeted.

  “Hola hermoso,” I sang. “I’m going out to walk in the snow but no one wants to play with me.”

  He laughed, “I would love to come play in the snow Ma, just give me cinco minutos.”

  “Okay.”

  We agreed on a meeting spot and I hung up to enjoy the scene. On my way to the diner, Buddy showed up at a cross-walk. He barked at me with a wagging tail and I hurried his way. “Hey, Buddy!” I secured his handkerchief and walked him away from traffic, “You have to be careful handsome, cars don’t always see doggies,” I got him to a quiet spot to the right of the sidewalk and bent to love him up, “I’ve missed you.” I said.

  He barked again and started twisting to get away from me.

  “Where’s Liam, huh?” I looked around but he was nowhere. There was a little fluttering in my belly again at the thought of seeing him. “Where’s your friend?”

  Buddy barked and backed away. When I tried to wave goodbye and go left, he was there at my heels barking and herding me right.

  “I have to meet someone,” I told him. “You have a place to get warm?”

  The snow was sticking and already a good inch off the ground. Every time he barked or I talked our breath was visible.

  “Bye, Buddy,” I blew him a kiss, “I’ll see you around, okay?”

  He growled and barked. Not aggressively but enough to get my attention. “What do you want?”

  He ran in hyper circles around my ankles.

  “I don’t have any food, I’m sorry.”

  He started running away but then stopped and looked back at me before barking some more. When I walked toward him he ran further ahead and would check to see if I was still there. When I tried heading back to the diner he cut me off and barked.

  “Okay,” I huffed, “I’m going to follow you but don’t lead me into a mugging or something.”

  I followed him at my own pace about five minutes from where we started. He led me through a side of the city with a lot of shops and then down a quiet block. I still kind of know where I am but if he goes much further I’ll stop.

  I went under a bridge that had icicles forming on the underside. The snow is now two or three inches. I stared as I walked at the beautiful, shimmering ice; they were long and looked like glass.

  My foot tripped under me and I fell. My body hummed with the feeling of falling but as soon as I sat up, Buddy was kissing me. “I’m okay,” I told him.

  “I’m sorry,” someone muttered between chattering teeth. I didn’t know I wasn’t alone. I looked around Buddy and saw that I didn’t trip over something, I tripped over someone. The guy was lying on a thick blanket and wrapped in another with his beanie hat pulled far down.

  I knelt and looked closer, “Liam?”

  He was shivering major but looked up. His beautiful green eyes illuminated the shaded light and he sat straight up, “Trixie?”

  I felt my heart; the one they say is too big, as it tore right down the center, “Are you sleeping out here?”

  “Shelter was full,” his teeth chattered but he still didn’t act like he was complaining.

  “Liam, it is nineteen degrees out here and you’re sleeping on the ground with no warmth.”

  He shivered, “That’s not true,” he shook, “Buddy was lying with me for a while.”

  Buddy must’ve caught my scent like always and come to get me. “You guys can’t stay here.”

  “We’re fine.”

  “You are not fine,” I sat back on my knees and felt his cheek, “Oh my God, Liam, you’re as cold as ice!” I unwrapped my scarf and wrapped his neck, “Are you crazy? We have to get you inside somewhere.”

  “I’ll go to the library,” he assured me trying to unwrap my scarf.

  “Liam,” I warned him with my eyes,
“Your lips are blue. Have you been sleeping out here all night? It’s called hyperthermia! This coat is not enough and you’re going to get sick.”

  He pulled his coat closer and sat against the bridge as Buddy came to sit beside him, “It’s just cold…”

  I can’t even stand the chill that’s coming through my stockings to touch my knees. “Will you get coffee with me?” I asked desperately. “The one who does the asking, they do the paying, remember?”

  He just continued to shiver.

  “Liam,” I looked into his eyes, “please?”

  He finally agreed and I carried his guitar case so all he needed to carry was his suitcase but he was so unsteady on his feet. Buddy stayed beside us as we walked to the diner.

  Upon entering Diego came to meet me at the door, “Where you been at? I was getting worried,” he took me in and then Liam.

  “Diego, this is Liam, he’s a friend of mine… he um…”

  Diego seemed to add up the situation fairly quick. “Yeah, okay… let’s get something warm then, eh?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I said as he took the guitar. Liam stepped further in but got dizzy and almost fell. Diego caught him and they walked against one another to a booth. I sat on the inside and Diego sat across from us. Buddy was allowed to come in but had to stay under the booth.

  We ordered three coffees but while we waited things were quiet. Diego was studying Liam and Liam looked in and out of focus still shivering.

  When the coffee came Liam had trouble touching it. His hands were just too cold to hold it. He gave up and just hugged himself. I can feel his embarrassment, his shame and worst of all his hopelessness.

  “Know what?” Diego grabbed his coat, “I hate diner food.” He announced. “What do you both say if we go to the casa and we make our own?”

  “You mean me?” I laughed, “You mean I make us some food. I would love it. I like cooking in cold.” I stroked Liam’s arm, “Would you come with us? It’s not far…”

  He was so reluctant. “I’m okay,” he sniffed.