Clash

by Aurora, Belle

  Funnily enough, Connor was the first to emerge. Freshly showered and dressed in boxers and a tee, he grasped my wrist and pulled me to stand, sitting in the place I only momentarily vacated. With a sigh, he patted his lap. “Sit.”

  I didn’t want to sit.

  “You sure?” He looked around then leaned forward and muttered, “I thought you’d appreciate the protection.”

  I sat and Connor wrapped an arm around my waist, guarding me from the assault we both knew was coming.

  Lee came out of his room, standing by the kitchen counter. Minutes later, Hell exited his room, sitting on a stool by Lee. Finally, Noah came out and the moment he did, he began to pace. He spoke directly to me. “You are going to shut up and listen. When I’m done, you may speak.”

  I dipped my chin, unable to meet their eyes.

  Noah began. “Of all the stupid things to do, I never thought you’d do what you did tonight. I’m not only disappointed but I’m fucking livid. Do you hear me, Emmy?” At my slow nod, he stopped pacing. “What the fuck were you thinking?” His breathing got heavy and he threw his arms out by his sides. “Do you even know what you did?” Do you know why we’re upset?”

  I did.

  A lone tear fell from my chin. I watched it splash onto my jeans.

  Noah panted, “He could have had a knife.”

  “It was a pen.” I shouldn’t have spoken.

  Noah blinked at me a long moment before he opened his mouth and roared, “It could have been a knife!”

  Twisting on Connor’s lap, my expression was pure misery as I buried my face into his neck, sobbing.

  He was right. It could have been a knife.

  But it wasn’t.

  Connor rubbed my back as I rushed out a choppy, “I’m sorry!”

  Silence followed. It was thick and sticky, locking us in our places until Connor spoke. “I know no one cares what I think, but I thought it was pretty badass.”

  Hell growled, “It was not badass. It was dumb.”

  With his arms loosely around me, Connor uttered an amused, “I don’t know. Think about it. One second, there’s no Emmy and then, boom, there she is. And she’s like, yah! Throws herself right on his shit. Did you see the way she jumped? It was like a bad action movie, invisible explosion style.” Connor smiled as he spoke into my ear. “Emmy, you’re my hero.”

  Yeah, right.

  I saved him from an overzealous fan.

  I was a moron.

  Noah sounded dismal. “I didn’t see him coming.”

  Connor responded, “Neither did I.”

  I did.

  As everyone told me, I had the best seat in the house.

  The young man was in between two security guards and when both burly men just happened to look in opposite directions, the youngster made the leap. He jumped one lot of barriers, then another, and before anyone knew what was happening, he was on stage.

  Truthfully, I don’t even remember moving. It all seemed to happen in slow motion.

  As the eager fan charged at Connor, I ran as fast as I could, throwing myself at him before he could reach him. Taking him down, I landed on my back with a whoosh.

  Everything stopped.

  Winded, I vaguely remember security taking away the now cheering man and Noah appearing in front of me. He was talking but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. He held me tight and my lungs burned. Not a second later, with a steady whoosh, I could breathe again.

  The concert was called to a brief halt and I was taken into the green room. Lots of yelling ensued. Security was upped and in a matter of minutes, I was ordered back to the hotel. When I declined, I swiftly realized it wasn’t a request.

  Noah had spun on me. “Get out of here, Emmy!”

  And here we were.

  I felt his presence before he spoke. Touching my knee, Noah uttered, “Look at me.” But I shook my head. I didn’t want to. The disappointment in his eyes would kill me. Leaving me no choice, he took hold of my arms and physically turned me to face him. When our eyes met, he spoke softly. “What were you thinking?”

  Honestly?

  “Better me than him.” My answer was barely a whisper.

  Noah’s face paled and then I was lifted to stand. Strong arms snaked around me and held me tight. “Never again, you hear?” He held my head close to his chest. “Never again.”

  I nodded into him. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” He kissed the top of my head. “You’re okay.”

  When Noah eventually released me, I turned to Hell. He wasn’t having any of it. With a stern shake of the head, he turned and went to his room, closing the door behind him. And it broke my heart.

  Lee glared at me. He rasped, “You’re an idiot.”

  “I know.” Believe me, I knew.

  “You scared me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Noah huffed out a long breath. “Well, I think we’ve all had enough excitement for one night.” He turned to me. “You should get some rest. We’re back on the bus by eight.”

  Instinctively, I hugged myself. “Okay.”

  Connor stood from his place on the sofa. “C’mon. I’ll walk you.”

  In his boxers and a hoodie to shield his face, Connor walked me to my room, and when we got there, he waited for me to enter before he said, “Emmy?” I turned to him. His expression was tight and unreadable. When he spoke again, he uttered a low yet firm, “Don’t ever do that again.”

  The thing was, I couldn’t make that promise.

  Not out loud.

  Chapter Ten

  Stiletto.

  Emmy

  We were in Indiana. The Vixens portion of the show had ended and as I stood by the stage, Cherry approached from behind. “Gidget.”

  I spun around and smiled. “Hey, you guys killed it tonight.”

  “Thanks, doll.” Her expression turned serious. “Look, Beth sent me. It’s her birthday. She wanted me to ask you to come out with us tonight.”

  She did?

  That was nice but after quickly thinking about it, I decided to decline. “That’s so kind, but—” I smoothed my hands down the front of my jeans and grimaced. “—I’m not exactly dressed for the occasion.” I threw her a hesitant smile. “Will you thank her for me?”

  “No.”

  My face fell. “You won’t thank her for me?”

  Cherry rolled her eyes. “No, I mean that’s a lame excuse and you’re coming out.”

  “But—” I blinked up at her. “—I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can,” she returned before looking me up and down. “I’m going out on a limb here and guessing you don’t have anything racier than what you’re wearing in your luggage.” Her eyes met mine. “Am I right?”

  I looked down at my jeans, loose tee, and Chucks combo. When our eyes met again, I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and shook my head.

  Cherry tilted her head and pursed her lips. “You’re about Beth’s size. I’m sure we can sort you out.”

  I was suddenly sweating bullets. “I don’t want to put anyone out.”

  “Beth wants you there. She likes you. Are you gonna make me go back to the suite without you and explain to the girls that you’d rather spend another night alone than come out with us?” Her eyes widened. “Sure, let me just get a dagger to stick into her heart too.”

  I didn’t want Beth to be upset. Especially on her birthday.

  And then I realized what she was doing.

  My nose bunched. “You’re manipulating me, aren’t you?”

  Cherry tipped her head back and laughed. “Is it working?”

  “Yes,” I admitted reluctantly and when Cherry chuckled, my lips tipped up at the sides. “Well, only if you’re sure.”

  “Totally sure.” Cherry wrapped an arm around me and walked me to her dressing room. “The girls are gonna be stoked.”

  The girls were indeed stoked to see me. I sent Noah
a text letting him know I was currently in the custody of The Vixens and when I walked into their suite, Beth quite literally threw herself into my arms, jumping up and down excitedly. Pearl jerked her chin and winked at me, and when Cherry explained that I didn’t own any makeup other than my trusty lip balm, Ettie came to the rescue.

  “Emmy,” she asked curiously, “can you see without your glasses?”

  I gently removed my large cat eye frames and blinked rapidly, trying to adjust my focus. “I can, just not well.”

  “But not so bad to stumble over shit, right?”

  I shook my head. “I’ll survive.” Then a shocking thought took me. “You’re not going to make me look stupid, are you?”

  Ettie pulled back as if I’d slapped her. “What?” She was genuinely stunned. “No. Why would you think I’d do something like that?”

  My memories of Caitlyn Moore doing my makeup for the senior play came rushing back to me with a bang. I had landed the role of Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Caitlyn’s job was to make me look beautiful but when I saw myself in the mirror only minutes before the show started, I wanted to weep. The foundation she used was way too dark for my complexion, she used too much blush and she basically painted thick, black eyebrows on me.

  Surely it was a mistake. We were seniors and she wouldn’t single me out. Would she?

  Heck yes, she would. I was all anyone was talking about after the play and for the entire next semester. Caitlyn even made sure a close-up of my face was used in the yearbook so I could never live down the time I trusted my appearance to another woman.

  Scarred for life, it was a wonder I was allowing this.

  I swallowed hard and shrugged lightly, averting my eyes. “No reason.”

  Ettie noticed my reluctance and vowed, “I’m gonna make you look hot. You’re gonna turn heads so hard they spin, babe.”

  At her enthusiasm, I bit my lip to hide my smile and chuckled. “I don’t think that’s physically possible, Ettie.”

  “Oh, honey.” She pulled my chair closer to her and started to work on my face. “You have no idea what’s possible when men see something they like.” She pulled back and pointed a stern finger at my nose. “It’s your job to insist they can’t have it.” Blotting my face with a bright pink sponge, she scoffed. “They’ll lose their ever-loving minds. Trust me.”

  My grin told her she was crazy and when I muttered, “Whatever you say,” she lightly smacked my nose with the brush she was holding.

  “Shush, now. Let me work.”

  Ettie umm’d and ahh’d over a makeup style then told me she was settling on smokey eyes and nude lips because if I were hanging with the Vixens, I’d have to look rock chic. It was a must, she said.

  “Your eyebrows.” She made a noise in her throat. “So jealous. Do you ever pluck them?”

  “I tidy them, that’s all.” I pursed my lips as she applied a nude lip color.

  Beth strode in and when she saw me, she stilled. She laughed excitedly, tiptoeing over. “I swear to God, Emmy, I didn’t even recognize you.” When she got close enough, she slapped my shoulder and her mouth gaped. “Why are you hiding all this hotness?”

  “I-I-I’m not hiding anything.”

  Beth scoffed and Ettie put down the lipstick. “And we are done.”

  When I went to turn around to see myself in the mirror, Beth stopped me. “You can’t look until your dressed. And—” She grinned. “—I found the perfect dress.”

  “Dress?” I didn’t do dresses, and I tried to ease the blow. “I don’t wear dresses.”

  “Well, you do tonight,” said Beth insistently.

  Well, okay then. I guess I was wearing a dress tonight. I was suddenly thankful I’d even bothered to shave my legs yesterday. Truth was, I’d kind of been shaving on the daily ever since I’d been on tour with four gorgeous rock stars.

  Beth shuffled me into her room and showed me the dress. I was confused. “Where’s the rest of it?” I liked Beth but she was clearly not right in the head if she thought I was wearing that. And when she laughed as if I were the funniest person in the world, I realized she was serious. My stomach churned. “Beth, I can’t wear that.”

  “You will. You can.” She handed me to hanger. “You are.” Then she left me alone in the room to change. And I did, but only to show her how preposterous I looked.

  I called her back in and her face held nothing but shock. “Dude.”

  “See?” I told her. My face was heating. “I look ridiculous.”

  “Emmy,” she uttered slowly. “You’ve been holding out on us.”

  “What?”

  “Shoes,” she stated. “You need shoes.” Walking into her closet, she threw pair after pair out, narrowly missing me. When she found what she was looking for, she came out holding the highest pair of heels I’d ever seen. “Mary Janes. They never let me down. Put ‘em on.”

  I looked down at them and ran a hand down my face. “I’m never going to be able to walk in these, Beth.”

  “Would you just try ‘em on?” She gave me a knowing look. “Trust me.”

  I put them on and when I stood, I tried to remain as still as possible with my arms out by my sides to steady myself.

  Beth smiled patiently. “Now walk.” I did and expected to nose dive immediately, but surprisingly stayed upright. My face must’ve shown this, because Beth gave me a knowing look. “I know. They’re my most comfortable heels. Sure, they’re high, but so well balanced.”

  Pearl called out, “The iron’s hot,” then Beth was using the slimline straightener to lightly curl my hair, parting it in the middle and letting it fall down my back in dark brown waves. She sighed as she ran her hands through it. “It’s so long and thick. Why do you always wear it up? It’s such a waste.”

  I shrugged. “I’m more sensible than fashionable.”

  Beth led me into the bedroom and asked, “Are you sure about that?”

  My brows narrowed. “Yep.”

  “Okay.” She opened the door to her closet and pulled me to stand in front of the long mirror behind the door. “Then I guess we should just throw the whole outfit away, yeah?”

  My mind went numb and malfunctioned for a long while.

  I stepped closer because my eyes didn’t work very well and I was sure I couldn’t be seeing myself properly. But I was.

  “Oh,” I breathed out.

  The tank-style dress was skintight and came to just above my knee. It was black and had a giant white skull in the center of it. The clingy material hugged every dip and bend of my body and for once there was no denying I was all woman.

  “Yeah. Oh.” Beth grinned. “Definitely holding out on us.” She stood behind me and gently smacked my thigh. “Who knew you had curves hiding under all those shapeless tees and loose-fitting jeans?”

  I did. But curves like mine were indecent, especially when worn like this.

  My voice was little over a whisper. “I can’t go out like this.”

  Beth’s face fell. “Why not? You’re a total fox.”

  “People are going to stare.”

  “Uh…” She fought against her laugh but failed. “I sure as shit hope so. This ensemble took some work. I’d be sad to see it wasted.”

  Just as I opened my mouth to argue, Ettie shouted, “The car’s here!”

  And then everyone was moving. I was dragged out of the room and into the elevator then thrust into the back of the limo with the rest of The Vixens. The second the car started to move, Pearl poured shots and handed them out.

  They downed them then whooped excitedly and when I chuckled quietly, they all turned to face me.

  The four beautiful women smiled encouragingly as I held my shot.

  I looked at the tiny glass and my mind whispered something I felt I needed to hear.

  You deserve to have some fun.

  I put the glass to my lips and tipped it up, swallowing the burning liquid, and the cheer was almost deafe
ning. I coughed and coughed some more, and when I finally got myself under control, I was handed another shot.

  By the time we rolled up to the club, I was four shots in and feeling lighter than I ever had in my life. My cheeks were as warm as my belly, and my body was positively thrumming.

  The door opened and Beth stepped out followed by Pearl. Ettie all but pushed me out and Pearl took my hand, holding it tight. Cameras flashed and people screamed. In my dazed state, I held up an arm to block the blinding lights and let Pearl lead me inside. She didn’t let go of me and, thank God for that, because the dimness of the club meant my poor struggling eyes struggled further.

  The music was almost deafening. The strobe lights danced to the beat of the song. And I was in awe.

  Never in my life had I experienced the feeling that flowed through my veins right then. In this moment, I was living. Actively living, like most twenty-four-year-olds should do, and it felt wonderful.

  Pearl, following Cherry, walked me up the steps, and Beth and Ettie were coming in behind. A bouncer let us into a separate area and one look told me this nook was saved for important guests like The Ultra Violet Vixens. And I was with them.

  It felt nice to be here, all dolled up, wearing a dress and feeling feminine in heels. It felt nice to be with friends.

  That wasn’t something I was very familiar with. This was a new experience and, so far, I was enjoying myself.

  The booth The Vixens had reserved was a huge twelve-seater in the shape of a semi-circle, and the other occupants of the VIP area watched closely as the violet-haired tribe of women laughed and conversed openly. The Vixens were a whole lot of fun and I would be forever grateful for the kindness they showed me.

  Another round of shots came and went and then Pearl asked, “Emmy, girl, what’s your flavor?”

  It was not a question I was expecting. “Pardon me?”

  Pearl blinked at me. “Do you like sausage or bud?”

  “Um…” I think I understood. “I’m not a vegetarian.”

  Cherry spat out her drink, coughing, and when she stopped coughing, she started howling with laughter. There were tears in her eyes and she fanned her face. “Oh my God. Precious. Absolutely precious.”