by JB Salsbury
The team is in Arizona for a game. I hope Carey is okay. Is he sick? Hurt?
Wiping down the tables closest to the door I focus on the low hum of Rowan’s voice but can’t pick up on any of her words.
The inflection of her voice is unmistakable. Something is very wrong.
Another minute passes before Rowan rejoins me in the café, her face screwed up in an unnatural smile.
My hands grip the rag tighter. “What?”
“What do you mean what? Nothing. Everything’s going to be okay.”
I narrow my eyes. “Everything’s going to be okay? What happened?”
“What do you mean?” Her right eye twitches and she balls her hands at her stomach.
Everything from my chin down goes tingly and numb and I try not to think the worst. “You are a horrible liar. Is Carey okay?”
“Yes, Carey’s fine.” She picks up the broom with quaking fingers.
If not Carey then who? My stomach bottoms out.
“It’s not a big deal—”
“I like you, Rowan. But what comes out of your mouth next could very well destroy any and all warm feelings I have toward you. Do you understand?”
Her face turns a milky green.
“You really don’t want to be on my bad side—”
“YourdadandSpidergotinafight.” She slams her hand over her mouth as if she wishes to shove the words back into her face.
Too late. They’re out and I heard every single mashed up syllable. “How bad?”
She swallows hard and her eyes turn glossy. “Your dad has a broken—”
“Not him. Theodore. Is he okay?”
She steps closer to me, but I hold up my hand to keep her back.
An unstable vibration buzzes at the base of my spine and the urge to maim and destroy rides me hard.
“He’s okay.”
“I’m leaving.” I head for my purse and keys only to have Rowan chase after me to gather her own.
“I’m driving.”
My gaze snaps to hers. “No, you’re not coming with—”
Her brows lift high. “I’m driving. Now hurry. If we leave now we’ll be there before the sun comes up.”
The next few minutes are a blur as I grab my things and we lock up the café.
“Come on, we’ll take my car.”
I glare at my dad’s truck, thinking I’d love to send it over the Los Angeles Bridge on our way out of town, but my worry for Theodore wins out and I don’t have a minute to waste. She cranks the engine and her wheels squeal as we pull out of the parking garage and head for the freeway.
Inside her small, ancient car it’s mostly dark except for the few dashboard lights that work, and even though it’s quiet the unspoken tension that expands between us is deafening.
Once we hit the I-10 East the silence becomes too much and I ask, “Do you know what happened?”
“No. Carey only said they got in a fight at the hotel. I guess it was pretty bad, and it took four guys to separate them.”
I look at Rowan in the dark. “You’re the only person I know, so I have to ask you this.”
She smiles sweetly.
“I might need you to help me bury a body in the desert.”
The car swerves a little, and I turn to look at the large expanse of empty, dry land, the perfect place to hide a body in the dead of night.
“You can’t kill your dad—”
“I can.”
“—without a solid plan.”
I look at her and the weirdest thing happens to my face. Made even weirder by the circumstances, I smile. A genuine smile.
She shrugs. “What? I watch Unsolved Mysteries, I know how it works.”
“I’m listening.”
“First off, Spider can’t know about it. After their fight, he’ll be the number one suspect and he needs to pass a polygraph so he can’t be involved on any level. Second, we’ll need to make it look like an accident. You’ll need an alibi and can you cry on command? Because that’ll be a must.”
As Rowan goes on about the plan to murder my dad, the urge to commit homicide slowly fades and is replaced by something new. Unfamiliar yet comfortable.
I think what I’m feeling is…friendship.
Chapter Twenty-One
Emery
Rowan was right. We pulled up to the Tempe Hilton before sunrise. The lobby is mostly empty save for the employees and a handful of early risers at the coffee cart.
I head straight for the elevator doors but Rowan snags my arm and redirects me to the front desk. “We don’t know which room they’re in and we should try to get a key.”
“They aren’t going to just give us a key.”
“Trust me.” Her light brown eyes are firm on mine.
“Okay.” What other options do we have except bang on every door in the hotel or sit around and wait for Carey or Theodore to wake up and answer their phones?
“Good morning.” The guy behind the check-in counter is our age, clean cut, plastic smile, and his nametag says Thad. I’d guess he’s a student at the University, he looks like the hotel management degree type. “How can I help you?”
“Ugh,” Rowan says dramatically. “I feel so dumb. I left my room super early this morning to pick my friend here up at the airport.” She motions to me.
I smile and try to make it look authentic. The guy cringes a little, his own smile falls, and I realize I’m baring my teeth. I tone it down, give my head a tilt and bat my eyelashes until his grin returns.
“Anyway…I just realized I can’t find my room key. I must’ve left it in the room.”
“No problem,” he says. “If I could just get your ID, I’ll get you a new key card.”
She sucks in air through her teeth. “Yeah, so that’s the other problem. My purse is in the room too.”
“Oh.” He frowns. “What’s your room number—”
“I’m so stupid!” She drops her forehead to the granite countertop with a thud that sounds like it hurt. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
The guy shifts uncomfortably as she calls the attention of the rest of lobby. “You’re not stupid, it happens—”
“Now we’re locked out.” She lifts and drops her forehead again, and again. “And my medication is in there!” She hits her head again on the counter.
I cringe at the reverberating thump that rattles the countertop with each drop of her head all while thinking that I way underestimated Rowan. The girl is savage.
“What time is it?” she says in a voice filled with panic.
“It’s five thirty in the morning.” The man looks like he doesn’t know whether to help her or run for safety.
“Five thirty?” I say, raising my voice. “Did you say five-thirty?” I widen my eyes, and cautiously bring my palm to Rowan’s back. “If she doesn’t take her medication by six we are going to have a serious medical emergency, Thad.” I hear Rowan snort-giggle then clear her throat and moan dramatically. “We need to get into our room immediately. Do you have 911 on speed dial?”
Thad’s face pales and he types furiously on his computer. “What is the name on your room?”
“Carey Slade,” Rowan says from under a curtain of red hair as she continues to roll her forehead on the countertop and groan.
“Room 325.” He scrambles to get the keycard and slaps it on the countertop.
I scoop up the key and cradle Rowan as best I can while walking to the elevator. “You just saved a life, Thad.”
Once we’re on the elevator I hit the third floor button and when the carriage door closes we both burst into laughter.
“You’re a genius!”
“I can’t believe that worked,” Rowan says, smoothing her hair down and rubbing her forehead. “That’s going to leave a mark.”
“Did you have that planned?”
She shrugs, her laughter calming a bit. “What do you think I was doing in the car for the entire drive? No offense, but you’re not the best conversationalist.”
I chu
ckle, the tension in my chest decompresses a little. No one has ever made me feel this at ease except Theodore. Thinking of him sobers me instantly and when the double doors open I can’t get to his door fast enough.
She scans the key card and we slip inside the dark hotel room. Even without being able to see who is in the room, a zap of electricity thrums through my blood at the smell Theodore’s cologne. Rowan seems to have the same sense because she tiptoes to the bed closest to the window as if she recognized the sound of Carey breathing in his sleep.
“Shhhh, hey…” She whispers as Carey rouses. “It’s me. Is it too early for breakfast—oomph!” She’s pulled down and disappears under the covers against her boyfriend’s big body.
I look down at Theodore, surprised we didn’t wake him when we came in. I can’t make out much in the dark room, but I can see his face looks different. Dark spots under his eyes, another above his eyebrow, and on his lip.
What happens next can only be explained as elemental, a bone-deep need that can’t be explained.
I kick my shoes off, and strip out of my clothes down to my bra and underwear. I pull the comforter back and slip into the bed beside him. I lay on my side, my heart in shreds as I carefully run my fingers along the dark marks of his face. He moans and when he opens his eyes they look black and cold as it takes him a minute to decipher sleep from reality.
“You don’t have to wake up,” I whisper.
“Kitten?” That one word is laced with awe and yearning that chips away at my cold heart. “Are you really here?” He reaches for me, his big palms hot and greedy as he slides them around my waist, down my back to grip two fists full of my ass. “You are here.” He rolls to his back and pulls me on top of him with a grunt.
“You’re hurt.” I drop a kiss on the corner of his mouth. Now that my eyes have adjusted a little more to the dark I see the scab on his lower lip and the stiches over his eye.
“Not too bad.” His hands run up and down my back as if touching me comforts him and he can’t get enough. “Why are you here? I thought…”
“My stupid, stupid heart.” The backs of my eyes get hot and tingle, but I don’t wipe at them in favor of keeping my hands on him. “I am weak when it comes to you.”
“Fuck, babe.” His voice cracks and he nuzzles my throat, his lips moving slowly as if to keep from reopening his wound. “If you’re weak then so am I. I’d take a beating ten times worse if it brought you back to me.”
I kiss along his neck and jaw, steering clear of the dark marks on his skin. Usually this kind of touching would lead to sex, and although the soft kissing, his hands on my skin, and his body cradling mine are arousing me, there’s a deeper need that is new and unfamiliar, a desperate desire to give comfort that goes beyond orgasms.
“You were right, I am a liar. I’m afraid once you really get to know me, you’ll leave me.”
“I know you. And I’ve never wanted you more.”
Then, the words I never thought I would utter come pouring from my lips as if they were designed specifically to say them. “Can I hold you?”
He pulls back enough to get my eyes and even in the dim light I see awe and wonder in his gaze. “No one has ever….” Rather than finish, he shakes his head. I worry he’s going to reject me, but he rolls me to the side, wraps both arms around my middle, puts his head on my chest and softly, against my bare skin, he whispers, “Please.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Spider
The sound of my phone ringing on the bedside table wakes me from a warm, dreamless sleep in Emery’s arms. With my ear against her chest I can hear her breathing change and her heart pick up rhythm.
“Shhh, go back to sleep.” Reluctantly I roll away from her to snag my phone. It’s Kaipo. “This better be important,” I say, feeling as though I had only just fallen asleep.
“Did you get the text from Coach Norburg He’s calling an early team meeting.”
I grunt and squeeze my eyes closed feeling the ache from last night’s fight all over my face. “All right.” I hear Carey and Rowan talking softly in the bed next to us. “We’re up, we’ll be there.”
After disconnecting the phone I roll back to Emery and she accepts me into her arms. She runs her fingers through my hair and I could easily fall back asleep just like this. “Everything okay?”
“Shit,” Carey grumbles. “Early meeting.”
“Yeah.” I’m assuming this is because of what happened last night. I have to consider that I might be facing Brawley here soon, an unwelcome fucking thought.
“Who called the meeting?” There’s a hint of concern in Emery’s voice, and I hate that I feel responsible for putting it there.
“Don’t worry, Kitten.” I turn my lips to her throat and kiss her there.
“But what if—”
“Nope.” I drag myself from the bed and pull her up after me. Using my body as barrier between her and our roommates, I usher her into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind us.
She flips on the light and when her eyes settle on my face, she gasps and covers her mouth with a mumbled, “Oh my God.”
I smirk. “That bad, huh?”
Delicate fingers lift to my face, her blue eyes dart from one wound to the next, as if categorizing them by severity. Her expression grows hard. “Tell me he looks worse.”
I grip her wrist and kiss her palm. “He looks worse.”
“How did this happen?”
“He warned me to stay away from you.” I turn on the shower and from behind her, I slip a bra strap off her shoulder, kissing her there. “I told him I couldn’t do that.”
She turns around to face me. “How did he know?”
“I’m not sure, and it doesn’t really matter anyway.”
“Did you tell him we broke up?”
I cringe hearing those words from her lips. “No.”
“Why not?” Her eyes widen. “This all could’ve been avoided—”
“Because in my mind, we didn’t break up. I was giving you the space you needed but we were very much still together.” I slip my sleeping shorts from my legs and step into the shower, holding my hand out for her to follow.
She slips off her panties and bra, and finally I have her naked against me. “So why did you guys fight?”
Holding her beneath the warm water, I run my fingers through her wet hair. “I didn’t like what he was saying about you so I tried to leave. He followed me into the hallway, grabbed my arm, told me I couldn’t see you again, threatened to kick me off the team. Next thing I knew he threw a punch. I defended myself.”
I lift her chin to meet my eyes.
Her stare is cold and dark. “What did he say about me that you didn’t like, Theodore?”
“It doesn’t matter—”
“Tell me what he said.”
I lick my lips and stare down at the lovely woman with the devil in her eyes. I turn her, back her up against the wall, and lean my forehead against hers. “He tried to convince me that you’re unwell.”
Her breath hitches.
“Dangerous.”
She tries to turn her face away, but I go with her making sure to hold her gaze.
“A threat to not only my safety, but your own.”
She juts out her chin, sniffs, and holds me with her cold stare. “And what did you say?”
“I told him those are all the things I love most about you.”
The firm line of her mouth softens. “You told him that?”
I nod and pull her arms above her head, holding them at the wrist with one hand. “Did I tell him that I’m in love with you?” I kiss her lips gently. “That I am in love with your light and your dark?” I kiss her again and whisper, “Yes. And I’ll wear every single mark he put on my face proudly because it means we’re finally free.”
“I—”
“No.”
“But—”
“Stop talking.” I kiss her again, deeper this time.
She pulls her lips away as
best she can having been pinned to the wall like a beautiful, naked, butterfly. “He hit you because you love me.”
“He hit me because he knows he’s lost you and I was the closest target.” I kiss her again, deep and all-consuming. “I love you, Kitten.” I slip my free hand between her legs and groan when I find her pliant and needy. “I think you like it when I tell you I love you.”
She bites her lip against a moan.
I dip lower and take her nipple into my mouth, warm and wet from the shower. How could it be that one woman could be made so perfectly just for me? If she is my reward for the first eighteen years of my life that I lived in hell—beaten, bruised, and scared—I’d live it all over again in a heartbeat for a chance to be with her.
“Theodore,” she says breathlessly, her hips rolling in time with my hand, her thighs quaking around my wrist.
“Hmmm?” I switch to her neglected breast.
“I love you too.”
I pull back and release her hands only to have her drop and lock them behind my neck. “You don’t have to say it if—”
“I mean it.” Her eyes glisten but she doesn’t hide it. She boldly stares at me when she says again, “I love you.”
“Fuck.” I crush her against the wall, hook her leg over my hip and bring us so close that I almost slip inside her. “I need inside you.” The words are a desperate plea raked over gravel and broken glass.
“It’s okay,” she breathes against my ear. “I’m on birth control.”
A zap of carnal urgency fires my blood. “I’ve never not used a condom.” Not once would I enter a woman without being covered, and the anticipation of Emery being my first makes me feel like a virgin all over again.
“I haven’t either.”
Steam billows around us, our bodies hot in every way. I hook her other leg and she locks her ankles at my lower back. Slowly, I lower her over me, watching her face for any sign of discomfort. She shows none. My head practically explodes when I bottom out, feeling the burning, tight heat of her wrapped around me without a barrier in between.
“I fucking love you.” I kiss her lips, jaw, and neck. “I’m keeping you, Kitten. I’m keeping you forever.”
