by G N Wright
I shake my head and look up to see Elle, but this time flanked by Jace and Linc. What the fuck? She’s really here. I focus on everything else around me and see people running in all directions and I can hear sirens moving towards us.
Elle touches me again as she tugs on my arm. “Come on, Riv, we have to move now!” She is shouting to be heard now but still I can’t seem to concentrate enough to move.
She huffs as she turns to the guys, “He’s drunk. You guys need to drag him, otherwise I will be bailing all of our asses out of jail. Let’s move.” She shouts the orders with such confidence that Linc and Jace move immediately and grab one of my arms each and hoist. My legs tumble a little as we leave the ring, fuck I really am drunk.
The adrenaline of the fight must have been keeping it at bay but one touch from her and I’m grounded. I see us rushing towards Linc’s SUV when I speak.
“My bike,” I say to no one in particular but Jace answers.
“One of the boys took it, told him if he crashes it you’ll kill him.”
Accurate. Normally I wouldn’t let anyone touch my bike but clearly, I’m in no state to ride it. The guys stop as Elle flings open the door and they practically throw me inside the back seat. I’m about to protest when Ells slides in next to me. Okay so no protesting here. The boys quickly climb in front and we are out of there like a flash.
I turn to Elle as she speaks, “Throw up on me, Riv and I will stab you,” she pats the knife sheathed at her side and I groan, fuck that’s sexy and they all laugh. Shit, did I say that out loud?
“Don’t worry, princess, he’s not that type of drunk. He should be passed out soon enough,” Jace adds helpfully from the front seat and Linc sniggers.
Elle studies me slowly and when she seems satisfied enough that I won’t vomit on her she turns away. The rest of the car ride is silent as we make our way through the middle of town and when we come to the road that forks between the North and South side I see Linc look in the mirror to Ells and she subtly shakes her head. He turns towards the loft as we make our way home and I wonder silently why she’s coming with us.
The ride sobers me a little but not enough. We pull up into the garage and Elle exits the car like her being here is the norm as she follows Jace and Lincoln inside. She doesn’t even wait to see if I’m behind her. When I get into the main living area she is nowhere to be found and I look to Jace who has a huge smile on his face as he just points to my room.
I enter and still don’t see her but hear rustling around coming from the bathroom and as I take a look she is bent over rifling through the under sink cabinet pulling out the various pieces of first aid stuff I keep under there. Seeing her tight leather clad ass up in the air like that has me groaning and she jumps and hits her head.
“Fuck,” she huffs.
I rush forward, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she points to the toilet. “Now sit”.
I stand dumbfounded when she speaks again, “Riv, please sit, it’s been a long night and I just wanna patch you up and then collapse in bed.”
I watch as she pulls out bandages and cleaning solutions and I sit down, smile and waggle my brows at her, “Whose bed?” She stills slightly and I see the blush spread across her chest. God, I would fucking kill to see that on her whole body.
“Behave or you can patch yourself up,” she chastises me, and I grin even wider.
She kneels down in front of me and I try to behave but the images in my head are fucking sinful. Thankfully, Jace saves me as he enters the bathroom and takes us in.
“Woah, princess, two minutes in here and he’s already got you on your knees.”
She rolls her eyes like she is utterly used to his form of humor, “Don’t make me have to patch up you too, pretty boy,” she snaps without looking his way as she starts to pour ointment onto pads and rubs them over my knuckles. The sting barely registers as I’m mesmerized by her skill and grace at such things.
“But I’ve got nothing to patch up?” Jace laughs baiting her more.
“Then I’ll fucking stab you first,” she replies cheerfully turning to give him a smile full of menace and it makes me laugh. She turns back to me and smiles a full genuine smile, and it makes my heart stop. Fuck, it has been a long time since I have seen that smile aimed at me. Jace hops onto the counter as Linc arrives at the door and assesses the scene.
“Oh, come on, princess, you love me too much for that or is Linc your favorite now?” She stills slightly at his comment but recovers quickly and I make a note to find out what that means when I’m sober and of sound mind. Right now, all I can think about is the beauty on her knees before me, tending to me like I’m hers to care for. It feels bittersweet until I remember her earlier words.
I don’t give her a chance to answer Jace, “Why are you here?” I ask and all three sets of eyes in the room hit me.
Silence stretches on as she goes back to caring for my knuckles until she finally speaks. “I was worried about you,” she answers and from the look she gives me I can tell how hard it is for her to admit that. I look to the guys and they both nod and leave the room.
“When I was worried about you, I was met with a slap to the face,” I throw back at her with a smile.
“Yeah, and you more than deserved it. Ash would never hurt me; he loves me like --”
I cut her off as my rage rushes to the surface, “And do you love him?” I’m not sure what answer would give me the most satisfaction.
“Yes,” she replies without pause, “of course I love him, we’re a family.”
“So why are you here?” I ask again.
She huffs frustratedly like she doesn’t want to answer but does anyway, “Because I was worried, Riv, and I care! Are you happy now? Because I fucking care about you that is why I’m here. If you are ever in trouble I will be here because apparently where you’re concerned, I have no fucking reason whatsoever. Because it’s you and it’s me and it’s us and I fucking care, okay? So can you please just shut the fuck up so I can clean and dress your wounds in peace?” the words come out so fast I can barely keep up and it was like she could barely control saying them. But she did and they are out there now lingering in the air waiting to be acted on.
She loves Asher but she cares about me. I have no clue what to do with that right now and the whiskey is telling me not to even try so I stay quiet and just watch her work. I take note of every inch of her as she tends to me. The way her eyes tighten as she concentrates, how her tongue peaks out slightly as she works and how a few hairs constantly fall down into her face and she huffs as she pushes them back behind her ears. She always did have baby hairs that couldn’t be tamed and as it happens again, I reach out on instinct and push them back and she stills. My hand lingers on her face as I caress her cheek and she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
When she opens them again, she speaks, “Okay I’m done,” she stands and begins to clean up the supplies and I reach out and grasp her arm.
“Leave that, Ells. I’ll do it tomorrow,” she just nods in response and then looks around like she isn’t sure what to do now so I continue, “I need to shower.”
“Right, of course. I’ll get out of your way and go get you some water and painkillers.”
“Or you could join me and scrub my back?” I say as I pull my shirt over my head and she almost walks into the door frame trying to leave the room, my laughter follows her.
I strip off the rest of my clothes as I turn the shower onto one of the hottest settings and step under the scalding spray. I let it rain down on me as I wash the dirt and blood from my body, ignoring the hard on I’m sporting just from thinking about the girl in the other room. I wash quickly and step out and wrap a towel round my waist. I’m definitely sobering up slightly but now I need to sleep this off. As I walk into the bedroom, I find Ells staring at my shelves where I have two framed photographs both the only personal things I have in here. One is of my Dad and I on a fishing trip from a couple of weekends befo
re he was gone and the other is of me and Ells. She is sitting on my shoulders in the pool at her house, it was a day before she left and the last happy memory I have of us together.
I break the silence, “Seems like another lifetime.”
She doesn’t miss a beat when she responds sadly, “It was.”
She turns to me and I don’t miss the slight shock that hits her as she takes in my semi naked frame. I see her eye me from head to toe lingering at my towel covered waist.
“Usually, I take a girl to dinner first before she gets me naked,” I tease. She recovers quickly and brings her stare back to mine and her eyes shine defiantly.
“Yeah, somehow I highly doubt you took any of the girls you’ve had in here to dinner.”
Oh, my silly little King if only she knew, she is the only girl I have ever had in here.
“I left water on the nightstand for you next to some Advil, make sure you take them,” she says as she goes to leave.
“Hang on,” I speak, eager to keep her in my bedroom longer. I motion to the closet as I walk inside and find something to throw on, settling for a tank top and some sweatpants. When I emerge, she is still lingering by the door tensely but relaxes a little when she sees I’m now dressed.
“Can we talk?” I ask cautiously hoping that we can work some stuff out and she surprises me.
“Sure,” she exhales, “But I need to sit down.”
“My face is available,” I tease before I can stop myself and I am not even sorry when I am granted that beautiful blush up her neck again.
She shakes her head slightly, “Just get in bed, Marcus. I am giving you five minutes,” she walks over to my bed and pulls the sheets back for me and then proceeds to sit at the bottom on the opposite side. Not one to waste an opportunity with her on my bed, I run and jump onto it like I used to when we were kids, making her nearly bounce off. She squeals as she throws her arms out to steady herself.
“Still a fucking child I see,” she says but the smile on her face soothes me as I get comfortable, “What do you want to talk about?” her tone turns serious.
“Us,” I state simply.
“Riv--” she starts but I cut her off.
“No, Ells. We need to have this out just you and me, lay our cards on the table.”
“I can’t do that so stop asking me to,” she stands and begins to pace next to the bed and I grip her arm as she comes around to my side and for once she doesn’t flinch at my touch.
“I’m worried about you, little King,” I lean up on my knees, so we are almost chest to chest and pull her close to me.
“I am not yours to worry about, River,” she says quietly.
“So be mine,” I reply as if it’s the simplest thing in the world. I know there is so much shit going on that I don’t even know about, but can it really stop us from being Marcus and Ells again. We were best friends, always on the same side no matter what. Is it gonna be so hard to find our way back to that? Maybe but doesn’t mean I don’t want to try. We will fight and argue and probably down right hate each other at times but at least we will do that together.
“Marcus, don’t.”
“No, Ells. You need to hear this. I want you,” I cup her face on either side. “I have wanted you since the fucking sandbox when I pushed that little punk Jimmy for pulling your hair, since you were a gangly ten year old who gave me the first peck on the lips, since I chased you through the woods and lost you, since you came back here like the most beautiful ghost of the past I had ever seen. Fuck, I wanted you even when I fucking hated you and I did hate you, Elle. God, I hated you so much. Hated you for going away, hated you for being involved with Donovan and his fucking family, hated you for having some part in my dad’s death and hated you for storming back into this town like you fucking own it and not even caring to let me know. Except none of it has ever really been hate, Ells and we both know that.”
“River,” her voice is a whisper almost drowned out by the pounding of my heart and I swipe a tear that falls from her eye. “Stop please, you should hate me. I left you and didn’t think twice about it, I moved on and yeah, I came back here but I didn’t come back for you.”
“Please, Ells, just let me in and we can do whatever this is together,” I wish the whiskey were burning through my body harder to dull the pain I’m feeling.
"I’m sorry, I can’t,” who knew four words could destroy a person?
The last thing I see before I collapse back into bed and fall asleep is her back walking away from me.
Chapter 20
ELLE
Iflee Marcus’ room struggling to keep my tears at bay. Fuck, I never cry and am usually a boss at controlling my emotions, but I was not expecting that. Drunk Marcus is a whole other level that I was not prepared to deal with. He was flirty as fuck one minute and the next pouring his heart out and rather than taking it and protecting it like the precious thing it is, I fucking stomped all over it. I keep trying to tell myself it’s for his own good but how many times can I keep hurting him before I lose him forever?
That should be what I want, to push him away and lose him, let him get over me and move on. That would be what keeps him safe but thinking about him giving up on me makes my heart ache.
I make my way back into the main living area and find Jace and Linc both sitting on a large curved sofa playing video games. I didn’t take much notice of the place last time I was here considering I was trying to stop Ash and Riv from murdering each other so I let my gaze swing round the room.
It’s nothing like you would expect for a pad housing three teenage boys. The floors are all hardwood, dark mahogany, white walls surround us. Behind me has the hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathroom, then one side has three doors, two big double ones and a smaller one. The middle of the room dips lower which houses the huge curved sofa with a glass fire in the center and then the tv is fitted to what looks like half a wall coming from the floor up. The kitchen is off to the remaining side and is open plan looking over everything, dark countertops sit amongst gloss white cupboards with matching appliances. It really is a beautiful space, not far off something I would pick out for myself.
“Fuck sake Linc!!” Jace's shout breaks me out of my appraisal and I turn to concentrate back on the guys. “You always fucking cheat!”
“No, I'm just better,” Linc responds calmly and then notices me standing there. “Everything okay?” Jace turns to look at me also as I answer.
“Yeah fine,” I throw my thumb over my shoulder, “He’s in bed so I’ll just...” I trail off not really knowing what to say.
“You can crash here, princess,” Jace says like it’s no big deal and I raise my eyebrows at him, “What? We have a spare room. It's not like I’m saying you have to bunk with Marcus,” he laughs.
“I don’t doubt you have the room. I’m sure this space has seen a lot of girls come through here,” I look around the room again and imagine the revolving door of girls that have been through here and try not to rage as he laughs louder.
“Oh, princess, you really aren’t catching on, are you?” When I just look at him with confusion he continues, “We don’t bring girls back here like ever, we have a place for that. This,” he gestures his arm around him “is just for us, our family place to wind down and chill and shit.”
“So why let me come here?” I question but Linc interrupts before he can answer.
“Jace is right we have the room, but I can take you home if you want,” Linc stands as he says it like he knows my answer before I speak it.
I nod, “Erm yeah if you could that would be great,” I hesitate not really sure how to explain what just went down between Marcus and I and decide to just be as real as I can. “I don’t think I should be here when he wakes up, he won’t wanna see me.”
“Sure, let me just grab my keys,” he says as Jace laughs, getting up to turn off the tv.
“Silly princess still doesn’t know anything,” he comes to me and leans in wrapping one arm around me and ki
ssing my head. “You were part of the family before we even met you, just you and Marcus that needs to accept that, but I think we are getting there,” he pulls away walking backwards and winks at me. “See you soon.”
The drive home is silent, Linc pulls into my house and puts the code in for the gate. As he pulls up and he turns to me.
“Look, Elle, I’m sorry about tonight, about having to ditch on our plans, I mean.”
“Lincoln don’t ever apologize for being there for your friend. That is the best quality you can offer in a friendship, being there for them no matter what. Don’t worry about tonight, there will be other opportunities, I’m sure. I doubt Donovan is going to become a saint overnight.”
“What's your deal with him?” he stares at me intensely before he continues, “Look, I know you said no personal questions and no involving Marcus but the more I help with this the more personal it looks and I think Marcus is involved already.”
I struggle to steady my breathing as I try to think of a way to answer him, but he doesn’t give me a chance.
“Wanna know what I think?” My silence is his only answer “I think something happened to you, something bad and I think little Donovan was there, helped you. I think it forced you to leave, disappear completely off radar. I know because I checked for Marcus. He had me try to check up on you multiple times over the last few years and I never found anything. It’s like you were gone. But here you sit outside of Zack Royton’s house. A house you live in, a house just far enough from Elliot Donovan’s but still close by to be able to watch him.”
I have no words to say. This is the most I have ever heard Linc speak in one go and I have nothing to contribute because I don’t want to lie and everything, he is saying is dead on. Z said he was smart, and I have seen that for myself, I knew it was only a matter of time before he figured stuff out.
“Now little Donovan I have figured out, I’ve watched you two together more than you know, I see how you are. You move and he moves, like you are counterparts of each other. I see the love but it’s familiar love like a brother like family not lust or sex. What I can’t figure out is Zack? Where did he come into the picture and why? And then there is Michael. How is his death tangled up in this?”
