Smoke (Archer's Creek Book 5)

by Gemma Weir

  I take the long route to Park’s tattoo shop and let myself in through the front door instead of the back one located next to the entrance to his apartment. There’s no way Park will have left his old lady at the club without him tonight, so I know that both Rosie and Riley will be upstairs, and I don’t want to risk seeing her right now.

  Not bothering to turn the lights on, I make my way through the dark shop and into Park’s private room at the back. The other artists all have open-plan booths in the main shop, but Park likes to be private when he works and he is the boss.

  The walls are covered in pictures of the tattoos he’s done, framed artwork he’s drawn, and murals he’s painted directly onto the walls. He’s a fucking genius with a brush or a needle and all of my work except for the couple of punk tattoos I had done as a teenager has been done by him. This is where we come to work out our shit. When he has issues, I let him tattoo whatever he wants onto my skin; and when I have issues, he tattoos whatever I want.

  Tonight, I have no idea what the fuck I need.

  I hear the back door opening and then the clinking of bottles as Park pulls something from the refrigerator in the storage room in the back. The door pushes open and my brother lowers a bottle of vodka onto the rolling table he uses as a work station and then drops his ass down into his chair.

  Neither of us speaks as he unscrews the top and brings the bottle to his lips, taking a drink, then passing the bottle to me to do the same. The vodka is cold and strong, burning as it coats my throat. I take a second drink, then pass it back to him.

  “What the fuck happened?” he asks.

  I laugh and it’s a pained, bitter sound. “I have no fucking clue.”

  “I told you to talk to her.”

  “I tried.”

  “And?” he says, passing the bottle back to me again.

  “And she apologized for the sex.”

  Park chuckles, the fucker. “She apologized?”

  “Yep. She said she thought I was willing, but that she’s sorry that she jumped on my dick.”

  He laughs now, the action shaking his body as he vibrates with amusement.

  “Fuck you,” I snarl, taking another gulp of vodka.

  Park’s laughter gradually subsides as I sneer at him, drinking from the bottle without offering it to him again.

  “Okay, so what happened then?” He asks when he’s finally got himself under control again.

  “I asked her out.”

  His jaw falls and he stares at me, shock clear in his bug-eyed expression.

  “And she said,” I pause, taking another pull from the bottle. “No.”

  “No?” Park says, sounding almost as shocked about it as I am.

  “She asked me to take her to the truck again, and when I told her I’d rather take her to dinner, she told me I wasn’t her type, that she wasn’t interested, and that she had a boyfriend.”

  “Fuck,” Park mutters, taking the vodka bottle from me, before I can bring it to my mouth again.

  Lacing my fingers together, I cup them at the back of my head and lean back in my seat, looking up at the stained ceiling tiles above us.

  “You asked her to dinner?”

  “I did,” I say with a resigned chuckle. “Stupid huh?”

  “You like her.”

  “Don’t matter now. She sure as fuck isn’t interested in me.”

  We both fall silent again, and I watch as Park takes a drink from the vodka, then holds it out for me again. I take it from him and drink, the liquor still burning as it pours down my throat.

  “So what you gonna do?” Park asks.

  “Drink,” I say, raising the bottle in the air.

  “And after that bottle’s done, what are you gonna do?”

  “Probably pass out,” I laugh.

  “About Riley, asshole.”

  “Nothing.”

  “What the fuck, brother? I thought you were a ladies’ man; the one no pussy can ever resist. I thought you were the motherfucking king of the world. You get the pick of the pussy, because they all want you,” he taunts me, all humor gone from his expression.

  Closing my eyes, I tip the bottle back and drink. “Looks like I finally found the one that’s immune to my charms.”

  When Park suggests that we leave, I jump at the chance to get the hell away from this club and Justin and quickly agree. Rosie’s assessing gaze never wavers far from me as we make our way back to a cherry-red car that is so ostentatious and opposite to Park, I have to wonder who he borrowed it from, but I don’t ask. I just climb into the back of the car and stay silent as Park drives us back to his and Rosie’s apartment.

  When we get there, we all climb up the stairs and into their home. Rosie goes straight to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of wine and grabbing two glasses from the cabinet, as I kick off my heels and slump down onto the couch.

  I watch as Park catches her around the waist and pulls her into his chest, leaning down to whisper something into her ear. The way they are with each other is so easy, so effortless. Their bodies and movements are so synchronized, like they’ve done them a hundred times before. They probably have. I’ve never had a relationship like that. Greg was the closest I’ve ever come to moving in with a guy and look how that turned out.

  I have no experience of a relationship like Park and Rosie have, but for the first time I can feel a pang of longing for it. It would be nice to have someone who knows you well enough to know what you’re going to do before you do it. It would be great to have someone to look after me, to protect me and care about me.

  My mom and dad are the perfect couple. The love they share is evident in everything they do for each other or for us kids. I grew up with the shining example of what married, happy life should look like, but unlike my sister Tiff, I just never thought that life was for me.

  When Rosie twists her head to look at Park and lifts her lips for a kiss, I look away, feeling like I’m intruding on a private moment, even though they know I’m only a few feet away. Sighing wearily I flop back into the couch cushions and close my eyes. The image of Justin walking away, that girl hanging off his arm, immediately flashes into my head and I feel myself wince just from the memory.

  It shouldn’t surprise me. I’ve watched him do the exact same thing twice before, but this time it felt different. It felt like a betrayal, which is absurd given that I had turned him down flat only a few minutes earlier.

  When I hear the front door click shut, I open my eyes and look for Rosie. She’s sat opposite me, curled into an armchair, a glass of wine in her hand. She motions to the other glass on the table and I gratefully pick it up and take a drink. “Thanks. Where’s Park?”

  “He’s gone down to the shop,” Rosie says, her eyes narrowed slightly, her lips twisted into a slight frown.

  “Oh.”

  “What’s going on, Riley? I know something is happening between you and Smoke, so stopping lying to me and just tell me the truth.”

  “Oh, God,” I cry, letting my head fall forward into my hands. “I had sex with him,” I admit, my face still hidden.

  “What?” She screeches. “When?”

  “Before he dropped me off here this afternoon.” I admit. Lifting my eyes, I wait for her shock or disgust, but instead she’s smiling—a full-blown megawatt grin. “This isn’t good, Rosie.”

  She laughs. The bitch laughs. “Oh my god, your face,” she taunts, giggling.

  “Fuck you. This is bad, so fucking bad.”

  “Details, I want details.”

  I try to fight it, but I can’t help the small grin that appears when I think about sex with Justin. The circumstances and everything since then might be a nightmare, but the actual sex had been unbelievable.

  “Was it good?” Rosie asks, uncurling her legs and leaning forward, eager to hear my response.

  Closing my eyes, I grimace a little, then admit. “It was out of this world.”

  Rosie shrieks and bounces excitedly in her seat. “Tell me everything.�
��

  So I do. I tell her about the way I jumped him. How we had hot, dirty, truck sex, and it was intense and fantastic. Then I tell her about how awful and weird and shitty it was once we’d finished, and I tell her about him asking me out and me being a bitch and lying to him.

  “You told him you have a boyfriend?” She says, her voice a little incredulous, her brows knitted together in confusion.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know.” I admit, cringing again at how much worse it all sounds now I’m saying it aloud.

  “Do you like him?”

  “No,” I say quickly. “Maybe.”

  Her smile comes back full force. “You like him.”

  “I don’t. He’s too cocky and so arrogant. He’s a manwhore and he smirks at me. I don’t like him.”

  “You like him,” she says again, the glee obvious in her voice.

  “I can’t,” I whisper.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I just got my heart stamped on by Greg, and Justin wears much bigger shoes. When he hurts me, my heart won’t just get bruised, it’ll break, and I can’t deal with that so soon after Greg. I need a nice guy, someone who’s calm and easy. I won’t survive Justin, I just won’t.” I admit, voicing the concerns that until now I’ve kept hidden.

  “He’s not who you think he is. You told me about Greg, and he sounds like an asshole. Smoke isn’t like that.”

  “He left with another woman tonight, Rosie. He’s hot, but I’m not equipped to deal with guys like him. The best thing I can do, is chalk this up to a glitch in the matrix and move on. We had sex, he’s hot, and that’s all there is to it. Plus, my family would hate him. God, they already think I’m wasting my life. Can you imagine if I took him home?”

  “Wow, Riley, that was mean and bitchy. He’s a good guy. He might be big and covered in tats, but he’s not dumb.”

  Sighing, I scrub at my face with my hands. “I know, I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I said it. Just thinking about Justin brings out the worst in me. When I open my mouth mean stuff comes out and I don’t even mean to do it. This afternoon we had hot sex and then tonight he asks me out and I told him I wasn’t interested in him and have a fucking boyfriend. What the hell is wrong with me?”

  Rosie climbs out of her seat and walks around the coffee table, sitting down next to me and throwing her arm around my shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on, but maybe you’re right. Maybe staying away from Smoke is the right decision.”

  I nod, resting my head on her shoulder as we both fall silent.

  Two Weeks later.

  I’ve successfully managed to avoid Justin for two weeks, even though I’ve been to Rosie and Park’s and met up with the other girls too. Only today, I won’t be able to avoid him anymore. The whole club are spending the hot balmy day down at the beach that skirts the edge of a huge lake I didn’t even know was here. The vans and trucks have been loaded up with coolers full of beer, and there’s a huge BBQ with enough food to feed a small country.

  When Rosie told me about the lake party, I claimed to have too much work on to go, but she knew I was lying. That girl is relentless when she wants something. So here I am, dressed in a red, string bikini, laying out on a towel, and trying really hard not to look for Justin.

  Apparently, days like this are only for club members, their families, a few of the club girls, and close friends. But this still means there’s over forty people, including a lot of the kids I saw at the last BBQ I attended.

  The other girls are to either side of me and as I lie on my front, my hands rested beneath my cheek, I listen to their conversation.

  “So is money still going missing?” Nikki asks.

  “Yep and it’s driving me crazy. It’s not every day and I don’t think it’s someone from Beavers; but it’s got to be someone who knows the club well enough to know how and when we bank, and how much money to take so that it’s not too obvious,” Grits replies, the frustration clear in her tone.

  “So is Puck looking into it?” Nikki asks.

  Grits sighs, and I hear the fizzing sound of a beer bottle being opened. “Anders has asked him to, but he’s snowed under with some security issues they’ve got with one of their clients. He’s said he’ll look into it when he can, but the contract stuff has to come first, especially because I don’t have any real evidence.”

  “Hey, Riley,” Nikki calls.

  Turning my head, I blink open my eyes and look at her. “Yeah?”

  “I know you design computer games, but how are your computer security skills?” She asks, a sparkle in her smile.

  “Not great,” I say.

  “But you know code, so you must have some basic hacking skills.”

  “I mean, yeah, I know how to do the basics, but I can’t like hack a bank or whatever.” I say, pushing one elbow up and resting my cheek against my palm.

  “But you could have a look into this money going missing, for Grits?” Nikki says expectantly.

  “Err.” I look to Grits, then back to Nikki.

  “I’d appreciate anything you could do to help,” Grits says, her stern face softening slightly.

  “I can look. I don’t know what I’ll be able to do to help, but I can look,” I reluctantly agree.

  “Great,” Nikki says, with a smile I’m sure could convince anyone to do anything she wanted. “You’re staying at Rosie’s tonight, right?”

  “Yeah,” I say hesitantly.

  “Perfect, then you can go to the club tomorrow morning for a few hours, then come to mine and Cam’s for some drinks and food after,” she says, so matter of factly that I don’t even argue. I just nod.

  Feeling a little railroaded, I flop back down onto my towel and close my eyes. Resting my head on my arms, I zone out, ignoring the people around me and the shrieks of joy and laughter from the children playing in the lake. I’m not sure how much time passes, but when I open my eyes again, blinking against the bright sunlight, I look up to find Justin’s intense gaze staring back at me. I should look away, I know I should, but I don’t. I hold his gaze and we stay like that, just staring at each other.

  For the rest of the afternoon our eyes never stray far. We eat and tan, obsessively watching, but refusing to move any closer. I observe, unmoving, as a blonde girl wearing only a tiny white thong bikini bottom and nothing else crawls into his lap and proceeds to kiss and nip at his neck, her hand rubbing at his dick beneath his shorts.

  It’s heaven and hell, but despite it all neither of us can look away. When the light starts to fade, I’m not sure if he’s torturing me, or if I’m torturing him, but either way, whatever this thing is that we’re doing to each other, it’s torment.

  We all pile back into the cars, trucks, and bikes that brought us to the lake and in convoy we head back to the clubhouse. I’m expecting another party, but for the first time since I stepped foot into the Doomsday Sinners domain the building is calm and peaceful.

  I don’t understand what Justin and I are doing. The staring, the looks, feel like a challenge, a game of chicken to see who will dare to glance away first, but I don’t know what the prize is or how you win. Something about the way he was looking at me today makes me not want to back down. I know I shouldn’t be doing this, I shouldn’t be engaging him, but I can’t help myself.

  If this is a game, then I’m playing to win.

  Duke, the guy I met a couple of weeks ago, hands me a beer and then sinks down next to me on the big leather couch. His blonde hair is shaved short on the side, but left longer on top, and I’d guess he could probably pull it up into a man bun if he tried. He’s younger than me, probably late teens or early twenties, and there’s a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose and along his cheeks that give him this adorably innocent vibe. Combining all that with his piercing blue eyes, the obvious badboy attitude and confident swagger, and he’s just about the perfect combination of sweet and sinful.

  His thigh is touching mine, his bod
y leaned toward me as if we’re old friends or almost lovers. A mischievous smile begins to spread across his face and he lifts his arm and places it along the back of the couch behind me. He leans in closer to me and whispers into my ear. “Laugh.”

  “What?” I whisper.

  “He’s watching us. Laugh, make him think I’m charming you.”

  I can’t help my smile and I bite at the side of my lip and giggle flirtatiously.

  “Perfect,” he drawls into my ear, his accent a richer, deeper, honeyed tone than the others.

  “Why are you doing this?” I ask, twisting my body to face his.

  “Because you guys have been eye-fucking all day, but he’s had that bitch rubbing on his dick, so I’m evening up the playing field.”

  Lifting my gaze to his eyes, I spot the sparkle of enjoyment in them. “You like to play games with people, don’t you?” I ask him.

  “I love games,” he replies with a wink, lifting his bottle toward me and clinking it against mine.

  Duke is the perfect distraction and even though I can feel Justin’s eyes on me, I manage not to stare at him. I giggle and flirt, only Duke and I know it’s all for show and we’re both enjoying every minute of it.

  A girly shriek grabs my attention and I turn to look for the source of the noise without thought. Justin is out of his seat and my eyes gravitate upwards from his huge thighs, to his abs that I know are firm and defined. Up his rock-hard chest to his smug face, then across to the bare ass of the girl who is now thrown over his shoulder.

  I move my gaze to his face and find him waiting for me. The cocky smile on his lips assaults my senses, the dimple in his cheek deep and pronounced as he tilts his head to the side and watches me as he slides his palm over the squirming, giggling girl’s ass.

  I feel the smile on my face slip away and I know he sees it too. I watch as his eyelids slowly blink closed, then open again. A second later he turns and walks straight out of the doors and into the night.