I hear a whistle from behind me and as I turn around I see Vixx making her way toward me. There is something familiar about Vixx Atwell even though I can’t seem to put my finger on it. She’s average height with a yoga body. Her long hair hangs to the small of her back and is dyed a deep plum color. It suits her well especially with her extremely light blue eyes. She has on a cranberry colored dress that is hugging her body. It’s short barely hitting her mid-thigh. The top of the dress and the sleeves are see-through. Her silver heels glisten as they catch the sunlight. As she reaches me she steps forward and presses a kiss to my cheek. “Hey there good looking,” she says with a wink.
I laugh, “Good looking? I’ll take that but really all compliments should be held for you. You. Look. Amazing.”
She smiles up at me, “Don’t drool on your suit. I’d hate for you to ruin the wedding photos.”
I give her a look of shock while I straighten my tie, “As if that were possible. I only enhance the photos.”
“Always so sure of yourself.”
“Always,” I retort giving her the smile that all the girls love.
She rolls her eyes, “Turn down the charm Bowie I’m already your date just show me to my seat.” She loops her arm through mine and I show her to a seat.
Once I leave Vixx, I make my way over to my brothers. “You’re actually on time,” Axell comments.
“Well, I’m not, Ace,” I tell him because we all know Ace has a horrible habit of being late.
Ace shrugs, “True,” Then he turns to look at me and I can see it in his eyes. He needs to talk about something. I grab his elbow and pull him off to the side.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him.
“What makes you think there’s something wrong?”
Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes, “I know that look Ace just tell me, so we can fix whatever the hell it is.”
Ace takes a deep breath before plunging headfirst into the ice-cold ocean that is my soul.
“Hollis is back.”
His words shift my entire world on its axis. I look up toward the sky while I try to figure out exactly what he means. How would he know she was back? How did he know before I did? What the hell was going to happen now? My mind felt like it was racing in its own personal hell and I felt like the Titanic just hit me square in the chest. Flashes of Hollis fill my mind. Finally, I look Ace back in the eye.
“How?”
Ace clears his throat clearly uncomfortable, “Remember a few weeks ago when I rented out the last room in the building to a female tattoo artist?” I just nod my head which is now spinning and pounding at the same time. “Well, there was a girl that came in by the name of Holly Sullivan. I didn’t know it at the time but I knew there was something familiar about her when I first saw her. By the time we had made it to the room, I had figured out that Holly Sullivan is actually Hollis Foust. I’m still unsure about the name change.” We stand there staring at each other for some time before Ace starts talking again. “At first I wasn’t going to rent her the room, but something about her seemed even more broken than the last time I had seen her which was hard to believe so I rented her the room. She was worried about you but I told her I’d handle it.”
He rented her the room? She had been working in his shop for at least the last three weeks and he was just now telling me! What the hell was he thinking? He should have told me the minute he had given her the space. I grab the collar of Ace’s shirt. “Is this you handling it, Ace? At least three weeks later blurting out that she’s back at our brother’s wedding, what the hell are you thinking?”
Ace grips my wrists and forces my hands away from him then continues to straighten up his shirt and tie while glaring at me. “Well, I was thinking that I had to find a way to win Kynlee back, get everything settled before I left for Inked Up, move into a new house in a safer neighborhood and get everything at Inkredible and the car shop settled before I had to leave town. Oh! And then there’s the tiny little fact that you work all the time now. Did you think this was how I wanted to tell you? Because let me tell you something it sure as hell wasn’t, but time is running out and with Roscoe getting back tomorrow. I didn’t want you to walk into Inkredible and be ambushed by the sight of her. So yeah, this is me dealing with it at our brother’s wedding.”
He steps around me and starts to head back to the rest of our brothers. I watch his back until he turns back around to me. “She needs someone, Bowie. There’s this lost look in her eyes and it’s heartbreaking to see. Hollis never had much, but she did have you. I think it would do both of you some good if you at least try to talk to her, maybe try to be friends or at least help her through whatever it is she’s going through now.”
Ace turns back around and continues to our brothers, but I can’t stop the erratic beating of my heart. Hollis had never had anyone except me and Alex, but Alex had been ripped away from her on that nightmare of a night. Then she had left without even saying goodbye and it shattered my freaking heart. I had never gotten it pieced back together, but why did it feel like hearing she was back, pieced it back together to only be shattered again when Ace mentioned the lost look in her eyes? That broke my freaking heart all over again. I had always promised that I’d be her safe haven, that I’d always protect her but in the end, I couldn’t. I was too young, too naïve, and with basically no money to help her but now… now I could. I was ten years older and ten years wiser, I knew how this world worked and between my radio DJ job, the car shop, JamesTown, and racing; I had more than enough money. But, could I really help her when I still felt so betrayed by her disappearance?
****
Hollis
When I came into the shop, this morning it had been quiet. I didn’t like the silence it let my brain run wild. Memories would come flooding back and haunt me. All of the what if questions that start to pop up. All the lost hopes and dreams of the girl I used to be. After a small search, I found the stereo system that Ace always had playing. Once I found that I could quiet my mind and get ready for the tattoo appointment.
The girl that made the tattoo appointment is late. I’m just about to give up when I finally hear the bell in the front of the shop. The girl saunters in, only an hour late. I bite my tongue, but she’s lucky I didn’t have more appointments scheduled for today. Half an hour later and two panic attacks later and I’m finally starting the tattoo when I hear the music from the front start up again. Inwardly I groan then apologize to my client as I get up and make my way to the front of the shop.
I just step out from the hallway when his sky-blue eyes pin me to the spot I’ve halted in. I forget how to breathe. I forget how to speak. I forget everything because I forgot how beautiful Bowie James is. I forgot how his eyes could make you feel like he was running his fingers through your soul without actually ever touching you. I forgot how he created a frenzy of butterflies in my stomach. I forgot how his eyes sent chills over my skin. I forgot how just the simple sight of him sent my heart into a panic, thundering against my chest.
“Hollis?” Bowie says in that raspy voice of his that always made me swoon. However, I notice that his voice isn’t filled with love or awe when he says my name now. No, now I hear the hurt, the disbelief, the shock, and the betrayal that I left behind. For the first time since seeing him, I feel the shame fill me. I hang my head and I hear Bowie take a tentative step toward me but he stops. Bowie clears his throat. “Hollis?” I raise my head back up to meet his eyes. We stand locked in that stance. Both of us staring into the other’s soul, trying to figure out what the hell was going on and what it all meant. Did my return change anything for him? How much damage had I caused by leaving that was irreparable?
I hear an annoyed scoff from behind me. “Lady, are you ever going to come finish this? I have other things to do today.” I bite the inside of my cheek, but roll my eyes since she can’t see me right now. The girl was over an hour late and now she’s worried about a time schedule, really?
I giv
e Bowie a small, apologetic smile then turn back around to see the girl standing there in her low-rise jeans and bra. She wanted her tattoo on her right rib cage but you’d think she would have grabbed her shirt to cover herself with but I guess not. “I’ll be right back in there.” She stomps back off to my room. I slowly turn back around to see Bowie still staring intently at me. I motion over my shoulder down the hallway. “I should go finish that.” Bowie nods, “Did you need something in particular?”
“You mean aside from you?” he asks, before running his hand through his hair. “Shit, I’m sorry. Ace told me you were back and I guess I had to see for myself.”
I nod in acceptance because I realize that he’s only here to make sure that Ace wasn’t pulling some kind of joke on him. “Well, I’m here and I need to get back to work so if that’s all,” I tell him, as I turn and head back down the hallway.
I’m halfway down the hallway when I feel the warm hand wrap around my arm, right above my elbow and pull me back toward his chest. I hear as Bowie takes a deep breath of my hair. My heart is pounding so loudly that I’m sure he can hear it. “See me later?” His breath dances across my skin and for a moment I’m not sure I heard him right, but I feel my head nodding in agreement before I can even formulate an answer. With that, Bowie releases my arm and leaves. I listen as his footsteps become more distant until I can no longer hear them over the music playing over the speakers. The music from the front door is the only indication that he’s actually gone. I take deep, steadying breaths, but it doesn’t do much good because my body is humming. Bowie James was always my safe haven, but that was ten years ago. What would this Bowie James be to this version of me? I probably didn’t need the answer but damn I wanted it.
Chapter 3
First Encounter
Hollis
I was sitting in the back of the classroom, invisible as always. No one paid attention to the girl with nothing to offer and I definitely had nothing to offer. There was a brief moment in time when I had everyone’s attention but it didn’t last long. The rumor that my parents were dealing drugs hit the school rumor mill and took off like a wildfire in a dry field on a windy day. However, once my classmates realized I wasn’t going to be supplying their nasty habits, I slipped back into the land of invisibility. I was fine with it most of the time.
I rubbed my uppers arms trying to warm off the cold from the AC in the classroom. That was the worst part about sitting in the back, I got hit directly from the vent. I should probably enjoy it since we had no heating or cooling at our house but I had a tendency to get cold so I didn’t enjoy it. If it wasn’t for the fact that this was the easiest and quickest way to leave the classroom then I’d sit somewhere else. As soon as the bell rings I’m out of my chair and making my way to the door, books in hand. I bolt out of the door but collide with a tall, lean body. My books fall to the floor with a thud and scatter in the hallway.
A set of strong arms grab me around the waist. His books join mine on the floor, but he did just keep me from falling. He smells good, like really good, like aftershave and bath soap. It’s masculine and clean. I look up into his cobalt blue eyes and it’s almost like everything freezes around us. He stares back into my eyes until I start to feel light headed then finally he asks, “You okay?” I can’t find my voice so I just nod. He releases me and bends down to collect our books.
The minute he releases me the cold creeps back in. For a minute there I forgot about it. Roscoe hands Bowie some of my belongings which he then extends to me. I take them and mumble a thank you. He nods then tells Roscoe he’ll catch up with him. When he turns back to face me I feel like he’s trying to figure something out. “You sure you’re okay?”
I nod then mumble, “Yes.” The way he is staring makes me uncomfortable. I’m comfortable being invisible, but the way Bowie is studying me lets me know I’m not invisible to him.
He extends his hand as a heartbreakingly beautiful smile comes over his face. I watch as a dimple on his right cheek appears. “I’m Bowie James.”
“I know,” I tell him, but I don’t take his hand. Instead, I step around him and start to go toward my next class. I know Bowie James, everyone knows Bowie and his brothers. They all drive fast cars and race on the weekends. They are cool without having to try. We don’t really have jocks at our school, but we do have the James brothers and their group of friends. They are the school royalty around here. All the guys want to be them and all the girls want to be with them. They don’t take anything from anyone. I hate that my stomach is dancing around with butterflies and I hate that when I look back over my shoulder, I see Bowie still standing there watching me walk away. I hate the feeling of hope that he gives me. Hope is the last thing I should be feeling when it comes to a guy like him.
****
Bowie
Roscoe and I were making our way to our next class, shop class. My favorite time of day. Nothing beat getting under the hood of the car. I was destined to be one of those guys with permanent grease stains on my hands and under my fingernails, but I didn’t give a damn. I was a James boy and that meant three things. 1. We loved cars 2. We loved racing cars 3. We had a reputation of being a badass.
Roscoe nudged me in the ribs causing me to follow his line of sight to Sophia. Roscoe had been suffering from a crush on her for longer than I can remember. I wasn’t sure why he hadn’t just asked her out already, but for some reason, he hadn’t. I was so busy looking at Sophia that I didn’t even notice the door that was being pushed open until I had jumped out of its way. However, jumping out of the doorway knocked me right into the girl behind the door.
Her books scattered to the floor, and I noticed instantly that she was going to fall. I threw my books to the floor and wrapped my arms around her waist. She was tiny, too tiny. Her blonde ponytail smelled like coconut and her skin was cold. When she finally looked up I was met with a pair of the most amazing eyes. A set of eyes that knocked the air out of my lungs and set my soul on fire all at the same time. Those gray eyes looked far too jaded and guarded for someone of her age. I didn’t know her, but I felt this need to.
Chapter 4
Bowie
I’m sitting behind the wheel of my car with Guns N’ Roses blaring over my speakers. What the hell had I been thinking asking Hollis to see me later? Really? I had a reputation that preceded me and it was because I didn’t have to work all that hard to get girls, so why bother with Hollis? She was the girl that shattered my heart and ripped my soul to shreds with her abrupt disappearance. She was the one who had left without even saying goodbye. She was the one that had returned ten years later with a different name and still no word to me. She didn’t seek me out once she returned to say hello or how life is or screw you… nothing. She gave me nothing but for some reason, she is the one thing that haunts my mind.
Late at night when I can’t sleep it’s still her gray eyes that haunt me. It’s still that airy, breath of life laugh that I swear I can hear. It’s still that breathy whisper of my name on her lips that haunts me. Why had I gone to that shop today? Why open all these wounds? Oh yeah, Ace and his words that cut at that part of my heart that Hollis will always hold. I knew those words would haunt me and sure enough, they did, all through Axell and Sadie’s wedding and reception. They haunted me so much that even Vixx had picked up on it. So, of course, as soon as I could get away without causing my brothers to take notice I bolted.
I drove around for a while just letting the salty, smog-filled air rush through the open windows of my car, good music blaring through my speakers. I drove and drove until I ended up at the last place I had expected. Yet I drove down that back road just like it was yesterday and not ten years ago. I parked in that open field and got out of the car. I let the images of Hollis dancing around in this field take over. I let my heart bleed for her, for me, for our future, for us. Then I got back in the car with the intention to go home, but instead, I pulled into the parking lot of Inkredible.
Once I e
ntered the shop I knew there was no turning back but even more surprising was the fact that I didn’t want to. At least until I saw her. Damn, those ten years had been good to her. I hadn’t forgotten how beautiful she was, but I hadn’t expected her beauty to be so much more now. Ace had been right those gray eyes were lost and…haunted. I can’t think of another word to describe them.
As I had studied her I noticed all the subtle differences about her and I realized that the Hollis I had known was gone. She was no longer the awkward teen girl but there was still something that called to me just like it had back then. If asked, I’d swear Hollis had been a siren in a past life because I swear it’s like she sung to my soul without ever opening her mouth and just like all the victims of sirens I’d let Hollis kill me. I’d plunge into my death time and time again if I knew it’d be by her hands. Yeah, Hollis was a siren that I couldn’t resist.
I had been shocked when I had grabbed her and asked her to see me tonight, but I shouldn’t have been. I should have foreseen that one coming. What I didn’t see coming was her reaction to me. I felt that little hitch of breath when I had touched her arm. I had seen the goosebumps that covered her skin as I whispered into her ear. It gave me hope that maybe her soul was as drawn to mine as mine was to hers.
****
I sit in front of Hollis’ crumbling and worn apartment building. I hate the idea of her living here. I had gotten her address from Ace and I knew from the name of the street that it was in a worse area than most but I hadn’t expected it to look so… close to being condemned.
Finally, I get out and make my way to her door. I knock and hear the bark from behind the door followed by the sounds of Hollis unlocking the multiple locks. When she opens the door all the air in my lungs leaves my body. I don’t think I had taken the time to really appreciate her earlier. “Elliot, quiet,” she says over her shoulder. “Sorry, come on in,” she tells me, as she steps away from the door.
Force of Impact (The James Brothers Series Book 3) Page 2
