Stranded

by Chance Carter

  My heart dropped a little. “And what business is that anyway?”

  “Top secret.” His mouth formed the barest of amused smiles. “What about you? You’re doing burlesque now.”

  I ran a hand through my hair and took a drink, letting the refreshing liquid calm me a little. Shane watched me steadily, and I could discern no traces of judgment on his features. He was just curious. I would be curious too if all I’d seen was the leap between high school Dallas and ass-shaking, perpetually angry Dallas.

  “My dad told you about what Gromley has on us, right?”

  His slight nod was my answer. Most of the people who knew about our situation were in Preston and Wes’s inner circle. I was sure many suspected that there had to be some reason I was with Wes, particularly when it was clear to everyone around us that I hated him, but nobody ever asked. And I didn’t care if they knew, either. It didn’t matter to me what people thought, or at least it didn’t before Shane came back to town.

  “Preston offered me a deal. I dance in his club a few nights a week, and he uses the money I would make to pay down my dad’s debt.”

  “But why work for him? Why not get a different job in town?”

  I shrugged. “More money this way. Even if I don’t get to see most of it, I’m making way more than I would at a coffee shop or the mall. Besides, I doubt anyone else would hire me. Preston wants me working for him because he can keep an eye on me and prevent me from making enough money to get any stupid ideas about striking out on my own. It’s easier to go along with it than to try to resist.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a deal,” Shane commented.

  “I’m helping my dad and that’s the only thing that’s important to me right now.”

  “That’s admirable, Dallas.” He sat up a little, and when he spoke his voice was honey layered with sex. “But then again, you’ve always been too good for this place.”

  His eyes flicked to my jean-clad legs, sending a flurry of butterflies exploding in my ribcage. Wes couldn’t inspire that reaction in his wildest dreams, but Shane could do it with just a look. I used to think I’d imagined all this when I was younger, that there was no way I could feel as connected to him as I did. The longer I spent with him, the more those feelings crept back, despite my better judgment.

  “How’s your mom?” I asked, needing to steer the conversation away from myself. “Aren’t you worried about how Wes is going to react to your being back?”

  “I took care of it. She’s too far away for anyone to get to her.”

  “Aren’t you worried about yourself?”

  He grinned and set his empty bottle down on the desk. “I never worry about myself. I can’t decide whether it’s a strength or a downfall.”

  “Downfall,” I answered glibly, setting my feet down and grabbing him another beer.

  “Why so certain?”

  I passed him the bottle, and his fingers brushed mine as he took it. I shivered and nearly forgot that he’d asked me a question.

  “It’s what fucked you the last time, isn’t it?” I posed. “Don’t tell me you still go tromping headfirst into danger without the slightest regard for your own safety. Didn’t they teach you better in the army? Can’t save the world if you can’t save yourself.”

  “They taught me patience. That’s more important than anything else.”

  I studied this new Shane, tried to dissect his quiet confidence. The rough edges that used to catch on everything he touched had all been sanded down, and he projected calm while still managing to shake my world at its foundations. He was an enigma but I still felt like I knew him well, like I’d always known him.

  “What are you going to do if Wes or Preston kill you?” I joked. “Wait it out? Get them back in the next lifetime?”

  “Why wait for the next lifetime?” His eyes sparkled. “I’ll raise an army of the undead and make Satan’s Perch true to its name.”

  I snorted. “It already is true to its name.”

  I pictured Preston with horns and a pointy tail. It looked completely natural.

  My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out. Wes had texted me, asking how long it took to deliver food to my dad. Apparently, his recent bout of benevolence was on its way out. I sighed and texted back that I was on my way home.

  “I’ve got to go,” I said.

  Shane’s forehead wrinkled. “Everything okay?”

  I laughed and rolled my eyes, setting my beer on the desk as I rose to my feet. “Calm down, soldier. It’s fine. Wes doesn’t like it when I’m out too late. I’ve got to head home.”

  “You live with him?”

  Again, I looked for judgment in his tone and found none. Nevertheless, shame gnawed on my insides and I found it hard to hold his gaze.

  “Yeah, of course. What’s the point in keeping insurance if you don’t actually keep it? And, well...” I wrinkled my nose. “I’m technically Wes’s girlfriend of three years.”

  Shane didn’t flinch. He must’ve known about this already, which was good since I didn’t want to have to take him through the humiliating details of how a man I despised controlled my entire social life. Still, Shane looked pissed.

  “I have my own room,” I blurted, not sure why I suddenly felt compelled to correct this possible miscommunication.

  Why did it matter to me if Shane thought I was sleeping with Wes or not?

  He smiled, and it was worth it.

  “I’ll walk you out,” he said. “I should be getting back too.”

  We said goodbye to my dad quickly, though he barely noticed our presence. He was thoroughly engrossed in both his chow mein and the bike on the jack. Then, heart hammering in my ears, Shane and I walked out to the parking lot.

  Shane turned to me, a smile etched into his handsome features, and just like that, I was a bubbly teenager again with the world at my feet. “It was good to see you again,” he murmured.

  “Yeah, you too,” I replied. “It’s always nice to see a friendly face.”

  His eyes flicked down to my lips, then back to my eyes. My breath hitched. We were so close. Just a few inches and his mouth could be mine. I pictured myself pressing up on my toes and twining my fingers through his hair, and my cheeks flushed with hot blood. I swallowed. My mouth was suddenly parched.

  He tilted his head toward me, barely moving his lips as he spoke.

  “Goodnight, Dallas.” His voice was golden molasses. Sweet. Thick. I was dying for a taste.

  Then he stepped away, and I felt myself collapse.

  “I’ll see you again soon.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was a pleasantry or a promise.

  I watched Shane walk over to his bike and tried to calm my fluttering heartbeat.

  For a second there, it looked like he was going to kiss me.

  For a second there, it looked like I would let him.

  Chapter 24

  Shane

  It was just my luck to be on such a high from my night with Dallas, only to return to my mom’s trailer and have that high smashed to smithereens. Someone had given a similar treatment to my temporary home.

  The two front windows were shattered from the outside, and a giant spray-paint dick now covered the front door. With gritted teeth I parked my bike and took a quick tour of the perimeter, checking the extent of the exterior damage and making sure there wasn’t anyone still lurking around. The other windows were broken too, and on the back of the trailer, somebody had spray-painted a leprechaun with a noose around its neck. Charming.

  Heaving a great sigh, I walked back around to the deck. The front door swung lazily on its hinges, and I kicked the missing handle across the laminate as I entered. On the inside it looked like a bomb had gone off. The kitchen cupboards were all open, food and broken plates strewn across the floor. The kitchen table lay on its side amidst the splintered pieces of the wooden chairs. There seemed to be broken glass everywhere, and it was freezing. I checked the bedrooms, and both of them had been completely ransacked as well, mattresses sl
ashed open and drawers overturned.

  The message was clear. I figured something like this might happen and I was happy I’d gotten my mom out. Gromley and his goons could intimidate me all they wanted. Sure, rip my mom’s trailer to shreds—she had a new house now that was ten times better. This place was just a place for me to lay my head while I finished up what I came here to do. The fact that they made it impossible for me to lay my head anywhere without cutting myself was frustrating, sure, but I could deal with it. It would only make my victory over Gromley that much sweeter.

  It was late, and I’d face a similar problem if I got a hotel anywhere in Sitka Valley, so I called up Jake instead.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “Hey, Jake. I’ve got a favor to ask of you.” I kicked a lamp and sent it skittering into the wall. “Gromley gave my mom’s place the shakedown, and I can’t stay here tonight. Can I crash with you?”

  Jake didn’t hesitate. “Of course. I’ll have to set you up at the store though. I, uh, still live with my parents.”

  Given that he was providing me a place to sleep for the night, I didn’t comment on this detail. Someday soon, however, Jake and I were going to have to talk about how he needed to fight for his independence. Otherwise, he might be stuck with his parents for good.

  “I’m heading there now. I appreciate it, man.”

  “See you soon.”

  I parked my bike around the back of the store. The noise must’ve caught Jake’s attention because just as I was about to knock on the back door, it squeaked open.

  “You okay, by the way?” Jake asked, standing aside for me to enter. “I forgot to ask if you were present during this shakedown.”

  I laughed. “If I were, do you think I’d be in one piece?”

  Jake pulled the door closed and locked it. “True.”

  We headed up to the office in silence, but I could tell there was more Jake wanted to say. His features were bunched up like he was contemplating his constipation, and that was a surefire sign he had something dying to roll off his tongue. After he rustled up a blanket and pillow for the couch, he grabbed us a couple of beers out of the mini fridge and took a seat at his desk. I sat on top of the blanket and cracked my beer, watching him.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Jake frowned. “Don’t you think if tonight proves anything, it’s that it was a catastrophic mistake you coming here?”

  “All it proves is that Gromley’s still intimidated by me. If anything, that means I was right to come.”

  “It doesn’t prove that at all. The man’s a psychopath. It probably made his day that he had good reason to cause a little mayhem. I bet he wrote in his diary about it.” Jake adopted a falsetto. “Today was a good day. Some punk ass kid I hate came back to town after I told him not to, and I turned his place over like a flaky apple pastry. It was totally bitchin’! Sweet dreams, Diary!”

  I descended into a fit of laughter, but Jake remained stone-faced the whole time. He was taking this very seriously.

  “It’s only going to get worse,” Jake warned when I settled down. “You weren’t in the trailer today and thank god for that, but what if they find you next time?”

  I shrugged. “Then I’ll deal with them.”

  “What if they deal with you first?” He held my gaze, looking graver than I’d ever seen him. “I’m honestly worried about you. It doesn’t seem like you understand how much shit you’re in. You’re not invincible, and you’re outmanned and outgunned in this fight.”

  I sobered, touched by his concern but irritated nonetheless. I knew better than anyone what I could handle, and what I was willing to risk. Jake might have my best at heart, but we had lived different lives.

  “I learned a lot about what I’m made of while I was overseas,” I told him. “I had to face fears I didn’t even know I had. I had to make decisions I never thought I’d have to make. And at the end of the day, you know what it all boils down to?”

  “What?”

  “It’s not whether you can or can’t do something. It’s about whether you’re willing to try, whether the reward for success outweighs the consequence of defeat.”

  “I understand that,” he pressed. “But the consequence of defeat, in this case, is your life.”

  “I would give my life a thousand times over, in a thousand pointless endeavors, if it would save her, Jake.” I glanced down at the bottle in my hand and ran my tongue over the points of my teeth. “I have always loved that girl and I always will. The situation only seems hopeless because nobody else can take the risks I’m willing to take to get her to safety. You think I’m not taking this seriously, but I’m taking it very seriously. I could save myself by leaving here tonight, but without knowing she’ll be okay, my life’s not worth living anyway.”

  “But what if she doesn’t love you back?”

  I snorted and met Jake’s eyes. “She’d probably be smarter not to, but it doesn’t matter either way.”

  “You’re crazy.” He shook his head, though I saw his mouth form the barest of smiles.

  “Crazy doesn’t even cover it,” I replied. “I’m fucking nuts, and that’s why Gromley needs to watch his ass.”

  I never went inside Satan’s Perch before my exile, and I’d never wanted to. It seemed like the perfect place to catch an itch I didn’t want, and worse than that it was Preston Gromley’s crown jewel. Now I had even more reason to stay away, but I was about to go inside for the second night this week.

  I didn’t know the bouncers tonight, though I’d seen Rob out front once before and was careful to keep an eye out for him. It made sense that the gigantic oaf would work as one of Gromley’s bouncers. Back in our football days, he was an unmovable mountain—or at least he was until I took a shot at him. Wounded pride made him the most dangerous of Wes’s bunch, and I was caught between wanting to avoid him forever and seeking him out to wound his pride a little more.

  Tonight, however, my objective didn’t include fighting. I just wanted to see Dallas. She’d been on my mind all day, and I couldn’t stop kicking myself for not kissing her outside her dad’s shop. The way she blushed when I got close to her heralded back to a younger, more innocent Dallas, and further reinforced my belief that her diamond-hard walls went only skin deep.

  Coming to find her at Satan’s Perch was a risk, but since my other option was waiting around outside Preston’s place, it was a risk I was more than happy to take.

  Dallas was just finishing her set on stage when I entered. A crowd of salivating drunks watched her every move with undisguised lust and I wanted to knock out each and every one of them. I couldn’t blame them though, not when one look at the curves on display made me hungry enough to eat her alive.

  She wore only a black bustier and black frilly panties and strutted across the stage in blood red pumps that made her long legs seem limitless. The swell of her tits jiggled with each movement, and her plump ass formed a perfect apple bottom. She crouched low and rolled back up again, shooting a seductive smile at the crowd, and my cock jumped in anticipation. Every dick in this place was surely hard as rock.

  I moved past the crowd and found a door backstage, but a beefy bouncer with a give-no-fucks expression was guarding it. I would have to improvise.

  I pushed one of the guys milling by the door into another guy, melting back into the crowd before either could see me. As I suspected, inciting a fight in Satan’s Perch wasn’t rocket science. The second guy started yelling at the first, and not thirty seconds later he threw his fist at the first guy’s face.

  The bouncer by the door rolled his eyes and surged into the crowd, grabbing both fighters by the scruffs of their necks. I slunk behind him and slipped through the door.

  The crowd erupted into enthusiastic applause as Dallas finished her set, and I hung near the curtain while I waited for her. A second later she stomped into view.

  Dallas’s eyes flew open wide in panic. She raced forward and grabbed my arm, hauling me down the back hallway.<
br />
  “What are you doing here?” she hissed.

  “You seem to ask me that a lot.”

  She opened a door and shoved me through, taking one last look down either side of the hall before entering and closing the door behind her. The lock clicked into place, and she rested her back against the door, glaring at me.

  “Do you realize how much danger you’re in?”

  I stepped up to her until I could feel the heat radiating from her skin and smell the perfume of her sweat. She smelled sweet too, and it reminded me of my secret meadow in the springtime. If there was anyone who embodied springtime, it was Dallas.

  “You’re so worried about me,” I teased, resting a hand on either side of her face. “It’s cute.”

  “Cute?” her expression soured.

  I leaned in a little closer. Her pupils spilled outward, and she kept her eyes laser-focused on mine.

  “Yes,” I murmured. “Cute. Adorable even.”

  “You know what’s not going to be adorable?”

  “What?”

  “You after Wes and his friends beat the shit out of you.”

  I watched her mouth as she spoke, wondering if her lips would still taste as good as they did the first time. Of course they would. Hell, they’d be even sweeter for the waiting.

  When I met her eyes again, Dallas’s expression had lost all conviction, all irritation. She stood stock straight against the door, but her eyes seemed to reach out to me.

  “Well, since my demise is imminent...” I lifted one hand to her face, running my thumb over her satiny lower lip. “I guess I better make the most of life while I can.”

  I couldn’t wait any longer. I captured her mouth with mine in an explosion of passion and desire. She moaned and threw her arms around my neck, curving against me. I was delighted to find that her mouth did taste even sweeter than I remembered, and I could have escaped into that honeyed kiss forever. I held her waist at first, only letting a single finger brush over the strip of skin beneath the hard curve of her bustier.