by Missy Jane
I heard his breath catch and his baby-blue eyes darkened the slightest bit. One of his hands was kneading me through my robe.
“Then?” he asked.
“Then I imagined you on top of me,” I whispered.
I was trying to decide how much to say when a door shut somewhere in the back of the house. We jumped away from each other and I laughed guiltily as Elle walked into the room.
“Max?”
Sean sighed and turned to look at her with a sympathetic frown in place.
“Hey, Elle. Damn, girl. Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the ER?”
I looked at her freshly scrubbed face to see the very prominent bruises and swelling. It was so bad I could barely stand to look at her, but it wasn’t the first time I’d seen her like that. She nodded at Sean before taking a seat on my sofa.
“I just need to stay here a couple of days, that’s all.”
Sean walked over to sit on my wooden coffee table, directly in front of her. Their knees were almost touching and he was watching her with a very determined expression.
I followed but remained standing, nervously shifting from foot to foot. I had no clue what he was going to say but didn’t really expect it to make much difference. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Elle, I’m not going to give you the spiel about how beautiful and intelligent you are. I’m not going to remind you there are plenty of other guys who would be willing to treat you as you deserve without ever lifting a finger to hurt you.”
I stood beside the sofa watching them. Elle’s shoulders sagged in defeat as she kept her gaze on Sean’s hands clasped between his knees. She remained silent as he continued in a low, even voice.
“I’m not even going to remind you that no matter how many times you defend him, Declan is a grown man who should know better, and if he truly loves you he wouldn’t do this shit.”
A tear slipped down her cheek but we all ignored it.
“All I’m going to say is, if you happen to get pregnant Declan isn’t going to stop with just hitting you. And that would be really unfair to your baby.”
Then he stood and walked into the front hallway. I squeezed Elle’s shoulder as she quietly sobbed. For a moment I was torn between comforting her and going to see Sean before he left, but she waved me away with one hand. Sean waited until I joined him before opening the front door and nudging me out to the porch. He flipped off my porch light and shut the door, leaving us in almost complete darkness.
“Hey,” I said.
“What? Afraid of the dark?”
His tone was teasing but his hands were serious as he pulled me against him. I sighed and he caught it in his mouth as he kissed me deeply. I wrapped both arms around his neck, trying to lose myself in the sensation of his strong tongue thrusting against mine, but his words haunted me. He must have felt my lackluster response and pulled back to lean his forehead on mine, keeping me in his embrace.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped any lines in there,” he whispered against my lips.
I shook my head and gave him a quick peck.
“Don’t be. She needs to hear some hard truths from someone other than me. Her fucking family has her brainwashed into thinking Declan can do no wrong. They’re all assholes.”
He moved until I was pressed against my front door.
“Figures. Women like her usually need a lot of positive reinforcement to change.”
I got the feeling he knew exactly what he was talking about but wasn’t sure how to ask. He kissed me again before I could try.
“Are you going to be okay tonight? Do you think Declan will come by?”
How he could still think while plastered against me I didn’t know, but it took a few seconds for me to remember how to speak.
“Uh…no? No. He never has before when they fought. He likes for her to go crawling back.”
“Dickhead.”
“Yeah.”
Then we were kissing again and I was rubbing against all his wonderful muscles, wishing we were in the privacy of my bedroom rather than on my front porch. Wishing Elle was safely ensconced somewhere else and Declan was six feet under. Wishing I didn’t have to get up early for work the next morning and could spend an eternity in Sean’s arms.
As if reading my thoughts, his arms tightened around me for a second before he slowly let go and stepped away.
“I should go,” he said.
I sighed an agreement, though I didn’t want to. “Okay.”
“If there’s any trouble tonight call me. Don’t open the door and try to yell at Declan. Just call me, okay?”
I snorted a laugh. “You know me too well.”
“What?”
“You assume I’ll open the door to yell at Declan if he shows up even though that would be really stupid. He’s a lot bigger and stronger than I am, but that would probably be my first reaction.”
He leaned in for another soft kiss and I grasped the door handle for support.
“Just don’t open the door for anyone else tonight. Call the cops first and then me.”
“Okay.”
He continued to stare at me for a moment but it was too dark to read anything in his eyes. Then he turned and walked down the path to the curb, stepping off into the street and into a light jog. I watched his muscular ass as far as the streetlight illumination allowed then went back inside my house.
Elle was curled into a ball at one end of the long sofa. I already knew from experience she wouldn’t appreciate my initial instinct to hover. I went into the kitchen and put a pot of water to boil so I could make tea. I was getting mugs from the cabinet when I heard her shuffle into the room.
“I’m so sorry, Meg. I had no idea you and Max had a thing going after all and if I’d known he was coming over—”
“Oh no, Elle.” I waved away her concern. “He just happened to stop by. It wasn’t a planned visit.”
“Oh. Well, you two certainly seem to be getting along well.”
There was nothing in her voice to tell me what she thought of that and her face was too swollen to give anything away. I just smiled back and took the two empty mugs to my kitchen table. She followed and flopped into a chair.
“He agreed to come over for the barbecue on Saturday. Then we kind of had a…moment, in the hot tub. He’s definitely opening up to me.”
She tried to smile but it turned into a grimace. I busied myself selecting tea from the ridiculous buffet in one drawer. Tea is kind of an obsession with me.
“I’m glad he finally realized you’re irresistible,” she said with a slight giggle.
It gave me hope to hear it and I laughed too.
“Yeah. I guess you were right.”
She sighed heavily and ran her hands through her hair, gasping when they passed over a small wound on her head.
“Yeah, so was he.”
“About what?”
“You know…Declan.” She sighed again and I sat down beside her, taking one of her hands in mine and squeezing it for comfort.
“Tell me, Elle.”
“Declan got mad at me because I told him I wanted to get married. I told him I want to have kids before I turn thirty.”
She was only a couple of months older than me, both of us twenty-four. We’d had this discussion before.
“Then he hit you?”
She shrugged and pulled her hand away to sit back in her chair.
“Not right away. He kept saying he’s too young to get married. I told him if he really loved me it wouldn’t matter. Then we started arguing and before I knew it he was hitting me. I got so angry, Meg. I swear I’ve never been so damn angry at him before. I guess I’ve just finally had enough, you know? I hit him back. We both just kinda stood there and stared at each other for a second, like neither of us could believe I’d actually done it. Then he just went nuts. That’s when he ripped out my earrings and broke my finger. I was so scared, I didn’t dare try to hit him again.”
The sound of boiling water pulle
d my attention away from her and I stood to make our tea. I knew exactly how the water felt, because at that moment I’d swear my blood was boiling in my veins.
“Max is right, Meg. I know I shouldn’t let Declan hit me. I know I don’t have to, but I do. But…there’s no fucking way I’d let him hit my baby.”
I returned to the table with our tea to find her sobbing silently again. I poured and sat back down.
“So, now what?” I asked.
She sniffed and wiped her face on the sleeve of the t-shirt I’d let her borrow. It swallowed her and I suddenly realized she’d been losing weight lately.
“Now I pack my things, move out of the apartment and tell him to kiss my ass.”
I smiled and took a sip of tea to cover my lack of enthusiasm. She snorted a slight laugh.
“I know that look, hon. Same shit different week, right?”
I just shrugged. “Elle, you know I’ll help no matter what you decide.”
“I know. All the gold in the world ain’t worth a friend like you.” This time my smile was genuine. “But I swear, this is it. I want kids. I want a family. I want a husband that will treat me right. I’ve given Declan too many years of my life and I’m done.”
I drank in silence as her shoulders straightened and her chin lifted in defiance. This wasn’t a stance I’d seen before and it gave me hope. I just prayed it lasted through the night.
* * * * *
When I woke the next day Elle was gone. I let out a string of curses that would make my father proud and threw on whatever clothes were at the top of my drawer. Wednesdays were usually my day off, but there was no way Elle would be going in to work. I called our boss to check and he confirmed that she’d called in.
“It’s cool, Nettle. I got Smith to cover it for her. You don’t have to come in.”
I sighed in relief as I rolled my eyes. It was my idiot boss who thought having only last names on our nametags looked more professional. I honestly didn’t know the first names of half the staff.
“Thanks, Ryan. I’ll see you tomorrow.” We said our goodbyes and hung up.
With that out of the way, concern for Elle soon occupied my mind. My first thought was she’d gone back to Declan already. It was out of the norm because she had always waited at least twenty-four hours for him to cool off the other times. However, she had been acting a little different last night. Admitting Sean had a valid point was definitely a step in the right direction, and I couldn’t believe she’d actually hit Declan back. Now cold fear raced through my veins at the thought of what he might do if she confronted him again. There was only one thing I could do. I raced out to my car and headed for their apartment.
I’d swear I caught every fucking red light on the twelve-mile route. Little old ladies kept pulling in front of me and all the forces of the universe were working against my timely arrival. Ten years later I finally arrived at the complex but it took another five to find a parking space.
“Son of a bitch.”
Once I finally settled my compact gas-guzzler into a spot, I jumped out and jogged across the complex to Declan’s door. He’d been living in the apartment when Elle met him and she’d been ridiculously impressed. We were nineteen and he was twenty-one. He’d had a car, a job and his own place. What more could a girl ask for? I’d learned to hate him early on but Elle was head over heels. There hadn’t been a damn thing I could do.
I walked up the metal stairs to his apartment quickly, immediately noticing the open door. It was quiet though, no yelling or screaming. I approached cautiously and looked back at the parking lot for Declan’s truck. It was missing. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. I stepped into the apartment and fought the urge to start hollering for Elle. I wasn’t sure calling attention to myself would be a good idea. The living room was a wreck, but whether from a fight or Declan’s usual sloppy self I had no clue. I moved down the hallway to the only bedroom, vaguely noting the kitchen was empty.
There was a thump in the bedroom but the door was closed. I pressed my ear against it and heard at least two muffled voices. I couldn’t tell if one of them was Elle but concern quickly overrode my initial fear and I opened the door. Shock held me immobile for a moment before I yelped and pulled the door shut again.
“Shit! Megan?”
“Uh…yeah, it’s me. I’ll, uh…just wait in the living room.”
I all but ran back into the living room, trying to decide between laughing hysterically and dying of embarrassment. The bedroom door opened and Elle came rushing down the hallway, hastily buttoning her blouse on the way.
“Meg, oh my god, I don’t know what happened—”
“The hell you don’t, Elle,” an aggravated masculine voice said.
I turned to find a shirtless, hot-as-hell guy I didn’t know following on Elle’s heels. His jeans were unbuttoned halfway and his black hair was mussed. Elle had been straddling him on the bed when I’d walked in.
I raised my hands and fought the urge to smile. “Uh, look it’s really none of my business.”
“Meg, really, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“Damn it, Elle, stop ignoring me.”
He looked so adorably hurt I couldn’t help but sympathize. His gaze was all for Elle until I physically stepped between them.
“Hi, I’m Megan, Elle’s best friend in the world. You are?”
He stopped trying to get Elle’s attention and huffed out a breath, running one hand through his hair as he held the other out to me.
“I’m Hank.”
My eyebrows nearly shot off my face. I smiled as I shook his hand. “You’re Hunky Hank?”
“Megan!” Elle shouted.
Hank’s impatient frown immediately morphed into a satisfied grin. “Is that what she calls me?” he asked.
“Oh yeah. But I have to say, her descriptions have not done you justice.”
I made a show of ogling him up and down before giving Elle a thumbs-up. He frowned again and she laughed.
“Oh stop it, you’re scaring him. Hank, Meg is just playing. She’s madly in love with someone else but trying to get a reaction out of me.”
I opened my mouth to dispute her “madly in love” claim, but Hank beat me to it.
“Is it working?” he asked.
The look Elle gave him was one I’d never seen on her face before. Even through the bruising—the swelling had thankfully gone down a bit—I could tell she was smitten. Hell, from what I’d walked in on I’d say smitten was way too tame a word. And it appeared to go both ways.
Elle sighed and stepped closer to him. I’m pretty sure I ceased to exist for her.
“Oh, Hank, you know I really care about you.”
His shoulders sagged and his grin faded. He placed one large palm so gently against the side of her face, I suddenly felt like a voyeur.
“But?” he asked.
“But…look at me. I’m a mess. I need to get away from here for a while and straighten things out if we’ll ever have a chance.”
“I’ll help you, baby. You can stay with me and I’ll take care of you. You know Declan wouldn’t dare come around my place.”
She looked seriously tempted, biting her lip until he caressed it with his thumb. I wanted to smack her on the back of the head and yell, “Go with him, dumbass!” But of course, it had to be her call.
“I don’t want you to feel like I’m using you,” she said.
He laughed and shook his head. “No way. I’ve been wanting you for months. You can use me all up and I’ll go down happily.”
Okay, I really liked this guy. I cleared my throat to remind them of my presence. Elle blushed and Hank dropped his hand.
“Guess I need to get my shirt back on,” he said, winking at Elle before walking back to the bedroom.
We both watched his denim-clad ass as he left.
“Damn, Elle. If you’ve had that hanging around, why in the hell have you been with Declan?”
She snorted out a laugh and shook her head.
“I had no idea Hank even wanted me until about twenty minutes ago. He came to talk to Declan and found me here trying to pack my clothes. One look at my face and he came unglued. Swore he was going to kill Declan slowly and painfully after nursing me back to health. Oh, Meg. I just don’t know what to do.”
She laughed on a sob and I pulled her into my arms. I let her cry for a minute, shooing Hank back down the hallway when he made an appearance. He looked reluctant to leave, but just nodded and went back to the bedroom. Did I mention how much I liked him?
Once Elle finished crying away her initial fears, I helped her pack the rest of her clothes. For having been in the apartment most of the past five years, she had relatively little to pack. I think in the back of her mind she was always ready for a quick getaway.
“Why in the hell did you decide to run over here this morning, Elle? What if Declan had been here?” I asked as I searched under the bed for a missing shoe.
She sighed loudly.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, and while I was thinking things over I remembered him saying he was heading to Austin today. I guess I could’ve waited ’til later but I just wanted to get this over and done with. You know?”
“Yeah I know.”
I spotted her shoe behind a pair of Declan’s jeans and grabbed it. She took a final look around her bedroom and we headed to the living room where Hank waited.
There was nothing else in the apartment she wanted to keep, so we all headed downstairs with just two small boxes and a suitcase.
Hank walked over to a brand-spanking-new pickup truck. He placed his box in the bed before turning to take the other from me. Elle watched him without a word as if she still couldn’t believe she was going home with him. I hadn’t actually tried to talk her out of it even though I was a bit wary. I didn’t know this guy, but the way he’d been treating her the past few minutes was polar opposite from Declan. That had to count for something.
He opened the passenger door and gently pried Elle’s suitcase from her hand. True fear showed on her face and he immediately set down the suitcase.
“What, baby? What is it?”
“I…I don’t know…”
“Elle.” I stepped up beside Hank to get in her line of vision. “Go with Hank, honey. He’ll take care of you and I’ll come over tonight to check on you, okay?”
