by E Kay Sims
I wasn’t this guy. I wasn’t the guy who ignored everyone else’s needs, even if it was to the detriment of my own. I was the guy everyone relied on. The guy who got walked over and cheated on by his fiancée because his balls were connected to a noose that his family tugged on the instant he tried to make a break for freedom.
“Don’t do this to yourself,” I grumbled as I buried my head in my hands.
As much as I wanted to pack all this in and head home to hide, I also didn’t want that. I didn’t want to take a step backwards in my already pathetic life. I needed to find balance. But how?
“Excuse me, sir?” I glanced up to see a waiter standing over me, looking royally pissed off. “If you’re not going to order, I need to ask you to leave. We have other diners waiting for a table.”
“Get me a steak.”
The waiter bristled. “This is a steakhouse, sir. What kind of steak?”
“Anything. Just make sure you put mashed potatoes with it.” I slammed the menu closed and shoved it into the waiter’s hands.
“Good choice, sir.”
He made no effort to hide his annoyance from me. I hoped he didn’t spit in my food. Who was I kidding? I would’ve spat in my food, as well. I sipped my whiskey and then fiddled with the glass. I needed to make it up to Eric. I honestly didn’t have any understanding of what was happening with him, and I knew I never would, not entirely. The way he left this morning left me feeling numb. I was nothing without my best mate. He’d got me through a lot of shit. Now it was my turn to return the favour.
Then there was Piper. Or whatever her name was. I wanted to find her again, but how did I do that when I didn’t even know her real name? I ached for her. Whether Eric wanted to believe it or not, I was in love with her. I’d fallen fast—I hadn’t planned to, it just happened. From the beginning, there was something there. I hadn’t made it up.
How did I make it up to her if I couldn’t find her? The club didn’t exist in the real world and her employers there were unlikely to be helpful. Maybe I could go to her school? I wasn’t sure when she was supposed to take classes, but she was bound to turn up there sooner or later. I didn’t have anywhere else to stay, so I could camp out there in the car if push came to shove. I’d camped out in my car plenty of times back home during fishing trips with Dad and Daveo. Growing up in the Australian bush made you tougher than the average Joe. Not as tough as Eric, the new Captain America, but tough enough.
I barely noticed when my plate was placed in front of me. The scent of the steaming steak and pile of mash wafted to my nostrils, making my mouth water. When my stomach growled, I remembered I hadn’t eaten all day. I hadn’t had the appetite.
“Thanks,” I sighed. I owed the waiter a huge tip after the way I’d been acting.
“You’re welcome.”
I recognised that voice! I watched in shock as Piper occupied the seat opposite me.
“Hey, Gil.”
She was so cool. So calm. How did she do that?
“Piper,” I murmured.
She tensed for a moment, her eyes darting around the room. Then she settled her attention back on me. “You look like a mess. Is everything okay?”
“No.” I fought back a sob. What was I, a big cry baby? “I messed everything up, baby. I’ve lost everything in my life that I care about.”
Piper rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
“I’m not. I pissed Eric off with our stunt. I left him stranded in a viper nest and I never gave him a backwards thought. Now he’s gone, and—”
Piper folded her arms across her chest. She leaned in close to me and hissed, “Did you just call my girls vipers? You’re calling our weekend a stunt? What the fuck, Gil? I suppose my feelings for you are fake? I’m going to fleece you, right? That’s what prostitutes do, after all. Maybe you’re not as different as I thought.”
I felt the colour drain from my face as her words echoed Eric’s. So, it was a common prejudice. Piper launched herself to her feet and I followed suit. “No. No, Piper, wait!”
When I grabbed her arm, she exploded like a bomb. “Don’t call me that, here!”
“What am I supposed to call you?”
She glared at me.
“I want to make this better. Let me make it better, please.” I was pretty sure we had the attention of the entire restaurant, but I didn’t care. I’d do anything to make it right with her. I couldn’t leave here until it was.
As we stared each other down, I was reminded of a Mexican standoff. Neither of us seemed willing to back down.
“Leah!”
Piper’s posture stiffened. She slowly turned around to face a livid man in a chef uniform. “Yes, Chef?”
“What the hell are you doing causing a scene in my restaurant? You’re disturbing the patrons. And what are you doing serving? You’re not a waitress! Are you looking to get fired?”
Piper—or Leah—withered under his angry gaze. Her eyes fell to the black- and white-zigzagged carpet on the floor. “No, Chef. I apologize.”
With her hands folded in front of her and her head bowed, my Fountain Girl hurried back to the kitchen. I watched her go in surprise. She didn’t take that sort of shit at the strip club, or from anyone else in her life. Why was she allowing this arsehole to treat her that way? I wanted to punch him. It was the first time in my life I wanted to punch someone so badly that my fingers actually curled into fists. How dare he speak to Piper like that.
Not Piper. Leah. Leah suited her.
I marched across the restaurant and the chef held his hand up to me. “Get out of my way.” Without waiting for an answer, I barged past him and went through the kitchen doors.
The chef raced after me. “Get the hell out of my kitchen!”
I ignored him and looked around the room for Piper. I spotted her peeling vegetables. What the hell was she doing that for? She was talented, she deserved to be plating the dishes with the rest of these guys.
“Leah.”
She spun around, her green eyes wide with surprise. Before she could say anything, I pulled her into my arms and kissed the living daylights out of her. Her body melted into mine, her arms wrapped around my body and pulled me against her as she responded, “Oh, Gil.”
Her words were enough to spur me on. I lifted her off the ground and she wrapped herself around me.
“Don’t leave me, Gil,” she quietly begged. With that single sentence, she revealed more to me than she had all weekend.
“Come with me. Just for a few days,” I begged.
“No. I wanna come with you for good. I want to leave Vegas.”
An uncertain frown crossed my face, but I could see in her eyes that she meant what she said.
“Call security!” the chef ordered.
I rolled my eyes. What a fucker. “Don’t bother, we’re leaving!”
I lowered my girl to the ground and took her by the hand. “Coming, Leah?”
Leah nibbled her bottom lip and nodded. The spark in her eyes was sexy as hell.
“You’re fired, Leah,” the chef snapped.
“Nope, I’m not. I quit,” she retorted.
We raced back out to the restaurant and collected my luggage. I handed my waiter a generous tip—he deserved it after the way I had treated him—and then we were out of there.
“You’re smiling like a crazy person again.”
I glanced across at Piper, who was driving the car through Vegas, since I was probably way over the legal limit considering I’d been drinking most of the day with little to no food consumed. “I am not.”
“Yeah, you are,” she said with a laugh. “You can’t deny it, Gil; we make each other happy.”
“Yeah, we do.” I leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “Are you sure about this, though? Do you honestly want to give up Vegas for me?”
“Yes. It’s time I moved on with my life. There’s nothing here for me anymore.” I watched her glance at the lights as we passed.
“I’ll bet your dad an
d Uncle Joe will disagree with that,” I countered.
“Oh, please,” Leah sniggered. “They’d lock me up forever if they could. But they could never control me, and they know it. They have a free-spirited daughter-slash-niece.”
“Maybe that’s what’s drawn me to you. Your spirit is contagious, Leah. This weekend was the perfect example.”
Leah sent me a look that was a mixture of pride and hesitance.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Did I really cause problems with your friend?”
My stomach felt hollow. That could’ve been from the lack of food or the fear that I’d fucked things up with Eric for good. Probably a combination of the two. I scrubbed my hand over my face. “I don’t know, to be honest. We’ve been through a lot and stuck by each other, but this time… we’ve both changed a lot and… Fucking hell, Leah, I don’t know how to fix this!” I turned my face away so she couldn’t see the tears brimming in my eyes.
“Hey.” I felt her take my hand and squeeze it. “Whatever needs to be done to fix it, we’ll do it, okay?”
I gave a small nod and squeezed her hand.
“We’ll do it,” she repeated. “I love you, and I’m here for you.”
I kissed her knuckles as we pulled up to an apartment complex.
“Will you help me pack my things? I promise I don’t have much. But maybe I could make you dinner, we could get a few hours’ sleep and then head out in the morning?”
My mouth dropped open. “You’re serious about this, aren’t ya?”
“Yes.” After a moment, she added, “Aren’t you?”
“Beyond a doubt.” I leaned across the centre console. She met me in the middle and we kissed for a couple of moments.
After hauling my suitcase from the boot, I followed her upstairs and into a one-bedroom apartment. It was tastefully decorated with a purple, three-seater couch, a chaise lounge littered with purple, white, and silver cushions, a white, timber 5-tiered shelf with a few knick-knacks on it, and a white table and chairs.
“Let me give you the tour,” Leah said. “Living and dining, kitchen,” she walked a few steps and I followed her, “bathroom and bedroom”
The bathroom was basic, but tidy, and the bedroom contained a double bed with more cushions, a white bedside table, and a matching set of drawers. “You like cushions,” I observed.
“They’re pretty.” Leah chewed on her thumb. “But I can totally leave them behind…”
“You don’t have to.”
“No, really. Because what if they don’t go with the place we end up in together? I mean, I would have to get a whole new range of cushions to go with that place.” She caught herself. “I-I mean…”
I was smiling at her like a goof again, but this time I knew it.
“That is, if…?”
I nudged her. “If, what?”
She was being demure again. “If we…?”
“If we live together?” I dropped my suitcase and wrapped her up in my arms. “You’re coming to Oregon with me, Leah. Do you honestly think we wouldn’t?”
She clung to me. “Nothing has been so certain to me in a long time.” One of her hands brushed through my hair, across my cheeks and jaw, and then down my back, as though she was mapping me out. “Let me make you some dinner.”
“Okay,” I murmured.
Leah reached up and kissed my forehead before stepping away from me. I sank onto the bed, noticing that it was as soft as the beds in the hotel. The cushions were comfortable, too. “Leah,” I mumbled with a smile on my lips, “my Fountain Girl, Leah.”
LEAH
As the two tiny, authentically Italian-style pizzas cooked in my shitty oven, I took the time to pack all the kitchen items I could fit into one box. I could leave most things in this apartment and start over, but there was no way I was leaving my restaurant-quality kitchenware behind. I made my way across to my small shelf. I picked up the family album and set it into a lidded basket along with the racecar driver doll Uncle Joe had given me for my fifth birthday, the dancing ribbons I’d won as a girl, and a few other sentimental family things I had kept. I didn’t need anything else from out here.
I was about to make my way to the bedroom to gather up some clothing and other essentials when the oven dinged. I went over and pulled the two pizzas out—one margarita and one prosciutto and rocket—and cut them with the pizza cutter. I set them onto the table with two glasses and a pitcher of water, then made my way to the bedroom.
“Gil, dinner’s ready.”
I stopped up short when I heard a gentle snore. He was out like a light. The excitement of the weekend and his concern over well, everything, must have worn him out. I tiptoed across the carpet and slid onto the bed. When I stroked his dark hair, he rolled toward me.
“Leah,” he mumbled as he snuggled into me.
I smiled. I liked how easily he’d transitioned from using my fake name to my real name. He’d accepted me for who I was so easily. It surprised me after the way he reacted at the culinary school. But maybe he was learning that not everything in life went the way you expected it to. I wasn’t sure about Gil’s life back home, but I somehow felt like he’d been sheltered. He was bound to make mistakes as he developed his independence and figured out who he was on his own merit and I knew at times, I would have to be extra patient. I mean, he was a guy after all was said and done, and sometimes, guys were stupid idiots. Even sweet Aussie guys.
As I hugged him against me, I thought of his friend. Would he be able to forgive Gil as easily as I had? “I’m here, babe. Sleep. Let everything go until tomorrow.”
Gil settled once more. Our dinner was forgotten as we both drifted off.
ERIC
M
otherfucker! I was so pissed I could spit bullets as I stomped back down the corridor hoping to catch EZee before she left. I just couldn’t get over what Gil had said earlier when I’d asked him if he knew what TBI was. Truly Beastly Innuendos? Seriously?! No! Asshole! It’s Traumatic Brain Injury! And I have it! I thought, livid at him. I’d been blown up more times than I cared to count. Miraculously, I’d somehow managed to survive with all my limbs intact.
I was jacked that he’d had the nerve to make jokes after I’d told him about losing Rico. Then, he had the audacity to stand there and bitch and whine about me not being able to open up to him and trust him with what was bothering me. Well, he’d just proven why I was unable to tell him anything! I couldn’t believe that I’d even made the attempt, honestly. Gil,had always been a bit of a pussy, I reminded myself, but I genuinely liked the guy––hell, I loved the guy like a brother. But, son-of-a-bitch! I’d had enough of his shit this weekend. He was either making cracks at me for being too macho or acting like a pussy-whipped little bitch who had no game. Constantly feeling sorry for himself. Time to buck up, buttercup!
Then, he’d claimed to have fallen head over heels for some woman he’d just met and not just any woman––a stripper, for Chrissakes! Back in the room, I could see there was no reasoning with the stubborn little bastard. Live and let live, even if it meant having to learn the hard way, I guess. I was so done with having to lead Gil around by the hand. You can only lead a horse to water, you can’t make ‘em drink.
I found myself standing in front of EZee’s room then knocked on her door a little more forcefully than I had intended, the sound echoing off the surrounding walls.
She opened the door, obviously not expecting to see me if the expression on her face was any indication. We’d sort of left things up in the air earlier when I’d left, though we’d exchanged numbers. She was wearing comfortable clothes—a loose fitting, deep, purple yoga top that accentuated the green in her hazel eyes and a black yoga skirt with black leggings underneath, which showed off her shapely legs.
“Hey,” she said, not hiding the surprise in her voice.
“Hey.” I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. “Is that offer for a ride still on the table, by any chance?” I asked, feeling
some of my anger dissipate in her presence.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” she replied, a smile curving her lips. “So, you didn’t get a hold of your friend?”
“Actually, I did.” I clenched my teeth and I felt a muscle twitch in my cheek. “He’s taking the car and… I really don’t want to get into to it but, suffice it to say, I need a ride––if you’re still okay with that. I’ll pay for your fuel expenses,” I offered.
She laughed. “You don’t have to pay for my fuel expenses but thank you for offering.” She stepped back, holding the door open. “Come on in. I just have to finish packing, then I’ll be ready to go. You want some coffee?” She nodded her head toward the counter where the coffee maker and cups sat.
“No thanks, let’s grab some on the way,” I suggested. “I’m kind of sick of this hotel shit.”
I dropped my bag on the floor near the door as she went back to the bed and finished rolling up her yoga mat.
“Could you hand me that strap, please?” She tilted her head to a purple yoga strap that had fallen on the floor as she held onto the black mat with both hands to keep it from unrolling.
“Why yes, ma’am,” I scooped it up, folded it in half, then wrapped one end around my hand. “You need another spanking?” I asked salaciously, snapping the strap with a loud crack.
“Hah!” She laughed. “You better rein it in, big guy. I’m on a tight schedule. but,” she paused, “if you behave, maybe later?” she queried in a husky voice.
I chuckled at her boldness. “For you, I’ll make an exception.” I handed her the strap but couldn’t stop myself from giving her sweet, tight ass a light smack.
“Hey now, I said behave.” She giggled while tightening the strap, then slipped it over her shoulder and grabbed her small bag and purse. “Ready!” she announced, turning toward the door.
“That’s it?” I asked, surprised at how lightly she’d packed.
“Yep! Just the necessities for this girl.” She walked with a bounce, hiding her limp. “Let’s hit the road. Niko is probably desperate to see me.”
