Twisted

by Christa Simpson

  "Great!" My arms flailed like a crazy lady, causing the other patrons to back up and stare. "Why is this always happening to me?" I hollered.

  Spencer, just as confused as the other patrons, grabbed firmly onto my elbow and yanked me through the entrance like a criminal. “What is wrong with you?”

  I tore my arm away from him, fists bunched at my sides, a mean stare locked on him. I didn’t say anything.

  "Come on. I'm taking you home,” Spencer ordered, his icy blue eyes penetrating the hard barrier I was trying to erect. “You've obviously had too much to drink."

  I considered hailing a cab but, before I could even formulate a sentence, a warning drop of rain splashed on my head.

  "Take it... my arm," Spencer insisted, as I stumbled onto the sidewalk toward the road.

  "Why should I?"

  "I am not going fight with you Abigail. If you prefer to fall into traffic, then by all means."

  After a brief brooding silence, I clutched his arm. He glanced down at me and flashed a sexy, knowing smile. He smoothly tugged me across the road and through the city parking lot by the river. A warm rain started to sprinkle over us.

  "Can you slow down?" I whined, stumbling over my own two feet.

  He slowed his speed to a near stop and flashed me another smart, but incredibly sexy look, raindrops tipping his spiky hair. "How's that?" he asked.

  "Better," I stammered, though nothing could stop the spinning in my head. It was difficult enough to place one foot in front of the other.

  "I thought maybe you would like to stay dry."

  "I really could care less what you think,” I said crisply, still clung to his arm. My eyes skimmed over the large parking lot that mostly serviced the main street businesses by day, but at this hour was nearly empty. After passing the last vehicle bundled near the main street, and listening to Aliah's incessant horn honking as she passed us, I started to wonder if he had even parked in the lot at all. "Where's your car?”

  Spencer only chuckled, his eyes flashing toward the only car left in sight. Beyond the small pockets of light under each of the randomly spaced lamps, a dark mysterious car sat in the last space lining the river, surrounded by a foggy mist. Yes, it was the farthest possible spot in the lot. It had to be his. How annoying. A blister started to gnaw at my ankle, causing me to limp in my wet shoes.

  "I've been thinking of you lately," Spencer said, his voice too low, seductive.

  "Is that so?"

  "Yes, and I think you should be inclined to listen to what I have to say."

  "Save it Spencer. I've got enough shit to deal with."

  "Like Edwin?" he asked.

  "Yeah. I guess you could say that."

  "It's always about him isn't it?"

  "Not this time," I slurred. "Edwin and I aren’t together anymore. There, I said it."

  "Glad to hear it.”

  "You would be,” I said with a growl, as I pulled away from him. “Some things never change."

  "Like my feelings for you?" he whispered softly, more to himself. Frustrated, he rubbed his hand back and forth through his wet hair, messing it up. It only made him look even sexier.

  Funny, I didn't care how I looked. My hair was a mess. My night was a mess. My life was a mess. "Tell me this one thing," I asked. "Why is it that you could have any girl in that place tonight – I mean they were practically throwing themselves at you, begging you to take them home – and here you are with good old, bitchy me?"

  "Am I that transparent?" he asked, smirking. Spencer was as transparent as they come, always saying exactly what was on his mind.

  Fine, don’t answer my question. "Where are you taking me?" I pressed, wondering how much longer it would take to get to his car.

  "To my love nest. Where do you think? To my car."

  Startled, I stumbled over a small rock and began to fall in slow motion. Alert and agile, Spencer gathered me into his arms before I landed on the hard ground.

  He looked down at me, his icy eyes sparkling. Dizzily trapped in his embrace, I let him hold all of my weight in his arms. So close to the damp, hot pavement, I thought I would fall into the steamy puddles, but Spencer’s grip never wavered. The blue-grey mist that was his eyes wrapped around me, putting me in a foggy fantasy state. I felt the urge to kiss him, but knew it was a very, very bad idea.

  "Tripping over reality?" he said, lifting me back to my feet and dragging me out of my daze.

  Feeling defeated, "Yeah, and I smacked my head on the cold hard truth."

  Spencer dug into his pocket. Lights flashed on the lonely charcoal Charger as he led me to his car. Suddenly feeling very lightheaded again, I linked my arm around his trim waist for support and rested against his shoulder. The cool black leather relieved the heat storming my forehead.

  Stiff and stunned, mistaking my faintness for affection, Spencer froze behind his car. He must have forgotten how friendly I got when I drank. He turned to face me and slipped his arms around my waist, drawing me close. "Do you still want that answer?" he asked smoothly.

  "You've lost me."

  "The reason I chase after you, even after all we've been through Abby, is this."

  "This?”

  His breath tickled my ear, his heartbeat pounding strong against his chest. He tilted my chin up, to meet his gaze and motioned his index finger in the small space between us. "This," he said again.

  I sunk into his misty grey-blue eyes and found myself falling into his trap. He was a beautiful, charming man, with a voice so smooth and cool that Mother Theresa would have dropped her panties at his request. I tried to swallow the sour lump from the back of my throat, but it didn’t go away.

  "I can be myself when I'm around you Abby. I can say what I want and you'll tell me like it is. I like that."

  "Ahh, I see. You're a sucker for punishment," I said softly.

  "I guess I am," he admitted, with a mischievous grin. His hypnotic eyes and charming words were leading us to a place I was sure I didn’t want to go, and yet I couldn’t escape his allure.

  My eyes fluttered shut, as his hand swept across my cheek and along my jaw. My lips parted, an open invitation, and his lips massaged over mine, slow and sensual. Slowly, I drew my mouth away from his, and took a long breath. "I'm sorry. I can't do this," I said, soft and breathless.

  "What, you don't like it?" he said, in his erotic English accent.

  God damn that's sexy. "No. I definitely like it. But it goes a lot deeper than that.”

  He chuckled to himself. "Sucker for punishment."

  "Can you please take me home?"

  Disappointed now, he took my hand, making me feel like a scorned child as he delivered me to the passenger door.

  "You don't have to take care of me Spencer. I can take care of myself," I said, as I struggled to open the car door.

  "Yeah, I can see that," he replied sarcastically. He pulled the door wide and eased me into the seat. Within seconds he was sitting next to me. He slowly reached over and pulled down my seatbelt, inhaling me as he clicked the belt. He sat back in his seat and sighed.

  "Are you waiting for something?" I asked.

  "Yeah. I'm waiting for you to tell me why you don't want to give us another try."

  "Oh Spencer, do we have to do this now? I really don't want to get into it."

  "Just tell me straight up."

  "You’re asking for it!” I warned, ready to let him have it.

  "It can’t be worse than my reality. Before you left me, I had dreams. Plans. We could've gotten married, maybe do a little travelling, then start a family…"

  "Wait a second. You’ve been talking to Aliah haven’t you?" I reminded him. “And for the record: you left me.”

  "What does this have to do with Aliah?"

  Great. He didn’t know about my hang up on having a family, but he does now. Why did I have to go and open my big mouth? "It doesn’t."

  "Still the same old cold shoulder. What I would give to know what's going on in that mind of yours
right now," he said.

  "So I'm selfish. Sue me! Besides, what's your damage? You realize you’d only be my rebound guy.”

  "The only damage I suffer is from a broken heart. I thought I was okay. I thought I was ready to move on. Then I saw you with Aliah that one day. Now, no matter how hard I try, you're all I think about." Spencer started the car and stared into the fogged up windshield.

  "You've got issues," I said, shaking my head with disbelief.

  “And you don’t?”

  "Yeah, maybe I do, but they don’t involve you."

  "It has to be about Edwin. It’s always about Edwin with you. You two are perfect for each other, you know that?"

  "You can't be mad at me. I didn’t do anything wrong,” I snapped, while my tummy did a flip-flop.

  “Then why aren’t you and Edwin together anymore?” he asked, selfishly curious.

  In the heat of the moment, “Because I gave him an ultimatum and he made the wrong choice."

  "You gave him an ultimatum?” he said in disbelief.

  "Yes. I told him if he didn’t plan to put a ring on it and make me some babies, then I’d to move on with someone who would."

  "And he told you no?” Spencer looked stunned.

  "He's not ready for kids. He loves me, but... blah, blah, blah. Edwin did what Edwin does when things get intense. He backs off. You know my theory? If you don’t know how to swim, then get out of the damn pool!"

  Spencer chuckled.

  "Oh you think this is funny? Am I funny to you?"

  "Stop it, you're killing me," he said, still smirking. "You fed me this whole story, only for me to find out that you are completely single. Forgive me if that makes me sadistically happy."

  "For your information Spencer, you’re not in the pool. In fact, I’m swimming solo. Regardless of what you might think, I do have a heart and it's really hurting right now."

  "I'm only asking you to keep an open mind,” he said.

  Staring at my feet, I kicked off my shoes. "And then what? I let you back into my life and we live happily ever after?"

  "Not necessarily. There are no guarantees. But does that sound so bad to you?"

  While the idea of having Spencer's children wasn't revolting, the fact that I was even considering it so soon after being with Edwin was. I felt sick to my stomach and it wasn't from the conversation. The dry, moisture-less air in the car began to suffocate me. I needed fresh air and fast. He shifted the car in reverse, not noticing how ill I had become.

  “Wait!" I hollered, as I frantically grasped at my seat belt.

  He finally realized something was wrong and turned on the interior light to investigate. He anxiously assessed my face, as the light caused tears to fall from my eyes and I began to gag on my humility. Urgently forcing open the door, I burst out of the car, but I couldn't clear the sense of asphyxiation. I heard the car power down as I bent over the tall flower beds and decorated the manicured riverbank with my dinner.

  Spencer hurried to my side and held my hair as I dry-heaved a few more times. When I finally caught my breath I began to cry. "See? I make myself sick.”

  "Either that, or I make you sick. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard. Now I blew it," he said, releasing my hair.

  "You didn't blow it," I said softly, then tip-toed barefoot a few feet away from his car. I took a seat on the damp concrete parking slab and pulled my legs to my chest. After wiping my mouth with my wrist, I buried my face in my arms. Spencer came and sat next to me, but I was empty to the pit of my stomach. So very empty.

  "So does that mean you'll give me a chance?" he asked, gently rubbing my back.

  I pulled my head from my arms and stared off into the darkness in disbelief. "Spencer, I feel like my world has been crushed. I just puked my guts out in front of you and yet you're still trying to get fresh with me?"

  "I don't stop feeling this way because you're a little ill. If I could have you in my life again Abby, things would just fall back into place for me."

  Spencer was laying the charm on thick and he knew it was my weakness. He also knew I was a sucker for that sexy English accent and I wondered if he was toning it up a notch just to appease me.

  "Are you sure I’m the one you’re waiting for? I see you've painted this brilliant picture of me and I'm finding it hard to live up to. I just wonder where your imagination begins and reality ends."

  I looked deep into his eyes so he would truly feel my words. Intensity was thick in the humid air and Spencer leaned in for a kiss. I turned away.

  "Ugh," I groaned, as I shoved him off of me. "You're nasty!"

  "You worry too much," he said, shaking his head in disapproval. With a sigh, "I better get you home before Edwin starts to worry."

  I couldn’t even tell whether or not he was being sarcastic. "Do you need your ears cleaned? I already told you, Edwin and I are done."

  "I'd believe it more if you’d stop swooning every time you heard his name. It's just as well. Maybe this will serve as a lesson for both of us."

  I stood up, steadied myself, and then walked back to the car. "Why don’t you enlighten me?" I slipped into the car and Spencer poked his head in his door, so I could see him before he took a seat.

  "When something seems good don't fuck it up, because it definitely isn't gonna be any better on the other side." Lost in his own disillusionment, he got in the car and turned it on.

  "Where were you two months ago? I could’ve used that lesson then.”

  Spencer stared at me for a second, sharpening my nerves. Then, without speaking, he threw the car in reverse and quickly drove off. From that look he gave me and the speed he was travelling, I figured he didn’t appreciate me trying to apply his lesson to my relationship with Edwin.

  "You're dangerous you know," I said. And I wasn’t referring to his driving.

  "Am I?"

  "Yes. You're just like my friend Maddie. When you want something, you go for it, even when the odds aren’t in your favour. Unfortunately, like Aliah, you always expect to win in the end and that can be dangerous." I glanced out my window, at the passing houses.

  "So why is it that I'm pulling into your driveway after dark and I know you're not going to invite me in? I thought you thrived on dangerous men."

  "Are you really asking that?”

  He slipped the car into park. "Not an answer.”

  "Fine. Bad timing," I said briskly.

  "There's more to it than that. You can’t fool me Abby."

  I spun around to face him, my eyes narrowed in on his. "Fine! My turn to teach you a little life lesson: You can't always get what you want and the cold hard truth hurts. I’m sorry, but it’s just not ever gonna happen between us."

  "I'm glad we had this talk," Spencer said sarcastically, staring out the front windshield.

  I cracked my door open but, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty, I couldn’t leave him like this. "So are you ready to move on now?" I asked.

  “I've definitely learned a lot tonight. I have to quit trying so damn hard. Who knows, maybe the right girl will find me. Until then, you're stuck in my dreams." A wicked smile curled onto his lips and it was almost as sexy as that damned accent.

  "Enjoy me there then,” I said sarcastically. “At least I won't be a plastered wreck. Thank you for dinner."

  He reached for my hand and squeezed it, then drew it to his mouth, his kiss soft, his icy eyes gleaming at me. "You're everything a guy could ever want Abigail. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Edwin's a fool to let you go."

  I closed my eyes to hide my expression from the sudden squeeze on my heart. With a deep breath, I pushed open my door. "Goodnight Spencer.”

  Not releasing my hand, he drew my eyes back to his. "Are you sure you don't need help getting to your bed?" he said, smiling.

  "Goodnight Spencer," I repeated, more forcefully this time.

  "Goodnight," he replied, his devious smile still lurking on his handsome face.

  I closed the door and gracelessly stumb
led up my stairs. Spencer flashed his lights and honked his horn to acknowledge my clumsiness, despite the hour. I fumbled with my keys at the door, until it creaked open. I pushed the door open wide and found Edwin standing on the other side, Spencer still backing out of the driveway.

  "It wasn't locked," Edwin said, stern and angry. What’s his problem?

  Aside from awakening all of my neighbours, Spencer’s ignorant honking and light show had done exactly what he set out to do. It solidified Edwin’s distance from me, by making his presence known. Spencer honked two more times before he squealed off in his fast car. I scrunched my eyes shut, hoping if I held them long enough that the night would just be over already. But when I opened them, Edwin was staring at me, his eyes dark and dangerous.

  "Who the hell was that?" he boomed.

  "Spencer. Who do you think?"

  "Who?"

  I rolled my eyes. "Don't play dumb. Spencer. Spencer Caldwell.”

  "What were you doing with him? Tell me you were not on a date," he snapped.

  "It wasn't a date. We're just friends. Aliah was there and so was Spencer's friend Dexter, if you must know."

  "Sounds like a date to me. You know there's no such thing as being just friends with a guy. He only wants in your pants."

  "Oh really? And what is it that you want?" I stammered, still feeling the emptiness in my gut and whirling in my head.

  "That's not fair."

  "Who said anyone was playing by the book? What's truly unfair Eddie, is how you're acting. If we're not together – and we're not – then we're free to date whoever we like, as single consenting adults," I added, mocking his own ridiculous concept.

  "You're sleeping with him again," he stated, as if he knew it for a fact. And when I didn’t answer, Edwin flagged his hands in the air in disbelief.

  "I didn't say that," I slurred. "All I’m saying is: it’s time to move on. If I learned one thing tonight, it's that all this bull shit arguing is useless."

  "In other words, you're dating him again and you want my permission to sleep with him," Edwin growled.

  "Edwin! You seriously need to get over yourself. I don't need your permission. And for your information, it's not always about sex. Spencer understands me."