Between Loves (The Pendant Series Book 2)

by Austin, Cynthia

  Ray took a seat on the wicker chair, leaned forward, and ran his fingers through his blond hair. He looked hurt and I couldn’t decide if he knew I was lying or not. I wondered if the big mouth wearing the new heels spilled the beans.

  “I leave in two days. I need to know that you’ll be safe without me here,” he said softly.

  I stood frozen, waiting for him to finish.

  “As much as I wish I could, I can’t change the past. I pushed you away and this Adrian guy was there when you needed a friend. I’m not gonna lie and say it doesn’t bother me, but I’d rather know that you have someone here in this town that might be able to protect you if you need it. You’ve never given me a reason not to trust you, and I never want to be that boyfriend who tells you who you can and can’t hang out with. The night when I got back and you tried to break up with me, I freaked out. I felt like I was losing you and the only way to stop it was to end your ties with your friend. I’m sorry I put you in that position.”

  “Okay,” was the extent of my response.

  I didn’t know what else to say. I wondered if Ray knew I was with Adrian tonight or not, but I really didn’t want to get into it. Ray had agreed that I could hang out with him and that’s all I needed to hear.

  I took a seat next to my boyfriend and he handed me the bottle.

  I attempted to bring it to my lips when Ray gripped my wrist. For the first time, he inspected the cuts on my hand. He brought my palm to his mouth and kissed the wounds. His eyes met mine and they were full of regret. This was the closest thing to an apology that I would receive and so I accepted it and moved on to the next thing that was bothering me.

  “Everyone here seems so concerned about me that nobody stopped to mourn Nouri. I feel like I’m the only one that misses her.”

  I buried my head in Ray’s muscular shoulder and quietly sobbed. He wrapped his arms around me in comfort.

  “They took her away so fast. One minute, everything was perfect and the next it wasn’t. Nouri was here, happy and healthy, and then she was gone. I came home from the hospital and found her room empty. It’s as if she’d never existed. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

  By this time I was crying hysterically into Ray’s chest as he held me.

  He suggested, “Maybe we should go out tonight.”

  I stopped crying and looked up at him in confusion. Here I was sobbing my heart out over my dead nurse and he’s asking us to go out and socialize?

  “You said you never got to say goodbye to her. I was thinking that all three of us, you, me and Chrissy, can go out for a drink. We’ll toast to Nouri and celebrate her life. It’s a way for you to say goodbye.”

  That suddenly made sense to me. I wiped my eyes and smiled at my thoughtful boyfriend.

  “Yeah, that would be really nice.”

  He gripped my cheeks and brought my face to his. He kissed me and told me to get ready.

  Chapter 10

  The Union

  Bush was playing loudly out of the juke box when we arrived at the dive bar. The singer was screaming some lyrics about, “wanting to be just like you,” as I enviously watched Chrissy greet everyone inside the establishment.

  The patrons of the bar were much younger this time around and the girl to boy ratio definitely favored the men. Somehow I had the feeling they were not there to see Chrissy, she was just one of many opportunities for them that night.

  Ray gripped my hand and stayed close to my side as he ignored the stares and whispers of the pretty girls. A few of them took out their cell phones and tried to be discreet while snapping his picture. I nervously tugged on the hem of my lavender shirt and impatiently kicked the wooden barstool.

  Dave the bouncer was working the door again, and for the first time, it seemed like his job was actually important since the sexual tension in the place was at a fever pitch. Male hormones make for a combative atmosphere.

  Chrissy moved over to the bar and began talking with Jenna, the cute bartender who seemed to be chatting excitedly as she conversed with my best friend. I thought it strange since Jenna usually struggled with putting sentences together. Ray and I walked over and joined Chrissy at the bar.

  “Shots!” she yelled, and held up her miniature glass. “We’re gonna do it right tonight. No disappearing acts, right, Sidney?”

  I grabbed the glass, we clicked them together.

  “To Nouri!” Ray toasted. “May we all live to be as caring and unselfish as she was.”

  We downed the dark liquor in unison. It sent a tremble down my body from the inside out as I pushed it down. I couldn’t help remembering what happened the last time I drank, and thought to myself I should quit while I was still ahead. The last thing I needed was to spend the night on the porcelain throne. Placing the empty glass on the bar, I watched as Jenna quickly scooped it up with one hand and wiped the bar with the other. She flashed me a quick smile before turning her full attention to my boyfriend.

  “Hey Ray. I can’t wait for your new album to come out.”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I considered downing another shot.

  Ray flashed his heartbreaking smile and responded, “Thanks, Jenna. I’ll be sure to sign a copy and hand-deliver it to you next time I’m home.”

  I briefly wondered how Ray had known Jenna’s name but then remembered when he came home late Sunday night smelling like booze. He must have spent that evening here at the bar getting reacquainted with the residents of Noddington Heights.

  As she swooned all over Ray, our lady bartender somehow forgot that her main priority was to serve drinks to the customers. Instead, she was intent on discussing the possibility of Unspoken Words playing a set at the bar once the band was back in town. As she and Ray became deeply immersed in business logistics, I turned my attention to Chrissy. She was planning a mani-pedi the following day and so I helped her decide what color nail polish she should choose. In such matters of statehood lay the real issues of life for the narcissist. In the end we chose red with glitter. All was well in Chrissy’s world.

  Jenna had been so absorbed in obsessing over Ray that she had forgotten to include Chrissy and I in the drink rounds and as a result, Ray was now several shots ahead of us, not counting the half bottle of whiskey he and Chrissy shared back home. He was obviously drunk and it began to affect him which, in turn, began to concern me.

  Finally our bartender snapped back to reality and this time poured three shots of whiskey, bringing Chrissy and me back into the alcoholic fold. But before she left to take care of the angry mob of customers who she had ignored for the past ten minutes, Ray asked her to bring him a beer. As he waited, he began feeling his oats and decided to insult my best friend.

  “You really did a number on my cousin, Chrissy. I don’t know what he sees in you, honestly.”

  Instead of being angered by the insult, Chrissy’s entire face lit up as she burst into boisterous laughter. “That's funny, Ray. I always wondered the same thing about you and Sidney. Only I don’t have to be three sheets to the wind to question it. I ask her every day when she’s going to get the courage to get up and leave your sorry ass.”

  Ray held his ground, still serious, he responded, “It’s been a year and Finn still can’t see past you. Don’t you think that he at least deserves an explanation?”

  At this point, Chrissy was growing agitated. “And don’t you think that Sidney deserves a boyfriend that can keep it in his pants? Do me a favor Ray, the next time Finn gets down in the dumps reminiscing about our happy little time together, you can be the one to tell him that you’re the reason behind our separation. I sit back and watch you and Sidney and thank my lucky stars I got off that train wreck waiting to happen. This right here,” she continued, waving her hands back and forth between me and Ray, “Whatever you two are calling it. It is a fucking joke.”

  And with that, Chrissy got up and walked off. The incident was really no surprise to me. Chrissy always lashed out when Finn was brought up. It was her way of coping
with the angst she felt. Before I could decide if I needed to chase after my best friend, Jenna returned. I decided to stay right where I was and keep my eye on this budding friendship. She smoothly slid Ray’s beer to him and he handed her the credit card Rene had given him, requesting that she leave the tab open. He downed half his beer and set the glass back on the table. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

  He turned to me, wallowing in his rapidly approaching drunkenness. “I don’t know how you two are friends, Sid. She can be such a bitch sometimes.”

  I folded my arms and didn’t respond. I couldn’t be upset with Chrissy because Ray had started it by bringing up Finn. She doesn’t like to talk about it and now that she had finally shared her feelings about it with me, I understood why. She was still in love with him and I think she regretted breaking up with him. I don’t think she believed me when I told her Finn would still take her back.

  “What the hell does she have to be upset about, anyway? I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back.”

  He slowly climbed off the barstool and stumbled towards the men’s room. I looked at the girls as they made a beeline to Ray once he was alone and laughed to myself at the absurdity of it all.

  Turning around, I shook my head as I made my way outside to search for Chrissy. Maybe she needed me to soothe her feelings. I searched the front and the back of the bar but couldn’t find her anywhere.

  Maybe she’s in the ladies’ room?

  I headed back to our seats at the bar but saw that the stool where Ray had been sitting was still empty. His glass was also empty.

  I scanned the room but I didn’t see him. I hoped he hadn’t found Chrissy and continued to harass her. Ray was my problem. She shouldn’t have to deal with his callousness. I headed towards the back patio but then I noticed his cell phone sitting next to his empty glass on the table. It was glowing brightly as it registered a text message. I knew that it was wrong for me to read it but something told me to open it. I slowly approached the bar, not wanting to, but needing to see its sender.

  One new message.

  I opened it and my heart sank as I saw the picture of the redhead.

  The sentiment was even more devastating to me.

  Counting down the minutes until Friday. I miss you.

  My stomach sank as I read the same line over and over again. I had suspected it but now I held the proof in my hand. Ray was still seeing Lilly. As my pain began to subside and anger took its place, I hastily decided on the best way to handle this. I felt like throwing the phone against the wall but I had a better idea. I decided to search the history of their communications. I was appalled by the results. There were hundreds of text messages between them. Worse yet, Ray told her on Sunday that I was coming back with him on Friday. Lilly knew I was joining him in L.A., which meant she could have been the one behind my attack and Nouri’s murder.

  I spun around and marched through the bar, searching for that lying jerk. Pushing past the people in my way, my only focus was on blond hair and blue eyes. I found him outside on the back patio. He had his back to me as he leaned against the wall, once again keeping our pathetic bartender away from her job.

  Almost instantly, it felt as if something had possessed my body and I no longer had control over what happened next. There was no way I could be held accountable for my actions. I shoved Ray so hard, he lost his balance and went crashing into Jenna. I saw her big eyes widen to an unnatural size when she saw the crazed look on my face. She must have suspected that I was furious because Ray was speaking with her. Truly, I couldn’t care less about her, but right now I was in no mood to explain it.

  Ray spun around and put his hands in the air, “Sid. What the hell?”

  I waved his phone above my head as I yelled, “You’re still talking to her.”

  He took a step towards me to defuse the situation but the fire had already been lit. Before I could realize what was happening, my arm swung back and I launched the phone as hard as I could directly at Ray’s face. I had never been good in sports; hand-eye coordination was a quality I did not possess. Hitting a bull’s eye on a dartboard never happened for me, but tonight, somehow my throw perfectly found its mark.

  It hit Ray directly in the eye.

  The blow didn’t stop him and he continued to come at me. I turned around and headed toward the front door. I didn’t want to hear Ray’s excuses this time. I just wanted to leave. I wanted him to go back to L.A. and never return, allowing me to heal and finally move on from this torturous relationship.

  I burst through the front door and scanned the area, looking for the fastest escape route. Ray may have been a muscular god but there was no way he could outrun me, and running seemed to be the only way to get away from him. I could clearly hear him yelling behind me to wait for him.

  I abruptly turned around and asked in amazement, “Are you freaking kidding me, Ray? All this time you’ve been demanding that I stop seeing Adrian so we could start over, and meanwhile you’re still in a relationship with her!”

  I shook my head vehemently. “You want me to change when you’re the problem? It’s you, Ray. It’s always been you. You’re the toxic one in this relationship. If anything, Adrian is helping me see that.”

  I turned around and kicked my legs into gear as I left him in the dust, something I should have done long ago.

  He shouted defiantly, “Whatever, Sid. Run away from your problems like you always do.”

  Of course, he was drunk.

  Ray and I were like this horrific car accident. He destroyed me, and as much as he tried to fix me, the damage was beyond repair. Then Adrian had come along and picked up the pieces of my broken heart. He was willing and able to salvage whatever he could. I’d realized now that the pieces of my heart were in his hands. If he could piece them back together, I would be his forever.

  Just as I was finally beginning to acknowledge my growing feelings for Adrian, I came crashing into my dark-haired prince. I had stopped at the market on Main Street to get a bottle of water and more importantly get off of the streets in the event Ray was searching for me.

  Lo and behold, as I was entering the store, Adrian was exiting.

  “Fancy seeing you here, Ms. Sinclair. The forces of nature seem to keep bringing us together.” He acted refreshingly calm and carefree.

  I brushed my fingers through my hair and pulled down a clump to cover up my stitches as I silently prayed I still looked presentable.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked coolly as I walked past him and entered the garishly lit store. I made my way over to the cooler section and grabbed some bottled water. Adrian followed me to the counter, holding up his freshly purchased sandwich.

  “My gourmet dinner.” He laughed.

  I frowned at the battered sandwich that looked like it had been made yesterday morning and rolled my eyes.

  “That looks disgusting.” I handed the clerk a five-dollar bill and waited for my change.

  Adrian unwrapped the sandwich and took a huge bite out of the soggy mess.

  I almost gagged.

  He looked as if he had to force the sandwich down and I just shook my head. I handed him my water and he washed the repulsive meal down. I figured that we’d already shared a bottle of liquor together, so we may as well share the water too. I didn’t mind sharing germs with someone as cute as Adrian.

  Although I was still angry with Ray, I knew I couldn’t leave Chrissy at the bar alone with him, and so I headed back across the street. Adrian walked with me, making no attempt to leave. I thought about suggesting his departure, but then remembered that Ray was still seeing Lilly, so I really didn’t care if it angered him that I was with Adrian.

  Besides, Chrissy still wanted to meet him and now seemed like the perfect time for introductions.

  We finally arrived at the old rundown building but instead of going inside, I propped my body against the cold cement wall and gazed into Adrian’s eyes. I preferred to stay out here in the cold all night
long with him rather than face off with Ray inside that damn bar.

  “Why’d you run off tonight? Did I scare you away?”

  I didn’t want Adrian to know that his very presence intimidated me and so I shook my head and feigned confidence. We sat there silently, the green-eyed god and the scared rabbit.

  “I thought you were leaving on Friday.” He finally queried, “Headed to the city of Angels to be your boyfriend’s trophy.”

  Adrian had a special talent for ripping me out of the here and now and watching me crash to the ground.

  “Yeah well,” I struggled as I tried to assure him that I was in control of the situation between my boyfriend and me, “It looks like there has been a slight detour.”

  Without warning, Adrian reached out and brushed his fingertips along the top of my hairline where the monstrous stitches were aligned. I attempted to flip my hair in front of my face to hide the eyesore but Adrian grabbed my wrist and held it firmly.

  “Don’t,” he whispered, staring intently at my forehead as he assessed the damage.

  Abruptly, the smile left his face and his green eyes darkened with anger. Chrissy had to be wrong about suspecting Adrian as the killer. One look at his face was inescapable proof that this man was not capable of hurting me. He was my protector.

  I asked him, “That girl you knew, the one with the necklace, was she your girlfriend?”

  Now it was my time to rip Adrian out of the present and send him crashing to the ground.

  Two could play this game.

  He hesitated a moment longer before answering. His eyes rested on my mother’s pendant as he spoke.

  “Yes she was, but that was a long time ago. I gave her the necklace and she said she’d always keep it.”

  He took the necklace in his hand as he often did when we were together. Turning it around in his palm, he examined it with such sadness in his eyes. I wanted to kiss it away. I wanted to tell him that I could help make the pain go away.

  “Well, this necklace has been in my family forever, so it can’t be the same one,” I said, taking the pendant out of his hand and letting it fall back against my chest.