Sizzle

by Lexi Buchanan

  Grabbing my purse, I quickly reached inside for some face powder, which I quickly applied to my cheekbones and then some green eyeliner, which accentuated my green eyes.

  Inhaling and with a slow exhale, I exited the dressing room and walked on wobbly legs out through the curtain to show Mia, and I suppose Liam, who was sitting brooding across the room with such a look on his face. If I didn’t know better I’d say he had a thing for Mia. Wait a minute. What did Liam say to me about not being able to have whom he wanted?

  I needed to think about that…and watch.

  “Thalia?”

  Shit, Liam was standing in front of me. How’d I miss that considering I’d been staring at him?

  “What do you think?”

  “You look great, Thalia. That color suits you,” Mia said walking around me in circles.

  “It looks as though it fits you well.”

  “It does.”

  She spent a moment looking at Liam, and then turned back to the sales assistant, “We’ll have this one, please.”

  “That’s fine.” Clara, the sales assistant looked delighted. She turned to me, “Why don’t you go and remove the dress. I’ll put it with the others to be collected the day before the wedding”

  Without a word, I turned tail and walked back into the dressing room wondering what the hell I was doing. I seriously didn’t think I’d be able to go through with this. A huge part of me kept hoping that I’d wake up to find out that it was a dream. That the wedding was going ahead, but with Liam as the groom instead of Jack.

  Callie would know what to do. In fact, she’d tell me to get on the next plane to Texas and find myself a cowboy. The thing was I wanted to stay near Jack. I mean how sad was that? Staying in the place that caused me the most heartache all because I couldn’t be away from the reason for that heartache.

  “Thalia, are you about done in there?” Liam shouted.

  With the dress still on as I hadn’t made a move to take it off, I cringed and replied, “Yes, give me a minute.”

  The zipper was down the side so I quickly unzipped and climbed out of the dress before grabbing my jeans. I pulled them up my legs followed by my t-shirt over my head. Two seconds later Mia opened the curtain, took the dress from me without a word and walked back towards the main part of the boutique. If I wasn’t mistaken she looked upset.

  As I picked my purse up from the floor, I took a steady breath and walked out of the changing room to catch Liam with his hand on Mia’s back. She was turned into him and her eyes were gazing up into his face. I moved to step back out of view, but my movement must have caught Liam’s eye because he glanced up at me and stepped away from her. A look of longing spread across his face and he looked almost like it was painful to move away. So he wanted Mia. I wondered if Jack was aware of that.

  “Do you guys mind if I take off?” I wanted some time on my own away from everyone.

  “How will you get back?” Liam asked.

  I tried to smile, but didn’t think I’d succeeded by the look on Liam’s face. “I have legs…or you could come and get me later.”

  He held my gaze. “Okay, but make sure you ring me for a lift. I don’t want you walking back.”

  “See you both later then.” I quickly pulled the door open and nearly tripped over my feet in the rush to get away.

  With the door firmly shut behind me, I dashed up the sidewalk, crossed the road and through the opening into the forest, which probably wasn’t the brightest thing to do on my own, but I needed space.

  I’d been walking for about twenty minutes when I spotted the lake through the trees up ahead so heading in that direction, I shoved my way through and…wow. The view was amazing. Sitting down in front of one of the trees I just looked out to the water and gradually my vision became hazy.

  The tears I’d kept in all morning had finally let loose and so did the sobs I’d been holding in as well. I brought my knees up, wrapped my arms around them before resting my face on top of my knees and cried my heart out.

  How long I’d been crying I couldn’t tell you, but by the time they’d started to dry up the sun had changed position slightly.

  “Thought you’d never stop.”

  I jumped and turned quickly in the direction of the voice – Donovan.

  “How long have you been sitting there?” I rooted around in my purse for a napkin or something to mop my face up with, but before I could find anything, Donovan passed me a tissue.

  “Long enough.”

  He slid down and took a seat beside me in front of the trees.

  “Let me guess, Jack.”

  I wouldn’t look at him.

  “Thalia, I know you don’t know what’s going on and Jack’s probably confused the shit out of you. The fact is this isn’t what he wants, I mean Mia. He can’t stand her much, but there are things you don’t know that he can’t tell anyone. Fuck, I shouldn’t be telling you that.”

  “Please Donovan. I need to know, because one minute he’s cancelling the wedding and the next, nothing’s been done and the wedding is still going ahead.”

  “I’ve never seen him so screwed up before over a girl. Never. Since you arrived home with Liam, you’re all he can think about… This is hurting him as much as it is you.”

  He hardly knew me, but yet he’d given me hope. I couldn’t help but pass slight glances in his direction.

  He started to laugh. “Don’t look at me like that. I only told you what I did so you wouldn’t hate Jack. Him and Reece are the only friends I have. More like brothers and I’d do anything for them. You need to talk to Jack and try to get out of him what’s going on.”

  I looked back at the lake. “He said he wanted to talk to me.”

  “So there you go… Come on let me give you a lift back to the house. This place isn’t safe on your own.”

  He held out his hand to me so I placed mine in his and let him pull me up from the ground.

  Donovan was a hot guy. Tall, broad shoulders, dark brown hair and his eyes…swoon worthy. Callie would melt on the spot if she got a look of him. I smiled thinking about my best friend. Perhaps if I sent her a picture of him it would give her even more incentive to come to Alabama, although she had already told me she would be here in an instant if I needed her.

  “Donovan, can I take your picture?”

  He stopped dead and looked at me. Then grinned. “You think I’m hot?”

  “Oh please.” I could feel myself blushing.

  “Yeah, you do.” He started laughing while he pulled me along with him.

  I pulled him to a stop. “Yeah, I think you’re hot, but I wanted to send a picture to my friend in Texas.”

  His eyes widened.

  “Please…”

  He was the one who was embarrassed as I retrieved my phone from my back pocket.

  “Say cheese.”

  After I quickly snapped the picture I sent it to Callie, telling her Donovan awaited her in Alabama. I decided to keep the fact that Donovan and Reece looked to be players to myself. If anyone could tame Donovan, it would be Callie.

  Chapter 35

  Jack

  “So this is where you’re hiding?” Donovan said, taking a seat opposite me.

  “I’m not hiding. Skipped breakfast so I needed to fuel up, especially after the beer over at Kix.”

  “Beer?”

  I’d stunned him into silence. “Yeah, I ended up there, figuring other than you guys no one would know where I was. Ryder kept shoving the beer into my hand, so I drank.”

  He shook his head. “I’ve just taken your woman home; in case you were interested.”

  I stopped eating and glared at him.

  “I saw her dart into the forest, alone, so I followed her and sat and watched her for about twenty minutes while she cried buckets; because of you.”

  Fuck, I’d lost my appetite.

  Mandy one of the servers was walking by so I passed her my plate. She gave me a quick glance then the plate before she removed it and took
it back to the kitchen.

  “I don’t know what to say.” I put my head in my hands then looked back to Donovan. “What did you say?”

  He leaned back in his seat deep in thought. “I told her she needed to talk to you, because you couldn’t stand Mia.”

  “Shit. What did you tell her that for? Hell, I don’t know what I was going to say to her, but I need my parents and Mia’s to believe that the wedding is going ahead for now until it all gets sorted. Hell, for all I know I might end up having to go through with it.”

  “So it wouldn’t bother you if she went off with someone else?”

  It would kill me to see her with another guy. I sighed, it was the same as what it was doing to her if Donovan was telling me the truth and he had no reason to lie.

  “I didn’t think so. Talk to her and tell her the truth. She needs to know what she’s feeling isn’t one sided.”

  No matter how much of an ass Donovan…and Reece could be, they always knew the correct thing to say. Unless they wanted to yank my chain, then fists usually flew.

  “Was she that upset?

  “Yeah, she was. Also on the way back to the house, she told me about Mia. How could you let Mia railroad her into being a bridesmaid at the wedding of the guy she’s in love with? How fucked is that?”

  Unable to breathe, I slipped out from the booth. “Let’s get out of here.” We grabbed our jackets making our way back outside.

  Standing on the sidewalk, I felt as though I could finally catch my breath and started walking back to Kix.

  “Hey, I’ve got my wheels over here,” Donovan shouted, already on his way to his car.

  Donovan kept his car spotless with the most kick-ass stereo system ever invented.

  “You know I’ve been thinking.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him in question. Donovan and thinking was dangerous.

  “I think you and Mia need to get together and put a stop to all this. Her father obviously cares about her in his own weird way, surely if he knows she’s in love with Liam, he’ll accept that. Once he does, it will leave you to get it on with Thalia, and there is no way your father will do what he threatened. That was all talk, which, if I remember, I told you twelve months ago.”

  It only took us a couple of minutes to pull up outside of Kix so climbing from the car I leaned my elbows on the hood when in actual fact I felt like banging my head against it.

  “I just want to forget everything for tonight and get lost in our music; anymore I’m going to crack.”

  The front door to Kix opened then slammed shut. “What are you two girls doing out here?” Reece asked.

  Grinning, I replied, “Waiting for the third to join us.”

  “Ha ha – funny; not. While you two pussy’s have been gossiping like a bunch of women, there’s work to be done.”

  We both just stood and watched him retreat back inside.

  “What’s up his ass?”

  “Fuck if I know. He was fine when I was in here earlier talking to Ryder.”

  The rest of the afternoon was spent helping Ryder get all the alcohol, which had been delivered, put away. It went either behind the bar or in the cellar and the work kept my mind busy; only an odd thought crossing my mind about Thalia and what the hell I was going to say to her when we finally had time alone. One thing I did know was that I had to keep my hands to myself when we did get together; touching her wasn’t an option.

  Sitting with my back to the bar, I’d been watching everyone arrive for the past hour, maybe longer, and the place was filling up good.

  We’d gotten all our equipment set up earlier so all we had to do was entertain the crowd once Reece decided to show his face. Donovan had seen him disappear out back with Dahlia. No doubt to get his rocks off. At least he should be more laid back than what he’d been recently.

  “He not back in yet?” Ryder asked, passing me another beer. I’d lost count how many I’d had since returning from town with Donovan. Unfortunately, I still felt sober.

  “Nope.”

  “She must be a good ride.”

  I wasn’t getting involved in that conversation; it’d only piss him off. He’d had a boner for Dahlia when he first arrived, but that had soon disappeared when he realized she was at Reece’s beck and call.

  “He’s back…looks like he lost someone along the way,” Ryder bit out, slamming another beer in front of me. I still had half of the other bottle, but I quickly knocked that back and tossed the empty into the bin behind the bar.

  “You ready?” Reece asked, but instead of looking relaxed he looked pissed.

  After looking at him for a minute, I stood and with my beer in hand followed him to the stage where Donovan was sitting chatting to a group of girls.

  Chapter 36

  Thalia

  Liam was driving me to a new bar, which had opened a few months ago, on the outskirts of town. That was his idea of cheering me up.

  I’d managed to calm down some after Donovan had brought me back to Liam’s house. The soak in the tub probably had something to do with that as well.

  Wearing my new ‘Alabama’ style cowgirl boots with a short, fitted denim skirt paired with a black tank, I turned to look at Liam who’d been silent during our drive. “Why are you so quiet? I mean I know you don’t usually chatter away, but you look like you’re brooding.”

  He let out a sigh and looked at me. “I’m okay. Just have a lot on my mind.”

  “I’ll leave it for now, but you’re not okay and neither is Jack, and, how the fuck did I become a bridesmaid at his wedding. That is just screwed up somewhere.”

  “I agree with you there. He should have spoken up and said something. Just go along with it for now.”

  I winced at his suggestion. Why did everyone keep telling me to go along with it? “Liam, it’s in three weeks. I can’t just act as though everything is normal when it isn’t.” I felt close to tears. “I’m in love with her fiancée; there is no way I can be part of his wedding… And you’re in love with your brother’s fiancée,” I whispered wiping my eyes.

  He braked hard outside the club, which said it was called Kix. “How,” he cleared his throat, “do you know that?”

  “I saw you with her today in the boutique.”

  He sighed and rested his head against the back of the seat. “God, we’re a sorry pair.”

  Opening the door, I climbed out with Liam following, because if I stayed talking to him in the car I would be in tears.

  Until I’d met Jack I’d never been an emotional person, but I was now and it pissed me off. If Callie was here she’d rib me to no end about it, which would probably have cheered me up some. I missed my best friend and needed to talk to her later. One thing I did know and that was, there was no chance of me leaving for Texas just yet, because I wasn’t ready to let Jack go.

  “You ready to go inside?”

  “Yeah.” I pulled the door open to be met by a wall of bodies. The place was packed as Liam took my hand and pulled me towards the bar through the mass. The group that was playing tonight was obviously popular, because there was hardly breathing space.

  “You want a beer?” Liam shouted.

  “Yeah.”

  While I was standing waiting for Liam to get us both a beer, I had a good look around the bar or rather I tried too. It was a bit difficult with the sweaty bodies all-clambering for prime position near the stage, a lot of which were women.

  About to turn back towards Liam, I spotted Donovan at about the same time he spotted me. He paused, before starting to walk in our direction.

  He came to a stop in front of me, and then got shoved from behind which brought him up close and personal, with me ending up wrapped in his arms.

  He grinned down at me, which had me laughing. He was cute and I needed to get Callie with him.

  “Hey, get your hands off her,” Liam shouted, looking pissed.

  Donovan’s body went rigid against me before he relaxed and pulled me even tighter against him. “Make me.”<
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  They sure as hell were not going to fight over me. In fact I wasn’t sure I had anything to do with what was going on.

  Pushing out of Donovan’s arms, I faced Liam. “Leave it, he got shoved from behind.” I placed my hand on Liam’s chest, hoping he’d leave it alone, before I turned back to Donovan who looked angry, but more relaxed than Liam.

  “Look after Thalia.” With that Donovan shoved his way through the crowd towards the stage where the band had already set up.

  The lights dimmed slightly, someone jumped up on stage and the crowd started to shout.

  “Shut the fuck up,” came blaring out through the speaker system, which the majority found funny. “Okay, calm it down, I know why you’re all here, so with that in mind here’s ‘Phoenix and Deception’.”

  Liam froze at the side of me with his beer half way to his mouth. I turned to look at him but he was fixed on the stage. Turning back I met the piercing blue eyes of Jack who stood in front of the microphone.

  My heart began to drum against my chest and I felt like it was going to burst as we held each other’s gaze, and then he started to sing; I melted. He had the most amazing voice as he sang about a hero who fell in love with a girl out of his reach, and the whole time his gaze stayed on me.

  Liam moved closer and leaned into me using his thumbs to wipe my face, because unbeknown to me, there were tears flowing from my eyes.

  When the song came to an end, without taking his eyes from me Jack said something to Donovan, and then passed him the microphone before jumping down from the stage with a look of determination as he headed in our direction.

  Panicking, I shoved past Liam towards the back of the bar, which was easier said than done with all the people jammed into the place.

  Coming to a stop in a hallway, I had no idea which door would lead me to the outside. About to try the one at the end, an arm snaked around my waist.

  “It’s only me,” Jack whispered into my ear before he carried me through the door to our right. He closed it and I heard a lock slide into place as he turned on a low light. He wrapped his other arm around me and held me tight, snug in his arms. I wasn’t complaining because it felt amazing being held by him. My body pressed against the full length of him.