by KB Jacobs
I stared at my hands, folded lightly in my lap. There was no way I could talk to him while staring into those soulful brown eyes. “I meant every word I said, and I don’t care if you were drunk as a skunk. You saved my life.” I glanced up and caught him staring at me in wonder. That look made me want to do very bad things with him.
I dropped my gaze back to my lap. “Very few people would run into a burning building to save someone they didn’t know, but you did it. That makes you a hero.”
“You’re wrong.” Anthony’s voice was sad and filled with regret. “I was drunk, stupid, and reckless. I could have gotten us both killed. There’s nothing brave or heroic about that.”
I met his intense stare, and the urge to crawl into his lap almost took over my body. Anthony was hurting, and that was starting to feel like my fault.
“You’re wrong about something else, too.” He reached over and ran a calloused thumb along my jawline. “I’m not out of your league. You’re the one who’s so sweet and innocent I shouldn’t even be allowed to be alone with you.”
I tilted my head into his touch as his fingers traced up and down my sensitive skin. My body leaned instinctively closer to him as the door behind us slammed open. I jumped back, my skin on fire and heat flooding my face.
“Okay,” Drake said, oblivious to the intimate moment he just dissolved. “The bloodhounds are all off, writing their stories of only god knows what. It’s safe to come out now.” He paced the floor in front of the couch, his fingers flying across a slim, black tablet.
Anthony straightened up on the couch. “How bad is it?”
“Bad,” Drake muttered, his face glued to his tablet. “Adrenaline bad.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but it hit a chord with Anthony. He struggled to stand up, his crutches sliding on the tile floor. I jumped up and wrapped an arm around his rock solid abs to help him ease off the couch. My skin caught fire where my torso leaned against his, and it took every ounce of strength I had to keep my jelly legs underneath me. The last time I’d been this close to Anthony, I’d been unconscious. This time, every cell in my body was wide awake and screaming for more.
“Thank you.”
I looked up into his dark eyes and got lost in the warmth shining out from behind the pain. It might be possible to stand like this until the end of my days. Blood rushed to my face, and heat pooled low in my belly, sparking desire like I hadn’t felt in eons. Not even Prince Harry usually managed to get me this worked up...just from a look. Oh, boy, I was in trouble.
“Melissa.” Drake stared at me like he was just now realizing I was still in the room. His head tilted, and he scrunched up one eye the way I do when I’m trying to puzzle out a particularly tricky batch of equations. “I...you did well today...really...well.”
I stepped away from Anthony despite the desire screaming inside me. “I just tried to be honest.”
“I can see that.” He tapped a finger to the side of his mouth, and the corner of his lips hinted at a smile. “You should head home now. Anthony and I have a lot we need to discuss.”
I nodded and turned toward the door, but not before stealing another look at Anthony. Warmth still filled his eyes, but there was something more now. Something closer to hunger.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I shuffled out of the room and made my way back outside. I slid behind William’s steering wheel. Despite the freezing temperatures outside, I cranked up the air conditioner.
Chapter 11
Anthony
It was harder to get out of bed and excited about strengthening and healing the next day than it had been since the fire. Honestly, I would have been perfectly happy staying holed up in the tower. Whenever I’d closed my eyes, all I could imagine was Melissa horrifically burned or even worse, dead. Needless to say, I’d slept like crap.
I peeked out my bedroom door to check the lay of the land. The guest room door stood wide open. Mom was already up, which wasn’t a huge surprise since she had to go to work at the high school today. Thankfully, I’d convinced her not to take the day off like she’d wanted to. Now, to convince her it was time to sleep in her own home again.
It didn’t sound like the music had started up yet this morning. There had been a few people who’d showed back up last night, but the crowd had been subdued. They were all terrified of my mom even though she’d retired to the tower before too many had arrived.
I slipped into some sweats and a ratty tank top, knowing today would be filled with workouts both with my physical therapist and Simon. I was already sore from using the unfamiliar crutches in combination with the leftover bumps and bruises from the fire.
The smells of coffee and eggs lured me downstairs and into the kitchen. My mom stood at the stove, mixing something in a skillet.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
She waved a hand behind her. “Everyone needs to eat.”
Three people who looked hung-over stood around the fringes of the kitchen.
I went over to her and took the spatula out of her hand. “No, you don’t have to cook for them.”
“Dude,” one of the guys muttered. “Let the cook make us food. That’s what you pay her for.”
I turned and scowled at the guy. “She’s not the cook, and she isn’t here to serve you. There’s probably some snack food in one of the bars if you’re hungry.”
The three slowly meandered out of the kitchen.
She blew out a frustrated breath. “Anthony, that’s not the way to act toward your guests. Do you even like these people? What are you doing? Why do you let them hang out here all the time?”
“I have fun with them. They’re my friends.”
“Do they even know your name? All I ever hear anyone call you is Triple B.”
“That’s what they know me as—”
My mom interrupted. “What, not who. That’s a very revealing little difference, don’t you think?”
Maybe. Probably. But it wasn’t something I wanted to think about today. I had plenty of other fires to put out. I couldn’t waste time worrying about the people in my house who were simply here to have a good time. There was nothing wrong with that. I had fun with them, too.
I took the pan off the stove. “It’s time for you to go. What time did you get up this morning to cook for everyone hanging out here?” I shook my head, already knowing the answer...way too early. “I know you have to be at the high school in a few minutes. You don’t have time to deal with this mess here. I’m working on getting it all straightened out.”
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’ve heard you.” I was twenty-five years old. Yes, she still did my laundry, but even that was kind of pathetic. I had to man up and take care of my own problems. “It’s my life. I have to be the one to clean it up. You have your own life, and I’m sure Dad is already tired of peanut butter and jelly. You need to go home and feed him before he withers away.”
My mom laughed. Dad had been a linebacker in the NFL. He’d never been a small guy. Most people thought I was huge, but even I felt tiny next to my dad.
She tilted her head and cupped my cheek as she searched my expression. “Are you sure you’re okay? Things were kind of rough yesterday.”
Yes, they had been, and it was probably going to get worse before it got better.
She hadn’t said anything after the press conference yesterday, but she knew me better than anyone and knew I was upset. I’d screwed up. Now, I just had to work to see if I could recover from the blow to my career.
“I love you, Mom, but I have to do this on my own. Thank you, though, for being willing to throw yourself into all this. But you can go home now. I’ve got this.”
Today would be my first PT session to see just how hard this recovery was going to be. First priority...begin recovery and rehab on my ankle.
“I love you, too, baby. Now, I do have to get to work. I’ll call you this afternoon to see how things went today.”
“Thanks, Mom, and say hi to Dad for me.”
My dad might have been the tough NFL player who now ruled the high school football team he coached with an iron fist, but in their house, my mom ruled the roost. Dad wouldn’t have had it any other way. I loved watching the two of them together. They’d been married thirty-three years and were just as happy today as they had been the day they got married. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were actually happier with their relationship now.
I wanted that. Someday. The vision of Juliet reading in her window floated through my brain like a tease of possibility. I could just see Melissa doing that exact same thing in the circle of windows in the corner of my tower room bedroom. But then the doorbell rang, dispelling the vision.
That would be Miller. I squared my shoulders to face the day. I had enough on my plate. My life had no place for someone special in it.
***
An hour later, I dripped with sweat in the gym built into the basement of the house. Before the injury, none of these exercises would have been any big deal, but now my ankle screamed with pain and my entire body shook from the stress Miller had slowly been exerting on it.
Miller cupped my shoulder. “I think that’s enough for the first day back. You said you’re doing strength training later today with Simon Dorsey, right?”
I nodded but was too busy gulping down water to answer.
“He knows what he’s doing, but you need to monitor your exercises, too. You can work out any part of your body unless it stresses that injured leg from the knee down. Stay away from any movement that might exacerbate the injury. I know that seems obvious, but it’s easy to get carried away before you realize it.”
“Yeah, I don’t need to do anything to mess it up any more. As it is, I’m not sure from one moment to another whether my fans want to give me a medal for being a hero or tar and feather me for doing it after I’d had a few drinks.” The sports blogs and online news sites had been pretty much fifty/fifty split on whether I was an idiot or a hero.
Miller shook his head. “I hear you. I’ve seen the news stories, but around here, pretty much everyone puts you in the hero column because they love that girl. All except my little brother. He’s pretty torqued off at you.”
“Why?” I knew most the Murdock boys and had always had a good relationship with all of them...at least they’d seemed cordial to my face. I couldn’t fathom what I’d done to— “Wait, which brother? There are at least two brothers younger than you. Does he have a beef with me or Melissa?”
“You for sure. Warner’s had a mad-crush on Melissa ever since she went to work at the brewery. He says if you hadn’t been there that night, he could have been the one to save her, and then she would be looking at him like a knight in shining armor rather than you.”
I wanted to snort. I was definitely no knight in shining armor. A tiny detail from the night of the fire flashed in my head. “Your brother was the firefighter. Hey, he’s the one who carried her to the ambulance because I’d screwed up my ankle. He was a hero. He’s a freaking firefighter. Girls love that.”
Miller shook his head. “Yeah, Warner has issues all the way around. We’re hoping once he hits puberty, things will even out for him.”
I tilted my head at Miller in confusion. “He works at Naked Brews. Doesn’t that mean he’s at least twenty-one?”
“Twenty-two actually, but he’s a Murdock. His real growth spurt won’t happen until sometime this year. It’s the family way. Believe me, the family is ready for it to happen for his sake as well as ours. The kid is loony sometimes. Hormones are a vicious thing, I’m telling you.”
“No doubt,” I agreed. My muscles were melting into puddles on the gym equipment.
My coach strode in and zeroed in on the two of us lounging on the equipment. “Does this mean you already unbroke him?” Tanya asked.
“If only it were that easy,” Miller told her with a laugh. “Considering the extent of his injury, I’m pleased with his progress today. If he doesn’t overstress his ankle doing something he’s not supposed to, he should be able to avoid surgery.”
Tanya nodded, but her lips were pursed unhappily. “I noticed there were quite a few people hanging around upstairs.”
“Already?” I sighed deeply and sank back on the bench in the gym. Down here in the basement, we were insulated from what was happening in the main parts of the house. I was spent after that torture session, but maybe a cold beer and some Xbox was the perfect prescription for recovery.
She raised a brow at me. “Maybe it’s time to cool it with the partying for a while.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No way. Everyone knows that the party is always going on at Triple B’s place.” Never mind that I sounded like a total douche by referring to myself in the third person.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You know if you hadn’t been drinking that night, you may not have gotten hurt.”
“Now you sound like my mom. Unless it has to do with my snowboarding technique, it’s probably none of your business.” What was it with everyone criticizing my friends and life choices all of a sudden? A ripple of unease niggled its way under my skin. What was the big deal? I liked to have my friends over. There was nothing wrong with that. We had fun.
My coach gave me a tight, angry smile but didn’t argue further. She notated something on her calendar. “Well, don’t forget I’m flying out this afternoon. Who’s going to be checking in and making sure you don’t overdo it?” She looked up at me expectantly.
“Um, that would be me. I’m twenty-five years old. I think I can handle myself at this point.”
“Nope. That doesn’t work for me. I’ll hire someone to come in and check on you several times a day. It’s a solution we both can live with.”
Before I could argue the point, Drake walked in. “We have a problem. If you don’t fix your Bad Boy of Boarding image, Adrenaline is going to drop you.”
“What?” I turned to him, shocked. “They were the ones who started the whole Triple B idea.” The company had decided I’d be the one who looked like my life was always one big party because I used their products. My mom had been horrified at the moniker when they first gave it to me when I was sixteen, but I’d grown to love it over the years. Who didn’t like to have a little...or a lot...of fun?
“And now they want it undone. They’re demanding you clean up your image or your contract with them is toast.”
I pulled the dreads off my face and looked at the expectant faces. I was Triple B. How could anyone just expect me to up and change that in a single move?
“You know,” Drake said slyly, “everyone really loved Melissa at the press conference yesterday. Maybe you should spend more time with her. Use some of that famous charm on the lovely girl and let some of her goodness rub off on you. Show Adrenaline exactly how much of an asset you can be to them. It could be this season’s love story...the romance between the Bad Boy of Boarding and the girl he saved from the fire. I can already see the headlines.” Drake got a dreamy look on his face as he waved his hands in the air, already envisioning the money that could be made from those headlines.
The idea was intriguing. Not that I was ready to settle down. No, definitely not, but I could ask her out. Then I considered Melissa’s wholesome sweetness. She’d laugh at me before I could even get the words out. There was no way a girl like that would ever date a guy like me. She was a picket fence and two and a half kids kind of girl. We’d already established that wasn’t in my near future, but I could pretend. Not by lying to her. I’d never do that. My momma had raised me better, but I knew how to put on a performance for the media, and the news conference yesterday proved she did, too.
I rubbed at my lip. Maybe...
That idea actually had some possibilities. Someone had mentioned she was bunking on Lake’s couch. Melissa didn’t have a place to live right now, and it just so happened that my place was huge. Despite my anger over getting hurt, I was still more than a little intrigued by the innocent, young beauty. She’d have a pl
ace to live, and I’d fix my image and get to know her better...all at the same time.
Win. Win. Win.
I so did like a good win.
Chapter 12
Anthony
I sipped my coffee and watched out the dark windows of the Coffee Haus for Melissa. All I could really see was the reflection of ornate chandeliers and the reclaimed brick wall interior of the upscale coffee shop. Most of Main Street in Aspenridge was shut down tight at this time of night, so the place was dark and pretty quiet. Much quieter than my house would have been, which is why I’d suggested we meet here.
I lifted the lid to the small teapot sitting on our table. I didn’t want it to steep for too long.
The bell above the door chimed, and I looked up. Melissa stood there in black running tights that hugged her thighs and butt. My breath caught in my chest. Her cheeks were flushed red from the cold and maybe exertion. Her face was scrubbed clean of all makeup. I waved, and she smiled at me when I lifted the teapot to show her I’d already ordered for her. I hope she didn’t mind.
She bounded over to the table. “You ordered me tea?”
“Yeah, I hope that’s okay. My mom drinks Lady Grey, so I ordered it in decaf. If you’d rather have something else, I’ll go change it.”
“No.” Her eyes lit up as she sniffed the top of the teapot. “This is perfect, but how did you know I drink tea?”
“I’ve seen you.”
She tilted her head at me in question.
“I run a lot late at night. More times than not, you were in the window of your apartment, reading, always with a teacup in your hand. I’ve been calling you Juliet in my head because you seemed so alone up in the window...untouchable.”
I probably shouldn’t admit to that bit of sappiness, but her curious gaze softened.
“That’s how I knew to look for you the night of the fire. You were always up there.” I shook my head.
She didn’t need a reminder of that horrific night. How scary had it been for her? Did she have nightmares about it? I didn’t want to bring up bad memories, so I continued with our original subject. “I just assumed the cups held tea and not coffee.” That didn’t sound stalkerish, right?
