Rising from the Ashes

by Jessica Prince

  Before any of us could cut in to point out what was obvious to everyone but Lizzy, Mickey spoke up, “Huh…well then, I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

  I just picked up my margarita and drank deeply. If Lizzy refused to see what was right in front of her face, that was her prerogative. Who was I to try to dictate other people’s love lives? I barely had my own under control. All I could do was sit back and be her friend. Sometimes you had to let people fall on their own and be there to help them up when the time came.

  All I could do was hope that Lizzy didn’t fall as far or as hard as I had.

  Days had gone by, and true to his word, Jeremy had been in my bed every night since getting back together. I knew it was only fair that I stay over at his place sometimes, but I wasn’t quite comfortable with that yet. His breakup with Charlotte was still a little too fresh. I didn’t want to rub our relationship in her face, so I thought it would be best not to run the risk of her seeing my car in his driveway. At least my house was a few minutes outside of town. The risk of her driving by and seeing Jeremy’s truck there was pretty slim.

  Saturday night Jeremy drove us to Colt’s to watch the guys’ band play, and I was stoked to be wearing my I’m Banging a Rock Star…Don’t Be Jealous T-shirt.

  I was sitting at the bar with the girls, Luke, and Trevor when Ben walked in and joined us. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to order a drink before Jeremy honed in like he had some sort of freaky sixth sense.

  I was just standing to give Ben a friendly hug when an arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back. Jeremy had me glued to his side, and when I glanced up at his face, he was giving Ben a look that could have peeled the skin off his face.

  I’d officially had enough. I wasn’t a possession, and there was no way I was going to sit by while my boyfriend and my friend needled each other for no good reason.

  Pulling out of Jeremy’s hold, I stepped between the two men. “Outside. Now,” I demanded to the both of them.

  I didn’t give either of them a chance to speak before stomping off. If they knew what was good for them, they’d make sure to follow.

  Luckily, they could both be smart at times. When I spun around, they were standing there, neither one looking too happy to be next to the other.

  “We’re going to start over,” I began, talking to them like they were children. “Jeremy, this is my friend from work, Ben. Ben, this is my boyfriend, Jeremy.” I crossed my arms over my chest, cocked a hip and narrowed my eyes at them. “Now, was there anything lost on either of you just then?”

  “No,” they both mumbled, each one looking down at his shoes.

  “Do I need to be more specific on where each of you stands?”

  Jeremy said, “No,” again and Ben just shook his head.

  “Good. I’m tired of you two acting like jackasses.” I turned to Jeremy. “Whether you want to believe it or not, Ben really is just a friend, so can you please try to be nice?”

  Before Jeremy could answer, Ben cut in, “It’s true, man. There really isn’t anything going on with Savannah and me. You’ve got my word.”

  I could see Jeremy’s shoulders relax marginally at Ben’s statement and I was sure Ben saw it too.

  “Sorry about that,” Jeremy replied as he held out his hand for Ben to shake. “I’ve just waited a long time to get her back, so I get a little jealous, I guess.”

  “Understandable.”

  “Yay! Now, you two keep playing nice, or I swear to God, I’ll make you both miserable, and you know I can do it.”

  I turned and started back in when I heard Ben tell Jeremy, “Your girlfriend’s kinda scary, man.”

  “You’ve got no idea,” Jeremy replied.

  When I got back to the bar and grabbed my beer, Trevor and Luke were both smiling at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “They still alive out there?” Luke asked with a chuckle.

  “For the time being.”

  Ben and Jeremy finally made their way back in, and from the looks of it, everything was good between them. Jeremy had to go up on stage to finish setting up, and the rest of us were hanging out when we heard a loud voice cut through the buzz in the bar.

  “What’s up, losers? I’m here, so the party can finally start.”

  “Hey, babe. Stacia said you found a place. How’s moving going?” I asked as I wrapped Mickey in a tight hug.

  “It’s good. I’m just getting myself settled and trying to get everything in order. I figured I’d give myself a little break for a while. You know, so I can see what kind of trouble I can get you ladies into.”

  I finally released her from my death grip and turned to introduce her to Trevor and Ben since she already knew everyone else.

  “Guys, this is Stacia’s cousin, Mickey. Mickey, this is Trevor. He’s Luke’s friend we were telling you about. He just opened Ink Addictz.” I turned to Trevor. “Mickey’s an amazing tattoo artist. She’s looking for work.”

  He gave a slight nod. “Oh yeah?”

  Mickey gave him a little grin. “Yeah, I’m pretty decent.”

  “Well, stop on in and we’ll see what we can work out.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  I figured Trevor would be all over her since she seemed right up his alley. And the lustful look in Mickey’s eyes wasn’t lost on me, but he just politely shook her hand, never once leaving Lizzy’s side. Why the two of them wouldn’t just hook up was beyond me. The sexual tension was almost thick enough to cut with a damn knife.

  Ben, on the other hand, was staring at Mickey like she was a drink of water and he’d been stuck in the desert for a year.

  Oooh…interesting.

  “Mickey, this is my friend Ben. He works as an attorney at P&C with me.”

  Mickey must have noticed his expression as well because I saw a sexy smile spread across her lips. Trevor was obviously completely forgotten in just a matter of seconds. Ben wasn’t going to know what hit him by the time the night was over.

  “You gonna sing with the guys tonight?” Emmy asked.

  I hated Mickey for her God given musical talent. She had such a low, smoky voice that when she sang, people would be instantly captivated.

  “I don’t know. I might,” she said with a shrug.

  Ben, in the meantime, looked like he was about to swallow his tongue. For a guy who was always so composed and professional in the courtroom, it was hysterical to see him so flustered around a woman.

  “You might want to pick your jaw up off the floor, Ben. It’s kind of dirty in here,” I whispered when Mickey stepped up to the bar to order a drink.

  He didn’t even bother to take his eyes off her. “Yeah, sure thing,” he replied.

  He obviously hadn’t heard a word I said. I let out a laugh and turned to Emmy and Luke, leaving Ben to his drooling.

  A few minutes later, we all stood to head to the stage when I heard Stacia suck in a gasp.

  “Heads up. Three o’clock, Savvy.”

  I turned to my right to see what she was talking about.

  “No, the other way,” she said in a loud whisper.

  God love her. “The other way is nine o’clock, Stacia.”

  “Whatever,” she hissed. “Just turn to your left.”

  We all made an obvious show of looking over to see what she was talking about just as Charlotte and her group of Barbie dolls came walking through the door.

  “Ah shit,” I said on a sigh.

  Things had been going so well that I hadn’t even realized that Mickey hadn’t been around to know the latest goings-on in our circle.

  “What? What’s happening?”

  Emmy leaned towards us to fill Mickey in. “That’s Jeremy’s ex.”

  “Which one?” Mickey asked, eyeing the group in disgust.

  Where Mickey looked like a rocker, Charlotte and her friends were the complete opposite, wearing pastel sundresses, pearls, and too much makeup. They stuck out like sore thumbs.

  “The brunette who looks
like she belongs at a country club instead of a bar,” Emmy replied.

  “Okay…no accounting for taste or anything, but what’s the problem? And what does it have to do with Savannah?”

  “Savvy and Jeremy got back together,” Stacia squealed a little too loudly.

  I cringed and shot up a prayer that her voice hadn’t carried all the way across the bar.

  “No shit?” Mickey yelled. “Why the hell am I just now finding this out?”

  It was obvious those two were family. If Charlotte’s posse hadn’t heard Stacia, they’d definitely heard Mickey.

  Charlotte’s eyes cut in my direction before she leaned in to her friends and whispered something. All of them turned their attention my way, each scrunching up their fake noses like they smelled something gross. I was sure they would have had wrinkled brows too, but the Botox was obviously preventing that.

  I turned my eyes back to Mickey, trying to ignore the looks coming from the other side of the bar. I would typically let something like that roll right off me, but for some reason, knowing that Charlotte and her minions were staring me down was really getting to me. But I’d be damned if I let Charlotte see that.

  Jeremy must have seen her walk in and sensed my discomfort because he was behind me before I could even turn around. “You okay, honey?”

  The concern on his face was moving, and when he ran his fingers down my cheek and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, I couldn’t stop from leaning in to his touch.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a little awkward, you know.”

  “I know.” He leaned in and gave me a slow, thorough kiss.

  I probably would have stayed there all night if the sound of breaking glass hadn’t pulled me out of my lust filled daze.

  We all turned to see her friends leading a tear-soaked Charlotte out the door. I didn’t like the woman, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t sympathetic.

  I turned back to Jeremy with a frown. “You shouldn’t have done that in front of her.”

  He ran his fingers through my hair and crouched down to my level to look directly in my eyes. “I can’t worry about her, Savannah. The only person I care about is you, and it was obvious you weren’t happy. It’s my job to make sure you’re always happy.”

  He is so getting lucky as soon as we get home! I stood up on my toes to kiss him and whispered, “I am happy, Jeremy. I love you.”

  “Only ever you,” he whispered to me before heading back toward the stage.

  We all made our way to the front of the crowd as the band started up. I always enjoyed watching them play, but now that I was actually with Jeremy, his sex appeal on stage skyrocketed. The only thoughts I had running through my head as we danced and sang along were all the naughty things I was going to do with him when we got home.

  After several songs, the guys called Mickey up to the stage with them. Anytime she came to a show when she was in town, they made sure she sang a couple of songs with them. She always sounded beautiful and the crowd ate it up.

  The music started, and after a few seconds, Mickey’s hypnotic voice began drifting through the microphone. I was so busy listening to her voice that I almost missed the song she was singing—almost.

  As she poured her heart into Coheed and Cambria’s “Dark Side of Me,” I couldn’t help but relate to the lyrics. When she got to the chorus and started singing about giving her everything for all the wrong things, my mind wandered back to the decisions I’d made all those years ago, and the tears began welling up in my eyes.

  As the song played on, the guilt started weighing heavily on me, and it took everything I had not to let the tears fall. I knew Jeremy would notice if I started to cry, and I couldn’t risk him asking questions.

  Lizzy saw my face and came over to wrap an arm around my waist. “You okay?” she asked discreetly, her voice full of concern.

  I sniffed and pasted on a fake smile. “Yeah…yeah, I’m good. Mickey just sounds so beautiful that I got a little emotional.”

  It was obvious she saw right through me. “You have to tell him, Savvy,” she whispered in my ear so that no one else could hear her over the music.

  I looked into her eyes and nodded. “I know,” I whispered, fighting back a sob. I refused to make a scene in the middle of a crowded dance floor.

  Seeing that I was desperately trying to pull myself together, Lizzy turned us back toward the stage and we swayed along with the music as it continued.

  For the rest of the night, I did my best to act as if nothing was wrong, but in the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop worrying that I was at risk of losing the one thing that made me the happiest.

  The sad look that clouded Savannah’s face earlier when Mickey was up on stage singing with us hadn’t been lost on me. I asked her about it after the show and she brushed it off, saying she’d just loved the song and Mickey’s voice, so she had gotten a little emotional. I wanted to push the topic more, but when Savannah didn’t want to talk about something she would completely shut down if it was forced.

  Things had been going so good between us that I wasn’t willing to risk her closing any part of herself off from me—at least not this early on.

  We went back to her place after leaving Colt’s and she practically jumped me the minute we got through the door. I had no clue that she’d be so turned on from watching me play the guitar, but now that I knew, I was going to carry that damn thing around with me everywhere.

  Hours later, after I’d successfully worn her out, I was lying in her bed with her naked body partially draped across my chest as I ran my fingers up and down her back.

  “Mmm, that feels so good,” she mumbled in a sleepy voice.

  Something had been on my mind ever since we’d gotten back together, but I was never sure of a good time to bring it up. With her worn out from great sex and half asleep in my arms, I figured she’d be much more agreeable than usual, so I went ahead and blurted it out. “I think we should move in together.”

  My hand stopped moving when I felt her whole body tense up.

  After a couple of seconds, she lifted her head and looked at me with shock written all over her face. “Are you serious? Jeremy, we’ve been together for, like, a minute. Don’t you think it’s a little soon to discuss moving in together?”

  I knew that would be her argument so I’d made sure to prepare a kick-ass rebuttal. “Savannah, it’s not like we just met and started going out. We were together for five years, and we were friends long before that. We’ve been a huge part of each other’s lives since we were kids.”

  She sat up, and to my disappointment, wrapped the sheet around her, covering that delectable body of hers. “Jer, we were just kids when we dated. Things have changed. We aren’t the same people we were back then.”

  I pushed myself up and rested my back against the headboard. “We’re not that different, sugar. You still chew on your bottom lip when you’re uncomfortable.” I pointed to her mouth where her lip was currently pulled between her teeth to make my point. “You still have a tendency to be volatile when things don’t go your way, and you’re still a god awful singer.”

  She reached over to slap my arm and I used the opportunity to pull her onto my lap so that she was straddling my thighs.

  “You and I both know that this is it for us. What’s the point in wasting any more time than we already have?”

  I could see it in her eyes. She was starting to come around to the idea of us living together so I went in for the kill.

  “And besides, you’re gonna be twenty-seven in, like, a month. Don’t you want to get the ball rolling before you get too old?”

  She pinched my nipples as hard as she could and I let out a yell as I tried to grab her wrists.

  “I’m not old, you asshole!” she said with a laugh. “You’re the one who’s finding gray hairs.”

  “Baby, you’re practically ancient,” I responded as we started wrestling around on the bed. “You wait any longer and you’re gonna dry up.”

/>   “None of this is making me want to move in with you.”

  I rolled her underneath me and settled between her thighs. I knew I had her where I wanted her when she looked at me with those hooded whiskey-colored eyes. Her lustful expression told me everything I needed to know.

  “No more wasting time, sugar. I’ve waited seven years to begin my life with you. I don’t want to keep waiting.”

  She started to chew her bottom lip and I wanted to ask her what she was worried about, but I couldn’t risk her shutting down during such an important conversation.

  “Can I think about it?” she asked.

  I knew it was a lot for her to take in over such a short amount of time, so I was willing to give her a chance to think it through. I knew what I wanted, and I knew I wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Yeah, baby. You can think about it.”

  The smile she gave me lit up her entire face and I was lost in her.

  “I love you so much, Savannah.”

  “Only ever you,” she replied.

  Jeremy had to work the next morning, so when he left, after giving me a brain-scrambling kiss and reminding me to think about moving in with him, I immediately grabbed my phone and texted Lizzy.

  911. My house in 30.

  “What’s up, chica?” Lizzy asked as she breezed through my front door exactly thirty minutes later. “I had a feeling this conversation would require booze, but since it’s only nine thirty in the morning and neither of us is Irish, I brought Virgie May’s coffee and doughnuts.”

  “But you are Irish,” I replied, grabbing the coffee and taking a big gulp.

  There was no denying Lizzy’s heritage. The red hair, green eyes, and fair skin gave her away.

  “Only half,” Lizzy chimed. “Besides, I’m also Catholic, and this being Sunday and all, I have to wait until after noon to start floating my liver.”

  “Ah, fair enough.”

  Lizzy sat on the chaise lounge in front of the bay window in my living room and tucked her feet underneath her as I took a seat on the couch.

  “So what’s going on?” she asked.