I nodded and brought the drink he’d given me to my mouth. I tasted the familiar burn. The first drink hadn’t done much of anything. But two, I wasn’t so sure. If my mom caught me, I would be in so much trouble. “You want to get out of here?” I asked.
He looked confounded. “Isn’t this your mom’s wedding?” I nodded. But I couldn’t be here any longer.
“I just need to get out of here for a little while,” I said.
Kevin downed his drink then took my glass from my hand. He walked back out into the reception hall and deposited our empty glasses before returning. He held out his hand and I took it. He led me out the exit door and into the night.
The blast of chilly air reminded me I didn’t have a coat. The feeling was very much déjà vu. It was a night like this with me coatless that had Luke giving me his letterman’s jacket. I pushed the thought away and followed Kevin to a dark SUV of some sort. He popped the locks on the car. I shivered reminding me of another night running off with some guy I didn’t know. This wasn’t a good idea. I was making poor choices because of my emotions.
“Where to?” he asked.
I stood there holding my arms trying to think of a way out of this. “Maybe we should just hang out here,” I said while my teeth beginning to chatter.
He shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to me. I didn’t protest. If he wanted to be chivalrous who was I to complain?
“Thanks,” I said putting the oversized coat on. It smelled like cologne. I wasn’t familiar with the scent, though, just that is was very strong.
“Hey, I think I have some beer in the back. I was headed to my buddies later,” he said. He moved without getting a response from me. He headed to the back of his truck and opened it. He was shifting through something searching for his beer while I stood wondering what I was doing.
I wasn’t a drinker. And honestly drinking to get away from your problems is never a good idea. I wasn’t yet sure what I do if he came up with a bottle. So far, the two drinks I had hadn’t resulted in me getting out of control.
He came back with a bottle opening it with a key ring. Who the heck has that? I thought. But I guess he did. I took the bottle for no other reason than he offered it. I was better than this. I should be better than this. But in the end, I turned the bottle up to my mouth and I took a long pull of the bitter liquid. I would never understand why people found this drink so refreshing.
We stood in the night with nothing to say. Nervously, we both kept drinking the beer as an excuse for the silence. Kevin was cute in all, but he couldn’t even find words to strike up a conversation. Not wanting to stand in the deafening silence, I finally said, “So your father’s a doctor?” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Yeah, he’s a surgeon at the hospital where your mom works,” he said.
So he knew my mom. That could only mean one thing. “What college do you go to?” I asked.
“I’m in my first year at John Hopkins,” he said. “But I have a confession.”
My eyebrows arched. I couldn’t imagine what he would need to confess to me.
“I remember you from school last year.”
Outside, no longer forced to watch my ex be happy without me, I was able to see that Kevin looked vaguely familiar. “I thought you were cute, but was too chicken to ask you out. You always had this look of ‘stay away from me’ on your face,” he said.
Part of what he said sounded so much like a line. But there was enough truth especially about my stay away look. At least Maggie had warned me about it. ‘Eme, no guy’s ever going to ask you out with that look on your face,’ she used to say. But that is exactly what I’d been hoping for back then with my no dating policy.
“You don’t seem like the kind of guy afraid of anything,” I quipped, quirking a smile.
“I’m not, except when it comes to girls like you,” he said shyly. “But I can make up for lost time.”
I gave him a sexy laugh and smile. The beer and whatever else I’d drunk tonight was beginning to loosen my mood. “Really,” I said staring him in the eye.
“Really,” he said raising his eyebrows in response to me. He moved like an expert and soon his lips were on mine. The sensation was instant. The rush was amazing. It took me far too long to realize what was happening. My succubus was out. The flood of energy that washed over me was intoxicating more so than the alcohol I’d consumed.
He didn’t even notice. His long arms extended so his fingered tips grazed the sides of my dress past my hips. He fingered the material pulling it up inch by inch. My sluggish brain, slow on the uptake finally registered that I needed to put a stop to this. I tried in vain to slip into my demon skin to regain control, but it just rolled off me like water. All of this happened internally with Kevin not the wiser.
I heard the back door bang open and several footsteps along with that noise.
“Who’s that with Kevin,” I heard a girl say.
“Damn, I think that’s your sister,” a different girl said.
“She’s got the right idea,” the previous girl said. “Let’s go Luke.”
Fury bound me to my demon side. I finally had control. I was grateful when I opened my eyes that Kevin’s were still closed. If not, he may have seen my demon eyes. That wasn’t a worry any longer though, because I was in control. His fingertips still raised the hem of my dress higher. He seemed oblivious to our audience. His life force continued to pour into me. The power consumption was addictive.
“Wait,” a girl said.
I heard the patter of feet moving away and one set coming near. I didn’t have time to pull away before we were forcefully separated.
“What the hell, man,” Kevin said looking a little worse for wear. As irritated as I was for Flynn’s interruption, I was also glad that he stopped me from myself. I’d enjoyed a little too much taking the life force away from Kevin. It was quite the rush.
“That’s my sister,” Flynn said.
Kevin blinked a few times but seemed to regain composure. He exhaled a breath. “She’s no more your sister than she’s mine.”
Flynn’s jaw tightened. “Whatever,” Flynn said. “She’s off limits to you.”
“I think that’s her call,” Kevin said. Their eyes turned to me. I wasn’t quick enough because Flynn answered for me.
“She’s with my best friend,” Flynn said. I looked at him coolly. I could handle this and he didn’t need to lie. Luke was not with me. He was with that damn Sexy Lexi my mind shouted. That name would stick with me forever in my nightmares, I was sure.
“If you’re talking about Luke, he seems quite occupied by Lexi and we all know about Lexi,” Kevin said giving Flynn a knowing look.
I didn’t know about Lexi. What the hell was up with her? Oh, I was certain I could guess but my brain would most likely bring up too many bad images.
“I can take care of myself Flynn,” I finally said. Flynn narrowed his eyes at me.
“Yeah, Flynn. I think we have this under control,” Kevin said.
Flynn stared at me a moment longer. In the background I heard the chirping sound a car makes when the door is opened and the key is in the ignition. I couldn’t see the car, but I could hear the voice. “Come on Luke, don’t be shy,” the girl said whose hair I’d like to yank out by her bleach blond roots.
“You better get going before you miss your ride,” I said scornfully. I shouldn’t be rude to Flynn, but my feelings were hurt and he’d been the easy target.
He frowned but moved away into the darkness. Kevin didn’t waste time before attacking me with his mouth. “God, you are so hot,” he said tearing away from my lips before pouncing on me again. No longer was he the easy going guy ready to stand for my honor. He stood now ready to take it.
I was so not. Something in the way he said it turned me off completely. “Stop,” I breathed taking a step back.
“Hey, we can get in the car if you’re cold,” he said seriously.
I blinked. “No, really, I just,�
�� I started to say.
His persistent hand found my butt which apparently was irresistible because he wasn’t the first to find that target tonight. I thought about Sebastian. “Your body is rocking,” he said with a hiss.
My hand tried to move his hand away, but he mistook my movement as more of an invitation. His other hand came to my back side pulling at my skirt again. Thinking, I weighed my options in the space of a second. I could easily knee him in the groin. I could probably take him down too. But then I’d caused a scene at my mom’s wedding. I could upset a client of David’s by breaking his son cojones. None of these options were good ones.
“Take your hand off my ass,” I said, hoping diplomacy would work.
He didn’t listen. Instead he assaulted my mouth again with a sloppy drunken kiss. I tried to pry his hands away. When that didn’t work, I opened my hand to form a V and thrust my hand up towards his Adam’s apple. When I connected with his throat, his hands moved from my backside to grasp at his neck. He was bent over making an awful retching sound sure to draw attention if anyone was out here. Part of me wanted to feel sorry for him, the other part, the demon side wanted to grin. He’d asked for it.
He recovered soon enough while I stood there to make sure I hadn’t caused any permanent damage. I made a move to walk away once I knew he’d be fine, but Kevin had other plans. He yanked on my arm.
“Let it go, Kevin,” I said referring to his pride. When he made no movement, I raised my voice and said, “Let me go.”
“Why?” was all he could muster out. He swallowed hard. His voice was still raspy from my blow. I knew he wanted to say more, but I didn’t have time.
“If you don’t let me go,” I threatened. My voice held an edge of danger I’d never heard before.
He stepped in front of me. I didn’t think. I used a move that was probably older than time. I raised my knee and hit a home run. Kevin went down.
It took a moment for my mind to process what happened. Flynn came around the corner.
“Mercy, you ok,” Flynn said to me. Kevin was pooled in a heap on the ground. I was pulling off his jacket when Luke came a little too late. Luke looked at Kevin as I dropped the jacket on him. Then he watched me push my dress back down. His face grew angry. Blue fire burst into flames in his eyes. I wasn’t sure what he was about to do.
“Mercy already took care of it,” Flynn said to Luke.
“He doesn’t look apologetic if you asked me,” Luke said.
Kevin looked at the both of them holding his jaw. Slowly, he got to his feet. “Hey, wait,” Kevin said holding one hand on his family jewels and the other near his throat. “Luke man, I’m not going to fight you over a piece of ass,” he said.
Luke took a step forward and Kevin was down on the ground again. This time there was a trickle of blood from his mouth. “Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that,” Luke said. My eyes widened for a quick second. He still thought of me as his girlfriend. My heart did a little samba.
“Girlfriend,” Kevin croaked not knowing when to keep his mouth shut. “You were with Lexi,” he protested. His words made my heart falter. He was right. If Luke wanted me back what was he doing with her?
“Doesn’t matter,” Luke growled. “Stay away from her.”
Kevin looked at me. I looked away. I wasn’t about to say anything in his defense. My feet got in motion. Luke came over to me. “Wait,” he said.
I stopped and turned to face him. Any buzz I may have had from the alcohol was gone. I think the effects wore off once my demon side took over. “Thanks for that,” I said tilting my head over in the direction where Kevin was. “But you should get back to Lexi,” I said frostily. I turned, walked away and back in through the door I’d exited earlier.
Opening my eyes from the memory, it was still night. The wedding was still a painful reminder. Luke hadn’t come back for me. In fact, he hadn’t come back at all, neither had Flynn or the girls that were with them. I spent the rest of the evening entertaining at the kids' table. Maggie tried to console me, but I’d told her to keep her date company. Maggie unable to keep a secret had run to Paul and spilled the story to him.
He didn’t come over either. But when he finally caught my eye, he’d given me a sympathetic smile. He kept the remaining girl, the one who’d been fascinated with him, company the rest of the night. But unlike Luke, his face wasn’t filled with joy. I just avoided their table telling jokes and silly stories to the kids.
The alarm clock buzzed jolting me. Today was going to be complicated. I just wasn’t sure what Paul would expect from me after last night.
Chapter Eight
somnolent (adj.) sleepy, drowsy
Exhausted couldn’t express how I felt after a sleepless night. My SAT word of the day somnolent was fitting. The end of the school day wouldn’t come soon enough. Thank God it’s Friday, I thought bitterly walking out of the lunch line with my limp slice of pizza. In slow motion, I watched as Maggie and Amber ambushed me yet again. Annoyed, I hoped this wasn’t becoming a habit that I would need to break. They corralled me in the direction in the far corner of the lunch room opposite the elite table.
“We need a favor,” Maggie said. I narrowed my eyes at her. That word ‘we’ used to mean she and I, but she meant her and Amber. I tried to keep the pleasant look on my face. I missed it just being the two of us. We hadn’t hung out alone together that much lately. She had to split her time between Brent and us. Amber lived closer to her than I did. Now they rode to school together. I really tried not to be jealous about that. Amber nodded at Maggie in silent communication. I wondered what was going on and clearly I was the last to know. My tired brain hadn’t kicked in yet, so I was at a total loss for the conversation to come.
“Amber took a test because she was late,” Maggie blurted out.
My brain was slow on the uptake. I narrowed my eyes confused. “So why would she have to take a test for being late. I thought you just got detention for that?”
Maggie shook her head and for the first time I saw the pained look on Amber’s pretty face. Even somber she was a really pretty girl and I understood just what Paul saw in her.
“She missed her period,” Maggie said leaning into me with a whisper of words.
Still I was completely not getting this. Later, I would blame my ignorance on lack of sleep. “So she wasn’t late, she skipped a class and they made her take a test?” I asked quizzically.
Maggie put her hands to her head in exasperation. Amber scooted over to me and whispered in my ear, “My period is late, “she said slowly.
It took Amber to say it just that way for me to understand. Maybe because things like this didn’t happen at our school. Or at least I’d never heard of it. So I just wasn’t thinking in those terms.
Wide eyed, I looked at both of them as the dawn of realization cleared my foggy brain. That kind of late and test and period, I thought. Geez, what was a person to say. Thankfully, I didn’t have to speak because Maggie broke down the master plan.
That plan unluckily centered on me. As I made the journey towards the table I’d avoided for weeks until yesterday’s debacle, I wondered why I had agreed to this. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t my problem. But the best friend rule had come up and I didn’t know when Amber became a part of my circle of best friends. Paul and Maggie had been my best friends. Amber had been my best friend Paul’s girlfriend. In fact if anyone could claim the best friend rule, it should have been Paul. The rules of best friends meant you would do anything for that person. I loved Paul and I’d thought to make him happy I should have been with him. That was one of the reasons I’d gone last night.
Maybe if I’d told the pair of conspirators that I’d been with Paul last night doing a tongue dance, I wouldn’t be in the position I was in now. But then, I would be friendless. So I’d kept my mouth shut on that bit of information and found myself walking the walk of shame back to the elite table. I would have to confess my sins to Maggie and Amber soon. The truth was bound to come
to light. It always did.
Each step brought memories back to the look on Paul’s face when he’d seen Flynn kiss me. It had been one of defeat. But Paul fled and I had been unable to explain until last night that actually Flynn kissed me and I hadn’t kissed him back. Honestly, I wasn’t sure Luke knew this or maybe they might not be best friends. God, everything was such a mess.
But I wouldn’t hurt Luke anymore than I had to, so I would take that secret to the grave and somehow I didn’t think Flynn would tell. But in the end, I couldn’t be with Paul. I still didn’t think he really wanted me other than for no one else to have me. I’d been pining after him long after I nearly killed him with my succubus kiss. He’d survived and accepted me despite my demon half and I’d loved him for it.
That love wasn’t enough though. My love for Luke was far different and all encompassing. I’d felt that last night when the lack of fireworks clued me in. It had been nice to be in Paul’s arms, but he wasn’t Luke. Words just couldn’t explain how my heart did flip flops when I looked at Luke which is why I had avoided him. But now I was to go to the table where he sat at with Flynn and Paul. Then I had to get Paul to come somewhere private where I would give him the good news he was to be a father. I wanted to slap him for it. I wished the two musketeers had mentioned this yesterday and I wouldn’t have gone to dinner. But first I would have to survive not making any eye contact with Luke.
Waiting for Mercy (Cambions) Page 9
