Autumn Nights

by Elle Viviani

  “What does that mean?” I grab his arm as he tries to turn away. My next words die on my lips as his eyes meet mine with a ferocity I’m not prepared for. That I could never be prepared for.

  “We’ll always be close, Autumn,” he says in a deep voice that sends heat searing through me. “So drop it.”

  I lift my chin. “But we’re not close. You never talk to me like you used to. Not after you left for boot camp.”

  He looks away. “I stayed in touch when I could.”

  “You call a letter every few years ‘staying in touch’?” I say in a shaky voice. Old anger flares within me, an anger I’ve spent almost a decade trying to stamp out. “I sent you fifty! I poured everything into those pages and all I got in return were hollow replies and empty words.”

  Bryce stares at his glass, tracing the droplets of condensation down the side with his finger. “I was going through a lot.”

  “And I wasn’t?” I shake my head bitterly when he doesn’t respond. “Screw you. I don’t know why I keep trying.”

  Before Bryce can stop me, I grab my purse and disappear into the happy hour crowd behind us. If he doesn’t want to talk, fine. Then neither do I.

  I’m halfway down the block when a large hand wraps around my forearm. I’m already glaring at its owner as I’m spun around. “Bryce! What do you think you—”

  “Never walk away from me again,” he growls. Then he yanks me to his chest and brings his mouth down onto mine.

  Chapter 19

  Bryce

  All thoughts leave my mind as I take what I’ve craved for so long. I know Autumn is more than the way her mouth and body are shaped, but right now, as I crush that body to my chest and taste that perfect mouth, all I can think about is how good she feels against me.

  Autumn wrenches her lips from mine. She staggers back as I let her go, swaying slightly before steadying herself. I wait for her to slap me, or at the very least walk away from me. But she doesn’t run. Instead, she stands there, lips blushing from my rough kiss, looking more beautiful than she ever has before.

  She’s the first to break the silence, and what she says is not what I expect. “Why haven’t you come back? All of you? We’re supposed to be best friends, but most days it’s like you’re a stranger.”

  I run a shaky hand over my eyes. “I know. Don’t you think I know?”

  “But why?” Her voice is eerily calm, despite the fact that I just forced myself on her. “Is…is it me?”

  I grab her thin upper arms, so small and delicate in my strong hands. “Never say that.”

  “Then what?”

  My words die on my lips. “No. I can’t. I won’t do this again.”

  “Won’t do what again? What are you talking about?” Her fists land harmlessly on my chest when I don’t answer. “Tell me, or let me go!”

  With a hard tug, she wrenches her arms free from my grasp. When she turns to leave, something hard and inflexible snaps clean apart inside my chest.

  “I told you never to walk away from me again, like when you walked off with a jerk and killed my heart.” I look away as my voice grows hoarse. “You never looked back, so why should I?”

  Her eyes are wild as they meet mine. A flurry of emotions fleet across her face until it settles into granite.

  “Your heart? You left me high and dry without a single goodbye! I’ve never forgiven you. Never.”

  Her body shakes as she draws a breath, her chin lifting for battle.

  “Didn’t you know that I wanted more than friendship? But you clearly weren’t interested, so I found other guys who were. And now, after all this time, you waltz back into my life and want me to forgive everything? To pretend like you’re not holding back?”

  Her lip begins to tremble as she jabs a finger into my chest.

  “Well, if you’re just too plain scared, then I’ll find some other guy to be with.”

  A man can only be pushed so far. And that final taunt pushed me a million miles past my limit.

  Autumn takes a step back when I step toward her. “What are you doing?”

  “You’re not going to find some other guy.” I grab her wrist and crush her to my chest. Her lips part as mine hover over them. “Unless that guy is me.”

  My mouth comes down on hers, hard and demanding. I expect Autumn to pull back from my assault like she did before, but she doesn’t. She meets my crushing kiss with a ferocity of her own. Her lips suck while I bite at hers. Then hers biting as I tangle my tongue with hers. One of her hands is caught between our chests, but the other reaches up and tangles in my hair, pulling me closer if it’s even possible.

  She tastes like a dangerous mixture of sugar and rich whiskey. And the curves pressing against my chest are begging my hands and mouth to explore.

  She moans as I draw back, suddenly and quickly, as I realize what I’m doing. I step back while I still have control.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” I say in a voice ravaged with guilt. Knowing I’m seconds away from losing it again unless I put some distance between us, I turn to go.

  Autumn’s arms lace around my neck and stop my retreat. Her fingers leave a searing trail of pure heat as they trace the contours of my neck. I can barely breathe as they glide into my hair at the base of my neck and tug.

  “Do you want me?” she asks in a voice made raw by desire, making no attempt to stamp it out. Shining eyes, flushed cheeks, lips parted just so. I can’t lie and pretend that I don’t want her more than any other woman in the world. It takes everything in me not to yank her back into my arms and taste every inch of that soft skin.

  “Yes, but—”

  “Then stop goddamn apologizing and kiss me.”

  She stifles my next words with her mouth, rocking onto her toes as she yanks my hair. The mixture of pleasure and pain sends a thrill of desire coursing through me, and without warning or regret, I hurtle over the edge of control.

  I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her to my chest. She gasps into my mouth as her toes leave the ground—shocked, then excited, as I hold her captive. Her tongue crashes against mine and twists, tasting every crevasse of my mouth as I taste hers. I can’t get enough. I will never get enough. So I dive into the girl I’ve loved like no other.

  This kiss is even more intoxicating than the ones before as I slow myself down and begin to learn the curves of her mouth. Pure pleasure whips through me as I draw her full bottom lip between my teeth, and the sounds Autumn makes as my tongue draws over hers has me struggling to keep a lid on the wild heat lashing through me.

  We pull apart reluctantly. Based on the way Autumn’s clinging to my shirt and how my arms refuse to leave her waist, I’d say very reluctantly.

  “I’ve wanted this for so long,” she says, resting her forehead against my chin. I look down and see a soft smile grow on her lips, still red from exploring mine. “So very long.”

  “You have?”

  She nods and nestles into me, her cheek coming to rest on my chest with a contented sigh. My heart nearly leaps from my chest as I stare down at the woman in my arms.

  “You’re why I stayed away,” I say, burying my cheek into the tendrils of her dark hair. It’s softer and sweeter than I ever could have dreamed. “I didn’t know how to keep being your friend when I wanted more. So I left.”

  “Well, don’t leave me again,” she whispers.

  “Never. You have me.” I tighten my hold around her as a wave of protectiveness surges through me. I close my eyes and breathe her in. I’ve never felt this possessive about any woman, but then again, Autumn isn’t just any woman. She’s mine.

  We stay entwined for what feels like moments, but the subtle nip to the air when we draw apart tells me that the afternoon has silently slipped into evening. Her gaze won’t settle as she draws in a breath.

  “Where do we go from here?” she asks, and I know she doesn’t mean her concert tonight.

  “I don’t know.” I hook a finger under her chin and raise it. “But I do kno
w one thing.”

  She lifts her wide eyes to mine. “What?”

  I reach down and take her hand, lacing my fingers with hers before gently bringing them to my lips. “Wherever it is, we’ll go there together.”

  Chapter 20

  Bryce

  People often say memories make things sweeter than they actually are, but when Autumn comes out of her dressing room wearing skin-tight jeans, knee-high boots, and a silver sleeveless top that dips low in the neck, I know that a fucking lie.

  Her hair is swept to the side, letting her rich brown curls cascade over her right shoulder. Her skin glows under the shimmery top, her shoulders, tanned and toned as her arms, sway in unison with her hips.

  It’s then that I know I haven’t embellished how beautiful Autumn Hartman was over the years that we’d been apart. If anything, my memory had sorely underplayed just how gorgeous she truly is.

  “Hi,” Autumn says, her voice little more than a whisper. I don’t say a word. I don’t even move. All I do is stare, but it’s okay because she’s staring too.

  “You have no business looking that good, Autumn.” Being alone in the hallway with a girl with big dark eyes has my heart thumping hard and fast.

  Her bronze skin flushes despite the overly air conditioned hallway backstage. “Is that so?” she asks in a voice that ripples over me. “What are you going to do about it?”

  I had spent too long worrying about Autumn. Worrying about her choices in men, who she was seeing, what would happen to us if she found out the depths of my attraction to her. But seeing the wild glint in her eye, the challenging tilt of her chin, I know I can put my fears to bed. The bad-ass, sexy, confident girl I remember is back.

  I reach out and run my fingers over her bare arm, enjoying the heat of her skin against mine. “I could throw you over my shoulder and lock you in a room.”

  A shy smile curves up her perfect Cupid’s bow. “I’d be okay with that…as long as you were in there with me.”

  “Autumn.”

  “Bryce.” She gives me a wicked smile that has my body heating up. “I know we said we’d take it slow, but maybe we could bend the rules.”

  “You have a concert to put on. I’m not about to suffer the wrath of Zoe.”

  She reaches out for my hand. Her fingers are small and delicate as they wrap around mine. “But I want you, Bry. So much it hurts. I can’t even describe how I feel around you. And when we’re apart…” She nibbles her bottom lip. “I’ve never been able to get you out of my head.”

  It’s going to kill me not to take her bed right now. She’s begging me to.

  “Me neither,” I say, my words hard-edged with need. My hand flexes to reach for her hips, but I hold back. Holding her hand is close enough in my current state. “So you’re saying you don't need time?”

  “Why would I? I’m dying to have you.” Her eyes shine as she gazes up at me with impatient desire. The soft murmur of the crowd behind the thick wall suddenly seems too loud as the silence draws out between us. I know I have to voice what’s holding me back, as uncomfortable and troubling for Autumn as it will be.

  My breath is coming faster now as I meet her pleading eyes. “Because you just broke up with—” I look around at the sound of a door opening. Voices echo up and down the hall. “Let’s talk after. This isn’t the place.”

  “Then where?”

  Wild, dangerous heat breaks over me as she pins me with her eyes. “Later. After the show.”

  “You promise?”

  I place my hand flat over her heart and look at her. “I promise. Now let’s get you on stage.”

  We walk the busy corridors in silence. My eyes never stop moving as I usher her safely past stage hands and electrical crews. Her opener is starting her last song as we join everyone backstage. Autumn takes a step forward when she spots the rest of her band by the curtain, but I hold her back with my arm.

  “We’ll talk after, I swear. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here, watching you, the whole time.”

  Her worry lines smooth as she turns her face up to mine. “I know.”

  “Now, go knock ’em dead.”

  At last, the grin I’ve been dying to see comes out. “Every time.”

  With a wink, Autumn ducks under my arm and joins her band by the edge of the curtain. Bella Cruz gives her final note, and then heads offstage as the set’s changed over. Minutes later, Autumn and her bandmates walk out amidst a torrent of cheers and whistles. Lights flash, the floor shakes, and walls rumble under the deafening cacophony.

  “Hello D.C.!” Autumn sings out, stepping up to the mic. “This is my last night in this great city before moving on, so let’s make this one for the books!”

  The packed house sends up a cheer that Baltimore could hear.

  “Usually I start my night with one of my hits, but tonight, I’m itching for a change. Y’all up for a change?”

  A roar answers her question.

  “That’s what I like to hear. Now I don’t know if y’all remember this one, but it’s a little number called ‘Bringing You Back’—”

  She stops as the crowd goes wild. As the Queen of Heartbreak, Autumn doesn’t have too many happy-in-love songs. ‘Bringing You Back’ is a rarity, and as she catches my eyes, I know it’s meant for me.

  She laughs and strums a few chords on her guitar. “I see you know it. Then feel free to sing along as I walk us down memory lane.”

  A huge smile draws back her lips as the band jumps into the song. She leans into the mic and starts to sing.

  “You brought me back to life when I was on dancing on the brink. You cut my bonds with your knife and said ‘it doesn’t matter what you think. I always said I’d keep you safe.’ And here I thought I was too late…”

  A thousand voices rise up around hers as she hits the chorus.

  “You keep me safe, you bring me back. You keep me safe when it gets black. I’m not whole without you here, I’m not me without you near. You are mine and I am yours…”

  A couple hours later, Autumn takes the stage for her encore. However, instead of playing, Autumn sets down her guitar and walks across the stage, boots thudding against the hard wood as the crowd falls silent in anticipation.

  “Why don’t I invite one of you on stage to help me through this next song? I don’t normally do this, but I’m just so damn happy tonight!”

  Autumn throws back her head and laughs as the audience hollers their appreciation. “But you don't even know the song! What’s that?” she asks, holding her hand up to her ear. “You don’t care?”

  She shakes her head, wearing the biggest grin as they yell their response. “Y’all are great, really. Well, it’s another fun one. Anyone in this town know ‘Hearts of Glass’?”

  A thousand “Yes!” responses pour out from the crowd to answer my girl’s question.

  I love the sound of those two words; two words I’ve ached to say for a long fucking time.

  “Now that you know what you’re getting into,” Autumn yells over the noise, “let’s see those hands.” She staggers back as every hand jumps into the air. “This is too hard to choose!”

  Autumn starts strolling across the stage, peering into the sea of hands and cheering faces. Everyone screams for her attention as she tries to pick one lucky fan to bring on stage. Finally she stops, seemingly settling on one.

  “You,” she says, pointing to a mass of people close to the stage. “The one with the rhinestone-studded cowgirl hat. I’m green with envy at that gorgeous sight.”

  There’s a rustle in the crowd and a figure moves forward. The security guards manning the metal barricades pull one back to admit the person through, but instead of the woman I had expected to see, a college-aged guy mounts the stairs. Autumn grows still as he steps on stage. Flannel shirt, jeans, work boots. The man looked like every other guy in the place. But something set Autumn on edge, and for that reason, I’m on edge.

  Autumn turns to the crowd and shrugs. “Well, alright! Let
’s give…” She leans toward him to ask his name, and I notice his hand dart out and grab her arm. She flinches and steps back, but he doesn’t let go. My body tenses as her eyes flick between the man’s face and his hand. Something’s wrong.

  Autumn turns back to the crowd with a smile. “Uh, give Kenny Wright a warm welcome!” The smile stays in place as she nods over her shoulder, and Barry immediately clicks off the beat to “Heart of Glass.”

  The crowd whistles and cheers as the familiar rhythm fills the venue, quickly clapping along to the beat that rocked the charts for months this summer. Autumn says something to Kenny and motions to the microphone. His eyes never leave her as he takes a step forward. I follow Autumn’s gaze down to her arm. His hand is still attached.

  I begin to move. Everything about this screams danger. The forced smile on Autumn’s lips. Her tense shoulders. Her stiff movements as she leads Kenny into the first line.

  “People say sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you. Well I say stones hurt and sticks sting, but words are knives only anger can fling.”

  I ease around the electricians and stagehands and walk to the curtain. My senses are alert and tingling while I watch the unlikely duet belt out the chorus to Autumn’s well-known hit.

  “The mess you made with your rough hands. It’s had all that it can withstand. My heart of glass, my heart of glass, it just won’t last.”

  Autumn takes the lead again.

  “I saw—” Her voice falters as Kenny tightens his grip. She tries to step up to the mic, but Kenny holds her back.

  “Let go,” she orders, her voice distorted in the microphone. Kenny does the opposite. He takes a step forward, yanks her to him, and begins to speak. I can’t hear his words, but whatever he’s saying makes Autumn take a hurried step back.

  Everything fades as I lock him in my crosshairs. Then I tap into my specialized skill set and let my training take over.