Concealed - A Hiding From Love Novel #2

by Laurence, Selena

  “Dude, this is my cousin Carla and her roomie Denise.”

  I put my hand up in an approximation of a wave. The place is so noisy that I’m not sure there’s any point in talking. Mike’s cousin has big blue eyes and a perky nose to go with her perky chest. She motions at me to take the stool next to her and I sit down, continuing to scan the place for Alexis or her sister. Hell, at this point I’d even be all right with seeing Marky Mark Where he is, Alexis is sure to follow. The whole idea makes me want to fucking hit someone.

  Carla must see that I’m not in the best frame of mind, because before she’s even said anything, she’s placing a big glass of beer in front of me right alongside a shot of what looks to be tequila.

  “Here,” she says as she leans in close to my ear. “This’ll help.” She gives me a genuine smile. She might look like a typical party girl, with her tight tank top and short shorts, but maybe there’s more to her than that.

  “Thanks,” I return as I take the beer and down half of it in one.

  “Hard day at the garage?” she asks.

  “Nah, I’m just normally a cranky bastard.”

  She laughs. A real laugh, not the phony giggles some girls hand out like candy.

  “So you’re really Mike’s cousin?”

  “Yep. His mom is my dad’s sister.”

  “Well, you definitely got the looks. He’s a fugly asshole.”

  She busts up, earning a sharp look from Mike, who seems to have radar when I’m badmouthing him. I give him my most innocent smile and he rolls his eyes and goes back to chatting up Carla’s roomie.

  “I think I just figured out why Mike wanted to come out with you so badly,” I say in Carla’s ear.

  “Uh, yeah, that would be for my roommate,” she answers.

  “Dick didn’t even tell me. I thought it was a guys’ night, and now I find out he was planning on trying to get with your roommate.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you,” she replies as she toys with the straw in her ice water. “He’s been at it for months. He’s firmly trapped in the friend zone.”

  “Ouch. That’s gotta smart. Is she seeing someone or just not into him?”

  She rolls her eyes. “She’s single and crazy about him, but neither one of them will make the first move, so they’re stuck. They’re idiots.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, love’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

  She looks at me for a minute as if she reads something into my remark. Then she nods. “Yes, it is.” She reaches down, squeezes a lime into her mouth, and then picks up a full shot glass and tips it at me. I follow suit and we clink our glasses together before downing the burning liquid. The heat settles in my stomach, and I decide that if I have to sit here and wait for Alexis to show up I might as well enjoy myself a little.

  Two hours later, I’m feeling the booze and Carla and I have bonded. She’s a kickass girl, funny, down to earth, and honest as hell. She’s asked about my move to Austin and I’ve learned about her senior year at UT studying Architecture. Finally, I hear some new music start up in the club room next door. I figure I should start working some of the alcohol out of my system if I’m going to be driving us home.

  “You want to go do a little dancing?” I ask Carla.

  She leans in close. “Only if you promise not to step on my toes.”

  “Deal,” I answer, and we head to the dance floor.

  We haven’t been dancing long when Mike comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder. “Hey, man, I wanted you to know your girl’s here.”

  I look around, searching the room for her.

  “She’s out by the bar. Looks pretty toasted too. Has her sister and a couple of guys with her.”

  I nod at him. “Thanks, man.”

  He gives me a chin lift and goes back out to the bar. I decide to finish up my dance with Carla. Alexis is with fucking Marco. No reason for me to rush out to see her. I briefly wonder if this will ever get any easier. Will she ever relent and talk to me or spend any time with me? Will I ever get tired of following her around like the whipped fool I am? What happens if I’m the only one in love here? I force a smile for Carla and keep dancing.

  Alexis

  La serpiente se oculta en la hierba.

  Look before you leap.

  I’M drunk and barely in control of myself. After learning Gabe would be at Margie’s, I insisted we go somewhere else and had Marco and his roommates meet us at the Silver Dollar. We made our way through there and three other downtown bars, and I drank steadily at each one. We lost one of the roommates along the way when he hooked up with some sorority girl who was so drunk I doubted she’d remember his name in the morning.

  Finally, I ran out of excuses for why we couldn’t go to Margie’s and all I could do was hope Gabe wouldn’t still be there. I hadn’t told Marco about running into his least favorite soldier.

  We walk in, and somehow I know right away. He’s here. I can feel him, even after more rum and Cokes than I can accurately remember right now. I look around for Marco, spotting him by the bar, and try to gauge his state of mind. He’s buzzed, but not much more, which is typical. He’s a very controlled guy and rarely does anything to excess. Normally I’d be in better control myself too, but I’m haunted by this image of Gabe standing there, his t-shirt sleeve lifted partway as he looked at me, his expression so intense, while I slowly read Alexis Forever injected into his skin like he’s injected into my very soul. I decided when we hit the first bar that the only solution was to burn him out of me with alcohol.

  So far it isn’t working, and as soon as we arrive at Margie’s, I order another round, this time going for the vodka in a screwdriver. If the damn rum won’t do it, maybe vodka will.

  Beth has been watching me carefully all night, and I know she isn’t fooled by my reckless party-girl charade. I’m not going to let down though. She has no idea what she’s asking me to do. She doesn’t seem to realize that if I let Gabe in even the tiniest bit he will destroy me. He will blow up my life, my future, everything I’ve tried so hard to hold together for the last two years. One little fissure and I’m done for. I can’t let Gabe Thompson back into my life. If I do, I won’t have a life.

  As we settle in at Margie’s, I chug my screwdriver and scan the crowd, looking for a big, hot, angry guy with my name etched in his flesh. I have to figure out how to keep Marco from pissing Gabe off and therefore keep Gabe from killing Marco. As much as I respect my boyfriend, I know he’s no match for a former Army MP who has two inches and forty pounds on him. I’m not sure Marco’s male ego would let him admit that same wisdom, so I prefer they not meet up.

  Marco is deep in the crowd at the bar, talking to some guys from his department at school when I spot Gabe’s friend, Mike. Beth must have seen him at the same time I did, and she grabs my arm. “Hey, there’s Mike. Why don’t we go talk to them? You know, say hi since we said we’d try to meet up?”

  My head is so fuzzy by this point I’d say yes to anything, so I totter off in the direction I think Mike is. Beth gently takes my elbow and directs me about forty-five degrees to my right, where I’m happily surprised to find Mike dead ahead. I love how that works. Maybe my sister could be a driver of people. A human chauffeur. Someone who spends all her time making sure others are traveling the direction they need to. The great idea dissipates as I find myself facing Mike, who, strangely, is laughing at me.

  “A human chauffeur, huh?”

  I look at Beth. Well, one of the Beths. “Did I say that out loud?”

  “Yes, Lex, you did.” She sighs as Mike continues to chuckle.

  “Looks like your sister’s had a few,” Mike says to Beth.

  “That would be an understatement,” drawls Beth.

  “Gabe’s out on the dance floor.” He gestures toward the club room. “You ladies want to head out there too?” he asks.

  I figure it’s better to go find him so he won’t eventually find me, and therefore, Marco. “I’ll go see him,” I say and stumble off,
Beth following behind somewhere.

  By the time I’ve pushed my way into the club room, I’m sweating and out of breath. I need to decide whether to find Gabe or lie down and take a nap. Either option sounds good. The music is pounding and the lights are flashing every which way. I’m not sure if I’m headed toward the dance floor or not, and I’m about to give up when the crowd mysteriously parts for split second. It’s just long enough to give me a view straight ahead of Gabe – Gabe bumping and grinding with a big-chested blonde in very short shorts and a tight tank top. I feel my heart plummet to somewhere south of my ankles.

  What the hell?

  Not three hours ago he was standing in front of my apartment, showing off my name inked on his skin and now he’s doing pelvic grinds with some bimbo he just picked up? I feel my face heat as I fight to control the anger welling up inside of me like a volcano about to erupt. But I’m drunk, so control be damned.

  I may not be the biggest person in the room, but I power my way through that crowd in record time. In mere seconds I’m standing, hands on hips, glaring hard at the big asshole who is ruining my sleep, my carefully constructed life, and now apparently my sanity.

  “Um, is this your friend?” the buxom blonde says to Gabe as she notices me.

  He whips his head toward me and a smile lights up his face. The asshole.

  “Hey, babe. You came after all.” He grins at me as bimbo girl wrinkles up her little forehead and watches us.

  “Don’t call me babe,” I snap, earning a laugh from him. “Can we talk?” I grind out. “In private.” I turn my fakest, bitchiest smile to blondie. “You don’t mind, do you?”

  She shakes her head, appearing more afraid of me by the minute. Gabe looks confused, but I grab his arm and march toward the back hallway where the bathrooms are.

  Once we’re in the small, dark hallway, I let go of him and give him a shove against the wall.

  “Hey, if you want to get rough, let’s at least go to the truck where we can be alone,” he jokes as he puts his hands in the air.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I hiss.

  “Well, I was dancing, but now I’m wondering if we need to have an exorcism,” he replies, eyeing me carefully.

  “Dancing? Is that what you called that? If she’d gotten any closer they might have had to surgically remove her from you. I haven’t seen that much grinding since the time my older brother tricked me into watching a porn flick with him when I was –”

  “Wait a minute,” he interrupts. “What the hell is this? You’re jealous – again, I might add. What the fuck, Alexis?”

  “I am not jealous,” I growl as I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him.

  He laughs, but it’s bitter. “You absolutely are, and I can’t believe the nerve of you. You’ve made it pretty clear you don’t want me, but now no one else can have me either? Sorry, sweetheart, but it doesn’t work that way. You don’t get to decide who I do and don’t dance with, eat with, sleep with –”

  “Oh, you’re so full of yourself. As if I care. I just can’t believe you’d come all the way to Texas, move into my apartment building, make sure to show me you had my name imprinted on your skin, then turn around and pick up the first skanky blonde you could get you hands on. And you wonder why I chose Marco.”

  As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I know I’ve gone too far. His face turns hard, a kind of hard he’s never shown me before. This is the guy who’s killed people. The man who carried an M4 and used it – or his fists or whatever else he needed – to get the job done. I jerk away from him, honestly frightened for a minute.

  He breathes hard as he leans into me. I can see the anger flashing in his eyes, and his fists clench at his sides. “That’s right, Alexis. You chose him. And it appears you made the right choice, because I’m just a philandering asshole. Yeah, babe.” He steps back then. “Keep right on telling yourself that. Maybe someday you’ll even believe it.

  “Are we done here? I have other people to do,” he snarls.

  Before I can answer, he turns around and slices his way into the crowd, where he’s swallowed up instantly.

  Gabe

  La mejor defense es el ataque.

  The best defense is a good offense.

  I slam through the crowd in the club room, knocking people into one another and spilling drinks in my wake. I hear a couple of girls squeak and their boyfriends bellow out, “What the fuck, dude?” But I don’t care. Let one of them come at me. I’d welcome it. I make it out to the bar area when a hand on my arm stops me. Beth stands there, looking concerned.

  “Have you seen Alexis?” she asks.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen your crazy-ass sister,” I reply helpfully.

  Her forehead scrunches with worry. “Oh, God, what did she do?”

  “She seems to think that, while she can dump me, ignore me, and have a fucking boyfriend, I’m a cheating bastard if I dance with someone in a bar. When you find her, tell I said she can go to hell.” I move to take off again.

  “Wait!” she calls from behind me. “Gabe. Please, wait.”

  I turn and look at her, my teeth aching from how tightly my jaw is clenched.

  She pushes forward to get alongside of me again. “First of all, she’s drunk – really drunk – and whatever she said she didn’t mean it. But also, you don’t know everything that went down when she got back. I know what she did to you was bullshit, but she was under a lot of pressure you don’t know about.”

  “Oh yeah? Then why don’t you tell me?” Even as angry as I am, I yearn to hear some explanation for the decisions Alexis has made. An explanation other than, “she doesn’t love you.”

  Beth shakes her head. “It shouldn’t be me. She needs to, but you’ve got to be patient, Gabe. Give her some time to adjust to you being here and then ask her to tell you what happened. She owes you that much, and I think she’ll give it to you.”

  “You’re sounding a little like you’re Team Gabe,” I say incredulously.

  She scowls at me. “I’m Team Alexis,” she answers. “But she’s never going to be okay until she works through this thing with you. However it ends up.” She takes a step closer and looks me in the eye. “Two years ago, something happened to my sister, and she’s never been the same since. I want her back. I want the girl who lives life instead of watches it. The girl who wanted to be an international aid worker, not some lame-ass social worker in Floresville. I want that girl you fell in love with. If you get her back, then I’ll be Team Gabe for life. But don’t screw it up.” Then she turns around and walks away.

  I stand for a moment, so many emotions swirling through me that I’ve lost the ability to move. Finally I pull out my phone, text Mike to meet me at the truck, and leave.

  It’s after two a.m. and I’m lying on the pullout sofa in my apartment, all pretense of sleep forgotten as I review the night’s clusterfuck in my head. How the hell did everything go so wrong so fast? I’ve only been in town one week and Alexis refuses to talk to me, hates to see me, and seems as attached to Marco as ever. About the only thing in my favor is her sister, and I’m not sure that’s going to be enough. I was such an idiot when I started this. I’d never admit it to any of my guy friends, but I came to Austin with all kinds of stupid romantic visions in my head. I thought if she saw me, felt me, she’d come to her senses and realize how much she loves me. I laugh to myself in the darkness.

  I’m a fucking idiot.

  I hear a car pull into the parking lot and doors slam, then a girl crying and soft voices. I stand up and pull the blinds aside to look out. There stands Beth, a sobbing Alexis hanging off of her as she tries to make her way to the staircase. One of them is going to get hurt. I sigh and open my front door.

  “Beth?”

  She jumps, almost dropping Alexis at the same time. “God, you scared me.”

  I scratch my head, having trouble focusing while Alexis is sniffling on Beth’s shoulder.

  “It looks like you could use some help.”
r />   Beth looks around the empty lot as if someone else might volunteer.

  “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. Marco’s going to be here soon. . .”

  “Well, he’s not here now – as usual,” I mutter under my breath, “and I am. Why don’t I help you so one of you doesn’t fall on your ass.”

  She sighs. “Okay. I guess. Can you just take her up the stairs?”

  I walk over and put my hand on Alexis’s back as she continues to lean heavily on her sister. “Babe?” I say quietly.

  She sobs again.

  “I’m going to help you upstairs now, so hold on, okay?”

  I think I see a nod under all the hair and saltwater. I scoop her up, and she folds herself into my body, her quiet sobs shaking her every so often. I don’t have a shirt on, and the feel of her warm soft body against mine makes me want to walk back to my apartment and lock her inside with me. It nearly breaks me to hold her this close.

  “I’m sorry,” Beth says as she leads me across the parking lot to the stairs. “She never drinks like this.”

  “Well, she’s drunk as hell, but she also needs some food.”

  “Why? So she can yak it all back up?”

  “No, her blood sugar’s dropped. She does this, gets low blood sugar and cries. I guarantee if you get a few carbs and a little protein into her she’ll perk up a lot.”

  Beth stops midway on the staircase and looks back at me. “You’re serious?”

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “You know this about my sister? I mean, you spent a month with her two years ago and yet you know that if she gets too hungry she cries?”

  “Beth, we’re in the middle of a staircase and your sister is wiping snot all over my neck. Can we have this conversation inside or something?”

  She looks at me intently for a moment more before nodding and walking the rest of the way to Alexis’s door. After she opens it and motions me in, I step through. Alexis mumbles something into my shoulder.