“You should go,” Sal said with a clip of his head. “Make sure you’re back by curfew.”
“I don’t even have a curfew.” I shook my head and let out a puff of air. “How are you two even parents right now?”
“We’re down with the kids.” Mom flipped her ponytail. “We’re cool.”
“Cool?” I let my head drop back and groaned loudly. “If I get kidnapped while I’m out with Hope, it’ll be all your fault.”
Mom’s tinkle of laughter surrounded us. “That’s okay, we know some DEA agents. I’m sure they’d try and find you.”
* * *
ARIA
“I’m not sure about this.”
I shifted side to side and stared in the mirror at the outfit Hope had chosen for me. The flowy, emerald-green top tied at the back of my neck and showed all of my back, with only a strip around the waist and the front covering me from neck to hips. From the front, it was conservative as hell, but the back was a whole other story.
“I think you look hot as shit.” Hope pushed a giant hoop earring through her ear and came to stand behind me. “Those jeans are like a second skin.”
I stretched my legs out and cringed at the feel of the tight, faded black denim. I was used to skinny jeans, but these were practically painted on.
“I’m still not sure.”
“Stop overthinking, Aria. Just go with the flow.” Hope handed me a pair of block-heeled boots.
“I—”
“Girls? You ready?” Hope’s sister, Lisha, asked. Her heels clicked on the wood floor in the hallway, and then Hope’s bedroom door swung open. “Cab will be here in a few minutes.” Lisha’s black hair was exactly the same as Hope’s, but where Hope hated her pale skin, Lisha embraced it.
“We’re nearly ready,” Hope replied and turned to stare at me one last time. “You look hot, let’s go.”
I bit down on my bottom lip and pushed my feet into the boots. They gave me a couple more inches of height which I desperately needed. I windmilled my arms out a couple of times, trying to find my balance, and took one final look in the mirror.
My hair was curled and starting to drop, giving me a wavy look, and my makeup was minimal. I may have caved on the outfit, but there was no way I would let Hope loose on my face. That was a step too far.
This wasn’t the first time I’d gone out with Hope and her sister, but the last time hadn’t gone too well. We’d ended up carrying Lisha home after an argument with her boyfriend and spent the remainder of the night doing nothing. I just hoped tonight wouldn’t be a repeat.
“Come on, Aria!” Hope shouted from somewhere in her apartment.
I took a deep breath, picked up my faded denim jacket, and walked out of her bedroom and into the hallway. Hope’s apartment was much like mine with a living room connecting to the kitchen, and a bathroom. The only difference was she had three bedrooms. It was small and compact, but it served them well, just like ours did us.
By the time I got to the front door, I’d gotten used to the block heels a little and felt much more steady.
“You ready for this?” Hope asked, and hooked her arm through mine.
“Not really.” Her answer was to laugh, and together, we walked down the couple of flights of stairs and into the lot of her apartment building.
The cab was waiting for us as we exited, and then we were on our way to the bar Lisha’s boyfriend was playing at tonight. I knew without Lisha I wouldn’t have gotten in, but I had doubts they’d let me in at all. I was only a few months out from my eighteenth birthday, and although I may not have looked my age, I didn’t act like it either. I was more than happy staying home and not going out, which was part of the problem. I didn’t go out and enjoy myself, I didn’t let my hair down. Maybe Mom and Sal were right? Maybe I needed to have some normal teenage fun for once. I was sick and tired of everything weighing on me, so by the time I exited the cab and followed Lisha and Hope into the bar, I resolved to let go.
Let go of the anger I constantly felt rushing through my veins.
Let go of the sadness that weighed me down.
Just…let go.
Lisha headed right for the stage while Hope and I settled at a table. After a few minutes, a tray of shots was placed down in front of us.
“Perks of knowing the band,” Hope said, but there was a sadness to her tone. Something had seemed off with her all night, but I hadn’t wanted to say anything. She picked up a shot and downed it without a second thought, then passed me one. “Go on.”
I inhaled a deep breath, plucked the glass from her hand, and threw back the shot. The cool liquid rolled over my tongue and slid down my throat, leaving a burn in its wake. But the burn told me I was alive. The burn spurred me on for another one, and as Hope was reaching for her second, I did the same.
“That’s my girl!” Hope shouted as Lisha sat at the table.
“You started without me?” Lisha asked.
“You snooze you lose.” Hope shrugged and picked up two more shots, handing one to me. “We’ll get a different drink after this.”
I nodded in reply and downed the shot, the burn now becoming unbearable. “Shit, that one hurt.” I groaned and rubbed my chest with the palm of my hand.
Lisha and Hope laughed, but their shots didn’t seem to have affected them in the slightest. I wondered if this was what Hope did when she had to go away with her sister? Did she sit beside the stage and drink all night?
Music blasted throughout the room as the band started playing, and Lisha jumped from her seat and onto the dance floor, front and center. “I don’t know why she does that,” Hope said, her voice louder to be heard over the music. “She’s so…desperate.”
I turned in my seat and stared at Lisha. Her hands were up in the air, her head thrown back, and from here, it looked like she was having a blast. “She looks like she’s having fun.” I grinned and faced Hope. “Let’s get another drink and go join her.”
Hope’s eyes widened. “Oh, I see Party-Aria has come out to play.”
I stood and pulled off my jacket, relishing in the cool air as it hit my exposed back. “Mom told me to have fun. I’m only doing as I was told.”
“Your mom is seriously the best!” Hope hooked her arm over my shoulders and pulled me toward the bar. We both ordered another couple of shots and some water to wash them down afterward. Mom’s words about keeping hydrated echoed in my mind over and over again. Although, I wasn’t sure she meant it quite like this.
The bass of the music became louder, reaching a crescendo, but it didn’t end. Instead, it seamlessly flowed into the next song on their setlist. We weaved our way through the growing crowd at the bar and onto the dance floor where I threw my hands in the air like Lisha had.
All the songs seemed to merge into one. Shots were handed to me from both Lisha and Hope, and I downed them greedily. They said know your limits, but tonight, I was forgoing all of that. I was letting go, dammit, and I was determined to have a good time, even when the band stopped performing and the sound system was all that was left playing music.
“I’m heading backstage to check on Lisha!” Hope shouted, and I nodded in reply, too busy swaying my hips on the dance floor. There were fewer people on it now, but it was still half full of couples and friends all having a good time.
I uncapped my bottle of water and took a swig but came up empty just as a pair of hands gripped my hips from behind. Sober me would have pulled away, but drunk me was having the time of her life, so I swayed my hips in time with the music.
A chest pushed against my back, buttons pressing into the soft skin, and I shivered from the cool contact. The hands traveled around to my stomach and pulled me closer still, and it was then I realized what was digging into my ass.
I tried to pull away, but the hands gripped me tighter as a groan vibrated through my ears.
“Let me go,” I tried to say, but it came out a slurred mess. I looked around, seeing all the faces but not recognizing one of them. How long ago h
ad Hope left to go and check on her sister? How long had I been here? I had no concept of time, and it was then I realized what a huge mistake I’d made.
I’d let go of everything when I shouldn’t have.
I’d let my guard down, and I’d only ever done that once in my life. The one time I regretted more than anything.
I tried to pull away again, but the guy wouldn’t let up. My breaths came faster, and I could hear my blood whooshing in my ears. I needed help. I needed out of here. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t get away. This was the reason I never went out. This was why I kept my walls so high no one could climb over them.
I twisted to the side, my gaze flitting around the room, but I couldn’t concentrate on any one thing. I’d made a mistake coming here. I’d made a mistake not knowing my limits. I’d fucked up, and now I saw no way out of it.
“Let go,” I repeated, this time much clearer. I was gaining my wits, and sobering the hell up. At least I thought I was until the guy let me go and I stumbled forward. My knees hit the ground before I realized what had happened, and it took me a couple of seconds to make the room stop spinning.
I crawled over to the table we’d been sitting at and grabbed my jacket then used the chair to stand up. The restrooms were only a few feet away, so I made for those while trying to fish my cell out of my pocket.
My balance was off thanks to the shots, so I was glad there was a wall I could lean on to guide me down the hallway and to—
“Whoa.” Gentle hands gripped my arms. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” I slurred out, resting my head against the cool wall. My hair fluttered over my face, and I batted at it, needing to get it out of my eyes.
The hands moved off my arms and were then on my face. “Aria? What the hell?” I’d recognize that gruff voice any day of the week, and I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Hey, Cade.” My lips pulled up into what I could only assume was a sloppy smile.
“Are you drunk?” His fingertips pressed against my hot cheeks. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ, does your mom know you’re here?”
I nodded, or at least, tried to, but it was hard with his large paws stopping any movement. I reached up to try and move them off my face, but as soon as my small hands covered his huge ones, I forgot what it was I was trying to do.
“Mom told me to go out and have fun.” I finally met his stare in the dim hallway and inhaled a breath. His cologne wrapped around us, and I grinned. There was nothing like the musky smell that seemed to follow Cade around. “I was having fun,” I pouted, “until some guy on the dance floor pressed his dick into my ass.”
“I…fuck me.” Cade groaned and let go of my face, but pulled one of my hands into his. “Come on, I’m taking you home.” I didn’t answer him as he led me back through the hallway and into the bar area. He walked me near the door and said, “Wait here.”
I did as I was told and slumped against the wall, waiting for my knight in shining armor to whisk me away. Or maybe I would sleep. Sleep sounded real good right now.
Chapter Seven
CADE
I didn’t want to leave her alone, but I didn’t have a choice. She was drunk off her ass, and I was here with some teachers from school, so there was no way I could bring her back to the table we were sitting at and tell them I was taking her home.
Pushing my way through people in the crowded bar seemed like it took an age when, in reality, it was only seconds. I turned back when I was a few feet away from the table where Willow and Harold were sitting, and spotted Aria sliding down the wall. What the hell had she been thinking?
“I’ve got to head out,” I told the table as I grabbed my leather jacket and keys.
“What?” Willow stood and nearly knocked the drinks over as she reached for me. “It’s only eleven. It’s still early.” Her palm connected with my forearm, her fingers covering the tattoos that were now on display. I kept them hidden while I was at school because it was policy.
“I know but”—I flicked my gaze over to the front door and spotted Aria still there, only now it looked like she was asleep—“my dad called. He needs some help.” I shrugged her off and backed away a step. “I had a blast, though. Same time next week?”
That seemed to placate her because she smiled and trailed her hand down to her chest. The signs were all there. If I wanted Willow, I could have her. But that was the problem: I didn’t want her.
A couple of years ago, she would have been my go-to woman, but now, not so much. I’d learned not to waste a second of my life, not when it could be gone within the blink of an eye.
“Definitely,” she breathed out.
“I’ll see you all at school on Monday.” I didn’t wait for any of them to reply as I spun around and headed back toward Aria. My palm itched to pull out my cell and call Jan to tell her what had happened, but something stopped me. I was her age once not so long ago, and I would have hated the person who ratted me out.
Aria was more or less lying on the floor by the time I got back to her, so I crouched down and placed my hand on her face. “Aria? Come on, you need to get up.”
“I’m tired,” she groaned, her words coming out slurred. How much had she had to drink?
“I know.” I let out a slow breath. “I’ll take you home.”
“Okay.” She reached her arms out, her eyes still closed. “Carry me. I can’t get my legs to work.”
I shouldn’t have wanted to laugh at her. I should have been angry that she'd gotten herself into this state. Livid that she’d come to this bar. Raging that they served her. But I was none of those things, especially when she cracked open her eyes and stared at me. Her light-brown eyes looked almost gold in this light, and they drew me in, threatening not to let me go.
There was always something so intense when Aria stared at me fully. Almost like she was seeing through all my bullshit and staring at the roots that made me who I was.
I shook my head and hooked my arms under her legs and against her back. The silky smooth skin of her back greeted my palm, and my stomach dropped. I shouldn’t have pressed my fingers deeper into her skin, I shouldn’t have been trying to memorize how soft it was, but I was doing both of those things, and nothing could stop me.
Aria rested her head on my shoulder, her breaths flowing across my neck, and I stumbled a little as I stood. My body shouldn’t have been reacting this way to a drunk woman—girl. She was just a girl. She was seventeen, and almost like a sister to me.
But I couldn’t deny the way my body buzzed when I was around her. I couldn’t deny how much I craved to see her and hear her gentle, calming voice. Maybe it was the couple of beers I’d had? Maybe they’d affected me more than I’d thought. If that was the case, then there was no way I was going to be driving home.
I walked out of the club with Aria pressed against me and held my arm out at the edge of the sidewalk. A cab pulled up not three seconds later, and I pushed us into the back. I had no idea what I was going to do or where I was going to go, but the thought of taking her home and getting her into trouble didn’t appeal to me.
I shot off my address to the cab driver, my mind made up. There wasn’t any harm in her being there. It was only one night. I’d look after her, make sure she didn’t puke her guts up, and then take her home in the morning. My dad had taught me how to treat the people we cared about, and there was no doubt I cared about Aria. She’d been there when I’d gotten shot, and I’d been there the day everything in her life changed.
“He’s gone,” she whispered, tears rolling down her face. She was so small—smaller than any other eight-year-old I knew. Her pale skin and bright red hair were such a contrast that it almost looked fake, but no one could deny the absolute heartbreak showcased in her eyes.
“It’s okay, Aria.” I held my arms open for her, and she came willingly. The waiting room was full of people from all walks of life, but there were only two people we were here for—Aria and her mom.
“I…” She hiccupped a sob and hel
d my T-shirt tighter. I squeezed her against my chest, wishing I could take away every ounce of pain she was feeling in that moment. “I saw him. I…I found him.”
My stomach bottomed out. “You found him?” I asked. I had to make sure I heard her right. It was one thing feeling the loss she did, but to have witnessed that trauma was something else entirely.
She nodded against my chest, the sobs getting more gut-wrenching and I knew I couldn’t let her stay here, not surrounded by people staring at her. Dad and Lola were seeing to Jan who sat staring at a wall, not a single emotion on her face, but Aria…no one was there for Aria, and I promised myself there and then I’d always be there for her, no matter what happened.
The cab slamming on its brakes brought me out of my head and I stared down at Aria. It was the only time I’d seen her cry, because after that day nine years ago, she’d locked it away and become someone completely different. She’d had to push it into a part of her brain she wouldn’t access, because if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to live day to day.
I understood her more now than anyone ever would.
Aria stirred in her seat and then snapped her eyes open. “I’m gonna be sick.”
“Shit.” I flung the door open and helped her out, just in time for her to throw up against the curb. Fishing a few dollars out of my pocket, I then passed them to the cab driver who promptly squealed away from us.
“I’m never drinking again.” She groaned and let her head drop forward, then a second later she was throwing up again. I dropped my jacket and hers on the ground and held her hair back. The streetlights illuminated part of the street, but I wasn’t sure if I was thankful for the light or wished it wasn’t there.
She dry-heaved a couple of times and finally tried to stand. “I need water.” I picked our jackets up and wrapped my arm around her waist. “And food. I’m starving.”
I chuckled. “Only drunk you’d want food right after you throw up.”
“You have such huge hands,” Aria commented, her voice breathy, but it was nothing like how Willow had spoken to me. When Willow spoke, it drifted right over my head, but Aria’s voice hit me right in the pit of my stomach.
Defy Fate: Fated Duet: Book One Page 8
