Heartbreaker (Unbreakable #1)
Kat Bastion & Stone Bastion
In memory of our beloved brother.
Jim, you are missed.
Kiki…
For a blessed few hours, I forgot.
Loading Zone did that to me. The nightclub’s Industrial Grunge feel, which I’d helped design with its exposed brick and rusted steel, wrapped itself around me like a comfortable blanket. Heavy bass thumped, vibrating into my bones. My thighs burned from dancing back-to-back songs. Three lemon drop martinis in the last two hours hummed warmth through my veins.
“C’mon,” my sister Kendall shouted above the loud music as she grasped my hand, then tugged me forward. “My toes are numb.”
Out of breath, I nodded and we headed toward the corner booth the eight of us had crammed into earlier. I dance-walked in the narrow path through the crowd behind her, each step a hip shake and head toss to the pulsing rhythm.
The moment we reached the table, our oldest sister, Kristen, pulled her husband from the booth. “Time for us to go. Jason has an early flight tomorrow.”
Cade, our brother and silent partner of Loading Zone, guided his new wife, Hannah, out right after them. “Last dance, Mrs. Michaelson?”
Which left Cade’s two best friends: the scruffy prodigy surfer Mase, his former roommate; and clean-cut businessman Ben, the other owner of Loading Zone. I slid over the black distressed leather before landing in the center of the wide, shallow booth to face the dance floor while Mase abandoned his spot on the opposite side to anchor the end next to me.
I grasped the stem of my martini glass, sipped the last bit of the tart lemon drop, then let out a happy-buzz sigh. Being around these three—including rising-star architect Kendall—all of them with their shit together, lent some grounding yin to my artistic yang.
“Sex on a stick, twelve o’clock,” Kendall announced.
My heart suddenly slammed into my ribs. But I exhaled slowly, trying to hide my reaction.
I’d been excited about tonight for several reasons: banish my secret problems from my head, surround myself with my favorite peeps, and Darren Cole.
Ben snorted out laughter while Mase dropped me a deadpan look. “‘Sex on a stick’?”
I shot Mase a sidelong glare and elbowed him in the ribs.
He grunted and nudged my arm away.
By the time I glanced up, corded forearms shot over the outer edge of the table. Large hands planted with a hard smack on the brushed metal tabletop. A familiar folded strip of paper skittered out from his fingers, sliding in a wide arc toward Ben.
My breath caught as I stared into Darren’s dark green eyes. A lock of his shaggy black hair fell over his forehead as he tilted his face downward. He set his jaw, expression hardening, as a scuffle between four guys unfolded right behind him, the apparent cause of his sudden hand-plant. He gave me a piercing look. “Twenty minutes.”
Then he turned and grasped the nearest offender by the scruff of his shirt. Security arrived an instant later and manhandled the others into submission.
As Darren flexed his left arm while leading his guy toward the exit of the club, the tapered point of a tribal tattoo peeked out from the back collar of Darren’s black T-shirt. My imagination began to paint what lay hidden from view: thick black ink arcing across sculpted back muscles, a woven design that twisted downward toward his tight…
“What’s that?” Kendall leaned over the table.
I tore my gaze away from Darren and reached for the note, but Kendall snatched up the slip of paper first. She unfolded it and read its message aloud, “‘Gimme a ride? K.’”
“Oh, sure.” Mase took a long pull from his beer, then swallowed. “Kendall gets to innuendo the f*ck out of this, but I don’t?”
Ben arched a brow. “Twenty minutes. That’s one helluva ride.”
“Shut up. Both of you. Guys objectify women. We can do the same. And it’s a ride home, smartass.” I tried to shoot Ben an annoyed glare, but the corners of my mouth twitched into a smile and ruined the whole thing.
“Suuure…a ride home.” Mase winked at me, then glanced over to where Darren strode along the edge of the room as he headed back toward his DJ booth. “I suppose he qualifies.”
“Worthy of objectifying? Darren more than qualifies.” I pinched the message meant for Darren’s eyes only and ripped it from Kendall’s grasp. “He doesn’t say much,” I continued. “Leaves the club with different women. Built like the perfect male specimen…”
Ben choked on his beer. “And what are we? Male rejects?”
“Ewww.” Kendall scowled. “That’s incestuous.”
“You’re like our brothers. Can’t even…” I scrunched my nose and blanked out my mind, willing myself not to visualize it.
“Not looking for love?” Ben asked, tone softening.
At that, all of our gazes drifted toward the dance floor. One of the last songs of the night streamed a fast tempo from the speakers, but in the center of a thinning crowd, Cade and Hannah stood oblivious. Wrapped together, they swayed to a slow rhythm only they seemed to hear. The look of adoration on their faces as they stared deep into each other’s eyes spoke volumes.
“No,” I said with absolute conviction. “Heartache lies down that road.”