Loving Me, Trusting You(21)

“Ain't the only place I'm hairless now,” he says with another laugh.

“Oh.” That's all that comes out of Amy's mouth before I'm turning on my heel and marching down the hallway towards the elevators. The ache between my brows has grown into a massive migraine already, and it's not even eight o'clock yet. This day is not looking good.

“Hey, hold up, I gotta thank you for turning down that girl last night. What was her name? Cassie?”

“Crystal.” I spit the word out like a curse as I jam my thumb on the button for the elevator.

“Yeah, yeah, that was it. Anyhow, I gotta thank you for turning her down. Woo wee, that girl was crazy. Shaved every damn inch of my body from head to toe. Got off on it crazy hard, too.” Beck tries to show me the gleaming tats on his forearms, the reapers, skulls and tombstones shining like they were freshly inked. “Let's just say, I never had such a weird ass lay in all my life.”

The elevator doors slide open and I step inside, slumping against the railing with a sigh as I watch Amy covering her mouth and trying not to laugh. Beck notices and thumps her on the back hard enough that she stumbles.

“You like war stories there, sugar pie?” he asks, laughing his annoying ass off while the doors begin to slide closed. But not nearly fast enough. My stomach drops when I see Gaine come flying out of the hotel room, pants unzipped, boots in his hand. His hair is stuck up every which way and his eyes are sticky with sleep.

“Yo, wait up!” he calls, and I'm tempted to hit Beck in the nuts, so he'll drop his arm and let the doors slide closed. No such luck. Instead, Gaine comes sliding into the elevator in his socks, looking like a much more attractive version of Tom Cruise in Risky Business. “Shit, f*ck,” he says, dropping his adopted Southern accent. “Why the hell did you sneak out like that?” he asks me as I do my best to keep our arms from touching. I don't know what's up with me, but when I look into Gaine's face, I feel something untwisting inside, falling away from my heart, leaving it bare and nervous. It's beating reminds me of the hooves of a herd of wild horses, pounding the earth and making my fingers quiver. I squeeze them tight around my arms, curling my nails into the leather of my jacket. What's with the nerves all of a sudden? I'm too old for this love shit.

I get out a cigarette and put it between my lips, watching Gaine as he leans back and slips his boots on.

“I didn't sneak anywhere. I got up to take care of my shit. Who invited you anyway?” Gaine gives me a look while Beck chuckles in the background. The f*cker thinks everything under the sun is funny. I wish he wasn't such a badass or I'd have beaten the crap out of him already.

“I did,” Amy chirps up like a stupid songbird or something. My hands clench tight as I wonder when the two of them had the chance to chat. “Well, not directly, but when we were having drinks the other day, I said he should come help me rescue Christy.” She smiles and puts her hand on Gaine's arm. Inside of me, something snaps and the cigarette drops out of my mouth, hitting my boot and bouncing across the elevator. I want to hit her, I won't lie. Instead, I clench my hands at my sides and glare so hard, I'm sure she can feel my gaze pummeling her perfect skin, incinerating her.

Amy's hand falls to her side as Gaine bends down and picks up the cigarette, handing it to me with a weird look on his face. His lips twitch a bit as he watches me, saying things with his eyes that he dare not speak aloud, especially not with company. I fold my arms across my chest and fall back with a grunt.

When the doors on the first floor open up, I'm the first one out, stomping across the lobby in knee-high leather boots and a scowl that could melt metal. People part when they see me coming and nobody complains. Behind me, Beck, Gaine and Amy struggle to keep up, following me out into the muggy afternoon and the silent roar of summer. There aren't many people, hardly any cars, but the sounds ambush me, crushing me with the buzz of insects and the whirring of air conditioning units.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Amy says from behind me. “There's Christy's car. She should be inside. I tried to get her to come to the hotel directly, but her uncle owns it so … ” I tune her out and don't respond, just roll my eyes and wonder who thought it was a good idea to meet at the twenty-four dive in the middle of this shitty town. It's not exactly inconspicuous. There isn't a single other car parked outside the crappy little building.

Gaine catches up to me and walks shoulder to shoulder with me as we make our way to the front doors and push them open together. Inside the bar, sitting alone on the cracked black leather of an old stool isn't Christy, the unassuming Southern belle. Instead, it's Will f*cking Walker. swear on the very depths of my soul that it will be the last.





He doesn't turn to look at us when we enter, just sits there nursing a beer like he doesn't have a care in the world. This early in the morning, he's the only patron. Even the bartender is missing. Not a good sign.

I pause and pull the tire iron out of my jeans, pausing only when I hear the click of a hammer being pulled back.

“Drop the gun, sweetheart,” says a voice from behind and to my left. I don't even look, letting Beck work his magic behind me. As long as there's less than four armed men, we'll probably be alright.

“What the f*ck is this shit?” I ask Will, feeling my heart clenching with rage, begging me to charge forward and unleash the pain I'm nursing onto the world. If I could, if I let it go, would that make things different? If I did that, would the weird emotions I'm feeling towards Gaine be able to become something else? Only one way to find out.