I supposed it was a good thing that my stomach had stopped hurting, because I was on my fourth or so death grip hug, and I was sure all the excess air had been squeezed right out of me.
It was Friday night, almost two weeks after what I was now referring to as Monday Suckday. I’d returned to Mona’s that past Thursday even though Jax insisted I could take off as much time as I needed, even a month, but I needed to get back to my life and I needed the money. The whole gang was there, hanging out at Mona’s for the night before heading back Sunday morning. They were staying at Jax’s house, camped out in the guest bedroom and the couch.
“I think you kind of look badass with the black eye,” Katie said as she hitched up her neon-blue halter top. “Like I should be afraid that you could kick my ass.”
Calla leaned against the bar beside me, folding her arms along the top. Her blond hair was pulled up in a high ponytail. “She could probably kick all of our asses. The skinny ones are always the scrappy ones.”
My black eye had all but faded to a pale bluish purple and it probably should’ve been completely gone by now, but there were some broken blood vessels. But it was barely visible. I wasn’t worried. “It’s true,” I told the girls. “Watch out.”
Avery laughed as she held a refilled glass of Coke. “I took Teresa out last weekend.”
My brows flew up as I looked at the stunning dark-haired girl. “I feel like I need details on this.”
Teresa laughed as she swiveled around on the bar stool. “I found these boxing gloves of Jase’s and we had a match. I was going easy on her, though, only popping her in the arm.”
“Whatever.” Avery glanced over to where Cam stood with Jase and Jax. They were fanboying over Brock. “I thought Cam was going to have a heart attack when we started.”
“Yeah, I thought we were going to have to call nine-one-one.” Teresa snorted. “It was funny, because I’m pretty sure Jase thought it was like watching some kind of pervy fantasy come true. Two girls with boxing gloves.”
Calla laughed as she poured a shot. “Poor Cam. Gotta suck when one of those girls is your sister.”
“You know, I think that would be a great show to do at the club. The girls could be in bikinis. Or topless.” Katie took the shot and downed it in an impressive swallow. Smacking her lips and sighing happily, she placed the glass back on the bar. “I’m totally going to pitch that to Larry. He liiiiikes my ideas.” Katie shimmied her hips.
I arched my brow as I looked at the two girls. “What have you guys done?”
Avery giggled.
“Anyway guys, I’ve got to get back and make some mon-nay! Peace out—oh wait!” She spun to where Nick appeared behind the bar. A bushel of fresh limes was in his hands and his dark brows rose as he met Katie’s wide stare. “You!” she shouted, hopping forward, her breasts defying gravity and the halter top.
He set the limes on the bar. “Me?”
I grinned as Calla pushed back, curiosity settling into her features.
“Yes. You!” She pointed at him with blue nail polish that matched her top. “I have something to tell you.”
“Oh no,” murmured Calla while I barely refrained from hopping with excitement.
Katie wiggled her fingers like she was about to break into a jazz hand routine. “She’s coming tonight.”
Nick arched a brow. “I don’t know who the lucky lady is, but I sure hope so.”
I snorted.
Undeterred, Katie waved her hand. “It’s her. The one you’re going to fall for and fall hard. Oh, boy, you have so met your match. Totally.” Beaming at a now silent Nick, she spun toward us and laughed. “Toodles, my bitches.”
We watched Katie strut her way out of the bar in five-inch platform heels, then I turned to Nick, tapping him on his arm. “Oh, snap. She’s totally right about these things.”
Nick paled. “Shut up.”
“No. She was right when it came to Jax and me,” Calla confirmed. “She’s like the stripper love psychic or something.”
He looked horrified. “Both of you shut up.”
I giggled gleefully. “I cannot wait for this.”
Nick scowled.
The door to the bar swung open and all of us whirled toward it. A laugh burst out of me, a high-pitched cackle when I saw who it was. “Oh my God.”
Aimee with two e’s Grant walked in, frowning in our direction. Her golden-blond hair was styled in pretty waves and her uber-tanned midriff was on full display. The girl was hot, but she also had no concept of personal space, plus she’d been a total bitch to Calla, and I was so not okay with that. But the idea that Nick would fall for her? I about died. Laughing so hard, my stomach hurt as I smacked my hands down on the bar top. “Oh my God, it’s her!”
Calla folded her arms when Aimee started toward the guys and then grinned like the cat that ate an entire cage full of canaries when the girl veered off at the last minute. “That’s sick,” Calla said to Nick. “I don’t know if I can be friends with you now.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “I can tell you right now that Katie’s juju is broke as shit because no part of my body is getting near that.”
“Whatever,” I sung loudly. “It’s true love.”
The look he shot me was dark, but it didn’t wipe my grin off my face. Eventually Avery and Teresa joined the guys, and when we had a down moment behind the bar, Calla got all serious-face with me.
“Are you really okay?” she asked. “I mean, I know what you’ve gone through is crazy, and I’ve been through some crazy myself, so I know it can be hard.”
I nodded as I started to cut up a lime. “I am. Well, I think I am, if that makes any sense. There are a couple of moments where I’m still freaked out about it. I’m not going to lie. What Kip did, I just don’t want to really dwell on it, you know? He’s gone. And they found that girl’s body, and that’s what matters now. At least her family will have some kind of closure.”
“Yeah,” she replied, eyeing me closely. “And everything with Charlie?”
Cutting through another lime, I smiled. It was a little sad, but it was real. “I miss him. I miss not seeing him every Friday, but I’ll get through this and it’s getting easier.”
“I’m happy to hear that. By the way, I love the new glasses. Pink frames look great on you—what in the world?”
I looked up, following her gaze. A girl had just walked into the bar. I’d never seen her before, but good Lord, she was absolutely stunning. With shiny black hair and a body I’d probably give away an ovary or two for, she was tall and looked like she belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine.
The newcomer was headed toward the bar, but she stopped, her mouth dropping open as she spotted the crew over by the pool tables. I looked at them.
It was Teresa who saw her first, and she drew back, surprised and obviously recognizing the girl. Then she smiled as she glanced over at Cam and Avery—a tentative smile that grew. “Steph?” she called out. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
The girl named Steph recovered enough to walk over toward them. I couldn’t hear what she said over the noise, so I glanced up at Calla. “You guys know her?”
“Yeah. She went to Shepherd. Graduated with Jase. Remember what I told you happened to Teresa’s roommate before she moved out of the dorm?”
“The girl that was killed?”
Calla nodded. “When Teresa found her body, she freaked, and it was Steph who took care of her and called the police. Turned out, she lived in the other suite, but Teresa never saw her. I don’t know her that well, but she’s really hot.”
“Like if Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox were joined together kind of hot.”
She laughed. “So true. Wow. Okay. I got to go see what she’s doing here. You good back here?”
“Yep.” I waved her off. “Go get me some gossip.”
Things got pretty busy, and when Calla returned to help run orders out of the kitchen, there wasn’t any time to find out why the girl who used to go to Shepherd was up here, but I couldn’t help but think of what Katie had said to Nick when I saw him grinning at her when she came up to the bar to get a rum and coke.
I knew that grin.
Since Calla was here for the weekend, she was closing down the bar with Jax and Nick and that meant I didn’t have to hang around. After saying good-bye to everyone and getting a hug from Jax that lifted me clear off my feet, I pulled on my cardigan and headed outside.
A cruiser waited for me in the parking lot.
Grinning, I headed toward it as the window rolled down and revealed one hot-as-hell cop. “Lunch break?” I asked.
He bit down on his lower lip. “My favorite kind of lunch break.”
Heat simmered low in my belly. I totally knew what kind of lunch break he was thinking of. “Mine, too.” Hoping I wasn’t breaking some kind of cop in a cruiser rule, I bent down and kissed him through the window. “Meet me back at your place?”
One side of his lips kicked up. “See you then.”
At some point, I was going to move back into my apartment, sooner rather than later. Not because I didn’t love staying with Reece. I did, especially on nights like this when it took only a handful of minutes to get from Mona’s to his condo and we could engage in some freak-a-deak.
I hadn’t told Calla, but the idea of sleeping in my apartment gave me the sweats, and the only way I could overcome that was by doing it. Obviously, I wouldn’t do it alone. Reece would be there with me, but getting back into my apartment was one way to get back to normal.
When we got to Reece’s condo, there was no time for fooling around and pretending we were going to actually eat something. He wrapped his strong arms around me and kissed me like he was a man dying of thirst, and I was dizzy and breathless from it. We went at each other, ending up on the couch with me on my knees grasping the back of the couch with his body behind mine, one hand on my hip and the other between my thighs. This really was the best kind of lunch break.
My muscles were jelly and I stayed where he left me, curled over the back of the couch as Reece fixed his uniform, secured his duty belt, and then rooted through my clothing. I watched him, my cheek resting on my hands, and as he straightened, he smacked my butt.
“Pervert,” I murmured.
He winked. “You like it.”
“Maybe.”
Laughing, he picked up my cardigan. “Let me help.”
I raised my brows at him, but lifted one arm with a sigh. Dressing me in the cardigan was like herding wildcats, but he stuck with it, securing each button. “I want to come home in the morning and find you in my bed wearing just this.”
“You really are a pervert.”
Reece brushed his lips over mine. “And I really wish I didn’t have to head back out.”
“Me, too.” I fixed the collar on his uniform. “But I’ll be here.”
He kissed me again, curling his arm around my waist and lifting me off the couch. Placing me on my feet, he drew me up against him. “Walk me to the door?”
Since the door was a whopping ten feet away, I could manage. Following him, I contented myself with the knowledge of a pint of double-fudge ice cream in the freezer just for me. I was going to make that pint my bitch as soon as I closed the door.
Reece turned, his gaze moving over me with enough intensity that it felt like a physical caress. “We’re still on for Sunday?”
Ah, Sunday. Phase two of moving on from . . . well, from everything, began on Sunday. It was going to be a rough day, but I was ready. Stretching up on the tips of my toes, I kissed the corner of his lips. “Yeah, we’re still on.”
“Good,” he replied and then started out the door.
“Reece.”
He looked at me over his shoulder, and I said, “I love you.”
His face transformed from striking to stunning with a broad smile that had my heart spinning around in a happy dance. “I love you, babe.”
As I closed the door and threw the lock, I had to admit that was much better than saying good-bye.
A soft breeze rattled the limbs lining the road as we stepped out of Reece’s truck, and I walked around to the driver’s side. Lifting my chin, I squinted as I stared out over the cemetery, my gaze drifting over the marble tombstones and large tombs. It was a sunny day. The sky was the perfect shade of blue, the scarce clouds fluffy and white. My mind churned with the watercolors I’d have to mix to capture that right color of blue and clouds, well, clouds were easy and fun to paint. I tugged on the hem of my light sweater and then reached up, tucking the streak of pink hair back behind my ear.
Reece walked to where I stood, with the tips of my flats just brushing the manicured grass. “You ready?”
Pressing my lips together, I nodded and so we started out, following the paved walkway. There was a ball in my throat, a mixture of nerves and a sadness that would linger probably for a long time. I knew that one day I would think of Charlie and there wouldn’t be sadness. There would just be warmth and happiness that cuddled the memories of him I would always have and cherish.
Neither of us spoke as we crested the small hill and we could see Charlie’s final resting place for the first time since I’d left the funeral. My step stumbled and my heart pounded. His parents had, as expected, spared no expense when it came to marking their son’s grave. It was weird to me since they’d barely been there for him the last six years, but who was I to judge? Maybe this was their way of showing him how much they did love him, how much they missed him.
A pearly white angel had been erected behind a rather simple headstone, wings spread wide and head bowed. In her arms was a small child, held close to her breast. I don’t know why, but seeing the statue made me want to plop down in the grass and weep like I’d never cried before.
But we weren’t the only ones in the cemetery. Nor was Charlie’s resting place empty. Not that I was expecting it to be.
Standing off to the side, with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans and his head tipped up as if he too was caught up in the angel’s mournful expression, was Henry Williams.
The breath I took was shaky. When I’d told Reece the second thing I wanted to do was finally talk to Henry, he’d been 100 percent behind it, just like he was when it came to my college plans. And that’s why we were here, at the cemetery on a breezy Sunday afternoon.
Henry lowered his head and turned toward us. A small, unsure smile appeared as he pulled one hand out of his pocket and ran it over the buzz of blond hair that had grown since the last time I’d seen him, which had been in Kip’s apartment.
I had to be honest with myself. Henry and I were never going to be friends. I didn’t even think that was what he wanted, and it would be too strained, too painful, and that was asking a lot out of both of us. But to really, truly, forgive myself, I had to forgive Henry first.
For a moment, I let myself picture Charlie somewhere up in that beautiful sky, looking down on all of us, and I imagined him smiling. I imagined him being happy about this. Most of all, I imagined him being proud of me—of all of us. And God, that felt good.
Reece’s hand found mine and he squeezed reassuringly. “You want to try to do this?”
“No.” I looked up at him and our gazes met. Love was spelled out in every flicker of emotion on Reece’s striking face. God, I was such a lucky girl and I was so in love with him that it could lift me right off my feet. I squeezed his hand back and said, “I’m not going to try. I’m going to do this.”