“What the hell, Alana?” Jana’s confrontation is totally not welcome right now. My head is still spinning from the night, and all I can think about is getting a few hours of sleep before I have to get the ice cream truck going tomorrow morning.
“What the hell, Jana?!” I shoot back, “You scared the crap out of me!” She practically gave me a heart attack parked right outside our bedroom door wearing only her lacelet bra and a pair of workout shorts. I wonder passively if she was with a guy in the time it took me to get back here. She was seeing this prick of an undergrad she was giving tutoring sessions to, but I guess I shouldn’t be the one to judge. I practically performed a striptease to a guy I’ve only known for a total of forty-eight hours.
Her face lights up as she grabs me by my shoulders, tossing my purse to the side, and swinging me over towards our tiny, two-seater futon. “Why didn’t you tell me about Liam? You should have given me some heads up! That guy is fine as hell. I mean, those muscles… Screw him practically kidnapping you and me almost calling the cops on you two! That guy is totally worth it.”
“Yeah. Totally. Hijacking my dad’s ice cream truck, forcing me to go to his illegal club’s headquarters, and then using me as a drug mule is totally forgivable because he’s got abs of steel.” I roll my eyes dramatically. While I admit that she’s right -- that there’s something about an imposing, giant of a man like Liam to make all your troubles go away, I’m also not able to forgive and forget. Even with the taste of his cum still lingering in the back of my throat.
“Get over yourself, Alana. You’ve been in a sex slump for months now. After Adrian dumped you, I thought you were going to turn yourself into the convent for a permanent position. Frankly, I’m relieved I’m not the only one who is getting some.” She brushes back her silky long black hair, hair that I could only dream of achieving. She was always the hot, nerdy librarian type guys seemed to go gaga for. She calls herself a “needle in the haystack.” I call her self-absorbed.
“Well, don’t hold your breath. This isn’t going to last. He’s just using me to move those diamonds, and I am just using him to get some cash for my dad. The sex is ... “ I struggle to think of a word that isn’t too enthusiastic, but all I can come up with is fantastic, orgasmic, and, least helpfully, insane.
“Oh come on. It’s obvious the sex is amazing. Just admit it, Alana! You don’t have to be a prude with me. After all, if I cared, shouldn’t I be more concerned that he is some dangerous motorcycle guy instead?”
She had a point. When I told her what had happened to me, she brushed it off. “A girl needs a little danger in her life. Bad boys were part of the process and great rebound potential,” she explained. Still, I was skeptical. I wasn’t that kind of girl.
That night, I opened my laptop and began to write. I put everything down on my blog from the moment he placed a gun to the back of my seat until I left him both sore and satisfied. I tagged the posts “Bad Boy Chronicles” in honor of Jana’s advice. To my surprise, when I opened my computer the next afternoon while I tried on skanky dresses from Jana’s closet, the post had practically exploded. In less than ten hours, it had managed to attract over 200 comments. Most didn’t believe me. Others thought this was all fantasy, but for the few who took it as truth, they were enthralled and asking for more. I even spotted a friend of a friend reposting it on their social media pages! The story of “L” and me was hotter than I could have imagined.
Jana watches as I stare off over at my purse where I have stuffed my laptop. She must be reading my mind as she says, “I added some advertisements to that post. If you’re going to go viral, you might as well make us some money off of it. I’ll take my cut, as per usual.” She winks at me as she stands up and throws on an oversized t-shirt I don’t recognize.
“You know,” she says as she climbs up to her lofted bed. “You should really write about tonight, especially if it went as well as your face is giving away.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask wide-eyed as I feel warmth spread to my cheeks. I hate how my blush seems to instantly give me away whenever I’m trying to hold something back.
“Oh, don’t be naive, Alana. You’ve got the same glow on your face as you did last night. Both of us may have gotten some action tonight, but only one of us looks like it. I look forward to reading about it on my commute to the research library tomorrow.” Jana reaches over her bed and turns off the clip on her reading lamp near her disheveled pillows. Her back turns to me as she signals she’s done pestering me for the night. I’m officially alone with my thoughts for the first time.
Was she right, though? Did readers really want more “Bad Boy Chronicles?” I mean, it started off as a joke, a one-time story with a lot of very fuzzy details. But the comments, shares, and likes couldn’t be explained away as just a weird, viral happening. Maybe Jana was right that every girl should experience a man like Liam. Maybe I was the gateway for these girls to see what it was like first hand. Maybe I could even provide a little insight into how to get one to be more than just a one-night stand…
My mind explodes in a daze of memories and ideas. I leap off the couch and grab the laptop from my bag. I pull up my blog within seconds and open a draft page. I can barely move fast enough for my thoughts, but I write out the first thing I think of:
I slept with him again. Well, not slept with, per say. We fooled around. It was right after his match (did I mention he was a pretty damn good boxer too?), and we were both in this daze from his win…
I write it all, from start to finish. I don’t bother to edit my words or even use spell check. I just want to get this story out. A good hour passes as the sky grows impossibly darker and the only light in our room is from the streetlight outside. Jana’s soft snore doesn’t even phase me.
That night, I dream about words flowing through me. They circle around my head and then filter down through my fingers until they are spilled out onto a blank page. This is the inspiration writers like me dream about. And I sleep soundlessly at the thought that maybe, just maybe, I had found my own muse in Liam.
“Alana!” Ugh. Someone’s touching me, shaking me by my shoulders. Light is peaking through the dim slits of my eyes. I can faintly hear the sound of my chiming alarm in the background. But I’m not ready to wake up just yet. I reach over and hit my alarm until it quiets, but the urgent voice continues. “Alana! Wake up! Come on! You have to see this.”
“See what?” I ask drearily. “Can’t it wait like ten more minutes?”
Jana replies quickly. “No, Alana. You have to come read this comment on your blog now. I don’t know what to do.”
My blog? What the hell? Even though Jana’s pretty invested in my website and the few dollars it makes her a month, she’s never been this worked up over something. I push up with my hands to sit, grabbing the blankets around my chest. Jana places her large laptop on my chest and pulls up a page. The screen’s bright glow strikes my eyes as it takes me a few moments to focus in.
Jana’s highlighted the comment she’s talking about. It’s one of at least fifty -- all of them repeat the same words: “Amazing… OMG… Did he really?... You’re so lucky…” I smile widely at those, but Jana’s fixated on the one near the end.
“You have to read this. I don’t know if it’s real or not, but if Liam was right about that girl…”
“What girl?” I ask, still trying to get my mind to catch up with the rest of my senses. I could barely remember my name, let alone a few details of what Liam told me.
“Amy -- his ex! She found your blog and commented. I’m not sure how she knew or how she came across it, but it has to be her. I mean, read it.” Red flag! Red flag! Now I’m there with Jana. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as I remember the girl that seemed to bring even Liam to a minor panic. Her comment really doesn’t ease my mind either:
THE REAL AMY P: Who are you fooling, girl? You think you can tame a guy like ‘L’? You can’t. I know him. I know him better than you ever will. A little nerd girl like you will be spit up and thrown out by him in a week -- if your pussy is that good. No red dress and heels could make up for the fact that ‘L’ is mine. And once I get the rest of Steel Saints on my side, I’ll make sure that you regret the day that he found you in that ice cream truck of yours.
I stare at the screen for a long while, my heart in my throat and my hands practically shaking. Jana finally breaks the ice. “Do you think she’s serious?” she asks, her voice quaking a bit.
I can’t help it. I shoot back without checking my tone. “Are you fucking kidding me, Jana? Of course she’s serious! You heard Liam -- she’s crazy! And not only that, she knows who I am. She saw me in that damn red dress yesterday.” I throw off my covers, pushing her laptop to the side. I run over to my closet and quickly change out of my pajamas and into a black t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. I run my fingers through my hair before throwing it up into a quick ponytail. I couldn’t care less about what I look like right now. I just want to get out of here.
Jana stares at me for a long while, giving me my space to calm down. “What are you going to do, Alana? I mean, you have to tell Liam about this, right? He dated her so he would have to know what to do with her.”
“No. I’m not going to tell him. I am just going to get my business done, have him sell his damn diamonds, and then get the hell out of this. He’s not worth dealing with a psycho like that.”
My phone begins to ring as my stomach drops. I have no doubt it’s Liam. I told him I’d call him first thing in the morning and between my alarm going off and Jana and I discussing Amy, he’s probably wondering what was taking me so long. I reach over my bed and retrieve the phone from under my pillows. Holding up a finger to Jana who is still ranting on about why I should tell Liam, I answer the person on the other line quickly, “Dr. Underwell? This is Alana. Has something happened?”
Jana goes silent as she jumps straight up to my bed and sits down next to me, leaning her head in towards the receiver. “Hi, Alana. I’ve got some news for you, and I thought I should call you myself. Your father is awake. While he’s still not totally conscious, his vital signs have improved, and his eyes are open. We’ve also checked his reflexes, and they are also good, but in a slow condition.”
My heart breaks through my chest as I am stunned speechless. I fall back towards my pillows with a soft hand placed to my lips. “Doctor… Doctor...” I repeat over and over again as I try to find the words at the tip of my tongue. I take a deep breath and push out all the questions I have about his care. Finally, I end with, “So what does this all mean? Can he come home soon?”
“‘Soon is certainly being optimistic, but in a few weeks, he could be moved to a rehab facility where he could live part time. Like I said, he will need extensive physical and occupational therapy to regain his strength and mobility. The injuries from his accident are physically repaired, but mentally and internally, we will have to monitor him extensively to see what damage may be there.”
“When can I see him?” I push aside the nagging thought of Liam waiting for me to pick him up at his restaurant. All I want right now is to hear my dad’s voice and to see him with outstretched arms calling for me. I know that isn’t the reality here, but anything close would be heaven.
“Give me the day to work with him. He’ll be in and out of x-rays and CT scans all day long, and the nurses will need to monitor him back in the ICU. I’d rather you not go through that again.” The doctor is right. The buzzing and ringing from the ICU still play in my head like a bad record determined not to be stopped. That nightmare is one no one should have to face, especially not when they are just waiting out reports. I thank him for his time and promise to stop by in the evening, but in the meantime, I hold him to his word to call me when and if results come in.
“Your dad? Is he really…” Jana practically beams. My father and her have always gotten along. He was the one who lifted her bed up onto the dressers and desk when she complained that there wasn’t enough floor space to entertain. She also helped redesign some of the ice cream truck’s t-shirt logos as a Christmas gift to him. Jana was invested in him as I was.
“He is! He’s awake. I mean, as much as he can be from a coma. I’m going to see him later tonight.” I grab my backpack up off the floor and begin to walk out of the room. My feet feel as if they are about to fly off of me.
Jana is the one who stops me in my tracks, “What about Amy, Alana?” she calls after me, “You can’t not tell Liam. He’ll know what to do!”
Although she’s right, I don’t… I can’t hear it. Not right now. All I want is to focus on getting through today with Liam so I can see my dad. Everything else will work itself out. After all, despite apparently finding my blog and recognizing me in the crowd at the boxing match, Amy can’t be that much of a threat, and I told Liam about what I heard in the bathroom. He’s probably already got it worked out by now.