Chapter 14
“Don’t fall for it”
Dylan
Work is pretty steady with the Halloween specials going on. Lilly and Shane put about twenty small designs having to do with the season on the website for a set price. So even though it is not a huge money maker at first but it does get more people in the door and that leads to more work. Plus it keeps the regulars coming back for some fun additions too. I on the other hand am offering standard ear piercings for a holiday special as well. So a lot of parents have been bringing in their kids to take advantage of that. You wouldn’t normally see a line of kids out front but hey, the parents are smart having it done here. It’s clean and safe, and I’ve also heard rumor that it’s less painful too. Beings that I’ve never had my ears pierced in the mall I can’t really confirm or deny it either, but I’ll go by the popular opinion. Also Lilly and Jen are handing out candy to any kids who come through in costume, since it is the week of Halloween. So needless to say Armed and Inked is a pretty awesome place to work at.
With a block in the schedule cut out for a late lunch slash dinner we all fill in around the kitchen to eat. “It’s going to be another late night.” Lilly tells me as she goes in for another bite of her steak salad. “Probably, you should just go back to my place since your place is still so dark out front. Which reminds me, did you call your landlord yesterday?” I ask because Monday was seriously nonstop for us. I don’t think we had a moment to talk all day until after we got out of work. She shakes her head. “I didn’t have time, but I will today.” “Hey Lils, I have a bin of stuff I grabbed from the attic for you to take home. It’s sitting right inside the door upstairs.” Shane tells her. “Okay, thanks I’ll grab it. Is it heavy?” She asks him. “Not really, I think you can handle it. If not just tell me and I’ll bring it down.” He adds before he stands up to stretch.
After we all finish we casually go our separate ways for the last few minutes of our break. If it’s nice out we tend to go outside for some time just to regroup. I grab my energy drink and my sexy as fuck girlfriend and tug her out back by my truck for a nice little intermission I have planned. I flip down the tailgate and sit her up on it. Her legs open for me to slip right in, right where I belong, as I stand there and stare at the beautiful woman who is looking at me with the same hot fire in her eyes as I have for her. “I wish we could just go home right now.” I find myself admitting as her hand comes up to the side of my face and gently glides along my stubble. “Me too.” She adds with a smile. “I’d lay you down in my nice big bed. Then kiss this sweet body of yours inch by fucking inch.” I say in a low voice as she scoots to the edge and presses herself against my chest. My hands slide up her jean covered legs and squeeze along her thighs. “What else?” She whispers as my thumb then finds the spot right in the middle and begins to tease so lightly. “Oh baby, I wouldn’t stop there. In fact I can’t stop when it comes to you, because right after we finish…I want to be back inside of you.” My thumb presses harder and rubs against her jeans. Her eyes flutter for a moment as she tries to remain quiet, but a light moan escapes her sweet mouth as her head drops down to mine. Then a noise from around the corner has us stop as we both try our best to recover from our little foreplay.
“Lilly you back here?” Shane yells. “Dammit.” She says as she leans on me to hop down. “Yeah I’m back here!” He pops his head around the corner. “Just open your Jeep now and I’ll go grab that bin so you don’t have to do it later.” She nods her head and pulls the keys out of her pocket.
A few minutes later and he brings it down. Lilly opens the door and stops still. Her face slowly turning white. “What the fuck?” Shane says as he sets the bin down and grabs something out of her hands. “Dude, are you fucking kidding me?” He looks at me all pissed off as I make my way around to her. “What’s wrong? What is it?” Panic begins to hit my chest as Lilly sits down. “Lilly, you okay? What happened?” She doesn’t even look up at me and even with all the military training I’ve had…I’m fucking clueless on how to help her. Until Shane hands me a piece of paper with a picture in it and a note written on the side.
I recognize it instantly and it was only taken this past Sunday as a matter of fact. In it is Jessa leaning in the doorway at the gym and there is me standing right there in front of her, but it gets worse. The angle the picture was taken makes it look like we are kissing. Then to dig my hole deeper, the note reads...
“Worth a thousand words. And I’m not done yet.”
Now how the fuck am I going to explain this? If I say it’s not what it looks like, she’ll never believe me.
So I take a deep breath and think. I toss the picture down on the ground and look at Lilly. Tears stain her face as they are silently spilling from her eyes and she is looking up at me with hurt. Shane’s arms are crossed as he appears to be waiting for an explanation as well.
“Okay… I know how this looks. So instead of begging you to trust me, and swearing that nothing happened, I figure I’ll just tell you the truth and you can decide if there is still any trust and belief left in you to give.” I start there and then bend down to her eye level. Honestly I could give zero fucks right now about Shane because if anyone knows that things may not always be what they seem it should be him. Just ask Everly.
I reach for her hand but she pulls away. It’s the worst feeling in the world right now. “Lilly listen to me. I was at the gym and she walked by. She tapped on the window and wouldn’t walk away, she never takes the hint, and I felt like she needed told one more time. So that was my mission. I opened the door and didn’t let her in like she wanted, after that she told me that she was sorry for how she acted in the shop, I was shocked actually and I told her okay and that I had to go. Thinking that maybe she’s done acting like that. Right after that is when this picture was taken because she gave one more attempt to stop me as she put her hand in the way so I couldn’t close it. So after turning her down again she finally left and I closed the door then went back to the weight bench.” I paused as I let her take it all in. “But if you need to know the truth and you feel like you don’t believe me then I will go ask for the security tapes just to prove it to you, because I never want you to doubt me.”
My hearts racing for her to reply and I need so badly for her to believe me. So I look to Shane who mumbles “That girl is nothing but trouble” and then he begins to look around the parking lot to check the rest of our trucks. “How did it get in my jeep then and who took the picture?” She asks as she looks to her brother then me. “Did you lock it this morning?” He asks her. “I thought I did, but the key has been in my pocket all day.” “You could have bumped the button.” He says as he stands there with his hands on his hips like he’s ready to go on a man hunt, and honestly I’d love to get my hands on the person who did this but first I need a direction. “I don’t know who it could be though. Obviously Jessa didn’t take the picture but that doesn’t mean one of her friends wasn’t working with her.” I say as the anger fills my chest and I begin to strategize. “Well, whoever it is wants us to be apart.” She says as she looks to me with her still sad face.
I chance a step towards her. “Is it safe to say that their plan failed?” I ask as I feel the tension in my muscles turn to stone. Her eyes search mine before she answers. “I believe you. It’s just I can’t figure out why people won’t just leave us alone. Haven’t our pasts been shitty enough? Can’t we just be happy and at least try to make an attempt to lead a normal life?” Defeat falls on her words and I can’t help but reach out and wipe a stray tear off of her cheek. “We can and we will.” I say as I pull her into my chest.
The rest of the evening goes by so painfully slow as my mind tries to sort out who it could be. In my mind Jessa is well…Jessa, she’s a crazy young girl who isn’t used to being told the word “No”. So she is obviously the first one on my list to track the fuck down. If it wasn’t her then I’ll start looking into Lilly’s Ex. Something that comes easy to me is doing a little recon, and I will be talking to Jay the owner of the gym for a copy of Sundays recording. Even though I don’t need to prove anything, it might still however show who took the picture. Either way I’m going to find out who the fuck this is and make it very clear to stay the fuck away from Lilly.
By the end of the night I find that I’m not tired as I pace the kitchen of the shop while waiting for Lilly. Since I suggested she stay and wait for me I am now waiting for her to get done talking to Jen in her office. Maddox and Shane come back and pull out a chair. “So we were thinking.” Shane says to get my attention. “Yeah, that’s fucking scary.” I say sarcastically as I lean back against the counter. We didn’t get much of a chance to talk since all the bullshit earlier, except for Shane telling me that he believed me. So at least I don’t have to deal with that. “Just shut the fuck up and listen.” He jokes. “In fact just sit down, you look like you’re ready to explode and I need you to pay attention.” He kicks a chair out and Maddox chuckles. I sigh as I crack my neck and take a seat. “What’s up?” I ask. “You’re not going to like this but I need you to just hear me out.” Here we go. “Well, say it then.” He looks to Maddox and then to me. “I think you should “break up with Lilly”.” He quotes with his hands and I have to stop myself from breaking his fucking fingers. My blood hits the boiling point as I immediately stand up and kick back my chair. “Whoa you crazy fucker, the tattoos on your neck look like their moving from your veins throbbing. Just think about it Dylan.” Maddox leans forward and tells me calmly while Shane laughs. “What’s so funny?” I ask because honestly all I can think about is that…what if Lilly didn’t believe me and didn’t want to be with me anymore. That’s why I’m so fucking pissed, I want to rip a hole in the person who did this and almost accomplished turning my only fear into a possibility.
“Nothing, I just like how you are with Lilly that’s all. You two are good for each other, and I trust you. So that’s why I’m going to save you from yourself. When someone’s blinded by love they never think clearly, and I highly doubt your Uncle wants to defend you on murder charges.” Who’s in love…me? What the fuck is he talking about? I need to see this through because whoever this is might not stop with a picture. I’ve seen things that started small and turned into shit storms. “All I’m saying is that maybe you two should just lay low for a short while. I mean fuck, everyone in town knows you two are together. You go everywhere with each other, hell you even hold hands while walking down the street.” Shane tries to explain as the girls walk in. “Ahh Maddox and I do that too, Mr. Insensitive.” Jen tells Shane as she laughs and takes a seat on her husband’s lap. Lilly however just stands there looking at me while Shane rubs his hands down his face and sits with his elbow’s on his knees while looking at me. “Think about it Dylan. You don’t have to go all special ops on this, because if you just take a short break in public, the mystery person will come to us. They’ll think you two split and that there is a chance for them. If that doesn’t work out, then I promise I’ll even help you do whatever crazy thing you think of to find them.” Shane finishes. “Why can’t we just report it to the cops before this person does something else?” Lilly asks as she looks from him to me. “Go ahead and make a report, I agree. I just think that you two should lay low for a while and let this fucker come to you.” Shane adds as he gets up and pulls out his keys. “Anyway, let me know what you decide, I’m going down the street to grab a slice of pizza and have a beer. If you want to come and act single you know where I’ll be.” He tells me before he heads towards the door. I look across the room and see that exhaustion is weighing heavy along with worry on Lilly’s face.
“I think Shane’s right. So if you want me to go with you down to file a report I will, because I think Dylan and Maddox should walk down to the bar. Worst thing is that this won’t work and you two can just say fuck it and go back to normal and see if that draws them out. It’s not like you two can’t sneak for a week, it might even be a little fun. Then if it does work you two can still so back to normal and you caught the fucker.” Jen shrugs and looks to Lilly for an answer as Lilly looks to me.
The pros and the cons weigh in but the one thing that kills me is that… we had a normal. We have something between us that is obviously making people jealous, and I’m not sorry for it. Maybe I do love her. I’ve never been in love before but if it feels like someone is trying to rip your heart out of your chest then I guess this is the real deal, and I have to protect what we have.
“I guess we give it a week and see if someone starts to come around. We’ll just play along and wait.” I tell her and she nods. “Okay, I’ll drive, meet us outside.” Jen announces as her and Maddox give us a minute.
The second they are out the door she is on me. Squeezing her arms around my neck and holding herself close. “I know baby, but it’s for the best now. If this doesn’t work then hopefully they left the state, because I will find them.” I reassure her as she pulls back to see my face. “If Jessa planned this, then I’ll deal with her.” She says with an evil smile, and I can’t help but laugh, because I have to admit I like to see the fight she has in her eyes for us. At least I know we’re in this together. “I will see you in a little while.” I tell her because I have no intention of staying away from her behind shadows and closed doors.
Halloween music is playing at the bar and it’s rather busy for a Tuesday night. Granted tomorrow is Halloween so people are probably just in the mood to start their parties early.
“Damn dude, you even look the part, so just keep acting like you didn’t get picked at recess and I think people will believe this.” Shane jokes as he calls for the new waitress to bring us a few shots. She is all smiles and cleavage as she pours them while licking her lips. Shane flirts along with her and I notice she never takes his money to pay for them. Nice, but I’m not surprised. I wonder were Tom is? “What happened to Tom?” I ask Shane and Maddox. “I guess he quit.” Maddox says with a shrug as we toss back the whisky and drink the liquid fire. “Jim told me what happened with you and Tom.” Shane leans in to tell me. “Oh yeah?” I reply but look straight forward to the mirror that’s lining the wall behind the bar just to see what’s happening around us, but there’re only some people in stupid fucking costumes standing around and talking. “He had it coming.” He adds as the waitress slides us each a free drink chip. “This is from the ladies at the end of the bar.” We look down and see a small group of women in business suits smiling and giggling. We smile back and say thanks; they of course take that as an invitation. Fuck, I’m not up for this, because I know that the one woman I want isn’t here.