3. Emmy
After splashing water on my face, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. Nightmares are a regular occurrence for me, but this is the first time I’ve woken up and not felt utterly alone.
Weird.
When I walk out of the bathroom, I stare at my bed for a long moment. It’s the middle of the night, and I should try to get some more sleep, but something tells me that’s going to be damn near impossible, so I trudge out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen.
I grab the container of Chunky Monkey ice cream out of the freezer and a spoon before heading into the living room. Flopping down onto the couch, I curl my legs under me and begin flipping through the channels until I find a rerun of the Golden Girls.
It doesn’t take me long to finish off the ice cream, and once it’s gone, I set the empty tub on the coffee table and stretch out on the sofa. Closing my eyes, I listen to Dorothy and Sophia argue about the elder’s most recent money-making scheme. It all sounds so simple, so normal, and I find myself wishing I had a bit of that normalcy growing up.
After the fire, nothing was normal again. Or, more accurately, my sense of normal drastically shifted. All my friends were gone, my school was non-existent, and fear and nightmares became a constant in my life.
I must fall asleep because the next thing I know, I’m stirring awake to the sound of pounding on my front door. Groaning, I get up to open it, annoyed at having been disturbed when I was finally getting some rest.
“What?” I demand crankily when I yank open the door.
Steph arches a brow and shoves a paper bag at my chest. “I brought donuts,” she says as she pushes past me.
I close the door and turn to stare at her. “What are you doing here?” I ask.
She glances pointedly at the empty ice cream container on my coffee table and clears her throat. “Bad night?”
Heaving a sigh, I walk around the couch, grab the trash, and stomp to the kitchen where I deposit it into the trash. I’m so focused on getting rid of the evidence of my bad night that I don’t realize I’ve thrown away the spoon, too.
“Dammit,” I mutter as I reach into the can to retrieve it and toss it into the sink.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she comments dryly.
“I didn’t sleep well,” I admit.
“You must have gotten some sleep,” she says. “It’s almost noon, and I’m pretty sure I woke your ass up.”
I level my gaze on hers and shake my head. “It’s not noon.”
She pulls her cell out of her pocket, presses the side button to make the screen light up, and then turns it to show me. “Yeah, it is.”
“Shit.” I thrust a hand through my hair. “I never sleep this late.”
“Must’ve needed it.”
“Yeah, okay. Remind me why you’re here. Do we have plans?”
Steph patiently smiles. “We were supposed to go out to lunch and shopping since we both have the day off for once.”
“Right, um, sorry.” I move toward the stairs. “Gimme twenty to shower and get dressed.”
“No rush.”
Thirty minutes later, we’re walking out the front door to my car.
“What’re you thinking for lunch?” I ask as I back out of the driveway.
Steph shrugs. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
I glare at her when I pull up to the stop sign. “If I wanted to spend hours being indecisive about a meal, I’d get myself a man.”
“Mexican,” she suggests.
“Works for me.”
We both end up ordering tacos and devouring them like we’re starving. As we’re walking to the counter to pay, a loud rumble fills the air. I glance out the window and see several bikers pull their Harleys into two parking spaces.
Returning my attention to the women checking us out, I put the men out of my mind.
“Hot damn,” Steph comments, excitement in her tone. “Sons of Anarchy, here I come.”
I laugh as I elbow her. “Keep your pants on.”
“You’re no fun,” she pouts.
We move toward the exit, and when I open the door to step outside, a bear of a man is blocking my path. I let my gaze travel from his chest to his face, and a spark of familiarity tingles through me as our eyes lock.
“Excuse me,” he says, his voice deep.
One of his friends pulls him out of my way. “Give the lady some room, Inferno,” he says.
Inferno?
I quickly move past the men, my arm brushing against Inferno’s. Lightning seems to strike again as the sparks intensify. I’m not able to place him, but that doesn’t seem to have any effect on my body. My pussy clenches, and I mentally chastise myself for the involuntary reaction.
He’s just a man. Get yourself together.
“What the hell was that?” Steph asks as soon as we’re both in the car.
“What?”
She grabs my arm, forcing me to look at her. “Girl, I thought your panties were going to ignite when you brushed up against him.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh.”
I heave a sigh. “Okay, fine. He was good-looking.”
“Good looking?” She smirks. “He was sex on a stick.”
The smile that curves on my lips is impossible to stop. “He really was, wasn’t he?”
“Yep.” Steph fans her face with her hand. “I should go back in and get his number for you.”
“No,” I blurt, and she stares at me. “I mean, he’s probably not from around here. And I’m not interested in a relationship so getting his number would be stupid.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?”
“Steph, stop,” I plead. “He was hot, and that’s that.” I pull out of the lot and head toward the shopping district. “Let’s just go enjoy the rest of our day off.”
She leans back in her seat with a sigh. “Okay.”
The ten-minute drive is silent except for the racing thoughts in my brain.
Inferno looked so familiar.
I don’t know anyone who even owns a motorcycle, and I certainly don’t know a man named Inferno.
But I know him.
No, I don’t. There’s no way.
There’s always a way.