Chapter Six
Eddie
There’s a thunderous pounding going on inside my skull. Did I really drink that much fucking alcohol last night? I try to think back at home many beers I left on Amber’s table, but after six, I lost count.
A glass of something is sitting on my desk, along with a couple Tylenol, a note, next to where I left my dad’s motorcycle keys.
Drink this. It will sober you the fuck up. Then go for a ride and clear your head. Remember you don’t have to forget what happened, Son. But try to forgive her.
~ Love Dad~
Fuck! Last night really did happen.
Rubbing my temples, I try to alleviate the monster headache attacking my head, and grab the glass from off the desk.
It smells rank, and I have no idea what’s in it.
Maybe orange juice? Is that raw egg I smell?
Hell, it could pretty much be anything. My dad used to be a mixologist when he was younger, the man could cure the common cold with a single glass of brandy if he tried.
If this shit is supposed to cure a hangover, it probably fucking does.
Gulping it down, I almost puke just from the taste alone, but somehow manage to drain the glass, burping loudly after it disappears somewhere in my belly. It’s not long before my headache starts to wane.
Thank you, Dad.
Somewhere in my muddled thoughts, I manage to remember to look at my phone. I expect to see at least twenty missed calls from Amber, but there’s not a single one. In fact, I have no missed calls, but I do have a few text messages, but they are all from Pippa.
Pippa: You okay?
Pippa: I still can’t believe she did that to you, Eddie. I’m so sorry.
Pippa: If you need someone to talk to. You know I’m always here for you.
I throw my phone across the bed and rub at my temples again.
Pippa’s supposed to be one of my best friends, but she’s also one of Amber’s.
How can she sit there and tell me she can’t believe that Amber cheated on me and pretend that she actually cares?
It’s her fucking fault this happened in the first place.
Going to Vegas sure wasn’t Poppy’s idea, and it definitely wasn’t Amber’s.
Instead of responding, I groggily take my sad ass to the shower and stay in there for a good forty-five minutes, allowing the heated water to soothe my aching bones and fucked up head. The whole time, my brain is only thinking about her…
The way she smiles.
How she laughs.
The feel of her in my arms.
I miss it all, and it’s only been a day since I left her.
I wish I could rewind the timeline four days, before she went to Vegas, and do everything all over again.
Prove to her, that our relationship is worth fighting for.
Hell, if I could go back to that night of the party and reverse ever sleeping with Jinafer, then maybe she wouldn’t have gone to Vegas at all.
But neither option is possible. What’s done is done.
My hand fits around the knob to turn off the water, only to be met with horrifying pain that radiates up to my elbow.
Fuck! It’s the first time I’ve looked at my hand since last night, and it’s not pretty.
There’s an ugly purplish black tint to it, and I can barely move my thumb and pointer finger.
It’s probably broken, I should go to a hospital, but I’ve never been a smart man, and instead of getting dressed and heading to get checked out, I grab my dad’s keys and march outside.
I’m not passing up this opportunity, not when my dad is willingly letting me ride Morticia.
The shiny black chrome glints magnificently in the morning sun, almost like Morticia is flashing me her best smile.
The fingers of my good hand, feather over the paint job, as adrenaline heats up in my veins.
I never feel this way driving the Chevy—never.
Just standing next to my dad’s motorcycle has me feeling complete and not so hopeless.
“Hey there, pretty girl, you okay with going for a ride with me today?”
The bike doesn’t respond, but I swear I feel her excitement the second I mount her and rev the engine. My left hand throbs as I fiddle with the clutch, but pushing past the pain is my only option. I need this ride right now.
With great caution, I carefully pull out of the driveway, walking Morticia up to the street so I don’t wreck her before even getting out of the driveway. The second the wheels touch the asphalt, I’m off, the bike purring between my legs as I fight to keep control.
Fuck, I’m rusty, and the possible broken hand isn’t helping.
The bike wobbles, and it takes me forever to figure out how to compensate for my injured hand, but after ten minutes or so, I’m cruising on the open highway, enjoying the wind in my hair, lapping up the freedom just being out there without any walls to cage me in gives me.
It's therapeutic. There’s nothing out here to distract me from my thoughts. And that’s all I do… think. I think about what brought me to this moment, to everything that led up to this day. My mind begins to wander, and I find myself back to the day I first met her—the day I knew she was the one.
Pippa and I had been hanging out for almost two months. I was kinda into her, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to fuck up the friendship thing we had going on. It was nice hanging out with a girl without constantly feeling the need to impress her.
Pippa made shit easy. We could talk all day and nothing ever felt forced.
I was definitely attracted to her, and I knew she called me over to look at her car just to get me to come see her.
She was always doing shit like that. It’s why I decided that would be the day I officially asked her out on a date. At least give the relationship a shot.
Wesley and Rich both think she’s nothing but trouble, but I was hoping they were wrong. It’s not every day I meet a girl that I just vibe with like her.
After pulling up to her house, I found a foreign car in her driveway, one that I wasn’t used to seeing. Maybe they got a new vehicle?
After knocking, Pippa’s less social twin let me in, but she had her nose shoved so far in whatever book she was reading that she barely acknowledged my existence.
“She’s upstairs, first room on your left.” She pointed towards the stairs,
“Thanks, Poppy. It’s good to see you again by the way.”
She rolled her eyes. “As if you’re here to see me, playboy.”
My smile spread. “Playboy? Aww, Poppy, you wound me. I’m the furthest thing from a playboy.”
The corner of her mouth slightly ticked upward. “Keep telling yourself that. It might make you feel better.”
Before I could banter with her longer, she disappeared into the other room, leaving me alone in the living room.
I’m not sure why I felt the need to creep up the stairs, but I’m glad I did, otherwise I would’ve never heard the tail end of Pippa’s conversation.
“His name is Eddie, and he’s amazing!”
She’s talking about me? But to who?
A smile slowly slid across my cheeks, but it’s freezes when the most melodic voice responded with, “Are you two dating?”
“Nah, we’re just friends. We have a lot of fun together; he’s like my partner in crime. Plus, he works on cars and I am hoping he can fix the Stang for me.”
My smile faded. Damn she wasn’t even interested in dating me. Well, that fucking sucks.
Before they had a chance to keep talking about me, I moved into the doorway, interrupting them. “I told you, Pippa, all you need is an oil change. You should really take care of your Stang better.”
Pippa’s face instantly lit up when she saw me, but it was the girl sitting on her bean bag chair that had my full undivided attention.
Her eyes were a pretty shade of blue. Not like an ocean blue, but almost mimicking the shade of a robin’s egg.
She was Pippa’s opposite. Pippa had that exotic look about her.
She was thin in all the right places and had that long black hair you see on most girls who come from a Hispanic descent.
It was her freckles and the strange reddish tint to her hair that really made her stand out.
But even with how beautiful Pippa was, she didn’t hold a candle to the girl that stared up at me with the cutest bewildered look.
A warm blush crept across her cheeks, as my gaze swept over her, almost losing the ability to breathe when her fingers dug into long blonde locks and swept the stray strands out of her face so she could properly stare into my eyes.
I suddenly felt very under dressed, like I was in the presence of royalty or something.
There were oil stains on my shirt and shoes, and the flannel I wore had so many holes I probably looked like a hobo. I caught her gaze, and took off my hat, grinning when that blush deepened even more and she slightly gasped.
“You’re early, Eddie!” Pippa flew across the room, practically knocking me over when she attached herself to my torso.
Awkward… she’s never been that affectionate with me before. It made me wonder if she was just putting on a show for her friend.
After giving her a short squeeze around the shoulders, I smiled. “Good to see you too, Pippa.”
Pippa started to babble on about something, but my focus was on the girl with her. She was eye to eye with my crotch, and the second she noticed, she moved to the bed, sitting up on the edge of it like she had a stick in her back.
Fuck, she was nervous as hell, and I found it intriguing
Holding out my hand, I politely introduced myself, “Hi, I’m Eddie, and you are?”
Her delicate hand moved into my palm, and the contrast of her soft skin against the roughness of mine, sent strange pulses through my veins. It was that whole fireworks exploding in the sky type shit.
She must’ve felt it too because her hand dropped, and she was back to combing her hair with her fingers again.
“I’m Amber.”
Even her name was sexy. My grin spread when she gulped and her cheeks heated a deep rosy red. Her shyness was adorable.