Chapter Fifteen #2
My gut wrenched. Whipping over my shoulder, I forgot about the death grip Maggie had on my arm.
When I saw Laken with none other than Eliza Hamilton, I forgot about everything.
The music. The beer stench. My drink. Goldie…
I even forgot my composure. The two sat across from each other at a table in the back.
I couldn’t hear her laughter from here, but I could see it in her smile, her eyes, the way her chest rattled.
Laken’s charming smile plastered across his face.
Snapping back before I got spotted, I sank lower in my chair. “What the fuck is he doing here with Eliza fucking Hamilton?” I looked to Maggie for answers and perhaps a calming smile.
Neither came.
“You know her?”
“Yes, I know her. I know everyone in this damned place.”
Maggie’s eyes moved behind me, undoubtedly watching the traitorous asshole.
What was he doing with her? At Rabbit’s Foot of all places. Nobody came for a casual meetup. Everyone either came sad, lonely, or horny. Those were the only options! Had I been so bad? Did I push him that far?
Maggie kicked me under the table.
“Hey, Goldie. Can I get some…” whatever Laken’s next words were, I didn’t hear them. All I heard was my heartbeat raging in my ears. Trying to keep conscious, I focused on Maggie, who turned around in her seat to also hide from being seen—as a good friend should. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.
“Reece?”
Shit. Could I melt my body and flood away?
“Laken,” I replied, gathered and put back together. “What are you doing here?”
His blue eyes glanced around as if the question were pointless. “Getting drinks, what about you?”
“Getting drinks,” my sharp tone gave away my anger.
Laken’s brows furrowed and his lips parted, but I was saved by Goldie serving him those two drinks. “Okay…” He drifted. “I’ll see you around.”
Facing Maggie once again, I felt like my insides might’ve come out.
With a smothered whine, my hand wrapped around the frosted glass of my Dragon Ice and I slurped the rest down.
Goldie’s frozen drinks were the best, and if it wasn’t frozen, I wasn’t drinking it.
Even Maggie sipped her Back from the Dead (which is basically a dirty martini).
The cold mixed with my boiling gut, and whatever chain reaction started in my stomach—it didn’t feel good.
What the hell happened to me? I couldn’t seriously be jealous, could I? Absolutely not. It had to be something else. Were the stars aligning? The planets? Where the fuck was Mercury? Maybe my cycle would be coming early. Whoa, the tavern felt really hot suddenly.
Trying to distract myself from my own demise, I glanced around the room and listened to others’ conversations. Someone had to be having a worse night than me, right?
A brokenhearted middle-aged woman, two men getting drunk before going to get tatted, a twenty-something-ish girl having a breakdown debating getting bangs, and a father who needed a break from his wife.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I listened to a woman with short burgundy hair who sat across the bar. “You can’t just find two people willing to dress up for a seven-year-old’s birthday party.”
That got my attention.
The blonde woman by her side grunted. “Shit, did you already pay them?”
“No, thank the Gods. But Olive is going to be so upset, it’s next weekend!”
An idea flickered in my head. A mad, devious little idea born of spite and rage.
“I’m sorry,” I interrupted. Leaning across the bar, I looked past several others to get their attention. “Did I hear you needed people to dress up for a birthday party?”
The mother nodded. “The ones I hired got sick. Do you know someone?”
Set and trapped. “I do actually, my coworker and I are looking for some side jobs to earn a little money. We’d love to do it!”
Devious plan or not, her face lit up. Maggie shifted beside me, but I didn’t pay her attention. The woman spilled me her information, where she lived, and when to arrive. At least one of our nights had improved.
Did I hope to see Laken a little frazzled about a dress-up party?
Absolutely. Did this idea come from a place of bitterness?
Undoubtedly. But nevertheless, it’d be easy money in our pockets, so in the end, it felt justifiable.
I’d done the right thing. I helped a fellow town member, will make a seven-year-old’s birthday, and helped lessen the debt. A win-win.
Maggie stared at me as I reeled around to her.
“What?” I shook my head.
Her brows rose. “Are we going to talk about this?”
Well, if she’s going to twist my arm. “Did it have to be Eliza Hamilton? He knows how much I don’t like her; he doesn’t even like her! So why in the hell is he here? With her!” Was it all a lie?
“Reece,” my friend uttered, but I’d been unhinged and could not stop.
The image of those two became branded into my head. A cursed image. I’d rather gouge my eyes out than see it again, I’d rather—
“Reece…” Maggie warned again, and though my mouth continued rambling, I noticed the worry in her eyes. “Reece!” At her raised voice, I followed her stare to my arms—where they steamed.
Oh Gods. No, this was worse than… Oh Gods, this was fire-spitting chicken shit. I needed out.
Leaping out of my seat, I dropped to the ground.
Slightly buzzed and completely discombobulated, I stumbled through the crowd.
The place had grown cramped, loud laughs and cheers rang in my ears, but I focused myself on getting out.
They’d all be dead if I didn’t. Pushing bodies left and right, tossing a choked-up “Excuse me,” I got to the door as fast as I could.
As I reached for the handle, someone from outside pulled it open and I shoved through before they could.
I gasped when I saw the Gods hadn’t betrayed me yet—rain poured past the awning. Perfect for a woman literally needing to cool off. My sleeves were already scrunched past my elbows, but I shoved them up farther and let the rain hit my skin. It’d take a couple minutes for my magic to chill the f—
“Reece?”
I faced the town as my eyes widened and my face pinched. Mother-clucker. Spinning and folding my hands behind my back, I stood eye to eye with Laken Augustus.
“Yes, Laken? What do you want?”
He studied me. “I saw you run out; you looked like you were in trouble so…”
“So you followed me? Why? Don’t you have someone to entertain in there? I’m fine, as you can see.”
“Uh-huh.” He stepped forward, closing the distance between us as he grabbed my arm from behind. The farther he leaned in, the closer his chest came to me. His scent of mint and honey slammed into me hard enough to sober my mind. He lifted my hand up, running his fingers down my arm.
I swallowed.
He blinked and soured his lips. “Reece, what’s wrong? You haven’t lost control in years. Have you?”
The sincere worry in his voice did something to me. Opening my mouth to reply, I came up empty-handed. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t function. His fingers curled around mine while he saw right through me.
“Reece?”
The door opened from inside, drawing my attention off his ocean eyes. I pulled my shit together and took my hand back. He didn’t actually care, not for the reasons he claimed. “Nothing’s wrong, Laken. Go back inside. Eliza’s probably waiting for you.”
He squinted. “Why are you lying to me? I know—”
“Just go back inside,” I interrupted. “Go back to Eliza.”
Laken stepped back and placed his hands on his hips, glaring at me as though I were some sort of puzzle.
“Eliza? Why do you keep bringing up Eliza? She’s…
” First, his jaw dropped. Then, it shifted into a mischievous grin, and he glanced down at the ground in disbelief.
Lastly, he flicked his eyes back to me. He knew. “Are you jealous?”
The audacity he had to be absolutely correct. “No.” I staggered back. Laken came closer. “Of course I’m not jealous. What do I have to be jealous of?” My spine hit the wall of Rabbit’s Foot.
Laken leaned over me with a hand next to my head, pinning me in place under his body. “I’m not really sure.” He smirked, eyes glinting in the dark as they lowered to my lips. “But I’d love to hear you explain.”
“This isn’t jealousy… this is, this is… bullshit,” I spat out and Laken turned his head. “This is bullshit. Why are you here with Eliza Hamilton?” I needed to know, or else I’d die and rot and wither away. Or at least I felt that way in the moment.
“Why do you care?” He nodded his head up a bit.
“Because you pretend you want to help and that you care for me, yet you’re out on the town with Eliza! Are you with with her?”
“Is that really what you think?”
“I don’t know what to think!” I pushed myself off the wall and slithered out from under him, keeping a safe distance.
But when I spun around to him, I erupted.
“I don’t get you, Laken.” My body, blood, and soul fumed.
I no longer felt the ground under my feet.
I couldn’t see anything but him. The very heart in my chest burned and raged and set my skin ablaze.
My fingers strained, feeling every spark, ember, and flame even through my bones.
Water lined my eyes. “I don’t get what’s between us or what you want. It drives me mad.”
“Yeah? And you don’t think I hate it, too?” Laken stumbled back, shaking his head before aiming his glare back at me. Golden locks hung over his face, slightly damp from the rain. His eyes were as stormy as the sky above us and twice as fierce.
“It kills me,” he confessed; the muscles in his throat pulsed.
Somehow, he’d dwindled the space between us.
I could smell the honey and mint. The scent that once lingered on my bedsheets.
“It kills me to see you and not touch you. It kills me to hear your voice knowing it won’t say my name like it once did.
” Laken looked at me as if I was something more, something to be hurt for. “Being around you kills me.”
Each word, a wound.
Laken and I both panted, both toeing a dangerous line. Traitorous. Treacherous, even. But still, I pushed further.
Straightening my spine, I lifted my chin and scoffed.
“Good,” I said, deep and slow. Daring to step closer, only inches remained.
“I hope it hurts. I hope you pray for mercy. And I hope it leaves you aching when you go to bed. I will make it my life’s mission to ensure that you are in pain every day for the rest of your life, thinking about me. ”
Laken devoured the distance parting us, leaving nothing but him and me. My eyes flicked to his lips, as his did to mine. Heart to heart, heat from his chest pummeled into me. I felt him so close, yet not close enough. Never close enough. Never far enough.
Our lips were separated by a thin line of love and hate.
And that line was beginning to blur.
Slowly, torturing ourselves, taunting ourselves, he whispered, “Do your worst.”
The door to Rabbit’s Foot busted open, and Maggie came flying out. Along with Eliza Hamilton. Laken and I remained in a deadlock stare, neither willing to break. To yield. To lose.
“Is everything alright here?” Eliza asked, and Laken glanced to the ground.
Letting out a breath, I finally stumbled back, immediately feeling the cold air rush over me in his absence. “Everything’s fine.” My jaw hurt from clenching so much. “We were just leaving.”
“We were?” Maggie repeated. “We were,” she realized. My friend wiggled herself around Eliza, joining me at my side as we shuffled into the rain.
Laken, frozen in time and space, watched us leave right where I left him.