Chapter 14
SKYLER
“How are you holding up?” Aria asks me.
I look across the room where Zach is sitting with some buxom blonde, and I’m imagining pulling out every strand of her extensions and popping her inflated bust with a pin. “Fine,” I answer shortly.
Aria follows my gaze, raises her eyebrows, and then looks back at me. “What’s going on with the boyfriend over there?”
I gesture with my hand toward them. “Prospective client. Or so he says.”
Aria waves her hand in front of my face. “Sky, you have to see how that man looks at you. You have nothing to worry about.”
I shrug. “Yeah, right. Well, it doesn’t matter. Who knows if this is real? I mean, he says it is, but what’s that called when there are high stake situations and you fall in love—”
“Love!” Aria exclaims. “You love him?” She shakes her head. “I mean, I’ve heard about the crush you had when you were younger and how you told everyone that you were going to marry him one day, but love… that’s just wow.”
I scrunch my nose up. “Can we talk about something else?”
She leans toward me. “Seriously. How are you holding up with the whole stalker situation?”
I laugh and point at Alex, who is sitting at the next table.
He’s looking around acting like he’s not listening to every word I say, but I know better.
“Are you kidding me? That stalker doesn’t have a chance.
Zach has been with me every second. Except for tonight and he had Alex come follow me around. ”
I lean toward Alex. “No offense.”
He just smirks without looking at me. “None taken.”
I roll my eyes. “I mean, it sucks, it really does. Zach says the guy is escalating, and that scares me, but I’m just trying to go about my business.”
I look at my sister-in-law and notice the tiredness in her eyes for the first time. I’m so sick of focusing on me and my problems. “So how are you?” I ask her.
She gives me one of her fake smiles. “I mean, I’m good. You know… I’m fine.”
I tilt my head and search her eyes. Aria and my brother Penn met at the hospital when she had just graduated physical therapy school and he was a brand new attending and they had the same patient.
They fell in love and have been married around seven years now, but I’ve noticed a difference in them both recently, and I hate it because neither one of them is talking.
I lean toward her. “Aria… talk to me.”
She looks as if she’s about to burst into tears, and it scares the hell out of me. Aria is one of the strongest women I know. I grit my teeth. “What has my brother done?”
She wipes at one lone tear that has escaped her sad eyes and is rolling down her cheek. “Nothing. He hasn’t done anything—”
I cut her off. “Don’t defend him, Aria. You’re obviously upset. What’s wrong?”
She sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly. “Nothing. He works insane hours at the hospital. He’s always on call and working on cases when he is home. It’s just, I don’t know, we’re not connecting. Nothing’s happened or anything.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Good, I thought you were going to tell me he cheated or something, and I was going to have to disown him.”
Her mouth falls open as she stares at me. “Oh God, you think… he wouldn’t cheat on me… would he?”
I realize my mistake, but there’s no taking it back. “What? No. God, of course not. I’m sorry, I freaked out when you started crying. Penn would not cheat on you. He loves you.”
She sniffs. “Yeah, he did. I mean… I don’t know anymore.”
I grab her hand. “Sis, talk to him. I know he’s busy and all that, but he needs to make time for this.
He has to because if he wakes up one day and it’s too late and he can’t fix this, then he won’t survive it.
” I shake my head. “I’m telling you that man loves you…
Why don’t you plan a vacation or something? You need this… you both do.”
Aria wipes at another tear. “He can’t get away from the hospital. You know what? How about another drink? You want another one?”
She waves at the waitress, and when she comes over, Aria orders a Miami Vice and then gestures to me.
“I’ll have a Miami Vice too.”
The Whiskey Whistler is picking up. A lot of people come here after work to drink or just let off steam. Tonight there is a live band, and they’re setting up, telling me that it’s about to get loud and packed in here.
The waitress brings our drinks, and Aria takes a huge gulp.
I wish I had the magic words to fix this, but I’m not sure what to say.
One thing is for sure: My brother loves her.
I have no doubt about that. As the youngest sister, my brothers don’t look at me as their equal with my own thoughts and my own ideas.
No, they have always looked at me as the one they have to protect, and when I was younger, just put up with.
Penn wouldn’t want to talk to me about this.
I say the only thing I can think of. “I’m so sorry, Aria. I really am, but I’m sure if Penn knew how you were feeling, he would fix this.”
She opens her mouth to say something but quickly closes it. She throws up a hand and wipes her eyes again. “Look at us. We’re supposed to be having fun here. Let’s drink, let’s talk about your new relationship, and then let’s dance.”
I know she’s upset and just trying to get the topic of conversation off her. It has to be hard for her since I am Penn’s sister. I nod. “Okay, it’s a deal.”
We look around the bar, and I find myself looking at Zach again.
The woman has moved next to him instead of across from him, and she’s relentless.
In the span of one minute, she’s touched him on the arm at least ten times and tossed her hair three times, and she’s openly flirting with him like he belongs to her.
I grit my teeth and look back at Aria. “Let’s dance.”
She smiles and stands up, holding her hand out to me. As I stand up, I point at our drinks. “We should probably finish these. We don’t want to leave them unattended.”
Aria giggles, and as we stand across from each other, we finish off our drinks. We both set our empty glasses down and then walk out to the dance floor.
I stop next to Alex on the way. “We’re going to dance.”
He’s already following us, looking between Zach and me.
I can see he’s unsure what to do here, and so help me if he tells me I can’t dance, I’m going to lose it on him.
But Alex just follows us, standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest. I tune him out, along with Zach. I mean, if he wants the blonde's hands all over him, that’s his prerogative, but I’m not going to sit and watch.
The next song is a line dance, and Aria and I line up.
I get lost in the music and the movements.
It’s not until the end of the song that I see that Zach has moved into Alex’s spot, and Alex is over at the booth with the blonde.
Zach is watching me closely, nostrils flared, eyes dark. And I ignore him.
In reality, he didn’t do anything wrong, but jealousy is an ugly thing.
The song ends, and Aria and I are laughing, waiting for the next song to begin. Two men come toward us, but they don’t even get a word out. Zach steps in front of them. “Move along.”
Both men have to lean their heads back to look at him and must figure they don’t have a chance because they both walk away.
I spend the rest of the night ignoring Zach until Aria says she’s tired and has to be up early tomorrow for work.
“Come on, I’ll take you home,” I offer.
She points at me and laughs. “You can’t drive either.”
I put a thumb over my shoulder. “Alex or Zach will give you a ride home.”
I want to rip my brother’s ass because he should be here. He should be with his wife. I trip over my own feet, making me realize that I may be a little drunker than I thought. Before I fall on my face, an arm goes around my waist, and Zach pulls me up against his chest. “Easy now. You okay?”
I pull from his hold. I’m mad at him, and maybe I’m being ridiculous, but I don’t care. I point over my shoulder. “Don’t you have a date waiting on you or something? I’m ready to go, and we need to take Aria home. Can you tell Alex?” I avoid looking at Zach. “Or I can get an Uber or something.”
Zach puts a hand at the middle of my back. “Come on. I’ll take you home.” He looks at Aria. “You ready?”
She seems to find all this funny and laughs. “If you two want to be alone, I can find a ride.”
I loop my arm through hers. “Don’t be silly.”
Zach walks us through the bar, and it makes me mad that every woman we pass is checking him out. I know he’s a good-looking man, but I’m not ready for this crash of emotions to come over me. When we get outside, he points to his truck. “I’m right there.”
He opens the back door, and I let Aria climb in before I get in after her. Zach doesn’t seem bothered by us both riding in the back. I expect him to shut the door, but he surprises me when he leans in and pulls the seatbelt around me and snaps the lock.
He’s looking all around as he walks to the driver’s side, and Aria is elbowing me in the side with a little giggle. “That’s so hot.”
I look at her, surprised, and she holds her hands up. “Whoa there, tiger. I meant it’s hot how Zach put your seatbelt on you. He wants you safe.”
I shrug like it’s no big deal, but on the inside, my lower belly pulls. Why am I being this way? It’s not Zach’s fault that he’s so handsome and everywhere we go, women are looking at him.
Grudgingly, I ask Zach, “Do you know where Penn and Aria live?”
He looks at me in the rearview mirror. “I do.”
I jerk my gaze from his and look out the window.
Aria elbows me in the side. She leans in to whisper in my ear, “Girl, he’s got it bad. I would love if Penn looked at me the way Zach looks at you.”
I look at my sister-in-law and see the pain on her face. I hate that she’s not happy, and it makes me want to kick my brother’s butt all over again.
On the way to Aria’s house, we talk and laugh. When a popular song comes on the radio, I ask Zach to turn it up, and Aria and I sing along, laughing over our out of tune antics.
We’re both smiling as Zach pulls into Penn and Aria’s driveway.
When Zach parks, he gets out and hangs back by his truck as I walk Aria to her door. The lights are all out, telling me that my brother isn’t home yet. I hate leaving her, knowing she’s upset. “Want me to stay for a while?”
She pulls me in for a hug. “No, I’m fine. I love you, sis. Talk to you soon, okay?”
I nod, wishing I knew what to say to make things better, but I don’t have a clue where to start.
I wait until she walks in the door, and when I turn, Zach is standing behind me. He holds his hand out, and I grimace before walking past him.
He jogs to catch up, opening the passenger side of the truck, and I reluctantly get in. He goes through the same steps, fastening my seatbelt and then closing my door and walking around to the driver’s side.
I lean my head back on the head rest and close my eyes, hoping that Zach doesn’t try to talk on the way home. I need some time to process everything.