Chapter Six
Where is she?
It’s already ten past four and Destiny hasn’t come out. I’m tempted to go on a hunt for her.
And embarrass her?
I scrub my palm over my face and force myself to breathe. This morning, when we took her to see Gwen, she’d looked so determined. Dare I say excited? I’ll be damned if I’m the one who takes that away from her.
Destiny deserves something good in life. Something that’s all hers. She’s had shit thrown at her for a while now. I want her to be happy.
At least I was able to come pick her up alone. I don’t have a license or any sort of identification for that matter, but I do know the chief of police, Will Knox. If I get pulled over, I’ll have Uncle Atticus call his brother Will and get me off the hook.
I drum my fingers on the steering wheel and glare at the front doors, willing Destiny to appear. Still nothing. Annoying. My phone buzzes, distracting me.
Wild: Do you have anything nice to wear? I mean, the whole lumberjack vibe will be someone’s yum, but I have a reputation to uphold. If not, borrow something of mine.
Glancing down at my red-and-black flannel under my coat, I frown. I was just going to wear what I’m wearing. Regular clothes. Having to be something I’m not has a spike of anxiety shooting through me.
Evan never cared about what you wore…
Don’t think about him.
Don’t fucking do it.
My mind wanders to a time when he ripped at my shirt so hard, buttons flew everywhere. We’d both laughed through our kiss that quickly turned to moans.
And now my dick is hard.
For fuck’s sake.
Why did he have to mess everything up? We might’ve actually had something good, but then he got drugs involved, and everything unraveled from there.
Movement catches my eye and I snap my head up. Three people exit the building. The wind sweeps up familiar blond hair, dancing off to the side like it’s able to guide the girl it’s attached to somewhere else. The others beside Destiny are Gwen and a man I don’t recognize.
I’m out of the truck in half a second, eager to get over to her.
As I stalk toward them, Gwen gives me a forced smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. The guy next to them narrows his eyes at me, stiffening. And then, like I’m a threat, he steps in front of my sister to protect her.
My sister.
Mine.
Not his.
“Dez,” I growl, letting her know I’m here for her. “What took so long?”
Gwen’s lips thin into a line. The guy scowls at me. Great. They hate me. I don’t give a fuck.
Destiny cocks her head slightly to the side. “Rowdy! I learned how to use my phone today. I can text and—”
“Aunt Eve was cooking when I left. It’s probably done now,” I grind out, eyes boring into the guy who’s standing too close to my sister. “Let’s go.”
Destiny’s excitement fades and she visibly shuts down. I feel like an absolute monster, but right now, I just want to get her away from these people. They make me nervous.
“Weston,” the guy says, voice sharp like a blade. “You must be the brother she spoke about. I’m Gwen’s son.”
Even more reason to hate him.
I don’t take his offered hand, instead, eyeing it like it’s diseased. He makes a chuffing sound and then drops his arm.
“Okaaaay,” Weston mumbles. Then, completely ignoring me, he turns to Destiny and dials up the charm. “Call me later, chef.”
Chef?
What the fuck does that mean?
She giggles at what clearly is an inside joke, and my insides boil. Without thinking, I take hold of her arm. The injured one. Fuck. She cries out in pain, instantly making me feel diabolical.
“Oh, fuck, Dez,” I hiss. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Tears well in her eyes and her cheeks are red. From pain or humiliation, I’m not sure. Regardless, I’ve done this to her.
Gwen glowers at me and Weston’s nostrils flare. They seriously can’t stand me. Feeling’s mutual.
“It’s fine,” Destiny bites out, voice wobbling. “Thanks, Gwen. Nice meeting you, Weston.”
This time, I offer her my arm. She grabs hold of it and starts walking away from them. I have to guide her toward where the truck is parked since she has no idea where she’s going. When we reach the truck and I open her door for her, she wrenches her arm away from me.
“I can do it myself. Thank you.”
The iciness in her words chills me to the bone. I’m ruining this for her. Disgust at myself creeps through me. It feels much like it did when I woke up in the hospital after nearly dying. Screwup. That’s all I am.
I take my time walking over to my side of the truck and make the mistake of looking over at Weston and Gwen. They’re standing close, staring at us, neither of them looking very happy. I’m tempted to flip Weston off but refrain for Destiny’s sake.
As soon as the door closes and I start the vehicle, Destiny lays into me.
“That was rude,” she bites out.
I stiffen at her words. “I said I was sorry. I didn’t mean to grab your injured arm.”
“Not that.” She snaps her head in my direction. “How you treated the three of us just then. Like we were doing something wrong and you had to save me from it.”
Clenching my teeth together, I hold back what I really think about Weston and Gwen. There’s no sense in upsetting Destiny even more.
“Maybe you should go back home,” she says coolly. “I can do this myself.”
Fucking ouch.
The next time she speaks, it’s to her phone, instructing it to play music. Classical music blasts from the device in her hand, effectively ending the conversation.
She’s right. I should go home. At least then I could relax.
Liar.
You never relax. Your demons follow you everywhere. Here, though, at least you can watch over Destiny.
“Talia’s mom went to San Francisco for business, so she invited a bunch of people over. They have a kick-ass loft.”
My shoulders are tense as I sit in the passenger seat of Wild’s truck. Destiny hasn’t spoken to me since yelling at me in the car earlier today. Once the original anger dissipated, I felt like a shit brother. I just want to make things right between us but can’t figure out how to do that.
Alcohol will help take my mind off things.
We park in a parking garage in a fancy area of town. I remember when they were building these units. Evan and I would discuss the progression and how badass it would be to live someplace like that rather than our dinky apartment. And now I’m here.
Wild climbs out of the truck and saunters over to the elevator. I follow after him, feeling uncomfortable as fuck in a pair of his dark jeans and a black button-up shirt. I’m even wearing one of his coats that reeks of his cologne. This isn’t me and I hate it.
But I need some sort of outlet.
Going stir-crazy in that RV is getting old.
On the fifth floor, we exit into a sleek hallway and Wild makes his way to one of the units. He raps on the door. Seconds later, the redhead with the fat lips answers.
“Oh, handsome, so happy you came!” She flings herself into Wild’s arms and hugs his neck. “And who’s this fella?”
I offer her my hand, but she hugs me next. Her tits are huge and smash against my chest. It wakes my cock up. Wonderful.
Thankfully, she extracts herself from me and waves us inside.
Music with a deep baseline plays from a speaker in the living room.
About twenty or thirty people mill about, all dressed nicely with cocktails or beers in hand.
Several people blatantly gawk at me, which makes me feel stupid and out of place.
Wild, of course, knows everyone. He drags me around from person to person, introducing me to people I’ll never remember the names of.
What he’s good at, though, is keeping my drink refilled so that the liquor can do its job to relax me.
By the time we’ve been here an hour, I’m loose and even smiling, which warms a few people up to me.
“It’s so cool you live out there,” a blonde, no taller than Destiny, says and flashes me a pearly white grin. “We went camping once and my mom cried the first night. Made Dad pack us up and leave right then. We’re so not outdoorsy.”
We all chuckle at the visual. The guy next to her is tall and stands close as if he’s staking his claim. I can’t even remember her name, so he doesn’t have to worry about me stealing her away.
“I do some mountain climbing,” the tall guy says. “You should come with us sometime.”
He’s speaking to me.
“Uh, sure, I guess.”
The blonde snorts out a laugh. “Rowdy probably climbs without all your fancy gear, Maxton. Probably can kill a bear with his bare hands, too. Right?”
“You should see what he can do with his tongue, Lila.” Wild playfully elbows me in the arm. “An animal in bed.”
I shake my head, smirking. “You’re an asshole, man.”
Maxton is smiling along with Lila, so apparently Wild’s comment is taken in jest as intended. Still, I wonder what it’d be like to kiss someone like Lila. Her lips aren’t as puffy as Talia’s. They’re kind of thin, in fact. Maxton’s mouth is more kissable if we’re comparing sexy mouths.
Tearing my gaze from him, I focus on chugging the rest of my drink.
I don’t even remember what Evan’s mouth was like.
Then, for some strange reason, I think about Destiny’s.
Always serene and smiling but also kind of pouty.
Her pillowy pink lips were curled downward when she yelled at me earlier in the truck.
Makes me want to put a smile back on her face somehow. I have to make it right with her.
Wild disappears with our cups to get us more to drink.
Lila steps closer to me, looking up through her crazy thick lashes.
I’ve never seen eyelashes that thick before.
Not even Talia’s are like hers. When I stare a little closer, I can tell they’re not really hers.
It’s as if they’ve been glued to her eyelid.
What the actual fuck? Who glues hair to their eyelids?
“We can go someplace quiet,” Lila purrs, mistaking my close inspection of her eyelids as interest. She slides a palm up my chest. “Just you and me.”
Though I’m not really attracted to her, I can’t stop the zing of arousal coursing through me.
I could close my eyes and just get lost in the sensations.
It’d be nice to be intimate with someone again.
Being drunk is a hell of a lot different than being blissed out on heroin. I could remain in control still.
Commotion jerks me away from thoughts of taking Lila up on her offer.
Wild is at the door of the loft, arms flinging around angrily.
I jolt to action, staggering his way in case he needs backup.
Before I reach him, he launches at some guy, swinging a fist right into his face.
The guy beside him cries out in shock and tries to put himself between Wild and his victim.
“I said get the fuck out of here,” Wild snarls, voice dripping with fury. “Now, Evan.”
Evan.
Evan. Evan. Evan.
What. The. Fuck.
The man, Evan, recovers from the punch and lifts his head. Blood oozes from his nostrils as his eyes search the loft behind his cousin. His gaze latches onto mine and it’s as if I’m the one who’s been punched. All breath is knocked out of me. My knees buckle and the rooms spins.
“Rowdy,” Evan croaks out. “Holy shit. You really are back.”
“If you’re not leaving, we will,” Wild barks out. “Move, fucker. And tell your boyfriend if he gets in my way again, I’ll break his pretty nose too.”
Wild grabs my arm and manhandles me out of the loft, past Evan and his boyfriend. I’m dizzied and my ears are roaring. Somehow, Evan’s next words needle their way into my skull.
“I’m clean now, Rowdy. Just thought you’d want to know. I’m so fucking sorry for everything.”
I barely make it into the elevator before losing my shit. Vomit pours out of me without warning. I’m a hundred percent sure it has everything to do with seeing the demon from my past and nothing to do with the alcohol.
Fuck my life.