Chapter 7
Billie
The Mercedes handles like a dream. I’ve never been a passenger in such a beautiful vehicle, much less driven one.
It’s a pale green color with black leather seats, a gorgeous array of instrument clusters on the dashboard, and a sound system that’s perfectly balanced.
I feel like a princess in it, and I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with a way to thank Rome.
I could cook him dinner or something, but that’s lame. I’d have to feed Bodi too, and even though I’m happy to help out with cooking and cleaning since I’m living in the townhouse for free, I’d like to do something extra for Rome.
Athena gave me her number and we’ve texted a few times, so I reach out to her.
BILLIE: Hey, I have a question. I’d like to do something nice for Rome for letting me use your dad’s car. Do you have any ideas?
ATHENA: Ooohhh… I have lots of ideas.
BILLIE: Why do I feel like there’s a double entendre in there somewhere?
ATHENA: Come on, admit it—you like him!
Yikes. Is she playing matchmaker? I don’t even know how to respond to that, so I keep things generic.
BILLIE: Sure. He’s great. What’s not to like?
ATHENA: Don’t be dense. You know what I’m saying.
BILLIE: I do, but I also know he thinks I’m too young for him. I heard him and Bodi talking, and he was pretty dismissive when Bodi told him I was off-limits.
ATHENA: Of course he was! What’s he going to say to your overprotective big brother?
Oh, yeah, I was planning to bang her brains out but I guess since you don’t want me to, I won’t.
Come on. You told me about dancing at the club that night.
Trust me—my brother doesn’t dance. If he danced with you, he likes you.
I shouldn’t have told her that. It was a moment of weakness. A yearning for the friendships I left behind in Arizona.
I don’t have any girlfriends here in L.A., and Athena’s a lot of fun. But I have to remember she’s Rome’s sister. If I’m going to be living with Bodi and Rome—and it looks like I am, though I still need to have a formal conversation with my brother about that—I have to tread carefully.
BILLIE: I think he’s hot, but honestly, I barely know him. We danced once, and he’s been very generous, helping me move out of my apartment and then letting me borrow the car. But that doesn’t mean he LIKES me. And even if he does, Bodi would freak out.
ATHENA: Bodi needs to get over himself. You’re a grown woman.
BILLIE: A grown woman who needs his help until I graduate.
ATHENA: Oh, I get it. Don’t mind me. I just want my brother to find someone sweet like you. Not like those other bitches he married.
He was married? I had no idea.
BILLIE: I didn’t realize he’s been married.
ATHENA: Twice! And they’re both evil witches. They took him for almost everything he had, which is why he needs to play for a few more years. I think alimony ended last year for the first one, but he has another year or so for the second. Please don’t tell him I told you…
BILLIE: I won’t say anything.
ATHENA: Anyway, I have to get back to work, but one more thing. You mentioned needing a better paying job, right? Can you roller skate?
I frown, my chest suddenly a little tight.
I haven’t skated in years.
Not since the accident that took my parents and destroyed my leg.
BILLIE: I haven’t skated in forever. Since high school.
That, at least, is the truth.
ATHENA: Well, my friend Nita just opened a 50s style diner and everyone is on skates. Business is insane and they’re desperate for help. She said waitresses on weekends are making close to five hundred a shift.
Five hundred a shift?!
I have to work two weeks at the grocery store to make that much.
Jesus, the job sounds like a dream come true.
Except for the whole skating thing.
There’s no physical reason why I can’t. My leg is long since healed and Bodi made sure I did physical therapy to get my strength and mobility back.
But I was never going to skate competitively again, so in my mind, there was no point.
Not to mention the grief and everything else going on in the mind of hormonal fifteen-year-old me.
BILLIE: Can you send me the information? I could at least apply.
ATHENA: I’ll send you her info and tell her you’re going to contact her.
BILLIE: Thank you—I appreciate it. I’m not sure I can skate well enough to wait tables but I’m going to find out.
ATHENA: Excellent! Talk soon. And I’ll think about ideas for doing something nice for Rome.
BILLIE: Thanks!
I put the phone down thoughtfully.
Five hundred a shift is really good money.
Good enough to make me push away the demons of the past and look toward the future.
Now I just have to figure out if I still remember how to skate.
The next week is busy, between school and work, but it’s nice having my own car. Not to mention having the townhouse to myself. Bodi has a cleaning service that comes once a week, which was a pleasant surprise, but I’ve been able to cook meals and freeze some for days when I’m busy.
Sleeping in Bodi’s bed has been a nice bonus too. The couch is fine but definitely not as comfortable as his bed. Unfortunately, he and Rome will be home tonight so I’m camped out on the couch with my laptop, finishing a paper that’s due next week when I hear the garage door open.
“Hey.” Rome’s deep voice is a verbal aphrodisiac, and I do my best to tamp down the desire that courses through my veins every time he opens his mouth.
I’ve never had this kind of visceral reaction to a man before—it’s bewildering—but I’m determined not to let him see it. No matter what Athena said.
“Hi.” I turn with what I hope is a friendly smile. “How was the trip? You guys won all four!”
He nods. “It was good.”
“Where’s Bodi?” I ask when he doesn’t come in behind him. They went to the airport together so I assumed they would come home together.
“He went out. Said to tell you he might not be home tonight since we have tomorrow off.”
“Oh. Okay.” I nod. I know what that means.
Bodi is insanely popular with the ladies.
I don’t want to think about that, though. Or the fact that he’s going somewhere else to get laid. Gross .
“How’s the car?”
That makes me grin. “It’s amazing. I seriously can’t thank you enough. It’s a dream to drive!”
“I’m glad.” He perches on the back of the couch. “It’s not giving you any trouble? It’s in great shape but you never know when a car sits for most of five years.”
“So far so good!” I pause. “I, uh, I’m really grateful. You don’t know how much easier you’ve made my life. I’m being serious.”
“It was no problem at all. Really.” His eyes find mine and, as always, the ever-present spark flickers like a beacon summoning me to a flame.
I’m totally going to get burned, but I walk toward it anyway.
“I’d like to take you to dinner,” I blurt. “As a thank you.”
His expression doesn’t change, except for a tiny tic in his jaw that’s barely noticeable.
“Sweetheart, I’d love to spend time with you but…”
I know exactly what he’s not saying and it irritates me.
“Bodi doesn’t get to tell me who my friends are,” I say firmly. “I can take a friend to dinner to thank him for doing something nice for me. He has no say. I refuse to let him suck the joy out of my life because he’s still lost in the what-ifs.”
Rome frowns. “What does that mean?”
This is hard to talk about, but for some reason, I feel comfortable sharing with Rome.
“The thing is, he frames it as being an overprotective big brother, and on the surface, that’s true.
But the deeper explanation is that he’s afraid something is going to happen to me.
Like it did with our parents. We have no one but each other.
“At the end of the day, it’s just us, and deep down in the dark recesses of his soul, he’s scared.
He thinks by keeping me close, keeping me from dating hockey players, or driving a car, or even living five hundred miles apart—he’s going to keep something bad from happening to me again.
Like it did in the accident when our parents were killed.
And we both know that’s not how life works. ”
“We also know he’ll kick my ass if I touch you.”
“You’ve already touched me,” I tease.
“You know what I mean, Billie.”
“I know you like me and I like you.”
What the hell am I doing?
I just got done convincing myself this couldn’t happen, and now I’m throwing caution to the wind.
Big time.
This is Athena’s fault for putting ideas in my head.
But it’s too late to take it back, and I honestly don’t want to.
I’ve never felt an attraction like this before, and even if it’s a one-and-done kind of thing, I can’t not see what might happen.
“It’s just dinner, Rome. And Bodi doesn’t have to know.”
He doesn’t respond for what feels like a long time.
Then he reaches out and runs his knuckles across my cheek, sending a shiver down my spine.
“We both know it’s going to be more than dinner.”