Anticipation(2)

     



 

She smiled at familiar faces as she wove through the crowd, but she  didn't let anyone waylay her. She was mere feet from her goal when her  path was blocked by a hard male body.

"Where do you think you're going?" Eddie asked, one hand catching her shoulder.

His hand felt extraordinarily hot against her bare skin and she had to  resist the urge to shake him off. He touched her all the time -  casually, platonically - and usually she welcomed the easy affection  behind his gestures. Tonight, though …

"I have an appointment," she said, gazing at him. His shoulders looked  impossibly wide in the snug black tank top he wore. His clear green eyes  were steady on her face.

"I thought we'd kick on to Subterrain, or maybe Mojo," he said.

"You mean you assumed we would."

"Come on, Blue, don't give me a hard time. I need to dance. And not to this shitty teen crap."

"I'm busy." She gestured for him to get out of the way.

"Cancel whatever it is and come dancing with me." He gave her his best  wicked-naughty smile, the one that had charmed so many women out of  their underwear.

"Let me get this straight - you pretty much ignore me for the past two  months, except when we're at work, but now I'm supposed to drop  everything because you suddenly want to party?"

Eddie had the grace to look a little shamefaced. "You're seriously giving me a hard time over Denise?"

"Yeah, Eddie, I am." She lifted her chin, daring him to try to sweep his shitty behavior under the rug.

"She was jealous. You know how it goes," he said.

"Of course I know how it goes. Doesn't make you being a douche bag okay."

"You're right, I'm sorry. I was trying to do the right thing."

"The right thing by whom?" She could hear the bite beneath her words and  hated herself for it. She wasn't an abandoned puppy, whining for her  master's attention. Just because she loved Eddie didn't mean she was his  doormat. She had her own life, her own needs and wants and ambitions.  The day she forgot that was the day she took a long walk off a short  pier. "You know what? Forget about it. I'm sure the blonde will go to  Subterrain with you."

"Blue. Come on."

His other hand landed on her opposite shoulder, preventing her from  leaving. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. She  wasn't giving in on this. She had her self-respect.

"I'm not some toy you can pick up and put down when it suits you. I'm a person. I'm supposed to be your friend," she said.

"You really want to get into this?"

She didn't move, and neither did he. She clenched her jaw, holding back  the rush of words crowding her throat. No way was she telling him how  much she'd missed him. How much he'd hurt her with his benign, casual  neglect. No. Freaking. Way.

"I'm sorry," he said after a long beat. "I should have told her to get over it."

He was sincere, she could see it in his face. She felt herself waver,  and when he slid his hand from her shoulder to the back of her neck, she  softened even more.

"I'm a dumb asshole, and I really am sorry. You know I couldn't live  without you," he said, his voice rough and low with emotion.

Every inch of her was aware of the place where his palm pressed against  her nape. He stood so close she could smell his deodorant and the warm  scent of his skin.

"Don't do it again," she said, her voice just as rough and low as his.

"I won't. Scout's honor."

"Like you were ever a Scout."

"I like to camp. That counts."

She aimed a finger at him, stabbing him in the chest with it. "Don't try to be charming. I'm not one of your women."

Which was the whole point, really.

He did his best to look suitably chastened. "So, you want to grab a cab now or hang out here a bit more before we kick on?"

Was he serious? Had he not heard a word she'd said?

"I told you, I have other plans." And she refused to drop everything  just because he'd crooked his little finger, apology or no apology.

"To do what?"

"To have my brains fucked out."

His hand slid away from her neck. "Tell me you're not hooking up with that asshole."

"Could you be more specific?"

"Reid." He said the single word with a pronounced, very Brazilian curl of his lip.

"None of your business."

He frowned. They knew each other too well for him to read her evasion as anything other than assent.         

     



 

"The guy is trouble, Blue."

"I'm not marrying him. There's no need for you to get your panties in a wad."

She knew why Eddie was worried - they were both privy to the talk that  floated around Brothers Ink, the tattoo studio Rafel and Eddie owned  together. Rumor had it that Reid was connected to the local biker gang,  but what did that matter to her? The only part of him she was interested  in was his body, and then only for the next few hours.

"Can you not be a smart-ass for five seconds? The guy is bad news."  Eddie's accent was more pronounced, a sure sign he was getting worked  up.

"I can run my own private life, thanks."

She shouldered past him but knew without looking that he followed her  outside. It was cold, a typical mid-winter Melbourne night, the wind  sharp as a knife. Eddie caught the collar of her denim jacket as she  tried to shrug into it, jerking it away from her.

"Will you listen to me?"

She spun toward him, all the hurt of the past few months welling up  inside her. "No, I won't. You've been AWOL from my life for three  months, Eddie. You don't get to throw your weight around when you  haven't been around."

"Fine. Be shitty with me, do whatever you need to do. But stay away from Reid, okay? Promise me."

There was so much fierce protection in his eyes. If his sister hadn't  died young, Blue imagined he would have been like this with her, too.  Determined to save her from herself.

For some reason, it made Blue even madder. He was such an infuriating, self-indulgent, lazy, arrogant prick sometimes.

"You worry about your own sex life. God knows it's enough of a disaster zone."

"This isn't about me."

She pulled her jacket from his grasp and slipped into it. "I can look after myself."

Eddie knew that better than most, which made his big-brother routine even more laughable.

"Go find that blonde. Odds are good she'll do anything you tell her to," she told him before turning away.

The traffic cleared for a brief moment and she stepped onto the street.  She could feel Eddie watching her, could feel the gravitational pull of  his disapproval, anger, and concern, but she didn't so much as glance  back. She was too pissed with him, for too many reasons to count.

A car had stopped on the other side of the road, signal blinking as the  driver waited for a parking spot to become available. Blue darted over  the white center line, aiming to cut in front of the stationary car. She  was in the middle of the lane when she heard the loud roar of a  motorcycle engine. Instinct snapped her head around.

A single headlight bore down on her so fast she barely had time to register it.

Then the world went black.





Chapter Two

They were taking too long. Way too long.

Eddie shot out of his seat, running a hand through his hair as he  glanced at the doorway. Silently willing someone - anyone - to enter the  hospital waiting room and tell him that Blue was going to be okay.

That she was alive.

She'd been in surgery for more than two hours. Lying on a table while doctors tried to put her back together.

"She'll be okay, Eddie," Maggie said.

He could feel her gaze on him as he started pacing again, needing to do  something to burn off the adrenaline jangling its way through his body.

"You don't know that."

"Blue's tough. She's young. She's healthy. The ambulance was there within a matter of minutes … "

Eddie shook his head, unable to accept Maggie's reassurance. The image  of Blue's slight form being tossed through the air like a rag doll was  still too bright and terrible in his mind. He could hear the explosive  crash of the motorbike crumpling on impact, the sickening thud of her  body hitting the road. And every time he closed his eyes for longer than  a few seconds, her too-pale face smeared with blood was there, filling  his vision.

The worst moment of his life, hands down. Watching the bike swerve out  from around the stationary car, knowing that she was going to be hit,  that there was nothing he could do about it …

Nausea churned in his gut. Why didn't someone - a doctor, a nurse,  someone - come and tell them what was happening? Didn't they know that  people went nuts imagining the worst when they had nothing else to go  on?

"Sit down. You're making me dizzy," Rafel said.

Eddie ignored his brother, pacing to the end of the room before  swiveling on his heel. If he was a religious man, he'd be on his knees,  pleading with God to spare her. Since he wasn't, he settled for willing  her better. Willing her to fight. Willing her to survive so that he  could once again be the victim of her sharp tongue and take-no-prisoners  attitude.