Something for the Pain(11)

Laughing, Tara walks over to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Jealous much? Don’t worry . . .” She pinches my cheek. “I missed you too.” She turns away and whispers to Alex. “Not as much as I missed you though.”

Nudging her with my arm, I move past her and make my way into the kitchen. “Did you make my favorite brownies? I need a stash for work today.”

I start looking through her cupboards, not finding what I’m in search of. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see Tara open the oven and pull out something wrapped in foil.

“Oh calm down. You know I always have some ready for you when you ask.” She tosses the brownies to me and reaches to pour herself a glass of wine. “You’re just lucky I was in the baking mood last night and that I was bored out of my mind.”

Tara was only twenty when my parents disappeared, leaving her to watch over me. She wasted all of her young adult life raising me as her own and I can never be more thankful to her. I owe her so much. She just turned thirty-three a few weeks ago, but she doesn’t act a day over my age. I guess she’s making up now for all her lost years.

Not even two seconds after Alex walks into the kitchen, Whisper—the cat that Alex gave me when I was fifteen—runs up to Alex’s leg and digs her claws in, asking to be picked up.

I swear that cat is in love with him. Even though I raised her, she always clings onto Alex whenever he’s around. I find it to be adorable and sickening at the same time.

Without hesitation, Alex picks Whisper up, burying his face into her fluffy, white fur while rubbing under her chin. “Hey girl. You missed me too, huh?”

I roll my eyes, but laugh to myself. I love seeing Alex so happy and full of love. He’s in a much better place than he was over six months ago, before his brother Memphis returned. I wouldn’t trade seeing Alex happy for anything else in the world. He deserves it more than anyone.

He’s been through more pain and suffering than anyone I know and he’s still open to happiness, always thinking of others first. I, on the other hand, get abandoned by my parents and can’t even manage to let anyone in. Well, besides Tara and Alex. Trusting just doesn’t come easy to me. That’s why Lucas and I have the arrangement that we do.

It’s worked well so far . . . I guess we’ll see if we can make it past this year mark.

“How’s the living arrangements working out,” Tara asks while sipping on her wine. “Must be nice living with two guys. I really need to find myself one of those.”

I laugh while shoving the brownies into my purse. “It’s fine. Too bad you missed our party last night. There were plenty of hot guys there. You just need to get out more.”

“Had to work. I always have to work. It doesn’t leave me much time to go looking for dates at a party.” She turns to Alex. “Don’t you have an older brother or something?”

Alex gives her a little smile. “You’re a little late on that. He’s taken now.”

“Well shit.” Tara refills her wine glass. “Oh well. I’ll find me a hunk sooner or later. I get a vacation in a few weeks. Maybe you two can hook me up.” She raises an eyebrow. “As long as he’s over the age of twenty-five and looks half as good as Alex, I’ll be happy. Oh and he has to have a job too. I won’t be anyone’s sugar mama.”

Alex flashes his dimples, but doesn’t say a word while he pets Whisper.

“I’ll get right on that.” I tease.

We hang out with Tara for the next hour, talking and having a good time before saying our goodbyes and heading back to the house.

I have to be at work in less than twenty minutes now, so I need to be able to grab my apron and throw my hair up.

Alex stops at the bottom of the staircase, yelling up at me as I dash into my room. “I’m going to be at the parlor until around six. How about I just drop you off and then I can meet you at Dax’s when I get off?”

Dax is the newest bar here in Crooked Creek. It opened up about four months ago and Dax, the owner, asked me if I wanted to start out as a cocktail waitress and work my way up to bartending. It seemed like a fun time, so I said yes. I love getting to interact with the customers, and just have a good time so it seemed perfect.

“Yeah, sure.” I scream down to him while tossing my hair into a loose bun. “I’ll meet you at your truck in five. I just need to find my . . .”

I look up at my doorway from shuffling through the pile of clothes on my floor, to see Alex holding my apron. “This? I saw it laying in the bathroom last night, so I threw it in the washer with my clothes this morning.” He tilts his head to the side. “Let’s go. My truck’s running and ready to go.”

Grateful, I jump back to my feet and grab my apron out of his hand. “Always thinking ahead. You’re too damn good to be true, Alex.” I throw an arm around his neck, in a quick hug, before jogging down the stairs. I need to be at the bar in time to do all of the opening procedures and we’re really starting to push for time. The night waitresses never leave the station stocked, so I end up spending most of the time refilling sauces and crap.

I beat Alex out to his truck and quickly hop in, buckling my seatbelt before Alex can say anything. He hops in about two seconds behind me and quickly backs out of the driveway.

He groans when we pull up at the bar to see Dax leaning against his black Mercedes, most likely waiting on me. “What a fucking douche.”

“He’s not that bad, Alex.” I lean over and plant a quick kiss on Alex’s cheek. “I’ll see you later. Stop worrying about Dax, and thanks for the ride.”

I hop out and slam the door, right as Alex mumbles bye back. He waits until Dax and I are walking in the door before taking off and heading to the tattoo shop.

Overprotective much?

Dax raises an eyebrow, while flipping on the light switches. “I guess your boyfriend is worried I’ll make a move on you?”

I shake my head and walk past him. “We’ve already had this discussion. He’s not my boyfriend.” I laugh and set my purse down. “But yes. He probably thinks you’re going to make a move. He’s just really protective of me, and for some reason . . . he doesn’t like you.”

“Yeah, well if you ask me, he might as well be your boyfriend.” He opens the door to his office and stops to look back at me. “He already acts like it anyways. And by the way . . . if I knew that you wanted me to, I would.”

“Good to know.” I tease. “You would know if I wanted it, but I’m good.”

“Alright. Just pointing it out,” he says teasingly. “Let’s get things ready and fast. I have a feeling that we’ll have an early rush today.”

Without another word he disappears into his office, leaving me to set up the waitress station.

My boyfriend. Alex as my boyfriend.

My heart skips a beat at the thought.

If only it were that easy . . .





I’M SITTING IN MY ROOM at the shop, cleaning off my equipment, when I hear someone clear their throat from the doorway. It doesn’t even take me looking to know who it is. I’ve heard that annoying sound for far too many years of my life.

I smile from my seat, but don’t bother looking up. “Memphis . . . what’s up, big bro? Miss me already?”

I hear his footsteps as he enters the room, stopping behind me. “Fuck no.” He squeezes my shoulder, causing me to look up from my cleaning. “Lyric is busy at the studio, so she asked me to stop in and check on you.”

I can’t help but to grin. “So she misses me . . . is what you’re getting at?”

He slaps me on the back of the head before taking a seat in the other chair. “Surprisingly so.” He flashes me a smile, before getting serious. “I suppose I do too. It’s going to take a while before I can trust that you won’t just fucking take off somewhere.”

“I’m not going anywhere, man. Chill.”

It’s silent for a few moments as I finish putting my things away, before Memphis speaks again. “You been staying away from the alley?”

Standing up, I look down at him while leaning against the table. “I’ve stopped in to watch a couple fights. That’s it. Nothing big.” I nod my head toward the door, letting Memphis know that I’m ready to get going. It’s been a long, stressful day, and all I can think about is relaxing with a nice, cold beer.

He stands up and follows me to the door. “Have you been to any of Trevor’s fights?”

“Yeah. I caught the end of one a couple nights ago. He’s getting pretty damn good. Won by KO.”

“Yeah,” Memphis says. “Maybe we’ll have to stop by one night and watch a few fights for old time sakes. As long as we’re both on the outside of that ring, that’s all that matters to me. We don’t belong there anymore. Don’t forget that.”

I nod my head while locking my door behind us. It’s been over six months since either of us has been in a ring. I’m not trying to go back to that shit.

I slap the front desk. “I’m out, Styles.”

Without looking up, Styles mumbles something as we walk past and outside.

Memphis turns to me and grips my shoulder. “I’ll tell Lyric that you’re doing fine and that you’re just as annoying as ever.”