She’s quiet. Around us, I can feel the bass thumping. But it seems as though everything else has gone silent. Including my heart, which has literally stopped beating. If she recognizes me, it’s over. All of it. The Allford gig, my new friends, the budding relationship with Luke. Vanished. Just like before, when my entire life evaporated in an instant. And just like before, I’m powerless to stop it.
chapter fourteen
Elle,
Can’t sleep. Still thinking about what David’s mom said at dinner. She apologized later. But it got me thinking: I’ve always been proud of the good stuff I inherited from Dad—his sense of humor, his winning good looks. But what if we got the bad stuff, too? What if his kind of evil, or whatever you want to call it, is in our blood? What if we can’t escape it?
Love you for infinity,
A
The bartender stays quiet. Scrutinizing me. Dread and shame creep from the base of my skull.
“You know what? It’s fine. I’ll figure it out. Thanks.” I fumble around my clutch, fingers grazing gum and gloss before I find my money clip. I peel two twenties from a wad of small bills and push them across the bar.
“Hey. I know you,” says a voice in my ear. I whirl around.
“Luke!” My heart starts up again. Then it stops. He looks nothing short of delicious in dark jeans and his usual white shirt. His skin is almost glowing beneath the lights. So is his smile.
“And you’re Elle. Only not the Elle I went out with this afternoon, because that Elle—although she looked awesome—was all sandy and drenched when I left her. And this Elle…” He drinks me in, and my worry vanishes.
“Careful,” I warn. “You’re on the verge of telling me I look so good, you don’t even recognize me.”
“That’s not what I mean.” He rests his hand on my hip and leans in to kiss me on the cheek. It’s sweet and sexy at the same time. “You look incredible,” he whispers, his lips brushing against my neck. “Really beautiful.”
I say nothing; just clutch his shirt and pull him into me. Everything in me is pulsing with need. I need Luke to press me against the bar and kiss me. I need to spend all night discovering him. I need him more than I’ve ever needed anything.
“Hey! You guys mind taking it elsewhere, so other people can get a drink?” An orange-tanned midlife crisis with his shirt unbuttoned halfway shoves past me, sending me stumbling into the bar.
Luke bristles. “Watch it, man.” He steadies me with a protective hand. “You okay?”
“I’m okay. It’s fine. Can you take these and we’ll get out of here?” Gingerly, I pass him two martini glasses so full, they spill when I lift them. I don’t care. I want to disappear before the bartender outs me to the entire club.
“Sure. Three drinks? Stocking up?” Luke smiles.
I shake my head. “Those are for Gwen and Waverly.”
“Right. Gwen and Waverly. I forgot about them.” Luke looks disappointed. “I was hoping we’d have the chance to be alone.”
“Me, too.” I bite my lip to keep from grinning like a moron. My eyes find his, sending warmth throughout my body. To certain places in particular. “Let’s drop these drinks off first, and then we can hang on our own. Do you want something?”
He shakes his head. “Nah. I’m good.”
I follow him across the crowded dance floor to a winding metal staircase that spins toward the roof. We ascend it slowly. I don’t want to spill my drink. And standing behind him gives me the best view in the whole place.
There’s another bar on the rooftop, and twice as many beautiful people, sipping drinks around the pool’s perimeter and in the shallow end.
I scan the crowd. Waverly and Gwen have settled, shoeless, on the teak deck near the deep end. Waverly traces curlicues in the water with her big toe. Beyond the roof, Miami glints like an endless case of neon jewels.
“Over here.” I teeter across the deck.
“LUKE!” The girls squeal when they see us; giddy enough that it’s clear they’ve had another round in my absence.
“Pretty good welcome.” Luke grins and hands Gwen both glasses. “I should surprise Elle at bars more often.”
“You could’ve texted back, you know.” Playfully, I elbow him in the ribs.
“Yeah. We thought you had something better to do on a Saturday night.” Gwen hands Waverly one of the drinks, and they clink glasses before I have the chance to sit.
“Something better to do than bring you drinks?” Luke teases. “Never.”
“Good answer.” I kick off my heels and lower myself awkwardly to the deck, trying not to flash Miami in the process. Gwen’s trying to mouth something to me, but I pretend not to notice.