Burning Down the House (21 page)

Riley
dropped his arms but not without meeting Rob’s glare with a defiant scowl of his own. “Sorry, dude. Didn’t see your name on her anywhere.”

“Look a little harder.
It’s there.” Rob positioned himself in front of me, so close to him their pecs were almost touching. Next to him, Trent crossed his arms and lifted his chin in one of those macho displays of
I-got-your-back.
Although, dressed in hospital scrubs and a stethoscope he looked a little silly. Dana caught my eye and bit her lip to suppress a grin.

“Is that right?”
Riley didn’t seem all too eager to back down. “Since when?”

“Since right
the fuck now.”

“Right now, huh?”

“Did I stutter?”

Oh, for heaven’s sake. This
ridiculousness was getting out of hand. “Can we please just go home now?” I pleaded, tugging on Rob’s arm. “I’m
so
over this.”

He looked down at me and his
stony expression softened a little. With one last glance at Riley, he put a hand on my back and ushered me through the house while shielding me from the jostling crowd. Trent and Dana followed on our heels, with Trent pausing to shout, “Later, man!” across the room to Doug.

Once we were outside
in the night air, Dana threw an arm around me with a giggle. “I thought for a minute they were gonna tie up back there!”

“
Woulda mopped the floor with his punk ass,” Trent boasted in a slurred voice. “Serious ass kickage, man.” As unsteady as he was on his feet, I doubted he could have done more than fall on his own face.

“He wasn’t
really doing anything,” I felt I should point out.

“He was
all over you.” Rob slipped his hand into mine and I curled my fingers around his. “I told you before, I don’t trust him. Something shady about that guy. He reminds me of a crooked politician trying to hide behind a phony image.”

I decided to just let it go.
Nothing involving Riley Murphy held any importance to me. Instead I told Dana, “You better sober up before we get back, Alice. Your dad’ll freak and there won’t be any more Mad Hatter parties for you for a very long time.”

She
lifted up her white pinafore and sniffed it. “Can you smell it on me?”

“Not
too bad, but a breath mint probably wouldn’t hurt. Actually, maybe coffee would be a better idea.”

“We’ll
stop by McDonald’s,” Rob suggested, unlocking the doors with the keyless remote. “And if anyone starts feeling sick, you better let me know so I can pull over. I’ll be damned if I’m cleaning your nasty puke outta this car.” As soon as we were all in the Tahoe, Trent and Dana immediately started making out in the back. I got the distinct impression neither of them felt sick. Rob turned up the radio so we didn’t have to listen to them slurping on one another’s faces. Thankfully Seether drowned them out.

They stopped playing tonsil hockey long enough to throw back some coffee once we hit
up the drive thru, and I took the opportunity to tell Dana about my encounter with Jordan in the bathroom. She agreed that it was bizarre.

“I hate to agree with Ridley
- um, Riley - but she really has been actin’ all spaced out lately. I heard her grades have been slippin’ so much she prob’ly won’t even be valum…uh,
va-le-dic-tor-i-an
after all.” Still a little tipsy, she enunciated the word carefully. “Plus she gave up her spot on the yearbook staff.”

I raised my eyebrows
, forgetting for the moment about Jordan’s problems. “I hope for your sake neither of your parental units are still up. I definitely wouldn’t advise trying to talk to them!”

“
Do I sound that bad?” she asked, discouraged.

“Dead giveaway
. If you say a word you’re gonna get busted. Not to mention, your eyes are bloodshot. Better not turn on any lights.”

“Oh, fuck me
- I am so dead,” she lamented.

“You ain’t dead, canary head
,” Trent sang, cheerfully producing a small bottle of eye drops from the pocket of his scrubs. “I always come prepared.”

“You’re a lifesaver, baby!” Gratefully she
tipped her head back and squeezed some drops into each eye.

“You could text them and say you’re spending the night with me,” I
reluctantly suggested. To be perfectly honest, all I wanted right now was to be alone again with Rob. But I didn’t want my best friend to wind up grounded for eternity either.

“My dad’s not gonna fall for that one
.”

She was probably right. As a cop, he
was privy to all the schemes teenagers used to avoid getting caught. It really must suck having the chief of police for a father. “Well, maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll already be asleep.”

“If not, just tell ’em
you’re tired and haul ass to bed,” Trent advised. I wondered how he intended to conceal his own obvious intoxication, then decided that was his problem. I got the feeling that by now the party animal was a pro at manipulating his way out of trouble.

We dropped
Dana off first after I made her promise to let me know what went down. Just as we were pulling up in front of Trent’s house, I got the message:
All clear! :P Everyone’s asleep.

Relieved, I texted her back:
Good deal!! TTYL, boozer. Smoochies.

Finally rid of our passengers,
Rob heaved a sigh and turned down the radio. With an uneasy glance my way, he said, “You’re not pissed off at me, are you?”

“Why would I be?”

“I don’t know. For jumping down Riley’s throat.”

“No…of course I’m not
mad at you.”

“I just don’t want that sonofabitch touching you.”

The corners of my mouth tugged upward at the notion that he was actually jealous. “Believe me, you have nothing to worry about there.”

“
You tell me if he bothers you again.”

“Why, so you can get yourself suspended for fighting? I can handle myself,” I assured him.

“Sara, tonight you gave me the most precious thing you had to give. In my book, that makes me responsible for you now. I don’t want some self-entitled asshole thinking he can manhandle you. If he ever did anything to hurt you I don’t think I could control myself.”

My hidden smile broke through. “
You’re either a certifiable lunatic, or the most romantic, chivalrous man in the whole entire world.”

“I’m both,” he admitted with a wicked grin. “Give it time and you’ll find out.”

I leaned against the headrest and gazed at him, my beautiful white knight, my protector. “I’ll give you all the time you want.”

Back at home, the front door had barely closed behind us when he pushed me up against it to
claim my mouth with his. I practically jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist, hungry for more of what I’d gotten a taste of earlier. He carried me into his bedroom like that, and once there we tore off our clothes like they were on fire and fell into bed together.

“God,
sweet baby…” he groaned against my lips. “I wanna make love to you ’til neither of us are able to walk anymore...”

“
Better get busy then,” I whispered, adoring the way he referred to it as
making love
rather than using the cruder lingo.

Four hours and
five condoms later, we’d just about accomplished his goal.

17

Rob
was still sleeping heavily when I woke around 10:30 the next morning. I would have preferred to remain in bed a little longer but my bladder had other ideas, so I slipped quietly out of his room and went to use my own bathroom. Then I ran myself a hot bath while calling Dana.

“Hey,” she
rasped hoarsely.

I
sat on the edge of the tub and poured in some bubble bath as it was filling. “Hello, sunshine! Do we have an itty bitty hangover this morning?”

“
Ugghhh…I hate you.”

“Yeah,
I know, I love you too. Did I wake you?”

“
Mm. S’okay, I need to get up anyway.” She made a long, drawn-out grunting sound that could only have been her stretching. “We’re supposed to be having lunch with my grandparents and then all go to the nursing home and see my great-grandmother. What’s that racket?”

“It’s just the water running. I’m about to take a bath.”

“Oh. So what’d you guys do last night? Why didn’t you come out earlier?”

“Because. We were busy. Doing other stuff.”

There was a moment of silence from the other end. Then, slowly: “Busy doing what?”

“Just stuff…” I
was deliberately vague, figuring she’d quickly pick up on my subtle hint. I was right.

“You guys
did the wild thing, didn’t you?”

I swirled the bubbles around with my free hand. “Yep.
We sure did.”

“Oh my
God
…” Dana squealed and then started laughing. “You
ho!
I
knew
you guys were up to no good! I knew it! So what was it like? Was he any good? Did you like it? Gimme details.”

“Ah-
mazing.
” That one word pretty much summed it up.

“Really? It wasn’t like, weird or awkward or anything?”

“Not at all. It was…I don’t know. Perfect.”

“
That is
awesome!
So what’s he like? You gotta spill it - does he look totally hot naked? Is he hung or what?”

“
Dana!
” I laughed at her bluntness.

“What? Inquiring minds
wanna know! He looks like he’d be hung. I’ve noticed it once or twice through those tight jeans he wears sometimes.
Very
nice.”

“Hey! Stop checking out
his package, you slutbag,” I kidded.

“Then answer my question!”

“How the hell would I know? It’s not like I have much to compare him to. I definitely didn’t have any complaints, if that’s what you want to know.”

“It’ll do for now.
But you better give me all the goods later. Does this mean you two are an item now?”

“I think so.” I reached for the faucet to shut off the water. “
I mean, yes - but do me a favor. You can’t mention that in front of my dad.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know if he’d like the idea of me carrying on a romantic relationship with the guy who’s living with us. You catch my drift?”

“Oh
, I see what you mean. With him being gone so much and all…”

“Precisely.”

“Okay. I’ll watch what I say.”

“Thanks,
dahhh
-ling.”

“You’re welcome,
dahhh
-ling. Well, I’ll let you get to your bath. I gotta get up and get ready before my mom comes busting up in here wanting to know why my lazy butt is still in bed.”

“
All right. Have fun visiting your family.”

“
Later, hoochie mama!”

I lowered my sore and aching body into the tub and stayed there for a long time, soaking up the
steamy heat. Last night I’d used muscles I didn’t even know I had. Just thinking about it made me want to go jump back into bed with him again, tired muscles or not.
Damn, Goth Boy, what you do to me…

The
rest of the house was empty and quiet when I finally emerged from my room, the only sound a muffled, repetitive
ticktickticktick
coming from the mantel clock. Apparently Rob was still sacked out. As tempting as it was to wake him, I decided to let him get his rest and instead fix us some lunch instead. If I knew him, he’d be starving when he woke up.

There was a
ham and cheese quiche in the freezer that looked appetizing, so I turned on the oven to preheat and wandered back into the living room to wait. I thought about turning on the TV, but somehow the peaceful silence seemed to fit my tranquil mood better. As I was idly gazing out the front window, my eye caught something metallic lying at my feet and I bent over to retrieve Rob’s lighter. It must have fallen out of his pocket last night. Turning it over in my hands, I studied it curiously. No etchings, no markings at all, just smooth tarnished silver. Why did he carry this thing around with him all the time? It wasn’t as if he smoked.

“Saralou.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at his voice. “Jesus H. Christ - you scared the hell outta me!”

Laughing, he came over to pull me into his arms. “Guilty conscience?”
he teased, kissing me.

“No way…”
I’d gladly hock my conscience at the pawn shop for him if that’s what he wanted. Oh man, but he tasted so good. And he had that sexy just-rolled-out-of-bed look, which made me want to roll right back into bed. With him on top of me. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Never better.”

“Hungry?”

“Mm…always.”
He smiled down at me. “Oh, you meant for food.”

“Yes, I meant for food
, perv!” I smiled back. “You like quiche?”

“Sure.” Seeing the lighter in my hand, he pluck
ed it out of my fingers. “Where’d you get this?”

“It was on the floor.”
I watched him shove it into the pocket of his jeans and asked, “What’s the story with that lighter anyway?”

His
sunny expression dimmed a little. “I guess it’s kind of a reminder.”

“Of what?”

“It used to belong to the monster.”

Strange thing to say.
“You mean your father?”

“
Not that one. The other monster. I’ll tell you about it sometime. Not today though.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and rubbed his nose gently against mine. “Halloween’s over. No scary stories today.”

I wondered just how many hidden skeletons were in this guy’s closet. How many scars
one person could carry. I wanted to take all the painful memories away, erase every minute of suffering he’d ever had to endure in his difficult life. Make it all better for him. Or make it all disappear.

But unfortunately, I kn
ew that sometimes scars don’t fade. Sometimes they’re there for good.

I approached
Jordan in the hall at school on Monday morning to ask her how she was feeling. The response I got was, I suppose, typical of her. Completely wacko.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Her
features were blank.

“I was just checking. You seemed pretty sick the other night.”

“Oh…you must mean the party.” She shrugged her shoulders in an effort to play it off. “So I got a little sick. No big deal. Some people just shouldn’t drink, I guess.”

I nodded. “I guess so. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“All right.”

“Do you remember what you said to me? That stuff about,
he’ll use you and then he’ll break you heart…
”

“What
in the world are you talking about?”

“
What you said to me in the bathroom.”

She shook her head, feigning ignorance. “Bathroom? I’m sorry. I really have no idea what you’re referring to.”

“At Colin’s party Saturday night...” I persisted.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “
Sara, I don’t even remember seeing you at that party.”

My mouth fell open a little. “You’re kidding.”

“Well, I was pretty drunk. If I said anything to offend you, I’m sorry. Like I said, some people shouldn’t drink.”

Okay, so it looked as if I wasn’t going to get any explanations out of her. But why did I have
this gut feeling that she was deliberately lying to me? Why was she avoiding looking directly at me?

F
arther down the hallway, Rob caught my eye and winked flirtatiously before slamming his locker shut and strolling off to his first class. My mouth automatically curved upward in response. Jordan’s shrewd eye didn’t miss our exchange.

“I’m going to give you a little piece of advice
that I hope you’ll take to heart. Men are scum. All of them. If you’re smart, you’ll either go lesbo or celibate altogether.” Her voice was steeped in bitterness.

For the second time my
jaw nearly hit the floor. “I…
what?
”

“You think
that one’s any different? He banged me back in the tenth grade. Once. After that he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Men only want one thing. It’s all they live for. They don’t give a damn who they hurt in the process. All he’ll do is ruin your life and go on his merry way like nothing ever happened.” The warning bell rang then, and she lifted her backpack and slung it over one shoulder. Her parting words before she left me standing there in shock were, “Take my advice, Sara.
Celibacy.
”

I was quiet during lunch,
absently picking bits of bread off my sandwich and rolling them into little balls while everyone around me rehashed stories of Saturday night’s wild escapades and laughed uproariously over them. I couldn’t join in. There was a tightness in my chest that threatened to release a flood of tears at any moment. I tried to console myself with the reminder that I’d already known he was no virgin. Of course he had a past. And Dana had already brought up the fact that he and Jordan had dated back in the tenth grade, so why should any of this come as a surprise?

Rob
could tell right away that something was bothering me. Resting an arm over the back of my seat, he leaned close and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong? You seem upset about something.”