Drowning (Tears of Sin Series) (8 page)

I
WALK AWAY FROM HER
. I know it's rude, but damn, she's been hitting all my buttons since I offered to drive her to the shelter. I'm not even sure why I did. A small hand wraps around my forearm and with more force than I thought possible of her, she spins me around. I catch a hold of her shoulders to keep from toppling us both over. “What the hell?”
“You promised me dinner.”
I rake a hand through my hair and try to look anywhere but into her soft chocolate eyes. That sadness that’s always there is like glimpsing this great pain in her heart. But for someone so young, I can't even imagine that she knows what real pain is.
“I don't think that's such a good idea anymore.”
“Why? Because I flirted with you. Well, guess what, you pissed me off first. So the way I figure, we're even. Get over yourself.” She has one hand on her hip, and when she gets mad, her words get a little accented. It’s fucking adorable.
“Is that so?”
She jabs me in the chest. “Yeah.”
It's really hard to stay mad at her, but I want to. We are attracted to each other on a basic level, but I don't know how much more I want, and I think she'll need more always. She just doesn't know it yet. “Okay. So where would you like to go?”
“We're here.”
I glance around. I hope she’s kidding. “Where?”
“The shelter offers meals on weekdays, so you and me are going slumming.” She grabs hold of my hand and drags me through the shelter, waving and smiling at people as she passes. “Come on. This isn't going to hurt, I promise.” I'm not so sure about that. She tosses me an apron and points to a bald man scooping potatoes. “Hey Larry, this is Seth. He's going to help out today.”
Larry, the big bald man, nods his head and winks. “She wrangle you into this?”
“How’d you guess?”
“It's Alice. Man, one look into those sweet eyes and you'll pretty much do anything for her. She's had that knack down for the last two years, at least.”
Tell me about it. “You don't say.”
Alice shoves me toward a bin that has macaroni in it and hands me a large spoon. “You got this. I'll see you in a bit.”
I glance over my shoulder and watch her bouncing curls float away from me. “Hey, where are you going?”
“I'm on dish detail tonight. Don't worry. Larry will keep the crazies off you.”
Man, I hope she's kidding. “You shitting me?”
Alice holds open the large door leading to the kitchen. “Relax, Seth, the people here are harmless, just down on their luck. Don't spazz on them and you'll be fine. Just feed them.” She disappears into a room of billowing fog.
Larry nudges me. “Get ready. You're about to see real hunger.”
The first few people that approach us are aggressive, taking as much as they can get us to give them. Larry catches me over scooping and warns me to hold back, or we won't make it through dinner. As the line progresses, the women with children make it past my station.
A little girl with the prettiest blue eyes and blonde hair that promise to be gorgeous one day steps forward. I spoon her portion onto the tray, and she grins at me. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
A gap in her top teeth allows her little tongue to peek through. “You're cute.”
I wink at her. “So are you.”
She giggles and pushes her brother forward. The mother stops in front of me and glances up through tear stained eyes. “Thank you.”
I’m not sure what I did, but I respond with, “You're welcome.”
“No, thank you. She hasn't spoken to anyone in two months. Not since that monster... Well, never mind.”
I can't hold her gaze anymore. I stir the clumping macaroni, and the family moves along. That poor little girl. No wonder the mother is still in tears. I'm not sure what happened to them, but I have my suspicions.
Larry scrapes his pan clean and clears his throat. “Don't let it get to you. Each one of them souls has a story. Most of them aren't too pretty.”
“How do you come here? How do you and Alice do this?”
“Do what?”
“Help. How can you stand knowing that things like that happen to people?”
Larry clasps my shoulder. “You've lived in an ivory tower, haven't you?”
I can’t keep his gaze. Was I wearing my bank bag round my neck? I’ve lived comfortably all my life. And yeah, I bitch about my dad being absent, but he always made sure we were cared for.
“It's okay. You can't help what you were born to, just like these people can't. They can try to do better. Hope and pray that things will change...and for some, it will. For others...well, some people just can't be fixed.”
We finish our service and peel off the latex gloves that have been sweating my palms for the last hour. I shake Larry's hand and go toward the steam in the kitchen. “Alice.”
She spins around, and I'm done. Her hair curls about her face, tighter than I've ever seen it. Her cheeks are flushed, like she's just had the best orgasm ever. Her shirt is damp and sticking to patches of her breasts where bubbles have clung and popped. “Uh...are you ready?”
She shakes off her hands and waves at the other women in the room. Women I hadn't even noticed. She places her palm in mine and leads me away from the heat. “So...what did you think?”
“About?”
“Helping people.” She is still leading me past the crowded cafeteria, and I'm stopped when the little girl finds me. She tugs on the knee of my jeans, and I kneel for her.
“Mister. I'm going to be seven in one week. Will you come to my birthday party?”
I'm embarrassed and hope that I say the right thing. “Er...sure. Here?”
“Yes, unless momma gets her new job by then.”
The lady dabs at her eyes.
“I'll be here.”
The cutie grins, pink tongue peeking out. “Can I be your date?”
More tears fall from the mother's eyes.
“Uh, how about we just be friends. I need a friend with blonde hair. This one over here only has dark hair. I need something bright to lighten up the world.”
She giggles and nods before running back to her mother's side.
Alice takes my hand again and leans into me. “That was really nice.”
She makes it sound like such a surprise. Normally, I don’t consider myself a dick. “I can be nice.”
“Yeah, but you probably shouldn't have told her that.”
“Why not?” I thought I was here to be nice to these people.
“When you don't make it, she'll wonder where you are, and it'll probably set her healing back.”
I stop and grab her upper arm. “Alice, I make a promise, I keep it.”
She pries my hand off her arm and continues walking to the truck. “So. Promise maker. What do you want to do now?”
Oh, that question. I’d love to take her back to my apartment and get her face all pinked up again—but from hours of me sweating over her body instead of slinging sludge. I go with a less evocative suggestion. “Well...since you’re nineteen, I guess we aren’t going to get a drink. But, I think I really need one.”
She laughs at me and shrugs. “Depends on where you want to go.”
I didn't think she'd be willing, and the thought of spending more time with her surprisingly makes me happy. Yeah, I wanted to spend more time with her—she’s hot—but I’m excited about it in a way that goes deeper than my dick. “Uh, do you have somewhere in mind?”
A light brightens her eyes to a caramel color, and I hope like hell to see it again. She bounces a little before she finally gives in and tells me what that devilish gleam is all about. “Let's go see how much of a rock star you really are.”
“I don't do hardcore, and I'm not into drugs.”
The sun is peeking through the trees hanging over the sidewalks, and the shadows wrap around her. It’s technically fall, but in Texas, summer lasts until October. Sweat beads around her neck and rolls down. She swipes at it and winces. “It’s hot as hell out here.” She glances at me and giggles. “I wasn't going to ask you to do anything illegal...well, not really.”
We go back to the apartments and split ways to get ready. I'm not sure if this is a date, or if I'm just a new friend with a ride. I'm pretty sure I'd like it to end with her in my bed, at least for one evening. I know I promised her that we would happen, but I won’t force myself on her. She's really young. Older than I thought, but still way too young. I shower in record time and throw on a black T-shirt and a pair of ripped up jeans. I'm curious about where she'll take me, and I'll never admit that I'm more than a little scared of just how far I'll follow her.
I'm running mousse through my hair when Gabe slams the bathroom door open. He’s grinning and any moment he’s going to fuck up my good mood. “Dude.”
“Hey big bro, where you off to?” He reaches over and flattens the hair I’ve just styled into that messy look girls seem to dig so much.
“Out.” I punch him in the chest, and he mock bows like I’ve just winded him.
“Uh, yeah, I get that. Where and with who?”
I shove him out of the way and find my shoes. “I'm taking a friend out.”
“Who?”
I don’t want to tell him, but he’ll just bug me until I do. “Alice.”
Gabe props himself against the doorjamb, and a huge dimpled grin splits his mouth. “I knew you liked her.”
The fact that everyone seemed to like Alice isn’t lost on me. I’ll have to tread carefully with this girl, or I’ll have the whole band after my ass. “So?”
“You going to bang that?”
At some point, I really hoped he’d grow out of the persona he'd taken on when we formed the band. “I don't bang girls. I fuck them, and then they leave.”
“Okay, you going to fuck Alice?”
I finish lacing my boots and grab my wallet and keys. “Why do you need to know?”
He chews on a fingernail and glances at the floor. “I like her. She seems sweet, but really sad. I don't think you should fuck her or fuck her over.”
I really don’t think I should either. “Well, I didn't plan on it tonight anyway. We're just going for drinks.”
“She old enough to drink?”
“No.”
“Thought so.” Gabe disappears while I finish applying some cologne. The front door opens and closes. “Gabe?”
I hurry to follow him. He's pounding on the door to the girls' apartment. When it opens, I'm not ready for the sight of her. Alice has her hair blown out and full, the curls smoothed into soft waves that reach below her breasts. She's put on makeup, just a hint of dark around her eyes. It turns the chocolate to almost black. My gaze drops to the shredded, oversized black shirt that slips off one shoulder, allowing only hints at the hot pink tank beneath. There’s a three inch scar on her collar bone that is jagged and curved. She fidgets beneath my stare and it’s a new side of her. Self-conscious and cute.
We watch each other until Gabe wags his fingers in her face. “Hey, I'm standing right here.”
She smiles and drops her chin. “I'm sorry.” Her eyes find him and Gabe’s putting on all the regular flirting moves. “Did you need something?”
He leans down and brushes his lips against her ear. “Invite me to go with you guys.”
It’s one thing to try for her when she’s not mine…fuck me. I step across the hall and shove him to the side. “Hell, no. You'll get in trouble and ruin the whole evening.”
“Thanks, bro.”
“You know what I mean.”
Alice grabs a small wallet and slides it into her back pocket before locking her door. “Are you ready?”
“Yep.” Gabe links his arm through hers and guides her toward the elevator. “Come on, bro. Are you really going to let me steal her away from you?”
I lock the door and flip my keys around a finger, trying my hardest to act like I'm not seething that Gabe has, in fact, stolen her from me. We all stand in an awkward silence in the elevator, and between floors four and three, Alice giggles. It's the freaking hottest sound, husky with a little lilt on the end. She holds her head back and mumbles under her breath. “Awkward.”
I chuckle. She's sending me a message, and like that, my anger is gone, and I'm calm. Gabe will not ruin this for me. Whatever this is. She rests against the wall and catches my gaze. I wink at her, and she blushes. It's subtle against her tanned skin.
I lean closer to her. “Where do you want to go?”
She lowers her lashes to sexy little slits. “Do you trust me?”
Do I? I twist my bottom lip between my teeth because I know girls usually like that. “Maybe.”
Her cheeks darken, and she shifts from one foot to the other. “Tonight, you’ll have to.”
We hurry to the parking tower and crowd into my truck with Alice wedged in the middle. She keeps her body from touching me, somehow. It isn't until we're three blocks down that I notice she's hardly breathing. “Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Why?”
“I don't know. Maybe because you look like someone drove a pole up your—”
“Hey man, that's not how you talk to girls.” Gabe smacks me on the back of the head. “What he meant to say is that it looks like you took a twelve-inch dicking and can't get off.”
“Eww. That's just gross.” She shakes her head and her waves fall forward, concealing her eyes and any emotion she might be hiding. Little by little, her muscles relax against me, and soon she’s heating me up from shoulder to hip.
With the tension gone, she gives me directions, one city block at a time until we pull up to an abandoned building. There’s a chain-link fence on the perimeter. A gate hangs on one hinge, and weeds grow through the cracks on the pavement. Light poles illuminate the grounds, but instead of making you feel safe, it just adds to the creepy factor.
“What's this?” I pull the handle on the truck, but hesitate.
“It's called The Basement.”
I’m hesitant to get out of the truck. “Are we spending more time with the homeless?”
“Uh, no.” She shoves my shoulder, and I hurry before she climbs through me. “This is fun like you've never had before.”
Alice skips across the street and wedges past the hanging gate. She’s whistling, and it’s in tune. Not many people can whistle on pitch. My breath stills when she bends from the waist to pull back a large board covering a low window. My cock stirs at the sight of her ass into the air. She’s going to kill me.
Gabe jumps out, and I lock the truck. He glances at me. “Dude, we’re going to die tonight.”
“Probably.”
We both shrug and jog across the street in time to watch Alice slip inside. She holds the board to the side for us and waves us in. I’m following her smell of her shampoo— apples and something distinctly hers.
I can’t believe she just broke into this building. “What are you doing?”
“Come on.”
Gabe looks at me and shrugs again before following her. “Dude, don't be a prick. Come on.”
I make it through with only a small scratch on the shoulder and a tear that will probably ruin this shirt. The inside of the building looks exactly like I thought it would, old, concrete walls, and dust. I hadn’t expected the row of people lined up to go down a staircase.
We follow Alice to the crowd, and a few people turn to greet her. She leans around the group and grabs my hand. Gabe follows us as we maneuver to the front of the line.