Flaw (The Flaw Series) (7 page)

This is not the conversation I expected to be having. Not now. Not ever.

She lies back and flips her legs over the arm of the couch. Her pink hair is a jumbled mess and her face is scrubbed clean without an ounce of make-up. Relaxed, comfortable, chaotic, silly Becca. I bring my body down, crouching in front of her, my face inches from hers.
Is there a future for us
?

She looks straight into my eyes and softly, gently, places a quick tender kiss on my lips. When she pulls back, we both smile. The question is still unanswered, but maybe it is possible that there could be more to us.

Becca reaches around and hugs me tight. “I know I’m acting all crazy. I’m sorry I got all weird about Jordyn. I don’t even really know her that well. Just through that one class. But there’s something about her I just don’t trust and me and you, we’ve got to protect each other.”

I release a long breath, relaxing away the tension in my shoulders. “You don’t have to protect me from Jordyn. She was just being polite. Besides, when would I ever even see her again?”
My dreams?

“Well, maybe I need protecting,” she says under her breath.

I heard what she said, but I still ask her to repeat it. “What did you say?”

Her eyes blink, snapping her back into full attention. “Nothing. I was just – nothing.”

Nothing my ass, I know what she said and I’m pretty sure I know what she meant by it. “So, why was Josh here when I came in?”

“He came over to see if I was all right. I gave him some of my bubblegum vodka.” She drops her head, trying to hide a grin from me. She likes Josh. For some unknown reason, she actually likes that spoiled asshole. That’s who she wants to be protected from.

“Oh yeah? Is it his favorite drink now? Is he having his mom drop off three bottles to the apartment tomorrow?”

Becca dips her head back and laughs. “No, he didn’t like it. He claims he’s going grocery shopping tomorrow. I can’t picture it.” She picks up the remote and raises the volume back up on the TV. “Are you gonna stay and watch some TV with me for a little bit?”

“I’d love to, but it’s late and I should probably head out to the gym. I didn’t work out last night and I can’t go getting flabby.” I smack a hand across my abs.

“Okay, night,” Becca shrugs, flipping the channel.

“Good night.”

She glances back over at me. “Aidan, I’m glad we talked. And who knows, right?”

Nodding my head, “Who knows,” I repeat.

Crossing the hall, I think about the odd conversation that just took place and the possibility of a future for us as a couple. Me and Becca. I can’t quite picture it. Although the two of us together does make sense; I do love her.

Josh is sitting at the counter with a bag of chocolate chips when I walk in. “You guys okay now?” he asks while chomping.

“We’re good.” I rest my hands on the cool surface of the marble top counter and wait for Josh to look up at me. “We’re very good. She doesn’t need you looking out for her. She’s got me for that. Understand?”

Josh nods his head slowly and swallows down what he’s chewing. Hopefully the message I’m sending him is received loud and clear: hands off Becca.

He yells out to me before I get to my room. “Jordyn sent me a text and asked for your number.”

I’m perfectly still and don’t look back. “And?”

“I gave it to her. That okay?”

“It’s fine,” I mutter, shutting the door to my room.

Behind the closed door I clamber to find where I left my phone. Sure enough, I have a text message from an unknown number.

This is Jordyn. I asked Josh for your number. Any chance you can talk tonight?

I pace my room a few times back and forth, wondering what on earth she would need to talk to me about. I start to dial her number but wuss out and send her a text instead.

Aidan
: What’s up?

The phone drops from my hand onto my bed when it vibrates, showing me I have an incoming call. Hesitantly I pick up the phone, breathe in deep, and answer. “Hello.”

“Hey, it’s Jordyn, is it okay I’m calling you this late?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem. What’s going on?”

“Are you busy?”

“No, I was just on my way to go to the gym. I’ve got a minute to talk.”

“It’s kind of late. What gym do you go to?” she asks.

“Jolt, it’s open twenty-four hours.”

“Yeah, I belong there too. I never go this late, though. Well, truthfully,” she laughs. “I don’t really ever go at all.”

I think I laugh, too. This call, this girl, she makes me uneasy.

“Listen, the reason I’m calling, I have a job offer for you. It’s gonna sound crazy, but just hear me out. There’s an event and they need someone to wear a costume. Someone with a good build who can fill it out. I thought of you.”

“No thanks.” My response is instant.

“Why not? It’s the role of a prince. I think you’d be perfect,” her voice drawls. If I didn’t know better I’d think she was flirting.

“A prince? You can change my answer to - hell no.”

“I think you’d be great.”

“I’m not interested. But thanks for the offer.”

“Hmm.” I can hear her thinking right over the phone.

“Thanks for the call. Night.” I disconnect, unable to make any sense of her calling me up, offering me a job as a God damn prince, of all things.
Aren’t they supposed to be handsome?
I open up my drawer and pull out a fresh shirt, tugging it over my head. Hanging up on her so abruptly was rude. I’m not good with girls. I might have been at one time, but not anymore. Just Becca.

I jog down to the end of the block and swipe my card, entering the empty gym. It’s a small place, privately owned, not much to it but it has enough to give me a good workout. The lights flick on automatically and the door sounds, triggering the security system. There’s video surveillance for when the staff isn’t there. Off hours like this, no one’s ever there.

My routine starts off the same way each time, on the treadmill. There’s only two and I always pick the one on the left. No music. I like to stay focused. Tonight it’s a little hard. First my conversation with Becca and then the call from Jordyn. I still can’t wrap my head around that one.

Twenty minutes into my run, the security sounds, signaling someone’s entered the gym. I can’t turn around and look; I’m running at top speed and I’ll fall flat on my ass. The left treadmill is up against the wall. It makes it so no one can go on my left side and freak out when they catch a glimpse of my marred face. As an extra precaution I keep my head down, pulling up my hood to hide my face. Tonight’s workout will be ending sooner than I thought.

Someone steps onto the other treadmill.
Dammit
. I slow my machine down, ready to make a quick exit.

“Looks like I’m a total stalker.”

The sound of Jordyn’s voice makes me pull the emergency stop key on the treadmill and grasp onto the sides as the machine comes to an immediate halt. “What are you doing here?”

“Working out. How do you start this?” She pushes a button and the belt takes off under her feet and she stumbles a few steps. “Okay, wait, how do you stop this?”

I reach over and slow her machine down. “Well, enjoy your workout. You have the whole place to yourself. I was just finishing up.”

“No you weren’t,” she says, playing with the buttons on the treadmill. “You were just getting started.”

I wipe my face with a towel. My heart’s racing and I can feel sweat running down the back of my neck. What do I say to that? I bring the towel up to my neck and rub.

Jordyn stops her machine and steps off, coming right up onto my treadmill. Hanging onto the side rails, she corners me in. “I’m really here to see if there’s anything I can do to convince you to change your mind about being my prince this weekend.”

Blood rushes through me. She’s in a black tank top and shorts that leave little to the imagination, and all that gorgeous brown hair is pulled back in a long ponytail. Her face is like porcelain, unflawed and beautiful. Ragged breaths escape me at being so close to someone this perfect. “You can’t be serious,” I manage to say. “I don’t have the right look to be playing a prince.”

“Why’s that? Because of this?” Her hand grasps my chin firmly and turns my head. She presses her thumb hard into my skin, running it down the length of the scar. I feel my body reacting in a way it never has before. “I think scars are sexy.” She leans forward, and the smile she gives me makes my hands drop down to cover the front of my pants. “But if you’re worried about it, you don’t need to be. You’d be wearing a mask.”

I need this girl away from me before I lose control. I want to grab her and do things to her so wrong they’d have to close this place down after watching the surveillance videos.

Her hands drop down safely at her sides. “Did I mention it’s for charity? For children.”

No, she hadn’t mentioned that. “I don’t have much of a choice in this, do I?”

“No, you don’t.” She shakes her head and backs away, stepping down from the machine. “I’ll text you the details.”

I give her a nod, my eyes never leaving the curves of her perfect body. A guilty wave settles in. “Can you do me a favor, don’t mention this to Becca.” Saying that just admits I know doing this is not right.

Fiery amber eyes meet mine. “You and Becca, you guys are serious?”

“We are,” I say, as a reminder to put myself in check a little bit. Whatever this strong attraction I’m feeling towards Jordyn is…I can’t let it come between me and Becca. Because an attraction is all it is. Jordyn may be coming on a bit strong but that’s only because she wants something from me. She’s studying to become a lawyer, and the way she just convinced me to agree to dress up as a prince shows me she’s gonna make a great one.

“I hadn’t realized. I thought you guys were just friends. You don’t have to worry. I won’t tell her if you don’t want me to.”

I watch her cover up, slipping a black wool coat over her figure-hugging workout clothes and wiping some more sweat away from my face. My heart hasn’t let up pounding since she walked in. I’m amped. The belt starts back up under my feet and I prepare myself because I think I’m gonna be running all night.

Josh

Becca comes out of Aidan’s room. I heard her come in this morning so I know she didn’t sleep here. Not that it’s any of my business what she does.

“He’s exhausted. He told me he plans on sleeping all day. He had a late night at the gym. It kind of stinks cause I don’t have to work today.”

I look up from the counter where I’m working on a list, and stick the tip of the pen I’m using in my mouth. Becca’s got her hair parted in two braids. Her shirt’s unbuttoned and I get a great view of the tattooed stars that disappear right into the soft flesh of her cleavage. She catches me staring, but I’m not even trying to hide it.

“Excuse me.” She covers her chest up with her hands, but her shiny lips smile.

“You wear a shirt like that, I’m gonna look.” I slant my head to the side, still looking. “Those boobs got me seeing stars all right.”

“Yuck,” she says, shaking her head. “Lines like that don’t work on me.”

Geez, what the hell am I doing? Was I not just warned less than twelve hours ago to keep my distance from this girl? “Sorry.”

“What are you working on over here?” She comes up from behind me and peers over my shoulder. I try folding the paper so she can’t see, but it’s too late. “Is that a grocery list? Oh my God, how cute are you?” She snatches the paper from my hands, holding it up over her head as I try and take it back from her. A few playful swipes are attempted; each time I miss and brush up against her innocently. “That’s not how you spell ketchup.” Her eyes light up, teasing me.

I give up trying to get my list back and sit down at the counter. “If you need anything you can add it to the list. Or…” I don’t finish.

“Or what?” she asks curiously.

“Or you can come with me if you want.” Why am I asking her this? Aidan has officially warned me. I know I need to stay away from her. But for some reason I can’t.

“Are you kidding? I totally want to go with you. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to see you pushing a shopping cart down the aisles.” She leans across from me on the counter and my eyes go directly back down to her chest.

“You can come as long as you change your shirt,” I say and she shoots me an annoyed look. Normally I’d jump at the chance to stare down a hot girl’s shirt all day. With Becca, though, I don’t need any extra temptation.

While I wait for her to change, I bring the last of my laundry bags down to the car tossing them in the trunk. “Is Aidan gonna be pissed we went out together?” I ask her once we take off, pulling away from the building.

“No, he’ll be fine. We’re just grocery shopping.” Becca chews on her nail, a far off look on her face at the mention of Aidan. “I probably won’t even tell him.”

That’s interesting
.

“I have one other stop. But don’t worry, it will be quick. I gotta drop my laundry off at my parent’s house. You can wait in the car.”

“No way! I’m not waiting in the car. I’m going in and meeting your parents. I have to.”

“No you don’t
have
to. I’ll only be there two seconds. My dad won’t even be home, just my mom.”

“Nooooo.” She looks up, smacks her lips together, and laughs. “Um, no, I’m pretty sure I have to meet your mom.”

“Fine. You asked for it.” The overwhelming need to smile takes over. My mom is going to meet Becca.

We pull into the driveway and her eyes go wide looking up at our house. I know it’s big and the fountain in front is a little over the top. That’s Dad’s doing. Flashy. That fountain caused a major fight in our house a few years ago. Dad may have won but me and Mom spent two weeks in Hawaii after that…without him.

We start walking up the paved driveway. “Where’s your laundry? Isn’t that why you’re here, to drop it off?” Becca asks.

I keep walking and point back to my car. “It’s in the trunk. My mom will come out and get it.”

Becca just stares at me. The look she’s giving me is one I know well. I turn back and pop the trunk, reaching in for the two oversized bags of clothes, lugging them up the walkway to my house. The door opens before we reach it and my mom runs out, reaching her hands out for the bags. “Here, sweetie, give those to me.”