Foreplay: The Ivy Chronicles (12 page)

Chapter 14

I
t was almost one in the morning when the Campbells got home and paid me for the evening. Driving down that lonely rural road, I couldn’t help thinking about Reece. Especially as I passed the spot where my car had choked and died on me. Where we first met.

My phone rang where it sat in my cup holder. A quick glance revealed it was Emerson. I answered it, keeping one hand carefully on the steering wheel. Immediately, the loud noise of music and blaring voices greeted me.

“Hello?” I said loudly.

“Are you done yet?” Her voice came back just as loudly in my ear, her tone exasperated. “You work too much, girl.”

This from the girl who never had to work. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. I’m on my way home.”

“Meet us out! I’m with Suzanne.”

“Nah, that’s okay. I’m headed home.”

“Party poop! You-know-who is here.”

My chest squeezed at the singsong taunt. “It’s okay. I’m tired.”

“So lame! C’mon. Don’t you want to go another round with him? He looks really hot . . . and you should see this skank falling all over herself to get his attention right now. You need to get up here and claim your man!”

I didn’t bother explaining that he wasn’t my man. Clearly Em had tossed back a few too many tonight. I doubted she would even register the words. “Is Suzanne driving you?”

“Yes, Mom. And she’s dry as a whistle. Got her ID confiscated last week by a bouncer at Freemont’s.” She started laughing at this. I heard Suzanne in the background call her a name.

“Be good,” I called. “I’m hanging up now.”

Emerson started making booing sounds. Smiling, I hung up. I was still smiling as I entered the city limits. The smile started to slip as Em’s words played over in my head. All I could see in my mind was Reece, serving drinks while girls fawned over him. Suddenly I wasn’t driving toward home anymore.

With no clear objective in mind, I was headed toward Mulvaney’s.

M
ulvaney’s was crowded as usual, but a lot of people were already leaving, spilling out the doors into the dark, cold night. I glanced at my phone, confirming that it was just thirty minutes until closing. They’d probably already announced last call. I knew it was kind of pointless arriving this late, but I was here. Out of place in my oversized university sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. A far cry from the girls freezing their asses off in their itty-bitty outfits.

I wore my hair back in a loose braid. My face was makeup free, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to get picked up or impress anyone. And yet I didn’t pretend I was here for Emerson, either. I loved the girl, but I wasn’t up for partying with her and Suzanne. I just wanted to see him. I didn’t need him to see me. Actually I didn’t
want
him to notice me at all. Seeing him was some kind of deep, compulsory desire that I had to feed.

I steered clear of the bar and located Emerson, smack in the middle of a group of guys. Naturally. She flung her hands in the air and squealed when she saw me. She tossed her arms around my neck and hugged me like she hadn’t seen me in a week and not just this afternoon.

“You’re such a sappy drunk,” I muttered into her ear, uncomfortable with the attention she was drawing to me.

She pulled back and wagged a finger at me. “I’m not drunk.”

I looked at Suzanne, who was clearly sober and looked annoyed over that fact. “Yeah, she’s had a few.”

“Okay, okay, okay, okay. Here’s the deal. Here’s the deal.” Oh, yeah. Definitely drunk. She always repeated herself when she had too much to drink. She waved both hands in the air. “I just saw him at the bar.” I winced at her volume. Even as loud as the room was, her voice rose over the din.

“Sshh.” I dragged both her hands down, but she continued talking in that too-loud voice.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on him though. And that skank in the red top? I wanted to take care of her for you, but Warden here wouldn’t let me.”

I shot Suzanne a thankful look. “I think it’s time we headed home.”

Suzanne gave a single nod of agreement. The guys lurking close groaned in disappointment. Emerson joined in with their groans and gestured widely. “Aww. They want me to stay.”

“I’m sure they do. Sorry, boys.” I slid an arm around Emerson’s waist.

As we moved across the main floor, I couldn’t stop myself. My gaze skipped to the far right, scanning the bar. No sight of Reece. A booming voice shouted out last call, and more bodies started moving toward the back doors. We moved slowly, caught up in the sluggish current.

Emerson’s voice jarred me, overly loud in my ear. “Oh! Hey! Hi there, Reece. Look, Pepper. It’s Reece.”

My gaze swung forward. Reece stood in front of us, looking down at me, his expression empty.

“Hello,” I said dumbly.

His gaze skimmed me and I recalled the way I looked. No makeup. Messy hair. Sweatshirt stained with applesauce. Awesome.

“What are you doing here?” Not the warmest greeting. Was I banned from the bar now?

An awkward silence fell between us, which was only more noticeable because there was so much noise around us. But there we stood, saying nothing.

I shifted my feet, acutely conscious of Emerson’s and Suzanne’s avid gazes swinging between us like they were watching a tennis match. “I—am I not supposed to be here?” Instantly, I regretted the question. I really didn’t want to hear him proclaim that I wasn’t welcome here, and the decided lack of warmth in his gaze told me that’s what he was about to do.

He crossed his arms over his chest, sending the feathered wing of his tattoo rippling as if caught in flight. The sleeves of his shirt pulled taut against his biceps. Something fluttered inside me as I recalled just how those biceps felt under my clenched fingers.

He looked me over again and my cheeks stung hotter, recalling that he knew exactly what I looked like beneath my less than flattering clothes. Well, at least what the top half of me looked like. “Last I remember, you were in quite a rush to get out of here.” He cocked his head to the side and continued, “Or was that just my bed you were in a hurry to escape?”

I sucked in a hissing breath.

“Ohhh. Damn, Pepper!” I glared at Em. She shrugged and looked at me apologetically. “I told you that was harsh.”

Did she really just out me? My gaze swung back to him. And did he really just say that?

“Hey. It’s okay.” He held up one hand, palm out. “I mean I knew I was being used, but I didn’t realize I wasn’t worth a good-bye.”

Apparently finished with me, he pushed back through the crowd toward the bar.

“Your mouth is hanging open,” Suzanne said beside me.

I closed it with a snap.

“Dude.” Emerson stared after him. She swung her head around to look at me. I waited, thinking she was going to offer up some profound piece of advice. All I got was: “He’s so hot.”

I snorted. “Yeah, you’ve said that before.”

“And you played him? Wow. I just wanted to drag you out of your shell. I created a monster. How did you get to be such a tramp?” She covered her mouth with her fingers in an attempt to stifle a giggle.

Rolling my eyes, I tightened my arm around her waist. “You suck drunk. C’mon. Let’s get you to the car.”

She rested her head on my shoulder as we exited the bar. “I love you, guys,” she chirped. “You’re like the best people in my life. You two and Georgia.”

I sent her a long look, wondering if tonight’s drinking binge had something to do with the phone conversation she’d had today with her mother. I’d entered the room as she was hanging up. Emerson’s complexion was usually porcelain pale. She looked like a little Irish pixie with her brilliant blue eyes, dark hair, and flawless, milky skin. But in that moment bright red flags stained her cheeks.

I didn’t know what they talked about, only that Em’s lips had looked tight at the corners. When I asked if she was okay, she had looked suddenly cheerful and quickly changed the subject.

Emerson fell like dead weight into the passenger seat of Suzanne’s car. I looked up at Suzanne over the roof. “Can you get her home all right, Suze?”

She nodded, flipping her sleek dark hair over her shoulder. “We’ll be fine.”

Emerson perked up in her seat. “Where you going?”

“Just going to talk to Reece.”

“Oh, talking,” she said, her voice heavy with exaggeration. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

Sighing, but with a smile, I looked back at Suzanne. “Sure you can handle her?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll tuck her in. And if that doesn’t work I can always smother her with a pillow.”

“Hear that? She wants to kill me! Don’t leave me with her!”

Rolling my eyes, I shut the door on Emerson’s still talking face.

I watched them pull out of the parking lot before heading back to the bar, pushing against the rolling exodus of people. I sidestepped a blonde shivering in her too-short miniskirt.

By the time I stood in the main room again, the place was almost empty, the footsteps of the remaining people thudding heavily over the plank flooring. Reece was easy to locate. He stood at the bar, talking to two other bartenders. They nodded, listening to him as he instructed them on something.

I observed this new side of him, seeing it now. Appreciating it. The authoritative edge to him had always been there, I just hadn’t acknowledged it. I’d seen it but hadn’t considered he might actually be in charge of the place. How did a twenty-three-year-old come to be in charge of a bar? It seemed like a big responsibility. He said it had been in his family for three generations, but where was his father? Or mother? Why weren’t they operating it?

I crossed my arms. Mostly because I didn’t know what else to do with them, but maybe because I also thought I could disguise my stained sweatshirt. I really should have considered my wardrobe tonight. A part of me must have known I could end up here.

I felt awkward standing there, shifting on my feet, waiting for him to see me. One of the bartenders, an older guy with a handlebar mustache, noticed me watching the three of them. He nodded in my direction. Reece turned and looked at me. Instantly, his expression hardened, the ease that had been there slipping away. And that hurt a little, knowing that I had done that.

Was it only the other night that he had kissed me and said those things that made me feel special? So not like a girl unaccustomed to kisses and hot boys with sexy grins. He made it natural . . . being with a guy. Being with him. He made me feel beautiful.

His mouth flattened into a thin line. He took a step toward me, stopping for a moment to speak to the other two bartenders before lifting up the bar top and crossing to where I stood.

“You came back.”

“I’m sorry.”

Whatever he expected me to say, I don’t think it was this. He blinked. “Why are you apologizing?”

“I should have said good-bye. It was rude.” I shrugged, uncomfortable beneath his intent gaze and decided to just go for honesty, no matter how much of a flake it made me sound. “I’m not familiar with the rules that go with hooking up. Sorry. I messed up.” I gazed at him, waiting.

He continued to study me. The harshness ebbed from his expression. His mouth relaxed somewhat. He looked more baffled than anything else as he stood there looking down at me like I was some manner of strange species.

“Well. I just wanted you to know that. Good night.” Turning, I walked away.

I didn’t make it five steps before his hand fell on my shoulder. I turned around.

“You didn’t mess up. I like that you don’t know what the rules are for hooking up.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. You’re not—” He paused and ran a hand over his scalp, chafing his close-cut hair. My palms tingled, remembering how soft that hair felt against my palms. “You’re different. I didn’t like waking up and finding you gone.”

I didn’t move. Didn’t speak as his admission sank in and made my face heat up.

“Oh,” I finally managed to get out past the lump in my throat. I couldn’t help wondering what could have happened if I’d stayed. If I had been there when he woke up. What would he have said? What would we have done? Would we have picked up where we left off before we fell asleep?

His hand reached out and toyed with the bottom of my sweatshirt. “I like this.”

“My sweatshirt?” I laughed nervously. “I’m wearing applesauce.” I motioned to the smear on my chest.

“It’s a good look on you.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

“No.” He gave my sweatshirt a small tug, inexorably pulling me toward him, bit by bit, and it was like the other night again. His presence was overwhelming, the heat that emanated from him. The blue of his eyes that seemed to turn to smoke when he looked at me. I was under his spell. Maybe I had never ceased to be. I’d been spellbound since our first kiss and especially since the night I spent in his loft. Maybe this was what had brought me back here in the middle of the night. Maybe I was hoping to repeat the experience.

“I’ll never lie to you, Pepper.” That soft utterance blew through me like a sonic blast. Crazy, but I heard more than his vow to be honest. The words were full of the expectation that there would be a him and me, an
us
. That we were really doing this. Whatever
this
was.

“Hey, bro! Still crashing with you tonight?” Reece’s head snapped in the direction of the voice. I followed his gaze and spotted Logan carting a tub of empty glasses. His eyes brightened when he saw me. “Oh, hey. Pepper, right? How’s it going?” His gaze slid between me and his brother and suddenly he looked all too pleased. “See you found the brother you were really after. Too bad for me.”

Embarrassed, I mumbled a greeting and took a step back from Reece, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. His hand fell from my sweatshirt.

Reece scowled at his brother. “Yeah, after you finish busing everything to the kitchen.”

“Cool. See ya, Pepper.” With a wink, Logan headed for the kitchen.

“It’s late.” My fingers pushed at the hair that was already tucked behind my ear. “I gotta go.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Do you walk every girl that leaves this bar to her car?”

He fell in beside me. “First off, most girls don’t leave alone. They’re with a group. Secondly, you’re not every girl to me.” He paused and my chest tightened as those words sank in like ink staining my skin. “And I think you know that.”