Love Thy Neighbor (15 page)

One side of his mouth quirks up, he lowers
his forehead to mine and he quotes me, “You and me. We’re the same
kind.”

And it melts my icy heart a little.

I grin and feel his smirk when he kisses my
forehead. Before I can say a thing, he pulls away, winks at me and
with joined hands leads me into the main hall.

The sounds of infectious laughter, teasing
and conversation come to a halt when we enter. I lower my head,
avoiding the questioning stares of my friends. Before anyone has a
chance to say a thing, Ghost starts, “Okay. I called everyone here
tonight because there’s something we need to discuss with
everyone.” I know it sounds like Ghost is implying we’re here as a
couple, but I don’t even feel the need to correct it. It actually
feels good to have him speak about the two of us as an
us
.
He goes on, “So let’s get straight to it. Two nights ago, Nat had a
date with Cole. There was a disagreement and Cole felt the need to
put hands on Nat.”

My throat clogs with emotion as I hear Tina,
Mimi and Lola gasp in shock. I can’t stand feeling their stares on
me. I inch behind Ghost, hold his tank at his hips and push my head
into his back like an ostrich trying to stick its head into the
ground. I’m immediately calmed by his hand rubbing mine.

Ghost waits a moment before he informs,
“We’re getting this out in the open tonight. Whatever you want to
ask is going to be asked tonight. As soon as we leave the club, no
one brings it up again. Nat’s asked me to explain what happened
that night so here it is…” He spends a good five minutes explaining
what happened. With his gruffness and clinical explanation, my
heart stops squeezing and the anxiety fades. He’s good at this.
Feeling brave, I step back at his side, entwine our fingers and,
finally, look up at my friends.

Tina stands in front of a clearly upset Nik,
silently weeping, and immediately I feel the need to comfort her. I
walk over to her with open arms, she sinks into me and I hug her
while she cries. She whispers, “I’m sorry, honey. So sorry.” I hush
her and feel arms come around my waist and neck. I look up to see
Mimi and Lola have joined our group hug. Lola doesn’t say a thing.
She doesn’t have to. Immense sadness is written across her face.
Mimi says quietly, “If I ever see that son of a bitch, I’ll kick
his sorry ass back to the hell he came from.”

Chuckling at her threat, I tell them “It’s
okay, guys. I’m okay. Ghost helped me. He handled it. Both times.”
I speak to the girls but look up and into his eyes, “He’s a good
neighbor to have.”

The next few minutes are spent with me in
the arms of each of the guys.

Nik hugs me so hard I almost stop breathing.
He cradles the back of my head into his chest so tightly that I
have to pinch his nipple to get him to let go. With a yelp, he
backs away, rubbing his nipple and scoffs in disbelief. “So much
for caring!”

Smiling, I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his
cheek gently. “You know I love you, Niki. I just don’t like the
whole fuss thing.”

His face softens. “Yeah, I get ya. You know
you could’ve come to me, right?”

Immediately, I concede, “Yeah, I know. I
know I could’ve come to any of you. I can’t really explain why I
didn’t. I guess I just thought Ghost was the better option, being
so close and all.”

Just as Nik opens his mouth to say
something, I’m pulled back into a hard chest. Strong arms come
around my waist and a cheek rests on my head. “I’m pissed at you,
babe.” That heated remark comes from Max. And I get it. Max and I,
we’re friends. We talk about anything and everything. We flirt, we
joke, and we have great deep and meaningful conversations. He’s
pissed I didn’t come to him.

I rub his arms with my cold hands and sigh.
“I know, Mad Max. I know.” I turn in his arms and hug him tightly.
I talk into his chest. “I hope you understand how hard it is to
talk about something like this. It made me feel weak. You know how
I feel about that.”

He kisses my forehead and says against it,
“Yeah. I know. Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna kick this guy’s ass. He’s
banned from the club for life.”

I move back and look up at my friend. I cup
his cheeks and pull him down to give him a soft, barely-there kiss
on the lips. I tell him, “I love you. You know that, right?”

He nods gravely, “Yeah. As a friend though.”
He throws his fisted hands up in mock despair. “Fuckin’
Friend-Zoned!” I burst out laughing but turn when someone taps my
shoulder.

Trick. Dear, sweet, silly Trick. He looks so
upset. I take hold of his hand and squeeze it. He opens his mouth
but nothing comes out. I tease him quietly, “Oh, dear God. I broke
Trick!” He chuckles and pulls me into a warm, comforting hug. I
hold him tight.

He strokes my hair and utters, “I’m so glad
you’re okay.”

“Yeah. I’m good, big guy,” I sigh.

We rock gently and he whispers, “Could’ve
been worse. So much worse. We could’ve lost you.”

My heart skips a beat. He’s so right. It
could’ve been much worse. But rather than think that way, I state,
“Fuck him. I’m good. You’re good. We’re all good. And we all
fucking rock. Fuck Cole.”

He releases me from his hold and his smiling
face looks down at me. “Right on, sister.” Grinning like a couple
of fools, we bump fists. He puts an arm around me as we walk to the
center of the room.

Ghost booms, “Self-defense one-oh-one.”

Oh, sweet Jesus.

I knew this night was about to get
interesting.

Chapter
Eleven
Friend-Zoned

“OUCH! MOTHERFUCK! HURTS LIKE A BITCH!”

Okay, so I may have been a little rough with
my kneeing technique. I mutter, “Pussy.”

Max straightens and fire almost shoots from
his eyes. He points at me and yells, “You grazed my nads!”

I smirk. “Whatever. Assume the position! I’m
having a blast!” And I really am. Who knew learning something so
simple could be so fun and empowering. I feel like I could take on
anyone right now.

Max looks anxious as he assumes the fighting
stance Ghost told the guys to take. Just as I pull my knee back,
Ghost yells out, “Change it up, new partner!”

I burst out laughing when Max sinks to his
knees in relief and kisses the dirty ground. I jump on his back and
we both fall to the side, laughing it up. Tonight has actually
turned out to be a good night. I’m so glad I came and everything is
out in the open. I guess I have Ghost to thank for that. Max
reaches up and squeezes my boob while making a honking noise. “You
little shit!” I squawk before giving him a nurple. He squeals like
a pig getting porked and I laugh hysterically.

Someone clears their throat and we both look
up to find a not-so-impressed Ghost, glaring at us. Ghost opens his
mouth, but I beat him to it. “Yeah, yeah. Change it up.”

I stand and walk over to Nik who has his
back to me while he talks sweetly to Tina. Halfway there I take a
run up and jump onto his back like a baby Koala. His reflexes are
damn good. He catches me under my knees just as I start to fall. A
laughing Tina decides to jump on his front and join our little hug.
Nik stands tall and proud with me chuckling on his back and a
giggling Tina on his front; he walks around with us on him and
boasts, “Not even breaking a sweat.”

I yell out to my sisters and tell them in
Croatian to jump aboard the Nik train. Tina, Helena and Nina all
burst out laughing and Nik utters, “That doesn’t sound good.” Nina
jumps on my back and Helena climbs up Tina and wraps her legs
around Tina’s waist. Nik bursts out laughing. “Oh my God. Four
women at once? It’s a good day to be alive!” Our people ball shakes
with laughter and I hear Mimi, Lola, Max and Trick all laugh from
the sidelines.

Ghost booms, “C’mon guys! Take this shit
seriously. It could save your life.”

And just like that all the fun is sucked
from the room. Nina climbs off me and then I climb off Nik, Helena
slides down Tina and Tina remains holding onto Nik. Nina puts an
arm around my waist and walks me to the center of the room where
Ghost is. She stands next to him and explains quietly, “Humor. It’s
how we deal with bad situations. It’s not that we aren’t taking
this seriously. We are. I swear it.”

Ghost looks down at my blank expression and
nods. With a squeeze of my hand, Nina leaves us. He takes my chin
in his hand and whispers, “I want you to be prepared, pretty girl.
I can’t be there all the time.” I half roll my eyes in annoyance.
Knowing he’s not getting anywhere, he changes tactics. “Would you
please do it for me? Just knowing you know some of this stuff will
be a huge relief for me.” He sighs then whispers, “I can’t see you
like that again.”

And, by God, it works.

I look up into his eyes. “What do you
mean?”

He looks around. When he sees that no one’s
watching, he leans forward and says softly but firmly, “Knowing
that motherfucker had his hands on you…” He stops and exhales
loudly. “When I saw your face that night, I damn near lost my mind.
But I held it together, for you. I could’ve easily killed him the
other night, Nat. I swear, I even thought about it. I could’ve got
away with it too. All I kept thinking was I just got you back after
seven months of not having you around.” He grips the back of my
neck, forcing my eyes to lock with his. His expression is dark and
serious as he says, “I can’t do that again. You’re like pain relief
to me. I can’t explain it. You just are.”

My brow furrows in confusion. I start, “I
don’t underst-” but he cuts me off with a shake of the head, “I
can’t explain it. Maybe one day you’ll understand. Either way, I’m
telling you now that I’m glad we’re friends.”

And just like that, I got Friend-Zoned.

***

The morning after teaching the self-defense
session at the club, I wake up early to shower then lay back in
bed, naked.

I’m fucking wasted.

It was exhausting showing the girls all
those techniques and tricks. But I gotta say, it felt really good
seeing ‘em flip a guy Nik’s size. The truth is, during a time of
panic, it’s hard to remember anything at all, but I’m hoping if
they ever encounter someone they know is dangerous, at least one of
the techniques will stick.

I look over to the digital alarm clock on my
bedside cabinet. The bright red numbers flash 6:35am.

I normally get into work at seven but I told
Nik last night that I’d be in late if I was gonna come in at all.
Everyone thinks Nik is my boss, but being that I actually own part
of the club, he never questions my need to take time off. He knows
if I need it, I’m going to take it.

My eyes grow heavy. I place my forearm over
them and breathe deep.

Lights out.

***

Something soft but firm touches my chest.
It’s a gentle touch but I feel it.

I act as though I’m still asleep, making
sure to breathe deep and even. A fingertip trails my scars and my
face heats in anger.

I don’t like people touching my scars.

The scent of vanilla and cinnamon fills my
nose and I breathe deeply. Without moving a muscle, I ask quietly,
“How’d you get in here, pretty girl.”

Nat’s finger stills on my chest. She removes
it and answers just as quietly, “You’re not the only one with
skills, buddy.”

Lifting my arm off my face, I glance up at
her.

I’m not religious at all. I don’t believe in
God. But looking at Nat right now…I’d like to think this is what
angels look like if they existed.

Dressed in her cute pajamas with her bright
red hair in a ball at the top of her head, her face remains
plastered to my chest. I know I’m naked but there’s no damn way I
could get an erection now. Not with her looking at me like I’m some
poor wounded animal. I expect her to ask about the scars marring
me, but she surprises me by looking at my face and whisper yelling,
“You sleep naked?”

I chuckle in surprise. Out of all the things
to ask me, that wasn’t on my possible questions list. Still
chuckling, I tell her, “No. I normally don’t.” Smiling, I close my
eyes again.

Nat whispers a husky, “Lucky me.” She runs
her fingertip from the middle of my chest slowly down to my
stomach.

I realize she’s just being kind but my body
obviously doesn’t know that. I actually sit up and gape at my cock
when it twitches.

What the fuck? No way.

My cock stirs and I glance at Nat who looks
at it with a sly smile, “Well, hello sailor. Good morning to you
too.”

Just as I think of a witty comment about her
sucking me into a great morning, I remember she’s sitting on my
bed. I ask again, “How’d you get in here?”

Nat’s body stiffens. Playing with her
earring, she avoids my gaze and mumbles unconvincingly, “Through
the patio. I got skills too.”

I raise a brow at her. She can’t lie for
shit. She glances up at me and says, “Nik gave me a spare key.”

I raise my brow further. Lying again. Tut
tut. She should know that liars get spanked. She peeks back up at
me and sighs. She rolls her eyes and gives in, “Okay, okay. I asked
Tina to swipe Nik’s keys so I could make a copy of yours.”

I can’t conceal my amusement. I lean back
and chuckle.

This girl is something else. My kind of
girl.

I open my mouth to speak when I hear my
front door open. The sounds of two girls in the middle of a
conversation hit us. I narrow my eyes in disbelief and hiss to Nat,
“You didn’t lock the front door?”

She looks up at me apologetically and
shrugs. Her eyes widen as the footsteps come closer. She runs to
the edge of my bed and pulls the covers over me right up to my neck
protecting my shameful secret, then she sits on the edge of the
bed.

Nina and Helena appear in the doorway. It’s
dark in my room but not pitch black. Helena whisper yells, “Ewww,
Nat. Watching someone sleep is creepy!”