Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) (5 page)

She sent me a screw-you look, trying to brush her hair out of her eyes with her elbow.

“Logan, seriously, I’ve never made a meatloaf in my life.”

“Okay, okay.”

Slipping next to her at the kitchen sink, I turned the faucet on to wash my hands. “Is it supposed to look this slimy?”

“I don’t know.” I dried my hands on the towel next to the sink. “Did you turn the oven on?”

“Not yet, I’m not done.”

“You have
to pre-heat it,” I moved to the dial above the stovetop, turning the knob to 350 degrees.

“Okay, now just slap it into a
ball?”

Turning back to her, I couldn’t resist standing behind her and watching from over her shoulder. I knew my breath on her neck would get the reaction I was looking for. “I would suggest more of a
loaf
.” Her hair smelled floral, like the perfect mix of spring and summer. I reached for the meatloaf, covering her hands with mine.

She shivered, tilting her face to look at me.
As she did, her hip grazed my pants, and I tensed. “I am not turned on by this, in case you were wondering. I don’t like ground beef under my fingernails, not in any fantasy.”

Smirking, I pulled away and moved to stand next to her. “
…Does not enjoy flirtation involving ground beef. Noted.”

She breathed laughter, obviously amused. “Also, though you’re super hot, you’re old enough to be my father.”

“Which is ironic, since your
father
isn’t old enough to be your father.”

“Oh, my God, will you
stop
,” she laughed, looking back to the meatloaf with feigned annoyance.

We both turned
to the shouting outside; I moved back to the sink to wash my hands again.
What in the hell is going on now?

“Go on, I’ve got this.” She nodded toward the back of the cottage.

Pushing through the door, I saw West catch Roam by the upper arms as she cried. His face shone with cold fury.

“You can’t begin to know what he’s done to us, not through a handful of
dreams
-…,”

“What makes you better than him, when you
yourself
are driven by revenge?
Disgusting
,” she accused.

“Disgusting? Disgusting is finding you half-eaten by animals in France, lying next to our child- still attached-…,”

“
Stop!
”

“Or smelling your flesh burn while he branded you in that dungeon-…,”

“
Stop now!
” She tried to drop to the sand, but he held her too tightly.

I ran through the sand, moving between them and glaring at West. “Let her go. She hasn’t been through
any
of that. She’s known love and compassion all of her life.
Don’t ever grab her like that again.
”

My fist clenched, and I longed to knock him on his ass. I knew that I could in this body; I was stronger, bigger, and watching him grab Roam pissed me off beyond reason.

He took off, and I knelt in the sand next to her, listening to her cry. “I’m sorry…,” she broke, shaking her head.

I saw the glass on the sand then and realized what she’d done. She was talking about Troy being tortured earlier, and I knew that she’d brought him water.

“Don’t be sorry for being
you
.” I wrapped my arms around her. “Don’t lose yourself, Roam.”

Her blonde hair framed her face, accentuating her small fea
tures. I thought of our dream of Crap Cone, and the warm, vanilla taste of her neck.
When will I finally stop wanting her?
The douchy part of me wanted to shit-talk West with every vocabulary word that I knew, but I resisted, struggling for maturity.

We sat for a while, and when Eva began crying, I helped her to her feet.

I knew she’d done some babysitting over the past few years, but watching her natural way with Eva stunned me. The breastfeeding thing seemed incredibly uncomfortable, but she patiently urged the crying baby again and again until she clamped on. I looked away quickly, realizing how weird it was for me to stare, and only checked myself moments later to realize not one sexual thought crossed my mind.
Maybe I’m finally moving on.
Watching her feed another man’s baby was definitely sobering.

“
Buttered bread isn’t enough, Roam. When my foster mom was breastfeeding, she had to eat nutritious foods for both herself and the baby.” Violet cleared the dishes, and Roam kept her eyes on Eva.

“I’m not hungry.”

After long minutes of silence, Violet twisted the knob on an old (or new, I guess) radio, fiddling with it as she had in the car until finally finding some music. “Will this bother her?” She asked Roam, and I reached for a dry towel to help Violet with the dishes. My eyes wandered to the clock.
She’s a wreck. He’s still not back.

Again-
what an asshole.

“No… I’m just going to let her sleep in the cradle and take a shower. Do either of you need
to go in the bathroom?”

I watched her climb awkwardly to her feet from the couch with Eva in her arms, and I quickly moved to her side. “Don’t worry about us.
Get some sleep, Cam.”

“Thanks.”

After she disappeared into the bedroom, Violet sighed, turning off the water at the sink. “Well, there is absolutely nothing to do. All of the laundry is done. Troy is quiet. The baby is sleeping. Now what? It’s like- eight o’clock.”

“I miss movies.”

“Me, too.”

I lifted my eyes to hers, giving her a quizzical glance.
“Hmn… let me guess. You’re a rom-com kind of girl.”

“Romantic comedies? Obviously, you know nothing about me,” she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Come on. What’s your absolute favorite movie of all time?”

“All time?” She shrugged. “Well… that’s easy. And… unfortunately,
I guess it’s a romantic comedy.”

“Ha.” I held my hands out. “Well?”

“
Adventures in Babysitting.
” She admitted, a guilty flush reddening her cheeks in an adorable way.

I grinned, nodding. “Okay, okay, definitely not a bad movie. Now- tell me this. Why?”

She sighed, looking down and focusing on her toes. “The song at the end. She had such a long, terrible day… and then he just shows up at her house… when they kiss.”

“Some old song?” I vaguely remembered the ending of the movie, and she nodded.

“
Then He Kissed Me
- by the Crystals.” She kept her eyes down. “It’s my favorite song. It’s exactly how I picture the perfect… romance. The song, not the
movie
,” she corrected, laughing softly. “Boy meets girl, and he walks her home, and then… they kiss, and that kiss just changes
everything
.”

“Changes everything, huh?” I raised my eyebrows, fascinated by the
vulnerable girl surfacing beneath the badass exterior.

She turned to busily rearrange the utensils by the sink.
“Anyway, that’s why. Stupid, I know.”

I watched her carefully, wanting to defend her, but she looked so uncomfortable, I just nodded and let the moment go.
“Um… I’m glad we’re alone. I wanted to talk to you about something.” I leaned against the counter. “When we get back, what if we… go to the inclined plane… together? If West keeps Troy in this world, then we’re safe from him
there
, you know what I mean?”

She lifted her eyes. “You’d take me through?”

“I don’t know how long he plans to wait,” I thought of Eva, and the way Roam and West obsessed over her every breath. “I can see him waiting until Eva is a little older.”

“No! The longer my mother… suffers… if she’s even there, the-…,”

“I know. That’s why I’m thinking about a Plan B. If you’re willing.”

She nodded once, a grateful smile on her face. “So when we get back in the Mystery Machine, you tell Fred the plan.”

I scowled playfully, amused at her reference. “
Really?
I’m Shaggy?”

“
You don’t want to be Fred. Shaggy is inventive, and he always goes in fighting. Fred is a pretty-boy.”

“Shaggy is usually
high
, which would explain his lack of caution.”

She giggled.
“Well, am I Daphne or Velma?”

“
You’re too pretty to be Daphne, and too smart to be Velma. I guess you’re Scooby.  The star of the show who never stops eating.”

She
laughed and took a step forward as a new song began on the radio, sighing. “
Thank
you
, Logan.”

“You’re welcome.”
I raised my eyebrows, leaning back against the counter.

“So, I told you mine, you tell me yours.” She ordered. “Favorite movie?”

I exhaled quickly, shrugging. “
Braveheart
. Of course.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because it is absolutely the best movie ever made.”

She rolled her eyes, turning up the music slightly. “That’s not a
reason
. That’s an
opinion
.”

The part of my teenaged brain that had spent the last twenty-four hours contriving half-clothed fantasies of her suddenly got all
cocky. “Hey… would you… like to dance?”

She gave me a skeptical glance, gesturing to the radio. “What, to this?”

Dean Martin’s
Sway
reminded me of weekends at my grandmother’s house. “Pretend it’s Michael Bubbles or whatever his name is.”

“
Buble,” she grinned, her curls brushing over her shoulders and dripping down her back as she shook her head. “Michael Buble.”

“Yeah, pretend it’s him. Come on,” I
held my arms up. “You’re the dancer. How do you dance to this?”

She curled her pink
lips into a smirk, and then pulled her tongue over them. I wondered what her mouth tasted like.

I wondered what her mouth
felt
like.

“The best dance for this song would be a
cha-cha, I guess.”

“
Less talky more dancy.”

“You are such a
dork.” She laughed, and then snatched my hands into hers. Her fingers, still damp from the sink, were incredibly soft. I could look down and see the top of her platinum-blonde curls.
She can’t be more than 5’3” or 5’4”.
“Upper body moves very little. Let it follow your lower body,” she let go of my right hand, tapping my stomach. “Use your ribs and your abs. Ready?”

My feet were rooted to the hardwood floor. Her body, poised before me in dance formation,
flipped a switch in my stomach. I took a step forward, and she naturally took one backward, pressed against the countertop.

Her eyes
, a wintry sky-blue, stole whatever words I had hoped to mumble from my vocal chords.

“
This isn’t dancing,” her voice, more coarse when whispered from her throat, knocked me senseless. Everything tightened.

“
I don’t want to dance.
”

She reached for my neck, her eyes fixed on mine.

I took that as an invitation.

Reveling in my new-found upper body strength, I tucked my hands under her ass, lifting her just enough to allow her to fully loop her arms around my neck.

“Listen,” she licked her lips again, and I dropped her to the counter, sliding my hands up her sides. “I… might… want to kiss you, but… the other you,” she tentatively raised her mouth to my jaw, and I almost lost control, just pressed up against her knee.

“The other me?” I
closed my eyes, unable to stop my thumb from tracing over the side of her breast. She only leaned further into me, and I groaned, tilting my head down to search for her mouth.

“Yes. The other you. The
Logan
you,” she added, her tongue darting through her words to trace my throat.
I’m gonna lose it, right now,
I realized, exhaling sharply and thinking that I should back away.

“Well, I want to kiss
this
you,” I managed, catching her chin in my fingers. She widened her eyes, and then those full, wet lips curved into an ornery grin.

“
Maybe when we get back,” she promised, covering my mouth with her index finger. I pushed her hand aside, following her face until her head touched the cabinet.

The door
opened just then, and West took all of two steps into the kitchen before nearly sprinting to me. Violet hopped off the countertop between us, just a half of a second in time.