Savin' Me (15 page)

Considering he was sound asleep in the middle
of the day, when it seemed he never slept, the doc must have hooked
him up with heavy-duty painkillers. Which meant this was more than
a slight fracture or a small bruise.

As Steve eased into the chair next to him,
Erik said, “I guess there’s no need to ask what you’re doing here.
Or
how
you’re doing.”

Steve chuckled, but lacked any real humor. “I
think I might be getting too old for this shit.”

Erik offered a consoling smile, but didn’t
comment. Even though they never discussed it, the close-approaching
reality of getting too old to compete in the sport Steve loved, a
sport he helped bring into the popular mainstream, was something
that had been weighing on him for a while. And Erik hated that he
had no idea how to make the transition from BMX King to Regular Joe
any easier for his best friend.

Staring at the ocean, Steve said, “That
particular vert is still twelve feet tall, but freefalling that
distance seems farther than it used to. The injuries take longer to
heal. The competition’s getting younger and younger.” He rubbed his
thigh and winced. “Hell, a fourteen-year-old’s in the finals this
weekend.”

After several moments of careful
consideration, Erik finally voiced the inevitable question. “So
what’s next? When you’re not competing anymore, what’re you going
to do?”

Steve sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t know how
to be anything other than a BMX rider.”

They sat in silence for several moments, then
footsteps on the stairs caught Erik’s attention. He’d been so
focused on Steve he hadn’t heard a vehicle approach. Assuming it
was Kat and Kevin, he dropped his feet to the deck, stood, and
tossed LB onto Steve’s lap. “Oh, shit, sorry dude. Forgot about the
leg.”

“Why the hell are you so nervous?”

Erik, who’d been wiping his palms on his
shirt, paused midstride and said, “I’m not.”

“You’re as jumpy as a cat in a room full of
rocking chairs…” Steve’s attention shifted from Erik to the stairs,
and he burst out laughing. “It suddenly becomes crystal clear.”

“Fuck you,” Erik said, as he turned and found
Kat and Kevin standing at the top of the stairs. Seeing her
standing there, hair whipping around her face, skirt floating
around her thighs, made his heart soar straight toward her. “Hey.
You made it.”
Finally.

A gust of wind caught her skirt, blowing it
high on her thighs. She laughed and grabbed hold of her skirt with
one hand while holding her hair out of her eyes with the other. The
movement caused enough of a shift in her body that he realized
Mazze—the son of a bitch—had his hand pressed against the small of
her back.

Somewhere in the part of his brain
responsible for logical thinking, Erik recognized this as a
payback. At least that’s how Mazze saw it. But this was different
than anything Erik had done in the past. This wasn’t a random girl
at a frat party or a chick in a bar with whom they’d all been
flirting.

This was Kat.

In a split second, Erik’s focus shifted from
beginning a nice, relaxing weekend with Kat to dismembering Mazze.
For the second time in two days, Kevin Mazze had released Erik’s
inner caveman, and the beast was itching for a fight. Rational
thought became impossible as the roar in Erik’s ears grew and his
muscles contracted, prepared to strike.

Despite his banged-up body and limp, Steve
(the consummate peacemaker) managed to beat Erik across the deck.
Placing himself between the happy couple and Erik, he took Kat’s
hand and said, “Kat, I presume.” He gave a gentle shake. “I’m Steve
Vex. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Kat, who’d been staring wide-eyed at Erik,
turned her gaze from Erik to the gallant knight, now hamming it up
and bowing before her. Appearing shell-shocked—not surprising,
given the way Erik had charged toward her—Kat glanced at Erik, then
back to Steve and gave an uncertain laugh. “It’s nice to meet you,
too.”

Steve released her hand and gingerly rose
from his bow. He shook his head as he gave Kevin a quick knuckle
rap and through his laughter muttered, “Asshole.”

Kevin dropped his arm from Kat’s back, tucked
his hands into his front pockets, and rocked back on his heels.
Flashing a shit-eating grin, he said, “How’s it going?”

Erik leveled a no-play stare at the man, who
had been one of his closest friends for years, and without any
humor whatsoever said, “It’s much better now that you got your
fuckin’ hand off her back.”

Steve and Kevin laughed wholeheartedly while
Kat stood statue still. Besides her hair and skirt being tossed
around by the wind, her eyes were the only thing moving as they
traveled back and forth between Erik and Kevin.

Shit, this so wasn’t the way he’d envisioned
the weekend going. He and Kevin had been tight since college, but
they’d always been fiercely competitive with the ladies. Erik and
Steve never competed for anything.
Probably because we learned
to share at an early age,
Erik thought wryly. And, admittedly,
they had shared women. But Erik and Kevin had never shared. And
they sure as hell weren’t going to start now.

While Erik took a couple of deep breaths,
getting himself under control, Kevin said to Kat, “I’ll get your
bag while the Neanderthal gives you a tour.” His amusement faded as
he took in Steve’s wrist and slanted stance. His eyes narrowed and
his brows drew into a concerned frown. “Can you get down the
steps?”

Steve snorted and, fronting big time, said,
“It’s only a few bumps and bruises. I’ll be good as new by
tomorrow.”

As Dumb and Dumber descended the stairs, Kat
bit her lip and fought off a grin. After several unsuccessful
seconds, she gave up the fight. “You
are
jealous. I’d never
have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”

“Me neither,” Erik said, scrubbing a hand
down his face. He took her hand in his and headed toward the French
doors leading into the living room.

Looking at him with a ton of pity, Kat said,
“You know Kevin’s just yanking your chain. Right?

“Yeah, I know.” Erik sighed and opened the
door. “Which makes it even worse.”

She laughed and squeezed his hand. “For the
past thirty minutes he’s had a huge grin on his face, like a kid on
his way to the fair. I finally asked him if I’d missed something,
or if he was just really glad it was Friday.”

“And?” Erik asked, waiting for LB to slip in
behind them so he could shut the door.

She grinned and rolled her eyes, teasing him
with the knowledge of a great secret. “Something about a frat party
and a hot blonde…” She turned an accusing gaze on him. “What is it
with you and blondes?”

He pushed a hand through his hair as he led
her through the main living area toward the kitchen. “That’s a good
question. I used to dig blondes. A lot.” He shrugged. “But for the
past year or so, they’ve held no appeal.”

Kat seemed momentarily stunned by his
admission and its implication. He understood. He was a little
rocked by the words that had so freely exited his mouth, too.
Hoping to save himself further embarrassment, he pointed to the
kitchen off to the left and said, “There’s probably not a lot of
food right now, but help yourself to anything that’s there. We’ll
go to the store later.”

Leading her down the hallway to the four
guest bedrooms, he said, “There’s gonna be a couple of other guys
here.” He smiled sheepishly. “Maybe I should’ve mentioned that
you’ll be the only woman here tonight.” He probably should’ve told
the guys there would a woman at their Friday night guys-only party,
too.

After a quick peek into all the guest rooms,
they returned to the living room as Kevin and Steve appeared with
Kat and Kevin’s bags. Both men looked perplexed, and Erik
immediately understood their unasked question.

Where’s Kat staying?

He’d known this would be an issue he’d have
to face, not only with the guys, but with himself. But where Kat
was concerned, it seemed he’d gotten pretty damned skilled at
avoiding things he didn’t want to think about.

He’d built the house with the intentions of
freely sharing it with all of his friends; they were welcome
anytime, even if he wasn’t there. Because of that, he’d established
the top floor as his personal, private space, and he never shared
it with anyone. On the occasion he “entertained” a female in this
house, they always used one of the bedrooms on the main floor. And
he only spent the entire night with someone if there was no other
option.

Now here he was, inviting Kat to their “men
only” Friday night, having her spend not one, but two nights, and
basically moving her into his private suite.

As he took Kat’s bag from Kevin, he gave both
men a glare that said,
You’re dead if you give me any shit about
this.
With a much less hostile expression and tone, he said to
Kat, “I’ll carry your bag upstairs to my room. Make yourself
comfortable.”

Catching the undercurrent flowing between the
men, she took a step back from the group and said, “I think I’ll go
for a run on the beach, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay.” Hoping to ease her
concerns, he gave her a quick kiss and said, “Make yourself at home
and do whatever you want, baby.”

She smiled and nodded. “Anyone want to come
with me?”

Kevin smiled.

Erik glared.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.
He might as
well have come right out and said, “I double dog dare ya.”

“I’ll go,” Kevin said, smiling at Kat. “It’ll
be good to move around after spending so much time on the
road.”

Refusing to let Kevin get to him again, Erik
turned his back to them and continued up the stairs. He was halfway
to the top when he heard Kat say, “Let me change and I’ll be right
down.”

He set Kat’s bag on his bed, then turned to
find her standing, wide-eyed, in the bedroom doorway.

“Wow,” she breathed, more than said, as her
gaze roamed over the large suite, taking in the details: wet bar,
mini fridge, fireplace, dresser with wall mirror and the king-sized
bed.

The front wall, made of floor-to-ceiling
windows and French doors, provided an unobstructed view of the
ocean, and she headed straight for it. “What an amazing view. It’s
absolutely breathtaking.”

He was thinking the same thing about her.
Having her in his private suite seemed perfectly natural. And
positively terrifying. Add in the overwhelming, urgent need to kiss
the hell out of her, and he was left feeling like an oxygen
deprived man with no hope of resuscitation.

The kiss in the hallway the other night had
been the incendiary device. He thought of little else since, and
waiting for her today had been like pouring lighter fluid on an
open flame. He moved to stand behind her, and when she turned
around, he didn’t even give her time to prepare for his onslaught.
He wrapped one hand around the back of her head, cupped her jaw
with the other, and captured her mouth with his. The kiss was hot,
rapacious, and unapologetic.

She slipped her arms around his neck and
pulled him to her, taking everything he gave. His hand trailed a
path down the side of her neck, across her collarbone to her
breast. When his mouth followed the same path, she trembled in his
arms.

Heat unlike anything he’d ever experienced
shot through his entire being, and stripping her clothes off became
as much a necessity as breathing.

As he slid the third button on her dress
free, Mazze’s voice rang out from the bottom of the steps. “Kat,
you ready? You aren’t being held hostage, are you?”

Erik cursed vehemently and gnashed his teeth
together. “That asshole is going to wind up dead before the weekend
is over.”

Kat gazed at him through glassy eyes and
smiled. “Well, it was my idea to go for the run. I guess I should
get changed.” She broke away and began rummaging through her bag.
“Want to come with us?”

Erik grimaced. “Probably not a good idea in
my current condition. Besides, running’s too much like work, and I
don’t do that while I’m here.” He grabbed a beer from the mini
fridge and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “I’ll hang out with
Steve until you get back.”

***

Erik, Steve, and Little Bit silently watched
Kat and Kevin disappear along the water’s edge. Erik knew it
wouldn’t take Steve long to start with the jawing, and he wasn’t
disappointed. “It’s the first time you’ve invited someone to the
beach.”

Erik took a drink of his beer and studied the
horizon. “Yep.”

“They say love’ll make you do crazy things,”
Steve said as he watched a seagull fly and screech overhead.

“I’m not in love.”

“Whatever.”

“It’s just a weekend,” Erik contended, maybe
a little too fervently.

Steve propped his feet on the railing and
winced in pain. “You know it’s okay if you are. Right?”

No, it’s not okay.
“Not gonna happen,
man. Leave it alone.”

Disgusted, Steve shook his head. “What the
hell are you doin’? You’ve known her… what, a week?” He gave Erik a
pointed glare. “Or so you claim, and she’s already got you in
knots. You’re doing shit you swore you’d never do, like bringing
her here and having her stay upstairs. Obviously, there’s something
special about her. But you’re gonna fuck it up, without giving her
a fair shake, just because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared,” Erik said, a little too
fervently, once again. “Fear has nothing to do with it.” A small
part of him acknowledged Steve might be right, but the larger part
screamed that Steve didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.
He didn’t have firsthand experience of the pain and destruction
love could cause.

Yeah, Steve and Kevin had been there for Erik
and had kept him from breaking into a million pieces when Lindsey
died. But Steve didn’t
know
that pain. There was a
difference.