Slow Burn - a Novel: The Elite (10 page)

Her eyes wandered over to Nick and a giant grin split her face as she realized he was there too. “Nick! I forgot my keys!”

“Do you need help getting her to the house?” Nick asked me, ignoring Alesha entirely.

I shook my head. “No. I’ve got it. Thanks for the ride.”

“You can take me home, Nick,” Alesha added, her eyes still locked—although hazy—on him.

“Alesha, shut up. You’re not going anywhere.” I grabbed her arm and started tugging her down the sidewalk. I looked back at Nick. “Sorry. I guess I’ll see you later.”

What a disaster.

To my surprise, Nick caught up to us on the sidewalk and looped an arm around Alesha. She swayed and teetered in her sky high heels and he took her weight as she sagged into him. With a quick exhale, he swept her into his arms like she weighed nothing—which was almost true—and glanced ahead. “I got her.”

“Are you sure?”

Alesha smiled dreamily up at Nick like he was her white knight.

Lordy.

“This one,” I said, pointing up at my house.

Nick went up first and stood to one side, Alesha lulling in and out of a trancelike state, her mumbled words slurred and unrecognizable. She was gonzo. I opened the front door and hurried inside, pushing the door open as wide as it would go so Nick could maneuver Alesha inside without smacking her head.

Although, it might not be a bad idea. Maybe it would knock some sense into her pretty little head.

I sighed. Doubtful.

“Where should I put her?”

“The couch is fine. She can sleep it off down here and that way I can make sure to wake her up bright and early with lots of banging around in the kitchen.”

Nick grinned over at me as he lowered Alesha down to the couch. “Banging in the kitchen, huh? Sounds hot. Am I invited to that party?”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t bite back the laugh that bubbled up at the mischievous look in his dark eyes.

Alesha babbled something before rolling up into a ball, her face buried in the couch cushions.

“Thank you,” I said, glaring at her rounded back.

“No problem.” Nick went back to the front door which was still open. He shifted his weight back and forth, as though trying to decide to stay or go.

“I’ll see you in the morning?”

“For the kitchen banging?” He chuckled.

“Goodnight, Nick.”

He raised a hand. “Tomorrow morning. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“I will. Thanks again.”

“No problem.” He waved as he turned to go out to door and I watched him from the doorway until he ambled down the sidewalk to his truck.

“Nick?”

I turned back around at the weak, dazed voice from the couch. She’d rolled back over and was watching me with unfocused eyes. “Nick’s going where?”

I shut the front door and spun around, flinging my arms tight around my middle. “Where were you, Alesha?” I demanded, my tone dripping with acid. If she was conscious enough to ask about Nick’s whereabouts, then she was going to answer my questions. “I called you a dozen times!”

“Hey, I’m back by ten. Okaaaaaay?” She glared at me. “Where’s Nick?”

“No. It’s not okay. You’re drunk!”

“Nah,” she said, rocking her head back and forth on the couch cushion. She squeezed her eyes closed.

I bit back my angry retort. There was no point in arguing with her. She wouldn’t remember the conversation in the morning anyway. “Go to sleep, Alesha. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

I stalked off before she could beg me to stay and went upstairs to my room. As I got ready for bed, I cycled through a list of potential punishments and wished there was an effective way of grounding her for the rest of the summer.

“What the hell am I gonna do?”

I stripped out of my clothes, the smell of smoke from the fire pit wafted to me and I smiled sadly. How had the night gone downhill so quickly? What would Nick think of the entire mess? I shook my head. That wasn’t important. I had to figure out what to do with Alesha. I’d worry about Nick later.

But as I lay down to go to sleep, Nick was the only thing on my mind.

* * * *

The next morning, Alesha was still sleeping off her night off down on the couch. As I passed through, on my way out of the house, I paused and briefly considered waking her. Before I cleared my throat loudly, I stopped and shook my head to myself.
Not worth it
. If I woke her up it would just start an argument that I wouldn’t have time to finish. So, as much as I hated the idea of leaving her alone all day, to do God only knows what, I forced myself out of the house and went down to
The Siren
.

Nick was one of my first customers of the day, coming through the doors half an hour earlier than he normally did. The morning rush wasn’t yet in full swing and he walked right up to the counter. I found it difficult to keep my eyes focused in the right places. The night before, in my tossing and turning, I’d had a vivid dream of the two of us tangled together and the memory of the dream was still clinging in my brain.

He flashed a friendly smile. “Morning.”

His voice was thick, and gave me the sense that he’d just rolled out of bed. His dark auburn hair was ruffled and I could imagine him running a hand through it, spiking the edges with his fingers before running out the door. Even that little sliver of observation opened a crapload of questions about him. What was his life like? What did his house look like? Was he the type to keep it neat and orderly? Or was he the kind that didn’t mind clutter? Did he sleep naked? My cheeks flushed at that thought and I forced myself to look away, towards the coffee pot, before my eyes dipped to his belt buckle…and lower.

“Good morning,” I replied, my fingers reaching for the handle to pour myself a cup of coffee.

He leaned against the counter, casually giving me a once over. “You okay?”

Shit.
He knew I was thinking about him naked in bed. Was I that transparent?

“I mean, with Alesha?” He arched a brow.

Carly, relax
. What had gotten into me?

I blamed sleep deprivation.

I gulped a scalding mouthful of coffee and nodded. “I’m all right. Furious, but all right. Alesha passed out shortly after we got her home and as far as I know she’s still sleeping it off. Or at least, she better be. I swear, if she steps one toe outside the front door, I’m going to beat the crap outta her…” My stare drifted as the anger welled in my chest like a helium balloon.

Nick chuckled softly and I brought my attention back to his half-cocked smile.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I know. I’m like a total mama bear. I just don’t know what else to do.”

He held up a hand. “No judgments. I wish I had some sage advice but I don’t. You’ll figure it out though.”

“Or ship her off to New Hampshire…” I muttered.

Nick didn’t ask for an explanation of my threat. He looked over at the case of desserts and patted his washboard stomach. “I think I’ll go whole hog today and get a couple of things.”

I laughed and pushed off the back counter. I set my cup down and went to get a bakery box. Nick pointed out the assortment he wanted and I packaged it all up. I pushed the box across the counter towards him and then went to the espresso machine to make his drink. There were a handful of early birds in the shop, but no one was waiting behind him in line, so he propped up against the counter and kept me company while I made his latte.

“I had a lot of fun last night,” he said. “Well…before the part where I almost ran over your sister.”

I smiled. “Right?”

“How about you?”

I flicked the steamer wand into action, the sound of the frothing milk overpowering the conversation. My mind raced with possible answers. What I
wanted
to say was very different than what I
should
say, and the two replies fought as I finished steaming the milk.

When I had his drink completed, I took it to him and slid it across the counter and into his open hand. His dark eyes were locked on me, but he didn’t push. After a moment, I sighed. “Listen, Nick, I had a lot of fun too. But this isn’t a great time for me. Not with everything going on with Alesha. Even if we did go out again, I’d be too distracted to really give you a hundred percent. I’d be wrapped up in worrying about her sneaking out or who she was with, what she was doing.” I paused to gather my ramblings into a succinct ending. “You’re a great guy. I’m having fun getting to know you but I need to leave it at that. I promised my dad that I’d take care of Alesha while he’s gone and I need to honor that commitment.”

Nick didn’t move, holding me in his stare for half a minute, before nodding his understanding. His mouth was set in a hard line, but I couldn’t tell whether it was due to anger or disappointment.

“I’m sorry,” I added.

He shook his head once. “Don’t be. I understand. You have a lot on your plate right now.”

My heart pounded against my ribs, suddenly regretting my words. But it was too late to take them back.

Nick pulled out his wallet and I reluctantly took my place behind the register and rang up the items for his order. When he was done paying, he took a sip and then held up his coffee cup on his way out the door. “Perfect as always. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Carly.”

“Bye, Nick.”

I sagged down onto the counter once he was out of sight. “What the hell is wrong with me?” I whispered to myself, burying my face into my hands.

Carly

“So, that’s it then? You’re just shipping me off to Grandma’s?” Alesha crossed her arms and stared me down.

I closed my eyes and sighed deeply, utterly exhausted by the conversation-slash-argument that we’d been locked in for the past hour. She’d shown up at the shop around closing time, whining and complaining about how there were no groceries at the house. No apology. Or acknowledgment of her actions the night before. Nothing.

Up until that point, I’d been riding the line between giving her another chance or calling our dad to book her a flight. And when she’d come in, bitching and fussing about being hungry, I’d tipped over the edge and made up my mind.

She had to go stay with our grandma. Otherwise, there was a very good chance that one of us would become an only child before summer was over.

“Alesha, this isn’t up for debate. When you got here, I gave you the ground rules and made the consequences very clear to you. You don’t get to act like the helpless victim here. You made a choice. Now you’re going to deal with the results of that choice.” I turned my back on her and went back to scrubbing the baskets from the espresso machine in a sink full of cleanser. My hands were stuffed inside a pair of yellow rubber gloves and I was in a hurry to get out of them.

Alesha stomped over and tried to jerk my hands out of the sink to regain my attention. “You can’t do this, Carly! I’ll go insane at Grandma’s!”

“That’s not my problem,” I grunted, tugging my arm free of her pinching fingers. “I’m calling Dad in the morning and he’ll hold up his end of the bargain and put you on a plane out of here.”

Alesha started to cry. I cast a sidelong glance at her to see if they were genuine or not.

Damn it
. They were.

I tossed the basket in my hand back into the suds, peeled off the gloves, and slapped them on the edge of the sink. I turned to face her, my eyes storming, and planted my hands on my hips. “Stop it.”

She brushed at the rims of her eyes, trying—and failing—to catch the tears before they tracked through the thick eyeliner she’d smeared on at some point during the day. “I—I can’t.” She sniffled and wiped at her eyes again. “I just don’t—don’t want to go!”

“Why not? You act like Grandma is going to lock you in a basement or something. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“I’ll be so bored!”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh for fuck’s sake, Alesha.”

“Please, Carly, just let me stay. I promise I won’t get into any more trouble. I’ll work here with you as much as you want.”

I considered her puppy dog eyes for a moment, wondering if she was being serious or if her promise was another empty effort just to save her skin.

“Dad, already hates me,” she muttered, dropping her eyes to the ground. “If you call him and tell him I got drunk, he’ll ignore me for the rest of my life!”

My mouth dropped open, ready to argue with her, but her statement smacked me in the face. “You think Dad
hates
you?”

Alesha raised her stare and her eyes shifted back and forth sheepishly. She shrugged. “Feels like it sometimes…”

Her words disarmed my anger and a sick knot formed in my stomach. “Dad doesn’t hate you, Leash. You’re his princess. You always have been.”

She shook her head. “No, his whole world revolves around Kelli and work. I’m just some…
thing
he has to deal with. Do you know that he hasn’t even called me since I’ve been here?”

“No, I didn’t. But I’m sure he wants to,” the words came out automatically, like when a friend asks if her hair looks good. “Alesha, listen, I know it hasn’t been easy for you. Hell, it hasn’t exactly been a picnic for me either. But that’s why I’m so hard on you. Okay? I haven’t always handled things between Mom and Dad with a level head. And I don’t want you making the same mistakes I made.”

Alesha scoffed. “Of course. Let’s make it all about you again…”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I crossed my arms and glared at her.

“You always want to turn everything into some kind of life lesson. Like I’m going to end up in some trailer park with some loser guy just because Mom did it, and then you did it. I’m not you. Okay? I’m not going to fuck up my whole life for some guy!”

“Oh really? Then explain to me why ever since you’ve been here, all the drama has revolved around
some guy
? First the guy at the airport. Then some surprise ex-boyfriend back home. Then shamelessly flirting with Nick, even though it’s completely inappropriate!”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Of what?”

“Me flirting with Nick.”

A laugh burst from my lips. “Jealous? That isn’t the word, Leash. Appalled. Embarrassed. Those words make more sense.”

“You just want me out of here so you can have him to yourself. I know you were out with him last night! I remember you were with him when you found me.”