Unwritten Rules (18 page)

“And they are?”

“I don’t know,” I said in defeat. “I know his parents have something to do with it, but he won’t tel me; he says it’s too soon…he’s not ready.”

“Sounds like a cop out to me, but then what do I know? Only you can tel if he’s playing you.”

She hugged me, her perfume scratching at the

back of my throat. I could see our reflection in the mirror and was startled to see just how sul en I appeared. I didn’t want Jonah to see me like this, and I certainly didn’t want him thinking it was his fault. I quickly hugged her back, and stood up, smiling and smoothing the creases out of the ful skirt of my red dress.

“I know he isn’t messing with me. Whatever

happened to him in his past is making it difficult for him to trust. He’l tel me when he’s ready.”

“Why him?” She shot at me, her brows creased in confusion.

“What?”

“With any other guy I know you would have kicked him to the curb, but with him, you make excuses. You are waiting around, being patient. That’s why I’m asking what makes Jonah Quinn different?” The concern she felt was relayed in her words and again when she held my hand. She wasn’t warning me off him; she was just being a good friend.

“J.J., I don’t know what it is. It’s like some crazy, cosmic
pull t
oward him. And before you say it, it’s more than a need to help him.”

Her ice blue eyes thinned as she analyzed me. I shrank under her scrutiny. “There’s something you’re not tel ing me. I can feel it. Why are you keeping secrets?”

I shook my head, trying to move around her. I had to get out of the room. She was delving far too deep. I didn’t like the idea of betraying Jonah, even though I could use a friend of my own to lean on at this point.

“I’m not hiding anything,” I denied. “If I could tel you exactly why he’s so different, I would. I find it as strange as you do.”

J.J. pursed her lips, her body going rigid

underneath her skin tight purple dress. I could feel an

argument brewing. I braced myself, ready for battle, when Eli knocked on the bedroom door.

“You guys ready?”

I put my hand on the door, ready to open it, and shout that we were just coming.

J.J. wasn’t done with me though. She tapped on my shoulder, pointing her finger at me and said, “This isn’t finished, El e.”

I rol ed my eyes and left her brooding, but I was torn. I wanted to be able to talk to J.J. about things having to do with Jonah, but if she knew about his medications, she’d flip out and have me running for the hil s. She would blow it al out of proportion. I knew at that moment I needed answers and made a resolution. I wouldn’t put off looking the medications up on the internet any longer. The bar was smoky, noisy, and packed with

people. Every person in there was excited to see
Noir
. It was exactly the same as the last time I’d been to this bar, however this time Jonah knew I was coming to watch him. I checked my appearance in the reflection of the window. I was scared I’d gone overboard this time, but with so many people around me, I couldn’t focus for very long without being jostled around.

“You look beautiful.” I shivered at the low timbre of the words. They were spoken directly into my ear, lips stroking against my skin. A hand slipped around my waist. I leaned back, knowing exactly who it was. “Thank you for coming.”

His lips touched my ear again. I suppressed

another shiver. “I decided to be bold and wear red.”

“Suits you.”

I turned slowly in his arms, circling my own around his neck. I grinned up at him, enjoying the happiness shining in his eyes. “I brought J.J. and Eli. I hope you don’t mind. Maybe I should have cal ed.”

I didn’t finish. His mouth met mine in a delicate, gentle kiss. He didn’t try to inflame it further, just tilted his head to deepen it and hummed his approval.

“Are you guys going to be necking al night?” J.J. snapped, then chuckled, “You’l make al the groupies jealous.”

I reluctantly ended the kiss, taking the beer she handed me, as we walked over to the corner of the stage.

“Is she usual y this crabby?” He questioned.

“Only when I think my friend needs protecting,” J.J. interrupted smugly.

I winced, sending a look of apology over to Jonah. It wasn’t enough to stop the building hostility.

“What are you getting at?” Jonah questioned J.J. in a low, angry voice.

I placed my palm flat against his chest, feeling the increase of his heartbeat. J.J. waved her hand, a mannerism I was used to, but I was sure it would annoy Jonah further.

“El e is putting a lot of faith in someone who doesn’t seem to put any faith in her. Al I’m saying is that she needs to be careful.”

I braced myself for the fury that was to come as I watched Jonah and J.J. glare at each other. The standoff ended as quickly as it had started with Elijah arriving and taking hold of J.J., swirling her around to the music. She tossed her head back, giggling and going along with his movements. Eli’s carefree nature was what she loved most about him, if love was real y what she felt for him. Not that she’d admit to it.

I stood in front of Jonah, feeling the heavy rise and fal of his chest as he tried to calm down. “Just forget her,” I soothed. “She’s being somewhat overbearing. I’l talk to her.”

“She’s right,” he admitted, shaking his head. “I ask too much of you, and you keep al owing it.”

“Do you real y want to have this conversation

here? Right now?”

He grunted and kicked at the edge of the stage, as a tal guy wearing a plaid shirt and a beanie hat tapped him on the shoulder.

“Damn! Look, I need to go backstage, but tonight you and I are going to talk. I need to give a little.”

I gawked at him but didn’t have a chance to

respond. He kissed my nose, gave my pinkie a quick squeeze, and left. People had begun to stand closer to the stage, obviously realizing it was almost time for
Noir
to start their set. I took a long draw on my beer as J.J. came to stand beside me and bumped my shoulder with hers.

“You shouldn’t have been like that with him,” I chastised.

She shrugged, leaning back against Eli. My blood began to boil. Her nonchalance annoyed the hel out of me.

“You guys need to get yourselves on the same page. Maybe this wil help.”

It was quite possible that she had helped,

although I hated to admit it. Thankful y, the band took the stage, eliciting shrieks and whoops from the crowd, al but stopping our conversation. I searched for Jonah, a huge smile spreading across my face when he came toward the mic. He winked at me as he adjusted the height and then pul ed his guitar over his head.

For the next ninety minutes I was lost in his voice, and the heavy beat of the live music. The crowd loved the band, many of them singing along with the songs. The girls I’d met in the coffee shop were standing at the front of the stage, shooting Jonah adoring gazes, and I got a kick out of the fact that he wasn’t looking at either of them. He was focused on me.

His husky lyrics floated across the crowd and

beckoned me closer, making my nerve endings tingle in awareness. I inched closer, wanting to feel more. I heard the faint giggle of J.J. near me but didn’t want to break eye contact with Jonah. He’d saved
Lightning Strikes
for the last set. I thought of it as “our” song and let out a sigh when the final notes rang out.

“Do you know Jonah, then?”

I blinked, a young blonde girl came into focus. I took note of her dry, over-bleached hair and her ability to use half a tube of mascara on her lashes. Her lips formed a sneer as she waited for my reply. I stammered, trying to calculate exactly how much information to part with. I didn’t know this girl nor did I have any idea whether Jonah did or not, but as I found my voice to speak Jonah rescued me once again. His arms circled my waist from behind, and he rested his chin on my shoulder, eying the blonde.

“El e is with me. She’s my girlfriend, Tori.”

“I see,” she pouted. “You told me you weren’t up for anything other than sex. Looks like you lied.”

I stiffened. He’d slept with
her
?

“I didn’t lie,” Jonah replied, his voice cool. “I explained months ago that I wasn’t interested in you. I was waiting for El e.”

His arms tightened around me as I gasped. I tried to turn, to look into his eyes and see the truth of his words, but he wasn’t al owing the movement. Was he scared that I’d run, thinking he’d had sex with her? I wasn’t stupid, he’d admitted to sleeping with people before me. Imagining him with
Tori
, however, clawed at my control.

“
She
was why you wouldn’t fuck me?”

I cringed at the aggression and heard Jonah’s

teeth grind next to my ear. His arms were like steel bands around my middle. “Tori, I warn you, don’t mess with El e. I don’t want you, and I never led you to believe any different.”

Tori huffed, muttering under her breath then

turning, instantly swal owed by the crowd.

“Sorry about that,” Jonah sighed, turning me in his arms, not letting go.

“You were a bit harsh. She’s just a kid.”

“No,” he replied bluntly. “She caused so much

trouble last year with Del and his girlfriend. Almost split them up.”

“Del?”

“Drummer,” he added, swaying to the music.

I smiled, starting to move with him. “Dancing? A talent I’m not aware of?”

Jonah wiggled his eyebrows, exaggerating the

swing of his hips and nodding. “Oh, Red, there are so many of my talents that you’ve yet to see.”

I pushed at his chest. “Cocky much? I’m not sure I like this confident Jonah. I kind of like the blushing, blue eyed stranger.”

“I don’t believe you,” he smirked, hauling me as close to his body as he could.

I almost groaned as sparks zipped through my

body from our connection. His excitement was evident as it pressed against my stomach, torturing us between our clothes as we danced. It was a continual battle between demanding a release only Jonah could give and taking it slow so he would open up before we went any further. I knew what we needed to do, but that didn’t stop the internal battle.

I raised my hand and stroked his cheek as we

continued to sway, feeling the coarse stubble against my palm. His eyes were locked to mine. I had long since forgotten about J.J., Eli and Tori. We remained locked together for the rest of the night, neither of us in a hurry to part. Parting meant reality setting in as wel as the confusion that came along with it.

At some point J.J. brought drinks over. I raised my head from Jonah’s chest to reluctantly accept it. I looked around, noticing how much the crowd had thinned.

“It’s almost time for last cal . You guys were making everyone want to vomit anyway.”

I smiled at J.J., knowing she was only joking. It had amazed me just how quickly the evening had gone by.

“Eli and I are going to go home. I need a shower, sex, and sleep.”

“In that order?” Jonah asked, his voice low and unsure. At least the was trying to interact with my friend. J.J. snorted, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

She winked, tapped me on the shoulder then

waved goodbye. Eli was his usual childish self and shouted across the bar that we wouldn’t have to worry about disturbing the neighbors when we got home, given that we were neighbors. We didn’t stay in the bar long after they left. Jonah said his goodnights to his band mates, and we went outside to catch a cab back to our apartments. As soon as we were seated, Jonah brought his arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on his chest, forgetting everything else. I remained silent, soaking up the moment of bliss. Jonah kissed an caressed me al the way home. Once we were inside our apartment building,

Jonah asked me to come up to his place for a little bit before cal ing it a night.

“One coffee and then I’m going home,” I replied as I entered his apartment.

Jonah nodded, tossing his keys into a blue

ceramic bowl, before stalking to the kitchen. I noticed Meow on the fire escape and walked toward the window to open it. However, I got side tracked as I passed the book shelves; he had more than I did and which took some doing. I flicked my fingers across the spines, smiling to myself when I saw a section for graphic novels. I pul ed out one I recognized – the very same one I’d bought. I was going to ask him about it, but I never got that far. As I pul ed the book from the shelf something fluttered to the floor. I bent to retrieve it.

It was a photograph.

It had been creased and was slightly worn at the edges, but the image was very clear. It was a young boy, maybe six years old, playing in an inflatable pool. It was a sweet picture. The more I looked the more I saw that the boy bore a remarkable resemblance to Jonah. I wondered if it was him, though from the way Jonah’s face paled when he saw what I was holding told me it wasn’t.

“I-it fel out of the book,” I stammered, trying to make it clear that I wasn’t snooping.

He held out a shaky hand, wanting the picture. I knew I couldn’t hand it back and ignore the pink elephant in the room. It was wrong to continue to blow off al the secrets he was keeping from me. It hurt knowing he didn’t trust me.