Addictive Collision (15 page)

“I can help you land this guy,” Sophie said, “and it won’t be the way Juliet wants you to.”

“Look, if Morgan had banged him, she’d have a big, dumb, smile on her face. She’d be a lot happier right now. It’d get her mind off that idiot Tom, that’s for sure.”

I smiled at Juliet. “Listen, Dr. Phil, I can do this thing alone. I’m a big girl, and I can handle it. Besides, Foster has already taken my mind off Tom.”

I loved my three best friends, but they were on a different playing field than me. I had two children and worked a full-time job. Their main focus in life was to get good grades and pass their exams after partying all night. As much as they tried to help, they were pretty clueless to my situation. They’d never been married, let alone divorced. They lived on campus, while I had to tend to a mortgage, bills, and fees for dance classes for the girls. Our lives were just different, so while I appreciated their advice, I also had to take it with a grain of salt.

A
fter work, I ran into Kyle. We chatted for a while, and I told him it was nice to talk to him. He annoyed me somewhat, treating coeds like flavors of the week, but he really was fun to talk to, and he always made me laugh. I could see why Juliet considered him a great friend. What I couldn’t see was how she could have a crush on a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am guy like that.

“I’ll walk you to your car. I’m going that way anyway.”

I smiled as we started to walk. “So...how was your date last night?” I held up a hand. “Wait. Don’t tell me. You scored.”

He flashed me a big smile.

I shot him a side glance. “Well, you are the legendary Casanova.”

His green eyes sparkled. “What can I say? I got game.”

A tall, skinny man in a hoodie suddenly stepped into our path, practically ambushing us. I gasped as he flashed a knife and demanded my purse.

Not wishing to be stabbed, I quickly threw my bag in his direction.

“Wallet! Now!” he yelled, looking at Kyle.

Kyle slowly reached in his pocket, pulled out his billfold, and threw it at the thief. Then, in one quick instant, he sprang into action. In spite of the mugger’s knife, Kyle bravely punched him square in the face. A vicious fight ensued, and a few seconds later, the attacker ran off, not a penny richer but a whole lot more bruised and bleeding.

“Kyle!” I shouted. “Are you okay?”

He was rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach. When I saw blood squirting out, I knew he’d been stabbed.

“Oh my gosh!” I said, my heart thundering in my chest. “You’re hurt!” I pulled out my cell to call 911.

All of the sudden, he jumped up and stopped me. “No police. I’m fine. Just a flesh wound, no biggie. See?” he said, pointing to the bloody spot on his shirt.

“We need to report this,” I insisted.

“Fine, but I’m outta here.” He started to walk away, staggering like a drunk.

“Wait! Kyle...” I rushed over to him and examined the wound. “It doesn’t look deep.”

“Yeah, the jerk just nicked me.”

“No, he more than nicked you.”

His eyes widened, and he offered me a half-smile. “Wanna play doctor?”

“Very funny,” I said. “C’mon.”

He leaned into me, and I helped him to my car. I gave him a beach towel from the back seat, and he applied pressure to the wound, closing his eyes. I debated driving him to the hospital, but I knew it would only piss him off, and he would never go inside.

“Trying to be a hero almost got you killed,” I said.

“Hey, I’m fine. What about you though? You okay?” he asked.

I gripped the steering wheel. “Just a little shaken up.”

“No need to be. I wouldn’t let that punk hurt you,” he said.

“Look, a purse and wallet aren’t worth losing your life over.”

“I’ve known you my whole life, Morgan, and I made a pact to always protect you.”

“We were just kids then, Kyle. Kids say dumb things.”

“I woulda done the same for any of my friends.”

“Do you have a death wish or something?”

“Not really, but I don’t fear death. It’s comin’ for all of us. May as well welcome it with open arms when it pays a visit.”

“Obviously.”

“I couldn’t let that scumbag take a loving mother away from her precious kids.”

I shot him a side glance. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard out of that mouth of yours, but what you did back there was still crazy. Don’t ever do anything that dumb again.”

With my hands still shaking, I drove him back to my place so I could bandage his wound, fully prepared to take him to the ER if it got any worse.

“Morgan,” he said as I helped him inside, “I know you think I’m wild, just some kinda playboy, but this should prove something to you.”

“What?”

“I live every day like it could be my last. You’ve gotta go out there and take chances, live life to its fullest. Life is ticking away, second by second, so you may as well get the most out of it.”

“Well, I’d rather not live it without you.”

He smiled.

“Take off your shirt,” I said.

His eyes widened in shock.

“What?” I asked.

“Darlin’, I think you’re a little out of practice with the foreplay. It’s gonna take a little more sweet talk to get me naked.”

I laughed. “Hmm. Well, it’d be a shame if you don’t obey. I mean, you’re gonna love how my fingers press against your skin as I smooth the tape across the bandage.”

“Ooh. Now we’re talking. You got a hot nurse uniform around here? I’ve always wanted to play that little game.”

“Only if you’ll let me stick a thermometer up your ass.”

“Kinky! Tom never told me you’re that kind of girl.”

I laughed. “You know, Tom just might enjoy a thermometer up his ass.”

“Really?”

I almost spilled Tom’s deep, dark secret, but I quickly caught myself and shut my trap. “Just take off your damn shirt so I can stay on top of things.”

“I bet I’d love you on top...of things. Oh, baby, I love when you talk dirty to me.”

I shook my head. “C’mon, Kyle. I just need to see if the bleeding stopped.”

Kyle grinned, stripped off his shirt, and threw it across the room. “I’m in your capable hands. Have your way with me.”

“Take it down a notch, Romeo,” I said, smirking.

I couldn’t deny how hot he looked without his shirt. Bold, dark symbols and lines were etched all over his muscular chest and ran down his bulging biceps, all the way to his wrists. I couldn’t help but stare at the beauty and complexity in the artful ink, images he’d specially chosen to adorn his masculine physique. His parents had kicked him out of the house for having the skull added to his arm. He had a heavy, muscular frame, and his dirty-blond hair was short around the sides and back, with more length on the top. I even found his nipple ring to be quite cool. The well-worn denim of his jeans clung to his hips and cute ass, and his green eyes glittered like emeralds. I knew if any girl could ever straighten Kyle out, he’d definitely be a catch.

He stumbled, and I caught him.

“This feels like last night, like I had one drink too many,” he said.

“Except you’re not getting lucky this time.”

He laughed.

“You do have a nice eight-pack though,” I said.

“You mean six-pack.”

“No, eight. You’re seriously cut, and I know you don’t go to the gym.”

“I bench at home, when I can’t sleep.”

“Boy, you must be quite the insomniac then.”

He chuckled.

T
he tattooed bad boy clung to me as I helped him onto the couch. He had a dark edge to him, and it was easy to see why Juliet was so captivated by him. I fetched some first aid supplies from the bathroom. He winced as I started to wash his wound with hydrogen peroxide.

“How bad is it?” he asked. “Worse than what I thought? Maybe I should take a week off classes and drink the pain away.”

“You’ll live. It’s shallow...and no more skipping classes.”

“I haven’t cut class in a while. I’m getting better. Have to. Dad threatened to quit paying my tuition if I don’t bring the grades up. Besides, I really do wanna be something someday. I just think I’m too screwed up to actually make my parents proud. Maybe they should invest in a shrink instead of tuition. Maybe I shoulda let that mugger finish the job. Sure as hell woulda made things easier for Mom and my old man.”

“Kyle! Don’t you ever talk like that.”

“My boss threatened to fire me because I was late to work. On top of that, a million other things are going wrong. I just have no luck, Morgan.”

“You know what I’ve learned?” I asked.

“What? That passionate love bites are fun to show off to your friends?”

“No.”

“That hickeys declare to the world that you shook somebody all night long?”

“No. I’ve never understood hickeys. Why do guys feel the need to mark their territory?”

“I guess. Just be glad we don’t pee on you like dogs do. Well, I mean, some chicks are into that whole golden showers thing, but—”

“Ew! Anyway, I’ve learned that the shadows prove the shining of the sun.”

“What the hell? Did you read that on a fortune cookie or something, Mr. Miyagi? Not in my world, sweetheart. I’m in a dark room, and I can’t find the light switch.”

“Don’t give up. You were given a second chance today. Like you said  yourself, you’ve gotta make every day count.”

“I guess the stab wound coulda been a lot worse.” He looked at me and winked. “Good thing I’ve got a guardian angel.”

I smiled. “Your flirtation has no effect on me. You might be handsome and skilled in the art of seduction, but I’ve known you way too long.”

“If I’m such an ass, why are you my friend?”

I applied the bandage. “Because you’re smooth, good-looking, and popular.”

“Morgan, no sarcasm. I was serious.”

“Okay. Well, you’re a beautiful person inside and out. Juliet and I know the real you, even if you work so hard to bury it under that bad-boy, heartbreaker reputation.”

“How do I stop that kind of reputation?”

“Simple. Stop breaking hearts.”

He laughed. “Impossible. I’m too damaged to love. Nobody in my family is as fucked up as me.”

I tore off some medical tape and secured the dressing over his cut. “Can you have a conversation with me on campus without your eye wandering over to every woman in a twenty-mile radius?”

“Yes.”

“When I’m wearing a low-cut top?”

“Oh, c’mon! Just for the record, though, you’ve got the best cleavage in LA.”

“I knew it!”

“See? Even you think it’s hot.”

“No. I meant, I knew you’ve been checking me out. Wait. Are you checking me out right now?”

“You’re hot, Morgan, a real MILF. Who can help it?”

“A MILF! Like those fuck movies? Gosh, Kyle, you’re pathetic!”

“Maybe, but you love me anyway.”

“Only because you took the blame when I broke that window when we were thirteen,” I said.

“Your dad woulda kicked your fine ass. Mine didn’t care. He was drunk as a skunk.”

“But you had to work all those hours to pay for it.”

“I’d do anything for you. That was in our pact, remember?”

I laughed. “Our little club. What were we? Ten?”

“Rule number one, we always have one another’s back. You’ve sure got mine today, Nurse Nightingale,” he said, glancing down at the sterile white bandage.

I looked into his eyes and smiled. “I wasn’t gonna just let you bleed out there on the street.”

“Well, thanks. I know a lotta chicks would woulda left me as a casualty of war.”

“Not me.”

“Do I still have to grow up?”

“Just a little. We can’t even talk without you giving every woman a onceover.”

“I’m sorry I slip up so much. I don’t mean to break so many hearts either. The girls I’m with know what they’re getting into. I don’t lead anyone on, and I always try to break it off as gently as I can. I really don’t see why they fall in love with me, but they do.”

“You do spurn women gracefully. I can’t say that about some of the dogs on campus.”

“Honesty doesn’t have to be brutal.”

“Yeah, some of those idiots are downright cruel throwing girls to the curb.”

“That’s not me.”

“Yeah, you sugarcoat the rejections.”

“I’m upfront from the get-go. I flat out tell everyone I don’t do relationships. I don’t use manipulation and deception to toy with a poor girl’s heart, just so I can get in her pants.” He sighed. “Anyway, what are you looking for in a guy?”

“I want someone who’ll brave a dangerous blizzard just to bring me a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a box of tissues when I’m sick as a dog.”

He winked. “I’d do that for you.”

“I’ve got kids, Kyle. I’m not your type.”

He smirked. “Speaking of them, where are the kiddos?”

“School.”

“Oh yeah.”

“So...what do you want to do with your life?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Right now, I’m really working on my ability to polish off kegs and bottles of Jack Daniels.”

“Your dad works hard to put you through college. Don’t waste that. I’d kill to have the chance to go to school and make something out of myself, but I got tied down with life. You still have the chance, so make the most of the opportunity you’ve been given.”

“I’m just so fuckin’ broken,” he said. “I know it sounds all emo, like something one of those goth kids would say, but it seems like I can’t run away from the demons that chase me.”

“You tried to save Tammy, Kyle. None of that was your fault, and you need to quit blaming yourself.”

“Why didn’t I see the signs?”

“You’ve got to forgive yourself, heal, and move forward.”

“She told me she was going to do it, but I couldn’t get there fast enough. When I found her, just hanging there... I can still see it. It’s why I can’t sleep. I’m afraid of the nightmares.”

“This is eating you up inside.”

“It has been for years, and no other girl will ever replace her.”

“You’ll never know if you aren’t willing to open your heart again.”

“I just keep blaming myself.”

“You can’t let anger and grief consume you. Guilt will turn you into your own worst enemy if you let it.”