An Unexpected Hunger (3 page)

It wasn’t until I heard my name that I finally looked directly at him.
I got trapped in his dark grey eyes, the color of storm clouds. It had been so long since we last saw each other, just days before I left for California. He and Mia had come to say goodbye, although Ricky looked like he had better things to do the entire visit.

“Hey Lex,” he said. “Long time no see.” He smiled, revealing beautiful white teeth.
My eyes gleamed over his toned and tanned arms. Dimples sunk low on each side of his smile, and his grey eyes were framed with thick brows. Not to mention not one, but two Y’s in his name. He had bad news written all over him.

Guys like him should be required to wrap yellow caution tape around their bodies before exiting the house.
He was exactly the type that could get me into trouble again…something I had been diligent to avoid. That was until I let myself become distracted by Danny. A distraction that was tall, dark, handsome, tattooed, and completely unavailable. A distraction that caused me to loose sight of what was right for the sake of gaining something that I craved.

“Hey,” I replied,
taking a swig of my beer. I needed to occupy my mouth to prevent it from hanging open. He looked good…too good. Suddenly, I had started to regret not taking that second shot of whiskey.

“What
are you drinking man?” Nick asked, calling Mia over again. Between my brother, and the moron at the other end, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had whiplash by the end of the night.

“
Whatever you’re sucking down looks good,” Ricky said.

“
Nice,” Nick replied, ordering two more whiskeys. “You in Lex?”

I nodded my head no, knowing one of us was going to have to drive home
. It obviously wasn’t going to be Nick.

“
So, I heard you moved back home. Couldn’t handle it in California?” Ricky said.

I
shrugged my shoulders and took another sip. “Or maybe it couldn’t handle me.”

“
I doubt it,” Ricky smirked. “So what are you going to do now?”

Just as he asked the
question, a tall, busty, redhead caught his eye as she walked behind him, trailing her finger from one of his broad shoulders to the other.

“Hey
beautiful,” he said, looking back at her. He gave her a wink, and she practically melted on the floor. She whispered something in his ear as he smiled at the words. I turned my head and rolled my eyes, careful not to spit out my beer in disgust.

Someone from the back called Ricky over as a few guys assembled on the stage with their instruments.

“Are you staying for a while longer?” Ricky asked me.

I looked at Nick who shrugged. “Yeah,” I said. “Sure.”

A commotion stirred at the other end of the bar. We stopped and turned around to see what was unfolding. Two guys, no doubt inebriated, started to take turns shoving each other.

“Shit,” Ricky whispered. “Not these two again.”

My eyes followed him as he stomped over to the two men making a scene. For a second, I flashed back to the hallways of Holy Cross, witnessing Ricky on the rampage just before pouncing on whatever unlucky guy who pissed him off. Ricky yoked one of the guys by the collar of his shirt and jerked him away from his spot near the bar.

The poor kid didn’t look a day over twenty-one, if he was even that old. He was short, scraggly
, and as thin as a rail. His face scrunched in unsuspecting fear. Ricky, tall with every muscle in his arms popping, did some shoving of his own before dragging the kid through the bar and out the door. People barely even noticed the scuffle and continued on drinking and conversing as if nothing had happened. 

“Glad to see some people never change,” I said.

A few minutes passed before Ricky returned inside. He open
ed and closed his fist, shaking his fingers free. Our eyes met for a split second as he walked across the bar. He gave me a wink and half-cocked smile. I zipped my head in the other direction, a bashful blush burning my cheeks.

Oh no.

Ricky climbed up onto the
stage and cracked his knuckles.

“
He’s in a band?” I smirked.

“
The drummer,” Nick said, sipping his beer.

My eyebrows shot up. “
Seriously?…Wow. Seems like he’s got
his
shit together.”  I mentally went over all the traits of my
AVOID AT ALL COSTS
list. With Ricky, I had checked off just about every one.

Nick nodded his head as his friends made their w
ay over. The same three friends he’s had since middle school.

T
he whole bar quieted down as someone with a guitar hanging around his neck spoke into the microphone, announcing the name of the band. I craned my neck as they started to play, focusing my attention on Ricky.

Halfway through their set, the lead singer announced they were taking a quick break
. I watched as Ricky peeled off his shirt, revealing a large tattoo near his ribs. He used it to wipe the sweat off his face, and then threw it on the floor.

I shifted my gaze just before he looked up and out into the crowd. When I thought it was safe, I let my eyes wander back towards his way
and watched as he sat with another group of people, most of them women.

“What cha’ star
in’ at?” Nick asked, catching me off guard. His eyes were glassy, and the alcohol seeped through his slurred words.

“Nothing,” I said. “I think it’s time to go.”

It was nearly one in the morning, and even though I had no job and nowhere to go the next day, I needed to get out of this bar.

“But it’s early,” Nick said, bending a small straw in his mouth.

“Nick…please. Don’t make me beg.” I reached out my hand, and he dutifully handed me the keys.

“Go ahead without me,” he said.

“How will you get home?”

“Mia will take me…right Mimi
?”

Mia nodded her head in disagreement
. “Can’t tonight Nicky.”

“I’ll take him,” Charlie interjected.

I stared Charlie down. Out of the three, he was probably my brother’s most reliable friend, and that still wasn’t saying much.

“Are you sure?” I shouted as the band began to play again. I
glanced over at Ricky, hammering away on the drums. His faced contorted with the sound of the music, and every muscle in his arms flexed with his movement.

Look away
, I told myself.

“I’m sure, I’m sure. Stop worry
ing you ol’ lady.”

I leaned in closer to Nick, making sure he could hear every word I said. “You better make it home in one piece.”

He nodded his head up and down, but somehow I didn’t think anything I could ever say would make a difference. I knew mom would find some way to blame me for whatever potential trouble Nick got into, just as she had since we were little kids. I could have been on a different planet, and she still would have managed to slide a guilt trip on me.

I made my way out of the bar, waving to Mia before I s
lipped through the door. As I drove home, the feeling that I shouldn’t have left Nick at the bar kept fading more and more as the incessant image of Ricky popped into my head.

* * *

I reached out for the alarm clock, patting it over and over, before I realized it wasn’t the alarm making the annoying noise. I leaned up on my elbows in bed, perking my ears. Just as I prepared to plop back down, I heard the doorbell charm.

I fumbled in my dark room
, tripping over my carry-on I never bothered to pick up off the floor. The doorbell rang a few more times on my way down the steps. I swung the front door open, ready to rip Nick a new one.

“What the -
” I stopped short, seeing Ricky standing in front of me, dragging my brother, bruised and a little bloody.

“Oh my God! Nick! What the hell happened?” I said.

I heard mom calling from the top of the steps.

“Not mom,” Nick muttered as he hobbled through the door. “Make her go away.”

I ran to the bottom of the steps. “Everything’s fine. It’s just Nick.”

She nodded, half asleep
, and headed back into her room.

Without bothering to say anymore, Nick strolled right past me and headed up the stairs, leaving Ricky and me alone.

“He had a bit too much…as usual,” he said. He scratched above his eye, which looked a little puffy. “Had to peel him off some asshole trying to hit on Mia.”

Nick grumbled as he tripped over a few steps, sliding his hand down the banister.

“Thanks for bringing him home,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me. I was suddenly aware of my bra-less state, hoping Ricky hadn’t noticed anything through my thin nightshirt.

“It’s no problem
,” he said.

An awkward pause wedged between us
, and I opened my mouth to say goodnight.

“You left so soon,” Ricky said. “I thought you were going to hang out for a bit.”

It took a few seconds to spit out the words. “I have a lot to do in the morning. I didn’t want to be out too late.”

He chuckled. “A lot to do? You just got back...you can’t have
that
much planned.”

I squinted my eyes, frustrated that his arrogance was just as compelling as always.
Unfortunately, it didn’t detract from his ridiculous good looks. Somehow it made him even more alluring. “Well…you know, wake up, unpack, sort out my life….small things like that.”

Ricky
smiled and took a few steps closer to me. “So how does it feel to be back home?”

I swept my eyes around the po
rch, anything to keep from looking right at him. “Fine…not much different than when I left.”

Ricky looked at me like I had firecrackers shooting out of my head. “I think you would be surprised about what’s different around here.”

I finally let my eyes fall on him, curious as to what he was referring to.

“I better go check on Nick,” I
replied.

“Alexa,” he said as I swung the door back at the last minute. “It’s good to
see you. Maybe I’ll see you at the Mug again?”

I nodded
my head. “Maybe.”

He smiled, the devilish grin I remembered from high school. The same one he used to sleep with just about every
girl in a plaid skirt and knee socks. Thank God I had known better now, or else I’d be in some serious shit.

“Okay…well Goodnight.”

“Night,” I said, closing the door as quietly as I could. When I got back upstairs I took a quick peek into Nick’s room, only to find him passed out on his bed, clothes and shoes still on.

I headed
to my room, knowing going back to sleep with Ricky’s smile burned into my brain wouldn’t be easy.

BEFORE I LEFT
the house, I put a glass of water and two aspirins on Nick’s nightstand. His body was so still that for a few seconds I thought he was dead. But then he mumbled something in his sleep and rolled onto his back.

I grabbed the keys to his car, hoping he wouldn’t wake before I got back. I didn’t bother packing any toiletrie
s besides my toothbrush, and mom’s generic shampoo was just not going to cut it with my thick head of hair. I rushed through a cup of coffee before realizing my mother’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Knowing I had the kitchen to myself, I hunted around for breakfast before settling on a blueberry muffin.

Riding in
Nick’s Honda Civic sounded like a million bees in a tunnel. It was sweltering outside, but I opted for the windows instead of the air conditioning, letting the wind whip my hair.

I pulled into the Rite Aid and perused the aisles, looking through the organic shampoo. I flipped back the lid
of each one and took a big inhale, trying to decide which smelled the best.

“I’ve never seen someone get high on shampoo before
,” a voice behind me said.

I froze mid-sniff
and peered over my shoulder. Mr. Airport was staring back at me.

I furrow
ed my brow, trying to compute just how high the odds were of ever seeing him again.

“Alexa…
right?”

I nodded my head as I chucked the shampoo into my basket. I stared at him, studying his face for any sign of recognition.

“It’s Ethan…from Memorial. We had pre-Algebra together with Mrs. Roth?”

I racked my brain, trying to pin the name to the face. “
Ethan!” I said, meeting my palm to my forehead. “I thought you looked familiar. How are you?”

When I took a better look, it was
his eyes that I remembered. The palest blue I had ever seen. We had a class together from first through eighth grade before his parents divorced, and he switched to public school.