Edge of Instinct: Rabids Book 1 (30 page)

Amiel

She rubbed at her neck for probably the hundredth time that morning. The dumb thing burned and itched like poison ivy. Her delicate skin bore an ugly fat bruise all the way around from Tall Dude’s chokehold on her, and his sleeves must have been made of wool or something because it had rug-burned the crap out of her. Yet despite that, she found herself in far too cheery of a mood to be normal under such circumstances. Who would be so happy just eight hours after being violently attacked? Yet more often than she cared to admit, she’d found herself smiling down into a bowl of pancake ingredients, thinking about the events of the night before. Well, mostly about the last half of her work shift.

Okay
, she was drooling over Harley. Could a girl really be blamed for that? Yeah, she really could. She had just met the guy for goodness sake! She shouldn’t be obsessing about a man she just met. Sure she’d been eagerly wishing for the chance to meet Harley ever since the first night she slept in his car. And yeah, he saved her life, was a gentleman that protected her bike with a mini bug zapper thingy, and took her to get gas on his bike, and then let her have fun with his funky glasses. But that was no reason to get all gooey over him! Giving herself a mental slap she went back to mixing up the pancakes. He really did have the most amazing smell though.

“Miss Amiel?” The buzzer on the wall startled her out of her dangerously declining thoughts. Clearing her throat she went and pressed the button that allowed her communication with the gate guards

“Yes?”

“You have a visitor, ma’am.” Amiel froze, wondering who could possibly be visiting her. No one knew where she lived. Her blood ran cold as she pictured Malinda standing outside the gates, hells wrath chiseled into her features.

“Um…who is it?” she asked timidly.

“Some guy in a pair of aviators. He won’t give a name.” Her heart went from the bottom of her stomach to lodge in her throat in an instant. The grin was spontaneous and she quickly buzzed out.

“I’ll be right down!” She barely remembered to grab her keys before she ran out the door and locked it. She lost pretty much any amount of decorum she’d gained in the neighbor’s eyes as she stampeded down the stairs. Once outside she forced herself to walk in a slower, more ladylike fashion. No reason to scare the guy away. She wanted him to be her friend, not to have him run the other way when he saw her careening toward him with a crazy gleam in her eyes. But despite her efforts at playing things on the down low, she couldn’t deny the bright smile that stretched her face the moment she saw him casually leaning against a postal box, scowling at the gate guards, aviators firmly in place. Especially when he had her bike parked right next to him, gleaming in the sun.

“You know this guy, Miss Amiel?” one of the guards asked gruffly as she approached. She smiled at him, patting his arm consolingly. The guys on guard here always took their job super seriously.

“I sure do, Jim. This is my friend Harley.” She ignored the way Harley’s brow rose at her word ‘friend’. Her attention riveted on her bike. She ran the last few feet to the bike’s side, mouth wide in surprise. Kneeling by it, she ran shaking fingers over the cold metal that had once been scraped and dented. Her eyes burned with the promise of tears as she examined the efforts he’d taken to restore the damage that had been done since she’d purchased it. He’d done it so expertly that it was as though nothing had ever happened to it. She looked up at him, squinting against the sunlight behind him.

“You fixed it.” There was no denying the awe or hero worship in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. This bike had come to be the physical embodiment of all her dreams and hopes. The fact that he would be kind enough not only to return it to her, but to also repair it was staggering to her. He shrugged as though it were no big deal.

“Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.” Whether he counted her as a friend or not, he’d just earned himself one for life. Especially since he’d clearly had to walk the bike the entire way here after fixing it for her. He shifted from his casual stance, distractedly rubbing the back of his neck as though he didn’t know what to do with her appreciation. He dug a hand into his back pocket and produced a shiny card, holding it out for her to take. She stood, taking the card. Tears threatened again when she realized it was Tandy’s business card. She fought the tears back, refusing to give him the impression that she was a complete cry baby.

“Pop said he forgot to give it to you so y’all could call him. Gave it to me before he left town to drop it off for ya.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then back again. If she didn’t know better she would think Aviator Guy was actually nervous around her. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but she suddenly smiled with an idea.

“Do you like pancakes?” His head pulled back slightly, clearly surprised at her huge leap in conversation.

“Sure.”

“They’re my favorite. Come do me a favor and try my new recipe. I’m making some right now.”

“Ain’t it kinda late in the day for that, kid?”

“Never,” she replied adamantly. “Breakfast is an any time of the day kind of food.” After all, it was only noon, and Amiel could eat breakfast for three meals a day. He opened his mouth then shut it, shifting on his feet once more. She smiled and started pushing her bike to the gates, hoping he would follow.

“Come on. I promise, they’ll change your life.” His jaw clenched as he looked at the open road behind him, then back at her. She simply grinned and kept pushing the bike. Finally he sighed and followed, his long strides catching up to her in no time. He leaned over, gently but firmly taking control of her bike and pushing it the rest of the way to the gates. Jim moved forward to stop him for the typical blood testing. Harley stood at his full height, cold smile in place that would make the grim reaper shiver. Jim’s eyes widened, and just like that the guards stepped back letting him pass without a word. Amiel’s jaw dropped.

“Wow, you must have some sort of VIP status tattooed to your forehead. They didn’t even try to tag you. I get checked every time I come home and I know them on first name basis.”

“Somethin’ like that.” His lips quirked in that same ‘inner joke’ kind of way that they had last night. She found herself hoping he’d one day let her in on some of these inner jokes of his. For now she’d just be satisfied to sit back and watch the cute things they did to his smile. Once the bike was safely tucked away, they headed for the door. She noticed that each step he took toward her apartment made him appear like a trapped animal on the verge of panic. She was getting the idea that Harley was a lot like his dad, only clearly more antisocial. The thought made her smile. Harley looked at her quickly.

“What?” The edge of nervousness just below the surface of his words confirmed her suspicions.

“Oh, nothing! Just looking forward to those pancakes.” She grinned over at him as they reached the top landing. Darvey’s door clicked open, then to her utter surprise, slammed shut. She grinned up at Harley, nudging him with her elbow. “Harley, I think I’m going to have to have you over more often.” He paused, bewildered. She smirked, opening her door and holding it wide for him to follow.

She headed straight inside and began warming the skillet and griddle, leaving him to follow as he chose. She was pouring round mounds of batter onto the griddle by the time he finally came in the rest of the way. He seemed to hesitate at the door, trying to decide whether he should close it or leave it open. Finally he closed it, glancing at her as though checking to see if he’d made the right choice. She pretended not to notice, focusing on the food. He rubbed uncomfortably at his neck, glancing around her small apartment. Finally she felt his eyes settle on her.

“Did I wake you? I didn’t think about y’all workin’ the late shift. I shoulda come later.” Her cheeks warmed slightly, reminded of the fact that she was still in her pajamas. Luckily it was a pair of her more modest and less embarrassing pjs. And it was sweet of him to think of her sleep schedule.

“No, I’m glad you came when you did. I’ve been awake for a while now. And breakfast is always better when you can share it with someone. Don’t you think?” He rolled his shoulders.

“Don’t know. I guess so.” He looked uncomfortable with his answer, leaving her to wonder if he didn’t eat breakfast with anyone very often either. Honestly, she couldn’t back up her own statement. She’d rarely eaten breakfast with her mother, and when she did it was certainly never an enjoyable experience. But she hoped to start a new life and have lots of new experiences to replace the ones she’d missed out on.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out won’t we.” She smiled. He nodded again, rolling out his shoulders and shifting his balance. He had a lot of little nervous ticks she was noticing. She’d always had a penchant for honing in on details that most people didn’t typically notice, but she seemed particularly adept at finding Harley’s. Amiel frowned, wondering if it was altogether appropriate for her to be so tuned into him. Or was it? Friends did stuff like that all the time, didn’t they? Understand each other on an almost intuitive level without having to say a word? She’d like to think they were becoming friends. Of course, she hadn’t really known him long enough to be able to lay claim to such a deep level of understanding, did she? She had just met him after all. Which led her to wonder if she had been too bold in inviting him up for pancakes. Friends had breakfast together all the time…but in each other’s apartments? Amiel sighed in frustration. The years of Malinda’s constant haranguing had her second guessing everything she did around Harley. Her mother had given her ‘slut complex.’

“Somethin’ wrong?” Harley’s voice startled her from her mommy issues, and she waved it away.

“Oh no, no problem at all. Do you like eggs and bacon? Sausage?”

“Sure.” She smirked. As far as words go, less definitely seemed to be more in Harley’s opinion. He suddenly cleared his throat.

“Y’all need better locks. Pathetic thing wouldn’t keep nothin’ out.” He poked at the lock accusingly.

“Oh, I know. I planned on getting some new ones when I moved in, I just haven’t had the chance yet.” He grunted, still staring at the locks as if they had wronged him in some horrible way. He crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“How’s your neighbors ‘round here?”

“Mostly good, I think. Haven’t met many, but most of them seem to be elderly.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. The TV was on, but she was still paranoid. “Though I have to admit, there are a few…interesting ones that I could do without.” She shrugged smiling brightly. “But it could be much worse.” His attention shifted to the wall that separated her and Darvey’s apartments. She wondered if he was remembering the slammed door at their approach earlier, and mentally adding up that this neighbor was one of the annoying ones. He said nothing, just gave another grunt and turned to glare at the locks again. At least she assumed he was glaring. It was kind of hard to tell with those darn glasses still on.

She set about cooking in a comfortable silence, letting him adjust to being trapped in her apartment and glare at her locks all he liked. It was just nice having a friend around. Eventually he stopped poking at her lock and slowly made his way closer into the kitchen, edging towards the delicious smells emanating from the food.

“You like…cookin’?” He seemed to be trying hard to make small talk, and it made her heart happy

“Oh I love it. It’s kind of new for me, though. I never really got to do much of it back home. How about you?”

“Naw, don’t cook much.” He grunted and fell back into silence, simply watching her cook. She wondered if he lived on frozen meals the way his dad did. If that was the case, her pancakes really would change his life. It wasn’t long before she had a plate for him, heaped high with her special pancakes, sausage, eggs, and bacon. He grabbed his fork, but stopped with a bite half way to his mouth. With a frown he lowered the fork to the plate. She grinned. He really was a lot like his dad. He was waiting for her food to be done before he started his own.

“You can go ahead and eat. Mine will be done in just a few.” He shook his head, silently waiting. She quickly shoveled some eggs on her plate and took a bite, glancing at him from the corner of her eye with a devilish smirk. He nodded, the bite of eggs seeming to be enough to ease the dictations of his manners. Her day was completely made when he gave a little growly sound upon taking his first bite of her food.

“Like it?”

“Real good,” he muttered before grabbing another bite.

“Thank you.” She smiled proudly, reveling in the way he was digging into her creation. To be honest, this wasn’t a new recipe. It was one she had spent the last two months perfecting. But it had been a good excuse to show him thanks for everything he’d done to help her out. And since she was currently being honest with herself, it had been a good excuse to sneak a little more time into convincing him to be her friend.
Wow that’s pathetic Amiel. What is wrong with you? Coercing a guy into your apartment with food, just to force him into being your friend
, she mentally scolded herself. Pathetic or not, she was really lonely, and last night proved Harley would make a great friend to have in your corner. He hadn’t even known her, and he’d faced off with six dangerous thugs for her, not to mention what he’d done for her bike. She could definitely do much worse in the department of friends, and she had for most of her life.