Flawed Heart (House Of Obsidian #1) (22 page)

“Let’s go and steal ice cream from the crazy old guy at the park again,” Rainer suggests.

“Do you have to be such a rebel?” I scoff. “Besides I don’t want ice cream.”

“What’s wrong with you? Everyone loves ice cream.”

“Not cool bad ass chicks like me.”

“You’re about as cool as a pool full of lava.”

I laugh. “That was kind of mean, Rai Rai.”

“Stop calling me that, I’ll lose my reputation.”

I reach up and flick his earlobe. “What reputation?”

“Don’t insult my epic-ness.”

I roll my eyes.

“All right, Rainer,” I grin. “Let’s go steal ice cream.”

“I knew there was a reason we’re friends.”

I laugh and he throws an arm around my shoulder.

An epic friendship indeed.

“O
h my God, Mali, what the fuck are these shoes?”

I roll my eyes at my roommates screeching. A moment later she appears in my doorway, holding up a pair of black, strappy pumps that I stole from my sister, Eva, when I visited my parents last night. Of course Eva doesn’t know, that’s the best part about it.

“They’re Eva’s,” I grin, “But she doesn’t know.”

“Oh, you’re bad. Can I wear them tonight?”

I shrug. “They’re all yours.”

She holds them against her chest like they’re fine china. “Oh my god, I’m so excited. What dress should I wear?”

She could wear a sack and look awesome. Mimi “Jemima” Watson is a diva, a princess and a badass babe all wrapped in one, tiny bow. She’s petite, even more so than me, with long platinum blonde hair – fake of course – and the prettiest face I’ve seen on a girl since...ever. She’s got big, blue eyes, full pink lips and lashes that make men drool.

She has an attitude to match.

“Any of your dresses will work,” I say. “Are you sure you want to come tonight?”

“You just found out the man you used to know, used to adore, who took your virginity and was your best friend, is back in town. Um, hell yes I want to come.”

“Apparently he’s been in town a while. I don’t know how I missed that.”

She shrugs. “You weren’t looking, and it’s been a long time. How long since you last saw him?”

“Over ten years. I don’t even know where he went.”

“Then it should be an epic reunion.”

I turn and stare at myself in the mirror. “Do you think he’ll recognize me?”

“Of course.”

I snort. “You have no idea what I used to look like, honestly, I was like a mini, sassy, boy.”

She giggles. “I can’t imagine it, but I believe you.”

I study my face. I’m certainly not the girl Rainer probably remembers. I used to have short-ish blonde hair, I wore glasses and I was such a tomboy I wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress. It was jeans, baggy tees and chucks. Now...God now I am completely opposite. My hair is now dark chocolate brown and long, flowing down my back in curls. And I wear a lot of dresses.

Plus I don’t have glasses anymore.

Still, my face has to be the same...right?

I snort to myself. It’s not the same, not even close. It’s gotten finer, my lips have gotten fuller and my eyes, I swear, are bigger. They’re still the same shade of green, though.

“You’re panicking, I can see it in your face,” Mimi says, stepping up beside me.

“What if he doesn’t want to see me? The last time we saw each other...”

I close my eyes, pushing the memory back. It wasn’t a nice one. It was a bad time, and Rainer had changed so much. He was doing bad things, in with the wrong crowd, and things went so bad between us. Hurt, I went away with my family for a few weeks. When I came back, Rainer was gone. I never saw him again. I never even knew where he went.

It hurt like hell.

“The past is the past, I’m sure he hasn’t held a grudge for that long.”

I nod, feeling nervous all over again.

“Come on, let’s get you dressed to impress.”

Mimi swings me around and rifles through my closet until she finds the perfect dress for me, or so she starts. Then she pulls out a pair of sexy black heels and a curling iron. She gets to work on my hair, brushing it out and curling it, then running some oil through it so it shines. The dress she chose is cute, but sexy. It’s tight around the bust, showing good cleavage, but it flares out from the waist. The entire thing is black, with a lace underlay.

Mimi wears a scorching little red number, and pairs it with the shoes she stole from me, that I stole from my sister. She leaves her blonde hair down, too, only hers is tack straight. We put a light dusting of make up on, and then collect our purses. We’re ready to go, and the closer we get to seeing Rainer again, the more I want to vomit in my mouth.

But he was my friend once – surely nothing has changed.

~*~*~*~

T
he bar Rainer owns is packed for its size. There are people mingling outside, lining up to go in and when we get inside, it’s full. People are dancing, and sitting at booths, not to mention playing countless games of pool. Mimi starts wiggling her ass the moment we’re past the front entrance, and I follow behind her, feeling my heart in my throat as I let my eyes scan the space.

I don’t see him.

We go to the bar and order a drink, and still, I don’t see him. Maybe we got the wrong place? I swallow the drink back and take another one, then I join Mimi on the dance floor as we wait. I try to picture the Rainer I remember in my head, and it’s hard to think of him as a man. When I saw him last, he was twenty and only just starting to go from teenaged boy, to man.

He’d be over thirty now.

I picture him in my head, with his dark brown eyes and long, dark hair. He always kept his hair around his shoulders, like the rebel he was. I know he was tall, and he always had a good amount of bulk, even at a young age. He had the most amazing bronze skin, giving him a mysterious, exotic look. Rainer was beautiful, the kind of man to ruin you for any other male.

“Can you see him?” Mimi yells into my ear.

“No,” I call back.

“We’ll dance until he shows up. This bar is great.”

I nod and we dance, and dance, and dance. What seems like hours pass, and still there’s no Rainer. I’ve gone through three drinks and two bottles of water, because this dance floor is sweaty. I wave to Mimi and point to an empty booth. She nods and gives me the thumbs up, and I make my way over to it, dropping down on my ass and sighing with relief. It’s much cooler here.

I sit at that booth for another hour, when finally I see a man appear at the bar. I’m way too far back to see if it’s Rainer or not, but whoever it is, he’s massive. I stand and push through the crowd, keeping my eye on the man who is grinning at a pretty, strawberry blonde woman, who is sitting by herself on a barstool. My heart starts pounding as I near, wondering if it’s him.

The anticipation is killing me.

When I’m close enough to study his face, I do just that. I look at him, and I know, I just know. I suck in a shaky breath, because oh, oh wow, he’s so...breath taking. Rainer always had good looks, but now...god now he’s panty melting handsome, dangerous and rugged, sexy as sin. The more I study him, the more my heart pounds.

He’s mesmerizing.

His eyes, which were always dark brown, seem almost black in this light. His hair is cropped a lot shorter than I ever remember and is now only a few inches long, the bottom curling around his collar. It’s messy, and sexy. He’s got a cover of two day growth on his chin and around his mouth, and his face is so masculine it almost hurts to look at him.

His body, oh God his body, it’s double the size I remember. He’s taller and so much bigger. He’s a mass ball of muscle. His biceps are bulging from his black tee, and his forearms are probably bigger than my legs. He’s ripped. Hardcore. I don’t realize I’m tearing up until I feel a subtle burn behind my eyelids. I take a deep, shaky breath and walk over to the bar; stopping next to the strawberry blonde girl he was just talking to.

She is watching me, but I’m too busy watching him. My lip is trembling and my eyes are wide as I look at the only person I ever shared my soul with. God, I’ve been through so much with this man, and I honestly thought I’d never see him again and yet here I am, right in front of him.

He slides the girl a drink, smiling at her, showing two dimples that I remember so well. Then he turns his eyes to me. I wait for it, my heart pounding, my skin clammy, my eyes big and round. I wait for him to recognize me, but it never comes. He just stares at me, his face blank, absolutely no recognition in his depths.

“Can I get you something?”

It feels like someone has slapped me hard across the face. He doesn’t know who I am. I spent over seven years being his best friend, he took my virginity, and he doesn’t know who I am. My face must register the hurt, but he seems not to notice. I don’t know what to do, what to say or how to feel. I only just manage a croaky, “No, ah, no. It’s fine.”

Then, with a broken heart and a body full of shame, I turn and rush out. The girl who was sitting at the bar follows me, and catches me at the entrance. Maybe she’s his girlfriend, who knows. “Hey, are you okay?” She asks, her blue eyes full of concern.

“Ah, I’m sorry, do I know you?”

She shakes her head. “I just saw that you were upset when Rainer was rude, I wanted to see if you were okay?”

I was right, she knows Rainer. Still, I ask, “You know Rainer?”

She nods. “Yeah, do you?”

I look over to him, already talking with another person like I was never there. Nothing prepared me for this. I thought he’d be angry, maybe even excited, but never in a million years did I think he’d forget me. “I thought I did.”

Then I turn and run out.