Fractured (10 page)

He could tell that she was
loca
, as Maria would say, so why the hell was he finding that enticing at that moment?

Their order number was called out over the cafe’s loudspeaker.

“I’ll get it,” Rick offered, glad to have an excuse to get away for a moment.

“I’ll help,” Maria said, a little too quickly to be polite.

They got up from their stools together and went to the window.

“Get me outta here,
flaco
,” she groaned to him. “I can’t take it anymore.”

“Seth, Darius, and Scott will be back soon,” he assured her.

“Not soon enough,” Maria muttered. “Bash is fine. But Lily? I think that
loca
is thinking ‘bout killing me. Or something.”

Rick was trying to keep himself from laughing.
Loca
. He knew his girlfriend well. Even after just two months.

That was why he was planning on asking her to marry him on this trip, he just didn’t know when exactly. He kept the ring zipped up in his coat pocket for that perfect moment. Of course, with Scott breaking his arm, there hadn’t been a good time yet.

They set down the trays of food. They had all ordered burgers, except for Lily, who insisted that nothing on the menu looked appetizing, and only ordered a side salad and was dazedly rifling through the bits of lettuce, looking sick.

Maria shot him a look, saying,
Can she die now?

He stifled his grin and turned his attention back to the table where Lily was looking at him strangely. Her head was tilted to the side, like someone was whispering in her ear.

“What?” she asked. It was like she could tell exactly what he was thinking. Was he making it so obvious? Fuck, he couldn’t wait until they could get away.

“Nothing,” he said with a shrug. “I was just thinking about tonight.”

“What about tonight?” she asked.

He swallowed his mouthful of food. “I hope Scott can join us tonight.”

Her eyes lingered on him long enough to make him feel uncomfortable. It was probably just because she was drunk.

Bash cleared her throat. “That’s awful, what happened,” she said, trying to mitigate the situation. “Did you guys see it?”

Rick shook his head.

“I did,” Maria said. “Scott just zoomed off like this—” she demonstrated with her hands, moving them like airplanes through the air, despite the fact that Bash was blind, “—like he was out of control. One second he was fine, laughing. He was
in
control just before then, and then he just...took off for the trees.” She shook her head and picked up her burger. “His arm hooked around the tree.” She shuddered. “I ain’t ever heard a bone break, but that was
loud
. It went straight through the skin!”

Bash had gone very still, still enough that Rick thought she was going to be sick. She looked like she suddenly didn’t feel very well. “That sounds...very familiar,” she said. “Which arm was it?”

“Right,” Rick answered.

Then Bash really did look like she was going to throw up. “That’s the same arm I broke skiing. A long time ago. It just felt like I had lost control all of a sudden.” She paled even more. She pointed to her arm, right above the elbow. “Right here.”

Maria chuckled lightly to brighten the mood. “Yeah, that’s pretty close to what happened to Scott. Crazy, huh?”

Bash was frowning, her brow creased like she was trying to think with a clear head. “Yeah,” she whispered absently, deep in thought. “Crazy.”

Lily remained silent, her eyes trained on the plate in front of her. Rick watched her. What was she thinking? There was something about her, something that was just...wrong.

That was what seemed so hot about her.

His cell phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He thumbed it to answer. “Darius?”

Darius’ calm voice filled the earpiece. “Hey, man.”

“How’s Scott?” Maria asked over their conversation. He was about to shush her, although Bash looked so forsaken and scared about his answer, he held it in.

“He’ll be fine,” Darius answered on the other end. He must have heard Maria ask her question over the line. “They reckon he’ll be able to go home today after surgery.”

Other voices sounded on the other line, and Rick recognized one of them as Scott. At least the kid was joking around. That was something.

“We do think our plans for tonight will have to be canned,” Darius said. “I’m not trying to be a dick, but can you and Maria stay in with us? I think Scott feels awful about it and Seth’s all torn up.”

Even though he’d been expecting it, Rick still cursed silently. He was looking forward to hitting up the bars in Steamboat Springs and having a good time with Maria.

He nodded on his end, even though Darius couldn’t see it. “I guessed as much,” Rick said under his breath. “Fine. We’ll see you back at the hotel.” He ended the call.

“What?” Maria demanded.

“We’re staying in tonight,” Bash softly answered for him. She obviously could hear their conversation from across the table. She sighed and put her head in her hands. She looked absolutely relieved and wretched at the same time.

Lily met his eyes and he felt something pass between them, like a shock. He swallowed uncomfortably and looked back at Maria with a weak smile.

“Maybe we can do something at the hotel?” he offered, trying not to feel how dry his mouth suddenly became under her scrutiny. “Supposedly, the restaurant is nice. Might be good to relax, especially if Scott needs some rest.”

Maria’s hand found his and she gave him a quick squeeze. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Bash grinned, her milky blue eyes washing over all of them. “Yeah, let’s do that. A nice, quiet night.”

Lily took in a breath, her head cocked one way. “Sure,” she finally said. “I’ll come.”

“I’ll go check that right now,” Rick announced, his voice slightly strangled. Maria got up with him, and they left without another word.

“God, I can’t imagine having dinner with her,” she muttered under her breath when they were out of earshot of the table. Her arm snaked its way into the crook of Rick’s arm and she melted into him. “Can’t we just do somethin’ else,
flaco
?”

“No,” he told her, his hopes deflating even more. “We need to stay here for Seth.” He really wasn’t going to be able to propose to Maria anyway. Not now. He’d been planning on taking a night during their vacation to go to the restaurant at the Grand Trails lodge. It
was
supposed to be nice. And it
was
supposed to be just the two of them there.

Oh well. This would make it easier on everyone.

The Depot was a four-star restaurant with a Michelin-trained chef and sunny reviews on Yelp. The maître d met them at the front and he made the reservation while Maria looked wide-eyed at the dinner menu.

“Seven thirty for a table of seven,” the maître d confirmed as she wrote in the book with a flourish. “You’re booked.”

“Shit,” Maria muttered to no one in particular as she flipped through the menu.

“Thank you,” Rick said hurriedly. He quickly took it from Maria and ushered her away from the restaurant.

“It’s
expensive
,” she hissed.

Rick felt that knot in his chest grow. “We’re doing this for Seth and Scott. I think they need a good night.” Even if it meant sitting across from Lily. Even if it meant postponing his wedding proposal until another night.

They needed something to go right this trip.

And Seth owed him big time for ruining his plans.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lily took one look at The Depot’s menu and knew she was going to eat breadsticks and a side salad that night. There was no way she’d be able to afford even a side dish at this restaurant.

Why the hell had she come again?

Her drunkenness and hangover had subsided by the evening, and the voice in her head was back in full force, demanding her attention. Her injured hand ached, like a constant reminder of what happened earlier.

She felt like a blanket had covered her brain, and she could only see the parts of everyone that she hated. Especially Bash.

Granted, Rick couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Even with his Latina queen next to him, Lily caught him watching her like she was some sort of goddess.

That made her feel a little better.

Darius was still stoic to her. She had tried hitting on him that one night, but he turned her down, like he was better than her. She knew his type. Looking back on it, she was glad they hadn’t knocked boots that night because now, that would make dinner even more awkward. As it was, he was just sitting there, only offering a comment when asked. Otherwise, he was quiet, like some sort of sentry.

Then there was Scott. He looked pale, like he was going to pass out at any moment. Seth kept asking if he was all right, to which Scott would reply he was. His broken arm was in a cast, which he kept close to him in a protective, gentle way. He was trying to be tough, to not ruin everyone’s night, so he kept rambling about the most mundane things, like video games and high school.

A part of Lily felt guilty, but she kept trying to convince herself that there was no way she was responsible for his broken arm. There couldn’t be. She watched Bash and Seth, the way they moved around each other, the way he protected her like she was his one and only. Bash could never see him the way that Lily herself could. Didn’t he know that? Couldn’t anyone else understand that, apart from her?

She frowned into her glass of wine. They only had two bottles of wine, not enough for her to get drunk and definitely not enough to get rid of the shakes she was having.

Ugh, God. Why the fuck am I here?

She didn’t know. There was something that had compelled her to come. Like there was some big event that she had to witness.
Shut up,
she told the voice in her head, although it wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Scott was still talking, his voice sounding muffled, and she couldn’t understand the words he was saying. She felt annoyed. Then another scene played out in her mind, one that she didn’t particularly enjoy. It didn’t feel like something she’d actually come up with on her own either.

She imagined taking her plate and bashing it into his face, breaking his nose up into his skull, up into his brain, instantly killing him. At least that would shut him up for life. Blood would gush from his nostrils, spraying like a garden sprinkler, bathing her in a shower of death.

For a brief second, all sound ceased. She was both horrified and elated by the vision in her mind. That wasn’t her.
She
wasn’t thinking those horrible thoughts.

Get ahold of yourself, Lily.

She closed her eyes, letting her emotions reach out. She could really almost feel all of them there, their hopes, their dreams, their thoughts. She could swear that she felt an erotic tug from someone.

Rick...

A crash of pain rang throughout her head and she stifled a cry. Fortunately, something else happened that drew everyone’s attention away from her.

“Shit!” Rick shouted. He pushed his chair back with a screech.

“Babe?” Maria cried in alarm.

Lily opened her eyes. Rick’s nose had sprung a bad leak, and blood was gushing out from his nose. Too much. It was getting all over everything. He grabbed one of the fancy cloth napkins to stem the flow, but it kept coming.

“Sir,” a waiter said, stepping in to help.

Rick shakily got to his feet. “I’m fine,” he declared. He stormed off towards the restrooms, pressing the ruined napkin to his nose.

“Rick!” Maria called after him.

“I’m fine!” he snapped, obviously upset. “I’ll...I’ll be right back.”

Maria looked after him, frowning unhappily. Lily touched her own finger to her nose. A little bit of blood, nothing like what Rick was having.

“What happened?” Bash asked quietly.

Seth leaned into her, whispering an explanation while Maria stared off in the direction where Rick had gone.

“He’ll be fine,” Darius assured her, his protector voice on. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.” He patted Maria’s hand.

Lily watched it, her heart pounding in her ears. She was trying not to show any emotion, but it was hard. After all, Darius was showing Maria more friendliness than he had ever shown her. She really was nothing to any of them.
Nothing
. Except Rick looked at her like she was beautiful. And there had been her perceived tug of sexual tension. That had to account for something.

Her heart ached in response, and the sickening cramps in her stomach started up with a roar, propelling her to her feet.

“I...need to go to the bathroom,” she announced, her voice sounding hoarse. She turned to leave.

“You okay, Lily?” Bash asked across the table, her blank eyes facing the direction of Lily’s voice. “Do you need me to come with you?”