Give Me Love (10 page)

“Thanks, Travis. You two look wrecked. Going home?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Coby looked disappointed. “Sorry to bail.”

“That’s okay.” I patted his back. “Dodging bullets and bombs exploding into towering inferno’s of hell must really take it out of a guy.”

“Are you kidding?” Travis muttered. “That’s the best part. It’s the paper work that is slowly killing us.”

I nodded. “So I’ve heard.”

I waved them off, had Vince put the drinks on our tab, and Mac and I hit what was left of our table, which was Henry, Mitch, and Tate. I wasn’t sure where Jared had gone to.

“You have an amazing voice, Evie,” Tate murmured close in my ear.

“Thanks, Tate.”

My eyes flicked to Mac who watched our exchange unhappily. The DJ cranked her next song, loud and eager to escape the tense vibes, I took Tate’s hand. “Ready for that dance?”

“Sure, lead the way.”

I turned a smug gaze to Mac before I headed towards the dance floor, and I felt her death ray eyes burning into my back. It was a wonder they didn’t laser a giant hole through my middle.

I found Jared on the dance floor wrapped around a blonde who looked like she’d been busy that day maxing out her credit card at Skanks ‘R Us. I stumbled in my haste to look away because what he did and who he did it with was of no consequence to me.

“Are you okay?” Tate asked.

“Sorry,” I murmured. “These heels are a death trap.”

I leaned in and put my hands around his neck. Tate felt warm and comforting.

“They look sexy on those beautiful legs of yours, Evie,” he whispered in my ear.

The compliment had me flushing with pleasure, making Tate seem a bit smoother than Hairy Parry or Beetle Bob.

I murmured a thank you while I avoided all the eyes I could feel watching us.

“What are your plans tomorrow?”

“No plans except to maybe hit the beach,” I replied.

“I’m on call with Mitch tomorrow, so we really should get going. I told him we had to stay so I could have a dance with you first.”

My eyes flicked to Mitch as we turned around. He looked a little bit impatient as he glanced at his watch.

“Okay. You two better get going then so poor Mitch can get his beauty sleep.”

“Walk us out?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, simply took my hand and led me over to Mitch.

“Ready to go?” Mitch asked.

“Yeah. Evie’s gonna walk us out.”

Mitch nodded and downed the last of his beer.

“Be right back,” I said to Mac and Henry.

I felt the cool fresh air wash over me as we approached the loud chatter of the cab line, and I pulled Mitch in for a quick hug. “Thanks for coming, Mitch.”

He hugged me back. “Great show. Killer voice. Sexy outfit. The pleasure’s all mine, beautiful.”

“Sweet talker,” I muttered and he chuckled. I turned to Tate. “Call me?”

“Sure,” he replied and placed a kiss on my cheek.

I winked at them both and headed back inside.

Chapter Five

When I returned to the bar after being waylaid for several conversations along the way, Jared, Mac, and Henry were well on their way to complete inebriation.

Mac was trying to sing (she can’t), Henry was laughing at her singing (when he usually cringed), and Jared looked a little unsteady. Mostly though, the empty shot glasses on the table were a dead giveaway.

“Without me? You started shots without me?” I whimpered in mock sadness when I reached the table.

“Evie’s back!” Jared shouted. “Another round of shots, Vince!”

Vince didn’t seem to mind the shouting. He looked at Jared like he was God and rushed to do his bidding. He placed our drinks on the bar, and I told him to put it on our tab as I reached for them.

Jared appeared beside me and handed over money. “I’ll pay.”

“Thanks, Jared, but it’s okay. We have a tab. Put it on the tab please, Vince,” I said.

Vince waited, undecided about picking up the money.

There was a tense pause that appeared to indicate Jared wasn’t backing down, his determined stance speaking for him.

Vince took the money.

“So you and Tetris Tate, huh?”

I grabbed the shot and downed it fast.

“Yep.” The words burst from my mouth when the alcohol’s vertical burn travelled to my toes.

“We need to talk,” Jared muttered.

I felt a sense of déjà vu, and I looked at him with surprise as we walked back to the table. “We do? I thought you said I wasn’t ready to hear what you had to say.”

“Yeah, but that’s about something else. Later, okay?”

In the early, messy hours of the morning, I decided that Drunk Jared was fun. In fact, everyone was fun. Even Mac managed to lose her Tate snit, and I laughed uncontrollably as she tried to do an exaggerated imitation of how I sang on stage, but only managed a pathetic drunken warble before stumbling in an embarrassed heap on the floor. She tried to make a recovery, pretending she was just showing us the worm dance, but the bar's owners were likely not fooled, and I imagined that an eviction was imminent.

Jared and Henry managed to pick her up off the floor before she made too much of a spectacle of herself, and on that high note, the bar closed, and we found ourselves stumbling out onto the dark streets to find a cab and head home. The cab driver politely chatted to Jared the entire way, and Henry drunkenly threw some money his way when we reach our duplex, insisting on paying because Jared kept buying all our drinks.

After staggering inside, Mac and Henry made a beeline for the fridge, and I hit the stairs, Jared following behind. He flopped down on my bed with a sigh, and I had to physically restrain my body from flinging itself on top of him by grasping hold of the dresser. I then decided that Drunk Evie around Drunk Jared wasn't a terribly smart idea.

I poked his shoulder because that was as close to Jared I was willing to allow myself. “You’re not sleeping in my bed.”

He rolled over and blinked at me sleepily. “I’m not sleeping with Henry, and I'm definitely not sleeping in a bed with my sister.” He winked. “That leaves you.”

I blinked at him drunkenly as I tried, unsuccessfully, to focus. “We have a couch.”

“It’s too late to walk down the stairs now, Evie. What if I fall?”

This was true. Drunken stumbles down stairs never ended well.

“You have an answer for everything. Fine.” I wondered how Drunk Jared managed such feats of logic while I’d lost all mental faculties. “No wandering hands,” I added.

I grabbed my usual sleeping attire from my drawer, lemon striped silk with ivory lace trim set, and went to the bathroom to change and perform my nightly skin routine. When I came back, Jared was under the covers and sleeping peacefully.

Not really sure what the hell I was doing, I sighed and slipped under the cool sheets, blissfully closing my tired eyes and trying to pretend that Jared wasn’t there. It wasn’t working. I could feel the heat emanating from his body, and I wanted to roll over and wrap myself in it.

When I felt him shift and whisper my name, I considered playing possum, but I didn't know what the outcome would be, and I wasn’t willing to risk it.

Mac and Henry stomped loudly up the stairs after their fridge binge, and I heard a bang as something hit the wall, then a muffled “ouch” before the bathroom door slammed.

“Yeah?” I whispered quietly to Jared. If Mac opened the door and saw the two of us here together, I would be screwed.

I opened my eyes and found Jared on his side, watching me in the dark. “It was Asshole Kellar that broke your heart, wasn’t it?”

The man was far too smart, but even as drunk as I was, I was still not prepared to share. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The geek parade that Mac talks about, Evie. It’s because they’re safe, isn’t it? It’s obvious. You can talk to me.”

I huffed, annoyed at Mac for her loose lips, and rolled over so I was facing the wall. Jared reached over and put a hand on my hip. The heat from it burned so hot I was sure I would wake up in the morning with an imprint on my skin.

“Do I need to go break his face? Will I find it? He’s not another hairy one is he?”

My breath hitched and I let out a giggle as he chuckled.

“Jared,” I whispered. “I’m not talking about this, okay?”

“Okay. Not now, but you’ll tell me eventually.”

His fingers gripped my hip tightly before pulling away, and when I woke the next morning feeling completely exhausted, the bed was empty.

Jared was gone.

The disappointment in my belly was too great to ignore. My heart wasn’t just heading south, it was also heading north, east, and west too, scattered to all four corners. Maybe going out with Tate would be the best thing to do to help slow down its direction.

Snoop Dogg
, I reminded myself.

I let out the breath I’d held in with a loud whoosh and rolled over to stare blindly at the litter of framed photos on my wall. Most were black and white prints in thin black frames of varying sizes. My favourite was a huge photo of Henry and I on stage, a birthday gift from Mac. A giant fan was whipping my wild hair across my face, and I was laughing into the microphone and pointing at someone in the crowd. Henry, guitar slung over his shoulders, was plucking a string and grinning at my antics. There was something about that photo that made me feel full whenever I looked at it.

“Morning, baby.”

My eyes whipped to the door, and I watched a shirtless Jared walk in and place a mug on my white vintage bedside table.

I hadn’t seen a shirtless Jared before. My breath packed its bags and headed for higher ground. His shoulders were wide, abs hard and tanned. A treasure trail of golden hair led from his navel down to where I could see the top button of his pants still left undone.

“I made you some tea because I know you don’t drink coffee.”

“Thanks,” I croaked out and cleared my throat. “I thought you must have gone.” It would have been the best idea, but being deprived of a vision like him in the morning was surely some sort of crime.

“No, I slept in.” He looked surprised. “I never usually do that.”

He stretched and yawned noisily, and I caught another peek of the tattoo on the underside of his right arm.

“What does it say?” I asked, pointing to it.

His bicep muscle flexed as he lifted his arm for me to see. “To thine own self be true.”

“Hamlet? To be reminded not to lie to yourself?”

It sounded like something I needed inked on my skin.

“No, not lie,” he said patiently. “Be true. There’s a difference.”

“So explain it to me.”

The intensity of his gaze lessened until it almost felt like he’d left the room, but he was still there with me because he finally spoke. “It means not giving myself to someone else at the cost of who I am. Not allowing someone else to define me. It means letting go of personal misconceptions so I can be a better person…not just for me, but for others.”

His words set in and my gaze softened on his face because I knew he was someone who would only mark their skin for something that held deep personal meaning. I could sense there was more to it, but before I could ask the question he continued, his eyes regaining their passion.

“It’s too easy to suffer under mistaken beliefs, Evie. There’s already far too much suffering in the world.”

Not being able to stop myself if I tried, I reached out a hand and brushed it down the side of his face. The corners of his lips turned up slightly at my gesture.

“It’s a good way to be, Jared.”

His mouth opened to speak but my phone buzzed from the bedside table, and he turned and snatched it up. He looked at the screen and a frown furrowed his brow. He tossed it at me irritably.

“It’s from Tate.”

“Hey!” I responded when it hit me in the shoulder. “What was that for?”

“I don’t like Tate. He’s shifty.”

I snorted with laughter at how ridiculous that sounded. “Tate shifty?”

Jared crawled back into my bed with his own coffee while I opened the message.

T: Morning, Evie. How did you pull up last night?

E: Didn’t get home till early hours. Just woke up. How about you?

“What’d he say?” Jared asked.

I yawned and stretched. “Just asking how the night went.”

T: That’s a nice visual, you waking up in bed. Can I take you out tonight?

I flushed and Jared leaned over my shoulder. “What is it?”

“He just asked me out.”

“Show me?”

I handed over the phone and watched Jared read the message, lips pressed together firmly as he handed it back.

I took the phone in my hand unsure of what to say in the unnatural quiet. I typed out a response as Jared fluffed the pillow to sit back more comfortably and took a sip of his coffee.