Shattered (29 page)

"Been busy with Ada's and now--her," Grayson replied, staring down on me. "But we're here tonight to celebrate my girl's new job."

"Oh yeah? Well, shit, tell Patty over there at the bar to hook you up. I can't celebrate with you, but it's on me, man."

"Will do."

"It was nice to meet you, Dallis. And congratulations on your new job… whatever it is." He winked, which made me smile.

"Thanks," I replied as Grayson pulled me further into the bar.

The scene was of a typical dive bar. There were neon florescent signs hanging from the walls, numerous beer posters, pictures of the patrons partaking in shot competitions, and everything else that would be customary for a dive bar. Miranda and I used to frequent a small bar back at State, but it was full of young, idiotic college kids. After moving to Seattle, my venues for outings and celebrations had drastically changed. I took in the room, noticing that most of the people were older which immediately made me feel more at home.

"Two Black and Tans… make 'em twenty-four ounce please?" Grayson asked the bartender, holding up two fingers. She winked at him, making him flash her his charismatic grin that I had thought was reserved for me.

"Wow!" I said, playfully nudging him in the ribs. "Flirting with the bartender right in front of me?"

"Oh yeah. I am so interested in fifty year old chicks. That's as fuckin' sexy as it gets."

I laughed as Patty brought our drinks back. Her skin was overly tanned and wrinkled, indicating that she spent too much time in the fake and bake salons. Seattle wasn't known to provide enough sunshine for the type of tan that Patty walked around with. Her bleached blond hair had been bleached a few too many times, and by the looks of her roots, she needed to have it done again. Or should she? Whatever the case, something needed to be done.

"Here ya go sweets," she said, sliding the glasses over to us. "Don't worry about it, it's on the house."

Grayson laughed. "Well, actually--Steve said to put it on his tab."

"It's on me, darlin', and I'll tell you this. If you didn't have that pretty little girl with you tonight, I would take your ass home with me and show you how I get down." She flicked her tongue at Grayson, clicking her tongue ring against her teeth.

I stifled a laugh. Honestly, who could get mad at Patty and her old ass? She was probably sexually frustrated and setting her sights on Grayson made it painfully obvious that she wasn't getting any, at least not from anyone as hot as the man standing before her.

"Well, thanks, Patty."

"Anytime, sweets."

We each grabbed a beer and walked off into the crowd. "Can I take you home tonight, sweets?" I asked, mocking Patty while pinching Grayson's ass. "This little girl wants to show you how she gets down."

Grayson laughed hard. "That cougar was about to jump over the bar and molest me."

"Can't say I blame her. You do look pretty damn hot tonight." I winked just the way Patty had done minutes earlier.

We found a small table towards the back of the bar and took our seats.

"So I only look hot tonight, huh? Damn. Wound a man's ego, Dallis--wound it." Grayson's faux look of disappointment made me laugh.

Just as I was beginning to respond, a new Seattle area band took the small stage that was positioned not far from where we were sitting. The crash of the drums and the high pitched shriek from the lead singer startled me out of my thoughts. I had never heard of this band, but apparently this scene had and they loved them. The bolt of patrons towards the stage reminded me of that fateful night at Ada's when those two guys bumped into Emily, causing her to spill water all over Colby. Thinking about it made me chuckle a bit.

"What's so funny?" Grayson asked, after sipping his beer.

"Just thinking about that night at Ada's." I sipped my beer, peering at Grayson over the top of the glass.

"Yeah. What a night." He laughed a little. "Anyway, how did this Sounders gig come about? Whether you want to admit it or not, it's amazing."

"Well. Brynley, the aspiring model that I shot the portfolio for, is friends with the publicist for the Sounders and showed him my pictures. I guess it all happened from there."

"Damn. That's crazy. I'm proud of you. I knew I had good taste bringing you in to do the pictures for the remodel." A cavalier smile graced his face.

"You were just trying to hit on me," I quickly responded, scowling at him.

"Well--yeah, but I liked your pictures too. You can't blame me. Only a fool would have kept walking the other way."

"Oh yeah?"

"Hell, yeah."

After gulping down the last of our beers, Grayson and I sauntered out to the bar floor to take in the music. The band wasn't half bad, and after downing my drink, I felt loose enough to actually dance. Grayson stood back and watched me as I flung my hair around, swiveling my hips in his direction. Seduction pierced through his eyes as he stood back, admiring the show that I was putting on for him. A few other guys--drunk, of course--stood next to him to take in the show as well. Whistles and tongue flicks were thrown in my direction, making me believe that the use of the tongue in such an unattractive manner was just something that was done here at Emeralds. Grayson took no offense as he laughed it off, letting the guys know that I was with him. They respected that and gave him a hand shake, then left us to enjoy our show again.

"We need to come here more often. Our egos are definitely growing tonight!" Grayson yelled, pulling me into his chest. "Patty and the drunks--fuck."

"Maybe Patty ought to take one of them home? She can show them what she can do." We both laughed off the sick joke. Patty was too old, too unattractive, and too forward. "I think you should go and see your side girl, though. I need another drink."

"You're making me go back to her? She might rape me this time."

"My celebratory night, remember?"

After kissing me, Grayson slowly turned and made his way back to the bar. He looked back at me with his bottom lip poking out just as Patty noticed him and smiled in his direction.

I laughed about it. It was all in good fun and honestly, Patty was quite entertaining. A break in between songs finally allowed me to hear the chime of my cell phone in my back pocket. It had been so loud in the bar that I hadn’t heard anything besides Grayson, who had to yell in order to be heard. Staring down at the screen, I noticed that I had three missed calls from Hailey and a voicemail to go along with them.

The band was starting up again and the bar area was beginning to fill up, so I stepped out on the patio through a side door and called Hailey back, never bothering to listen to her message.

"Dallis!" she shrieked. The tone in her voice immediately put up warning flags for me.

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"I'm so sorry to worry you, Dallis, but it's Colby." She took a pause. "I'm not even sure if I should be calling you. I feel so awkward."

"What is it, Hails? Tell me."

"Well, Colby was in a pretty bad jet skiing accident this morning, and after getting out of surgery, he pleaded with me to call you. I'm sorry. I told him it was a bad idea, but he insisted."

I stood frozen for a second. Surgery? How bad was this accident? "No, thanks for calling, Hails. I appreciate it."

"Just so you know, he is doing better. He's just a little down in the dumps emotionally, but that'll change with time."

"Yeah. Um, what happened to him?" My curiosity wouldn't be satisfied until I had some answers to the nagging questions in my head.

"He was riding with some friends, doing tricks and whatnot, when he lost control of his jet ski and was ejected into the water. The jet ski came crashing down on top of him."

A gasp left my throat as I listened to Hailey tell the horror story about Colby's accident. "So what did he have to have surgery on?"

"He broke an arm, two ribs, and punctured a lung. They had to set pins in his arm. Everything is fine, though. This is better news than what I could be reporting--considering the accident."

"Are you in Seattle?" I asked.

"No. Bellingham."

"Okay. Well, thanks for calling, Hailey"

"Yeah. And like I said, I know I probably shouldn’t have, but Colby was pretty adamant about me getting in touch with you."

"Yeah. No problem."

"Bye, Dallis."

"Bye."

I stood, confused. Colby had been hurt pretty badly in his accident, and while I wanted to be able to shut down my phone and go back into the bar and finish celebrating, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Thoughts of him lying in a hospital bed, looking bruised and battered, flashed through my mind. Why would he want me to know so badly what had happened to him? The last time Colby and I spoke, I was throwing all of his stuff out of my townhouse with his 'date' standing there watching it all. We weren't friends. Hell, we weren't even civil.

A familiar hand touched my shoulder, and I turned around finding Grayson standing with my beer, worry plastered on his face.

"You okay?" he asked, handing me the beer but never peeling his eyes from me. "Some guys said you came out here."

"Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go back inside." I tried motioning for Grayson to join me back inside the bar, but he didn't budge.

"What happened? You don't look like yourself."

I didn't want to tell him because in my head, it didn't really matter. It was nice to be thought of, and to know that Colby would be okay, but that was as far as it went for me. I didn't want to give it a second thought. "It's nothing. Let's go back inside."

"Dallis…I'm not dumb. Something has you. What is it?"

I sighed. "Hailey has been calling. Colby was in a jet skiing accident and he's in the hospital. Just informing me, that's all."

Grayson finally blinked, but he didn’t say anything.

 Feeling completely overtaken by the Colby news, I wanted to get back to our celebratory and carefree night. "I'm not done celebrating with you," I said, finally pulling Grayson back into the bar. I could feel the change in his demeanor, but he reluctantly followed me back into the bar anyway.

We swayed along to the music for a while longer as I finished off my beer. No further mention of Colby was made, and we enjoyed the rest of our time out at Emeralds, even with Patty's seductive glances managing to find Grayson in just about every location of the bar that we went to.

Trying to enjoy a bowl of cereal at the table the next morning, I worked extra hard to keep my head up. Sleep had managed to escape me the night before and my heavy eyes fought against my desperate attempts to keep them open. Grayson stole glances at me from across the table, cocking his head to the side a few times as if he were trying to figure me out.

"What are your plans today?" he asked with a worrisome look on his face.

"I might go into the office. I have some work I need to get squared away."

"I don't think you should go in today."

"Why not?" I blurted, dropping my spoon in the bowl.

"You didn't sleep all night, Dallis. I can see the effects of it all over you right now. You need to get some rest."

"I'll be fine, Grayson. I need to get things done."

He rubbed his hand over his head and blew out a frustrated breath. "You won't be very productive. You're a walking insomniac right now. Don't think I didn't notice your tossing and turning because I did." His eyes lowered as he gazed deeper into me. "Now, please, just go back to bed and sleep?"

Fatigue overtook me, and after wanting but failing to put up more of a fight, I finally gave in. Taking me in his arms, Grayson slowly walked me to his bedroom and lay me down in the bed. "I have to go in and do the books at Ada's, but if you need anything, please don't drive. Call me and I'll come back for you."

His concerned face was the last thing I saw before my eyes shut out of sheer exhaustion. When I awoke, hours later, Grayson was lying in the bed next to me, watching me sleep.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, trying hard to focus my eyes.

"Four hours at least," Grayson replied. "Are you hungry? I brought home some take-out."

I gently nodded. I was still physically exhausted and was now mentally exhausted as well. Somehow, I'd managed to make my way to the kitchen and into a chair. Grayson served me, making sure that I didn't have to do anything that required energy. He sat down across from me and tried to make small talk, but I wasn't much in the mood for talking, so I'd nod, or give short answers, but never elaborate on anything. Finally, Grayson stopped asking questions and we sat in silence as we ate our meals.