Her eyes darted quickly away from mine, breaking the intense connection we seemed to be locked in. I continued to watch her closely.
“Thank you for what you did earlier. I don’t even want to think__” She shook her head as her thoughts hit her. “You don’t have to stay with me.”
“I’m staying put.” I crossed my arms over my chest, and my eyes closed momentarily as exhaustion swept through me. There was nothing about tonight that even the best psychic in the world could have predicted. A few drinks and some inappropriate conversations with Josh was what I expected.
I certainly didn’t expect Eden Rivers.
I felt her move beside me and my eyes shot open as the thoughts of her escaping and going back into the crowd and toward the atrocity of Chris flooded me.
Her body had twisted and she now faced me in such a way that her knees pressed into the side of my thigh. Instinctively, I moved into a similar pose until our knees were pressed against one another’s. I froze under her penetrating gaze. My throat constricted as her inquisitive blue eyes, flickering with intensity, floated over my face, taking me completely in. Every inch of my face was under her scrutiny and I had never felt as exposed or vulnerable as I did right now. It was like she was reading every one of my fucked-up thoughts and that was one thing I didn’t want her to do.
“What are you looking for?” I whispered gruffly, my tone coming across too strong.
“I am trying to work you out.” Her tone dropped in seriousness as her eyes narrowed, darkening to a shade of midnight blue. “I don’t know why you want to sit here babysitting me when the woman with the blond hair at the bar is waiting to pounce on you the moment I leave. I am pretty sure it’s rude to leave your date.”
I felt myself shifting closer to her, and I couldn’t stop the pull. Her eyes widened the moment my voice dropped so only she could hear. “First off, there is nothing you need to work out about me. Secondly, I am not babysitting you, and thirdly, she is most definitely not my date. If you haven’t already worked it out, I clearly prefer the company of brunettes with dangerously inviting eyes who give me a fake name and pretend attitude while I can feel them shaking like a fucking leaf beside me.”
Our eyes latched onto each other’s with a fierce intensity that confused the fuck out of me. My protection of the truth was slowly cracking under her watchful gaze. As I sat opposite her, it was now my turn to look at her, to push every strength of my gaze toward her and ultimately draw her to the surface. Her composure faltered and the smallest of frowns swept over her red painted lips before she snapped back to throwing her false attitude my way. I didn’t buy it. Her weakness was coming to the surface at a rapid pace, swallowing the fake confidence that she was desperately trying to portray.
“My name is Kellie,” she muttered and her voice wavered ever so slightly. Finally her eyes broke away from mine and focused on Ashlyn who was making her way back towards us.
Ashlyn glided through the crowd with a tray of drinks balancing precariously in her hands. Eden’s friend walked behind her with her hand clasped tightly in Josh’s. I shot an exasperated look to Josh whose eyebrows wiggled as a knowing smirk greeted his lips.
“I brought drinks. Kellie, Vodka Orange for you. I got you a double.” Ashlyn’s gaze danced questioningly between Eden and me. I felt my frustration level rising at Ashlyn calling her Kellie.
“Uh yeah thanks.” Eden grabbed the tall glass from the tray and immediately drank half the glass in one swift gulp. She fell into a vortex of silence while the conversation around us buzzed as drink after drink was downed. The more Eden drank the more she seemed to relax and her closeness to me didn’t falter.
Tori shifted from Josh’s lap and stumbled over toward the couch and plopped herself beside Eden, forcing her to shift even closer to me.
“I am going to fuck his brains out tonight,” Tori nodded in Josh’s direction. “And you should do the same with his brother. Latch onto him and ride him like a goddamn stallion. Did you see what he did out there for you?” Her attempts at whispering were foiled by her intoxicated state, and I heard every damn word she said.
“Jesus Tori, drop your voice,” Eden groaned. She shot me an apologetic look.
“No one will be riding me,” I growled and stood from the couch. Josh’s eyes found mine, and I knew he would follow the moment I left. I stormed through the crowd back to the main bar and slammed a fifty down and ordered another round of drinks for the group plus ice water for myself. I knew for a fact that Chris was still sniffing around and would pounce the moment I tore down my guard so the beers had to stop.
“So it’s pretty obvious that I’m taking Tori home. Are you alright to take Eden and Ashlyn with you?” Josh spoke from behind me.
I shifted my gaze back to the couches where Eden sat with Ashlyn and Tori. Tori and Ashlyn laughed together while Eden looked absently out onto the dance floor, a stoic look plastered on her face.
“Why the fuck is she pretending that her name is Kellie?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” He shook his head as his eyes focused on her. “She has absolutely no clue that we know who she is.”
Tori stumbled toward us, her curls bouncing around her face while her eyes locked tightly on me, ultimately dispersing mine and Josh’s conversation. She latched onto my arm for support as her body swayed under the effects of way too much alcohol. Just how strong were those vodkas Ashlyn was buying?
“I know your name is Ky,” she slurred and poked me in the chest. It wasn’t a hidden fact what my name was, it just hadn’t been asked, and I didn’t just go around saying ‘by the way, my name is Ky’.
“And I know your name is Tori,” I shot back.
“She can’t say no, my best friend can’t say no. She can’t even be herself on her birthday,” she announced with a heavy sigh, fiercely grabbing my attention in the process. Her voice swam with frustration, hurt, and distress as she glanced back toward the table. “That’s why she went with that guy. We come to places like this because it’s usually safe. We usually have the best time because no one pays any attention to us. But tonight it wasn’t. If you hadn’t come along, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“What do you mean?” Josh thankfully asked as my ability to speak faded as anger fired within me.
“For as long as I’ve known her, she always says yes, because she is scared to say no.”
“Why is she saying her name is Kellie?” I growled as my blood boiled at hearing Tori’s admissions.
“Because she hides behind these masks she puts up. She does it every time we go out. I tried to talk her out of it tonight, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She is never Eden.”
I needed to get out of here before I said something I’d regret or did something that would lead to me looking like a complete tool. “I’ve got to go. Josh, take Tori and Ashlyn with you.”
“What?”
“Josh, please,” I shot my brother a pleading look, and he nodded in agreement. I knew my time here was done for. I felt like I was teetering on the edge of completely blowing the fuck up, and I needed to get out—but first I needed to see for myself. I marched back to the table, my eyes focused on Eden who looked at me with Bambi-like eyes, before shifting my attention to Ashlyn.
“I’m done for the night. Ash, I’ll see you on Monday.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek softly and then returned my attention to a gawking Eden.
“Kellie, come with me.”
I should have been panicked.
I should have been frightened.
I should have been alarmed.
But I wasn’t.
I stood on the sidewalk, the cool air of New York swirling around me in a teasing manner, and I waited for his next move. I chewed my lip and pulled my jacket tightly around my body. What a crazy night. The moment he asked me to leave with him, I was done for. I had no choice but to follow him out of the bar and into the uncertainty of the city. His eyes had widened when I stood from the couch and moved toward him, as if he didn’t expect me to agree so quickly. What choice did I have? He asked and I followed. I said yes. At that moment my weakness was on full display, every confidence that I tried to show was squashed by a simple statement, and as usual, I couldn’t say no. The mask I tried so desperately to portray quickly fell to the floor in a heap of lies and trepidation.