Black Falcon: Complete Series Collection (52 page)

I hear Lanie’s voice in the background. “Noel, stop!”

In a split second, Noel loses it. He yanks me from the bunk and throws me down on the hallway floor. I try to stand, but before I get the chance, Noel’s on me, connecting a hard punch against my jaw.

I grunt and grab Noel into a tight headlock when he dips his head down. If it’s one thing I know how to do well, it’s fighting. Dad would come at me every time he got drunk, so it was learn to protect myself and fight back or get the shit kicked out of me.

Noel flings his arms wildly, his fists crack against my ribs and knocks the wind out of me for a second.

“Stop it!” Lanie yells again.

Trip and Tyke’s curtains fly back and they jump out of their bunks. The twins get in-between us and eventually yank us apart. My chest heaves as I taste metallic on the tip of my tongue. That fucker was going for blood.

We’re both still red-faced determined to get at each other as he fight against Trip and Tyke.

“I can’t believe you fucking told her!” Noel shouts while still in Trip’s firm hold. “You need to mind your own damn business.”

I laugh harshly. “Me? Mind my own business? You make it pretty hard to do when you’re fucking my girlfriend behind my back!”

Noel’s mouth drops open. “She came to me. I didn’t go after her.”

“And that makes it fucking okay? Jesus, Noel, you were my best friend—my brother and you still screwed me over. I’m not going to let you do that to Lanie.”

“I was going to tell her!” Noel shouts with his arms spread wide.

“When? When were you going to tell her? After Sophie has the baby?”

Out of the corner of my eye I notice Lanie falls back against the wall. A baby isn’t something I told her about. I figured if I told her about Sophie, Noel would fess up about knocking her up on his own. But in the heat of the moment, I said it to further piss him off.

Noel’s body stills and his eyes snap to Lanie. She shakes her head under his stare and slowly backs away from him.

“Lane?” Noel says her name as heads back to the bedroom. “Lane, wait!”

She slams the door behind her and Noel instantly jerks his gaze at me. “This isn’t over, motherfucker.”

“It is for you,” I snap back.

He glares at me for a second longer like he’s debating on trying a round two with me, but he knows better. I’ll fucking end him if he comes at me while I’m ready for him.

He shakes his head and heads after her.

“Come on, man. Let’s head over to the hotel and chill out for a while.” Trip pats my shoulder.

T
rip walks me back to our floor in the hotel, keeping an extra eye that I don’t turn around and charge the bus to go after Noel again.

“I can’t believe he yanked you out of the bunk like that,” Trip says.

I shrug. “I would’ve probably done the same thing. I basically ruined things between him and Lanie.”

Trip shakes his head. “It was good you told her, though. I hate keeping secrets from people.”

I nod, but don’t answer because I’m keeping things from Aubrey, too—things she may leave me for when she finds out.

“I’m gonna go toss my shit in my room and use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

I plop down in the chair next to the elevator. “I’ll wait for you right here.”

Thinking about Kitten makes me want to hear her voice.

AUBREY

The sound of
Maroon 5
from my cell phone wakes me up. I roll over and grab it from my nightstand. It’s Lanie. Why is she calling so early in the morning?

I smile when I answer, “What’s up, lucky girl? How’s that fine man of yours?”

There’s a long pause on the line before she says, “Not good.”

As soon as the words leave her she’s bawling into the phone. I sit up in bed, immediate concern rocks me. She’s falling apart. Did she find out about Diana’s plan to take the charity away from her?

I have to know what’s going on. “Aw, baby cakes, tell me what happened?”

She sniffs. “He’s such an asshole.”

A heavy breath leaves my lungs as relief washes through me. I’m sad she’s hurt, but I’m glad it’s not because of me and what I’m keeping from her. “Did he hurt you? I’ll kill him if he laid a finger on you.”

“Nothing like that. He’s just...” She takes a deep breath. “Noel has a girlfriend, Aubrey.”

“What!?” I screech. “What do you mean he has a girlfriend?”

“I guess he has for a while, but that’s not the worst part.”

“What can be any worse than that?”

“She’s pregnant.”

I gasp. “Like, with a baby?”

“Yes. She says it’s Noel’s.”

“Oh, my god. Screw the job, Lanie. Run away as fast as you can from that freak show. Come home.”

She’s quiet for a second and then she calls out, “Just a minute.”

“Who is that?” I question. It better not be Noel. He better thank his lucky stars I’m not there to punch him square in the balls.

There’s a rustling noise on her end of the line like she’s moving around. “It’s probably just housekeeping.” After a distinct sound of a deadbolt unlocking, I hear her say, “What are you doing here?”

Noel’s deep voice rumbles and asks, “Can I come in?”

There’s a thump as the door closes and then she sighs into the phone. “Aubrey, I’ll have to call you back.”

“Is it him?”

She whispers, “Yes.”

I inhale deeply through my nose, trying to hold in my anger. “Tell him to fuck off, Lanie. You don’t need to put up with his shit.”

“I will. I promise.”

“You call me back if you need me. Hear me?”

“Okay,” is all she says before disconnecting our call.

I flop back against my pillow and rake my hair back from my forehead. What a mess. If only I could’ve seen this coming...

My lips twist. This is exactly what Zach was trying to warn me about. Why didn’t he tell me or her for that matter? Just further proves why I can’t date a guy like him. That whole bros before hoes mentality is sickening.

I open the message box to Zach and see the last message he left me.

Riff:
Why?

I shake my head. There’s so many reasons why I can’t date him. This situation with Lanie doesn’t help.

Aubrey:
Because men like you keep girlfriends on the side.

I toss my phone back on the nightstand and head into the shower to get ready for work. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me what Noel was up to. Why make me try and guess?

I scrub vigorously in the shower, running through everything Zach ever said to me about Noel. There’s nothing I can recall that screams Noel wasn’t exactly single.

I know it’s not Zach’s fault that his friend is a douchebag, but he knew exactly what was going on. He had to. And he didn’t tell me, or more importantly, Lanie.

I run a fluffy towel through my hair, sopping up the water as I walk back over to my cell. The blue message light flashes. I pick it up and touch the screen.

Riff:
Lanie called you?

I roll my eyes.

Aubrey:
Of course she called me. We don’t keep things from each other
.

After I hit send, I think about how that isn’t exactly true either. I’m keeping something from her too, but I’m doing it to protect her, not out of selfish gain.

Riff:
Look, I’m the one who told her, okay? I was trying to help her. I told you I didn’t think it was a good idea for them to be together.

Aubrey:
You should’ve told me, so I could break it to her.

Riff:
I struggled with it because it wasn’t exactly my place to tell her and I didn’t want you involved.

I sigh. He’s right. Noel should’ve manned-up and told her. Instead he kept it from her, causing her to be crushed.

Aubrey:
You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to lash out at you. Thank you for telling her.

Riff:
It was the right thing to do.

I smile.

Aubrey:
So noble...who knew?

Riff:
I wouldn’t go that far.

Aubrey:
I would.

Riff:
What’s your cell number? I hate instant messaging.

I tap my finger on the side of the phone. Where is this going? It’s only going to torture both of us if we keep this up.

When I don’t respond right away another message pops up.

Riff:
Come on, friends call each other.

I nod in agreement. What the hell? He’s right.

I fire my cell phone number into the message box and hit send. Two seconds later the phone rings showing an unknown number on the ID screen. What the hell did I get myself into?

I
haven’t called a girl I liked since junior high school. They typically call me. The palm of my hand is clammy as I dial her number. I know she said friends only, but that doesn’t work for me. I think about her way to damn much to leave it at that. I need more time with her. I’m not even sure why. I know that the weekend I spent with her was the first time I’d felt alive in a long time. I didn’t dwell on past things I can’t change as much. I even allow myself to picture what a life with her might be like. I don’t want those kinds of feelings. I don’t deserve to have them.

If I can spend more time with her, I know she’ll eventually piss me off, and whatever this is that I’m feeling will go away. Then I can get back to being the fucking asshole everyone knows and loves.

She answers on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hey. It’s me,” I reply.

“I’m glad you told her,” she says instantly.

I let out a heavy sigh, relived she doesn’t think I’m a total dick. “I had to. It was eating away at me.”

“Why? Because you didn’t like Lanie being wronged?”

I shake my head. “That’s part of it, but mainly it’s because I think Noel is a gigantic douche.”

“I thought you were friends?”

I laugh bitterly. “Definitely not friends.”

“But you guys got along pretty well when I was there.” I can hear the question in her voice. She wants the details about our beef.

“The girl Noel knocked up was sort-of my girlfriend.”

She gasps. “Oh, Zach. I’m so sorry. No wonder you’re pissed. You have every right to be. Were you with her long?”

“No, not long at all. We weren’t even that serious, really. She was just a chick I kept around to...” I trail off. What will she think of me if I tell her Sophie was a random groupie that didn’t annoy me too much, so I kept her around as my fuck-buddy for a couple months? She’ll probably think less of me than she already does knowing I use women that way.

“Say no more. I get it. Regardless of what she was to you, Noel overstepped his bounds. I’d be livid if my friend did that to me.” I tilt my head. She gets it. She’s even saying my anger at him is acceptable.

“It’s so nice for someone to be okay with me being pissed at him for a change.”

“You mean the twins are okay with what he did to you?”

I shrug. “They aren’t exactly okay with it, but they do think I need to let it go for the sake of the band.”

She sighs into the phone. “You shouldn’t allow anyone to walk all over you, Zach. You’re too good of a person for that.”

I raise my eyebrows. “No one’s ever called me that before.”

“What’s that, good?”

“Yeah,
asshole
,
dick
, sure, I get those a lot, but never
good
. Most people end up hating me.”

“You don’t let them see the caring side of you that I know is in there.”

“What makes you think I have a caring side?”

“Because I’ve seen it. The way you were with me...it was nice. I like Zach more than I like Riff.”

I close my eyes. I should’ve never let my guard down with her. She shouldn’t feel this way about me. I’m not a good person.

“You still there?”

I nod, knowing full well she can’t see me, but I can’t bring myself to say anything. My chest squeezes knowing Kitten doesn’t think I’m an evil bastard. This is so not good. It only makes me want her more. Turns out she’s too good of a distraction from the hellhole that is my life. She’s actually allowing me to believe there’s hope for me, and hope is a dangerous thing to a rotten human being like me.

It’s in that moment I decide I’m going to have her. I don’t care what she said about being friends. I like how I feel with her. I’m a better person with her.

I’m going to have to make her see she wants me, too.

“So, tell me about this date you were on last night,” I ask to totally change the subject off my less desirable qualities.

“It was okay. Nothing big—drinks with a friend.”

I arch my pierced eyebrow. “Is he your friend like I’m your friend?”

She laughs. “Definitely not. At least not yet, anyhow.”

Relief washes through me. I knew she wasn’t like that with everyone. There’s something about me that pulls her in and I need to figure out what it is.

“So you’re saying you don’t tie him up and visit sex shops with him yet? How did we move to that place so quickly? You used me for my body, didn’t you?”