Evanescent Ink (Copperline #4) (30 page)

“What the hell?” I muttered to myself. “She didn’t come to work today because the two of you were going through her mother’s things.”

“I’m not sure why she didn’t come to work, but that wasn’t it.”

“I guess she didn’t want to see me,” I muttered.

“Drew,” Joe said sternly, “why don’t you go back a little and tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m not really sure. I mean, there was this thing, and then she told me about Lacey’s roommate.”

“Lacey’s roommate? My daughter Lacey?” Joe sounded as confused as I was.

“Yeah, because her roommate moved out, so Raven was going to move into the second bedroom.”

“Huh, that’s not right. Drew, Lacey lives in a tiny efficiency apartment. She doesn’t even have one bedroom, much less two, and she doesn't have a roommate.”

“What the hell?” I murmured again. “She lied to me.”

“That
‘thing’
you mentioned… what kind of thing.”

“My band had the chance to record, go on tour… all kinds of stuff.”

“You
had
the chance?”

“We turned it down.” Joe was quiet for a minute. So quiet I almost wondered if the call had been dropped. “Joe?”

“Raven thought you might leave Ophir?”

“She told me to. She said to follow my dream.”

“So why did you turn it down?”

“Because Raven is my dream.” I said it without even thinking, forgetting for a moment who I was talking to.

I heard Joe take a long, shaky breath, and maybe even a sniff, which weirded me out a little since he was a big, old, tough truck driver.

Yet, this was Raven. She meant a lot to him.

“I think,” he said, “you need to go find her. Now. I wouldn’t wait.”

Her Jeep was parked outside her apartment in the usual spot. I pulled in next to it, bracing myself for whatever I was walking into. My throat felt tight. My head ached from the tension in my shoulders. My heart was racing, and I could barely breathe. I had Justin’s words, which still didn’t seem possible coming from Justin, and Joe’s words spinning around in my mind.

I knocked on the door but she didn’t answer. I knocked again, still no answer. She was there. I knew it. It was like I felt her presence.

She was being stubborn.

Either that or she was pissed about finding Maggie at my place, which didn’t really seem fair. Raven walked away from me. Raven had lied to me. Not the other way around. She had no right to be pissed about anything.

Part of me suddenly lurched. Maybe she just didn’t want to see me. She didn’t really care.

I couldn’t accept that.

Regardless, she still didn’t answer the door, so I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.

Open the door.

Still no response, so I sent another.

I know you’re home. Open the door.

I waited, but nothing. I pictured her inside, standing still and holding her breath, waiting for me to leave.

Raven, open the fucking door.

She finally replied.

I’m not home. I’m at Joe’s.

Liar.

Bullshit, I’m standing here looking at your Jeep.

There was a short pause before she replied.

Joe came and picked me up.

That was also bullshit.

From Omaha?

No answer, so I tried again.

Open the door.

I started to think she wasn’t going to do it. I’d sit out here all fucking night if I had to, though. Fuck the Copperline. The guys would understand. I hadn’t missed a show the entire time we’d been together, but this mattered more than anything in the world to me. I was ready to park my ass in her driveway and wait.

Finally, though, just when I began to wonder if this constituted stalking, she opened the door.

She glared up at me with a mutinous expression. “How did you know Joe’s in Omaha?”

“Actually, I think he’s only about halfway to Omaha.”

“You know what I mean,” she said with a raised brow.

“I called him.”

“How did you get his number?”

“I looked in your employee file.”

“Is that legal? For you to use that information for personal shit?”

“Fuck, if I know. Felicity’s dad is a cop, so call if you want. I had to talk to you, though.”

She wavered for a minute, but finally stepped back, holding the door open so I could come in. She closed it behind me, not moving into the room. Instead she kept her distance. I studied her carefully before I said anything.

“Why are you leaving?” I asked after a long, quiet pause.

“I told you, Lacey needs a roommate.”

“Oh, that’s right. She has an extra bedroom and her roommate is bailing on her.”

“Yep,” she nodded.

I gave her a speculative look. “In her efficiency apartment,” I added, “that doesn’t even have one bedroom, never mind two. Oh, yeah, and she doesn't have a roommate. Try again.”

“How do you know that?” she frowned. “Wait… Joe?”

“Joe,” I confirmed with a nod. I took a step towards her, aching a little inside when she took a step back. “Now, one more time, tell me… Why are you leaving?”

“I came here for my mom. You know that’s true. You met her. Now that she’s gone, there’s no reason to stay.”

“There’s no reason to go, either.” I took another step. She tried to back up again, but the door halted her retreat.

“There is, actually. I have to make a living somehow.”

“You have a job here.” The thought of no more Raven at Ink sent a wave of panic through me. Today had been total shit, and it had only been one day. Half a day, really.

She swallowed hard. “I won’t when you run off to be famous with Maggie.”

“I’m not going anywhere,
especially
not with Maggie.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she sighed, turning her face away as I took another step. “You’ve got your ticket to fame. A year from now, you'll be headlining in stadiums, and Ink will be a thing of the past.”

One more step. I could have reached out to touch her if I dared, but I was still wary that she’d bolt like a frightened rabbit. “The Mofos aren’t going on tour.”

Her violet eyes flew up to meet my gaze. “Drew, this is the chance of a lifetime. The Sinners… they’re you idols. This is your dream.”

“I thought it was. I’ve actually thought that my whole life, but I figured something out.” I watched as she took another shallow breath, and I could almost see her rapid pulse beating at the base of her throat. “Fame was a consolation to what I really always wanted.”

“Which was?”

“I wanted family. I wanted roots. I want that here, in Ophir… with you.”

For a minute, she didn’t move. She didn’t breathe. She didn’t blink. She just stared up at me like time had frozen solid. Then she released a shaky breath, holding onto her pique. Using it as a shield to keep me back.

“You sure changed your mind fast. A few months ago, you wanted to be a rockstar. You thought you were going to spend your life living happily ever after with Maggie.”

“Happily ever after with Maggie was
never
going to happen.”

“You forget that I saw you. I saw how devastated you were when she dumped you. And then you kissed me right in front of her to make her jealous.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The night Lacey came to the Copperline. We had sex in the bathroom, and, coming out, you saw her and kissed me.”

“I kissed you because seeing her made me realize I didn’t give a fuck if she was upset.”

“Bullshit! It was a show for her. You loved her.”

“I don’t think I really did,” I said, lowering my voice in an attempt to calm her down.

“Right,” she replied with a bitter slant to her eyes. “You say that like you two didn’t hook up last night.”

“We didn’t.”

“Liar.” Her voice was a harsh whisper, cracking just the tiniest bit. “She was in your room this morning.”

“She showed up super early—
this morning
—and Justin let her in.”

“Right,” she frowned and pressed her lips together.

“No shit, Rave,” I countered, moving the last half a step until we were almost touching. The scent of her perfume rose from her heated skin. “Ask Justin, if you don’t believe me, but I have
never
lied to you.
Ever
. Can you say the same to me?”

Her eyes flashed indignantly. “You think I’ve been lying to you?”

“Haven’t you?”

“Okay, so the thing about going to Joe’s today wasn’t entirely true, but that’s it.”

“That’s
so
not it.”

“What else could I possibly have lied to you about?”

“You lied every time you said this was just sex. You’ve been lying right from the start, haven’t you?”

That took a little of the
oomph
out of her fight, and she flattened up against the door, warily studying me.

“It wouldn’t matter,” she said. “You love Maggie.”

“I don’t, though. I'll admit that she once had some kind of hold on me. I don’t get it because, looking back, I’m not sure I even
liked
her. She just had me totally under her thumb.”

“Just so you know, you saying it like that doesn’t really make it better.”

“Rave, she zeroed in on what she thought I wanted. She used that, and I believed her enough to think she was right. I didn’t realize, though, how wrong all that was for me. I didn’t really want the fame. You took one look at me and figured it all out. I was still reaching out to the ghost of my dad, still looking for his approval in the crowd. Whatever that shit was with Maggie, I never really loved her, and God knows what I felt paled in comparison to what I feel for you.”

“But Drew—”

I cut her off and pointed to the tat she’d done on my arm. “What does that say?”

She looked down at the ink and didn’t answer, but I could almost see it working through her mind.
Love heals
. I could see the fight in her beginning to crumble. I could see her weaken. First her lip trembled. Then she took a shaky breath.

“This was not my idea,” I continued, softening my tone. “You changed it. Why?”

“I didn’t want you branded by bitterness,” she murmured. “You’re better than that.”

“You were right, you know,” I said.

Raven looked back up at me and narrowed her eyes in pained confusion. “About what?”

“Love heals,” I said in a low challenging voice. At the first mention of love, she tried to pull away, but I didn’t let her. I slowly slid my hands around her waist. “You love me. You healed me. I was broken, and you kept me from going under. You were exactly what I needed to get over her.” I framed her face in my hands and bent down to just a hair’s breadth away. “The thing is, how the fuck am I supposed to get over you? I can’t let you go, Raven.
You can’t leave me
.”

While I talked, her eyes became achingly haunted. “It’s for the best,” she whispered. “I just can’t…” Her voice trailed off.

“You can’t what?” I asked.

She shook her head, refusing to answer.

“Rave, baby… tell me.”