Flaw (The Flaw Series) (9 page)

“Shit,” I mumble, my mouth filled with strawberry. What the hell did I do that for? Red alert. Everything about this girl is dangerous. I need to finish out this day being her prince and then walk away.

The rest of the afternoon speeds by in a whirl. The kids are awesome. Each one is cuter than the next with their little questions, asking if we’re married, if we live in a castle. All of Jordyn’s answers were equally adorable. She gave the girls detailed accounts of our happy life together in our huge castle. The girls squealed and giggled and I’ve never been hugged so much in my entire life. I enjoyed this role as a prince way more than I ever expected I would.

We walk down the narrow hallway back to the dressing area. I can’t wait to take off the mask and be free from the heavy costume of the “furry” prince. I have to be five pounds lighter, at least, from all the sweating I’ve done today.

“Jordyn, you were both fantastic out there.” A woman’s voice greets us in the room. I wait for Jordyn to help remove the mask. She doesn’t.

“Thanks, Mom.” Jordyn’s voice is rushed. “Can you give us privacy? We need to get dressed.”

“Okay, but aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“Mom this is Aidan. Aidan, this is my mom.”

“Um, hello?” This is awkward. I can’t even see the woman I’m being introduced to. I hear the quick shuffle of feet, the sound of the door closing and the click of the lock.

Jordyn releases a strap and helps to lift the heavy mask from my head. “Don’t worry, she’s gone.”

“I wasn’t worried.” Actually I felt weird being introduced to her mother like that. I just spent the afternoon working for her and would have liked a more proper introduction.

“I just figured you were all tired and sweaty and not in the mood for a formal introduction.” She hands me a bottle of cold water and steps behind me to find the zipper. “Think you’d be willing to do this again? There’s a lot more events like this one coming up and you were a big hit today.”

“Maybe,” I find myself saying, even though I know the answer should be “no.” It was just being around the kids and knowing what I was doing was helping others in need felt kinda good. I don’t get many opportunities where I get to help out like this.

“You really were great today. All those little girls will be dreaming about marrying you tonight. You were such a convincing prince, I might dream it myself,” she says, taking the ribbon out of her long brown hair. I dip my chin down into my chest to hide the smile she provoked.

“Once I’m dressed I’m gonna head out back and get some air. I’ll meet you by the car.” I need an excuse to be out of the room this time when she’s getting dressed.

Outside, the cool air feels great and I stretch out the kinks. No one’s around but I’m safely covered up under my hood just in case. It doesn’t take long until Jordyn is at my side by the car. Even without the costume on, she still looks like a princess. I walk over to her and extend my arm out for her to grab onto, just like I had been doing all day. She grasps my arm with her soft hands and I escort her over to the driver’s side of her car.

“See, you are a fantastic prince.” The soft lips that kissed my mask earlier are being pressed into my cheek. I take a step back and turn so she can’t see the way I gasp for a breath at her simple gesture.

On the ride home Jordyn explains how her mother is on the Woman’s Committee and often does fundraisers similar to the one we just attended, raising money for the children’s hospital in our area.

“Let me know if you ever do one those events for the children at the hospital. I’d definitely be willing to help you out with something like that.”

“I’ll look into it and get back to you,” she says, beaming, then quickly adds, “I would really like to volunteer at the hospital. This is probably a good time to start.”

She’s not just perfect on the outside. She’s perfect on the inside, too.

I glance around casually as she pulls up in front of my building, if Becca sees this, it’d be tough to explain. Telling her the truth would have been best. But I didn’t.

“Thanks for your help today.” Jordyn hesitates, licking her lips. “I’d say maybe we could hang out sometime, but,” she pauses. “I know you’re busy.”

With a shaky hand I reach for the car door. One more second and I know I’ll say or do something I’ll regret. “Bye.” I lean down once I’m safely out of the car. “Today was…fun.”

“It was,” she says, sighing, gripping the steering wheel. I shut the door, tap my hand on the roof of her car, and then she takes off.

Inside the apartment, Becca and Josh are sitting next to each other on the couch laughing when I walk in. Their laughter fades off and Becca starts right in with the questions. “Hey, where were you?”

“I was just out, running errands, the gym, stuff like that. I sent you a text, didn’t you get it?”

“I got it. It’s just not like you to be out for this long, at least not during the day,” she says suspiciously. “Were you by yourself?”

The breath juts out of me. “What is this? Why are you drilling me like I did something wrong? I can’t go out during the day?”

“That’s not what I’m doing. It’s just not like you is all and I was worried.”

“I’m gonna go take a shower. You and Josh can go back to laughing at whatever it was that was so funny when I came in.” I leave the room irritated, slamming the door to the bathroom behind me. I turn the water on in the shower and strip my shirt off, leaning my hands on the sink. What am I doing? Lying to Becca about where I was and who I was with. Why? I need to come clean. There’s no need to hide anything because I didn’t do anything wrong. It was a charity event,
in probably more ways than one
.

There’s a knock on the door and Becca lets herself in. She leans up against the back of the door, shutting it. “Hey,” she says softly.

“I’m sorry, come here.” I open my arms out to her and she fills them up. “I didn’t mean to jump down your throat. I’m just trying to get out a little more. I was serious about going to school next semester and just figured I should get myself out a little bit more first.” I still don’t tell her the truth.

She tenses in my arms almost like she knows there’s something I’m not telling her. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re getting out more. And I should have said it before but I’m so happy you’re going back to school. Maybe we can even sign up for a class together.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” I say, lifting my arms up to adjust them.

She sniffs and backs away from me. “Oh my God, you stink. I guess that’s from your workout. You better go take that shower.”

I back away from her, more guilt seeping in about the truth behind my unpleasant stench. But telling her it’s from being stuffed into a heavy costume, dressed up as a prince with Jordyn at my side…I don’t think I can.

Becca holds her nose and points to the running water. “Shower. Now. Go.”

Once she closes the door, I finish undressing and step into the shower. Immediately my thoughts go back to the princess I spent the day with, us dressed up in costumes, acting out a fairytale. I exhale, closing my eyes while the warm water runs over my face.
That’s all it was, Aidan
.

An act.

Josh

It’s Friday night and the bar’s packed tighter than usual. The new band is starting and it’s like a mini-high school reunion around here. The poorly treated girls of my past are coming up to the bar from all directions. Ashley orders drinks from Jimmy, the bartender at the other end of the bar, but he’s busy and I wind up being the one who brings them to her.

“Thanks,” she snarls with insincerity and throws down the exact amount for the drinks with no tip. She should. I don’t blame her one bit. I wish I could tell her I’m sorry for all the bad shit I did in the past. She hates me so much I don’t think she’d even listen. Her boyfriend, Patrick, walks over and glares at me from a few feet away.
Relax, tough guy, I promised I would never touch her again
.

In between serving the rush of people at the bar, I keep my eyes peeled for Becca. I know she wanted to show her support for Kent, his first night playing and all.

“I’m back here to help.” Jordyn comes up behind me and places her hand on my back and leans into my ear. “This is an even bigger turnout than we expected.”

I like Jordyn a lot. She does this sort of thing all the time, jumps right in and helps whenever it’s needed. Easy going to work with and just as easy to talk to, she’s ridiculously smart and well-liked by just about everyone. The only person I know who’s not crazy about her is Becca. I thought they were friends, being that’s how I got the job here. Only, over the last few days it seems like Becca hates the poor girl. You can’t even mention her name without Becca running her mouth about how shady she thinks Jordyn is. I don’t get it.

The band starts and the crowd huddled around the bar finally calms down a bit. I take advantage by filling a glass with soda and listening to the music over everyone’s crazy cheers for Kent Daniels. The girls are going wild. He’s certainly not the same guy he was in high school. Two full sleeves of tattoos covering both arms, hair down past his shoulders, and I think he’s doubled in size. Not that he’s huge, just much bigger than the thin kid I remember from a few years ago.

“Hey bartender, get me a beer.” Becca sits down at the bar and bangs her hand to get my attention. A white flower clip pulls pink curls over to one side. I can’t hold back my smile as I place the beer down on a coaster in front of her. “This place is crazy,” she shouts over the music. “Did you see Kent? He looks like a legit rock star. I think I dated the wrong brother.”

“You’re here alone?” I ask, looking around for Aidan. She nods her head and takes a sip of beer. The two of them have been weird lately. Ever since the fight they had the night with the bubblegum vodka things have been off with them. Not as snuggly as they had been. Becca spends most of her time in my leather chair, always talking about how comfortable it is and how she stole it away from me. Lots of short tense conversations take place when they’re together and I haven’t seen her spend the night in his room in some time. Maybe it’s out of respect to me. The walls are thin and I haven’t had an overnight guest myself since that first time. But that doesn’t make much sense, because she’s got a place of her own right across the hall they could go to.

“Think you can get out from back there for a few minutes and come dance?” Becca looks over her shoulder at the dancing horde of people pulsing to the music. I look to Jordyn, who motions for me to go ahead.

The music kicks into overdrive and the dance floor is a crazy scene. We maneuver through the crowd and I instinctively reach for Becca, protectively pulling her into my arms, keeping us close together against the wildness around us. The lyrics to the song Kent’s singing tell a lusty story about a relationship spinning out of control. We stand together listening to the words, and the people surrounding us seem to disappear. All I can see is her, the pink hair, wintery gray eyes, her soft full curves, and those shimmering lips.

Becca moves in closer, turning to press the back of her body into mine. Her head dips back, resting on my shoulder. I lick my lips and my hand slides over her waist, pulling her tightly against me. Her hips move in a slow rhythm, encouraging me to do the same. I can’t stop my lips from brushing against the back of her neck. Her stomach tenses and I bring my lips to her ear, placing a kiss I can’t control. She twists in my arms and meets my eyes. Holding back from kissing her is hard, nearly impossible, being this close to her feels so good. I need more. I can’t have it.

“I have to get back to work.” I drop my hands away from her and push my way through the mass of people back to the bar. My heartbeat thunders in my ears and I grab onto the bar to steady myself.

“You okay?” Jordyn asks. “What was that out there?”

“Nothing.”
Fuck
, what did just happen out there? I almost kissed her. I did kiss her.

“Don’t tell me nothing, I saw the whole thing. She just ran out of the bar.” The music is blasting and I can hardly get a clear thought to form in my head. Now I got Jordyn breathing down my neck, asking for an explanation I don’t have.

“There’s nothing to tell. What you saw was just dancing, nothing more.” A girl at the end of the bar holds her hand up. “Excuse me, I got a customer.”

Things are blowing up. I know what I’m feeling for Becca and now I just acted on it, or at least came damn close. She’s with Aidan. I need to get that through my fucking head. The girl is not available. If I can’t accept that I might need to start finding a new place to live.

I struggle to keep up with the busy pace of the bar, my mind constantly racing back to Becca on the dance floor. The swaying of her hips against mine. The look in her eyes. The soft kiss I couldn’t stop myself from giving her. Does she hate me now? Will she tell Aidan? The night drags on endlessly until “Last Call” is finally hollered and the lights flicker on.

Jordyn and I are the last to leave after locking up. The sun is just starting to peek up over the tall buildings surrounding us. She offers to drive me home, which doesn’t make any sense being I’m only right down the road. Leaning back on her car, she exhales a fluffy cloud of cold air. “Josh, you ever wish you could just be someone else?”

“What are you talking about?” I lean next to her. The streetlight overhead lights up her face, her brows crease, and she tugs down on the sleeves of her jacket.

“I’m twenty two and I’ve never had an official boyfriend. No one who I ever went out with more than a few times. And you know why? Because I’m perfect.” She looks at me for a reaction.

“No one’s perfect.”

“I am. Ask anyone. My clothes are always perfect, my hair, my teeth, my grades. I work hard. Efficiently making sure everything gets done right. I pay all my bills on time, my apartment is spotless, and God forbid my skin showed even the slightest sign of a blemish, you’d never know it. I’d work on it all day and night to make sure I had no flaws.” She shakes her head, looking down the street. “But something happened. I met someone and lately I find myself wanting a flaw in my life. I find myself craving a flaw, drawn to a flaw. I want that flaw. You know what I’m talking about?”