Race to Recovery (Full Throttle) (17 page)

“This guy I’d seen around, he was another dealer, showed up and money changed hands. I thought it was a drug deal but Richard was looking to branch out into brothels and I was to be his first working girl. No one told me about this. They shot me up and then I’m being kissed and groped. When I realized who was touching me I fought. He gave me a black eye and started arguing with Richard so I ran.”

“And you ended up here?”

“I ended up in a shelter first but Richard found me there so I made my way here.”

“You said, ‘he was right’. What did you mean by that?”

“Richard told me I was a whore, that I’d never be anything but a whore, and that deep down I liked being passed around. He said I’d figure that out when I had to pay my own way out on the street.” She broke down crying again.

“Alice, you are not a whore. You’re a beautiful young woman and I love you.”

“Brant, I liked it.”

“Last night? I could tell. That doesn’t …”

“No. Seth kissed me and it felt good.”

For a moment Brant was speechless.

“You see? Richard was right and now you hate me.”

“If that asshole Richard was right you would have kept on kissing Seth. You didn’t. You felt guilty. So Seth’s a good kisser; it’s not like you asked him to kiss you in the first place and you didn’t ask him to continue. You’re not a whore. You never were. You were abused, Alice, and you were strong enough to get out without any support. I love you, Alice.”

After half an hour Brant emerged alone. Dr. Keaton rushed over. “Well?”

“You probably know more about Richard than I do,” Brant said. “She had a bad attack of memories and was feeling pretty down on herself. She’s stopped crying but she wanted a nap.”

“You did a good thing here, Brant. Alice obviously trusts you a great deal to tell you about Richard. I’ll invite Alice down to my office in the morning but I think she’ll be okay.” He looked ready to say more then he forced a smile, gave Brant a curt nod, and headed for the stairs.

Brant returned to his room though he had no idea what he was supposed to tell Seth. Seth leapt up as Brant came in. “Is she okay? What did she say about me?”

Brant sighed. “You woke up some bad memories. She wasn’t talking about me, she was talking about her last boyfriend; he was a real piece of work. She’s napping now.”

“I have to apologize to her.”

“Later. Look, I know getting in here is a hassle but could you pop out for chocolate, just solid chocolate. Alice might like some later; girls like chocolate, right? Come back for supper so you can talk to her.”

Seth nodded. “I can do that. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Once alone Brant sat back and groaned. “I guess nothing in life is simple.”

* * * *

Brant lay in bed that night thinking about the evening. Alice had joined them for dinner and had listened to Seth’s apology but the lost look in her eyes worried him. After supper she had excused herself claiming to be tired and Brant had sent Seth back to the motel early to catch up on sleep. That had left him alone again with nothing to do but think.

He had just turned off the light when someone knocked on the door. He glanced at the clock. Eleven o’clock.
Impossible,
he thought but he went to the door anyway.

“Alice?”

She smiled. “I told you I would come.”

He stepped back into the room. “I didn’t think you’d come, not after what happened today.”

“Did you want me to leave?”

“Gods no, I want you to feel comfortable and safe. I want you to stay.”

“I want to stay too. I want to be with you. When I’m with you the past doesn’t haunt me. When I was here last night I didn’t think of Richard once. I feel safe enough to forget.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I’d hold you forever if I could.”

“I know.” They crawled into bed and held each other tight. “What about Seth?”

“He’s holding out hope that you’ll forgive him and maybe come to love him.”

“You and me together, it’s going to break his heart, isn’t it?”

Brant nodded. “There’s no avoiding it. I should be the one to tell him when we’re out of here. Maybe you two can still be friends.”

“How bad are you expecting this to be?

“I don’t know. The old Seth would have shrugged this off but he’s changed. I don’t know how he’ll react now.”

Alice looked up and kissed him. It was a soft kiss but it went on and on. Her hands played along his chest and stomach. He tried to pull back, to tell her it was all right to slow down, but she wouldn’t stop kissing him long enough for him to speak. Her hands slid under his shirt and he jumped. “Cold,” he managed between kisses.

She giggled. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have to rush like this.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

It was hard to argue with her and even harder to keep his hands off her. Under her constant rain of kisses he quickly forgot the drama of the day and his thoughts were full of nothing but Alice. She slipped quickly from her clothes giving his wandering hands access to soft, warm skin. She moaned and gasped as he caressed her thighs and ass.

She stopped kissing him long enough to pull his shirt over his head and then began kissing his chest and shoulders. With ever kiss and caress the panic and fear fell away until Alice could breathe again. Desire quickly filled the emotional void inside her and she found herself being more daring and forward than she had intended. She flicked her tongue over his nipple delighting at his reaction. She freed him from his sweat pants and her hand encircled his fully erect cock.

“Alice!” he gasped, then groaned as she squeezed.

She watched his breathing quicken and the muscles in his neck tighten and realized that watching him get worked up was turning her on.

She rolled on top of him almost sending them both toppling to the floor. She gasped then giggled as his arms closed tight around her. He shushed her but it only made her smile. She wiggled her hips seductively and he groaned “You need to stop that or I’ll just take you.”

“Like this?” She slid onto his cock and sat there smirking at him.

“I love you.”

She wiggled her hips again, relishing the way he felt inside her. He grabbed her by the hips and they began to move together. Their eyes locked and they watched wonder and pleasure and desire play like shadows and light across each other’s faces.

Alice could see the intensity of Brant’s climax building and she put her hands on either side of his face. “I love you, Brant Bye.”

His eyes fluttered shut and his head tipped back as he came inside her. She continued to ride him, watching his face relax from intensity to contentment. His hands moved from her hips to her breasts and began caressing her. Her whole body tingled and she shivered.

“You look so damn hot right now,” he murmured.

Her pleasure took longer to reach its climax but he was slow to soften. By the time she felt her orgasm take her he was stifling a yawn. She collapsed on top of him, gasping for air. When she could breathe again she said, “I’m sorry, am I keeping you awake?”

“It’s been a long day and I’m good and done.”

“You’re good to me, no doubt about that. But I should go.” She kissed him. “I love you.”

“Stay the night,” he whispered, reaching for her.

“I can’t, not yet. But I’m sure we’re both almost done with rehab.”

He sighed. “You’re right, of course. I don’t know if I can wait another week or two to sleep with you in my arms.”

“We have to.” She kissed him one last time and said, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chapter Eleven

Brant wanted to reach out and take Alice’s hand but with so many other patients already in the dining room and Seth hovering in the breakfast line behind them he had to resist that temptation. He reached for a plate of toast and yawned again.

Seth said, “You’ve been yawning a lot this morning, Brant.”

“I couldn’t sleep last night. And I had some rough dreams.”

 “Dr. Keaton says the insomnia is normal, it’s part of your body dealing with the withdrawal, and it should go away, eventually. The bad dreams don’t always go away,” Alice said, and then she yawned too. She giggled. “Those stupid things really are contagious.”

Brant and Alice smiled at each other and moved down the line.

Seth scowled.
How am I going to convince Alice that I can protect her and love her if Brant’s playing Mr. Nice Guy? I need to trip him up, make him reveal the true Brant. Alice will be scared off when she realizes he’s been playing her. She’ll see I’m the better brother.
Seth almost missed the bowls for porridge and he completely missed whatever Brant had said.

Alice was laughing and pouring two cups of coffee. “Sugar or milk?” she said.

“Both,” Brant replied.

“Aw,” she said, “You’re a sweet and blonde person.”

“You’re kidding, right? Last I checked I was abrasive and had dark hair.”

“No,” she laughed. “You like your coffee sweet and blonde.”

He looked at the mug she thrust into his hand. The swirls of cream really did look like wisps of blonde hair. “Huh. I never thought of it that way. Does it surprise you?”

“Not one bit. Seth, did you want some coffee?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “Just sugar, please.”

The rest of the morning went on this way with Seth more often than not sitting by and watching some sweet or humorous exchange between Brant and Alice. When the conversation did open up to include him he couldn’t find anything to talk about that would make Brant explode. He tried humiliating stories but Brant too each one in stride. When Brant did ‘retaliate’ with stories about Seth they were only mildly embarrassing and told without any hint of spite. Seth tried to rekindle old fights but Brant only shrugged and said, “It’s all water under the bridge, Seth.”

By lunch Seth was furious but neither Brant nor Alice seemed to notice. He said, ignored, glaring at his chicken and pasta salad.
It’s sickening. Brant is so fake and Alice is just eating up the ‘nice guy’ routine. She’s as blind as a teenager in love.
The thought gave him pause and snippets of the morning flashed through his mind: all the smiles, the laughing, the private jokes, the way they forgot he was there. A fist tightened in his chest.
They’re in love. She fell for it; she actually believes he’s this soft spoken, easy going, gentleman. There is no way I’ll prove her wrong now.
He poked at his food without appetite.

After lunch he trailed after Brant and Alice like a kicked puppy while his thoughts turned from sullen to dismal. Finally he grabbed Brant but the arm and said, “Excuse us, Alice, Brant and I need to talk.” He dragged back upstairs to his room.

“What’s wrong, Seth?”

“You have no shame, Brant. You’re going to break her heart.”

“What are you talking about? We’re just friends.”

“Drop the act. I can read people and I can tell that you two are in love. Is that why she ran when I kissed her? Are you two involved?”

“You know I have feelings for her, just like I know you have feelings for her, but Alice and I are just friends. If she has feelings for me she hasn’t said anything and my feelings can’t mean anything until I get out of here.”

“Bullshit. Why was she angry yesterday?”

“I told you, it was a bad memory. I shouldn’t say any more.”

“That is so vague, Brant! What was it? A dead pet? A judgemental father? What bad memory did she make up?”

“Her last boyfriend.”

“Right, one bad relationship and now kissing scares her. Try something more unique.”

“He wanted to whore her out, Seth, he’d taken the money and everything. When she refused he told her she was a whore, that she just didn’t know it yet. Is that unique enough? Is that detailed enough? Do you need to know she ended up with a black eye? Or that her brother wouldn’t rescue her? Stop thinking about yourself for a minute and think about Alice.”

Seth laughed. “Oh that’s rich, coming from you. You’ve never thought about anybody but yourself!”

“I know. And I owe you the biggest apology of all.”

“Save it, Brant. I don’t need your empty words. You may have fooled Alice but you haven’t fooled me.”

“Maybe you should leave, Seth.”

“You’re kicking me out?”

“You’re supposed to support me, Seth. You’re supposed to encourage me to get better, to change. You’re not doing that. You don’t want me to change.”

“I don’t want you to hurt Alice.”

“You aren’t here for me, Seth; you shouldn’t be sneaking in here as my support person anymore.”

“Then fuck you, Brant.” Seth stormed out of the room. Moments later Brant could see him trudging across the lot, his collar flipped up against the wind.

* * * *

Seth sat in his hotel room in the dark, fuming. “He hasn’t changed. He never cared enough about anyone to change, not me, not Chloe, not the girls he dated and slept with and threw away. Any one of those girls I could have loved and cared for, none of this one night stand business, but not one of them wanted anything to do with me. Everything has always worked out for the number one son. Let’s see how he likes having the tables turned.”

Seth crossed to the bedside table and picked up the phone. It rang a long time before it connected and a cheery female voice said, “Hello?”

“Chloe, put Dad on.”

“Hi, Seth, you don’t sound too good. Is everything okay wherever you are?”

“Give the phone to Dad!”

“You don’t have to shout, the connection is fine. Jeez, you sound like Brant.”

“Chloe,” he rumbled.

“He’s out in the shop tinkering with the potato conveyer. Can he call you back in …?”

“Get him. Now. This is important.”

“Mom’s upstairs, I could get her a lot quicker.”

“Chloe Ann Bye you go outside and get our father. I need to speak with him. Now.”

“Okay, okay, I’m going. Do you realize how cold it is? It’s dropped to fifty now.”

“You have a jacket.”

There was a thump in his ear as she put the phone down on the counter. He let his impatience feed his rage so when his father picked up the phone and said, “What’s so damn important that if couldn’t wait?” Seth was ready.

“Brant is in rehab.”

“What the hell type of nonsense is that? Is this some sort of prank?”

“It’s no prank, Dad. Brant is in rehab suffering from a drug addiction to painkillers. He’s deluded himself into believing that he’s in love with an addict he met there.”

“Is this where you two have been the last two and a half weeks?”

“Don’t get mad at me. Brant lied to me to get me out the door and didn’t tell me about the drugs until we were two-thirds of the way here. Then he made me feel guilty so I’d lie on his behalf. Now he’s shut me out because of this girl. He’s lost it.”

“Your mother isn’t going to like this.”

“I know. I just thought you should know the truth. I’ll be starting for home tomorrow; it’ll take me a full day if I drive right through the night.”

“What about your brother?”

“He’s intending to stay in rehab. I don’t know how long he’ll be there.”

“Dammit, Seth, the sponsors are already hounding me about a race, the snow could hit any day now and end the local season, there are bills to pay; I don’t know how Brant’s paying for rehab …”

“I don’t know, Dad, I really don’t. I tried telling him all that but between the withdrawal and the girl he’s not thinking straight.”

“Well, get your ass home at least and we’ll straighten him out. Thanks for the head’s up.” The line went dead.

Seth felt happier than he had in days until a random thought burst his bubble.
“They’re in love, they know it, and Brant’s obviously lying when he said they weren’t involved. And when Brant’s involved he doesn’t keep his hands to himself for long. I think I need to stop at the rehab center before heading for home. I wonder how early Dr. Hurd starts work.