The Cell Phone Swap

Chapter 18 iLike Him

"Jesus Christ, Keeley!" he bit out. "Do you know dangerous it is to be roaming the streets by yourself at 11 o'clock at night? You could easily have been mugged or kidnapped or worse! Do you have any common sense?" Talon yelled at her.

She bent her head and blinked furiously, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to erupt. Her emotions were too raw at the moment to be able to handle his wrath.

"And where the hell is your precious Brent?" Talon continued to rant, oblivious to her feelings. "Shouldn't you be at the party holding his hand or something?"

The reminder of Brent and the blonde-haired bimbo tipped her over the edge. Tears started to form in Keeley's eyes, streaming down her face in silent misery. All the feelings she kept bottled up poured out of her. Anger. Betrayal. Hurt. Jealousy. A noise escaped out of Keeley's mouth as she cried harder.

Talon looked at her sharply, noticing for the first time how distraught she was. Immediately, his anger morphed into alarm. "What the hell happened? Did that tool do something to you?" he demanded tersely.

Keeley buried her head in her hands as great sobs wracked her body, stripping her the ability to answer.

"I'll kill him," Talon hissed under his breath, taking her silence as confirmation. He dropped down to the ground and knelt in front of her, placing his hands on either side of her body. "Are you okay?" he asked in a low voice.

More tears ran down Keeley's face as she nodded, her movement rough and jerky. "H-he was k-kissing some g-girl and they w-were up against a w...ww...w-wall...." She gulped in air, her voice hitching at the thought.

"Oh," Talon mumbled, looking uncomfortable when he realized that Brent had hurt her emotionally, not physically. He shifted his weight and turned away when Keeley wiped her running nose with the back of her hand.

"A-and I f-feel so f-foolish for t-thinking he would ever l-like me! I-I'm just a little k-kid to him," she wailed and dissolved into more tears.

For a few minutes, Talon listened to her cry, uncertainty written all over his face. Finally, he raised his arms and wrapped them lightly around her in an awkward embrace. Uneasily, he patted her back and said, "There, there."

"S-S-Seriously?" she asked, peering at him through watery eyes. "That's a-all you can s-say?"

"Well, I don't know what to do in situations like this!" Talon said defensively, continuing to pat her back like he was burping a baby. "I'm not good with crying females."

"What do you do w-when your m-mom cries?"

She felt his body vibrate as he chuckled. "Hand her off to my dad."

"W-what does your dad do?" she asked, her tears starting to dry up.

"Buys her a brand new Louis Vuitton purse."

Keeley paused. "T-That'll work."

"Yeah, I bet it would," he remarked dryly.

Keeley laughed softly and pulled away to wipe her face. "I bet I look hideous," she said, half-joking, half-not.

"Well, you certainly don't look your best," Talon drawled, looking relieved that she had finally stopped crying.

"Jerk," she muttered hoarsely.

Suddenly, Keeley's cell phone started ringing playing the Old MacDonald tune. Talon's face broke into a wide smile. "You kept that?" he asked, looking pleased.

She ignored his comment and fetched the phone out of her jean pocket. She went utterly still when she saw who was calling.

Seeing her expression, Talon grabbed the phone out of her hand and answered. "What?" he snapped to Brent. His face darkened as he listened to whatever Brent was telling him. "She's fine." He paused listening some more. Talon looked directly into Keeley's eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Do we want to go back to the party?" he asked.