Fire & Ice

Chapter Twenty

A bunch of guys left from her booth and went outside to smoke. I waited a few moments before making my way across the room toward the service area, slipping out the back door, and quietly walking around the edge of the building.

The acrid scent of cigarettes filled the air as I approached the corner and I flattened myself against the wall so I could eavesdrop on their conversation.

They were laughing.

"So have you banged Shelly, yet?" a voice spoke.

Someone snorted. "Hell, no. I can't even get her to kiss me hardly. She's such a damn tease."

"I think she has her eye set on someone else," a third voice popped up.

"What makes you think that?" the first voice asked.

"Just a couple of things she's said," the third voice replied. "If I weren't too drunk to remember them, I'd tell you."

"Well, I guess I'll have to keep trying," the second voice said and they all laughed.

Restraining myself from stepping around the corning and beating the crap out of them, I continued to listen to their conversation, but they changed the subject, offering me no more clues. This was turning out to be a total waste of time. I'd been doing this for two weeks now and had absolutely nothing to go on. Maybe I was wrong. Perhaps there was no magic involved here and Shelly was simply going through a crisis of her own making. Weirder things had happened.

Waiting until the guys went back inside, I decided this was enough of it for tonight. I went to my bike and headed back to Portia's. I missed spending time with my girl. Brad had taken my place lately, staying with Portia while I was off watching Shelly. I knew they were friends and Portia was a comfort to him, but I couldn't help the small flares of jealousy I experienced whenever I saw them together. He was where I wanted to be.

Tonight I found the two of them hugging in the cold air near the porch swing. Portia often kept me mentally informed of their conversations. I knew without a doubt nothing was going on between the two of them. Brad was simply missing Shelly and had turned to his friends for support. Portia was the one to best understand his loss because she was going through it as well. It was obvious Brad was completely in love with Shelly. His heart was broken.

"Hey, man," I said to Brad, bumping fists with him.

"I'm just heading out," Brad said, patting me on the shoulder as he walked by. "Thanks for loaning me your girl. Have fun."

"Later," I replied. I watched him disappear through the gate before turning to wrap my arms around Portia and giving her a long kiss. Immediately, I felt better. It was amazing to me what being in her arms for only a few moments could do to my moods.

"You two shouldn't sit out here so long every night. You're freezing." I guided her into the house, the two of us heading toward her room.

"Sorry. Brad seems to enjoy it, and I'm trying to help him."

"I know. I want you to be careful, though. Your health is important too."

"I'm fine. So how's Shelly?" she asked, shutting the bedroom door behind us.

I shrugged as I sat on the end of the bed, wishing I had something concrete I could tell her. "More of the same."

"Still hanging out at that bar?"

"Yep, every single night this week." I ran my fingers through my hair. "The funny thing is, no one seems to care. Her parent's act like they don't even notice anything's different. No one at the bar cares she's underage. They serve her whatever she wants. Even an officer doing a business patrol didn't blink an eye at her. It's so weird. I haven't seen any evidence of anything magical, but my gut keeps telling me something is different."