I ended the call but didn't head back inside. Instead, I watched from a distance, threading a hand through my hair as I began to hatch a plan.
......
A few glasses of champagne later, I was feeling like the drink myself - bubbly and effervescent. Though that might simply be due to the gorgeous woman with her arm draped possessively around me. She'd been by my side since she returned from making her phone call, and I loved that she found ways to touch me all night, whether she brushed my fingertips accidentally when she took my glass to refill, or when she absently traced a soft line along my hip bone as the cake was being served.
Having her here with me almost made me forget about the troubles that awaited me. She had that effect, as if she were a magic elixir that erased all the bad. Or maybe that was the magic of falling, the way it was the ideal blend of intoxication, and could blot out all but the tingling in my shoulders, the flip in my belly, the thump of my heart when she looked at me. Her gaze was filled with intensity and passion, with desire and tenderness. That was how her eyes roamed me as she held open the door too a taxi after we'd said goodbye to the few remaining guests, the brides having been sent on their way already.
The second the door closed, I leaned into her and sighed happily as I grazed my fingers along her collar, "You're coming home with me" I said.
"That I am, gorgeous. That I am" she said, and removed my hand from her shirt. I shot her a curious look as she knotted her fingers through mine. The cab sped out of the parking lot and down the twisty, hilly roads. She grasped my hand harder as if she were about to make a point, "I have a plan"
"Already?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
She brushed a finger against my taunting eyebrow, sending it back into place, "Yes, already. What do you think clients pay me the big bucks for? To sit on my ass and not think quickly"
I laughed, "Fine. You got me there. But let me make one thing clear, Miss. Big Bucks, you are not paying it off for me"
She held up her hands as if in surrender.
"You were going to try to, weren't you?"
"Actually no" she said firmly.
"Because there's no way I'm taking it. I haven't asked anyone for money. I meant what I said - if I were going to ask for help, Dinah would be the first person I'd turn to, and I haven't breathed a word to her, so don't even think about it"
"You considering letting me get a word in edgewise?" she asked as the cab slowed to a stop light.
"Maybe. But if you even think about offering, I will do this" I said, putting my hands over my ears and singing, "La la la, I am not listening"
She pulled my hands off, "You think I don't know you? You think I don't listen? That I can't figure out already from knowing you the way I do that you'd never ever take money from me or another person?"
I narrowed my eyes at her playfully. The fizzy effect of the champagne was still rolling through my bloodstream.
"I know you, woman" she continued, "You are independent and stubborn and fiery. Give me some goddamn credit. I would not make you an offer I know you'd walk away from"
"Ooh, you're going to make me an offer" I said, tap-dancing my fingertips along her arm, "I. Can't. Wait"
She rolled her eyes, "You are red-hot trouble"
"Tell me about it" I fired back, "And now you know exactly how much trouble you have gotten yourself into" I said and laughed, the kind that vibrated through my whole body and made me clutch my belly. It felt so damn good, because I hadn't laughed about my situation in ages. Never, come to think about it. Now I could, because I was no longer in it alone.
"And yet, I'm not walking away, am I?" She grabbed hold of my arms and pulled me close for a hard, fierce kiss that made me feel giddy and wanted at the same time. I was no longer living with armour on. I'd shucked off the heavy metal layers, making myself vulnerable, but lighter too. Something that felt disturbingly like joy raced through my veins as we kissed, and though our kisses had always rattled and hummed like a rock concert, this one was poetry too. It was bliss and beauty as the world shined bright in my heart.
I wasn't finished with Austin; but for the first time, I could see a way through because I had a teammate.
I broke the kiss as the cab turned a corner into my neighbourhood, and still I was smiling. I wanted to know Lauren's plan, but I was also enjoying this newfound freedom from releasing all the secrets I'd clutched tightly to my chest, "No, you're not walking away. You're driving away with me. Like we're in a getaway car. Or cab, really" I said, gesturing to the driver.
She shook her head, clapped her hand down on my thigh, "Let's focus now, Camila. You know how you said Austin took the fun out of playing? How he perverted your love of the game?"
I nodded, "Yep. He sure did"
"I know how to get it back" she said, as the cab swerved around a bus onto my street. I jerked sideways, my shoulder bumping hard against hers.
"Ouch" I said, rubbing my shoulder.
"You okay?"
I nodded, "You just have a really hard shoulder"
The car pulled up to the curb, "Hard shoulders are good things" she said, and reached for her wallet, "I got this"
"Thank you" I said, and opened the door and stepped out of the cab. I lifted my face to the night sky, breathing in the cool air and the starlight until I heard a voice.
"Hey"
I swivelled around and saw Brad stalking toward me from the front stoop of my apartment. Tension roared back into my body in a heartbeat as Squirrel's goon-in-training with the baby face and the barrel body stared coldly at me. I glanced over at the cab where Lauren was busy handing the driver a credit card.
"Austin sent me to find you"
"It's Saturday. I'm not playing tonight"
"Yeah, but he wants you to know you're going to California next weekend for a game. He has some new blood in the city from the start-ups there, and he wants you to hustle them"
I straightened my spine, liquid courage coursing through me, "What if I don't want to?"
His eyes widened with anger, and in seconds his hand was on the back of my neck, "You think you can talk to me that way?"
He grappled at my skin, digging in. I swatted at his arm, trying to knock him away, but he was more than double my size, "Let go of me" I spat out.
"Let go of her" Lauren said in a cool, cold voice when she turned around.
Brad shifted his focus to Lauren, who was now by my side, "Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm the girl who's going to make you let go of her" she said, and before I could process what was happening, her elbow came down hard on Brad's arm, freeing me from his grip. Then Lauren's fist connected with Brad's jawline with a loud crunch. I cringed, the sharp snap echoing down the street.
Brad grunted, his eyes nearly popping out from surprise. His gaze darted down at his ankle, and fear flashed hard and fast before my eyes. Oh God, did he have a gun?
"No!" I screamed, but the sound was cut short when Lauren slammed a fist into Brad's belly, and the man unleashed a loud grunt and doubled over. He was fast for his size though, and quickly straightened up. Lauren cocked her fist to swing again, but this time Brad was faster, landing a punishing jab on Lauren's cheekbone, his hairy knuckles cracking hard against her temple. I swore I could hear bones crunching as Lauren stumbled, the back of her head smacking hard against the brick wall of my apartment building. She grunted loudly from the pain, and all my instincts told me to run to her and comfort her.
"Stop! Please stop" I shouted, and I wasn't sure if I was talking to Lauren or Brad, or just praying to the universe for an end to this fistfight. But when I looked around, the street was empty, and I knew this was going to be between the two of them.
Lauren lunged forward quickly, brushing off the double-blow like it was nothing, but Brad went after her again, raising his fist and slamming hard. Lauren dodged that blow, then Brad threw another, landing one on Lauren's shoulder that barely seemed to bother her. Especially since she grabbed Brad's hand, twisted it around his back and yanked hard.
"Don't ever touch her again" she seethed, jerking the arm higher. Then she let go and reacquainted her fist once more with Brad's jaw, sending the big man stumbling backwards and landing flat on his ass on the sidewalk. Brad was helpless, huffing in a heavy pile, staring up with wide-open eyes at the person who'd landed the final blow. With fists clenched at her sides and anger radiating off her in not waves, Lauren bent over him, "Now I'm giving you five seconds to get up and run the hell away"
Brad nodded once, scurried to his feet, and took off down the street. When Lauren turned to me, she was breathing hard and blood streaked from her temple down her cheek.
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ugh, so lauren got beat up but still won :) if it was matthew he would never have laid hands on either girl, stupid intern