Nine – Interested or Inebriated?
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“I told you to stay away until she’s been released,” Dante said firmly. He was leaning over me, his broad shoulders hunching.
Pulse was pale, his skin an off-yellow in colour, and he was glancing between his brother and me worriedly. He didn’t look as energetic as he had been when I’d first met him and his hair was less bouncy, draping over his face floppily.
“Shouldn’t I talk to her? I saw Rowan, he said that it would be okay. And I need to… apologise.” Despite his concern for me and his brother, he said ‘apologise’ like it was a distasteful word.
Dante gritted his teeth for a moment and then glanced down at me. “Next time, kid, when I say for you to do something, you do what I tell you to. I dealt with enough of your messes…” he stopped himself with a shake of his head and sighed. He raised his hands in surrender and then gestured towards me before folding his arms.
Ugh. Pulse plonked himself down in what I now dubbed the ‘annoying attractor stool’. I copied his brother and glared at him. I was tired, my emotions had been strained today and my body felt like it was in constant fatigue, so all I wanted was to be alone. And the stubborn expression on Pulse’s face made me think I wasn’t going to enjoy this conversation.
“You know a hell of a lot more about your stupid school and the people that go there so I’m leaving most of this task to you,” he said with a scowl.
I was right. I could just tell we were going to get along.
“Fuck that. You owe me one right now so I don’t think I’m going to shoulder all of this work.” Heck, I didn’t even want to bother with any of it. I wasn’t a fucking spy.
He looked up, glaring, but didn’t actually look me in the eyes. “I don’t owe you shit. It’s not my fault that you can’t defend yourself. It’s not my fucking fault that the Ghosts see me as some kind of threat, so they’re giving me this stupid ass warning.”
“Pulse.” Dante’s voice was low but the cautioning in it carried strongly.
I wasn’t having his brother soothe things between us. We were going to have to work together, somehow, so we needed to hash out a few things now.
“If you really think that it wasn’t your fault, look me in the fucking eyes,” I growled. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that I’m the idiot for running into you at the school and opening my stupid mouth to make it look like we were having some kind of conversation.”
He looked at me properly, right into my eyes, his own darkening to a point where I couldn’t depict their usual brown. His brows drew in as he frowned and his was scowling ferociously but he didn’t speak. He clenched his jaw and sneered before turning his head away. At least I knew now that he wasn’t someone who lied to save his pride over someone else’s. But that didn’t mean that I liked him.
“You could’ve fought back a little instead of just letting them cut you up,” he said harshly, turning his gaze back onto me. “You’re in advanced jujitsu.”
He must’ve got his schedule and found out our similar classes. I could just tell that spending nearly every second of my day with him was going to be perfect.
“Have you ever taken jujitsu? They deal with knives and group attacks but it’s not the same as real life. And anyway, now you’re here to teach me how to fight better, sensei.” I smiled the smile that usually gave people chills. He didn’t look very affected so I must’ve been too tired to get a good one worked up. “And next time I’ll be sure to remind myself to not to lie on the ground while I’m getting stabbed over and over,” I said sweetly.
“I don’t fucking understand how you’re supposed to be this tough as nails badass when you’re the weak stick I see right now, covered in cuts, mostly on places that could be easily blocked.”
“Have YOU EVER been ATTACKED by a group of your STUPID FRIENDS?!” I finally exploded. I shoved myself upright, clawing at Dante’s arm when he pushed me back. I wanted to get out of this bed and teach this stupid kid a lesson. “Fucking let me go! Did you ever attack someone and see how helpless they are when you fuckers are circling them with those fucking masks!” I spat. “I bet you’ve seen someone shit themselves. Did you laugh? Did you taunt the miserable person while you hacked into them?”
“SHUT! UP!” Dante snarled, pushing the shoulder he had a grip on deeper into the mattress.
I narrowed my eyes up at him, breathing heavily as my anger only built. I turned back to Pulsifer and was startled to see him paler than before, so startled that my rage left me.
He shoved the stool back as he stood so that it rolled and crashed into the wall. “There’s no fucking way I’m working with this kid,” he said coolly before spinning on his heel and walking out.
“Don’t think this is fun for me either!” I called out to his retreating back. I settled back into the pillows, still feeling the scowl on my face, and looked up at Dante with accusing eyes. Accusing because he not only had held me back but because his brother was a git.
“You see his face before he left?” Dante asked, his voice cool. He still hadn’t let me go and the pressure of his hand on my arm was starting to hurt. I could feel a bruise forming already.
“Yeah, I saw his ugly face,” I muttered. I was just starting to like Dante and now he was going to go and defend his stupid brother.
“I have to find out what happened to make him want to leave the old gang. I think it has something to do with the Ghosts and you saw how washed out his face just looked.” Dante looked down at me expectantly. Expectantly?
“What do you want me to do about that? He’s your shithead brother.”
He let go of my arm and I mentally sighed with relief.
“You’re the one that’s about to spend practically every hour of the day with him,” he said firmly.
My relief went poof. “No.”
“No? I’m pretty sure that’s what your brief was.”
I scowled deeper as he pretended to look confused. “No, it’s not my fucking problem. I’m not a counsellor. I don’t want to talk to your brother. I don’t want to have a deep and meaningful chat with him about past choices.” I pointed to the door. “You did just see how well we mash, right?”
“Yeah,” he smirked, “it’s almost like you two have the exact same personality. Funny how you got along so well.” He patted my arm. “You two should be best buddies by the time you get this case cracked.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Do you know what? I don’t want to hear you talk anymore. Do you mind pissing off?”
I glanced at him and watched him turn a thought over in his mind.
“If you find out why he wanted to leave, I’ll tell you a secret about that Pierce bastard and why we fought.”
I looked at him curiously. “What fight?”
He gave me a dubious look. “Good try. I saw your friend watching us. The only way she could’ve absorbed more was if she’d had popcorn and a comfy chair.”
I slitted my eyes. I wanted to know but I didn’t take bribes, just like I didn’t do favours. “That’s all well and good but I’m not Missi. I don’t live for gossip.”
He shrugged, looking too sure of himself. “Fine. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Try not to make a mess overnight.”
He strolled out with his hands in his pockets and I watched him go, glaring at his back. Ooh, I so badly wanted to know what that fight had been about. Damn me and my stupid policies.
I relaxed and turned onto my side, preparing to sleep. But now I couldn’t. Dammit! I wanted to know!
** **
The week, one of the longest of my life, finished without any surprise health issues so I was discharged on Saturday without any hassles. Kale picked me up. I would consider this much more pleasant than Ash’s angry driving and near constant road rage but Kale was in a bad mood. And it was not pretty.
“You’ve got all this stupid classwork to catch up on and your physical classes expect you to work out this weekend because they’re not going to hang around for you to catch your breath. On top of that, I get told that you skipped a class the day you got attacked and the instructor was not happy with your attitude in class! Jax! I don’t give a damn if you want to drop out of high school and become a bum, you’re not just representing yourself!”
He swerved out into wrong lane to overtake a car going to slow. Despite my seatbelt, I held onto the door handle. Usually when I drove with a reckless driver, I wasn’t fazed because they had control. Kale didn’t seem that way. He looked like he wanted to get me the hell out of his car and didn’t care if we crashed and I died in the process.
“You can’t honestly tell me that you never skipped,” I muttered, trying to be calm in the situation I was in.
“I didn’t! And I didn’t disrespect my teachers either!” Kale shouted, his voice booming in the small confines of the car.
“Nerdy little shit,” I grunted, feeling the need to get my own temper in on the play.
I jerked forward when he swung the car to the side of the road and braked sharply to a stop. My seatbelt caught me and I held back a groan as it slammed into my still tender bruises.
“Get out, Jax. You can walk back,” he growled. When I didn’t move, he turned his head and sent a heated glare my way. “I’m not kidding!”
I hurriedly unlatched my seatbelt and opened my door. “We’re not even halfway!” I complained as I lifted myself out.
“That’s your fault!” he said as he reached over and slammed the door shut in front of me.
I watched in shock and despair as he drove away. Why, of all days, did he have to be in a shitty mood today?! I started trudging along the side walk, wishing that my phone hadn’t been lost when I’d been ambushed. I could’ve called someone to get me out of here.
Well, the sun was nice after days of being cooped up, forced to lie down. And, as Kale had mentioned, I did need to get my fitness back up to what it had been or I’d be lagging behind in classes.
I heard the sound of a bicycle behind me and stepped to the left to let them go past.
“Is this some kind of joke?”
I kicked at a stone in front of me and nearly swore. Dante. What the hell was he doing? Stalking me? He went past me and then pulled the brakes, swivelling around to face me. He had a cap on and the face beneath it was in a dark mood. His hair tufted out from beneath the cap and made him look younger, cuter. Too bad I could tell he was about to cuss me out.
“You were just let out of the hospital, what? Ten minutes ago? What the fuck happened? Did your car break down?”
I rolled my eyes at him and skirted around his bike to continue walking. He shifted his bike and pedalled slowly so that he kept the same pace beside me.
“I got kicked out of the car,” I drawled, “because my company was just too awesome.”
“Because you did your bitch thing,” he corrected.
“How is you saying that going to make me a nicer person?” I asked, irritated.
“Just pointing out your flaws,” he countered. “Kale does know that you’ve lost a lot of body fluids in the past week, right? You’re not going to make it far before feeling pretty dizzy.”
“I thought I was good to go home.” Who cares if I fainted halfway back? Laker would probably think I got attacked again and then drop me from his stupid task.
He shook his head and sighed. “Yeah, you’re good to leave the hospital and replenish your nutrient lacking self with a weekend of rest at home before you go back to classes on Monday. You’re not expected to walk outside on a summer’s day for miles.”
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and noticed he was wearing a singlet and the arms poking out were a nice olive-brown colour. The little beads of sweat trickled nicely over the dips and curves of his muscles. Yeah, I was feeling a little light-headed.
“If I don’t make it home, Kale would probably disown me for being weak, but thanks for your concern. You can run along now.” Before I become completely delirious and actually form a crush on you. “…or bike along, whatever.”
I looked down at his legs and was glad to see that sweats covered them. I might’ve ogled otherwise. Maybe I was a little boy deprived. I hadn’t had a boyfriend for… goodness a long time. This must be withdrawal symptoms. I mean, it wasn’t crazy that I found myself attracted to him. I was human, he appealed to my taste in looks, so long as I didn’t act on these feelings, I was fine. I did not want to get involved in Dante as his personality was, simply put, fucked up.
“Hey, are you okay? You’re looking a little faint.” He put his foot down for support and grabbed onto my arm. “I can call my brother, he’s been supplied with a car from Laker.”
Ooh, that’d be right. He’s a traitor to his own gang but, because he pledged here that means that he should be rewarded, butthead. Where was my car? Wasn’t I helping the gang? If not, then why did I always seem to be busy?
“Don’t bother,” I murmured, “I’ll make it.”
He sighed and shook his head, keeping his hold on me. I couldn’t be bothered shaking him off, maybe that should’ve warned me that my body wasn’t as energetic as usual. But I simply gave him my best derisive look and then squinted against the sun. There was a lot of glare coming off the shine of his bicycle.
“Okay, so you can’t handle my brother for the small amount of time it would take you to get home. Do you have any of your friends numbers memorised?”
I just kept squinting at him. Who memorised numbers when the phone did that for you? I already had enough crap in my head, I didn’t have room for a few numbers that I rarely used. The ground suddenly buckled and I stumbled towards him. He swore and grabbed both of my shoulders.
“Shit, was that an earthquake?” I muttered, glancing towards the ground. We were safe here out in the open, right? No building could collapse on us… I lifted my head and it felt extremely light, like it had been filled with helium, and I knew that the problem wasn’t the Earth moving, it was my body telling me that I needed to lie down, preferably out of the sun.
Dante hopped off his bike, still holding and steadying me, before pushing me down onto the curb. I wanted to lie down but he shoved my head between my knees and gave it a little push as if to say, ‘stay there’. I heard him swear again, I think. My ears were getting stuffy. Stuffy? It sounded like I was hearing through a tunnel. A long, long, tunnel.
“We’re about five minutes from the hospital…”
I glanced over and saw that he was on the phone. Jerk better not be calling his stupid poop brother. I closed my eyes and went to lie down but a hand caught my head and something cool pressed on the other side.
“Yeah, she’s definitely not up for walking.”
He was still on the phone. Looking behind me, I saw that he was holding the phone between his cheek and shoulder. One hand was holding my head and the other held a drink bottle to my cheek. I snatched it from him and took a large gulp. I offered it back to him but he frowned with a firm shake of his head, pointing to the bottle and then to my head with a rigid finger. Drink more, the message was clear. I shrugged casually and began to drink more. It was refreshing down my throat but it wasn’t making me feel any better. My legs were either numb or had been somehow, painlessly, been cut off. I checked to see if they were still there and wriggled my toes. I saw them move. Awesome.
Well, if I could wiggle my toes, I could stand. And if I could stand, I could walk. This was probably just a passing dizziness from lying down for nearly a week. All I needed to do was walk it off. I put my weight on my hands and pushed up. Whoosh, all the blood in my head rushed out and I had to pause for a second but I soon blinked my vision clear and got myself upright. I felt proud that I’d been quiet and fast enough that Dante hadn’t noticed. I stretched my back a little and took a testing step forward. It felt strange because my legs had pretty much lost all feeling but I was kind of steady.
I heard Dante cut off his conversation and readied myself for his outburst, hunching my shoulders and dipping my neck as if expecting a cuff to the back of my head.
“Stubborn git,” he hissed, leaping towards me. I huffed when he slid his arm around my waist and tugged me towards him so that he supported me. I nudged my elbow into his side, careful not to push myself out of balance, and curled my lip.
“I was doing fine on my own.” I nudged him again but he didn’t even act like it tickled.
“You were about to fall over.” He sighed exasperatedly and slid his phone into his pocket, hitching me closer. “I’ve called Mercedes, the girl you’ve been bodyguard for until recently.”
I bunched my brows together and looked up at him. The look in his eyes was not happy as he raised his eyebrows pointedly. Not happy with me or not happy with having to call Mercedes? And how did he get her number so quickly? I didn’t have it… I didn’t think. Ash liked to play around with my phone, sometimes deleting numbers and sometimes adding more.
Then my barely-there mind made a connection. “Did you try to sex up Mercy on your first day, cowboy?” I said with a smirk. I had to concentrate on my speech because it was getting hard to think clearly, let alone speak without slurring. “Is that why Rowan Pierce beat you up? Defending his cousin’s honour?” I felt very triumphant.
He turned me, pressing the front of my body into the front of his and leered down at me. “So you are interested.”
The hard planes of his body made mine feel soft in comparison. I wasn’t used to feeling soft but I couldn’t push away. Interested? Yeah, I thought I’d already affirmed that. But I’d promised that I wouldn’t act on it. And yet I somehow ended up in this position.
“But you’re wrong,” he said lightly. His hand was sliding across my back, nearly reaching all the way around me, but he seemingly didn’t notice. He wasn’t even looking at me but over my shoulder. “I got Mercy’s number because she asked for mine. And then has persistently texted me since.” His eyes switched to gaze down at me and with the sunlight reflected off them, they looked pale brown and very pretty. “She hasn’t quite gotten the message that I’m not interested.” He winked at me, his trademark and breathed in deeply. His chest pushed against my breasts and I felt warm all over. I wonder if that had been his plan…
“If you really want to know why Pierce and I fought, you know what you need to do.” His breath in my face wasn’t feeling gross, like it should. It smelt kind of nice, like mint and… mint. But not a ‘burn your eyes mint’ more of a ‘fresh sweet mint’ that made my mouth water.
“Dare I repeat myself,” I said as haughtily as I could, “and say that I don’t care?”
His hand that was resting on my side squeezed gently. “Oh, you’re interested,” he said softly.
I felt the strangest blocking in my throat, kind of like I needed to hiccup. He looked so sure of himself while I felt soft and dizzy and lightheaded and he was attractive and I was at a weak moment. Fighting. Urge. To. Act. On. Feelings.
A horn blared at us from the sidewalk and I nearly sighed with relief. I few seconds more and I might have done something outrageous like nestle my head into his chest and then, poof, I could say goodbye to any tough girl image I wanted to front.
Dante switched arms, holding me at his side, and leaned down to talk through the window to Mercedes. I looked over her car and came close to whistling like some car appreciator. It sure was pretty. I couldn’t name the type or anything but it was black and sleek and made me think of power so it appealed to me. And the insides looked new. I could always tell if a person was rich by the insides of their cars. Because a poorer person would have worn the leather and other interior materials from constant use. I bet it smelt like new inside. I bet she got a new car every month, I thought bitterly. I still hadn’t had my first car and it wouldn’t be a pretty one when I did.
Dante straightened back up and smiled down at me. “Okay, she’s good to take you. Make sure you get lots of rest and don’t stress yourself too much.”
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. I didn’t like that smile and I didn’t like the floaty tone of voice he was using. I gripped the door and placed my other hand on his wrist. I tried to push his hand off my waist but in a quick move he changed his grip to my wrist and stepped up close again.
“Dante. Wha-?”
He covered up anything I could say with his mouth on mine, turning his head so that his cap didn’t smack me in the face. Just a soft, quick meeting of lips and then he pulled back, still smiling that obviously fake smile. “I’ll see you at school on Monday and you better be fit again,” he said cheerfully, as if nothing had gone down. As if kissing me had been nothing.
I felt like sputtering out a demand for an explanation but just stared at him, shocked right down to my mushy bones. He pushed me into the passenger seat and shut the door before wiggling his fingers. I kept my eyes on him even as Mercy pulled away from the curb.
“So, you and Dante, huh? I didn’t figure you as the type who would pick up a guy you didn’t know, therefore didn’t trust, until you were acquainted for at least a year.”
I switched my attention to her, still flabbergasted. I’d been too shocked by his move to even register what the kiss had felt like. What had his lips even felt like? Why the hell had he kissed me? Now I was working up a nice rage. I didn’t let guys just kiss me out of the blue. He was lucky he’d caught me at a weak moment…
I blinked and took in Mercy, registering what Dante said earlier. Mercy was interested in him but he hadn’t been interested in her. So he’d used me? Ha, nuh-uh pretty boy, I thought with a silent snicker. I felt my lips spread and focused on Mercy.
“Me and Dante? No, god no. He’s not my type and besides…” I broke eye contact with her and looked out my side window as if hesitating.
“What?” she demanded. Spoilt girl, she was the princess always expecting what she wanted.
“Well,” I leaned towards her as if sharing something I shouldn’t. “Let’s just say that the kiss was meant as a desperate attempt to make you jealous.” I grinned cheekily at her and laughed evilly inside my head. Oh yeah, I’ll see you Monday, Dante and I’ll be damned if you think you can use me with that kiss.