Black Blood (24 page)

“What didn’t he
tell me?” Gemma forced her voice to remain even.

“Well, you guys
were broken up, so technically he wasn’t cheating, right?”

Gemma’s
chest restricted. Grabbing her stomach, she bent over and forced
the question from her mouth. “Courtney,
who
is Amy?”

* * * *

Harrison
slapped Bryan on the shoulder and couldn’t keep the grin from his
face. Sauntering out into the sunlight, he felt lighter than he had
in weeks. He admired Gemma’s tight frame as she paced the forecourt
chatting to Courtney. He couldn’t believe how normal it felt to be
back with her. It was like his hellish summer no longer existed and
he was more than happy to keep it that way.

He shone
her a smile as she walked towards him. He felt an odd sensation
stir in his belly. It wasn’t helped by the fact her eyes were down.
He could see the tension in her muscles. He put on an extra large
smile to compensate.

“So, they’re
still together right?”

Her head
bobbed. She glanced up with a short smile then dipped her head
again.

He cleared his
throat and took a step towards her. “See, I told you everything
would be okay.” Reaching forward, he tucked a strand of hair behind
her ear and felt the panic as she flinched away from him.

Don’t do this
to me again, Gem. I won’t survive it.

“Are you
okay?”

“I’m fine.” She
shrugged and looked away. “I gotta go. My Mom will be wondering
where I am.”

He
stopped her retreat. Grabbing her arm in a vice-like grip, he spun
her around. Trying to keep the shake from his voice was a waste of
time, so he just went with it. “Wait a sec, what’s the
matter?”

She didn’t try
and wriggle free, but she made him wait a solid minute before
looking at him with stony eyes. “I was just wondering how Amy feels
about us getting back together.”

Damn it,
Courtney!

He was unable
to respond with anything other than a fleeting look of regret.

“You failed to
mention her.”

“Look, Gem.” He
let go of her arm and ran a hand through his hair. “She’s not an
issue. She’s not important.”

Gemma scoffed.
“Well, I’m sure she feels differently about that.”

“I mean she
doesn’t… she’s not important to me like you’re important to
me.”

Her lifeless
glare physically hurt.

“We’re not even
together!” He bustled through an explanation. “She’s only visiting
for a few weeks. She leaves for Memphis on Tuesday. We knew each
other at one of my old schools, but it’s nothing.”

She didn’t say
a word as she stood there watching him fumble through an excuse.
Her penetrating silence was unnerving.

He stepped
towards her and gently placed his hand on her arm. “Gemma, it’s you
and me. I don’t want anybody else.”

“You used to
want her. She’s the ex you told me about. I remember.”

His look was
pleading. He could feel it. Gemma’s eyes remained hard and
stony.

“Does she know
about us?”

He looked down
and sighed.

Gemma let out a
scornful scoff and turned to walk away.

“
Wait!”
Panic tore through his system and he floundered for the phone in
his back pocket. “I’ll call her right now. I-”

“
I don’t
want to hear that conversation!!” She spun back to look at him. “I
have spent the last five weeks
fighting
to get you back. What have you done?”

He didn’t try
to stop her as she ran for her bike. The Ducati squealed onto the
road as she fish tailed out of the garage.

He wanted to
swear. He wanted to hurl his phone against the wall and watch it
smash into a thousand tiny pieces. Instead he stood like a statue,
reliving the last two weeks and hating himself.

* * * *

Two weeks
earlier….

It was
mid-morning by the time Harrison stumbled in for work. Wiping his
nose on his sleeve, he trudged into the office to find out where he
was needed. He’d had another sleepless night, unable to ignore the
dull ache radiating through his body. Trying to run from the pain,
he’d spent the night on the internet watching movie trailers and
random clips on YouTube.

As dawn had
breeched the morning sky he’d slipped into a restless slumber. It
wasn’t until his neighbour started up the lawnmower that his body
jerked awake and he realized the time.

Bryan would be
pissed.

Clearing his
throat, he waited for his stepfather to acknowledge his presence.
After a decent wait, Bryan sniffed and looked up from his paper
work.

“You’re late…
again.”

“Yeah, sorry,
I…”

Bryan stood
from his spot and slammed his clipboard down. “This isn’t good
enough, Harrison, you can’t keep skipping out on me and showing up
late to work!”

“Look, I said I
was sorry.”

“I know! I hear
it every damn morning!”

Harrison’s lips
pinched into a tight line as he shot the man a sullen glare.

Bryan ran his
hand through his hair and sighed.

“You asked for
work this summer and I’m paying you to turn up on time with your
head on straight. You look hung over, have you been drinking?”

“
No.
” Harrison
scuffed his foot on the floor. “I just can’t sleep.”

Bryan picked a
pen off his desk and clicked it a couple of times before dropping
it back onto his clipboard.

“I know she
hurt you. And not knowing why is a killer, but Harrison you have to
face the fact that you may never know. You need to move on.”

“I can’t.”
Harrison said between gritted teeth.

“Then learn.
Find a way to live without her or you are going to look back on
your life and wish you hadn’t wasted so much of it.”

The words felt
cold and painful as they sunk into his brain.

“Whether she’s
here or not, you are still alive and yeah, it hurts like hell. The
only thing you can control is your reaction. Don’t let this destroy
you.”

Harrison looked
away from his stepfather and gave a short nod.

“Now, there’s a
damn fine Caddy waiting for you in the garage. Go make me
proud.”

Harrison
twisted around to look at the lime green Cadillac. He forced his
lips to smile as he nodded at Bryan and went to work.

He didn’t think
he could do what Bryan was telling him to. His need for Gemma was
almost obsessive, but he felt powerless to do anything. He’d never
suffered from depression before. Everything about the last few
weeks went against character. He was losing himself.

For the
first time Harrison felt a small spark of anger. It felt better
than the pain and so he fueled it, arguing his way towards a
healthy resentment for what she was putting him through.

The rest of the
day was spent pouring all his focus into re-tuning the engine. He
pushed aside thoughts of Gemma every time they reached for him as
opposed to drowning in the sweet imagery. He owed Bryan a decent
day’s work and he wanted to give it to him.

Unhooking the
hood, he dropped it down and noticed a familiar face coming towards
him. Her smile was broad and energetic. She bounced up to him and
stopped by the wing mirror.

“Hey.” She bit
her lower lip.

“Amy.” He tried
to smile then cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, my aunt
moved over here a few months ago and invited us for a summer break.
We arrived a couple days ago. I’ve been following you on Facebook
so looked you up when I got here. I thought we could maybe hang
out.”

She had been
letting her red curls grow. They looked amazing as they fell over
her shoulders. Without meaning to, his eyes ran the length of her
body.

“I was
wondering if you were free tonight?”

Harrison’s eyes
jumped back to her face. It wasn’t the face he wanted to see, but
it was enough of a face to possibly distract him for an evening.
Forcing himself to smile, he nodded his head. “Yeah, yeah I
am.”

“Great!” She
gave a little jump and passed him a piece of paper with her details
on it. “Pick me up at seven, okay?”

“Sure.”
Harrison looked at the address then glanced up to watch her prance
back down the road.

“Was that Amy
Stewart?” Bryan appeared behind him, wiping his hands on a dirty
rag.

“Yeah.”
Harrison shoved the paper in his pocket.

“She’s looking
good.”

“Yeah.” He
turned to grab the keys for the Cadillac and couldn’t miss the
relieved smile on Bryan’s lips.

An uneasy
gnawing settled in his gut, chewing at the edges. Instantly
regretting his decision, he grabbed up his phone and called for
aide.

Darren had been
surprised to hear from him. Harrison’s brain had shut down the day
Gemma started ignoring him and no amount of pestering from Darren
could bring him around. The poor guy had been missing Courtney like
crazy. Harrison had been no help. Thankfully Courtney had returned
from Maine and Darren was feeling particularly charitable when he
text. The couple agreed to dinner and a movie.

It helped ease
the blow of having a different girl by his side. Courtney and
Darren always knew how to get a few laughs. Amy had been lively and
full of laughter.

He walked her
back to his car, his hands firmly in his pockets.

“Darren and
Courtney seem cool, although I wasn’t sure if they liked me or
not.”

“It’s not a
huge town, they take a while to warm up to new comers.” He didn’t
want to utter the truth. He had been feeling it all night. Amy was
no Gemma.

“Well, I had
fun anyway.” Her smile was golden.

Harrison
couldn’t help but smile back. “Ah, me too.”

“We should do
it again while I’m here.”

“Yep.” Harrison
pulled his keys free and bent to unlock her door.

Sidling up
beside him, she placed her hand on his shoulder and whispered,
“I’ve missed you.”

His muscles
went taut. He shot her a quick smile and pulled her door open.

“I sometimes
regret not trying for the long distance thing… especially now that
my aunt lives here, you know?”

Harrison put
his hands back in his pockets and looked at the ground. “It
wouldn’t have worked, Amy.”

“I guess.” She
bit her lower lip. “I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I’m
really glad I can have a couple of weeks with you now.”

Her hand was
back on his shoulder and sliding up to his hair. She smelt good as
she leaned towards him. Harrison’s heart began to hammer as she
stood on her tiptoes and placed her lips lightly on his. His first
instinct was to respond. His hands moved to her waist and he was
about to pull her in, when it all felt wrong.

Stepping away
from her, he licked his lips and gave his head a small shake. “I
can’t. I’m sorry.”

Amy tipped her
head and frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I…” He
couldn’t. He didn’t even want to mention Gemma’s name in her
presence. She had no right to that part of his life.

“It’s like
you’re dead on the inside or something.”

“Maybe I am.”
He shrugged.

“Well if you
let me.” She ran a finger down his cheek. “I can bring you back to
life again.”

He wanted to
tell her that was impossible, but thought it might be mean. Instead
he forced a smile and a nod before closing her door and driving her
home.

She didn’t try
to kiss him again when he dropped her off, but she did give him an
elongated hug.

“I’ll see you
tomorrow?”

His mouth went
dry, but his head bobbed.

For the first
night since Gemma left him, he slept.

He saw Amy
every night after that. They mainly hung out with Darren and
Courtney. They’d been on their own a few times, but Harrison had
made sure they kept it as fun and light as possible. They both knew
it would ultimately end with her heading back to Memphis at the end
of the summer. Amy kept on referring to it as their fling, although
that expression never sat well with Harrison. She was just a friend
and he didn’t especially want the benefits she was offering… no
matter how hard she had tried to give them to him.

* * * *

Logically he
hadn’t done anything wrong. He wasn’t with Gemma, so he hadn’t
cheated. He’d only kissed Amy a few times and managed to deter any
other advances. But as he recaptured the broken look in Gemma’s
eyes he knew. None of that mattered. Gemma had been risking her
life to bring him back while he had been using another girl to
lessen the sting of her absence.

Chapter Thirty-Three

St Augustine, Florida
– 2011 AD

Gemma jerked to
a stop and jumped off her bike. Ripping her helmet off, she flung
it on the ground and stomped towards the door. She wiped the tears
from her face, before bunching her fist and pounding on the
metal.

Gabe
looked confused as he opened the door.

“You’ve been
gone for hours, I thought it had worked.”

“It did.” She
stomped past him and thudded into the booth seat.

“Then what are
you doing here? And why are you crying?” Gabe slid into the seat
opposite her.

“Apparently
I’ve been ignoring him for the last month!” Gemma flicked another
tear from her cheek.

Gabe grimaced
with a nod. “I was wondering how that would pan out. Is he angry
with you?”

Gemma frowned.
“He’s gone and got himself a new girlfriend!”

“No way.” Gabe
sat back. “He would have been heart broken.”

“He says she’s
not important, but…”