Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) (26 page)

She gives me a sad smile, the wrinkles around her eyes going deeper.
 
“No, it wasn’t.
 
I suppose some people have that kind of relationship, but with your dad and me it was fits and starts.
 
Nothing has ever been easy in our life together.”

“Are you sad about that?
 
Do you regret it?”
 
I search her eyes for honesty.
 
She’s not joking or messing with me, I can tell.
 
She looks tired, but happy.

“Not for a second.”
 
She hugs me to her tight.
 
“Your dad is the best thing that ever happened to me.
 
Look at the wonderful children he gave me.”

I snort over her shoulder.
 
“Yeah.
 
One that cusses like a sailor and another one who lights hospitals on fire.”

“Guess what boring is,” she says.

“What?” I’m confused.

“Guess what boring is,” she says again.

“I don’t know. What’s boring?”

“Boring.
 
Boring is boring.
 
Who wants a boring life?”

“Me?”

“Bullshit,” she says.
 
“Only assholes want boring lives.”

I laugh and cry until I reach the pizza. Then I just inhale cheese and pepperoni like it’s going out of style, all the while surrounded by the love of my ridiculously not-boring family.

There’s only one tiny little thing missing from this picture, but I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about that one little thing. No use worrying about parts of my life I cannot change.
 
I have a future to get to, starting when Teagan shows up later to pick me up.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

A LONG, HOT SHOWER DOES a little bit of good for my mood, although it doesn’t fully restore it. I don’t think that’s even possible at this point.
 
There’s too much unresolved in my life and too many unanswered questions about my near future.
 
But at least the horror that was my hair is now gone.

I’m sporting long, smooth locks with a light curl to them instead of a helmet o’frizz.
 
I use the straightening iron to get every last bit of crispiness out of my dark, kinky hair.
 
As ridiculous as it sounds, I want to try and fix things that can be fixed.
 
My life is a mess, but my hair?
 
… Not so much.
 
At least I have that going for me. I just wish I could care about my eyebrows too, but I don’t.
 
I keep looking in the mirror and wondering what Mick sees when he looks at me.
 
It makes me sad when I realize it’s probably nothing special.

“Hey, ho,” says Teagan, walking up the hallway and stopping in my doorway.

“Hey, ho,” I say back, pulling a cardigan over my arms.
 
“Time to make like a baby and head out?”

“No, time to make like a hockey player and get the puck out of here.”

I take my purse from the bed and sling it over my shoulder.
 
“You sure this is a good idea?” I ask as we head out the front door.
 
I’m so not looking forward to going over to Rebel Wheels right now.
 
The only reason I’m going at all is for Teagan.
 
I don’t want anything I’ve done to get between her and her man-meat.

“Yes,” she says. “Definitely. I’d rather we just get everything worked out and out in the open.
 
Then we can start fresh.”

When we slam the doors shut on the Beetle it sounds like we’re closing ourselves into a tin can.
 
I wonder why I’ve never noticed it before.
 
My life has gotten dimmer today.
 
There are no silver linings - only clouds.
 
Gah, I need to have sex or something and get some spark back into my life.
 
This is lame.

As Teagan pulls away from the curb, I remember something about her case that came up when my mom was visiting me in the hospital, and I’m happy for the distraction my wandering brain has provided.
 
“My mom said that you and I have an appointment at the lawyer’s office Monday.”

“Yeah.”
 
Teagan glances at me before going back to looking at the road.
 
“I hope that’s okay.
 
I told them you’d come.”

“Yeah, it’s fine.
 
But what do they want from me?”

“They want to talk to you about your report again.
 
I guess the lawyer for my step-mother has contacted them with some kind of settlement offer and they want to be sure they understand everything they’re looking at.”

My depression has been replaced by nervousness.
 
Goody
.
 
“Don’t they have an expert they’re paying who can do that?”

“Yes, but I guess there’s something about how you did it that they like.
 
Just say you’ll come.
 
I’ll treat you to lunch after.”

“Sure, no problem.”
 
I shrug, staring out the side window.
 
“No big deal, right?”
 
I should be more excited about the opportunity to talk with a fancy legal team about my work, but I just can’t get there.
 
I’m seeing Mick in that hospital bed, over and over.
 
His disappointment.
 
His sadness.
 
His anger at me.
Ugh
.

Neither of us says anything for a little while.
 
I let the high pitched buzzing of The Beast’s engine mesmerize me as my brain wanders through my memories.
 
I keep picturing Mick’s face, going gray and pained as he collapses outside his car.
 
My heart seizes up in my chest as I picture him not being here on this earth anymore.
 
I’m so glad I got him to the hospital on time, even though it involved me getting electrocuted.

“Are you okay?” Teagan asks.
 
We’re sitting at a stoplight.

“Yeah.
 
I’m fine.”
 
I look over and give her the best smile I can manage.

“Bullshit.”
 
She puts the tiny shifter into first gear and pulls out into the intersection.

“No, I’m fine.
 
Really.”

“It’s Mick, isn’t it?”

“No.”
 
I try to act like her guess is stupid.

“Colin?”

“No!
 
Jesus, not Colin.”
 
I shake my head, suddenly angry for no good reason.

“Geez, okay.
 
No need to have a frigging cow.”

I smile without humor.
 
“You are so old school sometimes.”

She grins.
 
“I know, right?
 
Rebel said Mick was having a cow the other day and I made myself memorize it.
 
I swore I’d use it at least five times before next weekend.”

“Rebel said
have a cow
?
 
I don’t believe that.”
 
I shake my head, trying to picture it.
 
“You made that up.”

“No, seriously.
 
He’s funny.”

“I’ll just have to trust you on that,” I say, not sure I believe her stories.
 
She’s too in love to know what’s what with that guy.
 
“How’s Alissa doing?” I ask, in an obvious attempt to change the subject.
 
Luckily, Teagan takes the hint and runs with it.

“Fine, I guess.
 
She keeps to herself.
 
She hasn’t left the apartment. All she does is read.”

“I guess that’s good.”
 
The surroundings become familiar as we get closer to Rebel Wheels.
 
“Has she said anything about who the father is?”

“No. And I’m not pushing her either. I don’t want her to run away because she thinks we’re going to strong-arm her or anything.”

The way she says that makes me look over.
 
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, just chill-out when you’re around her. Go easy. She’s seriously freaked out over the pregnancy or her parents or whatever.
 
I’m not sure what the source of her mood is, actually, but she’s messed up.”

“Fine.”
 
I try not to be offended by what she’s insinuating.
 
“I can be chill.”

She pats my leg.
 
“I know you can.
 
Now don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“Yes, you are.
 
Oh, and good news … Colin’s going to make a ton of cash from that show.”

“Really?
 
How much?”
 
Now
there’s
a tiny ray of sunshine.
 
Some good will come out of this mess.

“I’ll let him tell you.”
 
She pulls into the parking lot and shuts off the engine as she rolls into the space by the front door.

“I hate surprises,” I say, getting out of the car.
 
The pain in my chest from the taser is almost nothing now, but I cringe anyway.
 
All my efforts at gaining pity are wasted, though, since Teagan’s not looking at me.

Teagan leads the way through her office and up the stairs to Rebel’s apartment.
 
I look down the hall uneasily at Colin’s door, but it doesn’t open.

As I walk into Rebel’s place, the first thing I see is Alissa sitting on the couch with an e-reader in her hand.
 
She glances up and says,
 
“Hi,” before going back to her book or whatever it is she’s looking at.

“Hi.
 
How are you feeling?” I ask.

“Good.”
 
She doesn’t even look up this time.

Alrighty, then.
 
I look around and suddenly notice she’s not the only one in the room.
 
Colin is in the far corner and he’s staring at me.

I’m instantly nervous, breaking out in a cold sweat.
 
I can feel my hair wanting to frizz.
 
Dammit.

“Hi, Quin.
 
Thanks for coming over,” he says.

My eyes narrow and some anger slips back into my heart.
 
Mick is lying in a hospital room right now, lighter in the organ department because of him.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asks.
 
His voice is cautious.
 
Calm.
 
Way cooler than mine.

“No.”
 
I grip my purse strap hard with both hands.
 
Teagan warned me about making a scene with asking Alissa questions; I’m pretty sure making a scene includes causing one in her general vicinity too.

“Quin, go talk to him.
 
Please?”
 
Teagan is not playing.
 
She sounds tired and sad.

I blow a gust of hot breath up onto my forehead.
 
“Fine.
 
Talk.”
 
I stare at a spot over his head.
 
I can’t look him in the eyes right now.
 
I feel guilty for some stupid reason.

“I’d rather do it at my place,” he says.

“Bad idea,” I say.
 
“Do it here.”

“If you guys don’t mind, maybe it
would
be better if you did it over there,” says Alissa, suddenly coming out of her book stupor.
 
Her face is all pinched and snooty-looking.

My mouth drops open.
 
What the …?
 
How dare she?
 
What … she’s here for a day or two and suddenly this is her place and she’s calling the shots?

Teagan sees my expression and comes rushing over.
 
“Yes, what a good idea.
 
Go on over to Colin’s place so we can just relax over here.
 
Without all the noise and stuff.
 
Right? That would be good, right?”
 
Teagan frowns at me and then gives me a huge fake smile that stretches from one ear to the other across her face.
 
Her earlier lecture about not upsetting Alissa comes back to haunt me.

“Fine. I’ll go out to the hallway.”
 
I leave the room without looking at anyone, refusing to acknowledge Teagan’s attempts at making it up to me with smiles and a thumbs-up sign.
 
I’m totally going to slap her ass later for this one.
 
And Alissa … boy when she’s done being pregnant, she’s going to hear it from me.

I’m not out there alone for long.
 
Colin joins me, but he moves past me and goes to his door.

“I told you,
out here
.
 
I’m not going in there.” I grab my purse strap with both hands again and squeeeeeeze.

“That’s fine.
 
I just want to get something.
 
Be right back.”

I stand there tapping my foot and breathing angrily.
 
Huffs of air come out and my eyes roll to the ceiling and then all around. I’ve worked myself up into full-on panty twistage by the time he comes back out.

Thing is, I can’t actually see him.
 
There are too many damn yellow roses covering his face.

My heart drops into my abdominal cavity and the anger that was previously burning up my brain disappears to be replaced by a thin trickle of dread.
 
My hands leave my purse strap and flop to my sides.
 
“Oh, shit, Colin…”
 
Words fail me from that point.

“Don’t be mad,” he says, stopping in front of me.
 
He lowers the bouquet so I can see him again.
 
“I just got these as an apology and a thank you.
 
They’re yellow.
 
The lady at the shop said they’re for friendship.”