Relish: A Vicious Feast Book 2 (3 page)

A part of me wanted to take perverse pleasure in kissing him in front of an audience. Marking my territory as it were. But I couldn’t do that. Even as a joke. It would send the wrong message. I’d hurt Larry enough. I slogged through fifteen inches of snow so I could do the right thing. No matter how scary that seemed.

Larry looked up from his plate of burger and fries like he felt me too. The brooding disappeared. I tasted my cherry lip gloss when my lower lip darted out from between my teeth. Guilt at shattering the hope in his expression kept me rooted where I’d stopped when I finally spotted him. Only when he scooted out of the booth and a waitress balancing mugs filled with root beer on a tray scowled at me did I regain the ability to walk.

I plastered a smile on my face when Larry leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. The hearts of women in Pot Luck broke. I winced from the dagger-stares hitting the bull’s-eye centered on my back. 

“A booth, huh?” I asked as I shoved into the seat across from him.

He raised his hand to catch the attention of any of the wait staff. “Do you want anything in particular? You need to order now if you want to get it any time this century.”

The confidence—and dare I say happiness—in his tone worried me. Maybe meeting him for dinner sent an even worse message. Still, I ordered a burger with a side of onion rings when the waitress who’d wanted to run me over earlier came to our booth. Larry tipped well, so she kept her hostility at a bare minimum. The situation reminded me of when Luka had brought me to an empty restaurant at the start of my month with Vicious for fusion Japanese food where the waitress acted like she wanted to stab me with a butter knife.

Like a prize fighter, I took my hits gracefully. Why did I continue to torture myself with memories of him? It wasn’t like I enjoyed remembering what I’d been through. I focused on the guy sitting across from me.

“You came,” he said, confirming my suspicions.

I shook my head. “This is not what you think.”

“It’s dinner.”

“The way you’re looking at me right now…” I paused, taking a breath. “Look, I don’t want to rehash our argument from this morning. I’ve been replaying it all day.”

“You were thinking of me instead of working?”

“I’m sorry it happened,” I said at the same time Larry had asked his question. “Wait. What?”

His grin couldn’t have been prouder, like he’d finished tenth at a marathon of a thousand participants. “You’ve been thinking about me.”

“Larry.” I rubbed the frown and the last of my gloss off my lips. “This is not a date.”

“But you came anyway.”

I opened my mouth to rebut when my burger and onion rings arrived with a tall glass of soda. No matter how drunk I wanted to get right that second, Pot Luck didn’t serve anything stronger than beer. The taste of malt made me gag. I took it as a sign. Stumbling home inebriated in the snow presented a whole host of problems. I couched the idea of having a drink and took a bite out of my burger instead. My eye rolled back into my head the second the juices of the hundred percent pure beef patty coated my tongue.

“Has anyone told you how sexy you look when you eat?” Larry asked, resting his chin on his palm while nibbling on another fry. “It’s so erotic, like you’re coming.”

I blushed. How could I not? Chewing the huge bite in my mouth took up most of my concentration. Normally, Larry getting explicit wouldn’t have bothered me. Tonight, reacting to his observations only dug my grave deeper. Swallowing, I set the delectable burger down and leveled a serious stare at him. Now or never.

“Larry, look. I’ve been thinking about it.” I sighed, gathering up my courage and considering having my burger to go. “I’m sorry. When I got back, I was in a terrible place. Unfortunately, I used you to bring me out of it. I shouldn’t have done that. You deserve better than to be used by me.”

With each word that left my lips, Larry’s smile faded a little more until nothing of it remained. “What are you saying?”

“You were right when you said we should break up. I don’t want to keep putting you in a position of waiting for nothing.”

He reached for my hand and this time I’d been the one to pull away.

“I made a mistake.” I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into all this. I messed up during my time with Vicious. I should have known better.”

“But you didn’t,” he said.”

A pathetic chuckle closed my throat. It took all my strength to keep speaking. “Yeah. That I did. I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have.”

“Look, D, I’m sorry I pressured you this morning.” Larry caught my hand in his, refusing to let go when I tugged. “I don’t know what came over me this morning. I’d meant what I said when I agreed to no strings attached. I get that we only have a few weeks left together. Let’s just enjoy each other’s company and part as friends.”

The hope blossoming in my chest broke my resolve. “You serious?”

He nodded. “This is just dinner. You and me enjoying a burger at Pot Luck.”

I turned my hand into his and entwined our fingers. The tears of relief welling in my eye pushed me to look down. I blinked repeatedly to hide them. No nights alone. I might make my deadline after all.

“Hey,” Larry whispered. “What’s up?”

Using the thumb of my free hand, I swiped at the stray tear that refused to stay in. “Don’t mind me. I’m just being hormonal.”

“Staying with Vicious really did a number on you, huh?”

I shushed him, flicking my gaze at the tables nearest us. “Not so loud. You could start a riot. I’m already worried my photos will get stolen from the Showcase.”

Larry let go of my hand and settled back until the back of his head rested on the vinyl behind him. “I suggest you chain them to the wall.”

That got a laugh out of me. “I don’t know how the hell I’m going to finish in time.”

He took a sip of his soda. “You’ll make it. I’ll help in any way I can.”

I didn’t know how much more guilt my poor heart could take. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For using you.” I stared dejectedly at my golden brown onion rings the size of flying saucers. “You can still back out of this, you know. I won’t hold it against you.”

“Look at me.”

It actually took me a couple of seconds to do as he’d asked. Another few seconds passed before Larry spoke again. The tension between us snapped like an over-stretched rubber band.

“Know that I’m your friend. It hurts me to see you suffering.” He crossed his arms and gripped his biceps hard. “If it weren’t for that NDA, I would hunt that guy down and beat him bloody. But,” he raised his hand to cut me off, “there’s nothing I can do now but support you. They’ve taken so much from you already. I’ll be damned if I let them keep you from graduating. This is your future. Take those photos and show the world what you’re made of.”

A grin stretched my lips. “Well said, Counselor.” 

C
HAPTER
T
HREE
F
RIENDS

True to his word, Larry stayed by my side the whole week I worked on finishing my introspective. He held my hand during my doubt-triggered panic attacks and cracked the whip when I thought I couldn’t go on. When he left for class, he sent over Silvia, the features writer for the Daily Gossip who I usually teamed up with when covering clubs. Between the both of them, I had no time to think about how weird my dreams had gotten, let alone find time for sleep. I considered myself lucky if I got a couple of hours a night.

I was adding the final touches to the tenth photo when Silvia handed me a refilled mug. I’d lived on coffee and whatever food Larry brought to my apartment. It reminded me of being under Deidra’s care again. Too tired, I barely felt the pain attached to the memory.

Without taking my gaze off the picture of Luka’s face I created by shrinking every photo I’d taken of the band into tiny dots and putting them all together, I brought the mug to my lips.

“Ow!” I stuck out my tongue and fanned it.

“I would have told you it was hot if you gave me the chance,” Silvia said belatedly. She sighed, placing her hand on the back of my chair. “God, he’s gorgeous. I get that you had to sign an NDA and can’t spill, but know that I’m dying here.”

Burning my taste buds became the distraction I needed to break my intense concentration. I leaned away from the screen and tilted my head to enhance my view of the mash up I’d created. From afar the audience saw Luka’s face, but when they leaned in they would see all the miniature pictures that made up his face.

“I love how you interpreted your theme this way.” Silvia pursed her lips like an art connoisseur studying a painting. “You have the bigger picture, which is Luka. Then the minute details told the story of the band. I can smell the A.”

I crossed my arms. My eyebrows came together. “You think so?”

“Take it from a features writer. I’ll be covering the Showcase and can already see that you’ll be a hit for your subject alone.”

“The subject would be popular, yes.” Even I couldn’t deny that. “But I’m too close to the project. I can’t see straight anymore. I think I’ve lost my perspective.”

Silvia squeezed my shoulder. “Look, you’re done. Let’s bring these babies to Eddy so he can frame them and you can get some much needed rest before you start on that paper.”

My fingers glided over the touch pad so the cursor moved. “Maybe if I tweaked it a little more…” Silvia moved her hand from my shoulder to slap my wrist. “Ow! Alright! Let me just save the damn thing.”

“When was the last time you took a shower?”

I minimized the screen and absentmindedly asked back, “Why?”

“If you have to ask then it’s been too long. You’re wearing the same shirt I saw you in when I came over last Wednesday.”

“What day is it?”

“Saturday.”

Hearing the disgust in her tone, I sniffed myself. “I don’t smell anything.”

“That only means you’re way past due.” Silvia yanked me out of my seat and shoved me toward my bathroom. “Once you’re done, we’ll head for Eddy’s.”

At the door to my bathroom, I stopped and stared at Silvia. In my four years at Wexler, I never thought I would make friends, let alone actually know someone like her. Granted, being on the paper brought us together, but she jumped at the chance to help me with my final project. Maybe it had to do with the diamond tennis bracelet I’d given her from the goody bag I had swiped from the New Year’s Eve party before I left. I suspected the bag possessed some sort of wormhole where the other end was located inside a Neiman’s. It provided the wool robe I wore around the apartment and the sheepskin booties I simply adored. Larry’s scarf came from it too, along with my new cell phone and tablet. The spa treatment and silk scarf went to my mom. Did I mention the members of Vicious were insanely rich? No? Well, they funded their world tour and produced their own albums. They made up the ultimate indie band. My heart crumpled at the memory of them.

“What?” Silvia looked up from the magazine she flipped through.

I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe. “Just wanna say thanks. You didn’t have to babysit me.”

Her eyebrow arched. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t? Besides, I got to see all the gorgeous pictures you took of the band. I want copies of the ones with Demitri and Luka in kilts, by the way.”

A chuckle escaped my lips as I shook my head at her. “You know I can’t do that.”

Crestfallen, she fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist. “At least I got this baby out of it.”

“I knew it! It’s the bling that kept you here.”

She treated me to an overdramatic eye roll. “Will you take a bath already? We may have to burn that T-shirt just to get the smell out.”

I threw my head back and laughed before backing into the bathroom and closing the door. The rapid inhalation and exhalation spread endorphins all over my body, giving me a much needed boost. I hadn’t felt this good in weeks. With the help of Larry and Silvia, I came back to myself. I never thought it possible.

Buoyant, I removed my clothes and jumped into the shower.

***

Refreshed, and the weight of my project off my shoulders, I walked side by side with Silvia toward Eddy’s. We’d taken the subway since cabbing it through the heavy snow seemed ridiculous. Last thing I needed was to die in a horrible car crash because of icy roads. Okay, morbid, but I’d read somewhere it was normal to think the worst when approaching the end of something. In this case, the end of my college life.

“Stop checking your bag,” Silvia admonished for the hundredth time. “The USB is there.”

“I know.” I checked anyway. The tiny thing that held my entire future sat beside my camera. I finally started bringing my baby with me again and taking random pictures. I already had seven of Silvia in the ugly multi-colored scarf her grandmother had knitted for her.

“You are so buying me a cup of hot cocoa after this.”

“I can do better than that,” I said with a grin and she waited with raised eyebrows for me to continue. “How about we go shopping?”

“But you hate shopping,” she replied, her bright eyes narrowing. She may be a few inches shorter in height, especially in snow boots, but Silvia still intimidated me. She stuffed her mitten-covered hands into her jacket pockets as her perfectly arched eyebrows came together. The powder really started coming down over our heads. If we didn’t reach Eddy’s soon, we might freeze to death. Okay, I was really having a
Final Destination
moment. I blamed the weird dreams. Now that I relaxed, they haunted my thoughts again.

To distract myself, I responded to Silvia’s statement. “I know, but I figured I’ll need stuff to wear for my travels. How about you help me pick?”

Despite the possible hazard of slipping and breaking her neck, Silvia squealed and danced circles around me until we reached Eddy’s. I still promised her hot cocoa though, feeling the need for a cup when we stuffed ourselves into the shop.

“Hey!” Eddy waved at us from behind the counter, his dreadlocks longer now than from the last time I’d seen him—when I’d printed out my presents for the band. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and waved back.