The Bad Boy's Dance (42 page)

              It looked like they’d developed a routine when they came to visit me. A fissure of unease exploded in my chest. How long had I been out? It felt like only a few moments.

              “Hospital cable sucks,” Spencer complained, finally giving up on finding something decent and balancing the remote on his nose like a seal.

              “It’s not like the doctors and nurses are going to take a quick
Gilmore Girls
break. Or, in your case,
Pretty Little Liars,
” Paul quipped, flicking through a textbook absently.

              “I do not watch
Pretty Little Liars
!” Spencer huffed indignantly.

              “Dude, you have posters of Lucy Hale under your pillow,” Paul scoffed. “Get out and smell the delusion.”

              Dana and Caleb’s arguing soon overpowered my brothers’. “I can’t believe you never told us! We’re your best friends, Caleb, how could you betray us like that?”

              Caleb groaned, and I saw him thump his head against the bed a few time from my periphery. “I didn’t betray you guys, for the millionth freaking time. Get a grip, woman!”

              Kyle snorted from his place on the floor. “Man, you just wait until Ivy wakes up; she’s going to use your balls for earrings.”

              It was getting harder and harder to stay still, and I knew Asher was going to start guffawing any second, and the jig would be up.

              “Oh by the way, Mom has like five nurses posted to Ivy’s room, so don’t try any of that naughty nurse crap, got it?” Paul warned Spencer. “Or your mother will hear about it.”

              “Buzzkills. When are they coming back, anyway?”

              Paul sighed. “They airlines won’t fly to South Dakota because of the storm we had yesterday. Mom’s going insane, even though I told her Ivy’s condition was stable, and Dad almost pulled a
Home Alone
to make it here. Jodi’s still with Dana’s dad. Thanks for that, by the way,” Paul mentioned.

              It was bothering me more and more that I couldn’t see their faces. Any second now…

              “
Home Alone
one or two?” Caleb inquired.

              “One,” Paul yawned.

              “That was my favorite.”

              It took everyone a few seconds to realize Caleb hadn’t been the one to speak, and the room stopped. I opened my eyes fully and grinned, wishing I had a camera more than ever to record the thrilled and shocked faces before me.

              Dana was the first to react. She stood and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. “You’re okay. You’re really okay,” she whispered. She smoothed my hair from my forehead and exhaled.

              She slapped me.

              Everyone flew to their feet, but Dana and I were locked in a private stare-down. I’m not sure who won, but a few seconds later, her harshness melted as she burst into tears.

              I wrapped my arms around her the best I could, letting her bury her face in my shoulder. “I-I-I was so scared, there was so much blood, and the knife...Why didn’t you tell me about J-Jared’s visits? Why didn’t you,” –hiccup-“tell me he was stalking,” –hiccup-“ you again? I’m your best friend, Ivy! Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

              Well didn’t I feel like a Class A jerk. Releasing her as she stepped away, I smiled remorsefully. “I’m sorry, Dana. It all happened so fast, and I guess…I didn’t want to believe what was right in front of me.”

              Caleb and Kyle crowded out my brothers. Spencer had stepped out of the room to call Mom and Dad and let them know I was okay while Paul was simply staring at me silently. It was pretty creepy, actually.

              Asher was still in the corner of the room, giving us space, but he tensed when Kyle took one of my hands in his. I scoffed. “For the love of everything moon cheese, get over here Asher.”

              Rolling his eyes again, he stood next to Caleb on my bedside, on the opposite end of Kyle. I crossed my arms over my chest. “Asher, you need to understand that Kyle and I are
just friends
.”

              Kyle’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

              Asher sent him a scathing glance before looking at me. “But-“

              “No buts! I believed you about Brenda, and that was a much harder pill to swallow. If Kyle and I had feelings like that, we would have acted on them a long time ago.”

              Kyle looked completely lost while Asher was biting his lower lip-and damn if it didn’t get me all hot and bothered- in contemplation. At last, he sighed. He extended his arm over me, towards Kyle.

              Kyle grinned and took his hand, shaking it vigorously. But when he tried to retract it, Asher wouldn’t let go. “Right now you’re in the safe zone. Put the moves on my girlfriend and you’ll have to learn how to eat with toes.”

              Kyle paled visibly while the others laughed. Knowing this was the best I could get from him, I put my hands on their wrists and pulled their hands apart. A thought occurred to me. “Hey, wait. Why are the rest of you all buddy-buddy with Asher again?”

              It was true. There was an easy relaxation around the room, and nobody was sending poisoned glares at Asher, despite the fact that the last time I’d seen them, I’d gotten the impression they were willing to commit manslaughter.

              Caleb laughed. “He told us what happened, and we believed him.”

              At my skeptical expression, Dana piped in. “He came to your house after he got back from the woods, letting us know what had happened. At first, Caleb and Kyle had to restrain your brothers –Spencer tried to throw his weights at him- but when he told us, we were too freaked to really be bothered. He told us about what that crazy bitch did. Honestly, it was his reaction to your kidnapping that sold us. No one that loved you as much as we did could shack it up with Curtis.”

              The rest of the room continued to chat easily, but Asher and I had frozen. Dana had unwittingly hit a nerve for both of us.

             
Nobody that loved you as much as we did.

             
Paul thankfully spoke then, distracting us from the awkwardness. “Everyone, go home. Ivy needs to rest. She might not have actually had a knife in her heart, but she was still stabbed. So get out.”

              With a lot of grumbling, everyone took turns giving me hugs and filing out. Dana and Caleb were arguing at the foot of the bed until Caleb threw his arms in the air in exasperation. He turned to me with a determined and slightly crazed look. Ah, the influence of our Dana.

              “I’m dating Phoebe Jenkins, the girl from your Physics class. Jeez! Happy?” He asked Dana, stomping out.

              Phoebe? Oh! It was that cute sophomore with the big glasses and the Asher-terror. They were dating?
What a crazy world we do occupy.

              Dana giggled, watching him leave in a huff. “He’s been flustered all week. It probably doesn’t help that I keep telling him she’ll be jailbait soon. Oh, and Ivy?” she said wryly. She wagged her finger at me. “I know what you’re up to with Homecoming.”

              With a beaming smile, she winked. “Keep it up!” and flounced out. I chuckled at my weird friends.

              Asher hadn’t moved from his position, and Paul was giving him the stink-eye. Didn’t look like they would be exchanging friendship bracelets any time soon. “You too,” Paul insisted.

              Asher smirked. “No. We’ve had this conversation.”

              Paul made a noise of annoyance. “She’s fine! You can go home now. You’ve been camping at this hospital for three days!”

              Three days? I’d been in the hospital for THREE DAYS? The schoolwork, the chocolate store on Bradford…oh no! And Mrs. Knut must be losing her mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if she showed up and tried to stab me in the heart too.

             
 
Asher and Paul continued their argument while I freaked. “I need to have a word with my sister. At least go and wait outside,” Paul groaned with frustration.

          “Fine. But I have no intention of leaving until Ivy’s leaving with me.” With that vow, Asher exited the room, closing the door behind him.

          Now it was just Paul and me. We looked at each other quietly while he sat in the chair by my bed.

          “He was the reason you panicked that day, wasn’t he?”

          He didn’t need to elaborate. The day Jared had come see me after school, I’d broken down in Paul’s arms, something which hadn’t happened in ages.

          “Yes,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, Paul. I wish I’d told you, but he threatened to hurt anyone I told.”

          Paul sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I wish you had, but I understand why you didn’t. The only thing keeping me from going on a rampage is the fact that the sick bastard is in padded cell as we speak. They’re not letting him out any time soon.”

          Paul grasped my hand in his. “Ives…we all died a thousand deaths when we saw you in his apartment. Asher nearly killed Jared, and the only reason I didn’t join him was because…I’d already failed you once. If I let you die, I’d be failing you again. I couldn’t let my little sister die on the floor in front of me.”

          A tear tracked down his cheek, and I started crying at the sight. “You never failed me, Paul. Never. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” I whispered.

          Paul smiled, wiping at my tears. “It’s a big brother complex.”

          “Spencer doesn’t seem to have it,” I joked, my voice still clogged.

          “You’d be surprised. He was so angry when Asher told us Jared had taken you that he threw an entire 
box 
of donuts at the wall.”

          I was stunned. For Spencer, wasting donuts was practically sacrilegious. He’d sooner admit he had a crush on Ryan Gosling.

          “Don’t ever do something so stupid again, Ives,” Paul warned. “You have a ton of people who care about you, and you need to let us help you.”

          I smiled as I felt a weight lift off my chest, making me feel lighter than I had for years. “Jared’s gone, Paul. He’s really out of my life forever.”

          Paul stood, ruffling my hair. “I know, kiddo. And you will 
never 
guess which lawyer sent him to isolation 
and 
signed a restraining order.”

          “Dad?”

          “Nope. He’s not allowed to, conflict of interest and all. It was Max Curtis.”

          My jaw dropped. “Brenda’s Dad?”

          “Yup. Seems she told him how twisted and sick Jared was, and her Dad took the case.”

          Whoa. Talk about unexpected. Brenda Curtis, helping me? It’d be to believe easier an alien abducted her body or that Amazon was delivering moon cheese with no shipping fee.

          “Oh, and Ivy?” Paul hesitated, his hand on the doorknob. He cleared his throat. “Asher was freaking out, pacing and making calls to anyone he thought could help. He even explained to the police about the situation with his Dad and the money sharks after him, hoping it would help them find you. I’d say that one is a keeper, even if he annoys the crap out of me.”

          My heart warmed, and I couldn’t stop the giddy smile crossing my lips. Paul chuckled as he left with a reminder to call our parents, who were pretty much confused over whether they should ground me for the rest of my life or cut me some slack.

          The door hadn’t been shut more than a few seconds before Asher entered, closing it behind him once more. He pointed at my loopy smile. “Did they start administering morphine? Should I sit on the other side of the room? I know how you like to play grab-ass, and you might try to take my innocence when you’re under the influence.”

          I flipped him off cheerfully.

          He grinned. Rounding the bed, he poked my side. “Move over.”

          “Are you serious? The nurse will kill you.”

          “Nah, she already gave me her name and number and told me to pick her up Saturday.”

          Snickering, I scooted to the side to make him some room. Asher eased into the space next to me so we were pressed together from leg to shoulder. We both turned on our sides, facing each other. I tucked my hand under my head while he kicked off his shoes.

          “Did you know,” he started nonchalantly, “that Mr. Henderson’s office wasn’t the first time I noticed you?”

          My eyebrows knit together. “Really?”

          Asher reached into the space between us, weaving his fingers with mine. “Yup. I noticed you twice before the day you stomped on my foot. Once was freshman year. You and Dana were excited about starting high school, and you looked adorable in your pressed clothes and big hazel eyes. The second was junior year. You were looking at this picture at your locker, and you seemed on the verge of crying. I wanted to hug you, which was 
not 
my usual response to anything. I don’t hug.”