Timing (190 page)

36

Mary Calmes

CHARLOTTE ke

k pt me busy the

h fo

f llowing morn

r ing. Sh

S e came to my

room way too early, but she bro

r ught coffee, so I didn’t kill her. Once I

showered and change

g d and we both had breakfast,

t we were off to see a

friend of the fa

f mily who was a seamst

s re

r ss. Hopefully

l she could do

something with the scary

r wedding dress. The woman was hesit

i ant

n

when we got

t there

r , but on

o ce I assured her

r tha

h t no harm

r would come

m to

t

her

r for

r messing with an heirl

r oom, she we

w nt to work, gutting it starting

with the antique, over-the-top beading. Charlott

t e had sketched out what

she wa

w nted,

, and aft

f e

t r I made some

m sugge

g stions, it sounded like it was

going to be good. Sh

S e was all over

r me

m as we left. We met up with

every

r one else

s for lunch a

t a local pl

p ace that Charlo

l tte’s fami

m ly

l loved.

Aft

f er we got home

m , every

r one

n sta

t rted pla

l ying croquet on the

h back

lawn. I thought it was a little ta

t me until I

I re

r ali

l zed that eve

v ryone had to

take a shot of tequila

l befo

f re each ro

r und and

d you had to have

v a beer in

your

r hand at al

a l tim

i es.

. If the beer wa

w s put

t down, you took

k another shot

of Pa

P tron. If the beer

r went empty

t , sa

s me

m deal. The

h re were

r going to be

balls and ma

m lle

l ts fl

f y

l ing all over the pla

l ce in a ve

v ry

r short time

m . I decide

d d

to send out e-mail

i s I

I had been putt

t ing off

f

f so I wouldn’t

’ have to do it

late

t r.

r The sooner

r I fi

f nished up the last of

f my

m work, the sooner

r I could

get down to some serious drinking.

By the ti

t me

m I got fi

f nished, there were

r cars clutte

t ring the street,

lots of

f peopl

p e at the hou

o se, and a basketba

b ll ga

g me going on in the

h

driveway that was more

r about tra

r sh ta

t lking and pushing and shoving

than anything else

s . The girl

r s were goading the men on, everyone was

laughing and drinking, and inevita

t bly

l , the longer

r the game went

t on, the

h

Timing

37

more obnoxious everyone became. I went inside to get a bottle of

water, and by the time I returned, Ben was preparing to take a shot

from what I assumed was the foul line. One of the guys from the

opposite team was harassing him, and I realized suddenly how serious

he was.

“Take the shot, you drunkass piece of shit.”

“I’m not the drunk asshole,” Ben snapped at him, dribbling the

ball where he was. “And if you would shut the fuck up, maybe I could

shoot.”

“Fuckin’ asshole,” he complained to Charlotte. “Make your punk

ass man shoot the ball!”

“Shoot the ball, Ben!” she laughed. “Before my cousin Brandon

beats the crap out of you!”

“I was just fouled, Char. It’s my free-throw.”

“Oh, will you shoot already!” the guy said, walking forward and

shoving Ben hard.

“Get off me!”

“Gimme the ball, asshole,” he snarled, shoving Ben again, trying

to take the ball.

“Get off!” Ben yelled, pushing back.

Because the guy was drunk, when he got as good as he’d given,

he nearly fell over, only his windmilling arms keeping him on his feet.

Everyone thought it was hysterical, and the laughter at the guy’s

expense was loud. Ben was chuckling, walking away, and never

noticing that the guy was suddenly charging after him. Since he wasn’t

paying attention at that point, involved instead in yelling over to see

who else wanted to play, he never saw the fist swung at him. I had

started moving the second Ben had turned around, so I was close

enough to interfere.

I stepped in front of my friend, absorbing the impact in my

shoulder that he would have taken in the back of the head. The guy

lifted up and threw a roundhouse punch that connected with my jaw.

There was instant pain before my adrenaline kicked in. When I fight, I

38

Mary Calmes

get that strobe light effect. I see pieces until it’s over. So I saw the guy

pull back and swing at me again before I had my hand on his throat, my

other arm blocking the blow. He was more muscular than I was, but I

was just as tall, and my leverage was better. I wasn’t drunk, and as a

result, my reflexes were faster. I spread my legs for balance, tightened

my grip, pivoted, and hurled him up against the wall of the garage. The

force took all the air from his body as I put my forearm on his throat.

“Are you insane?” I asked him, staring into his eyes as I applied

slow pressure to his esophagus, making him raise his head. “You could

have really hurt him.”

His eyes were huge.

Everyone was talking at once.

“Let him go, Stefan, he’s just drunk,” someone said.

“Stefan,” Ben said from beside me, his hand on my left shoulder.

“You’re bleeding. Let him go so I can look at you. I wanna look at

you.”

“Watch out,” I warned him before I released my hold, spun the

guy around, and threw him up against the side of the house as hard as I

could. He grunted with the impact, and I twisted his arm up behind

him, smashing his face into the hard brick. I leaned in close to whisper

in his ear. “Get outta here, man, and if I see you anywhere near him

again I will break your fuckin’ jaw.”

When I let go, he slid down the wall and made a puddle at my

feet. Somebody grabbed my arm, and I whirled around, ready to throw

down.

“Wait-wait-wait,” Rand half-yelled, half-laughed, his hands up.

“It’s me, it’s just me.”

I stared into the bright blue eyes and realized that for the first time

in all the years that I’d known the man that I had never, ever seen him

smile. It was mind numbing, even more so because it was directed at

me. In the middle of chaos, his lip curled up at the corner, his eyes

sparkling, the way he sighed, had me at an absolute loss.

His smile widened. “Not sure if you wanna hit me, too, huh?”

Timing

39

I stepped back as Charlotte brushed by Rand and flung herself

into my arms.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine,” I said, taking a quick breath.

“I had no idea he would––oh God, baby, you’re bleeding.” She

caught her breath, clutching me tight before grabbing the front of my

shirt and yanking me forward, away from the crowd.

“I’m okay, Char.”

“Holy shit, Stef,” Kristin breathed, suddenly there as well, having

brushed by Charlotte, her hands on my face, her fingers in my hair.

“That was amazing. I had no idea you could––”

“What? Fight?” I scowled at her, pulling back, wiping at my

mouth. There was blood on my hand, and I could feel the sting from

where I’d been caught in the lip and jaw. I pulled off first my blue dress

shirt and then the white T-shirt underneath. It was already stained with

blood, so I used it to clean myself off. I felt a hand on my back, and

when I turned, another bridesmaid, Alison Ford was there.

“Are you all right?”

I nodded as her hand ran down my spine.

“Look at you,” she said before our eyes met.

“What?”

“Stefan,” she cleared her throat. “You totally manhandled that

guy.”

“Oh yeah?” I smiled at her, throwing my T-shirt into the trash can

closest to me before I turned to face her. “That do it for you?”

She nodded, giving me a wicked grin. “A little bit, yeah.”

I gave her a smile before Charlotte turned my face back to her.

“Now you know I know that you can handle yourself,” she

growled, her head swiveling around to look for her cousin. “But I am

gonna kill Brandon Holloway.”

40

Mary Calmes

“Don’t kill anybody,” I soothed her, “handcuffs on your big day

would be really tacky.” I said before I headed toward the house.

Halfway there, I saw Ben’s father. He motioned me to him.

“I’m sorry about that, sir,” I said as I closed in on him.

“No,” he shook his head, looking into my face. “He was out of

line, and he won’t be at the wedding. Trying to cripple my son is not

designed to make me happy.”

I nodded. “I’m just gonna go clean up.”

“I like Charlotte,” he went on, and I waited, “but the rest of her

people are trash. This is only the latest example of that.”

I stood there frozen, mute. Charlotte’s family was the salt of the

earth type. Her cousin was drunk, and that was all. And besides, no

family was without its loose cannon types. One bad apple did not

poison the whole bunch, no matter how the saying went.

He motioned to the house. “Go inside, son.”

In the hall bathroom, I washed my face, checked my nose and my

bottom lip, and was about to leave when Ben opened the door and came

in.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“He could have really hurt me.”

“I know.” I smiled indulgently. “That’s why I stopped him.”

“It was so fast.”

“C’mon, let’s go back out.”

“Stefan.” He caught his breath, blocking me from leaving, his

eyes locked on mine.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you know what a hit in the back of the head could’ve done to

me? I mean, what was I thinking looking away from that guy––that was

so stupid.”

“You didn’t know he was going to try and attack you,” I assured

him. “What are you, psychic now?”

Timing

41

“But… nobody else could’ve… if you hadn’t been here….” He

trailed off, standing there, trembling and needing me to do something.

I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him close. His gasp

made me smile as he leaned into me, clutching me tight, his face buried

in my shoulder.

“It’s okay,” I soothed him, rubbing circles on his back. “You’re

just scared. It’ll pass.”

His hand slid across the small of my back as he pressed against

me. I could feel his heart hammering in his chest. The knock on the

door was unexpected, and I was even more surprised to find Rand

there.

“Ben,” Rand said coolly, squinting at him.

“I just came in to check on Stefan.”

“Good, now go comfort Charlotte, because she’s freaking out.”

He nodded but seemed hesitant to leave.

“Now,” Rand ordered him.

Ben was out of there without another word. I tried to leave, too,

but Rand grabbed my arm, holding me there.

“What do you want?” I snapped, trying to yank my bicep free of

his grasp.

“Can I just look at you, please?” he said calmly, letting me go.

“Why?”

“You’re such an idiot,” he said, moving forward, his hands on my

face as he lifted my chin and checked me over.

I froze under his touch, not sure what to do.

“I had no idea you could fight, Stefan.”

Since when did he call me Stefan? “Why? ’Cause I’m––”

“Stop,” he sighed, brushing my hair back from my face,

scrutinizing me. “You’re a helluva lot tougher than I gave you credit

for.”

42

Mary Calmes

I wanted to laugh, wanted to make some smartass, snide remark

about him underestimating homos, but I just couldn’t bring myself to

trade quips with him like usual. I didn’t feel like sparring with him. I

just wanted him to keep being nice to me.

Standing there, I realized again how massive Rand Holloway

really was, especially in comparison to me. Not that he was one of

those body-builder types—the man was more swimmer than

linebacker—but the shoulders were broad, and his chest wide, and I

knew from seeing him without a shirt on many a time that his stomach,