Her nostrils flare a few times and then she lets her head fall back against the headrest. She breathes out a big, long sigh and a sad smile creeps onto her lips. “I cannot believe I’m about to thank you for slapping me in the face.”
“Don’t worry about it. You wouldn’t be the first.”
She turns her head and opens one eye. “You slap Teagan?”
“Regularly. She needs it and I’m pretty sure she likes it.” I shift to get more comfortable, resting one of my butt cheeks on the edge of her car’s running board. “So what’s up? Why are you so freaked out? Is it the whole pregnancy thing or is it something else?”
She closes her eyes again and turns her head back to center. “What’s freaking me out? I think a better question is what isn’t freaking me out. That would be a shorter list.”
“Nah. The other list sounds more interesting.”
She sighs loudly again. I think she’s not going to answer, but then she does. “I fucked up. Plain and simple.”
“Wow. You just cussed.” In all the times I’ve ever been around Alissa, I have never even heard so much as a ‘dang’ pass her lips. Her shirts are always buttoned up to her throat and her pants never tight or sexy or anything but bland, bland, bland. A ponytail or simple hair clip describes the extent of her hairstyles. She’s every parents’ wet dream of a kid as far as I’ve ever been able to tell. And now she’s cussed. Oh, the slippery slope she’s on right now. I should probably warn her.
“Yes. I’m doing a lot of things these days that I thought I’d never do.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“Like trying to get a late-term abortion at a free clinic.” She tries to smile but it quickly disintegrates into more crying and her face scrunching up into the saddest thing I think I’ve ever seen.
I reach in and pull her to me as my heart breaks for her. She only makes it part way before her belly gets in the way, so I have to move into a half-squat to complete the hug. “Come here, sweetie, please don’t cry. I’m sorry I teased you.” My chest feels heavy and I want to cry right along with her. This is one of those moments where I realize my life is pretty damn good in comparison to the shit other people are dealing with, and I hate that I’m ungrateful for it most of the time.
“I don’t know what to do!” she wails. “I’m stuck. I’m stuck with this…. with this… with everything. I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere with everything and nothing!”
My eyes fill with tears at the hopelessness I hear in her voice. Panic takes over my mouth. “You’re not stuck. You’re not stuck. No one is ever really stuck when she has friends.”
“Friends? Friends?!” Her voice is rising again, so I grip her harder and start patting her on the back, really fast. It’s almost me whacking her at this point, but I don’t stop.
“Yes. Friends.”
“I don’t have any friends!” She struggles to get free. Pushing me away, she slams her back into her seat again. “The people I thought were friends are long gone, believe me.” She stares out of the windshield, bitterness taking over her tone. “The only person I have left is her.”
I look out the front window. “Her? Her who?” There’s no one out there except for the a-holes with signs harassing chicks going into the clinic.
Alissa looks at me like I’m the dumbest girl on the planet, which is probably perfectly appropriate seeing as how that’s who I feel like right now.
“Her. Her!” She points to her belly.
I can’t help but smile through the tears swimming in my eyes. I don’t know why, but it’s not until that moment that she called her baby ‘her’ that it really hits me what’s going on inside Alissa’s body. “It’s a girl?”
“Yes,” she says, sounding like she’s about to fall asleep. “It’s a girl.” She closes her eyes and leans her head back once more. “Can I go now?”
“Nah. Nope. Nyet. Nien. Fuuuuuck no.”
She lifts her lids and looks at me. It kind of freaks me out how undead she looks with her pale skin and red-rimmed, glazed-over eyes. “Why do you care what I do or where I go?”
I stand up to get the circulation going in my legs. Shrugging as I struggle for the answer, I look for Teagan. Thank all that is holy, she’s coming out of the building with a bottle of water in her hand and her phone to her ear. “I don’t know, Alissa. I guess I see you sitting here looking like a lost sheep and I feel the need to shepherd you somewhere.”
“Just let me go. You have Teagan.”
I frown down at her. “I don’t have Teagan. Teagan and I are friends because we care about each other. And it looks like you could use one of those. You know … friends?”
“It’s too late for that,” she says, reaching over to grab her keys off her dashboard. “I have to go.”
I point to Teagan to get her attention and then point at the passenger side of the car and make a twirling signal with my finger. When I yell, “Hijack!” my BFF jumps into action, bless her little stinkin’ heart.
“What are you doing?” Alissa yells, as I push the seat lever and shove her seat forward a couple inches. Mindful of her belly, I only go far enough to be able to squeeze through the space and dive into the back seat.
The passenger door flies open and Teagan jumps in, yelling, “Hijack alert!” She pretty much sings it with glee.
We get busy high-fiving each other over our awesome car-jacking skills as Alissa indulges in another good cry over her steering wheel.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TEAGAN’S ON THE PHONE WITH Rebel and I’m driving Alissa’s Toyota. She’s asleep in the backseat. Apparently, being carjacked is exhausting work for a pregnant person. I keep checking her in the rearview mirror to be sure she’s still breathing. So far, so good.
Teagan hangs up her phone and drops it into her purse.
“What’d he say?” I ask, glancing at her before going back to looking out the windshield.
“He says she can stay with us until we figure something out.”
I grin. “Sweetness. Now we just need to figure out how I can wrangle a spot in the apartment for myself and we can live together as one big happy family.”
Teagan is looking at me, but I just keep my eyes on the road. I don’t want her making me get all gooey.
“You don’t mean that,” she says.
“Nah.” I play it off. “I’m cool with the ‘rents. Who’s going to keep Jersey off the cat turds if I move out?”
“He’d be fine without you,” Teagan says, censure in her voice. “He’s not your responsibility.”
“Anyway, what is the plan for her?” I ask, moving the topic away from my brother and me. I’m way better at dealing with other people’s problems than I am with my own.
“I have zero plan. This is all on you, babe,” Teagan says. “I’m up to my asshole in lawsuit stuff and police reports and my father…”
She stares out the side window, and I look over in time to see her throat moving up and down. She’s holding back tears again. She’s been doing that a lot since her father died. I wish she’d let me into that hard candy shell she has wrapped around her heart. I make myself feel better by reminding myself how much Rebel is doing that for her. And I love her too much to be jealous over it. I just want her to be happy again.
I reach out and pat her leg a little. “Are you saying you’re out completely?” I ask, steering the conversation away from her dad. “Because I kind of need your help on this one.”
“No, I’m not out. I’m just … I don’t know.” She sighs. “I’m in. You can count on me.” She looks over and squeezes my arm.
“Do my face,” I say, leaning towards her.
She obliges me by pinching my cheek. I love it when she does that. It makes me feel adorable.
“What about your new place?” I ask. She and Rebel were supposed to be house-hunting. I hope me getting Alissa into the mix won’t ruin that. I know how much Teagan was looking forward to it.
“We’ll just get one with another bedroom. No
big.”
I love that Teagan is so cool about stuff like this. I’m not sure that Rebel is; he hardly says anything to me. But I do know that he’d do pretty much anything to make Teagan happy, so I’m not going to worry about Alissa imposing on them for a little while. Besides, it’s not forever. Her baby must be due in … maybe three months? Two months?
“Who’s the father?” Teagan whispers. Her voice is so light I almost can’t hear it, but since I’ve been wondering about that question myself, it’s not too difficult to understand where she’s coming from.
I shrug and mouth the words, ‘I don’t know.’
Alissa moves around and moans a little in the back, shifting to get comfortable.
Teagan looks back at her. “Is she going to have the baby soon, or what?”
“No, ding-dong. She still has a couple months to go.”
“How do you know?”
“Because. I still remember my mom being pregnant.” I put on the turn signal so I can pull into Rebel Wheels.
As we enter the parking lot, the door to the office swings open and Rebel comes out. He stands in the doorway, staring at his girlfriend. Her face lights up like someone threw a giant light-switch on inside her head. I can practically see beams of light coming from behind her damn teeth.
I roll my eyes at how goofy she is. “Man, play a little hard to get, would ya?”
She ignores me and leaps out of the car, running over to jump on Rebel. I avert my eyes when she wraps her legs around his waist and his grip around her back tightens.
After getting out, I push the seat forward to release my captive-slash-passenger. “Okay, Alissa. Home, sweet home. Come on out and meet your new roomies.”
Alissa sits up slowly and blinks her eyes a few times. “Where are we?” She looks around in confusion.
“Not the best part of town, but a nice place to live in nonetheless. Come on, chickie. Up and at ‘em.”
She gets out kind of awkwardly, but by using my shoulder is able to stand up straight outside the car. “Rebel Wheels,” she says, staring at the sign.
“Teagan’s boyfriend is Rebel. He’s the strong, silent type, so don’t expect any stimulating conversation out of him. He lives above the shop in an apartment with Teagan. For now you have their couch, and soon when they move out, a bedroom of your own.”
Her chin quivers.
“Nope!” I point at her face, panic seizing my heart. “No crying!”
“I can’t stay here,” she says softly. She swallows a few times and seems to get control over her emotions.
I frown at her, trying to scold her into not being silly anymore. “Of course you can.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t be a burden.”
I sigh loudly, letting my annoyance pay her a visit. “Being a burden is making me worry about your pregnant ass. You told us your parents kicked you out, right? Or did I imagine that?”
“No, you didn’t imagine it. They did.”
“And the dorm is closing for the summer for painting and roof repairs, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t have any money for a hotel anymore…”
“Thanks for that reminder of how much my life sucks,” she says, finally looking at me.
I grin big. “You’re welcome. Now, follow me.” I take her by the arm and part-lead, part-drag her over to the entrance. “Teagan works down here in the office. Don’t touch her files or she’ll eat your fingers off.” We pass through the office and go over to the stairs. “This is the inner sanctum of muscle car awesomeness. Don’t touch anything in here or Rebel will chew your butt out and since he hardly ever talks, you can imagine how devastating that would be.” At the top of the stairs I point to the two doors in the upper hallway. “That first door is your place. That second door leads into the lair of the dragon. Do not even go near there. Do not talk to the dragon. If the dragon tries to engage you in conversation, do not respond. And whatever you do, do not, under any circumstances, look the dragon in the eye.” I give her my serious eyebrows.
She looks scared. “The dragon?”
The door to Colin’s apartment flies open and he steps out into the hall, dressed in workout gear with earbuds dangling from one ear. His muscles couldn’t be any more out there for us to enjoy. I roll my eyes. He knows exactly what he’s going to do to any woman or gay man seeing him at that gym.
Alissa looks up and her expression goes from surprised to shocked to goo-goo, all in about two seconds.
I yank on her arm and speak in a growling whisper. “I told you not to look at the dragon!”
“Who’s this?” Colin asks as he walks up to us. He’s all effortless charm, giving Alissa the kind of smile that stops hearts. He is so dangerous. I’m seriously worried about her going into labor right now. If she sees his painting skills, she’s done for.
I put my shoulders back to assert my position of power. “This is a young lady who does not wish to talk to you.” I push her towards Rebel’s apartment and assert myself between them. I hope to block her view of his glory so she doesn’t do something stupid and fall in love with him. She already has enough on her plate, and I’m pretty positive guys like Colin are not into pregnant girls.
Alissa looks quickly at the ground, her face so pink she looks like she’s about to burst into flames.
“Hello, young lady who does not wish to talk to me. I’m Colin.”
As the door is shutting in his face, thanks to the quick maneuvers of my right heel, Alissa answers.
“Nice to meet you too … Dragon.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I DON’T KNOW WHY I expect my life to be easy peasy. Nothing ever goes as planned.
“Who’s this?” Mick asks as I walk into the family room with Alissa next to me.
Arranging my face to look as cool as possible, I gesture to the couch. “Go ahead and have a seat, Alissa. Rebel and Teagan will be right up.”
She looks at Mick with a tiny smile and then follows my orders.
“Mick, this is Alissa. Alissa, this is Mick. He’s Rebel’s brother.”
Mick walks over and holds out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she says, giving him what looks like a very limp handshake.
“Can I get you a drink of water or something?” he asks.
“Sure,” she says. “That would be nice, thank you.”
He turns towards the kitchen and frowns at me when he’s no longer facing Alissa. “Can I talk to you for a sec’, Quin?”
I shrug. “Sure.” Alissa’s already been through enough crap for one day. I don’t want to make a scene in front of her by arguing with Mick, so I follow him. Besides, I still need to apologize about twenty times before I’ll be able to comfortably live with myself again. Might as well get that party started.
He’s reaching into a cabinet above his head when I get to the kitchen.
“You wanted to talk to me?” I ask in a low tone so Alissa won’t hear us.
“Yeah. What’s she doing here? She’s pregnant, right?”
“Very observant of you. Yes, she’s pregnant. And she’s here temporarily until she can get her own place.”
He turns on the water. “What about the father?”
“We’re not sure what the deal is with that yet, but her parents have shut her out and all her other friends have abandoned her. She’s alone.”
He shuts the water off abruptly, looking at me like he doesn’t believe it. “Why?”
I shrug. “I haven’t given her the third degree yet, but if you have one of those really bright lamps I can shine in her face, I could get started right way.”
He frowns at me. “Are you ever not a smartass?”
I act like I’m seriously considering the question. After I few seconds, I answer. “Nope. Never.”
He grins. “Good. I like smartasses.”
With just that one smile he deflates my fighting mood. I put my arm out to stop him from leaving the kitchen. “Mick, just let me apologi
ze before you go out there.”
“For what?”
“For saying that awful thing I said to you last night. It was inexcusable.”
He shrugs, his face going a little dark. “No big deal.”
“No, it was a big deal. It is a big deal. I’m going to have nightmares for a week over it. I’m an asshole. You should know that about me up front. I have a disease called speak-before-think-itis and it’s obviously not in remission right now.”
“I’m over it,” he says, moving into the family room again.
I’m left standing in the kitchen knowing that he is most definitely not over it. And who can blame him? It was heartless and cold. One of my not-so-shining moments for sure.
I’m standing there chewing on my lip and stewing in self-hatred when he pops his head back into the kitchen. “You could make it up to me, if it’s really bothering you.”
Rescue party! Sweetness! “Oh, yeah? How?”
“Dinner. Movie. Tonight. Otherwise, I’m probably going to lie in bed all night thinking about what you said. I might even cry over it. But you could distract me from all that by going out with me and keeping my mind off things.”
“You’re a bastard,” I say without anger.
“Yes or no? I have water to deliver to a parched pregnant girl.”
“Fine. Yes. But I’ll meet you there.” The last thing I need is Jersey attaching himself again. Knowing Mick, he’d invite the little turd along.
“Meet me there? Where?”
“I don’t know where. You tell me.”
“End of your driveway. See you there at seven.” He disappears before I can argue.
I stew in the kitchen for a few minutes until I hear Teagan come in. Putting my own issues on the back burner for now, I join the group so we can all weigh-in on Alissa’s situation.
Everyone finds a chair or a part of the couch before silence falls over the room.
Tick-tock … tick-tock … tick-tock. I can literally feel myself aging. Teagan’s eyes begin to cross, Rebel is staring holes into Alissa’s stomach, and Mick is very interested in the ceiling.