Back to Life (7 page)

“Dude,
what the fuck happened? You all right?” Nick asked me.

“Yeah,
I’m fine,” I said, waving my aching hand around.

“Fine?
You missed it man. Rory just knocked this guy the fuck out,” Liam said, still
smiling.

Nick
raised his eyebrows at me. “Really? That’s hot,” he said.

“It
totally was,” Liam answered.

I
rolled my eyes. “Liam, I can take care of myself. This kind of shit happens to
me and Marissa all the time when we go out.” I then remembered that Brody was
outside waiting for me to take a very drunk Marissa back home. “Listen, this
was fun and all, but I’ve got to go. Brody’s waiting on me.”

“All
right, I’ll walk you out.”

I
rolled my eyes, and I swear I heard his breath catch in his throat. “Seriously,
I’m fine.”

“Come
on, don’t take another swipe at my man card tonight. Let me at least walk you
to your cab,” he said. He locked his eyes with mine, and I felt trapped in his
ocean colored gaze.

I
felt a sensation that shot straight to my belly. I gasped lightly, but tried to
cover by sighing. I said, “Okay, fine. Whatever.”

As
the bouncers came and helped the guy up, Nick hugged me around my shoulders.
“Well, since you don’t need me, slugger, I’m going to go back to, you know,
who
I was doing,” he laughed.

“Ugh,
you’re a freak.”

“That’s
what she said,” Nick joked. “It was nice meeting you, Rory.”

I
hugged him back around his waist. “You too, Nick. Bye.” Liam went over to the
bar, had them swipe his card, and then came back over to me, escorting me
outside. Brody had a cab waiting for us already, and he had the door open and
waiting for me. “Well, again, it was nice meeting you Liam. I’ll see you
around,” I said, extending my hand.

“Count
on it. Good night, Rory,” he said, and before I could object, he took my hand
and planted a soft kiss on it.

All
I could do was nod at him, because the feel of his lips on my hand just then
made my blood race. I haven’t felt anything like that since Mason…and it scared
the shit out of me. He shut the door to the cab and we started to pull away. I
turned around and watched his tattooed muscular body get smaller and smaller in
the distance. Oh boy was I in trouble.

Liam

Rory’s
skin was as smooth as I imagined it would be, even though I only just touched
her shoulders. Her skin tasted as good as I thought it would, even though I
only kissed her hand. She was like sweet sin in a pair of skin tight jeans. I
can’t believe that
this
was the woman my mother had spent three years
trying to get me hooked up with. What the hell was wrong with me? I could not
have been more wrong about this one. She was absolutely perfect. I also
couldn’t believe that her brother had been my roommate in college. Why the hell
did I never meet her then? She never visited him on campus because I
definitely
would have remembered her.

I
ran my hand through my hair as I watched her cab shrink more and more in the
distance. I already knew she’d be haunting my dreams tonight. Rory’s being
alone had me rock hard and I knew I’d never get my jeans off without a cold
shower. Putting my hands in my pockets, I was looking for my keys to head back
home and I found a slip of paper in my pocket. The receipt from Antonio’s with
Maria’s number on it. I frowned at it for a moment. I knew this girl was into
me and she’d be a good bed filler, but I couldn’t see past Rory. I just met
this girl and she had already gotten into my head. I played with the paper in
my hand for a moment before taking out my cell phone. I know this may be a dick
move, but if I couldn’t have Rory tonight, I could at least be with someone
else to fill the empty space in my bed. Who knows? Maybe this attraction I felt
for her was a fluke that would go away by morning, and there was one sure way
to find out. I dialed Maria’s number and waited for her to pick up. “Hello?”
she answered.

“Maria?
It’s Liam.”

“From
the restaurant earlier. I remember,” she said, way too happily.

“Listen,
I was just at a club and was about to head out. Do you want to meet somewhere?
Maybe get some coffee?”

“Sure!
That sounds great! Where do you want to meet?”

“What
about the little coffee shop near Antonio’s?”

“That’s
perfect! I can be there in ten minutes.”

“All
right, sounds good. I’ll see you there,” I said, and hung up the phone. She
sounded way too cheery for me on the phone. Hopefully she knew that this was
going to be just a one night thing. I ran back inside the club and hastily told
Nick I was heading out, but he was wrapped around that brunette chick and
barely muttered a goodbye. I went and got into my car and began the drive to
the coffee shop. When I got there, she was already waiting, checking her
makeup. I rolled my eyes. I hated when women wore too much makeup. I parked and
got out to meet up with her. She grinned brightly when I walked up, and we went
into the coffee shop together.

An
hour later, we were back at my apartment, and I currently had her pressed up
against my bedroom wall, kissing her neck. My shirt and most of her clothes
were in a pile on the floor, and she was taking off my belt. Once she got it
off, I felt her hand slide into my jeans and grab my hard on. Suddenly, Rory’s
face flashed into my mind. Her golden chestnut eyes, her full pouty mouth with
the snake bites on her bottom lip that I had noticed while talking to her
sported a tongue ring, her long eyelashes that fluttered against her cheeks
when she blinked. I imagined her up against the wall, nestled between her legs
and making her moan. I opened my eyes and saw Maria’s face, and suddenly I went
soft. It was like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water right on my dick.

“Liam,
what’s wrong?” Maria breathed, confused.

I
set her down and backed away, holding her at arm’s length. “I’m sorry, Maria, I
can’t do this.”

She
looked at me angrily. “Why the hell not? Is there someone else?”

I
sat on the edge of my bed, panting. “Something like that.”

Appalled,
she picked up her clothes and shoes. “I don’t know who you think I am, but one
thing I’m not is a cheater. I don’t sleep with other girl’s guys, period. This
was a big mistake that won’t happen again,” she said, and walked into my
bathroom in a huff. I laid back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. After a
few moments of clanging around, I heard her emerge from the bathroom and with a
few curse words that would make a sailor proud, she walked out and slammed the
door. I punched the side of the bed with my fists, and then stood up to take
another shower. I had to get the smell of Maria’s cheap girly perfume off of
me. After I was all clean, I laid in bed and fell into a restless sleep with
images of a sweaty, naked Rory Shaw in my mind all night. Getting this girl off
the brain was going to be harder than I thought it would be. If I couldn’t
forget her, then I would just have to pursue her. She kind of had “back the
fuck off” thing about her, and I was determined to find out why.

It
had been almost three weeks since the night I met her, and I had been a total dick
to everyone. Even Nick was getting sick of me. He said that even though Rory
was beyond cool and he thought we’d make a good couple, if I wasn’t going to go
for it I just needed to find some random woman and get laid and that would be
it. How wrong he was. I tried to do that, and failed miserably. I tried three
more times to bring a girl home, and every time I almost had her naked, Rory’s
face would pop into my mind and I’d go soft again. The only time I could get it
up was if I was thinking about her. I even tried picturing her face on those
women, but it wasn’t enough. This girl was killing me. It was never going to
work with anyone because none of them were
her
. Is it possible to die of
blue balls?

I
was just going to have to see her again. Brody and I had tried to meet up in a
group and hang out a few times, but it was either interrupted by a hospital
emergency or I’d get called into investigate a homicide, which in New York City
was often. Finally, we both were off duty and we’d planned to meet up at a
pretty cool underground music club called The Rock Steady. Nick had a date and
couldn’t make it, which I had to admit I was grateful for. He was my friend,
and I loved the guy, but I was hoping to see Rory without him there making his
lame ass jokes.

This
club always had a killer band playing, and the back room had a pool table and
darts for the ones that came to drink and have fun, not just for the music.
Brody told me Rory had been in a funk lately, but that he was bringing Marissa
with him and that he would try to see if she could convince Rory to come.

I
walked in the doors of the music hall and looked around for Brody. After a few
minutes, I saw him by the bar with some blonde attached to him. He was trying
to give her the brush off, but this one was having none of it. I walked over to
him and decided to have a little fun. “Hey man,” I said and clapped him on the
shoulder.

“Oh
hey,” he said.

“So,
did you get the all clear at the doctor about your Chlamydia test? You must
have if you’re out celebrating, right?” I said, smiling at the blonde girl.

He
gave me a shitty look, and the blonde looked horrified. “Dude, what the hell?”
he said.

“Excuse
me, I think I’m going to go meet my friends. It was nice meeting you,” the girl
said, and hurried away.

I
busted out laughing. “What the fuck? Why did you do that?” he asked.

“Just
helping you out, bro. She looked a little like a predator.”

“Well,
that may be, but still. Not cool,” he said, and was starting to thaw.

“I
was just helping. I wouldn’t want to upset your girlfriend,” I said, now
noticing that Marissa was sitting at a table by herself, bopping along to the
music, and no Rory in sight. Damn it.

“Who,
Marissa? She’s not my girlfriend, just a friend.”

“Didn’t
look that way that night at Shadow. She looked like she wanted to rip your
clothes off and do you right in the club.”

He
looked pleasantly surprised. “What? No, she was just drunk and hitting on the
first guy she’d seen. She doesn’t feel that way about me, trust me. She’s just
shy.”

“Well,
that must be it. If she didn’t have beer goggles on, she would have hit on me
because I am way hotter than you,” I joked.

“Well,
even if she didn’t she wouldn’t have noticed you anyway because you were
eye-fucking my sister the whole time,” he said, smiling.

I
grinned and ran my hand through my hair. “So where is the sister tonight
anyway? Did she decide to sit this one out?”

He
smirked at me. “Got it bad, huh?”

Boy
you don’t know the half of it. “No, I was just wondering. She seems cool.”

“Uh
huh. She just went to the bathroom, she’ll be back in a minute,” he said,
motioning me to his table. Yes…she
was
here. When we got there, Marissa
saw me and looked pleasantly surprised. “You remember Marissa, right?”

“Of
course I do, nice to see you again,” I said, shaking her hand.

“You
too. Oh hey, sorry about my behavior at the club a few weeks back. That’s not
at all how I act in public, I promise. Hopefully I didn’t do or say anything
stupid,” she said, blushing. She clearly didn’t remember any of the important
details, which was probably a good thing for her. I remember Rory telling me
she had a thing for Brody.

“Oh,
don’t worry about it. You didn’t do anything. You were just a little tipsy and
Brody got you home safely,” I said, grinning at him. I don’t know why he didn’t
just go for it. Marissa was a total knock out and she was definitely into him.

“Yeah,
he’s a good guy,” she said, and patted him on the hand. I noticed him tense a
little, but he smiled at her.

At
that moment, I felt all the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I
turned to see, and my eyes fell on Rory walking to the table looking like pure
sex on two long legs. She had her beautiful dark red waves down around her bare
shoulders but had it parted to the side and braided into a loose braid around
her forehead. She was wearing a black halter top with a skull and crossbones on
it that stopped just slightly above her belly button (which was pierced as
well), and a pair of skin tight jeans that rested just at her hips. This time,
instead of heels, she had her jeans tucked into a pair of calf high leather
boots. She was mesmerizing. I turned my face away to hide the drool I felt was
about to start pouring from my mouth. When I turned back, there was genuine
surprise on her face. “Liam? Hey,” she said, looking at Marissa. “What are you
doing here?”

“Liam
and I both had the night off, so I invited him out,” Brody said.