Night Fires (15 page)

“Ready, ladies?” Bray asked as he scooted off the stool.

We all downed our drinks and nodded. “Let’s get this party started!” Janie declared as she fist pumped the air.

I had a feeling it was going to be an adventurous night.

By midnight we’d found a club that played good music, and the price of beer was decent enough. We found a booth for the men to settle in while Janie and I danced, and Beth went on a manhunt.

“Ignore Beth,” Janie shouted into my ear against the throb of the music. It was the first time we’d been alone and I had a feeling she’d been slowly becoming aware of Beth’s digs at me. “I think she knows what went off between you and Carter.”

I leaned back and frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, come off it, Alice. I know you slept with him.”

The blush on my face confirmed her beliefs.

“Beth seems aware of it too,” she added with a grimace.

“But why is that a problem?”

“She’s had a crush on Carter for years. But she can never get anywhere near him.”

“But according to her they were together last night,” I argued, the pang in my gut back at the thought of her and Carter spending the night together.

Janie shook her head slowly. “She wishes. Carter hasn’t been near anyone since Liz died. He’s been completely off the radar for anyone, other than as friends.” She leaned closer. “There’s rumours that Beth even came on to him when Elizabeth was out one night. Carter walked in from work and Beth was sat on his sofa, naked, with one of his ties around her neck, and without a hint of embarrassment.”

I gawped at her. “Why would she do that if Elizabeth was her friend too?”

Abba’s
Dancing Queen
came on and the dancers whooped in delight. Even Janie grinned and grabbed at my hips, turning me around so she could grind against me to the music.

“Beth is Beth. I can’t tell you whether Carter reciprocated or not, ‘cos, like I said, it’s just rumours but there’s this atmosphere between them now, and not a good atmosphere. So I reckon he turned her down. Then, here you come and all of a sudden he’s jumping into bed with you, after years of her trying and getting nowhere.”

I felt bad – sort of. Well, I would have if she had been nice to me. Instead I just nodded and focussed on a couple dancing in front of me. Janie went quiet as we lost ourselves to the music.

I’d been regretting telling her I would come but, apart from Beth, it had turned out to be a good night. A couple of men had flirted with me, giving me a confidence I had lost months ago. Bray and David had been protective but kept their distance. I liked that they were close enough to watch out for us but not enough to ruin our fun. It felt like taking your brother out with you; protective yet considerate. I had, however, noticed Bray’s eyes on Janie most of the night.

My eyes slid to our booth and I smiled when, once again, Bray was watching Janie behind me. Noticing me looking, he stood up and walked over to us. “Mind if I take her off your hands for a little while?”

I grinned at him and moved away from Janie. “Be my guest.”

He gave me a wink and just as I made to move off the dancefloor, hands gripped my hips and a mouth rested on my shoulder by my ear. “Stay and dance.”

I peered back and smiled at a man. He was good-looking enough so I let myself go and danced with him. The music thrummed in my ears and the alcohol allowed me to loosen up enough to sway with his rhythm behind me. I could feel his groin press into the small of my back and I paused. The last thing I wanted was random sex, and non-verbally telling my dance partner that, I nudged myself away from his expanding crotch.

His hands gripped me further and pulled me back again. I looked over my shoulder and mouthed ‘no’.

He laughed and grabbed me tighter, angering me when he forced my backside against his erection. He was ignoring me and I hated that. If he couldn’t respect my wishes then he didn’t deserve my attention at all.

I pulled away properly, wriggling out of his grasp. “Sorry, wrong girl,” I said as I made to move away.

His hand snatched at my wrist and he hauled me back against his body. I placed my hands on his chest to stop him from stepping into me again. “I said no.”

“Your tight ass rubbing my cock wasn’t saying no, princess.”

I pulled away from him but he wasn’t letting me go anywhere. His hold was firm and painful, and I pulled at my arm to try and free myself. “Will you let me go, please?”

His eyes were glazed over and hatred suddenly seeped into them as he looked at me. “You shouldn’t tease, bitch. It’s not nice.” Then he pushed me hard. I fell backwards, my arse hitting the dancefloor with a heavy thud and triggering a pain to ricochet up my spine.

It all happened so fast that I couldn’t make sense of it. Carter, coming from nowhere, was on him within seconds. His fist pounded into his face and blood sprayed everywhere as I tried to get to my feet.

“You fucking cunt!” Carter hissed as he laid another blow to the man’s face.

“Carter!” I yelled. “Stop!”

He didn’t appear to hear me. His barrage of hits grew worse, each sickening crunch forcing an explosion of panic through me. Bray and David grabbed at both of his arms and, thankfully, pulled him off.

I didn’t know who to look at first; Carter or the guy now laid on the floor with his hands covering his face in an attempt to stop the blood flowing. Both were in as much of a mess as the other. Carter swayed between Bray and David, his eyes hooded and unfocused as he seemed to hunt for me.

I walked towards him, my stomach twisting with anguish. “Are you drunk?”

On hearing my voice he looked at me with so much pain on his face that my heart faltered and crashed against my ribs.

“I’m so sorry. So sorry, Alice,” he whispered.

My lungs cried out in sympathy with the amount of agony that looked back at me through his eyes and I couldn’t seem to draw breath. His sadness consumed me and I reached out, cupping his face softly as I wiped a tear away from under his eye with my thumb. “It’s okay. It’s alright, Carter.”

He shook his head firmly, the action causing him to stumble in Bray and David’s fierce grip. “No, no. I hurt you. I’m a dick, and I hurt you.”

I stiffened at his declaration. I had thought he was apologising for his drunkenness yet the remorse in his eyes was compelling, grounding.

“I know, and it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

He nodded, another tear drifting down his flushed cheeks.

“We need to get him out of here,” I said to Bray and David, glancing at the guy still rolling about on the floor as if he’d lost his head.

They both nodded and hurried after me as I went out front to hail a taxi. “I’ll take him back to the hotel. Try and sort the guy out. I have money,” I told them. “See how much his silence is and get his address.”

David stared at me in shock but Bray nodded. “Okay. You sure you’ll be okay with him. He can get pretty aggressive when he’s drunk.”

I laughed, nodding. “So can I.”

Bray chuckled as he and David pushed Carter into the back of the cab. “Why does that not surprise me?”

I winked at him and pulled the door closed. Leaning forward I gave the cab driver the hotel address and as he pulled away I froze when my eyes caught a movement. Straining to look out of the steamy side window, quickly wiping at the glass with my hand, I saw a dark figure move into the shadows of the alley by the side of the club. It was a short, wide silhouette and my heart stilled. Craning my neck, I strived to see out of the back window but the figure moved farther back. A cold trickle ran through my bones and I sank down into the seat.

I’d recognise that figure anywhere. There weren’t many five foot four stocky men about, especially not in Cornwall.

The rampant beat of my heart echoed eerily in my ears and my eyes started to sting as Carter mumbled something incomprehensible where he lay across my lap.

Shaking my head and stroking my fingers through Carter’s hair to try and soothe his moans, I told myself I was being stupid, that I’d had too much to drink.

Niall wouldn’t find me, not here. And especially not in a backstreet club in the middle of Newquay.

“Alice,” Carter groaned, distracting me from my thoughts.

“Nearly there. Shh.”

He nodded vaguely. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” I whispered. “Me too.”

And I was, because I’d dragged him into my life. I’d pushed and he wasn’t ready. I looked down at him and wondered if he’d ever be ready to move on. The answer lay heavy in my chest and I sighed. It wasn’t so much moving on, it was stopping yourself from trying to claw your way back that we both had to figure out.

C
ARTER LAUGHED LOUDLY
when I finally managed to drag him up to my room and he fell on top of my bed, rolling on to his back as his arms flung into the air. “Alice, sweet Alice!”

I rolled my eyes and blew out a breath when I saw the state of him under the bright ceiling light in the room. Vomit covered his t-shirt, the mass of it crusty and obviously days old. His jeans resembled a night out at a mud-wrestling charity auction, and the thick growth on his chin appeared to have a serving of yesterday’s supper hidden inside.

“Jesus Christ!” I cursed under my breath as I went to pre-heat the shower. Steam filled the small bathroom and I took a few seconds to compose myself before I walked back into the room.

Carter was now snoring loudly, his face possessed by such peace that I regretted waking him to bathe. He mumbled something as I yanked his t-shirt over his head. His firm stomach muscles rippled deliciously as I scrambled with the buckle of his belt and I allowed my fingers to linger a little longer so I could appreciate the display.

“Alice,” he whispered with a soft sigh, the sound activating a strong thud of heat between my legs.

This was going to be harder than I thought.

“Help me, Carter,” I urged as I pulled at his jeans to slip them down his legs. Thankfully he lifted his hips for me and I took the opportunity to slide down his briefs at the same time, killing two birds with one stone. I forced my eyes upwards to his face as I pulled one of his arms around my shoulder and scrambled to help him up with an arm around his waist.

“What are you doing?”

I looked up at Carter who was staring down at me with a look of pure bafflement. His gaze then moved around the room and his forehead creased with a number of puzzled lines. “Alice? Where are we?”

“In my hotel room, Carter,” I groaned as I tried to take his weight and direct him towards the bathroom. “I would really appreciate some help here.”

He stared at me once more and I had to clench my fists to stop them from homing in on his irritating confused expression. “Carter!”

As if finally understanding my motives he chuckled, shaking his head and hobbling alongside me towards the bathroom. He stumbled slightly and I lunged forwards to catch him.

“Holy mother of bloody God!” I yelled when my toe stubbed on the foot-stand of the bed and I skipped forwards. “Shit! Christ! Bloody… God!” I cried out as I hopped on one leg and clamped my fingers around my throbbing little toe. Pain tore through my foot and I winced as I tried to hold on to the tears that instinctively came. “Ow!”

“Are you okay?” I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was supressing his laughter and a fire tore through my chest.

Spinning round, I glared at him. “Do I bloody look okay, you stupid… stupid…” My brain wouldn’t work because of the pain it was focussing on, and struggling to find a word that wasn’t crude, I suddenly spat, “…twit!”

His eyes shot wide and round and he stilled. The corner of his lips twitched and he swallowed profoundly. “Twit?”

“Twit!” I confirmed as if it was the most obscene word in the English dictionary, my glare spitting much more offense than my chosen word.

“Oh, come on, Alice. I’m sure you can come up with better than that!”

My foot throbbed, my head was trying to cope with the pain of a swelling black toe, and my mortification hit new levels as my etiquette once more embarrassed me. My jaw trembled and I hobbled into the bathroom and dropped down on the toilet seat. Covering my face with my hands, I allowed the tears to come and pretended Carter wasn’t just right outside the door listening to me.