Nothin' But Trouble (10 page)

“It’s
never too late. You call me anytime you want, no matter the hour.” His deep
voice came through the line like a warm caress, and she smiled at his words.

“You
might regret that.” She laughed softly, teasing him because she was so sick of
this dread and uncertainty she felt inside that she just wanted a moment of
peace.

“Lilly,
nothing you could do would make me think that.”

She
swallowed and moved back over to her bed and sat down.
“I, uh.”
She licked her lips and hated that she was so nervous talking to him, but it
had been a long time since she was in this situation, and as hard as it was to
forget, all she kept thinking about was the last time they had been around each
other.

“You’re
okay?” There was genuine worry in his voice.

“I’m
okay, just can’t sleep and wanted to talk to you.”

“You
did?”

She
couldn’t help but smile at the surprise now in his voice. “Yeah, I did.” There
was a moment of silence. “I—”

“Since
I’m awake, and you can’t sleep, maybe I can come see you?”

Okay,
that hadn’t been what she thought he would say.
“Really?
It’s pretty late.”

“I
don’t care how late it is because I want to see you. I’ve been trying to for
the last two days.” There was a desperate note in his voice, and it was so
strange because Court had always been in control at all times.

“I
don’t want to take you away from anything.” She still heard the female’s laugh
close to the phone, and hated that she was self-conscious enough to let that
bother her.

“Nah,
there isn’t anything that could keep me away from you.”

Oh. Well. Wow.

“Give
me twenty and I’ll be over.” There was this almost hitch in his voice after he
said that. Maybe it meant excitement?

“Okay.”
There was another round of silence, but this time it wasn’t awkward. After they
said their goodbye she disconnected the call and just sat there staring at her
phone for a few seconds. Finally she forced herself to stand and grabbed an
oversized sweater and a pair of leggings. She wasn’t about to see Court in her
old ass sleeping shirt, even if he was just coming over to talk.

Once
she was dressed and it had been about twenty minutes, she started to get really
nervous and continuously picked at the edge of her shirt. It was horrible
feeling this way, but she couldn’t help it. Of course she wanted more with
Court, but common sense told her that if it happened that way all those years
ago, why would this time be any different? As if her thoughts conjured him she
heard the sound of a motorcycle coming closer, and then saw her phone light up
with a text.

Court:
I’m
outside. Is it okay to come in? Or if you are feeling up to it we can go for a
ride?

A
ride?
Aside from her ribs being a little sore and her face looking all screwed up she
only felt a little discomfort now, and she wondered if she had all this
adrenaline pumping through her body because Court was here? She certainly
wasn’t hurting like she had been before he had called. But getting on the back
of his bike probably wasn’t the best idea right now, at least not until she was
fully healed.

How about you come inside?

She
sent the text to him and then set her phone on the bedside table. Her room was
on the other side of the house from her mother’s room and had a set of sliding
glass door that led out to the small bedroom patio. Roan’s room was in the
basement, so he was far enough away he wouldn’t hear them talking. She just
didn’t want anyone thinking they were doing more than that, not in her mom’s
house, or after all the shit that had
happened
the
last couple of days.

He
hadn’t
sent
 
a
text back, but right before she grabbed her phone and sent another text she
heard heavy footsteps on the patio right outside her sliding doors. A second
later there was a light tapping on the glass door. Her palms were suddenly so sweaty,
and she wiped them on her thighs. She stood and walked over to the door, unlocked
it and slid it open. He didn’t move inside right away, but they did stand there
for several seconds and just stare at each other
..
Even
with only the light of the moon casting a glow from behind him Lilly could see
how muscular and tall he was. Lilly had always been on the thick side, and
having a size sixteen frame had made her feel fat all through high school. Now
she was comfortable in her curvier frame, but being so close to Court made her
feel small and petite. The shadows concealed the front half of him partially, but
it didn’t cover the clear cut under his eye or the bruises that marred his
cheek.

“God,
are you okay?” She went to reach up and touch his face, but as fast as
lightning he took hold of her wrist, stopping her, and brought her open palm to
his lips He kissed the center of her hand, and her heart picked up pace. Maybe
she shouldn’t feel desire right now, but even with the small wounds he was
still so damn attractive, maybe even more so because of them. He looked
hardened, so powerful, and like no one could take him down. She hated to see
what the other guy looked like. God, her feelings for him were as strong as
ever.

“I’m
good, Lilly. It’s just a little cut.” He kissed the center of her palm once
more, and she swore he inhaled her wrist before he let her hand go. “You’re
doing okay?” Even speaking so low that it was almost a whisper his voice was so
deep and masculine.

She
nodded and stepped back. “I’m okay.” Why did she feel so nervous right now?
When he didn’t move forward she stepped aside and smiled up at him. She didn’t
miss the dark look that covered his face as he clearly got a look at hers.

“You
hurting, baby?” He stepped inside, and she closed the door behind him.

“Just
a little, but really, I’m fine.” For a moment he just looked at her room, and
all she did was inhale the scent of male that came from him. It was everything
she remembered and more, and she actually felt herself leaning toward him, as
if she just had to get closer. He turned away from her and glanced at her room.
When he faced her again the intense heat that came from him had her taking a
step forward. She instantly felt her cheeks heat at the fact she had been
moving toward him without even realizing it. He was potent and intense in only
the best of ways.

He
reached out to touch her, but he didn’t stop like her mother and Roan had.
Instead he very gently cupped her cheek that was uninjured. “I want to kill him
all over again for what he did to you.” He rubbed his thumb over her cheek
bone, back and forth, so very gently. It sounded like he was almost talking to
himself, but she didn’t respond anyway. Lilly didn’t know what to say to that.

 
For a moment all she did was soak in the feel
of Court’s fingers on her. It was an innocent touch, but coming from him it
meant so much more to her. “You killed him.” She didn’t phrase it like a
question, because it wasn’t one. She had known what Court and Roan had done,
but she felt no anger or remorse that the asshole that had hurt her was dead. He
didn’t say anything for a few seconds, but he also didn’t let go of her face.
Finally, after what seemed like forever of him just brushing her cheek with his
thumb, he dropped his hand. Instead of moving away he reached out and pulled
her into the warm hardness of his chest.

“Would
it change the way you thought of me if I told you I fucking liked killing that
prick?”

She
rested head rested right over his heart and heard the steady, strong sound of
it beating right below her ear. The crazy thing was it didn’t upset her that he
and Roan had killed that man. She wrapped her arms around him even tighter. “No,
it wouldn’t.” If she just kept her eyes closed and let her mind wander she
could imagine that they were five years in the past in some kind of alternate
world where she had always been with Court.

 
“He deserved far worse than I gave him.”

Lilly
curled her fingers into the back of his shirt and breathed out. She had been
missing this for so long, and she hadn’t even realized how much she had missed
it until this very moment.

“We
have a lot to talk about,” Court said in that gruff voice of his.

Yeah,
they did, but she didn’t want to move out of his embrace.
 
Lilly forced herself to move away, though. Her
bedroom was small and still had trinkets around that she had collected while in
high school. At the time she had collected that stuff it had seemed cute and
held memories of a time past, but now it just seemed childish as she stood in
the center of her room with Court. He took her hand and led her over to the
bed. Once they were seated and she faced him, he reached out and smoothed his
hand down the side of her head. For a second he just cupped her head, and then
he smoothed that hand over her shoulder and down her arm to rest on her hand
once more.

“This
seems all so strange, Court.” Could he hear her heart beating like a freight
train? Could he see how nervous she was? Dammit, could he see the light
perspiration that had started to form on her brow because she was aroused and
confused, and had about a hundred other emotions moving through her?
Don’t be stupid, Lilly. This man is not a
man at all, not really. He is a bear shifter, and can probably sense your
emotions better than you can.

“Yeah,
I know, baby.” He squeezed her hand and smiled down at her. It looked almost
ridiculous to have this huge man on her twin sized bed. “It shouldn’t have
taken all this time for me to realize that pushing you away, distancing my
friendship with Roan, and thinking that what we had done would ruin everything because
I betrayed my best friend, was the right course of action.” He looked down at
the ground for a suspended moment. “Because of how I acted I have a broken
friendship, five years of missed time with you.” He looked at her then. “It is
fucked up that it takes me looking at you, knowing that I wasn’t with you to
protect you, to make me realize that I fucked up big time.”

Lilly’s
pulse was racing at hearing Court’s words. She hadn’t known where she expected
this conversation to go, but she hadn’t thought Court would reveal this much. “I
knew that what we had done wasn’t right because of your friendship with my brother,
but I cared for you a lot back them, Court … still do.” She said the last part
more on a whisper, but she saw the flare of his nostrils, and for some reason
she just knew that he was pleased.

“Did
you remember that graduation party your mom threw for you?”

She
nodded.

“And
that Zack douche was hitting on you?”

 
Lilly blinked a few times at hearing Court
bring that moment up. “Yeah, I remember, but—” She knitted her brows and looked
down for a moment. She remembered that day vividly, but what she didn’t
remember was seeing Court there. “But how did you know Zack was hitting on me?
Weren’t you working?” She knew Roan had invited him, but to her disappointment
he had been working late.

He
slowly shook his head. “I was supposed to be working late, but I headed out
early. I stopped by and saw you sitting on the deck with a few of your friends
around. You were wearing this yellow and blue dress, and you had left your hair
down.” He lifted his hand, grabbed a piece of her hair, and ran the strands
between his thumb and forefinger. “I could smell you even from the distance. It
was this soft cotton scent, like freshly laundered clothing that had been dried
in the sun.” Any other time if someone would have said that she smelled like
laundry she would have told them that was a ridiculous description, but hearing
it from Court somehow made it sound so erotic. “Up until that moment I had
never seen you other than Roan’s little sister. You were ten years younger than
me, and I knew going after you was wrong on many levels.” Hearing Court confess
all of this was so surreal. She just wished he would have said something
sooner. “And then that Zack kid went up to you, and I could smell how badly he
wanted you. This anger rose up in me, and I became so fucking pissed. I was determined
that no one would have you but me.” His voice was so rough after he said that,
and there was this slight growl to his words. He looked away from her for a
second, and she could hear him grinding his teeth, as if he were remembering
that day and how angry he had been.

Lilly
couldn’t help herself. She reached out and cupped his cheek and used a slight
amount of pressure to turn his head so he was now looking at her. “I wish you
would have told me
this years
ago, Court.”

He
lifted his hand and covered her hers with it. “It took me this long to realize
that I wish I would have. After you and me—” He grew silent for a moment, but
she didn’t try to rush him. This conversation was a long time in coming. “After
I took you in the back of my truck I knew I had fucked up.”

Warmth
filled her at hearing him say those words, and then at the memory of that night
that slammed into her head. A low sound left him, and her nipples hardened
instantly. She shouldn’t have this reaction right now, because it seemed
grossly inappropriate, but it was like her body had a mind of its own.