Painting Sky (12 page)

R
yan’s birthday came a week later. I hadn’t been with him on the actual day for three years, so I didn’t know what to expect.

“So, Ry, what is the plan?” Cody asked three days before.

“I dunno, man. It’s on a Tuesday and I know how committed to school you and my sister are, so I was thinking about throwing a party next weekend and just going out for drinks with you guys on my birthday.” He pointed at us with his fork while chewing his food.

Ryan had never thrown away a chance for a party, but I was glad he at least had the decency of doing it on a weekend. I was already so tired of classes this early in the semester that I just didn’t know what to expect from the next few months.

As predicted by my brother, Cody had to study Tuesday night for a midterm of some difficult subject, which meant staying at his friend’s house. I was starting to worry about his so-called “friends.” He never talked about them and they didn’t come to our parties much.

“I was going to go out with Kelsey and a couple of friends from school. Do you two want to come?” Ryan descended the stairs already dressed to go out, which meant he wasn’t waiting on my answer. The feeling of being unwanted that now lived permanently in the bottom of my stomach came to life.

No one here missed me. No one here wanted to be around me much.

“No, go ahead. I’ll stay in and watch a movie.” I shrugged.

“Oh, come on, sis, you need to live the college life more. This way, I can’t tell on you to Dad.”

I didn’t doubt for a second that he would. Not out of spite, but just to mess with me.

“You owe me one.” I jumped a good few feet in the air when Keith’s whisper sounded near my right ear. I looked to Ryan, but he was already in the kitchen, eating something, surely. That boy had an infinite appetite.

“What are you talking about?”

I tried looking him in the eye, but, for some reason, couldn’t. My heart was still trying to rip out of my chest.

“Remember the promise you made? You said you’d let me get you drunk one night.” He balanced his weight on the back of the couch, lingering over me.

“You never mentioned ‘night,’ and… and I don’t really remember making that promise.” I should’ve had turned the sentence around, but it was too late. He laughed at me, picked up his black jacket from the couch, and nodded at the door.

“Oh, for God’s sake, at least give me five minutes to put something on.”

I didn’t know what to wear because I had no idea where we were going, but green sweatpants and an old, white shirt wasn’t really an outfit for doing anything outside the house.

I put on some denim shorts, a black shirt with a black jacket over it, and a hint of makeup.

The boys were already waiting for me at the door. They both looked me up and down and, from the looks on their faces, neither was appreciating the view. I could understand why Ryan felt that way, but Keith, not so much. I knew I wasn’t his usual type, but couldn’t he at least pretend I was somewhat attractive?

“If you weren’t leaving this house with us, you would be changing, just so you know.” Ryan was always a pain. I had never given him any reason to be protective—or an ass, for that matter—but he was both. I threw him my tongue and Keith laughed behind me, making that little friendship I had with him shrink even more. It had gone downhill ever since he’d pulled the ‘get Skylar drunk’ card.

I sat in the back seat, of course. From what I could hear of the conversation, this “Kelsey” my brother was seeing was meeting us at the bar. I hadn’t mentioned I didn’t bring a fake ID, guessing my brother knew I didn’t have one.

The ID wasn’t necessary. Apparently my brother and Keith came here often enough that they knew the bouncer.

“Happy birthday, Keaton! You haven’t been here for a while—and neither have you.” He motioned to Keith and they exchanged a weird guy handshake. “Yours?” He nodded at me and I blushed, before looking at my brother, pleading.

“Nah, my brother’s. And she’s his sister, so watch it,” Keith answered, before Ryan could even frown. He was already looking for this Kelsey girl, so maybe he hadn’t even heard. “Come on, and watch where you’re going: in those shorts, a lot of hands are going to go your way tonight.”

As if I wasn’t nervous already, Keith always knew how to make me more uncomfortable. I started walking a little closer to him, as the room was packed with men, mostly.

I sat on a chair that was pulled out for me, as I hadn’t even realized we had arrived at our destination: a table with at least a dozen unknown faces. Some of them introduced themselves and a few guys smiled warmly at me. Keith elbowed the one on his right and nodded at my brother. None of the girls smiled. In fact, they kind of frowned at me—maybe for being near Keith. Ryan was friends with everyone and they seemed to adore him. What about extending the friendship to me?

Keith ordered me a beer and another after that. He stopped for a while and made me eat a burger with fries. Some of Ry’s friends went to the dance floor, but Keith remained by my side the entire time—and not for the lack of invitations. Every decline came with a murderous glare thrown my way.

Thank you guys for the friend magnets you two are. I tried to blend in with the chair, as Keith hadn’t talked to me, besides about the food menu, and none of the guys had invited me to dance, courtesy of Keith and Ryan. It wasn’t that I would have accepted, but it was nice to be wanted by someone.

After what seemed an eternity, Kelsey and Ryan came back with shots for the four of us and then we got up to leave. I was about to sigh with happiness when I realized we were going to another bar. This one was quieter.

“This is where Kelsey works. It’s karaoke night.”

“Karaoke?” My voice was different. I don’t even think I said the word right. They smiled at me.

“Watch it, Keith. I let you get her drunk, but you better keep her safe.” Ryan left us at the door to find an empty table in the back. The couple singing was awful and I almost threw my hands over my ears to prevent them from bursting.

“Some of them are really good, some are fun to watch, and then we have these painful ones.” Kelsey nodded at the stage and smiled at a couple of waitresses.

I took one more shot and stopped with the drinking. I felt tipsy, already, and the idea of getting sick wasn’t thrilling.

“Hi, Keith. We haven’t seen you around.” One of the blonde waitresses approached our table and put an arm around him, while dragging a huge, red nail across his neck. The gesture was so intimate that I guessed they really knew each other. He shrugged off her arm discretely and gave her a fake smile.

“Carly. Nice to see you.”

Kelsey started kissing my brother and I averted my eyes, trying to find something fun to do, or anything to say to Keith. By the intensity of his stare, it seemed that he was trying to solve world hunger.

“We’re hitting a club. Want to come?” Ryan stood, pulling up his girl, who stumbled.

“No, man, I’m going home. I have a class tomorrow morning.” Keith was the first to answer, and I had to think for a second. I wasn’t having much fun, and I wasn’t going to be the third wheel of the night, so that meant I would go home with Keith.

Both guys looked at me and I knew right then that I wasn’t wanted by either one of them. The sting in my chest came back.

“I’m… going home, too. I’m tired.” I picked up my wallet to pay for the drinks, as my brother was already on the way to the door, but Keith briefly placed his hand over mine.

“I’ve got this. Stay close to them.” He went to the bar to pay our tab. I turned, but Ryan wasn’t there, so I started pushing through the dancing people.

I had almost reached the door when a guy pulled me closer. I grimaced and pushed him away.

“Hi, baby. I saw you at the bar.” He smelled like beer and was probably drunk. I looked over his shoulder, searching for a familiar face, but the club was packed.

“Please, my brother is waiting for me.” I nodded at the door.

“He was your brother?” He thought I was talking about Keith, and he smiled at his friend. “We’re lucky, then. He won’t mind you having a little fun.” My fun had ended long ago. I couldn’t believe I was being manhandled by two guys with Ryan and Keith so close to me. The second guy pulled me to him, leaving a red mark on my arm.

“Are we having trouble here?” That voice had used to annoy the hell out of me, but, right then, it was heaven.

“We were just talking to your sister, here.” The first guy stood between me and Keith. That was his second mistake of the night.

“She’s not my sister.” Keith hissed through clenched teeth. He saw the hand on my arm, then, and all the calm left him. He pushed the guy in front of him so quickly that he stumbled over a dancing couple. The boyfriend thought the drunk guy was making a move on his girl and punched him in the face.

The hand on my arm disappeared a second later, and, when I turned to see what had happened, the second guy was already on the floor with blood pouring from his nose. Keith was shaking his right hand in the air.

“Shit,” was the only word he said, while pulling me to the door. Security was already approaching the dance floor when we got to the street. Ryan was making out against a car, but, as soon as he saw us, he knew something was wrong.

“What happened?” He pulled Kelsey aside—not very romantically, I must say—and frowned at Keith’s hand on my arm. If he thought Keith’s hand on me was bad, it was better that Keith had been the one who had come to my rescue: my brother would have killed the two guys.

“Nothing. Your sister was attracting unwanted attention.” He motioned for a cab. “See you later?” My brother wasn’t convinced, but he shrugged, put his arm around Kelsey, and called another cab.

“Yeah. Night, sis.”

I opened the door and sat in the back seat. Keith went around the car and sat in front. Of course he would avoid my presence: I was the reason he’d hurt his hand. I just hoped it wasn’t broken.

When we got home, he paid the driver and left me to fend for myself. I wasn’t hurt, but now, with the adrenaline gone, I was feeling the alcohol. I stumbled twice before making it to the door.

“I’m sorry about your hand,” I said. He threw his jacket over one of the couches and sat on the other. His eyes dropped to my arm, which I was subconsciously rubbing.

“Did he hurt you?” He wasn’t mad, this time—he was worried.

I tried to hide my smile and shook my head. “Not really. I bruise easily.”

He jumped to get closer. “Bruise?” He pulled my wrist and turned my arm to check the damage. It was red. Maybe I wouldn’t get a bruise, but his face made me smile.

“I’m not dying, Keith. He was just an ass.”

“I told you to go with your brother.” He sat again. “Did you have fun, at least?”

“Not really. I guess I didn’t drink enough.” I shrugged, not feeling drunk anymore.

“You really shouldn’t have told me that.” He jumped from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. I heard a couple of cabinet doors opening and closing and then glasses clinking.

Keith came back with a bottle under his arm, two glasses in one hand, and a lime cut in two and salt in the other.

I wasn’t experienced, but I knew what that meant. “Tequila? Do you think it’s wise?”

“This night wasn’t supposed to be about being wise. It’s just the two of us: you won’t get in trouble.” He paused for a second, staring at the walls in deep thought. He then placed the ingredients on the coffee table. “We won’t get too drunk. Do you know how to drink this?”

I nodded. I’d never tasted it, but I saw it in the movies. The first one burned, and the second did, too. I stopped, while Keith kept pouring shots for himself.

After the first shot, Keith had turned the TV to a music channel. He had turned it up a couple of times, since. We were laughing at each other’s faces. Of course, he was used to it, but I saw the glimmer in his eyes. We were both drunk. The first time I had ever gotten drunk was with Keith Hale. Who would have guessed?

“You should go to sleep,” he slurred, pushing me to the stairs. “Your brother would kill me if he showed up right now.”

“Really?” I stumbled on almost every step. Keith grabbed my waist every time and released me after I steadied myself, only to stumble again. I repeated the word because it was funny in my tongue. “Really?” He laughed behind me.

“Yeah…” He was also dragging his words. “Thanks.”

“For what?” I had reached my door and turned to say good night.

He struggled for the words. His smile disappeared and he took so long to say anything that I was considering forgetting the question and going to my room. Then he grabbed my face with his hands.

I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong and he took that chance to lean forward and touch his forehead to mine, with our noses almost touching. I was so astonished that I did nothing for a couple of seconds. He stepped forward, pulled my ponytail, and tangled his hands in my hair. He then leaned over my neck, inhaled the scent from my skin, and kissed my collarbone.

I forgot who was kissing me, and the song coming from the TV in the living room was ringing in my head. It talked about giving up and falling down. I forgot he was Keith and I forgot I had a boyfriend. I let him kiss my sensitive skin. His lips then lifted from my neck to meet mine. We both pulled apart at the same instant, realizing what we were doing.

“Sorry. I’m...” he started, looking panicked. He pulled his hair with both hands, with the tattoo on one of his arms popping up on his muscle. He stepped back, slowly. His eyes were darker than normal, with the gray almost gone. I wondered if he could see the same in mine.

Keith turned without finishing the sentence and left for the attic. Before I could close my own door, I heard his lock turn. The music was still blasting through the house. I had to turn the TV off if I wanted to go to sleep, but I couldn’t manage to leave my room.

What the hell had just happened?

I let myself fall on the floor, with my back against the door. Cody would kill me. He would kill his brother. Hell, my brother would kill us. I couldn’t say a word to anyone. I hoped Keith had some love for his life and would do the same.