Effortless (13 page)

Irritated, but curious too, I stopped where he’d asked and
watched him approach her and her friends. Tina and Genevieve looked
about ready to faint as he stepped up to them. I figured it was the
closest they’d ever actually been to him. Kellan, however, looked
about ready to rip somebody’s head off. Glaring at the trio, he
finally rested his eyes on Candy. She backed up a step as his dark
expression settled on her.

Grabbing her arm, he leaned into her face, whispering something
heatedly. I didn’t know what he was saying, but Candy’s eyes
widened. Shaking her head, she started muttering something and
pointed at Tina. Tina put her hands in the air and started
sputtering something too when Kellan’s glare swung around to her.
Releasing Candy’s arm, Kellan said something to the three of them
that had them quickly nodding and scurrying off.

Straightening as they left, Kellan turned and faced me with a
perfectly normal smile, like nothing odd had just happened. He
walked back to me and grabbed my hand. He started pulling me
towards the doors, whistling as he did. Raising an eyebrow at him,
I waited for an explanation. When he didn’t give one, I cleared my
throat. Looking down on me, he shrugged. “What?”

Pointing to the doors we were approaching, the window wet from
the downpour he’d mentioned, I indicated where Candy had fled.
“What was that all about?”

Smiling charmingly, he shrugged. “I just let them know that it
wouldn’t be prudent for them to spread anymore lies about me, and
suggested that they leave you alone.”

Grinning, he opened the door for me and moved aside so I could
step through. Narrowing my eyes at him, I prepared to step past him
into the downpour.  They’d seemed pretty startled by whatever
he’d said, so my mind was running over a list of threats that he
could have used. I’d seen Kellan’s anger several times before and
he could be intimidating when he wanted to be. I figured they
really would leave me alone for the remainder of the school
year.

 Smiling, I leaned in and kissed him. “Did they happen to
mention how they saw your tattoo?”

Rolling his eyes as he held the door open, he shook his head.
“Tina saw me working out in the park near here. I got hot, I was
shirtless.”

Biting my lip, I glanced down his body. Yes, he was certainly
hot. I supposed that explained the story. I watched his face for a
minute, gauging the truth I saw in his eyes as he held my gaze
steadfastly. I saw no deception there and smiled wider. Raising a
corner of his lip, he indicated outside. “Are you gonna head out
there, cuz this door’s getting heavy.”

Laughing, I kissed him lightly and then sucked in a quick
breath, preparing to make a run for it. Halfway down the steps, I
felt like a waterlogged rat. Groaning, I dashed for the parking lot
and wished I’d brought an umbrella.

Coming up behind me, Kellan smacked my bottom. “Hurry up, pokey,
you’re getting soaked.” Laughing, he ran his fingers back through
his hair. The mess slicked back in a way that reminded me of a less
pleasant moment in the rain with Kellan. I pushed aside the memory
and focused on his body twisting away from me and running hard.

Adjusting my bag, I yelled out, “No fair! You’re not carrying
anything.”

He only looked back at me and chuckled. By the time I got to the
lot, he was already in his car, feet propped up on my side of the
seat and leaning his back against the driver’s side door with his
eyes closed, like he’d fallen asleep waiting for me. I batted his
shoes as I stood in the rain, but he ignored it, and continued to
take up my spot. Cursing that I was still getting soaked, I crawled
over his legs to lie on top of him. That got his attention.

His eyes opened with a wide smile. Twisting my body to shut the
door, I unhooked my book bag and tossed it into the back seat. His
arms came out for me, pulling my soaked body into his soaked body.
Scooting down the seat, he laid his back against the cushion. He
adjusted my legs so my hips were straddling his.

“There, that’s better,” he muttered, lifting his head up to kiss
me.

Assaulted by more wet memories of him, I pulled back. His eyes
were lustful as he stared at me, his breath heavier, and not just
from the exertion of running all the way out here. My wet hair hung
down around my face, the long strands dripping onto his clothes.
The scent of him beneath me mixed with the smell of clean water,
both of them stirring something within me.

Cupping his cheek, I stroked his rain-softened skin with my
thumb. Looking over his midnight blue eyes, the specks of water
glistening in his hair, the full, partly opened lips, the strong
jaw, I sighed. “You’re so attractive,” I whispered, my words oddly
in tune to the pounding rain in the background. “You’re the sexiest
man I’ve ever seen.”

Feeling completely alone with him in here, even though it was
the middle of the afternoon, I leaned down to kiss him. His soft
lips melded with mine, tasting, searching. After a brief moment, he
frowned and shook his head. “I may not always be.” Shrugging, one
hand clenching and unclenching my hip while the other indicated his
face, he added, “This could vanish overnight, you know. I could be
mauled by a bear while walking down the street tomorrow.” He lifted
an eyebrow. “Would you still want me then?”

Smiling at his comment, I tilted my head. “Of course. Your face
isn’t the only thing that makes you attractive, Kellan. Your looks
aren’t why I love you.” He smiled, his hands running up my back,
urging me down to him. Before our lips met again, I gave him a
pointed glance. “A bear? Really?”

Chuckling, he pulled me all of the way down to him. As our hips
met, rocking lightly against the other’s, the windshield quickly
fogged up. I felt bodies hurriedly walking past the car, but with
the noise of the rain and the windows tinted with moisture, I felt
like we were the only two people around. As our breaths and kiss
heated, Kellan murmured, “God, now I’m going to have to do
something I never thought I would.”

Moving up to kiss his cheek, I dug my hips into his. “What?” I
breathed, the tip of my tongue lining the edge of his ear.

He sucked in a quick breath, his hips under me rising off the
seat. “I’m going to have to take you in this car,” he murmured
back, his voice low and husky.

He was suddenly moving underneath me, trying to twist us around
so he was on top. I quickly sat up before he was successful. While
I felt alone out here, I knew we weren’t, and I wasn’t about to
advertise what we were doing by rocking the car. He sat up on his
elbows, breathless. Splaying out his hands, he frowned. “Why did
you stop?”

Biting my lip and carefully moving away from his hips, I pushed
his feet off the seat so I could sit comfortably. Pointing at him
as menacingly as I could, I sternly said, “Because you have a
rehearsal to get to, and if you blow it off again, Matt is going to
kick you out of the band.”

Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around me. “It’s
my
band, they can’t kick me out.”

He started kissing my neck and I tried not to lean into it,
tried not to start panting with desire and clawing at his clothes.
Pushing him back, I dug my finger into his chest. “I’m not having
sex with you in the parking lot of my school.”

He glanced around, his eyes playful. “No one will notice.”
Looking back at me, he raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever had sex in
a car?”

Blushing horribly, I tucked my hair behind my ears. “Yes, Denny
and I…”

I didn’t finish that and Kellan’s playful grin faded. Releasing
me, he scooted over to his side of the seat and nodded. “Oh,
yeah…your road trip.” Sighing, he dug his hand in his pocket and
took out his keys.

I tilted my head to see his face better, to see if he was upset
or not, but I couldn’t tell from the angle. “Hey, you alright?”

Smiling, he looked back at me as the car roared to life. “Yeah.”
He shrugged, then grinning mischievously, he smirked. “I was just
hoping to give you another first experience.” I watched his smile
falter as he turned away from me. “I guess I missed my shot,
though.”

Placing my hand on his thigh, I whispered, “There will be other
firsts that you can give me, Kellan.”

Looking back at me as he put the car in reverse, he shook his
head. “I know, Kiera.”

Wishing I could rewind time and not bring up an intimate moment
with my ex to my current, I looked out the passenger’s side window
as we drove to Kellan’s rehearsal. The guys generally met once a
day to create new stuff or work out kinks in older stuff. Since it
was how they made their living, they were all surprisingly
dedicated to it. Well, except lately. Lately, Kellan had been
blowing off rehearsals to spend some more time with me. Matt had
been in a snit about it. Even though technically Kellan was right,
and it was his band since he’d created it, Matt was the one that
led it. He lined up the shows, he worked on marketing, he arranged
rehearsals, and he demanded professionalism from the quartet of
easily distracted twenty-somethings. The band was Matt’s baby.

Heading over the bridge connecting the U-District to the heart
of Seattle, I watched the towering Space Needle fill my window. It
was beautiful, iconic, and held a soft spot for me. Kellan had
poured his heart out to me inside it. He’d opened up in ways he’d
never opened up to anyone, ever. It made me incredibly sad that
Kellan’s life could have been so different, if he’d just told
someone about the abuse as a child. He could have been taken away,
put in a loving foster home. Anything would have been preferable to
his nightmare.

Looking back at him, I put my hand over his knee. He smiled at
the contact, quickly glancing at me before shifting his eyes back
to the road. A small, dark part of me wondered if Kellan had only
been attracted to me, stayed with me, fell in love with me, because
his messed up psyche craved the pain I’d given him. Maybe he had a
masochistic streak. If so, I’d certainly stoked it…over and over
again. It truly was a miracle he’d ever taken me back.

Sighing, I leaned over and put my head on his shoulder. He
relaxed his head against mine, his hand coming out to rest on my
thigh. As the Needle left my vision—tall skyscrapers holding
thousands of businessmen and women trailing along after it—we
approached the industrial district. This is where Evan had his
loft. It made a perfect spot to play, since he didn’t live in a
residential area like Kellan and the others. The very few neighbors
that he did have, didn’t seem to mind the noise, so long as the
guys didn’t play too late into the evening.

Driving past the two sports stadiums, Kellan came upon Evan’s
place. Kellan shut off the car and opened his door. He grabbed his
guitar out of the back seat as I got out and waited for him near
the front of the vehicle. Thankfully the earlier squall had passed,
and only the normal, light drops splashed onto our still damp
bodies. When Kellan stepped beside me, his hair still attractively
slicked back from the rain, he smiled and nodded over to the stairs
that led up to the loft.

Evan lived above an auto body shop. The mechanics all loved it
when the boys practiced during their shift. Sometimes they even
asked the guys to leave the door open, so the sound would come down
clearer. And if the guys were getting together early enough in the
afternoon, sometimes they would. One of the shop employees had told
me once that listening to the band through the walls made going to
work feel like going to a rock concert. I understood the sentiment;
they constantly made my job feel that way.

One of the garage doors was open as we walked by. A man was
helping to guide another person, who was backing a car out of the
door, so the driver didn’t accidentally back over the massive hole
in the ground where the mechanics checked out the underside of the
cars. Once the car was free, the man smiled and waved at
Kellan.

“Where you been, man? Matt’s gonna evict you.”

Kellan rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Yeah, that’s what I
hear.”

The man laughed while a grease-smeared woman got out of the car
she’d just parked alongside the curb. She walked up to Kellan and
bumped his shoulder with her fist. “Knock ‘em dead on tour, Kell.”
She sighed dramatically while I glanced up at the rain falling on
us. Maybe the woman could flirt with my man inside…where it was
dryer. Shaking her shaggy crop of dark hair, she frowned. “We’re
gonna miss you around here. It just won’t be the same with Evan’s
place empty.”

Kellan smiled back at her and I mentally frowned at the warmth I
saw on his face. I knew Kellan had female friends, Jenny was one of
them, but I instantly wondered how friendly this mechanic-girl had
been with my boyfriend. I squeezed his hand tighter, subconsciously
leaning into his side as he said, “I doubt that, Rox. You’ll
probably not even know we’re gone.” Raising an eyebrow, Kellan
leaned over to her. “Besides, it will finally be quiet enough
around here for you to work on that book.”

She laughed, her face brightening and I hated even more that not
only were they friendly, but they knew things about each other.
They even shortened the other’s names. The familiarity bothered me
and a rush of jealousy threatened to sweep me away. I was already
struggling to not push the woman back and step in front of Kellan,
growling possessively. I wouldn’t ever actually do that…but I was
thinking it.