Effortless (55 page)

When Abby and I broke apart, Kellan extended his hand. “It’s
nice to meet you, Abby.” Abby surprisingly didn’t eye Kellan with
the open appeal that most women eyed him with. Sure, her eyes
flicked over his face, but that was about all the notice she took
of his appearance. And with her, I had a feeling that she wasn’t
ignoring his looks because of me or because of Denny. With her, I
more felt that she just wasn’t interested.

As she tentatively took Kellan’s hand, she looked back at Denny.
This must have been a weird moment for her, shaking hands with the
man that had come between her current boyfriend and the ex love of
his life. I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling, except maybe
grateful that she’d never hurt Denny like I had. I was grateful for
that, too.

Denny nodded slightly and Abby looked back at Kellan. “It’s nice
to meet you, too, Kellan. Denny says…good things about you.”

Kellan’s mouth dropped open in surprise as their hands
separated. Bunching his brows, he shook his head at Denny. “You do?
Why? I was an asshole to you…”

Kellan seemed genuinely bemused at why Denny gave him the time
of day, let alone talked nicely about him. Denny stared at the
floor for a second, before looking back up at the person he’d once
been very close to. “And I nearly killed you.” Denny sighed,
running a hand through his hair. “In the end…whose crime was
greater?”

Kellan shook his head and looked away. Feeling a tension
building, I put my hand on Kellan’s stomach. He looked down on me
before shifting his attention back to Denny. “I still took
something that wasn’t mine. Even if you feel guilty for the
fight…you really shouldn’t ever talk to me again.”

Kellan’s eyes drifted to his boots, unable to keep Denny’s gaze.
Mutual guilt flooded me and I lowered my head as well. Happy ending
or not, Kellan and I were jerks.

Denny surprisingly started laughing. Kellan and I both looked up
at him. Grinning, he squeezed Abby tight and looked between the two
of us. “You should see the looks on your faces right now.” His
accent curled around the words as he gave us a goofy grin.

Kellan and I glanced at each other, equally perplexed, and Denny
laughed a little more. Clapping Kellan’s shoulder, he shook his
head. “Look, I know your life was hard, and I realize that Kiera
must have been a…salve…for you.” He raised his eyebrows. “I get it.
I didn’t like it, but I get it.”

Kellan gave him a small smile and Denny shifted his attention
back to me. “And you…” He bit his lip and sighed. “I know I put my
job first.” I shook my head and Denny cut me off. “No, I did,
Kiera.” He pointed to the ground. “I was coming to Seattle, with or
without you. I was going to Tucson, with or without you. And, I may
have panicked and come back to Seattle when I’d thought I’d lost
you, but…my head was still on my job…not you.”

Swallowing, he shook his head. “And I’m so sorry for that. And I
don’t blame you anymore, for falling for someone who could give you
the attention you wanted, the attention you deserved.”

I swallowed and nodded, slight tears in my eyes. A silence built
up around our foursome. Finally, Abby was the one who broke it. “Oh
my God, will the three of you just hug already?”

We all looked over at her and grinned. Wiping my eyes, I stepped
up to Denny, giving him a warm, friendly hug. He wrapped his arms
around me, and we both muttered apologies. Kellan sighed, then
circled his arms over the both of us.

Nestled in the safety of the two men who’d nearly torn me
asunder, I felt a piece of myself healing. I felt the guilt slowly
leaving. We were all fine. We had all survived. And surprisingly,
we were all still friends.

As the three of us pulled apart, Kellan and I rejoined. Smiling,
he kissed my head. Abby rejoined with Denny and I smiled over at
her, pleased that Denny had found someone as warm, caring, and
trusting as she appeared to be.

Kellan pointed back at where Denny and Abby’s table had been
taken over by a group of boys that barely looked legal enough to be
here. “Someone nabbed your spot.” Running a hand back through his
hair, Kellan shrugged. “The band’s table has a couple of spots
open…if you guys want to join us?”

Denny and Abby glanced at each other for a second, then Denny
nodded. “Yeah, sounds nice…mate.”

Kellan smiled, gave me a final kiss on the head, then clapped
Denny’s back. As they started walking back to where Matt and Evan
were talking with each other, all smiles over being back home, I
heard Kellan lean down and mutter, “Hey, sorry for being an ass a
few weeks ago. That was a…misunderstanding.”

Smiling up at him, Denny clapped his back. “Don’t worry about
it. I’m used to you being an ass.”

Abby giggled as she clung to Denny’s hand. Kellan shook his
head, but eventually laughed. The sight of them bonding again
brought tears to my eyes. I’d really never thought that they’d get
their friendship back. It took a pretty big person to see past the
pain and betrayal. But Denny…was a pretty big person.

Denny and Abby left an hour or so later. Arms wrapped around
each other, they seemed the picture of merriment. I smiled and
waved as they disappeared out the doors to head back to the home
that I’d helped Denny prepare for her. I wondered if he’d done what
he’d said he’d wanted to do, and filled the house with flowers on
the day of her arrival. Being the sap he was, I figured he had.

Justin’s band and Kellan’s band closed out the bar. In fact,
Jenny and I had to force most of the boys to leave. Justin in
particular had seemed happy to stay put until morning. It was so
typical of a guy his age that I instantly felt even more relaxed
around him. He was just another drunk guy, like all the other drunk
guys I’d ever met. And as Matt and Griffin had to physically help
him into Griffin’s van, I wondered why I’d ever been nervous around
him.

My own D-Bag was the last to leave. Sitting on the edge of the
bar, Kellan chatted with the weary bar owner as I cleaned up the
mess everyone had left behind. Clapping Kellan on the shoulder,
Pete thanked him again for lining up a new band. Pete hated looking
for talent, but liked the draw of a live act. And Rain’s band was
really starting to bring in the crowds—guys and girls alike. From
what Cheyenne had confessed to me one afternoon, her crush had now
moved on to Poetic Bliss’s drummer, Meadow. I was relieved that not
only was she not crushing on me anymore, but that she hadn’t fallen
for Tuesday. I’d just never be able to keep a straight face during
any conversations revolving around her.

When I was finished wiping spills and refilling salt shakers, I
smacked Kellan’s thigh and wished Pete a goodnight. Pete waved us
off and grumbled something about me not letting Kellan tend bar
anymore, since he technically didn’t work here. By the way he said
it, though, it was clear that he’d hire Kellan on the spot, if
Kellan were interested.

Waving goodbye to Pete, Kellan ignored his comment and any
implied offers of employment. He had a job, one that about to
explode on him. Holding my fingers tightly in his, Kellan hummed a
song as he walked us to his car.

Loving the peace in his voice, the merriment in his eyes, I
leaned into his side. His eyes brightened when they came upon his
“baby.” As promised, I’d taken good care of her. I’d used only the
best gas when filling her up and even had her waxed the other day,
in preparation for Kellan’s homecoming. The orange lot lights cast
a glow over the car as it shined beneath them.

Running his hand over the polished black metal, Kellan gave me a
boyish grin. “Thanks for not wrecking her.”

Kissing his jaw, I murmured, “I know what she means to you…I was
good to her.” Releasing Kellan, I started walking around to the
other side. “I only got her up over a hundred that
one
time.”

Kellan’s jaw dropped as his eyes flashed down to inspect the
Chevelle more closely. Shaking my head at him, I got into the
passenger’s side. Kellan was frowning at me when he got into his
preferred spot—behind the steering wheel. “Not funny,” he
muttered.

I grinned and leaned over to kiss him but he pulled back. As I
frowned, he smiled. “Happy Birthday, Kiera.”

I started to tell him that it wasn’t my birthday yet, when I
realized that it was. It was just a few hours into it, but
technically, it
was
now my birthday. “Thank you, you’re
the first one to say it.”

Smirking, he leaned into me. “I know, I planned it that
way.”

His lips were on mine then, soft and teasing as he moved against
me. His tongue slid along my lip and I shuddered, delighting in the
sensation. Cupping my cheek, he angled his mouth to fully enclose
me. My breath heavier, I parted my lips to let him in. I groaned
when his tongue brushed against mine. It had been weeks since our
last physical encounter. My body was burning for him to touch
me.

Inhaling his wondrous scent into me, I pulled back from his
mouth. His lips parted, his eyes blazing, he stared at me intently,
like he wanted to devour me. God…I wanted him to.

“Take me home, Kellan.” Placing my hand on his thigh, I leaned
over to breathe in his ear, “Take me to
our
home.”

He groaned. Biting his lip, he closed his eyes for a second and
stopped moving, stopped breathing. Pulling back, I tilted my head
at him. “Kellan? Are…you okay?”

Peeking an eye open at me, he smiled around where he was still
biting his lip; the grin was impossibly attractive. Nodding, he
said, “Yeah, I just needed a minute.”

Giggling, I leaned back in to kiss him.

He drove us back to his place faster than he’d ever driven us
before.  Kissing as we walked through our front door, he
stripped off his jacket and blindly threw it towards the hook. I
heard it land on the floor. He kicked the door closed with his
boot, then grabbed the backs of my thighs and lifted me up. As his
lips traveled up my neck, he murmured, “Hmmm, which room should we
christen first?”

I giggled, dropping my head to the side so he could fully
explore the sensitive skin. “We’ve never done much in the laundry
room?”

He instantly started heading for the hallway that went past the
kitchen and into the small space where his washer and dryer was. I
squirmed and laughed, rubbing against him in the process. “I was
joking! Bed, Kellan… ” I cupped his cheeks and softly kissed him.
“I want to explore you in a bed.”

Giving me a look filled with love and wonder, he swung us around
the other way and started heading upstairs. I kissed his neck as we
walked. He rubbed circles into my thighs with his thumbs. He set me
down once we were before the three doors on the second floor of his
house—two bedrooms, one bathroom. All three doors were open. A
rarity, since the room I’d shared with Denny was usually kept
firmly closed. I’d cleaned it out, though, while Kellan was
gone.

Pulling on his arm, I decided to take a second to show him. He
frowned at me, then followed. As we stepped into the doorway, I
leaned back and let him look in. He smiled when he saw it. I’d
gotten rid of the furniture of Joey’s—the bed, dresser,
nightstand—all of it. I figured, if she hadn’t come back in nearly
two years to collect it, she never was going to. And it held too
many bad memories anyway. I wanted it gone, to cleanse the
home.

What I’d filled it with wasn’t what you’d expect in a second
bedroom. There wasn’t a bed, there wasn’t a cabinet holding winter
clothes. There wasn’t a TV. There was however, a bookcase, crammed
full of every notebook of Kellan’s that I’d ever come across. My
old futon was here, folded up as a couch and Kellan’s first guitar,
the one he’d had as a boy, was hanging from the wall now, a
nostalgic piece of art. I’d added a small desk under the window,
highlighted in warm curtains. A CD player rested on an old coffee
table in the corner, some favorite discs of Kellan’s scattered
around it. All in all, it was the perfect place for him to relax
and dream up new masterpieces for his band.

Shaking his head, Kellan murmured, “Is this for me?”

Placing my hands on his chest, I nodded. “Yeah, since you don’t
need to have a roommate anymore, I thought I’d give you a better
use for the spare room.” Placing a kiss on his strong jaw, I added,
“It’s all for you, for your art.”

He smiled peacefully at me and I frowned and jerked my thumb
over my shoulder. “Except the closet. I needed somewhere to put my
clothes.” And I also hoped that I could one day tuck a playpen in
there. If Anna decided to keep her baby, I wanted to be ready.

Laughing, Kellan squeezed me tight. “It’s perfect, thank
you.”

Pulling away, he frowned at me. “Wait, it’s your birthday.
Shouldn’t I be doing something for you?”

I smiled at his pout. “Well, we missed celebrating your birthday
last month, so you can think of this as belated birthday present.”
Biting my lip, I nodded over to the other bedroom door. “But there
is one thing you can do for me.” I started pulling him across the
hall.

Grinning, he eyed my body up and down, making me tingle all
over. “Yeah? And that would be?”

Once he was inside our room, I closed the door behind him and
pressed him up against it. His mouth dropped open as I melded the
slight curves I had into his body. With our hips flush together, I
could feel his responding. Picturing the way he would tease me, I
ran my nose up his jaw. He swallowed and his hands clenched my
hips, pulling me into the rigid ache he had.