Holding Out For Skye (16 page)

“My fearsome defender.” It hurt bad that Ash hadn’t even given her a chance to explain, that he’d believed Rachel when he should have known better. That he had just… written her off like that. Kiera had thought that maybe he was the one, that she’d finally found the person to share her life with.

She’d been so horribly wrong. A wave of pure misery swept through her. She raised drenched eyes up to Skye. “I loved him, Skye. I truly loved him.” Kiera started to cry again.

“Oh, honey.” Skye held her tightly as she sobbed, vowing to make Ash pay. Friend or not, he wouldn’t know what hit him.

Kiera cried for a long time. Skye wondered how one small body could have such a lake of tears inside. When she finally stopped, she looked like a poor imitation of her former self. It hurt Skye to see her like that, pale and fragile—that if she so much as hugged her too tight, she’d break into pieces. She managed to get some aspirin into her and get her in bed.

Long after Kiera fell into an exhausted slumber, Skye lay awake, unable to sleep herself. She worried about Kiera, worried about herself. She couldn’t help it. How could something supposedly so wonderful, that everyone wished for—
love
—could hurt so bad? Was this what was in store for her if she let herself care too much for Cian?

No, she didn’t wish love for herself.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The next morning, Skye woke up feeling like roadkill. She groaned. Damn it, she really hated sleepless nights! She always woke up feeling like crap the next day. She sat up slowly and peeked at Kiera lying next to her. She was still sleeping. Good. She needed the rest.

Skye looked at her watch. Eight-twelve a.m.

Seriously? Couldn’t her internal clock have let her sleep awhile longer? She couldn’t remember what time she’d finally fallen asleep. Three a.m.? Or had it been four a.m.? Now that she was awake, there was no way she was going to be able to go back to sleep. She rubbed at her gritty eyes and slowly got off the bed, taking care not to wake Kiera.

For a moment, Skye stood watch over her, her heart aching at her best friend’s pain. Thinking. Trying to figure out how to fix this for her. She hated feeling helpless. She needed a plan of action. She and Kiera were both much better at being busy than moping around.

An idea formulated in her head, several ideas actually.
Very good, Cerebro
, Skye told her brain. She was quirky that way.

Skye searched for her phone, trying to remember where she’d left it. Duffel bag, living room. Right. She slipped out of the room, checking over her shoulder to make sure Kiera was still sleeping, and closed the door quietly behind her.

Grabbing her bag, she headed into the kitchen. She took a seat at the table and scrolled through her phone contacts for the number she wanted.

“Hello Skye. Did the sun forget on which side it was supposed to rise today?” Tasha’s voice chirped.

“You’re hilarious, you know that?”

“What can I say? You can’t beat awesome.”

“I said ‘hilarious’, not ‘awesome’.”

“Same thing. Different words.”

See what she had to deal with? Natasha Sullivan was the one person in the world over whom she could never,
ever
, get the upper hand. Skye always came out of what Tasha called their ‘hanging-out’ and she called their ‘sessions’, feeling like she’d been flung through a tornado and emerged wrung out and baffled. And of course, once Ty told Tasha about Skye dating Cian, she’d teased her mercilessly over it.

“It’s not the same thing. When are you going to buy a dictionary?”

“When you get yourself a fashion consultant.” Tasha laughed like a loon at her own witty comment.

“Jesus. I knew I should have taken that pain pill before calling you.”

Tasha jumped on that. “
You
called
me
! Not Ty. Without any blackmailing or arm-twisting on my part. What a shocker. Give me a sec while I note down this memorable day on my calendar.”

“Ugh, you’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Nope! This is too precious!” Tasha’s tinkling laugh sounded again. “Wait till Ty wakes up and hears this.”

“What is it with you two? When it comes to me, you’re always ‘wait till you or he hears it’,” Skye grumbled.

Tasha snickered. “See how much we love you?”

“With that much love, I’m surprised I haven’t been smothered already.”

Another snicker. “I know you didn’t call just to hear my wonderful voice so what’s up?”

Skye fell quiet. It was hard for her to reach out to other people, even her friends.

At her silence, Tasha said, “Skye? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Kiera,” she replied softly. “And you’re the only one I could think of to ask for help.”

“Anything she needs, you got it.”

Skye was stumped. “Just like that?”

“Yes. I might have met her through you but Kiera’s my friend too. If I could help her out with anything, I would. You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you to ask me anything.
Anything
at all. For you to realize that I’m not the bother you believe me to be. That I care about you.”

Skye was shocked at hearing Tasha say that. What was this? “I
do
know that,” she answered a bit awkwardly. “I just don’t know how to deal with you.”

“Don’t I know it!” Tasha giggled and Skye felt a swell of relief that she hadn’t hurt her friend’s feelings.

“So are we good?”

“Always. But you didn’t deny that I’m a bother.” Skye could hear the amusement in Tasha’s voice.

“Because I agree on that point.”

“You meanie!”

After they hung up, Skye couldn’t help smiling. Maybe, just maybe, Tasha would be able to help in making Kiera feel better. It appeared she was very lucky in her friends. Then the thought of Ash crossed her mind and her face clouded up. Except for that idiot.

There was one more phone call she had to make.

Skye stared at her cell phone like it would jump up and bite her. It was hard to believe that even after a month of late night phone calls and text messages, she could still be nervous about calling him. She didn’t want to admit that she’d gotten used to hearing his voice or receiving a message from him before she fell asleep at night. That it had become a constant for her.

Last night had been an emergency. Skye hadn’t had time to feel nervous.
Just call the guy already.
She did so and waited. Two rings. Four. Six.
Maybe he wouldn’t
pick up
, she thought hopefully.

“‘Ello?”

Skye almost stumbled off her seat at the sound of his deep voice. Sleepy. Husky.
Sexy.
She swallowed at the unlike-her thought.

He sounded as if he’d been sleeping. Skye could imagine him lying in bed. Imagine all too well what he looked like. Hair all spiked up, jaw rough from stubble, silver eyes hooded. The image was burned in her mind for all time from his sleepover stunt on their first date. Her stomach quivered.

“Did you call only to hang up on me, love?”

She could practically see him grin. She scowled, annoyed at the unwanted feelings he stirred in her. “No.”

“There you are.”

She heard shuffling, as if he were sitting up. “I woke you. I can call later.”

Cian practically shouted in her ear. “Don’t you dare!”

“I think I just went deaf in one ear.”

“Sneaky smartass. I’ve been waiting for you to call.”

“You have?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.” She heard the amusement in his voice.

“I couldn’t call last night.”

Cian’s voice softened. “I know that. How’s Kiera?”

“She’s hurting. She’s still asleep. Cian, he hurt her badly.” She gave him the short version of what had happened. When she finished, he was quiet for a moment.

“I presume he was completely in the wrong.”

“Yes, he was! How can you even think otherwise? Wait, you’re a guy, of course you’d be on his side.”

“Hold it. Talk about running with it. When have I ever been on Daniels’ side?”

Skye thought about it. He had a point. “Never. Alright,” she conceded grudgingly.

“That’s not an apology but I’ll take it. First of all, just because I’m a guy doesn’t mean I’m in the asshole category. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” she replied in a subdued voice, a bit startled at the vehemence in his. He was always so ebullient, rarely grim or serious like this, like
her
. It was disquieting.

“Secondly, I wasn’t taking his side as per your delusions”—he paused for impact then continued—”I was just trying to make sense of the situation. Are we clear?”

She cleared her throat. “Yes.”

“Good. Now what have you been plotting?”

“I haven’t been plotting anything,” Skye denied indignantly. Damn, how did he know she was making plans?

“Excuse me, it’s me you’re talking to, remember? No matter how tough you are, you can’t bullshit your way around me, love. You had all of last night to comfort your best friend. By now, you’d either be plotting Daniels’ demise or trying to make said best friend feel better. Am I right so far?”

Annoyed, Skye griped, “You think you know so much.”

“I do. I sure do.” Smugness radiated in Cian’s voice. “Spill. And don’t even think about hanging up. I’ll be there so fast you’ll be left reeling from the whiplash.”

“I don’t like you very much right now.”

Cian’s chuckle sounded clearly over the line. “Darling, that just proves me right you don’t want to tell me what you’re up to. Have it your way. I’m coming over there.”

“What? No!”

“I’m waiting.”

“Fine,” she gave in petulantly and told him about calling Tasha and grumbled about the little visit she had planned.

“Will two hours be sufficient?”

“For what?”

“For me to pick you up.”

“You’re not coming with me.”

“Wanna bet? Two hours it is then,” was all Cian said before he disconnected the call.

Skye glared a hole into the cell phone. For all the good it did. She could always have a temper tantrum and wing the phone at the opposite wall. But then she’d have to go to the trouble of getting a new one which would only aggravate her further. Not to mention explain to Kiera the reason for her little temper tantrum.

She hated that she was such a pragmatic soul. Throwing the phone would sure have been damn satisfying.

SKYE WAS setting the last batch of
crêpes
on the table when Kiera walked in. “Hey, you’re just in time.”

Kiera stared at her unseeingly for a moment then blinked. She looked pallid and her eyes had dark circles under them. Skye’s heart twisted in her chest.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. When have you known me to do something I didn’t want to?”

“All the time.” A small smile flittered over her face to disappear just as quickly.

Skye felt a flash of rage at Ash. She wanted to rake him over burning coals for the hurt he’d caused Kiera. She caught Kiera’s hand and tugged her into a chair. Still holding her hand, she sat down on the chair in front of her.

“How do you feel?”

Kiera let out a weary sigh. “I don’t know. Numb.”

“Numb’s good.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah.”

“But you know what’s better?”

Kiera just looked at her blankly.

“Shopping!”

Unwillingness clouded Kiera’s face. “I don’t really want to go anywhere, Skye.”

Skye took a deep breath. “Kiera, I’m so sorry about what happened with Ash. I understand how much he means to you and that you need time to deal with it. But you and I both know that for us, moping around only makes it worse. Maybe it’s selfish of me to push at you but I can’t stand to see you like this. I wish I could go back in time and never have introduced you to him.”

“I don’t regret meeting him. What he made me feel… I’ve never felt that before. I don’t regret that but I do grieve over the ending. I wish I could stop feeling like this, that I could just let it go. Maybe it’d hurt less. But at the same time, I don’t want to let this hurt go, because then what will I have left to hold on to?” A bleak smile touched her lips.

Skye’s heart went out to her. Goddamn Ash Daniels. “I understand how letting go of the hurt, of him, is frightening.”

That a future without him
feels bleak and cold.

A ripple of foreboding rose inside of her. Was she talking about Kiera or
herself
? She pushed away the disconcerting thought as she concentrated on Kiera. “But you are one of the strongest persons I know. It doesn’t feel like it now, but you can be happy again without him. God, I want to kill him for hurting you!” Skye blew out her breath in a fit of anger.

“In my head, I know you are right. But in my heart—” Kiera closed a fist over her heart. “My heart feels shattered. How lame is that, uh?”

Skye hugged her friend tightly. “Not lame, never that, Kiera. He’s a goddamn fool.”

Kiera held on tight. Right now all she could feel was this deep sense of loss but she hoped that she’d be able to get through it.

“I thought maybe a day out with friends would be good, doing something you love. Tasha’s coming to pick us up for some shopping. You can say no. We’ll stay in if you want.”

Kiera thought about it. If she stayed at home, she knew she’d think of every moment she’d spent with Ash, and she’d feel even worse. Skye was right when she said they both preferred action to contemplation. She took a deep cleansing breath, let it out and filled herself with resolve. No, she wasn’t sitting here wasting any more of her tears over a guy who hadn’t believed in her, who hadn’t trusted her.

“No, no. He doesn’t deserve any more of my time and peace of mind. Let’s go. I can’t promise I’ll be good company though.”

Skye impetuously hugged her again. “That’s my girl! Sweetie, you’re not
supposed
to be good company. You only have to be yourself. This is our treat to you, mine and Tasha’s.”

“You’re wrong you know,” Kiera said softly. “You’re not selfish. If you hadn’t been here last night… I don’t know what I would have done without you, Skye.”

“What are BFFs for? Sorry to tell you this, but you’re stuck with me for life,” Skye quipped in a voice full of mock doom. She was rewarded with a tiny smile from Kiera.

In return, Skye’s smile bloomed bright at that small victory. “Now you need to eat, get your strength back after last night.”

“Yes, mom.”

Skye wagged her finger at her. “You better believe it or you’re going into time-out, missy.”

A small giggle escaped Kiera and she was surprised that she felt lighter. At that moment, the doorbell rang.

“That’s got to be Tasha.” Skye got up and went to let her in.

Natasha Sullivan was a petite bombshell with a core of steel, a sharp tongue and the fashion plate of a model. She was blessed with golden blond hair which had a slight curl in it and deceptively innocent-looking sky-blue eyes that she had no qualms about using to get what she wanted. Her pouty lips and curvy figure turned her into the sexy package Tyler had described her to be. Today she had on tight black designer jeans and a beautiful silk blouse that matched her eyes. Cute strappy blue sandals completed her outfit.

She took one look at Skye and wailed, “You guys aren’t ready yet!”

Skye snickered. “We’re having breakfast if you want some.”

“I already had mine like normal people, thank you very much,” Tasha informed her in a snotty voice.