“Whoa, slow down, Becks,” Jax said, reaching for herglass.
“What?” she gasped, choking down the harsh tasting liquid.“It’s not so bad.”
“Now where was that fire the other night?” he asked, leaning inclose to her, running his fingertip over the dribbled bit on herlip.
“What do you mean?” Looking him over, she realized just howincredibly handsome he was. For the moment, she even forgot howcruel he’d been.
“Becks, I’ve been meaning…”
Before he couldfinish his sentence, Kell came out of nowhere. He grabbed him bythe shoulder and flung the blonde backwards.
“What the fuck, man?”
“Opportunistic prick!” Kell scoffed, taking the glass fromBecky’s trembling hand. He took a sniff before slamming it backdown on the bar. “Get the fuck out of here before I snap you inhalf!”
“Kelley?” she shouted at him. How dare he act this way! Jax wasabout to apologize. All she wanted was to hear him grovel abit.
“What happened to ginger ale, Becky?” Kell growled. “I turnaround for a second and you’re accepting drinks from this worthlesspiece of shit?”
Feelinguncharacteristically brave, Jax puffed out his chest and cameforward. He then reclaimed his position by Becky’s side.
“Perhaps you should back the hell up and rethink your claim onBecky’s affections.”
He steeledhimself for all of two seconds before Kell’s fist connected withhis jaw.
“Kelley! Stop this right now!” Becky slid off the barstool andwould have jumped between them had Dorian not grabbed herback.
The next thingshe saw was Jax making a beeline for the door with Kelley on hisheels. Seconds later, Crispin ran after them both.
“Hey, get the fuck out of the bar,” the burly bartender shoutedat Dorian. “Take your shit somewhere else before I call thecops!”
Before she knewwhat happened, Dorian whisked her out the back door of the pub andinto the back of his van.
“What’s happened?” she asked, feeling dizzy.
“Hopefully, nothing,” Dorian said, studying her for a moment.“Have you been drinking, sweetheart?”
“A little, Jax bought me…”
“Fuck, Becky, do yourself a favour and stay the hell away fromJax,” he said, smoothing his large hands down her hair beforepulling her in for a reassuring hug.
“He’s not such a bad guy, really.”
“Come on, now. You and I both know he’s no good.”
“I think he was trying to apologize.”
“Well, whatever, don’t let him get into your head. He doesn’tdeserve your time.”
Moments later,both Kell and Crispin returned. Breathless, they hopped into thevan. “So, what happened?” Dorian asked as Kell sulked in the backwhile Crispin buckled himself into the passenger seat and gave hishead a shake.
“It’s a good thing the bastard can run,” Crispin saidbreathlessly. “That’s all I’m going to say on thematter.”
“What did you do to Jax!” Becky demanded, glaring at Kelley.“Where is he?” she asked, looking from one Goth toanother.
“He ran off, the coward. Not that I blame him,” Crispinsnickered. “I suppose when you’ve got a silverback gorilla on yourass, anyone would.
“Fuck off,” Kell grumbled, staring off into thedark.
“Kelley!” Becky frowned at him.
“Leave him alone, Becky,” Dorian warned as he drove. “Give hima chance to cool off.”
“Why should I? He doesn’t scare me!”
Refusing toacknowledge her spunky retort, Kell clenched his jaw and avertedhis eyes from her the entire way home. Silly little twit. Had sheforgotten how Jax had broken her heart? While he may have let ithappen the first time, he’d be damned of he was going to let ithappen again. Not on his watch.
Becky sat backand crossed her arms in front of her chest. So much for a funevening out with her housemates! Staring at Kelley, she wonderedwhat was going on in his head. Why had he gone off on Jax likethat? He was only trying to apologize. What if he wanted to giveher another chance? Now she would never know.
When thearrived home, Becky hopped out of the van and stormed into thehouse, slamming the door behind her. The heck with Kelley and hiscaveman nonsense!
“Oh, the drama…” Dorian followed her with his eyes while Kellstomped off into the carriage house.
“Yeah, don’t make me say it again,” Crispin snarked, shakinghis head.
Later thatnight, Kell rested in his bed with his headphones on. To think hewas just starting to believe that he and Becky could be together.Good thing he’d come to his senses before he made a fool ofhimself.
It was obviousshe still had feelings for Jax. Well, if she wanted him back, shecould damn well have him! Just not around here, at the House ofGoths.
Having calmedherself down, Becky couldn’t help but feel bad about how thingsturned out. She and Kelley had been having such a nice time untilJax came around and ruined things.
Frustrated, shetossed and turned in bed. She didn’t like being mad at Kelley. Evenif he didn’t want her in the romantic sense, he was still her bestfriend. Unable to stand it any longer, she got up out of bed andmarched into his room.
He had his eyesclosed, lying under his blanket. He didn’t know what hit him.Throwing herself on his bed, she leaned in and gave him anexuberant hug.
“Becky?” He jumped, flinging off the headphones. Wrapping herin his arms, he hugged her into his chest. He couldn’t help butsmile. As far as he was concerned, everything was right in theworld again.
Moments later,she slowly pulled away from him and gazed into his eyes. She wantedto tell him how much he meant to her but couldn’t quite find thewords.
It was inmoments like these when she realized that they didn’t need words.They’d only get in the way. They were together. That was all thatmattered.
Afterexchanging a lingering smile with each other, she got up and lefthis room. “Good night, Kelley.”
While she wasstill upset with him, at least, she could go to sleep with a smileon her face!
“Good night, love…”
Chapter 24
“Halloweenparty? But that was weeks ago. Besides, isn’t it Halloween everyday at our house?”
“Haha, laugh it up,” Dorian said, leading Becky up and down theParty Packagers Warehouse. They had stopped there on the way homefrom class. When he’d picked her up that afternoon, he had veryexcitedly told her of the upcoming event.
Dorianshrugged. “I know it’s a bit late since it’s already the middle ofNovember. With all
