Leave Me Breathless

Chapter Eleven


“I’m ready to come clean.”

Candace looked up from her steaming mug, one taupe eyebrow arched as she studied Macy from across the booth. “Is this about what I think it’s about?”

Macy glanced around the coffee shop across the street from Dermamania. The girls had ducked in just before closing time to assuage a sudden craving for hot chocolate. “I’m pretty sure.”

Candace grinned from ear to ear. “Not that I didn’t know something was going on, but I’m glad you’re finally filling me in. Spill.”

Macy shrugged, feeling so out of her element. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her friends or didn’t like confiding in them about some things. She’d always prided herself on being the type who didn’t spread her drama around for everyone’s amusement, and swallowing that pride felt like choking down a bowling ball. Her face flamed, and she fanned herself. Candace broke into laughter.

“Damn, it must’ve been good.”

“Oh, it was good.”

Candace reached over and placed her hand over Macy’s—she was wearing black-and-pink-striped fingerless gloves—and squeezed. “I am so happy for you. I’ve noticed a glow about you the past couple of days.”

“Don’t go picking out shower gifts or anything.”

“Well, I know, but…you needed a pick-me-up. I take it he sufficed.”

“More than. I just…I don’t know. He’s great.”

“I feel a ‘but’ coming on.”

“A big one.”

“Macy, if you like him, go for it. Don’t worry about anything else. When Brian and I were getting together, I wasted so much time worrying and—no offense—listening to you and everyone else tell me to forget it, that it would never work. I hurt him, I tortured myself…and for what? It didn’t have to be that way. I should’ve trusted what I was feeling.”

“You and Brian already had a lot in common, though. It’s like he brought out the ‘you’ that was already there. You guys make a lot more sense than me and Ghost. All we have going for us”—she glanced around, leaned across the table and hissed—”is great sex.”

“Hey, that’s more than some people have.” Candace winked.

“I’m afraid that’s all it’ll ever be. He’s got a lot going on right now, you know? It’s really bad timing. Not to mention the psycho ex.”

Candace scoffed. “Don’t worry about her. Everyone cringes when she comes around, and she likes to run her mouth, but I think she’s pretty harmless.”

“What’s with this other girl who apparently broke his heart a long time ago?”

“Oh God. Brian told me a little about that—I don’t think I got the whole story. Apparently this girl totally wrecked him, and he still gets bitter over it sometimes. That’s all I know.”

“Fantastic. That’s exactly what I need—a man who’s hung up on someone else.” And it was essentially what Raina had been hinting at. “That whole baggage thing I was talking about. I could really do without that.”

“I don’t think it’s so much that he’s hung up on her. I think it’s that he was f*cked over, and it still pisses him off. Bruised that fragile male ego and all.”

Macy thought about how he’d shut down at the mention of that girl. Oh, it had done more than bruise his ego. It had beaten it to a bloody pulp.

Candace twirled her mug slowly in her hands. “Brian is really loyal to him. They might talk a lot of crap to each other, but one of them couldn’t jump off a bridge without the other close behind him.”

“I gathered. And that’s another problem.”

“What?”

“Honestly? I get the feeling Brian doesn’t like me. And I definitely wouldn’t want to cause any problems between you and him or put you guys in a position to take sides if Ghost and I didn’t work out.”

As expected, Candace was already shaking her head. “Brian likes you—”

“Like he would tell you if he didn’t.”

“Knowing him? He would. But he’s never said anything to me to indicate he doesn’t, I promise.”

“Okay.”

“You have that line between your eyebrows. Stop.”

Macy chuckled and drained her own mug, licking the last of the chocolate from her lips. “This could just as easily go nowhere, and I’ll have stressed over nothing.”

“Take it slow; give it a chance. Keep an open mind.”

“I really don’t think that’s the kind of advice I need at this point. I’m beyond it. I…I can’t quit thinking about him, Candace. It’s driving me nuts. I’m trying so hard to be casual about it because…” She shook her head. “It just seems so impossible right now.”

“Believe me, it’s not impossible. If it worked for us, it can work for you.”

“Does he strike you as the type who’s looking for anything long-term? As much as I try to pretend I’m not, I am. I’d love it, you know? If the right guy came along, I’d be so ready to get married and have kids. I put out the vibe to him that I’m not into all that.” When she really listened to herself, she let her head drop into her hands with a groan. “Do you hear what I’m admitting to? I basically lied to get laid.”

“I don’t know if you realize this or not, Macy, but you can be pretty standoffish. If that’s the vibe you’re putting out, he’s probably doing the same thing. It’s simple self-preservation.”

“I’m not that bad.” Macy lifted her head and searched Candace’s face. “Am I?”

“I’m not one to give an objective opinion. I’ve known you my whole life, I’m used to you.”

“Great. In other words, ‘You’re a raging bitch only a best friend could love’. I had no idea I had so little self-awareness.”

“Get over it. I’d have to say you’re more a snob than a raging bitch. Oh, and maybe a control freak though you’re better about that now than you used to be. But I love you anyway. So could he.”

The words stung, the ring of truth biting deep. The Candace of old would never have said anything like that to her. Macy laughed to keep from crying. “It’s only that I don’t see what’s so wrong about being set in my ways and wanting what I want, and liking what I like. And of course, not liking some things.”

“The bottom line is you have to accept him the way he is and not try to change him. If you’re not willing to do that, Mace, it really is going to be impossible. Give it up now, because I can tell you with absolute certainty, he won’t go for it. I mean, he’s a guy who’ll tell you to f*ck off and die if you try that on him.”

“I know. I wouldn’t do that. He is who he is. Just as long as he remembers that I am who I am too.” Macy sighed, staring out the window at the neon sign of the tattoo parlor across the street. A light drizzle of rain beaded on the glass and slicked the street outside, but even so, she could see that Seth was over there. She could just make him out through the windows, and sure enough, his car was now parked at the side of the building. When had that happened, and how had she missed it? “Hey, I thought you said he wasn’t working tonight.”

Candace glanced over. “Huh. He’s not. He must be hanging out. Looks like Kelsey and Evan are there too. When did the party start?”

Macy chewed on her thumbnail. He hadn’t spoken to her since leaving her apartment. It had been days. She hadn’t tried to contact him, either. Was it some kind of game, or did he really not care to talk to her? Whenever she tried to apply motives to him, though, she had to take a look at her own.

Yeah. She would love to talk to him. She just wasn’t about to be the first one to pick up the phone and give him the satisfaction of knowing she needed him, of giving any truth to his final arrogant words before he’d left her lying lifeless on her bed wondering what the hell had just happened. For nearly an hour after he walked out, she’d stared at the ceiling in a daze. When she’d finally dragged herself up, aftershocks racking her every time she moved, she noticed he’d grabbed the hoodie he’d loaned her off her dresser and taken it with him.

It had only been there a little more than a day and she missed it. Missed picking it up and inhaling his scent.

Dammit, someone had to break the cycle. It might as well be her.

She looked across the table at her best friend. “Let’s go.”



It had been three days, and he hadn’t heard a word out of her. Ghost might as well face it; she was a girl who stuck to her guns. He admired that. He mostly stuck to his too, except when it came to her, the gun he stuck to was perpetually cocked and ready to fire.

One excellent thing about his Saturday night was that Gus actually dragged in to practice, cohesively, no less, and they’d just about blown the roof off the house. They’d even started a bunch of new material. Seemed both the axmen had a lot of aggression to work out, and the rest of the guys had stepped up and added their respective flavors too. Even Mark had been happy. Neighbors had complained. It was an incredible feeling, what he lived for. By the time he left, he was still juiced up.

With nowhere to go and nothing to do. So he swung by Dermamania, thinking what a loser he must be to go to his workplace to hang out on his night off.

Nah. It just meant he had an awesome job.

“You know, if you’re so f*ckin’ bored, I’ve got plenty you can do,” Brian said as Ghost made his entrance.

“Ooh. I’m sure you do, loverboy.”

“Jesus. I guess I left myself wide open for—shit, that’s no good either.”

Laughter erupted from artists and clients alike. “You know I can’t go a single night without you, Bri-baby. Is Candace not here? You and I can slip in your office and—”

“Please!” Starla cried. “Spare us.”

“You know you love it, my little voyeur.” Starla grinned as if to say there was no use denying it. Ghost hoisted himself up on the counter at his station. “What’s going on tonight, kids?”

Brian shook his head. “Nothing here. Work, home, sleep.”

“Come on, man. It’s Saturday night.”

“Says the guy who hasn’t been here all day.”

“Old ass.”

He laughed at that. “I’m no older than you are, dude.”

“He’s just domesticated now,” Starla said.

“Poor strapped bastard. Where is the domesticator, anyway?”

“Across the street at the coffee shop.” Brian glanced up at him. “With Macy.”

Shit. The pause had been so unnecessary, as were the little grins that passed among the others. Ghost could only hope he kept his expression bland and uninterested.

“Oh yeah? And here I was hoping you were gonna tell me they were in your office in the sixty-nine.” Good. That sounded like something he would say.

“You wish.” Brian’s eye was caught by something outside the front windows. “Hell. It’s my brother.”

Ghost followed his gaze out to see Evan Ross and his wife Kelsey striding quickly through the light rain. Brian waited until Evan had pulled open the door before cupping a hand to his mouth and shouting toward the back, “Hey! Hide all the crack!”

Ghost laughed while he considered bolting. He didn’t have one reason to be concerned that a state prosecutor was walking into his place of business, but Evan had a way of making them all feel like they had something to hide. Even when he was in jeans instead of a suit, the dude wore authority. He couldn’t help it.

They laughed good-naturedly at Brian’s joke, Kelsey walking over to give her brother-in-law a hug. Evan glanced around the shop with his all-too-assessing gaze, nodding at Ghost when he caught his eye. Always good to have friends in high places. Even if you never actually cared to see those friends.

“To what do I owe the dubious honor?” Brian asked, hopping up to sit on the counter as Evan turned back to him.

“Kelsey wants to get my name tattooed on her ass,” he said, earning himself a smack on the arm and his wife’s laughter.

And he could be pretty laid back too.

“Can’t a guy visit his kid brother?” Evan asked once she’d subsided.

“Not if he insists on calling him kid brother.”

“You should realize by now he only does it to annoy you,” Kelsey said. “Where’s Candace?”

“Off somewhere smoking up. Or mainlining. Or she might be getting coffee across the street. Where’s Alex?”

“At Mom’s,” Evan said. “We’re having the rare date night…though they might get more plentiful the closer we get to moving. She’s trying to soak up all the baby-time she can.”

“And so you come by to…get your name tatted on Kelsey’s ass? Ev on one cheek and an on the other, right?”

Kelsey was turning redder than her cherry-red sweater, covering her mouth in her laughter. Evan shook his head. “You are all kinds of wrong.”

“Hey,” Starla piped up, “I just had an idea. You should name your next baby boy Kevin. It would be like a combination of both your names.”

Brian’s upper lip curled. “That’s lame. God, you’re lame, Star.”

“We actually thought of that before we settled on Alex,” Kelsey said, putting her hands on her hips in mock offense.

“That’s because you’re both sappy dorks.”

“Ha. You talk smack, but we’ve all learned how sappy you can be too. It’s only a matter of time before you have Candace’s name on your ass,” Evan said.

“Can I say for the record that I always throw out very strong hints to my clients that they should not tattoo a significant other’s name onto their bodies? It’s their skin; they can do what they want. But I don’t care how long they’ve been together or how solid it looks. It never fails they’ll be back here a few weeks later, sobbing to me that they want it covered up. Sometimes I swear you need to be a licensed counselor to go into this business.”

“Aw, come on, Bri,” Kelsey said. “You wouldn’t get a tattoo of Candace’s name? Even a little one? I know you would.”

He grinned. “Oh, I’ve already got it, but it’s somewhere you can’t see.”

“Too much information, Brian,” Evan said as the room erupted in sounds of disgust.

Brian put a hand over his chest. “On my heart.”

This time the gagging sounds were even louder.

“That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard!” Kelsey cried over it all.

“Are you slackin’ off or what, dude?” Brian asked Evan. “Here I am, having to give your wife her romantic thrills and all.”

“Don’t let him snow you,” Evan said, drawing Kelsey close to his side. But even he had a grin on his face.

“I always knew Brian was a closet romantic,” she said. “I called it a long time ago, didn’t I? It just took the right woman to bring him out.”

Evan dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose, smiling down into her eyes. “Isn’t that all it ever takes?”

“All right, get a room. And no more talk of me being romantic in here.” Brian plucked at the front of his T-shirt. “I have an image to uphold.”

Ghost had sat watching the rampant mushiness in speechless dismay. Macy’s words in the car the other night came back to haunt him, when she’d said that sometimes things work out. He wished he could believe that for himself. Looking at the two relationships represented here, Brian’s and Evan’s, he could almost have hope. Of course, both of them were still in their infancy stages in the grand scheme of things. But he was beginning to realize he would be more surprised if Brian and Candace didn’t work out than if they did. In all the years he’d known him, Ghost had never seen his friend this way. And if Evan and Kelsey ever busted up…well, it would shake up the entire town.

He’d never felt deserving of it himself. He considered himself a confident-enough guy, but what in the ever-loving f*ck could possibly be so appealing about him that another person would want to spend the rest of her life with him? He didn’t get it. Like Gus, he was f*cked up, only in different ways. And look what Gus’s girl kept putting him through.

Candace and Macy took that moment to sweep in the front door, both laughing about something, but Macy’s vibrant smile faltered a bit when she saw him. Not in disappointment, though. Her eyes brightened. He didn’t know why or how, but he got the impression her heart had leaped into her throat. His had. Or maybe he was just f*cking delusional where she was concerned. Nonetheless, he returned what smile she managed for him.

Kelsey and Candace rushed into a hug, both trilling with delight at seeing each other. Macy greeted Kelsey and Evan warmly, but Ghost didn’t miss her gaze sliding over to him every few seconds. Because he couldn’t stop looking at her.

Her cheeks, all flushed with the bite of cold. He remembered them flushed from arousal. Her bright hazel eyes—maybe he’d put the light there; it hadn’t been there the first night he’d seen her before their interlude in his car.

She was one of those girls who remarkably had a different hairstyle every time he saw her. Sometimes curly, sometimes long and sleek, sometimes in a variety of stylishly sloppy updos. Tonight it was simple—one dark sweep tucked behind both ears under her off-white knit cap. Her ears were slightly pink too, and what he wouldn’t give to take her home and warm her up…

Goddamn, she was out of his league.

“He was talking so sweet about you just now,” Kelsey said as Candace moved to Brian’s side and handed him the cup she’d brought in from across the street.

“Was he? He can be pretty sweet when he wants to be.”

Brian sipped his coffee and hugged his girlfriend to his side. “I might keep her around for a while. As long as she acts right and doesn’t give me too much lip. She’s all right to look at, you know.”

Candace smacked him on the chest. “So nice to know I’m wanted.”

“Weren’t you thinking of getting your master’s and going for the LPC, Candace?” Evan asked. “There you go, Brian. You said you needed a counselor in the parlor. You’d have one.”

The others laughed, but all at once, the atmosphere seemed to shift. Candace became very interested in the remaining contents of her drink, and Brian dropped his arm from her shoulders and promptly rubbed the back of his neck. Ghost cocked an eyebrow. Brian had hinted at a little bit of stress regarding Candace’s future career goals, but he got the feeling now that Evan had just inadvertently dropped a major shit bomb right between them.

“I’m exploring options,” she said carefully and looked up at Brian. He smiled at her, and the weirdness seemed to evaporate somewhat.

Ghost made a mental note to take Brian out for some one-on-one time.

As the lovey banter was resuscitated, he kept trying to figure out how in the hell he could get Macy off to the side without becoming a part of it all. His chance came when Brian decided he wanted to show everyone what he was working on. For all her hang-ups about ink and piercings, Macy loved to look at the artwork, so she followed the group. Ghost fell into step right on her heels. She was wearing some of those jeans with bling on the ass. As if he needed more reason to look there.

The sight had so captivated him that he almost missed it when Candace poked him in the arm as they all filed into the back room where they drew up designs. “I didn’t know you were coming in tonight.”

Macy glanced at him, smiled and ducked her head.

“Just hanging out,” he said. “Thought I’d ruin Brian’s night.”

But flippancy was futile. He swallowed around the tightness in his throat as Macy moved beside him and her familiar scent filled his nostrils. Christ, she smelled so good. He wanted to pin her against the wall right here, breathe his fill.

The others engaged in chatter around him, giving Brian their compliments and opinions on this and that, but Ghost was concentrating too hard on not tenting the front of his pants to care much about what was being said.

“Have you changed your mind yet?” he asked Macy, damn near desperate to have that hazel gaze on him again.

Her delicate eyebrows dipped low as she looked at him. “About?”

“Miss ‘I’ll Never Get a Tattoo’.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “No, nothing will ever change my mind. Not that these aren’t beautiful.” She pointed to an elaborate floral design. “Especially that one.”

“That’s one of mine.”

“Really?”

“He does have rare moments when he doesn’t suck,” Brian said.

“Shut up before I rip the metal out of your face.”

“How rude!” Candace cried. Ghost didn’t miss the little glance she exchanged with Macy. “Come on, guys, let’s go back up front. Bri, I need you for a second.” She tugged Brian’s arm as she moved toward the door.

“Only for a second?” he asked, grinning as he followed with Evan and Kelsey.

“Well, when that’s all you’re capable of…” Ghost said, earning himself a middle-finger salute as Brian went out. Macy laughed, but it sounded strained, and she looked after the four of them as if she wanted to bolt out the door with them.

But she didn’t.

Bless all their scheming little black hearts. As soon as the others were gone, Ghost stepped over and shut the door. Macy’s eyebrows were practically in her hairline when he turned back to her.

“Hi,” she said simply.

He could only stare at her for a moment, then blew out a breath and shook his head. “Damn, girl.”

“What?”

“What, she asks.”

“Well…what? I mean really. I don’t know what to say, I don’t know… I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.” She blew out a breath, her gaze on the floor in the vicinity of his boots. She pulled that luscious bottom lip between her little white teeth. Jesus help him, he wanted to do the same thing with it.

He waited until her eyes flickered back up to him. “You seemed to know what the hell you were doing the other night. And I liked that.”

“That part’s easy. It’s this part I don’t like. You know we’re going to have to be around each other sometimes—our best friends live together. I don’t want it to be awkward for everyone. Including us.”

“Okay, so let’s deal with it. Here and now. Do you want to keep seeing me? Don’t worry about hurting my feelings or any shit like that. I’m a big boy; I can take it. But I’m not down for games at all. I let you have a few days’ cooling off time, and I’ve been thinking too.”

“Oh? What are you thinking?”

“Come on, Mace. You’re beautiful, and you’re accomplished, and any time a girl like you wants to hang out with a guy like me, you’d better believe I realize what a f*cking idiot I’d be to pass that up.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to want me just because I’m…those things.”

“All right, I didn’t word that so well.” He was opening his mouth to go on, but she held up a hand.

“Listen, Seth…I think we’ve done this all backwards.”

“Backwards?”

She crossed her arms, her gaze startlingly direct under her cap. “Backwards for me. Typically, I get to know a guy before I land in the sack with him. That didn’t happen here. In the beginning, that was okay. I didn’t count on wanting anything more with you. I thought it would just be fun, like we said.”

“So you’re saying…you do want more?”

“All I’m saying at this moment is that I don’t really know you…but I would like to.”

Hell, if she got to know him, really know him, she might run screaming. This was a good thing, though. She hadn’t run yet. He thought about all the nights he could spend slowly exploring her beautiful body without rushing to memorize it all before she booted his ass out of her bed and her life. All the hours he could spend inhaling the vanilla sweetness of her skin, her hair. Oh yeah, he wanted to get to know her better.

“Maybe we should cool off?” she asked.

All his sensuous fantasies ground to a halt. Cool off? That did not compute. “What?”

Macy cleared her throat, for the first time glancing away and absently studying the drawings on the board. “You could, I don’t know, ask me on a date? A regular date?”

Do things the way she was used to having them done. Give her her comfort zone. He could handle that. But not without a little teasing. She might as well know that about him right away, if she didn’t already. “Fine. I didn’t want to have sex with you again anyway.”

God, he loved her smile. Even more when it was accompanied by her laugh. She graced him with both at that moment. “Gee, thank you. I feel much better about this whole thing.”

“You? I’m the one who was just informed about the whole cooling-off thing.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to sleep with you again. Honestly? I want to drag you home right now. It’s all I’ve thought about. But…” She sighed and shook her head. “I have thought about it, and I don’t want to get caught up in something like that. It’s not for me. I don’t want a revolving-door relationship. I don’t need someone blowing in and out of my life. Either you’re going to be around or you’re not. There’s no in-between with me. If you can’t deal with that…”

He stepped forward and took her hands in his. Warm and supple. But strong. Just like her. “Where should our first date be?”

She blinked up at him. In the bright overhead lights, her freckles were more prominent. And her lips too, pink and glistening with the gloss she wore. He wanted to taste it, touch her face, hell, plant her back against the wall right here, but he held off. Yeah, maybe his self-imposed restriction on getting involved had just been blown to hell and gone, but he didn’t care. Not when she looked at him like that. What could it hurt to see where things went?

“In case you haven’t realized,” she said with a wink, “I really am an old-fashioned girl. You can decide.”

“All right, but I think I should give you fair warning.” He leaned down and put his forehead to hers, their noses nestling next to each other as she tilted her head up to meet him. “I’ll give you all the dates you want. But that cooling-off thing? I can’t promise you that.”



The door closed on the last client of the night, and Starla rushed over to lock it. Ghost turned off the Lamb of God video blaring on the flat screens and glanced over as Brian emerged yawning from the back, truck keys in his hand. “I’m out,” he said. “See y’all tomorrow.” He turned to go back toward the rear exit.

“Bri. Hit the gym with me, dude.”

He halted in his tracks. “You can’t be serious.”

“Come on. You need it.”

“Not at midnight.” Brian slapped a cap on his head with one hand and twirled his keys around his finger with the other. Candace had taken off, since she had an exam in the morning and the constant activity in the parlor wasn’t conducive to studying. “I’m hitting the sack.”

“Are you twenty-nine or sixty-nine?”

The devilish dimples appeared. “Twenty-nine with a sixty-nine waiting at home.” The others whooped and laughed.

“Lucky f*ck. I’m definitely hiding in your bushes tonight. Hey, but see, you can come with me and get all pumped up for her. She’ll work it off for you.”

“You’re insane.”

“What did we join the all-hours f*cking gym for? Because we work crazy hours. Stop being a p-ssy, and let’s go.”

And so they found themselves on the way to the gym after Brian grumbled an explanation to Candace over the phone.

“Is it like having a probation officer or what?” he asked after Brian tossed his phone on the seat beside him.

“Huh? No. Not at all.”

“So tell me where you see this thing going.”

“What?”

“Don’t play ignorant. It’s been almost a year for you two, and she seems like a permanent fixture at the parlor.”

Brian shot him a glance. “Have you got a problem with that?”

“Would it matter if I did?”

“As far as us being together? No. As far as her being a permanent fixture at the parlor, I value your input.”

“Really.”

“This ain’t a dictatorship, man. I never intended it to be.”

“So if I said the word, she’d be gone?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as gone.” Brian reached over to turn down Soulfly’s “Prophecy”. Then he sighed. “Look, I just don’t want her identity all tangled up with mine. I don’t want that for her. I keep telling her she should, you know, explore other options. She’s a big help, but what the hell has she worked so hard for? I was too much of a f*ck-up to go to college. But she did it, and she did it magna cum laude. I’m so damn proud of her and I don’t want to hold her back.”

Ghost grabbed Brian’s half-a-foot-thick CD case and began idly flipping through it. “So that’s what it was about. When Evan said what he did about her being an on-site counselor.”

“Yeah, I know he was joking but there’s…been some tension.”

“You’re being an insecure little bitch. You’re still thinking you’re not good enough for her.”

“Hey, f*ck you.”

“That’s all it is, dude. What you’re saying is your life—our life, really, since I do what you do—isn’t good enough for her.” Or someone like Macy. “Admit it.”

“That’s not it. I barely keep her parents off my ass as it is. They’re just now getting to where they’ll look me in the eye. I wouldn’t give a shit, but it matters to her, I don’t care what she says.”

“Then maybe you not caring what she says is the problem.”

Brian drew a long breath in through his nose. Blew it out. Ah. He’d hit a nerve. “Her f*ckin’ mother, man. After Candace and I got together, Sylvia pulled me aside and was all ‘Just promise me, Brian, that you’ll see to it she finishes school’.” He shook his finger in the air, taking on a high-pitched, scolding tone. “‘And don’t make me a grandmother yet!’ Like I’m hell-bent on making her drop out and knocking her up. Shit. I need a cigarette.”

“Still? It’s been months.”

“It really hasn’t.”

“Damn. You fell off the wagon.”

“Just a couple times.”

“Well, I’m back now, and I’m telling you straight. Cut it. The f*ck. Out.”

“I know. The gym was probably a really good idea tonight.”

“I’m tuned in to you, dude. But despite how perfect you and I seem together, I could never be with anyone who has no Acid Bath in his collection.” He closed the CD case and put it aside. “All joking aside. You gonna marry her? This is the one out of seven billion?”

“It is. And I am. I’ve got to. It’s like…sometimes…”

“Speak.”

“Sometimes I think I’m not going to make it another day without getting a ring on that girl’s finger and changing her f*cking last name from theirs to mine. I’m going to spend the rest of my life with her, and I want it to start yesterday.”

“Then do it already. I knew something was eating you up. You’re like a friggin’ caged beast—it’s all over you, and you’re smoking again, for f*ck’s sake.”

“I already sent her running once. It’s not right for her yet. It has to be right.”

“Yeah, but you’re solid now. Look, stop stressing out. Candace is cool with me. She’s a big help and I can’t see her stirring up any drama. The girls like her. If she wants to hang around us that much then God bless her. And please, go ahead and ask her to marry you before your head explodes.”

Just a few nights ago, he’d been singing the complete opposite tune to Macy. What sunshine and rainbows had she injected into him since then?

“All she’s thinking about right now is getting through graduation. I don’t want to sabotage her with my alpha bullshit.”

“I do have one beef with her. She spooked all your groupies. I kinda do miss them.” Brian laughed as he turned into the gym’s parking lot. Ghost grinned to himself. That was more like it. He sounded like his old self. Brian was a volcano sometimes; he had to blow his top to someone before he could settle back down. “And I’d love to stand up for you, but don’t expect to get me in no tux. Unless I can rip off the sleeves, add some chains or something.”

“Don’t worry about that. I think elopement would be our only option. Between my family and hers, can you imagine the circus any wedding of ours would be? My mom’s ready to put a hit out on Candace’s mom as it is.”

“No way, man. This wedding has to happen if only to see your moms scrap with each other. I’d pay good money for that. Hell, I’d wear a tux for that.”

“Any more problems out of Raina?”

Well, there was a good-mood killer. Raina had texted him five times today. He’d bet money that Mark, that son of a bitch, had given her his number. Why those two didn’t just f*ck each other and forget about him, he didn’t know.

She’d wanted him to know how immature he was being for resisting her return to the band. How it must mean there were still feelings he wouldn’t admit to. Ha.

“Aside from driving me nuts? No.”

“You don’t think she’s going to scare Macy away?”

Ghost scoffed. “Macy would wrestle that girl down, tie her in a half hitch and throw her hands in the air. Raina’s all talk.”

Brian killed the engine. “I’m thinking you might be right, if what Candace says is true. The exterior is deceptive.”

“Right? I think that could be said for us all, though. What do you think about her? Honestly.”

“That she’s kind of stuck up on her own pedestal. I probably need to get to know her better, though.”

“Yeah. Coax her down, and she’s cool.”

They grabbed their bags, exited the truck and headed toward the building. From what he could see through the glass wall, looked like they would have it mostly to themselves, which was a good thing. A few people were walking on treadmills or working the ellipticals.

“What’s going on with her?” Brian swiped his card key and pulled open the door. “You put me under the gun; now it’s your turn.”

Damn. He couldn’t help the Cheshire cat grin that spread across his face when he thought about seeing her again. Touching her, tasting her. She was the last damn thing he needed right now. There was all the crap over Raina, the band, his nana. But she was the only thing he had to look forward to. The only thing that made him think he would get through it all okay.

That was…scary.

“I’m just gonna let the chips fall where they may, brother.”