“What about the pri—what about her boyfriend?”
“Same answer,” Angela smiled at me, not missing my near slip, as she pulled out some dollar bills and handed them to me. “She’s outside now.”
I stood up slowly. Laney was waiting for me. Until that moment, I’d had no clue how much I needed to hear those words—just knowing that someone was here for me, that I wasn’t alone.
I pulled the door open and she saw me immediately, throwing herself into my arms.
The surprise attack made me stagger, my back thudding painfully against the wall as Laney hugged the ever-living crap out of me.
As the surprise seeped out of me, I allowed myself to enjoy the warmth and softness of her small body pressed against mine. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her carefully as my head sank forwards, burying my face in her hair as if I’d been doing it my whole life.
Laney’s face was pink when she pulled away. I thought she’d start asking questions, but she didn’t. Thank God, she didn’t.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
I nodded my agreement as Laney tugged on my arm.
“I know the perfect place to celebrate.”
I frowned at her.
“What are we celebrating?”
Laney threw her hands in the air.
“Life. We’re celebrating life.”
Laney
ANGELA JOINED US for drinks at a bar I knew, half a block from the police station.
Ash insisted on paying since he had money, although neither of us wanted him to, but arguing about it would only have made things more awkward.
It was a muted celebration with a silent Ash, speaking only when I asked him a direct question.
I knew it must have been traumatic reliving everything that happened to him, but I’d meant it when I said we should be celebrating life. And he had so much to live for.
It didn’t help that Angela seemed on edge, too, throwing worried glances at Ash while he was engrossed by his beer, staring unseeingly as he shred the label.
“Well,” said Angela, “I really need to get going. Laney, walk me out, hon?”
Ash stood politely as we left the table, nodding once at Angela and muttering a curt ‘thank you’. He couldn’t meet her eyes, and I wondered if they’d had some sort of fight.
“Laney,” said Angela when we were outside in the chilly air, “I love you like a sister so I’m going to be totally unprofessional and tell you that guy worries me.”
“Ash? Why?”
“Look, you know I can’t tell you, I’m just saying . . . stay away from him. I mean it. The packaging is gorgeous, I admit, but he’s damaged. You get any more involved with a guy like that, and he’ll drag you down with him. I’ve seen it happen. I know you have this thing about ‘saving’ people, but you have to let this one go.”
“What do you mean, I have a thing about ‘saving’ people?” I bristled.
“Come on, Laney! You know you do. You’ve been trying to save Collin from being a boring asshole for ten years, and look how well that’s gone.”
“You don’t understand!” I said, frustration sharpening my voice.
“Then explain it to me. Make me understand! Because what you’re doing is way beyond what anyone else would do.”
I wanted to be angry, but I saw only concern in Angie’s face.
“I . . . it’s hard to explain. But if you’d been there . . . when you walk into that kind of scene, it’s just something you can’t help. He was so broken—there was no other choice.”
I could tell that I hadn’t convinced her. Maybe because she was a lawyer and dealt in facts and what could be proved. Or maybe because we’d been friends for ten years and she’d never seen me like this before.
She sighed then swept me into a hug.
“Just think about it, okay?”
And she vanished into the night before I could reply.
I was irritated on so many levels. Her assumption that there was something going on with Ash was way off. And Collin had apologized for his behavior before I went to Vegas.
I think that knowing how close I’d come to getting hurt or even killed had been a wake-up call for both of us. We weren’t going to throw away ten years on a single argument.
He wasn’t happy that Ash would be sleeping on my couch for the foreseeable future, but that wasn’t negotiable. I wasn’t trying to save Ash, whatever Angela thought. He was a man who’d been through something traumatic, but I’d already seen flashes of the sweet, funny, sexy guy he’d been before.
In a couple of weeks, he’d get his passport and he could go home. I wasn’t going to make him stay in some anonymous hotel where he didn’t know anyone.
I turned to walk back inside, but I was surprised to see that Ash had followed me out and was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette.
I hated smoking. I’d made Collin quit on our second date, although I’m not sure I’d have that sort of influence now.
“How can you smoke?” I glared at him. “You’re a dancer for God’s sake!”
He shrugged and winked at me.