Masquerade

“I’m kidding, man. You know I don’t play like that. Plenty of fish in the sea… though maybe not as feisty as her.”

Don’t fucking hit him. Don’t fucking hit him. I can’t afford to lose this job.

“Judging by your reaction, I’m taking it she’s more your girl than you’re willing to admit.”

“Fuck off, Masterson.” I shove a little before letting go of him.

“Relax, man. I’m giving you shit. Trying to lighten you up a bit. Life’s too fucking fun to walk around as pissed at the world as you are.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You were born with a silver spoon stuck up your ass. Twenty-two years old and you own a club with your brother. Life must be real fucking hard.”

As I walk away from him, my chest feels tight and my jaw hurts it’s so tense. When my phone rings, I pull it out to see Laney’s name. Instead of answering, I turn my phone off. I’ve heard enough shit for one day. I’m not in the mood to deal with any more.

Chapter Thirteen ~Bee~

Maddox is pissing me off. His text today about not coming in pushes me over the edge, which in turn makes my anger shift from Scratch to myself. Why the hell do I care if he comes in or not? That he’s been acting strange ever since we almost kissed after his sister’s tattoo?

We’ve slept together twice, and yet it’s always been as if nothing happened right afterward. Not this time.

There’s nothing more intimate than a kiss…

I shake my head at that, not willing to let myself think of it or what it would mean for Maddox and I.

I’ve spent way too much time thinking about him—I mean it—already.

A client left a few minutes ago and there’s not much going on here. I play around online, looking up some of my favorite font sites, always looking for something new and different that I can use.

When the shop phone rings, I revert from stressing about Maddox to being a horrible daughter and checking the number to make sure it’s not my mom before I pick it up. It’s a number I don’t recognize, so I grab the phone. “Masquerade.”

“Bee? This is Laney. Maddox’s sister.” Her words are dragged out, her speech a little slow. My heart rate makes up for it, though, suddenly speeding.

“Yeah. What’s up? Is Maddox okay?”

She giggles at that, relieving some of the stress and making me think she’s really drunk or something. “Worried about Maddox are you?” She giggles again before adding, “I’m sorry. I don’t handle pain meds very well.”

There goes my rapid beating heart again, though I’m not sure why.

“It’s cool. Is everything okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah, I think so. They said I could go home, so I’m assuming.”

“Who said you could go home?”

“The hospital, silly.”

Oh yeah. This girl is on something good. “Are you looking for your brother, Laney?”

She sighs. “Yeah. We got into a fight today and he’s going to feel guilty now. Not that he wouldn’t have felt guilty before, but ’specially since I got into a car accident. I’m fine, though. Just a little neck pain and a hurt wrist.”

Worry takes me over, though for some reason it’s not about Laney. She said she’s fine and I believe her, but I hear what she’s saying too. I’ve seen how Maddox is with her and if they got in a fight and then she got into an accident, he’s going to be pissed at himself.

“Maddox isn’t here,” I tell her.

“Shit… Adrian’s phone is broken. We haven’t gotten him a new one yet. He’s going to feel guilty too. What’s with these boys we love feeling like everything’s their fault? The world isn’t their responsibility.”

I don’t call her on the fact that I don’t love Maddox. I’m not even sure how much I like him, but what I do know is what we have doesn’t belong in the same sentence with her and Adrian. I’ve seen them together once and I know that.

“I was hoping Maddox was at the shop. He’s going to freak if I don’t tell him. I tried his phone, but I think he turned it off.”

“He texted earlier that he wasn’t coming in today. I know he works this evening, though I’m not sure if he’s in already or not.” He almost lost it when she got a tattoo; this is going to make him go through the roof. Why? I can’t help but wonder. I mean, I get it—she’s his sister and he loves her—but why is he so protective of her?

“Well, thanks anyway. I need to try and get a hold of Cheye

“I could… I could come and get you if you want?” I feel strangely nervous as I ask, but the girl doesn’t deserve to sit around in the hospital trying to get a hold of her friends. Not when I’m sitting right here doing nothing. Something also tells me it will be easier on Maddox to see her at home rather than at the hospital. Ugh. This should have nothing to do with him.

“Really? You don’t mind? I hate hospitals. Maddy and I, we’ve spent a lot of time in them with our mom.”

Why? What’s wrong with her? “Yeah, sure. No problem. I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?”

“Thanks, Bee. I appreciate it.” She pauses. “He looks at you different, you know? The fact that he looks at you at all says something.”

Everything inside me begins shutting down. Don’t do that. Don’t tell me that. Instead I laugh it off. “You tell them to lay off those pain meds, okay? You’re not making any sense.” After hanging up the phone, I shut everything down in Masquerade, lock the door, and head straight to the hospital.

* * *

The whole way there, I consider stopping by Lunar to tell Maddox what happened. Unsure if it’s the right thing to do or not, I steer clear. I don’t think busting into his work to tell him the only person in the world he cares about is in the hospital is smart. It would be different if she wasn’t okay, but they’re sending her home, so she has to be.

When I get to the emergency room, I realize something very important. I don’t know her last name. Which means I don’t know Maddox’s last name either. That’s strange, right? I’ve slept with this guy twice and I work with him almost every day, but I don’t even know his last name?

“I’m looking for Laney,” I tell the ER registration clerk.

“Laney…?”

“Actually it’s Delaney. She goes by Laney.”

She waits for more.

“Dark hair, gray eyes, and she got into a car accident. Does her last name really matter? She called me to pick her up. How would I know she’s here if she didn’t call?”

Her lips purse and I can tell she doesn’t like my attitude. Not that I blame her.

“What’s your name?”

“Bee.” Ha. I don’t have a last name either. At least not one I’m giving her.

“I’ll be right back.”

She leaves, I’m assuming to go ask Laney if the tatted up bitch outside is really here for her. A minute later, the sliding doors open and she leads me to one of the curtained rooms.

When I slip inside, Laney’s sitting in a wheelchair with a neck brace on, a wrap around her wrist, and a big bruise on the side of her head. My heart does this tumble-and-drop thing before trying to work its way back up from my feet. Oh yeah, Maddox is going to flip.

“It’s fine. They want me to wear this for whiplash. I’m seriously okay.”

“Your brother’s not going to think so.”

“Neither is my boyfriend. I’m surrounded by brokenly noble men. You get used to it after a while.”

I let out a little laugh. “I’m not really the kind of girl who gets used to something like that.”

There’s a small smirk on her face that says she doesn’t believe me.

The nurse comes in then and goes over Laney’s discharge instructions with her. Pain meds, appointment with her doc the next day, and rest. The nurse looks at me. “So she’s okay? Just wear that stuff and check in with her doctor? There’s nothing else we need to know?”