Текст книги "Rule"

Автор книги: Jay Crownover

Соавторы: Jay Crownover
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***

I fell asleep sometime after the sun started to come up so when I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing the first thing I did was look on the other side of the bed.  All the things from the night before slamming into my head.  Shaw was gone.  The pile of clothes I left on the floor last night was folded neatly on the end of the bed and none of her pretty little things were left.  I groaned and threw an arm over my eyes while answering the call.

“What?”  Something crinkled under my hip as I moved while my brother chuckled in my ear.

“Did I interrupt something?”

On a plain piece of sketch paper I had laying around for drawing up designs for clients she had written in her neat, girly scrip:

Best birthday gift ever!  Thanks

She didn’t sign it, didn’t say she would call or ask me to call her.  It was plain and simple and I wasn’t sure if it made me elated or furious.  My brother was still waiting for a response so I shook the cobwebs loose out of my head and sat up in the bed.  It smelled like sex and her.

“No I just didn’t sleep good last night.”

“That’s what happens when you bring strangers home with you, you have to make sure you sleep with one eye open so they don’t rob you or stab you while you sleep.”

I groaned.  “Dude you need to get out of the Army.  Not every stranger is an insurgent.”

He muttered something under his breath that I didn’t catch.   “Hey I’m gonna come to Denver for the week.  My shoulder is acting up and I need to touch base with my Orthopedic surgeon plus mom is getting on my last nerve.  Shaw refused to come over for lunch today because mom wouldn’t invite you as well and now she’s convinced you’ve somehow corrupted her darling girl.  I keep telling her she needs to see someone and dad even agrees but she’s just so stubborn, I guess that’s where we get it from.”

I winced a little; glad the conversation was happening over the phone.  I was sure guilt colored my face.  My mom would freak out to extreme levels if she had any clue just how thoroughly I had corrupted Shaw.

“How much longer before you have to go?”

“I have to be medically cleared first and I’m supposed to meet with a VA counselor to make sure there isn’t any PTSD from the accident.  I have to have a clean bill of health all the way around before I go back.”

“Well it’ll be nice to finally get a chance to hangout without all the family drama.”

“Yeah, I’ve been calling Shaw all morning so I can take her out to dinner or something for her birthday.  I’m sure her moronic parents didn’t do anything again and I hate the idea that she probably had to spend it alone.  You should get off your lazy ass and come with us if I get ahold of her.”

I started to choke a little.  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that she most definitely hadn’t been alone but this was Shaw and as close I was to Rome he didn’t need to know what we had been doing in this room last night.

“Naw, I think she’s had enough of me.  I ran into her a few weeks ago and I see her around here and there.  I think it’s a nice break for her not to have to deal with me every weekend.”

He laughed a little.  “You’re probably right.  I’m gonna crash with my buddy Drew since I don’t think the shoulder is up to sleeping on your shitty couch and he has the room but I’ll hit you up when I roll into town.  If I can’t get in touch with Shaw you and I can go grab dinner somewhere and you can disgust me with all the tales of your latest conquests.”

I rubbed a hand over my tired face and shoved Shaw’s note into the nightstand.  I could still feel her hands moving all over me.

“You need to get off your butt and start pulling some conquests of your own.  You’re a hero dude, chicks eat that stuff up.”

“I’m not like you Rule; I’m not twenty two and living life by the seat of my pants.  I’ve seen the worst humanity has to offer, in the last four years I’ve buried more friends than I’ve made, I get out of the Army in less than two years and I don’t know what the future holds for me so nailing every pretty girl in my path is pretty low on my priority ladder.  Right now I want to get healthy, get our family back together and finish this tour up without any more dead bodies.  One day you’ll understand.”

He wasn’t wrong.  My priorities were very different from his.  I made good money, had a ton of savings, drove a nice car but I was viscerally aware that the majority of my time was spent trying to outlive the shadow of my dead twin.  I wallowed in superficial relationships so no one could get close to me, no one could judge me and find me lacking.  I sought out girls that were easy, that had zero expectation beyond what I offered, a good time and a few mindless minutes of release but I had never had a girlfriend, never let anyone all the way in because I was scared I wouldn’t be enough once they got down to the core of who I was.  I knew it was messed up, knew I was an emotional train wreak and the thing with Shaw was just bound to make it even worse.

“Whatever.  A good time never killed anyone.  Call me later.”

I tossed the phone on the bed and went into the bathroom to take care of business.  When I went into the living room Nash was sprawled on the couch watching the early game on the flat screen.  He had a mug of coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other.

“Morning.”

He flicked his gaze up to me.  “What’s up?”

“Nothing.  Did you see Shaw this morning?”

He nodded and held up the doughnut.  “She left these.  So what’s the deal with that?  She was in the kitchen this morning so I assumed she stayed the night with you.  I thought you were going to put her in a cab.”

“Where did the roommate end up?”  I tried to change the subject as I got my own coffee.

“I offered to bring her back here to wait for Shaw but she was having a good time so we had a few more drinks then I called her a cab.  She seemed to think it was a brilliant idea that her very intoxicated friend was going home with you, why is that?”

I grunted and sank down on the couch next to him.

“I dunno.  Shaw and I have all kinds of twisted history, who knows?”

“But she spent the night with you?”

“Yeah.”

“And I’m assuming because I’ve known you since forever that you didn’t spend the night discussing politics and watching TV?”

I glowered over at him.  “No.”

He shook his head and made a tisk, tisk sound.  “What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t, clearly.”

“Dude, she’s not one of those girls.  You can’t just have me escort her out in the morning and never talk to her again.”

“Hey I woke up alone this morning.   I didn’t make her go anywhere.”

“But you would’ve and Shaw is way to classy and smart to do a walk of shame.  Man I can’t believe you hooked up with your brother’s girl.  You really do have some problems, that’s a whole mess I wouldn’t even jump into no matter how hot the girl was.”

I made a strangled noise and reached forward to put my elbows on my knees.  “Let’s just say I don’t think there is any real reason to worry about tarnishing Remy’s memory.  I don’t know what was going on between those two for all those years but after last night there is undeniable proof that they weren’t sleeping together.”

Nash swore and his eyes got wide.  “She was a virgin?”

I nodded.  I probably shouldn’t be sharing all this with Nash, but I was confused and he was my best friend.  I was in over my head.

“She was a virgin and gave it up to you, holy shit bro that’s like a huge deal.”

I sighed.  “That’s what I thought but then she was gone when I woke up and she was pretty trashed last night so maybe it was just beer goggles and too many martinis making the choices for her.”

“She seemed fine this morning, I mean she looked hung over and pretty obviously worked over but she wasn’t nervous or weird or anything.  She called Ayden for a ride and ran out for breakfast while she waited. I dunno man, she didn’t seem all swoony in love or stalker pissed off, she just seemed like normal Shaw.  Granted I always thought she kinda had a thing for you.”

I turned to him with a look of bewilderment.  “What?”

“She puts up with your shit no matter how bad it is.  Don’t you remember that one New Year’s she showed up to get you and you brought home the redhead and her friend?  That was a freak show and Shaw didn’t even blink she just tossed you your pants and told you to get it together.  She lets you be all moody, surly and grumpy and doesn’t even bat an eye and trust me dude that shit gets old super-fast.  She’s willing to go to battle with the only parents she’s known to show her any love because she wants them to treat you right and quit blaming you for Remy’s death, she isn’t doing any of that for Margot or Dale, and she sure ain’t doing it for Remy, the only person any of that benefits is you.  Even as stubborn and self-involved as you are, you have to be able to see that.”

“But she’s Shaw.  Perfect, Shaw.  Even when she was little she was untouchable and aloof.  She would be over at the house all the time with Remy and every time I said anything or did anything she would just look at me like I was an idiot.”

He snorted.  “You were an idiot.  You don’t remember being sixteen?  We were nightmare and never very nice to her.  You made fun of her hair, teased Remy mercilessly about spending all his time with her, you were an ass.”

“I was?”

“Dude, you still totally are.  And Shaw is Shaw.  She’s so freaking beautiful it hurts look at her sometimes, but she doesn’t even know it.  She’s still untouchable because she’s always going to be richer and smarter than we are, but she doesn’t care about any of that.  She’s cool, she doesn’t care that you’re just you, and honestly Rule, any chick that can put up with the headache that is you, well I’d put a goddamn diamond on her finger.”

I punched him in the shoulder.  “I’m not that bad.”

He gave me a look.  “Yeah you are.  Think about it, it only took seeing her dressed as a sexy referee to get you to notice she was an actual girl after all this time.  You suck.”

“But man oh man did she look good in that outfit.”

“See, total suckage.  So what are you going to do now, call her?”

“I don’t know.  Rome is coming to town and since I like my privates located where they are I need to keep it on the low down.  I don’t think she’ll say anything to him.”

“Probably not, she knows it would drive your crazy mom right over the edge.”

“Yeah.”

“So,” he paused and gave me a pointed look.  “Was it worth screwing everything up?”

I let my head fall back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling.  “It so totally was.”

I had had the best sex of my life with a girl that I had thought was way out of my league and in love with my dead brother, yeah Nash was probably right if anybody could put up with all the crazy I was rocking I should probably lock them in quick because even I could see how seriously screwed up what I had allowed to happen last night had been.

Chapter 6

Shaw

“Stop looking at me like that.”  I fiddled with my hair and adjusted the neck of the scarf I had on to cover my neck.  Rome was looking at me like he was trying to see inside my head and I didn’t like it one bit.  I ignored his calls all day Sunday because I was still trying to get my head around the fact that I had drunkenly demanded Rule take my virginity and I had been sore, both from the booze and the bed acrobatics.  I had a test Monday and had to work a closing shift, on Tuesday I did a volunteer shift at the children’s hospital and suffered through an ungodly dinner with my father and his new wife so Rome had been forced to wait until Wednesday to take me on my belated birthday dinner.  Ever since I sat down he had been peering at me intently and I had to kept checking to make sure that the scarf was covering the lovely hickey Rule had left Saturday night.  I got enough flak from Ayden about it and I didn’t need Rome joining in on the Shaw is an idiot band wagon.

“It’s the hair.  It’s nice but I’m just used to the all blond.  You look different, more mature.”

“Thanks, I like it.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in jeans either.”

“I went shopping for my birthday.  I decided that the pearls and heels didn’t need to be worn every time I left the house, I have plenty for when it’s time to play society maven for the folks.”

“Speaking of birthdays I brought this from mom and dad.”  He handed me a little bag and I set it on the table between us.

“Your mom won’t talk to me; I tried to call her the other day.”

“She’s having a hard time now that you laid the law down.  She always viewed you as an ally in the war on the get Rule to get his act together war.  She just doesn’t see what she’s doing to him, to us.”

I sighed.  “I know that’s why I had to stop.”

“This is from me.”  He gave me a gift certificate to my favorite bath and body store.  I smiled and gave him a big hug.  I just loved this guy, he looked like a warrior but he had such a good heart.

“Thank you Rome, that’s so sweet.  I’m so glad you’re home.”

“Me too little girl, I tried to get Rule to come out but he had a late client.  He was grumbling about having to draw yet another Harry Potter tattoo or something, I guess I forget he actually has to work.”

I peeked inside the bag.  It was a picture.  Margot had found one of the very first pictures taken of me and Remy and put it in a lovely silver frame.  I was so small and awkward and Remy so tall and handsome, we looked ridiculous but it was a sweet gesture and it brought tears to my eyes.  I showed it to Rome and slid it back into the bag.

“I miss him every day.”

“I do too; I miss the way he made everyone act right.”

I laughed a little and sipped some of my iced tea.  “Yeah he was good at policing the way everyone treated each other, he didn’t tolerate any of the silliness we tend to allow.”

“Rule said he’s run into you a couple times, how was that?”

I cleared my throat and willed the scarlet blush that had been accompanying Rule’s name all week to stay at bay.  “Kinda weird.  He came into the bar I worked at with a bunch of friends on a game day.  It’s strange to interact with each other like normal people.”

He nodded and I noticed the waitress openly checking him out when she dropped off our dinner.  “He said told me you’ve been having some issues with your ex.”

I groaned and gave my head a shake.  “He has a big mouth.”  Among other things but I wasn’t going to let my dirty mind go there.

“So what’s the deal little girl?”

I made a face and shoved a bite of pasta into my mouth.  “Rule already talked to him, so did the enormous ex-marine that bounces at the bar.  Gabe’s just a spoiled guy that isn’t used to rejection.  He’s having trouble hearing me say no.”

“Is he still calling you?”

I didn’t want to lie so I tried to change the subject.  “What did the doctor say about your shoulder?”

He narrowed his eyes at me and poked at his own food.  “He thinks I need to up my physical therapy and if that doesn’t work I might need a second surgery to fuse the bones together, either way I’ll be home longer than I thought.”

“Well that’s good isn’t it?”

He shrugged and I got the impression that he wasn’t as excited about the prospect as I was.

“I guess.”

“You want to go back?”

“I want to finish my tour; I don’t want my tour to end like this.  I hate leaving my platoon hanging.  I’ve been in the Army for six years, Shaw; I don’t really know how to do anything else.”

“You have a whole lot of people that love you Rome, getting out of the Army and being safe shouldn’t be what scares you.”

“I know that, but it is what it is.”

We lapsed into a minute of silence before he went back to Gabe.  “What did Rule say to the ex?”

I lifted a shoulder and let it fall.  “I dunno.  He told him to leave me alone and Gabe immediately jumped to the conclusion that the reason I dumped him was because of Rule.  Everyone always thinks that everything I do is because of Rule.  It gets old.”

Rome stared at me with eyes that looked so much like his brothers.  I could tell by the twist in his mouth that I was not going to like what he had to say.

“Don’t you?”

I glared at him and poked at my plate.  “No.”

“Rule convinced Remy to move to Denver as soon as they graduated so you decided to move here too.  Rule acts like an ass making things with mom and dad impossible so you decided to play peacemaker and drag him home every weekend.  Rule acts and everyone has no choice but to react and we’ve all been doing it for years, you included.”

“I didn’t break up with Gabe because of Rule.”  That wasn’t entirely true but I didn’t need Rome trying to pick it apart.

“Really?”  His incredulous voice had me bristling up.  “I don’t know the entire ins and outs of your relationship with Remy,” I interjected automatically, “We were just friends, best, best friends.”  But Rome went on like I hadn’t even said a word, “but I do know that when you thought no one was looking you watched Rule like a hawk.  I know that every time he came stumbling home drunk, reeking like sex and cheap perfume from whatever teenage tramp he talked into letting him in her pants you looked like he had kicked you in the gut.  I know that every Sunday you looked the same way when you brought him home, so Shaw are you really going to try and tell me that the choices you make don’t involve Rule?”

I sighed and pushed the plate away, my appetite suddenly gone.  “What do you want me to say Rome?  My life has been entangled with the Archer boys for as long as I can remember, how much truth do you really think you can handle, I mean I’m officially not a teenager anymore and some of it just isn’t anybody’s business.  You want to hear that from the second Remy brought me home I loved him but that I was in love with Rule?  Do you want to hear that I spent years and years being sad and alone with only Remy and you guys as friends and it was okay because you were all I needed even though every day my heart broke a little more because Rule had no idea I was alive?  Do you want to hear that without your mom and dad I would have probably been forced into some boarding school and then some hallow Ivy League college just so my parents didn’t have to deal with me?  Come on Rome, what do you really want to know?”

By the time I was done my voice was bitter and I had twisted my napkin into a little ball on my lap.

“Why did Remy kept you so close if he knew you were all tangled up by Rule?  He had to know that wasn’t a match that was going to happen, Rule doesn’t do anything that takes work, and as much as I love you little girl you aren’t easy.”

These were the questions that I wished Remy was around to answer.  I sighed.  “He had his reasons, the least of which was to keep me as far away from my family as he could.  He didn’t want me to turn into a Stepford daughter even though he was only partly successful.  Sometimes I still can’t get out from under all those expectations.”

He tapped his fingers on the table.  “So you’ve been in love with my brother since you were thirteen?”

I snorted.  “Pretty much and everyone else in the world seems to know it but him.”  I tried really hard to keep the memories from Saturday night at bay.

“Why don’t you tell him?”

“Ahh you’ve met your brother, right?  Mr. I’ll bang anything with big boobs and a negative IQ, Mr. I’ll do what I want when I want.  Rule doesn’t need to know because it won’t change anything.”

Rome shrugged his good shoulder and winked at the waitress as she dropped off our bill.  “I don’t know, maybe it would be good for him to know.  He’s lived his life as a substitute for Remy for so long, maybe it would wake him up to know someone as good as you, as kind and loving has feelings for him and has for a long time.  I know deep down he’s a good guy, he just buries it under so much bullshit it can be hard to find.”

My plan was to avoid Rule until hell froze over.  I didn’t regret sleeping with him, in fact it had lived up to every expectation I had ever had of sex and in all truthfulness my ideas of sex with him.  There wasn’t any other person I could have imagined giving my virginity to and while I wish I had been sober and that it had been based more on emotion than physical attraction, the deed itself had been amazing and worth any twinge of remorse I had.  I knew my relationship with Rule would never be the same and I had to be okay with that.  I refused to be the girl that pined after him, that stalked him and called him a hundred times a day.  I decided the morning after it was all said and done that I was lucky it had been as nice as it was and if that was all I was ever going to get from Rule it was going to be enough.

“No, him knowing wouldn’t change anything, it would just make me feel worse.  We both know I’m not his type and I’ve dealt with enough rejection from people that are supposed to love me to last a lifetime.  Rule and I can just go on about being uneasy companions when we’re forced to spend time together and that’ll just have to be how it is.”  Rome didn’t need to know that things were bound to be even more strained and awkward between us now.

“Dinner with your dad was that bad this year?”

“He got married again, she’s twenty-five.”  I rolled my eyes.  “She spent the entire dinner telling me why I should rush the sorority she was in last year before she graduated, dad spent the whole dinner trying to tell me that I needed to give Gabe another chance.  He wrote me out a check for a grand after implying he would double it if I took Gabe back so it was more like extortion and torture than dinner.”

He chuckled without humor.  “No word from your mom?”

“No.”

“I don’t know how someone as softhearted as you came from those two.”

“Me either I’m just glad I only have to deal with them in limited doses anymore.  Being a constant disappointment is exhausting.”

He lifted a dark eyebrow.  “My little brother probably knows a little bit about that.”

“Clever.”

“I try.”

“What happens at birthday dinner stays at birthday dinner, right Rome?”

“I’m not going to say anything.  If he hasn’t noticed it after all this time it’s not my job to hit him over the head with it, but I do think there is a good chance the two of you might be really good for each other.  Opposites attract and all that.”

The problem with that was I didn’t think Rule and I were really all that opposite, I mean yes he had ink from the top of his mohawked head to his booted toes, and he was all metal barbells where I was pearls and antique cameos but we were both people trying to live beyond the boundaries everyone else seemed to want to set for us.  We both had deep, painful issues with our parents, we both loved the other Archer boys beyond measure, we both desperately wanted to be seen for the value we had without other people’s expectations of what we should or shouldn’t be doing and after Saturday I now knew we both wanted sex to be just a little bit rough and just a little bit dirty.  Yeah not as opposite as one would think at first glance.

“I’ve been trying to keep Rule from living dark ever since Remy died, it’s only gotten worse, not better and I just can’t keep going down that path if there’s never going to be an end.”

Rome sighed as we got up and headed out into the chilly air.  “At the end of the day little girl we’re all each other has, so no matter how tough it gets for any of us we just have to power through and keep it together.”

I gave him a hug and rubbed my cold hands together.  I clutched the picture close to my chest and shivered as the bitter night breeze got past my scarf.  “That’s easier for you to say because you’re an ocean away, most of the time it’s just me and Rule in an uneasy truce and your parents breathing down our necks and mine ignoring me.”

“You said it yourself Shaw, you’re not a kid anymore you can figure this out.  I have faith in you.”

That was just Rome.  He was the protector, the one that ultimately wanted what was best for all of us.  I told him to call me before he headed back to Brookside and made my way back to the apartment.  It was a rare day that Ayden and I both had off so she was sprawled in the living room with books everywhere.  She was studying so intently with the radio up so loud I don’t think she heard me come in.  She had been giving me crap all week about Rule.  While she was all for me sewing wild oats and making decisions that made me happy, and believe me he had made me oh so very happy.  She knew that my feelings for Rule were more complicated than I tended to let on and was convinced I was courting an even more thoroughly broken heart.

I tip toed up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder making her shriek and whirl around.  The reaction was so dramatic it made me double over in laughter.  I flopped on the couch with a groan and took off my coat and scarf.  She scowled up at me as she reached over to turn down the radio.  “Not cool.  How was dinner?”

“Good.”

“Just good?”

“He grilled me about Rule; he seems to think we can fix each other or some nonsense like that.”

“Speaking of the troublemaker have you heard from him?”

I shook my head.  “No.  I know how he works, Ayd.  Do you know how many sad, bewildered girls I‘ve seen him ditch the morning after?  I refuse to be one of them.”

“Yeah but you guys know each other, you were kinda friends.”

I shrugged a shoulder.  “That doesn’t matter to him.  Women have always been interchangeable.  It’s been that was since we were young.”

I ran a hand through my tangled hair and stifled a yawn.  I had been studying extra hard because midterms were right around the corner and the extra weekend shift at work was starting to wear on me.  Add in the fact I was waking up in the night all hot and bothered and I was tired girl.

“I think I might go curl up with a book and crash out early.”

“I’ll keep the music down.”

“No worries have a good night.”

“You too, and hey at least the hickey is starting to fade.”

I stuck my tongue out at her and went into my room.  I flopped face first on the bed and swore under my breath when I heard my phone ringing from my purse normally I would have ignored it but it was playing Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re not gonna take it’ and I knew it was my mother and if I didn’t answer she would just keep calling back until I did.  Her time was deemed just that valuable.  I rolled over and dug it out.

“Hello mother.”

“Shaw, I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you about your birthday.  We were in California.  Jack had a business trip and since it’s so cold here I thought the kids would like the beach.”

I guess phones didn’t work in California.  “No problem.”

“I talked to your father, he said you seemed distracted and out of sorts.  We discussed it and I really think whatever game you are playing with Gabe has to stop.  You’re a mature young woman now Shaw, you need to start making smarter life decisions.  Flitting from boy to boy just will not stand any longer.”

She didn’t even tell me happy birthday.  “I’m not interested in Gabe, mom, not at all.”

“Interest is frivolous.  He comes from a good family, he has a planned out future, those are things that a young woman of your linage need to look for in a partner.”

I blew a hiss out through my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut.  “So those are the things that drew dad to Marissa?  She comes from a good family?  She had a secure future?  Or maybe he just likes her big ole double-ds and the fact she does whatever he says.  Come on mom you’re being ridiculous.  I most certainly am not going to spend time with a guy that makes my skin crawl just because you like him.”

“Language young lady!  I don’t know where you think all those smarts you have came from, but I’m neither foolish or blind, I know that this has to do with that Archer boy.  It always does.”

I rubbed my forehead where I felt the beginning of a migraine starting, she brought them on faster than anything else.  “So what if it does?”

“Oh Shaw, when are you going to outgrow this silly crush?”

“Mom I’m starting to get a headache can this wait until another time?”

She was silent for a long minute and I could feel the waves of censure over the phone.

“I’m going to invite the Davenports to dinner.  You need to be there.”

“No.  Not if Gabe is going to be there.”

“Yes, you will be there.  Do not forget your father and I pay for your tuition.”

Great yet another parent that was extorting me, boy was I lucky.  “Yeah, fine, whatever.”  I didn’t even say bye I just chucked the phone under the other pillow and hit the lights.  I had no idea how Rome thought I could fix anyone, be good for anyone, I didn’t even have control over my own life and it was making me physically ill.

***

I spent the rest of the week and weekend being a good college student.  I studied every chance I got, finished my lab project, got a head start on one of my papers that was due at midterm and even managed to squeeze in some help for Ayden since she was struggling with I-Chem and I had breezed through it.  I was working on a piece for one of my prerequisite classes, a speech on why assisted suicide should be legal, super fun stuff, but the apartment was too quiet and I was tired of ignoring my phone every time it rang fearing it would be one of my parents or Gabe so I packed my laptop up and went down to Pikes Perk to finish it.  Ayden had texted that I should just come to the bar because it was slow, but I needed a less stimulating environment and a coffee shop full of hipsters seemed to be just the ticket.  I had a pile of research in front of me and a caramel latte cooling by my elbow, I was so into what I was doing that I didn’t notice the chair across from me at the little table getting pulled back until the metal legs craped across the floor.

In fact I was so intent on the paperwork spread out before me it wasn’t until a familiar hand with the snake tattoo and his name across the knuckles pushed shut the top of my computer that I realized I had company.  I blinked in surprise and looked up to find those arctic colored eyes watching me intently.  He was still rocking the mohawk, only now it was a shocking red and he looked ridiculously good in a tight long sleeved t-shirt and jeans that were a little baggy.  I didn’t bother to hide the fact that I was openly checking him out.