Long Live Dead Reckless Read online

  Thank God that was the last one. I didn’t text him back. Unfortunately, I also had a few phone calls from poor Rose, who was a sniveling mess after the idiot broke up with her. She asked me to spy on him at work to find out what skank stole him away.

  He obviously didn’t tell her why he broke it off or she wouldn’t have been calling me at all. I felt like such a bad friend. I couldn’t tell her that I was glad they broke up because I was afraid it would get back to her that I was the reason. My guilty conscience assured her that I would spy on him. It felt wrong not to grant her one request.

  With the Spencer problem under control for the week, I set my focus back on Sage where I wanted it. He still never paid me much attention unless I invaded his personal space. Through snippets of haggled conversation at the time clock, I learned he was from Colorado, he drove a silver Honda Civic, and he was in some local rock band called Dead Reckless.

  I thought the name of his band was weird, but I didn’t ask where they came up with it. Band names never really make sense to me anyway. I did ask if they had something I could listen to, but I never heard his answer. I was too busy daydreaming about him serenading me under the blue lights of some stage.

  Looking at him that day, I seriously considered quitting my job if he wasn’t single. He was the one guy I would have gladly stolen from someone. It was ironic considering I had already stolen a guy from someone, and I didn’t even want that one.

  I was never sure when Sage would give me the time of day, but I would always be talking to Larissa about him our entire shift. She enjoyed the daily entertainment, but not everyone was so content watching my comedic love life from the sidelines. Sage’s boss, Kati, grew tired of the shy silence between us. Being only a handful of years older than us, she didn’t have enough age distance to keep her professional distance from romantic matters. One afternoon she cornered me while I was waiting at the time clock.

  “Talor! There you are. I’ve got a personal question for you.”

  “Oh lord.”

  “What do you think about Sage?”

  She carefully closed the door before leaning against the counter beside me. Somehow I knew she was going to pry into my personal affairs. I felt like we time-warped into high school. Were we really having a conversation about a crush? I rolled my eyes and pretended to be too old for such a topic – even though I literally spent every shift doing exactly that a few rooms over. I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.

  “I mean, he’s cute. Why?”

  “Well, I was just talking to him, and he seems to like you. Y’all need to talk. You know, go on a date or something.”

  My face flushed as I shifted on my feet. Here was Sage’s boss trying to set us up. I honestly didn’t believe her. How could such an attractive guy be single?

  “Me? Really?”

  “Yeah, he’s interested. He’s just shy. I thought you felt the same way, but you guys are kind of weird around each other and I wanted to get the ball rolling. I don’t want the air up here to stay this thick.”

  She winked and left. Before I could call after her, my phone vibrated in my purse. It was Azalea.

  Don’t forget about Friday night! Who are you bringing? I have an extra date if you need one, LOL! XoXo

  I made my way to the nursery and crouched down in my usual hiding spot. It was perfect – just out of sight of the video monitors and far enough in a corner that I could see both entrances on either side of the large room clearly. I’d see my bosses before they’d ever catch a glimpse of me.

  I sighed as my fingers hovered over my phone. Responding to Azalea required a special skill. She was unique like that. Naming her after a southern flower was only one of the ways Azalea’s parents honored their deep-rooted southern heritage. The Beaty family hosted a Victorian Gala every year at their mansion thanks to Mayor Beaty’s fascination with Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind.

  It was a major local charity event that always took place the last week of September. Mr. Beaty was a local land developer, and Mrs. Beaty had been the mayor for the past seven years. They had a few million in the bank and a street sign with their name on it, but they were good, generous people.

  The Victorian Gala was an annual chance for anyone who wasn’t anyone to rub shoulders with a powerful family. For the rest of us, it was something to do in a town like Cypress. Being an avid history buff, I relished any chance to lace up a corset.

  I wanted to bring Sage, but every look from him gave me a mild fever. One time he brushed against me accidentally at the vending machines and I almost fainted. No joke. I’d become that girl. I was also becoming more aware of the emotional wall between us. I thought we were getting more comfortable together, but he kept an upturned nose my way. I felt really good about the conversation with Kati until I remembered all that. There was no way Kati knew what she was talking about. I typed and re-typed my text.

  I don’t know. Sage might be busy or he might not want to come.

  Her response was typical Azalea – quick and sharp.

  Uh, no excuses, woman. You should probably ask him. He can’t read your mind! You better be there.

  I shook my head and sighed as I typed my thoughts.

  What if he tries to kiss me? What if I attack him? Then he would think I’m a –

  A rapid tapping at the glass door interrupted my furious texting. Startled, I shot up and dropped my new phone on the ground. I was annoyed to see Spencer, but relieved it wasn’t the Assistant Director, who always seemed to be peeping at me through some window or another.

  When Spencer pushed through the door, my chest tightened. The last time I saw him, he was calling his girlfriend to break up. I wasn’t mentally prepared to see him, so I just stared at him as he closed the distance between us.

  “Texting on the job? I bet you do it in the car, too. Bad girl.”

  Still flustered, I wasn’t quick on the uptake. I normally didn’t have a problem telling Spencer off, but that was before our nearly naked bodies were rubbing in the pool.

  “N-no, I’m not. I don’t.”

  With a smooth bend, he scooped up my cell phone.

  “Relax. It’s our little secret, Cotton Candy.”

  He flipped it over and gave a raised brow when he read my unfinished message. He had invaded my privacy yet again, and I fought the urge to scream at him like a temperamental toddler.

  “Don’t read that. Give me my phone.”

  He shrugged and offered it, but when I tried to take it, he gripped it even tighter.

  “Is there a picture on here for me?”

  “No, Spencer. Just stop.”

  Somewhere in middle school, some clueless boy was trying the same trick on whatever poor girl he liked. Maybe she had less class and more fire than me. If so, he was probably laid out in a hallway holding his crotch and crying for his mother. Here in my own hell, Spencer was still holding my phone hostage because I’m too polite.

  “Talor, let’s do something.”

  “I know what you want to do,” I said, glowering as I felt the burn in my face.

  “Yeah, but you do, too,” he smirked, glancing at the phone, “just with the wrong guy.”

  With a furious jerk, I pried my phone from his hand. He seemed incredibly strong, but it could have been because my hands were shaking. I tried not to look in his eyes. Many women were pulled under those tempest waves and woke up in a dirty bed somewhere as a result. Thanks to him, people already had the impression we were interested in each other. Thanks to Azalea, he had the impression I was into him.

  “You’re so gross,” I said, turning away.

  His lips were tickling my ear now.

  “Hey, you remember when you said you were into me? Remember that?”

  He was too close now, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I wheeled around and pushed an arm between us to create distance as fast as possible.

  “I remember you doing drugs. Is that wha
t you’re talking about?” I replied, raising my voice and crossing my arms in front.

  His hand reached out and brushed under my polo shirt at my side, his finger edging along the top of my pants against my hipbone. He didn’t even try to quiet me. He was trying to do something else.

  “I remember this.”

  My mouth dropped open. His finger felt good against my skin. Of course it did. He watched his own finger move against my skin, which prickled under his calculated touch. Frustrated, I freed myself from his roaming hand.

  “You were high. I don’t know what you think happened, but it didn’t. I barely talked to you that night.”

  He was unfazed.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t high. I meant what I said that night, too. I’m single now, like you asked. There isn’t anyone else.”

  “Did you know I’m talking to Sage?”

  He closed his eyes and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “No, you’re not. Just stop.”

  I held my chin up.

  “Yes, I am.”

  He opened his eyes and looked at me as his jaw tightened.

  “Talor, he doesn’t like you. When are you going to stop chasing him around?”

  That stung a bit. Still, I held my ground.

  “I know you’re used to having anyone and anything you want, but I don’t have to date you, Spencer. I actually have a choice and I’m not interested. I know that’s hard for you to understand.”

  He blinked hard and leaned his head to the side. We stared at each other for a few seconds before his brow bunched up and he gave a short, bitter laugh.

  “Ok, it’s hard to understand because you’re lying. What is this? Don’t you know you’re the only reason I even work here?”

  “Then you should quit.”

  “Go with me to the gala Friday.”

  I laughed harder than I expected to. I couldn’t help it.

  “Uh, since when were you invited? You can’t buy your way into the Beaty’s.”

  This time he laughed. He thought a girl refusing him was the funniest thing ever. He crossed his arms, mimicking me as he stepped into my space and dropped his chin.

  “Your friend – Azalea – invited me personally. She wants me there. My friend – Jesse – wants me there. You’re the only snob who doesn’t.”

  My jaw dropped as I processed the fact that the trust fund jock called me a snob. I refused to believe that Azalea invited him. They had only met once and she knew how I felt about him. Even being fiends with Jesse…no, he had to buy his way in. Just then, the nursery door slammed behind me. I spun around to see Larissa creeping in. She probably heard the whole conversation. I could tell by the fact that she was holding a book over her face as she passed by. Spencer didn’t even acknowledge her.

  “You’ll like my car,” he said, winking.

  I hesitated. I shouldn’t have. I held my breath, trying to think of some excuse, but I wasn’t fast enough. As he slowly and deliberately pulled his shirt over his shoulders, his undershirt rode up to expose that tan, lean muscle called a body. Larissa’s eyes bulged as she peeked over pages she pretended to read.

  Two other female Goodlife Gym workers walked by the long glass windows separating the hallway from the nursery and giggled to each other. He jerked his undershirt back down over his chest as he savored the attention. In a relationship or single, he was still the same old Spencer. And he wanted me to be his next victim. He slowly ran his hand through his hair and threw the staff shirt over his shoulder.

  “Um, why did you just take off your shirt?” I asked.

  “You said you needed help making up your mind,” he said, waving his hand across his body.

  I paused, stifling a laugh.

  “Um, no.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Larissa’s shoulders bouncing behind the book. She was laughing hard enough for the both of us. Spencer gave a soft shrug.

  “Talor, I like you. Go with me.”

  The clock above us ticked loudly as he waited for my answer. Just then, a parent came bursting in the room with two rowdy toddlers. I felt a heightened sense of pressure to say yes and didn’t know why. The words tumbled out and I hated them as they did.

  “Shhhhhhure, Spencer. As friends.”

  I felt sick to my stomach because I knew it couldn’t be undone. I only hoped Sage didn’t hear about it and think I was actually interested in Spencer. Just to make sure, I escorted Spencer out the front when he left, pretending to run up to the time clock to check my hours. When he passed in front of Sage, their eyes met in a way only men understand. Spencer twirled his keys in his hand, winking at me.

  “Looking forward to it, Cotton Candy.”

  I didn’t like him calling me that, but arguing with him would look defensive, like I had feelings to release his way. He disappeared out the door while I bore the brunt of stares hitting me all at once. None were quite so heavy as Sage’s. It was a look of everything and nothing, and my heart sunk. That hazel green splintered my confidence a thousand ways. When he looked away, the world went back to turning. I spun on my heel as quickly as I could, burning an invisible trail of fire between the front desk and the nursery area.

  Somehow, I would make Spencer pay.

  5

  I barely slept for two days. When I did manage to pass out from pure exhaustion, I had nightmares of Rose stabbing hopping bunnies and wallabies in my yard and smearing liquid cotton candy all over my car. She kept yelling out some battle cry in German about the death of immortal love. There was also a flamethrower involved. The evil instigator Spencer was there, too – clad in a leopard Speedo while he cackled and danced under a smoking umbrella. Why wallabies were roaming free in South Georgia was anyone’s guess. Oddly enough, the rest of it actually made sense to me.

  When I crawled into work on Thursday, I noticed the usually empty bulletin board in the timecard room had a flyer on it. It was a show for a local band. Wait – is that Sage’s band? Frantically, I slapped a hand against it to read the details because my eyes were moving so fast the words were jumping. Dead Reckless was playing a show at a downtown bar called Harvest Moon the next night. I started to create an excuse to go when something bright and yellow caught the corner of my eye.

  It was another flyer, but this one was a reminder that all staff members had to take a mandatory CPR class to renew our certification. There were only two options – that afternoon, in exactly thirty minutes – or coming in at eight o’clock Saturday morning. I’d completely forgotten about the class. I was lucky that I came in early to work out, but I was frustrated that I would now have to spend that hour dealing with Spencer instead of running away from my problems on the outdoor track.

  Sage and Larissa wouldn’t be there. They were the only people I cared to see, incidentally. Sage was off and Larissa’s certification from her teaching job meant she didn’t have to do the class at all. I lost my loyal friend buffer for the impending Spencer confrontation.

  That made me so nervous that when Spencer came in, I dashed into the women’s bathroom and hid for the next twenty minutes. It wasn’t my most mature idea, but I was sleep-deprived and my feet worked faster than my brain. I stole peeks out the door to see Spencer talking to some gym member with a wandering gaze looking for me. I waited until the last moment to leave my hiding spot so I wouldn’t get locked out of the class.

  Everyone wandered into the room, finding seats in the side-by-side chairs lining the walls. There were about a dozen people in the class – mostly fitness staff or lifeguards. I didn’t really know any of them. I made sure to sit between Kati and some girl so Spencer couldn’t sit beside me.

  To my dismay, the girl got up to go greet her friend across the room just as Spencer walked in. I closed my eyes and turned away as a body settled beside me. I just knew it was Spencer, but it wasn’t. It was Sage. Wearing a fitted flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves, he sat back in the chair and raised my blood pressure.


  “Hi,” I squeaked, snapping up into good posture and hoping I looked skinny from his angle.

  “Talor,” he said, my name gaining a heavenly air as it rolled off his tongue.

  His hair was flying out at the ends the way it does when a guy’s been wearing a hat all day. I made a silent pact with my reflexes that I was going to remain calm and they were going to behave. It was the closest I’d ever been to him, and my hands were frantically searching for somewhere to hide. If they didn’t get somewhere fast, they were going to reach out and touch him. I had little control over that. Spencer coolly took a seat between two cute lifeguards, who welcomed him with girlish giggles.

  Kati leaned forward beside me.

  “Mr. Talis,” she greeted, giving him a salute, “good to see you here on your day off. You know you didn’t have to come to this one. There’s another one on Saturday. Did I tell you that the other day?”

  Sage brushed his palms down his thighs.

  “Yeah, but I was already over this way.”

  Ah, the old ‘I was in the neighborhood’ excuse. My foot bounced happily as Kati cocked a sly smile and let her jaw hang a little so we could hear her “uh-huh.”

  “I think there’s an uneven number of people now,” Spencer grumbled from his seat, stretching his legs out in front of him.

  “Spencer, I didn’t think you would mind the odds,” Kati chuckled. “They are your favorite kind, after all.”

  Spencer checked out the two girls beside him and arched his lip.

  “Well, you’re right about that,” he agreed, winking.

  They pretended to be mad at him for that, but they just followed it up with childish banter so no one took them seriously. Kati slapped her hands together in the air and spread them out wide.

  “See? What are you even complaining about? Come on, man.”

  “Nothing,” he muttered, giving me the side-eye.

  “Spencer’s been a little moody since he broke up with his girlfriend. Don’t take it personally,” Kati added, looking back and forth between Sage and me.

  Sage adjusted one of his sleeves.