Right. Candace flipped her phone closed and shoved it in its pocket in her purse, jogging to catch up with her friends.
Samantha smiled at her, and she felt like throwing herself under the car that was easing by out in the parking lot. Was she such a coward that she couldn’t stand up for someone who’d been such a good friend? It wasn’t fair. Sylvia’s disapproval didn’t even have anything to do with Sam as a person, but the girl’s mother was an alcoholic who’d been in and out of jail and rehab. So naturally, in Sylvia’s eyes, Sam must be one too, or either on the brink.
“I have to be a bridesmaid in Deanne’s wedding,” she told them.
“Oh, you have to, huh? Fun,” Sam said.
“Hey, maybe you’ll meet someone at the wedding. Fall madly in love and not give another second’s thought to what’s his name.”
Not likely. Not even possible. Candace sighed. “No, Macy, I will not meet someone there. I can say this with absolute certainty.”
Macy wouldn’t be dissuaded. She pulled open the door of the video store and they all filed in. “How?”
“Because Brian’s the one,” Sam said happily. “Now we have to reel him in.”
Yeah, this was pretty much one of those moments when she felt like strangling both of them. “Did you guys trip over the dead horse? Please, stop beating it.”
It was at that moment something happened that almost caused her knees to give out. For a split second she thought someone else’s cell phone was ringing, but when Sam and Mace looked at her in puzzled expectancy, she realized it was her own. Playing a ringtone she’d heard only once…when she’d set Brian’s number to it.
“Oh…oh, God.” Her fingers were shaking as she plunged her hand into her purse and scrabbled to get it out of its pocket. She fumbled and dropped it into the depths of the bag, uttered a word she rarely used, and followed the little square of light to retrieve it again.
Sam was practically standing on top of her. “Is it him? Is it?”
“Damn it,” Macy muttered.
“Oh, crap, it’s him.” Candace was almost stuttering.
“Answer it, fool!”
Licking lips that were suddenly dry as the Sahara, she flipped it open and almost dropped it again before she got it to her ear. “Hello?”
Sam beamed at her. Macy glowered.
“Hey,” came the casual reply in her ear, toe-curlingly deep and with that easy male confidence that could drive a girl right out of her mind. Her heart was beating so crazily she wondered if her friends could hear it. “A phone number is like the combination to a safe, isn’t it? I figured you gave me yours because you wanted me to crack it open, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.”
As his voice purred into her ear, the breath left her lungs in a rush. It was a struggle to fill them again before she could speak. “Of course, I wanted you to use it.”
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Oh, no, not at all.”
Sam was bouncing on her toes. The three girls were practically blocking traffic flowing into and out of the store, so Macy grabbed them both by their shirt sleeves and tugged them out of the way before they could get cussed out.
“Hmm, doesn’t look like it.”
That was an odd thing for him to say. “So…what are you up to?” she asked.
“I’m looking at a pretty girl.”
Huh? If this were texting, that would definitely earn a WTF reply. “Okaay…”
“She’s blonde, wearing blue and standing with two friends. She’s talking on her phone, probably to some unworthy jerk, but damn, I wish I were him.”
Her head came up as the light bulb went on, and she scanned the aisles in the video store, searching…and she’d only thought the breath had fled her before. At the sight of him grinning at her from one of the far corners, it was knocked out completely.
“He’s here,” she said to her friends, then realized she still had the phone to her ear. Their heads cranked around faster than Linda Blair’s to follow her stare. “You’re here,” she said stupidly.
“That I am.” She saw him clip his phone closed and beckon her over with slow sweeps of his index finger. Swallowing hard, she put her own phone away.
“Oh. My. God.” Samantha leaned in close. “That was one sexy move right there. Macy, you’re insane. Candace, get your ass over there now. Don’t mind us.” For good measure, Sam planted the flat of her palm on Candace’s back and practically shoved her away. Macy was obviously not amused, but held her tongue, recognizing her sound defeat.
Rows of movies passed her in a blur as she tried to maintain a casual stroll without tripping over her own feet or sprinting toward him. He was wearing jeans that hugged his thighs and ass like a dream and a black Affliction tee with splotchy white chaotic patterns. Those tattoos flowed down his forearms with an almost liquid fluidity. Greens and blues and… She was staring. Crap. She didn’t need to do that. But she wanted to lick him like there was candy in his skin; there was really no use denying it.
She almost plowed over two little boys who ran in front of her. Lifting her gaze to Brian’s face as her legs ate up the last distance between them, she saw light glint on the two hoops through his right eyebrow. His hair was just long enough to brush the collar of his shirt, and it fell over his face as he looked down at whatever movie he was holding in his hand. He was in the horror section.
It occurred to her that he’d probably seen her fumbling freak-out and Sam’s happy dance when he’d called. That was wonderful. She wasn’t safe anywhere.
“Hey, you,” he said, closing one eye in a wink. “How’s the tat?”
That was probably all he wanted to ask. “Oh! It looks great. Hasn’t given me any problems at all.”
“Cool.”
Why had she never really noticed that he was oh-my-God tall? When she stood next to him, the top of her head came no higher than his shoulder. He’d have to bend to kiss her, and she’d gladly rock up on her tiptoes to meet him halfway…
He cleared his throat. “I’ve been wanting to call you.” Candace wondered if she should confess the same thing to him. It hadn’t seemed— “It didn’t seem right, for some reason,” he finished.
“I know what you mean.” Her gaze was focused resolutely on the cover of The Evil Dead sitting on the shelf in front of her. She hated how small her voice sounded.
“But I saw you there just now and…it seems ridiculous that we can’t still be friends, doesn’t it?”
Well. Ouch. She thought only girls were supposed to run the “let’s be friends” line. Of all the bad ideas in the world, this had been the granddaddy. As much as it wounded her, she should accept his casual friendship and stop obsessing. Quit setting her fool self up for heartbreak. Because that’s all she was doing.
But she missed him. Seeing him in his tattoo parlor last week and thinking about him all day every day since then had shown her how much. His breakup with Michelle had devastated her more than her cousin, if only because if Michelle wasn’t seeing him, then Candace couldn’t see him, either.
“It seems really ridiculous,” she said, not intending for the sad note to enter her voice. “I always liked hanging out with you.”
She had the bad feeling that he wanted to reach over and rumple her hair, and she didn’t think she could bear the kid-sister gesture right now. “Likewise, sunshine.”
This wasn’t going nearly how she’d planned when she first looked up and saw him standing over here. That excitement was in ashes now, incinerated by one little “f” word that under normal circumstances was not considered dirty.
Sam was going to be so disappointed. Somehow, the thought of watching her face fall when she heard they’d decided to be friends in the horror section at Blockbuster was the most devastating thing of all.
But she supposed having him in her life in that capacity was better than not having him at all.
“I didn’t mean to abandon you when Michelle and I stopped seeing each other. I figured you were mad at me, or you didn’t care.”
“Oh, no. Don’t ever think that. Whatever happened with you guys, it wasn’t my business.”
“I know how close you two are.”
“We’re close, but she never told me why you ended things. It’s cool. I totally understand why you didn’t keep in touch. It’s the same reason I didn’t.”
He put the movie he’d been looking at back on the shelf and turned to face her. “How is she?”
This kept getting worse. “She’s great. She’s still working on getting her Master’s degree, happily seeing some guy I don’t like at all.”
He laughed. “That makes me feel better.”
“How so?”
“I’d hate the thought of you liking her new guy better than me.”
“That would never, ever happen.” She couldn’t look at him as she said it, and he didn’t reply. Maybe she’d shocked him. Maybe that had been too suggestive. But it was the truth, and she wanted him to know it. “So, um…what are you looking for here?”
“Anything. I was bored and hoping I could find something to catch my interest. Not much luck so far.”
“Why? Seen everything?” she asked teasingly, reaching over to give his arm a pinch. She really just wanted to touch him.
“Pretty much, yeah.”
Wow. She’d known he liked scary movies because Michelle had always whined about it. Candace wanted to roll her eyes at the thought. They didn’t bother her in the slightest, and given the opportunity to snuggle up and grab onto him during the jumpy parts…no, she wouldn’t have any problems with that whatsoever.
“Have any recommendations for me?” she asked.
“What are you into?”
“Um…what do you mean?”
“Well, do you like slashers, or gory torture porn, or psychological? Or what?”
“I have no idea.”
He laughed. It was a deep rumble that melted her very bones. “Most of the drivel Hollywood churns out lately is crap. You have to look to other countries to get the good stuff. France is awesome. Very extreme.”
“I’ve never seen a French horror movie.”
“They’re definitely not for the faint of heart.” He strolled away a few steps, scanning the shelves. “Let’s see… Hey, there’s a good one. Have you ever seen The Descent?”
“No, I wanted to, but…”
“But?”
“Well, honestly? I love scary movies but my friends hate them, and I don’t like watching them by myself. It seems every little creak or bump freaks me out afterward. I know it’s stupid.”
“Aw, getting spooked out is the most fun,” he drawled, flashing her that grin she really wished he’d stop flashing before she ended up hanging onto his leg. He bent to snatch a movie from the shelf. “You’re watching Descent, I insist. It’s one of the best to come out in recent years, in my humble opinion, but if I have to come over and babysit you through it, then so be it.”