Early the next morning Adelyn pushed the doors to the station open and walked to the back room where she saw her partner sitting at his desk over a stack of paperwork.
“You’re in early,” she said when he looked up at her.
Pertel didn’t look happy. “I hate working Sundays,” he told her.
“And you think I enjoy it?”
“No.”
She sat down beside him and looked over his shoulder at his papers until he realized she was there and looked back at her with an annoyed expression.
“What?” he said, moving back a little ways from her. “Is there something you want?”
She couldn’t help but smile at him. “What are you doing October 6th? It’s a Saturday.”
“I don’t know,” he replied as he went back to his paperwork. “That’s like a month away. How in the hell would I know what I would be-” He broke of, his eyes lifting from the papers as he stared ahead. “Isn’t that the same day as your wedding to Mr. I’m-So-Dependable?”
“His name is Justin, and yes, that’s the same day. We were wondering if you’d like to be a groomsmen. What do you say?”
Blake stared at Adelyn. The words had come out of her mouth, but did she really know what she was saying? “Excuse me?” he said, squinting his eyes at her. “Did you just ask me to be a member of your wedding party?”
Adelyn nodded. “Justin and I agreed on it last night.”
“Did you hypnotize him or something?”
“I didn’t do a thing. He agreed,” she insisted.
“No,” he said as he shook his head. “That can’t be. Seriously, Brady, are you blackmailing him with something? What is it?” he grinned. “I’d love to hear the dirt on that scum bag!”
“Justin isn’t a scum bag,” Adelyn frowned. “And frankly I’m sick of the two of you calling each other names. It’s driving me insane!”
“Then why are you doing this to yourself? Why are you asking me to be a part of your wedding if it’ll only cause you more headaches?”
She sighed. “I like you, Pertel. You’re a really good friend. Justin’s short a groomsmen and I thought why not! I mean, two of the women in his life are my bridesmaids. Why couldn’t he let someone that I wanted up there be a part of it, too?”
“Wow,” Blake said, staring at her. “He must really love you if he let you pick me as a groomsmen.”
“I’ve only been telling you that all along,” she pointed out. “Besides, he really didn’t let me... I told him he didn’t have a choice, I was going to ask you anyway.”
“Oh. Well, then...”
“He thinks you still want me, and he’s convinced that you’re going to do something stupid during the ceremony. I told him how stupid he sounded and that you would never do something like that!” she paused when he didn’t say anything. “You wouldn’t... would you?”
“Of course not!” he exclaimed. “I’ll admit that I had a crush on you at one time, but now I really think that I’m in love with... well, I probably shouldn’t say her name. She’s in working at the station sometimes, and I don’t want to spread gossip or anything. I know how you women like to spread that kind of thing around the station.”
“I don’t spread gossip,” Adelyn told him as she leaned back in her seat. “But you’re right, there are a lot of women around here who do. However...” she grinned at him. “Now, I know that she works here... so I’ll find out on my own!”
“Please, Brady, don’t make this some sort of a quest. It’s really not that big of a deal! Besides, I’ll bring her to the wedding and you can meet her there.”
“So, is that a yes?”
Blake took the top file off of his stack and opened a draw in his desk so he could slip it in. “I don’t know how I can say no. If you got what’s-his-face to agree with it, then who am I to argue?”
“Great!” Adelyn exclaimed. “Justin’s waiting for you in the car so you can go get your tux.”
Blake stared at her. “I’m not going anywhere in a vehicle with that madman!”
“Justin is the best driver in Minneapolis. He never goes one mile over the speed limit.”
“I highly doubt that,” Blake replied, crossing his arms. “But if it’s so important to you…”
“Good! Go outside before he gets impatient from waiting.”
Blake stood up from his chair and almost walked to the door, but turned around just before he did so. “What about my paper work?”
Adelyn was already sitting in his chair. “Taken care of!” she called to him. “Go!”
The light illuminated the thin, beige blinds that hung from Kyle’s large window at the end of the room, and he squeezed his eyes closed even tighter. The morning was disrupting him from holding Evie in his arms and if she woke up, she’d probably insist that they should study... and he didn’t feel like studying yet.
Desperate to savor the moment, he pressed his lips to the back of her neck and didn’t move. He hated the thought that once she woke up, she might leave him... and he didn’t like that he didn’t know whether or not she’d ever let him hold her again.
When he felt her move, he held her closer, but it didn’t work.
“Kyle,” she mumbled, turning around to look at him. “What time is it?”
“It’s eight thirty,” he told her. “Go back to sleep.”
“Where’s your roommate?”
Kyle glanced up into Andrew’s loft. He really was gone. “Must be at breakfast,” he muttered. “Forget about sleeping. Kiss me instead.” He tried to smile at her, but couldn’t. All he wanted was to feel her in his arms.
Evie leaned forward and kissed him softly. Kyle couldn’t help but pull her close, trying to deepen the kiss, but she slowly pulled away from him, running her fingers through his curls as she climbed out of bed with a smile on her face. “Let me take a shower first. Do you have shampoo and a towel I could use?”
He stared at her. “In the closet. But, Evie... by the time you get out of the shower Andrew will be back.”
She only smiled at him as she draped his towel over her shoulder. “Then we’ll just have to go to my place.” The look on his face must have been pretty pathetic because as she left the room, he heard her chuckle. He decided that he would take a shower, too and be all ready to go when she got back from hers.
Justin didn’t know how to have a decent conversation with Pertel so while he sat in his car waiting for Adelyn to ask him whether or not he’d be in the wedding, he tried to decide whether he’d be just plain grumpy and mean, or if he’d joke around and make fun of him. He still hadn’t decided when there was a tap on his window. Reluctantly, he opened the doors and waited.
“Just drive,” Pertel said. “I don’t like this either.”
Justin couldn’t help but smile as he stepped on the gas and made his way up to exactly thirty miles per hour. “Adelyn has a way of talking people into things. She’d make one hell of an attorney.”
“Must we make conversation?” Pertel wanted to know.
“Of course!” Justin told him. He liked the idea that he was getting on the guy’s nerves. “So, Adelyn tells me you have a new girlfriend. You bringing her to the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“That’s all you’re going to tell me?”
“Quit acting like we’re long lost friends or something. It makes me sick.”
“You make me sick,” Justin muttered under his breath as he turned the corner. “I saved your life, and this is the thanks I get?”
To Justin’s surpise, Pertel actually laughed. “You saved me?” Pertel wanted to know. “You… the guy who convinced a lunitic to point his gun at me and shoot me… you think that you saved my life? Hello!? I almost died!! Because of you, I was in the hospital fighting for my life!”
Justin rolled his eyes. “Fighting for your life? You got shot in the shoulder… Besides, you were wearing a bullet proof vest.”
“He could have shot me in the head!”
“He didn’t!”
“He could have!”
“This is stupid,” Justin told him. “You’re obviously in denial about what happened, so therefore I’m not going to waste my time arguing with you.”
“You always think you’re right. Well, you know what, Justin? You’re not. You know nothing about bullet wounds, so don’t pretend that you do!”
“How do you know I don’t know anything about them? You don’t know anything about me.”
“And you know so much about me. You’re such an expert on everything.”
“Fine then. I’ll admit it. I don’t know much about you. But that’s only because you’re so… closed off from the world. In fact, you kind of remind me of my brother. And that’s not exactly a comliment. We usually don’t get along too well.” As Justin glanced over at him, they’re eyes met. Quickly, he looked back at the road.
“Is this the brother that ended up in the emergency room from practically drinking himself to death or the one that got locked up in the slammer for kidnapping some poor girl?”
Justin frowned.
“Though, I actually got along with the second one. We both hated you. How many brothers do you have anyway? Please tell me that you only have two. To think that this world could be covered with clones of you makes me nervous. And nautious.”
“I have two brothers,” Justin confirmed. “And one sister. You might have met her. She works at the station actually.” For a long moment, Pertel didn’t say anything, so Justin glanced over at him for a second time. “What?”
“Your sister works at the station and no one ever told me?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Next time a family member comes to Minneapolis, I’ll be sure to call you and inform you of their exact intentions.”
Pertel didn’t seem to hear him. “What is your sister’s name?” he demanded.
“Why do you care? You hate my family anyway.”
“Just tell me what her name is!”
Justin pulled over in front of the tuxedo shop and put the car in park. When he’d turned the car off, he turned to look at Pertel. “Why should I tell you? It’s bad enough that my poor little sister has to be in your presence when she’s there. If you don’t know who she is, then I’m not going to tell you. She doesn’t deserve you hating her just because of me. I don’t even know why you care,” he went on as he opened the car door and swung his legs out. “She’s not at all like I am, and if you even think about coming near her, I’ll break your neck.” Justin got out and slammed his door. “We should have taken your car,” he said once he heard the sound of the passenger door closing. “Free parking.”
“I don’t make it a habit of harrassing girls,” Pertel said as Justin slid coins into the meter. “Even members of your warped family, believe it or not.”
Justin turned to him, trying to look as stern as possible. “Stay away from my sister.”
“I don’t even know who the hell she is! If you would just tell me her name then I’d be sure to make it my personal business to stay far away from anyone in your gene pool.”
“Go to hell,” Justin spat out. “Get inside the store and find your tux so I can pay for it, and we can get the hell out of here.”
The two of them stepped onto the sidewalk and walked into the store without another word. However, the second they stepped through the door, Pertel to Justin with a red, angry face.
“Tell me her name!” he demanded.
Justin stared at him. If he told this bastard his sister’s name, Pertel would probably stay away from her. But as he glared into the man’s eyes, he wondered who this guy really was. Was he looking for revenge against him? Was he still sore from what happened in Colby Wyman’s underground tunnels? For Christ’s sake, it wasn’t Justin’s fault that the man just happened to be a complete idiot. He shouldn’t have followed him down in the first place!
“Tell me her name!” Pertel said again, this time even louder as the salesman stood there, staring at them with a confused expression on his face.
“It’s Nicki!” Justin yelled back. “Now, would you leave me the hell alone?”
But the look on Pertel’s face had suddenly went from red to a pale white… and his once livid eyes turned to glassy. He almost looked like he might be sick.
“Excuse me, sirs…” the salesman finally spoke up. “May I help you with something?”
Chapter 15
Keeping the Peace
Family: Timberlake
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Me (irishgirl982@yahoo.com)