Page 12 of Malice and Surrender
“Mind if I look around?” I called up the stairs.
“Knock yourself out. There isn’t much to look at,” she yelled back.
There was a moderately sized television in the corner, a long grey couch with a matching recliner, and a single coffee table. There were a couple of pictures on the wall, but my brows knit together when I realized they were the ones that came with the frames. The only personal item was a picture of Raine outside the club when the addition was completed and we held the ribbon cutting ceremony. I knew she wasn’t close with her foster family, but that was all she said. It bothered me that she didn’t want to open up, but then again, I hadn’t told her about everything in my life, so who was I to cast stones?
The kitchen was just as small, but it wasn’t the size that bothered me. The lack of anything that screamed this was Raine Eastman’s place did. It could’ve been any Airbnb along this road.
“I’m ready,” Raine called out, and I spun around to see her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
My mouth fell open at the sight of her, and I had to snap my mouth shut. She wore a cute pair of shorts and a tank top with a bikini underneath. Sandals on her feet and a large beach bag slung over her shoulder completed her look.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Do I look bad?” Raine went to the hallway mirror to inspect herself, but I shook my head.
“No, you look amazing,” I managed to say before making things awkward.
I could be so smooth at work because it meant nothing to me. It was acting, and I’d done that all my life, but when it was real, I always got tongue-tied. It was as if my brain didn’t understand what words were anymore.
“Oh, okay, great. Thanks.” Raine cleared her throat. “I brought clothes so we can head straight to work after. I was going to arrive a little early to make sure I didn’t forget anything on the list from the Grimhead Crew’s manager. I mean, who asks for freshly sliced oranges on a sugar-rimmed glass that is half full of ice cubes and gummies?”
I smirked at her annoyed expression and how her nose wrinkled up like she was smelling something gross. Did I tell her now that I knew the lead singer? In fact, I knew him better than anyone else in my life.
“And don’t even get me started on the fresh, green matcha tea that needs to be made during intermission by a professional tea maker. What is a tea maker? I didn’t even know such a thing existed until I had to hire one for this event. There are so many requests that I’m starting to wonder if this manager of theirs is only asking for this stuff to see if we will do it.”
Raine wasn’t far off the mark with that one. Jace had complained more than once about how Allen loved to screw with venues like that. The band would always take the stuff and hand it out to fans if it wasn’t used, but Jace thought it was stupid and needless.
“Are we going to get going?” Raine asked, opening the door.
Okay, tell her later it was. It wasn’t as simple as saying, ‘oh, by the way, I know him.’ Nope, that statement always came with a ton of questions, and I didn’t want to answer them right now.
It wasn’t even ten in the morning, and the sun was so hot that I felt beads of sweat already forming. Weather like this had a special place in the go fuck yourself part of my heart. Every shitty thing that happened to me over the years came when we had one of these intense heat waves that would undoubtedly get worse before ending in a torrential downpour.
It rained like God was trying to cool down the earth, but it was useless. Instead, everything became extra muggy, and the driving force of it tore up crops and flowers, caused leaks in your roof and snakes to show up in the most terrifying places. So yeah, this weather was fun for a day at the beach, but I would be looking over my shoulder for the inevitable shitstorm that followed.
“The nice thing about the festival is that it’s only a couple miles from the club, so there’s a good chance that we will be extra busy tonight,” I said as we got into my car.
“That’s true, and the tips will be flowing.”
We sat in comfortable silence, but I had the biggest urge to grab her hand and kept glancing at her from the corner of my eye. She wore oversized sunglasses that were all the fashion and looked like a supermodel. All she needed was a fancy convertible to complete the look.
It didn’t take much to find the festival. The beach was swarming with people in some form of skirt and bikini top. As usual, when something fun was going on, there was not a parking spot to be had. I ended up parking quite a ways down the road.
“Hope you’re okay with walking?”
“Doesn’t bother me at all. Although, if we want a quieter spot later, this is nice to come back to,” Raine said, pushing open the car door.
My mind raced with all the possibilities of being alone with her on a quiet stretch of beach. I couldn’t keep my feelings from her anymore, and Jace spontaneously coming to town and wanting to meet her forced my hand. The question remained, would she run or not?
Raine hid well under her humor and big personality while working. The moment you took her away from the bar, the unease shone through. I knew without asking that she’d been through something traumatic. All this time, brick by brick, I’d been putting pieces into place to make sure she knew she could trust me. I might have been able to push faster if I were Jace, but I wasn’t, and it was only around a year ago that I started to see her open up and not be as guarded around me. I was terrified she would go back into her shell if I said the wrong thing or pushed too hard.
We walked along the beach toward the ever-growing crowd of people, and I made sure to walk close enough that our fingers would brush every few strides. If she noticed, she didn’t say, but more importantly, she didn’t move away. I kept the victory smile to myself.
A large group of guys ran past, all shouting about something exciting. They looked to be from the local campus, most likely frat boys. I suddenly felt very old thinking that. I wasn’t that much older than they were, yet it seemed like we were worlds apart.
There were only three things that could make frat boys run that fast. The first was free alcohol and lots of it. The second was anything to do with sex. The kinkier, the better. The third was a fight, especially if it was brewing for a while.
“What do you think that’s all about?” Raine said as we closed in on the large group of guys, all holding phones and cheering. “Maybe someone famous?”
“Not a hundred percent sure,” I said. The question was answered a moment later when some girls arrived and whistled loudly, calling for more space to be made. The sea of bodies parted, and my mouth fell open.
