Page 12 of Captured Memories
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Liv liftedher gaze from the bowl of congealing ingredients that was supposed to be banana nut muffins. Somewhere along the way, she’d botched the recipe. Batter splattered the countertops, flour claimed the floor, and milk pooled on her stovetop. The idea stemmed from a solid place—with her good-as-hell mood, she brimmed with sunshine today, and her bestie was coming to visit. However, the execution hadn’t followed suit.
“Hey-o, I’m here,” Tessa’s voice sounded as the door to her apartment creaked open and shut. A second later, Tessa popped into her kitchen, wearing neon purple running sneakers and a skin-tight spandex jogging ensemble that would make most men drool. Liv rubbed her cheek, which had gained a crusted splotch of batter from her valiant battle in the kitchen. Not like her cooking would hold a candle to Zane’s—even the way he’d plated his leftovers made her trigger finger itch to take a picture.
Tessa’s jaw dropped as she soaked in the devastation. “You know if you wanted baked goods you could’ve gone to Kroger, right?”
“Shut it, I wanted to try something new.” Liv wiped another crusty piece of batter from the counter and flicked the glob in Tessa’s direction with a scowl on her face. Her friend blocked the missile before leaning forward to peer into the half-empty bowl.
Tessa’s nose wrinkled. “My god, is that Cthulu rising out from the muck?” Liv elbowed her in the side as her best friend lifted a brow. “Don’t suppose the good mood has anything to do with the hottie you met up with in the café?”
She attempted a scowl, but the mention of Zane made her heart bounce in double time. “Maybe a little.”
“So when do I get to meet the mystery man?” Tessa asked, daring to lick at the piece of batter. She frowned and a second later raced over to the sink to spit it out. “You’d better toss that shit before I have to haul you away for working with radioactive waste unprotected. That’s a hazard to civilization.” Tessa scrubbed at her tongue like she’d swallowed poison.
Liv shot her a glare but snagged the bowl from the countertop, bringing her creation over to the trash can. As she scooped out the gunk she let out a sigh. As much as she wanted Z and her bestie to become fast friends, with his colorful history and the fierce devotion Tessa had to her job, she wasn’t sure if they’d even manage civil. Hell, she hadn’t dared broach the subject with Lex. There were still so many unknowns between her and Zane as they tread this uncharted territory, too much tangled history to involve her brother yet.
“Earth to Liv, do I get to meet him?” Tessa asked, waving a manicured hand in front of her face.
Liv allowed herself a small smile at the demands of her loving-as-hell and ferocious friend. “You can, but I’ve got to talk to him first. Cops make him a bit twitchy.” Tessa folded her arms across her chest. With the crook of her brow, she gave Liv the go-ahead to continue. Liv let out a sigh, scraping a bit of batter from her curls. “He’s an ex-con—got locked up when we were younger, but his record’s been clean ever since.”
The tension she wanted to avoid descended. Tessa’s expression darkened, her brows furrowing with the stubborn line that always appeared between them. “What was he locked up for?” she asked with an edge to her voice that hadn’t been there before.
Liv swallowed, hard, knowing Tessa wouldn’t like the picture she was about to paint. “I don’t know. Zane and Lex used to be best friends back in high school, but when he got locked up, Lex refused to broach the subject.” Tessa didn’t say a word, but the judgment in her pursed lips slammed into Liv full force. She knew how bad the situation appeared on the surface. Her choice made no logical sense, to go on dates with a ghost from her past with such a complicated history. And of course, after the way she’d been hurt she should be exercising more caution than ever.
Except she also knew how her own story looked on paper. She’d been at the mercy of labels before, and she could vouch that they failed to scratch the surface of her reality.
“Even if he’s been clear ever since, if he murdered someone, that’s a pretty big stain, which doesn’t go away. You can spend a lifetime trying to repent for one transgression,” Tessa warned. “Have you tried talking to your brother?”
Liv shook her head. “Hell no. We’re trying to sort this out ourselves without bringing family into the mix yet. And if Lex wouldn’t even tell me his best friend went to jail, why the hell would he ‘fess up now?” Tessa delivered a knowing stare back, and Liv pursed her lips. “Look, the Z I knew had been dealt a bad hand, but I’ve never met a more caring person in my entire life. Tessa, he’s the first guy I’ve felt safe around ever since…y’know.”
Liv trailed off, spreading her palms against her tile countertop as she braced herself. She understood clear as day why her bestie might be defensive and why she would raise these logical questions. How the hell could she explain the way her heart opened up around him for the first time in too long? When she was around him, the frozen tundra inside began to melt at long last. The old pain in his eyes, the same she’d seen when they were teens, was one she now understood.
Around Zane, for a brief breath she didn’t feel fucked up and damaged.
Tessa clenched her jaw before letting out a huff of a sigh. “I can already see you’re stubborn about this one, so I’m not going to waste time fighting you on him. However, if you don’t find out why the hell he got locked up, and soon, I’ll find out myself. You can’t ask me to sit on the sidelines if I don’t know you’re safe.”
They locked eyes in a battle of wills, neither willing to relent. Finally, Liv tilted her head with a slight nod. She understood Tessa’s desperation to protect, to keep her safe. Because back in college they’d both been at that party, and Tessa had called it an early night. Her best friend still hadn’t forgiven herself for not being there, no matter how many times Liv assured her that the blame belonged to the monster who fucked her up and no one else.
“I know you’re all about giving people second chances, but some assholes don’t deserve them.” Tessa shrugged, slipping her hands into her pockets. “I’ve seen enough ex-cons in my time who swore up and down they were fine, that they’d changed their ways and gotten better, but eventually, I was the one hauling them back in. First couple times I might’ve gotten suckered, but after a while, all those false promises amount to a heaping pile of bullshit.”
Liv’s throat tightened. She wouldn’t even bring up the alcoholism that ran in his family, because she guaranteed Tessa would construct a wall around her on the spot to keep her from seeing Zane again. After Tessa’s dad died at the hands of a drunk driver, the woman brewed an intense hatred for alcoholics, one she wouldn’t dismiss. Combine that with ex-con and it created a recipe for disaster.
Hell, Liv didn’t even know if she could handle a relapse from him when she could barely control her own body. However, she refused to dismiss the way he made her heart race and her senses ignite, how he made her hope again after so long. The Zane Parata she knew could brood like the best of them and would try to shoulder his burdens alone until they buried him. And after the tender way he’d handled her last night, she glimpsed the man she’d once fallen for no matter how the years apart had shaped them both.
Liv nodded, meeting Tessa’s gaze. “I’ll find out. I promise. Now let’s move the hell past my love life and get to a coffee shop for real muffins, away from this monstrosity spawning in my kitchen.”
Liv’s stomach started doing cartwheels once she stepped in front of the pool hall, Billiards Anonymous. The music from the band trailed out to the parking lot, the slick, smooth sounds of her favorite kind of rockabilly drawing her in like a siren’s lure. Even though the hour was already late, she would take whatever time she could get with Zane. The idea of seeing him again caused this jittery twelve-cups-of-coffee excitement to course through her veins, melding with the dread he’d no-show, or that in diving into the interrogation Tessa demanded, she would scare him off for good. As much as his presence struck her veins like a match, too many unknowns percolated between them.
Zane stepped under the blue awning and lit his cigarette, his height, stature, and the looming shadow he cast making him unmistakable. Liv’s breath hitched at the sight. He’d groomed his thick mane of black hair back and trimmed his beard. The sallow light of the streetlamps enhanced the contrast of the tattoos coiled up his bronze arms, a web of trees with branches and roots that circled back into the other. The way his gray tee clung to his toned muscles and how his black cargo pants placed his strong thighs on display was enough to stoke her libido.
Even with the way he made her salivate, shame still circulated through her veins in the wake of how she’d ruined what promised to be some of the most mind-blowing sex of her life. With the unpredictable way the reminders of that one night crept up, she couldn’t guarantee their next encounter wouldn’t end the same. Another freeze-up, another freak-out, another way for her to ruin a good thing. Zane would get sick of the difficulties and walk. She couldn’t blame him either. Liv sucked in a deep breath, dispelling her nerves as best she could manage.
“Who’re you waiting for, big guy?” she called out before slinking towards him. Her stiletto heels clacked on the pavement, lurid red in the light, creating the perfect accent to the black cigarette pants and matching headscarf she wore.
Zane’s eyes met hers, and he let out a low whistle upon her approach. She didn’t bother lying to herself that the heated way his stare rolled over her added a bit more swing to her hips.
“Some bombshell stunner who I was half a shade sure would stand me up tonight.” His easy grin made her heart stutter, causing giddiness to swirl through her veins. Still, she smirked at him and led the way towards Billiards Anonymous.