Pretty Little Hellion (Rocker Universe: Pretty Little #3)

13. Hayat

Chapter Thirteen

Hayat

Freshly showered and dressed, I double-checked that the others were decent. Sparks had jumped in the shower as soon as Jamie and I had come out of the bathroom, and now he was in jeans and a muscle shirt, body paint completely gone. Ky was in the bathroom now. Jamie was still buttoning up his shirt, but he had clothes on.

Unlocking the door, I found Abi waiting patiently in the hall, Vaughn right behind her so he could wrap his arms around her and rub her belly. He always held her like that, as if he was trying to hug their baby as well as her at all times.

An unexpected knot of emotion filled my throat. I wasn’t sure when I would get to see my bestie again. It had been hard enough when she was in Creswell Springs for college, but at least then, I knew when she would be able to come home for a visit. I’d always counted down the days between her breaks.

Now that she was married and no doubt already planning for the arrival of her baby, I didn’t know when I would get to hug her again.

As if she was thinking the same thing, tears filled her blue eyes, and we both moved forward at the same time. Choking back a sob, I hugged her to me tightly. “I already miss you,” I whispered.

“M-me too.” She tightened her arms around me like a vise, neither of us ready to let go. “I’ll come back as soon as I can. I don’t even know if I’m going to go back to school. That will make visits easier to arrange.”

“I’ll come visit you as often as I can,” I promised. “And we can still FaceTime…right?”

“Every day,” she assured me, her voice shaking.

Closing my eyes, I reinforced the dam holding my tears at bay. Taking a moment to breathe in my best friend’s scent, hoping it would be enough to hold me over until I could hug her again, I slowly lifted my head.

Vaughn stood stiffly behind her, his eyes darting around, but somehow I knew it was because his wife was openly crying and he couldn’t do anything about it, rather than that he was worried she was in imminent danger.

I wanted to hate Vaughn. For making Abi cry even one tear in the past. For taking her away from me for who the fuck knew how long. For being her number one now, when for the last twenty years, I had been the one in that spot.

But I didn’t, for no other reason than he made Abi happy. I could forgive a lot if it meant she was safe and spoiled and happier than I’d ever seen her in my life.

Abi sniffled, pulling my focus back to her, and I hugged her closer. “I’m only a call or a text away. You need me, I’m there.”

“Same,” she choked out. “Day or night.”

“You’ll send me a copy of any ultrasound pictures you get?” I asked hopefully, touching my hand to her still-flat belly. “I want to know all about Hayat Junior’s progress.”

She snorted out a laugh while Vaughn grumbled something in Russian. I wagged a finger at him, narrowing my eyes on him in a way that usually had Evan and Bentley putting physical distance between themselves and me. “Uh-uh, my dude. None of that. I’m going to enforce Abi’s English-only rule.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and showed Abi the new app I’d downloaded. “I added this the other day. It will translate anything he says in Russian to English until we learn the language. I also got one of those online language courses. By the next time I see you, I’m going to have the basics down. I’ll at least be able to tell him to eat a bag of dicks by then.”

As I’d hoped, her sniffles turned into giggles. “I love you so much, Hayat. I swear we will be back for a visit soon. Maybe by the end of the summer when my parents return from their tour.”

Having a possible date to look forward to, I kissed her cheek and gave her a final hug. Reluctantly, I released her, but I returned to scowling at Vaughn. “If she ever calls me and she’s crying because of you, they will never find your body.”

“Ah, shit,” I heard Sparks mutter behind me. “Hayat, we gotta talk about you threatening dangerous people.”

I shrugged, not breaking eye contact with Vaughn. “I didn’t threaten anyone. It was a promise. Keep her happy or—”

Sparks’s hand covered my mouth, muffling the rest of my emphatic promise. “Enjoy the honeymoon,” he said. “Keep in touch.”

I elbowed him in the ribs, but he didn’t release his hand. Abi snickered and kissed my cheek before stepping back into the safety of Vaughn’s arms. “I’ll text you. You and the guys were amazing out there tonight. I swear, you all gave me goose bumps. It was phenomenal. Good luck with recording tomorrow. I want to know everything. Be good. Be safe. And please, at least try to stay out of trouble.”

Pulling Sparks’s hand away, I blew her a kiss. “That goes double for you. And don’t forget, I’ll be keeping my eyes on you, Vaughn.” I pointed my index and middle finger at my eyes then at him. “Keep her happy twenty-four seven, or else.”

His lips twitched upward, the first sign of a smile I’d gotten out of him since we’d been introduced. “You have my word, Hellion.”

They took the back exit out of the club, and as soon as the door closed behind them, Sparks growled and spun me around to face him. “Are you insane? Do not challenge that guy again, Hayat.”

Seeing the genuine distress in his eyes, I gave him a quick kiss. “I understand that you worry about people like Vaughn and maybe even Sammy. And I respect that other people who are like them might pose a threat. But neither Vaughn nor Sammy would harm me.”

“You don’t know that!” he exploded, his anxiety over my safety causing him to raise his voice, his eyes wilder than Ky’s could get when he went all feral on me. I saw fear in those depths. A fear that had been hard-earned.

“Yeah, babe, I do know. And the answer to how I know is plain and simple. Abi. And even if there were a real danger, that wouldn’t stop me. For the same exact reason. Abi. She’s my best friend. I’d walk through fire for her. No matter what.” I stroked my fingers over his cheek. “Don’t worry about me when it comes to Vaughn.”

“Goddess—”

“I have good instincts about people, Sparks.” I gave him another quick kiss. “Please, trust me on this.”

“It’s hard, Hayat. I love you so fucking much. If anyone from my past got near you, they would snatch you from me in a heartbeat to get to me. I will trust you, but I need your trust in return.” His melted-chocolate eyes had become dark pools, hiding the nightmares of his past from me and breaking my heart for the boy who had been forced to become something I knew his soul wasn’t made for but he’d had no choice in becoming. “If I or the guys ever signal that you shouldn’t be around someone, then you have to respect that we know best in that situation. For your safety and our sanity.”

Wrapping my arms around him, I pressed my face into his neck. I wanted to wipe away all those dark memories, replace them with ones that wouldn’t haunt him. Give him a taste of relief from the ugliness life had thrown at him. “Okay. I promise.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, his arms contracting around my waist. “If anything were to happen to you, it would kill me, goddess. Now that we’ve found you, there is no way I could live without you.”