Forever Altered (16 page)

“Even
though I may be losing my best friend to some girl, I’m glad.  I told you
she was good for you.”

“Let’s
go grab Tyler.  Alyssa insisted that I be holding her within thirty
minutes and I’m running out of time,” I say punching Shane in the shoulder as I
walk by him.

“I
can already tell it’s going to be a long, nauseating night,” he mumbles.

Twenty-five
minutes after hanging up the phone with Alyssa, I pull into the parking lot of
the restaurant where we are meeting the girls.  Her car is already parked
and there is no sign of the three of them.  The second we walk through the
door, I spot her standing in the far corner of the waiting area while Paige and
Leah are sitting in the chair next to her.  She looks in my direction at
the sound of the door closing behind me.  The gleam in her eyes screams
she is just as happy to see me as I am to see her.  It feels like it takes
me an eternity to cross the small room to get to where she is.  As soon as
I do, my open arms lure her to me and Alyssa’s body falls into mine
naturally.  The stress and worry from the last few days fall away.  I
feel like I’m home.

“You
had three minutes and thirteen seconds to spare,” she whispers in my ear. 
“If I would have known that a time limit would have worked, I would have made
it twenty minutes.”

I
chuckle next to her as the first sense of relaxation falls over me since I left
her alone and asleep in her room Wednesday night.  “I would have been here
sooner if I didn’t have to wait for the guys.  Next time, I’ll make them
walk.”

Alyssa
pulls back to look me in the eye.  The serious look on her face has me
gasping for air.  “Please promise me you won’t ever make me worry like
that again.”

“Sunshine,
I’m so sorry...”  She cut me off by covering my mouth with her fingers.

“I
don’t want you to apologize right now.  I need you to promise me you won’t
drink like that again and scare the shit out of me.  Please,” she
begs.  Her eyes show the fear she has been feeling probably since talking
to Shane Thursday night.

“I
promise,” I tell her.  I’ve never meant anything more in my entire life.

“Alright
you two, we get it.  Everything is just perfect again.  Now let’s
go.  Our table is ready,” Leah says from somewhere behind me.  Damn
can she be annoying sometimes.

“We
shouldn’t push her,” Alyssa whispers.  “She has us all on a time schedule,
so no one has an excuse to oversleep tomorrow and miss painting The Rock.”

“I’m
standing right here.  I can hear you,” Leah snaps.  Alyssa is
giggling again.  I’m glad our moment has passed, but I will still need to
make it up to her.  She needs to know that I truly mean to keep my
promise.

“Baby,
you don’t have to get so worked up.  You know how much we all love to
tease you,” Tyler tells her pulling her by the hand.  “We wouldn’t be able
to function without you keeping us all in line.” 

“Damn
right,” she replies to him, but she eases up and smiles.  Leah might be
the one keeping everyone else in line, but Tyler knows just how to talk to
her. 

Everyone
had a great time at dinner.  Even though I’m not a big fan of bowling, it
was actually really fun.  It was nice of Alyssa and Paige to plan all of
this out and to accommodate Shane with his request of bowling.  I would
have to thank them later.  The best part for me was watching my friends
interact with my girlfriend.  They treat her with respect and at the same
time like she’s always been a part of our small group.  Shane and I have
been friends for over ten years.  We didn’t meet Logan and Troy until
freshmen year at college, but we are all pretty tight.  Having her fit in
with them is more than I could ever ask for.  She even takes their
obnoxious bantering and shoves it right back at them. 

On
our way back to campus, I felt myself keeping an eye on Alyssa in my rearview
mirror driving behind me and getting worried if someone pulled in between the
two of us.  She mentioned something once about not feeling comfortable
about driving at night.  I should have made Shane drive my car and rode
with her.  How did I not think of that before?  Tyler went with her,
but that doesn’t make me feel any better.  Good thing the bowling alley
wasn’t that far from school. 

Once
we are parked in the parking lot, the guys all walk over to Alyssa’s car with
me.  They even offer to help Alyssa and Leah carry their bags. 
Besides their overnight bags, the three of them did some serious shopping
today.  I go to grab one bag that was hanging in the back and Leah smacks
my arm.

“I’ll
get that one.  You have to wait until next Saturday to see that. 
Alyssa is going to look amazing in the dress I picked out,” Leah says
practically bouncing up and down. 

“Leah,
it’s no big deal.  Don’t forget I still have time to go out and get a
different one.  I’m not sure that one will work,” Alyssa says walking
away.

“What? 
Tell her, Paige.  This dress is beautiful just hanging on the hanger but
once you put it on, it’s exquisite!”

“It
does look pretty good, Alyssa,” Paige encourages her.  It’s just like
Alyssa to blow this off.  She doesn’t think she looks good in
anything. 

“Well,
shit, now I want to see it,” Shane starts from behind me as we walk to the main
entrance of the apartment building. 

“Watch
it,” I send him a warning glare.  They all laugh at my expense, including
Alyssa, who also reaches out to hold my hand.

We
enter the building and start to walk through the lounge when I hear Shane
mutter, “Oh shit.  Not now.”  I turn in the direction he is looking
and see Ryan is heading our way.  He doesn’t even live in this
building.  Why the hell is he here?

“Hey
Rocco.  Long time no see,” he slurs.  This is not going to end
well.  I can already feel the anger boiling inside of me just from the
bullshit he pulled the other night.  “How nice of you to hand deliver her
to me.  I was thinking it would take a little longer before getting that
hot piece of ass in my bed.”

Something
snaps inside of me as I’m preparing to rip him to shreds.  Through the
cloudiness the anger has built, I somehow feel a touch on my arm that I’ve
grown so desperate for.  My attention is drawn away from the asshole
provoking me into a fight to the girl who has stolen my heart.  Her grip
on my hand has tightened and she shakes her head once before tilting it toward
the stairwell.  I’m frozen in place.    

“Come
on, man.  It’s time you passed her down the line.  You’ve had long
enough to play with her,” Ryan taunts me. 

Alyssa
flinches at how the bastard is talking about her, but she recovers
quickly.  She lets go of my hand and puts both of her hands on the sides
of my neck holding me in place.  It’s unmistakable that she can read the
torment rolling through me.  I can hear Shane and Troy in the background
yelling at Ryan, but it shouldn’t be them defending my girl.  It should be
me.  “Kiss me,” she insists.  At first I’m confused as to why she
thinks this is the right time or place.  Then once her lips cover mine,
I’m powerless to do anything other than what she asks.  She pulls away
slowly running her hands from my neck, down my arms, until they reach mine
where she grabs ahold of them and guides me to the stairs.  I have forgotten
all about the chaos ensuing behind me.

It
isn’t until we get to her apartment that I am aware our friends have followed
behind us.  Leah walks around where we are standing to open the door for
everyone.  I still have not been released from Alyssa’s gaze until she pulls
me inside where she finally lets go of my hands only to collapse into me. 

“Damn,
Alyssa.  That was pretty good.  I have never seen anyone control
Rocco like that in all the years I’ve known him,” Shane says causing me to seek
him out.  “Don’t give me that look.  You know it’s the truth.”

“Are
you okay?” Alyssa asks distracting me from Shane.

“I’m
fine,” I’m barely able to get out.  “You should have let me beat the shit
out of him.  No one should talk about you that way.”  Normally if
someone would have distracted me from a fight, it would have only shifted my
anger on to them.  Instead I’m left feeling horrible that someone got away
with talking about Alyssa like she is some whore.  I brush the hair out of
her face that has fallen over her eye. 

“I don’t
want you to fight with him over this.  You will only be giving him what he
wants.  As long as he doesn’t touch me, I don’t want you to even
acknowledge him.”  I hear what she is saying and I get she doesn’t want
anything to happen to me, but there is no way he’ll ever stop.  “You won’t
let him get to you again.  If he’s stupid enough to even lay a finger on
me, then all bets are off.  You have my permission to do your worst. 
As for now, I will not be the reason you get into a fight with anyone.  Do
you understand, Rocco?  It’s not optional.”  Something tells me
something similar has happened before and she doesn’t want to go there again,
so I agree with her.  “Thank you,” she whispers wrapping her arms around
me again.

“Don’t
expect a kiss from me to snap you out of some future rampage if Alyssa isn’t
around.  Seriously, that’s not going to happen,” Shane says shaking his
head.  This breaks the ice and everyone starts snickering around us. 

Alyssa
lets go of me and takes her stuff to her room.  I help her by grabbing the
bags the guys left on the table.  Shane pokes his head in her room to let
me know him and Logan are leaving.  Alyssa and I say goodbye to the two of
them who are followed by Troy and Paige.  Before leaving Troy checks with
me to make sure that I’m good and won’t be venturing downstairs anytime
soon.  I assure him everything is fine and that I have no reason to leave
this room.  After all, the person I want to be with is right here. 

Meanwhile,
Paige is saying goodbye to Alyssa.  “Thank you so much for inviting me
today.  I had a blast.  Actually, I haven’t that much fun in a long
time.”  She gives Alyssa a hug and I hear Logan say he may be staying, but
Shane pulls him through the door.  The girls ignore him. 

“Anytime,
Paige.  Thanks for coming.  It was a lot of fun.  We’ll have to
do it more often.”  Troy is thrilled over the new friendship the girls
have started. 

“I’d
like that,” Paige responds.  “Thanks, Leah.  Don’t forget you said I
could borrow that pair of shoes for the Halloween party.”

“You
got it,” Leah says.

“We’ll
see you guys bright and early at The Rock,” Paige adds before leaving with Troy
in tow.  With all of this help, we should be able to knock the painting
out in no time.

Leah
comes into the girls’ bedroom and slips her shoes off only to grab another pair
from her closet.  She starts throwing some clothes into a bag.  “What
are you doing?” Alyssa questions her.

“I’m
going to sleep at Ty’s since Mark isn’t there.  He took Erin, Julia, and
Tommy home for his friend’s party, remember?  Since I haven’t seen my
boyfriend in a few days, I figured I would take advantage of the
situation.”  Leah winks at me and I chuckle softly.  Then she gets
serious again when something occurs to her.  “They better be at The Rock
by their scheduled time tomorrow morning.  I don’t care what they did
tonight.  They were warned.”  Alyssa laughs at her.  “I’ll be
back to get you up in the morning,” she says kissing Alyssa on the cheek. 
Good thing Logan wasn’t here for that.  “I know how much you
love
getting up early on Sundays, so I’ll make breakfast for you.”

“Not
too early.  I haven’t had a good night sleep in days.”  I frown
because I know she hasn’t slept because I acted like an ass and made her worry.

“I
know, but everything is fine now, right?”  Alyssa nods at her and Tyler
goes to pick up Leah’s bag.  “Good night,
Lyss
. 
Thanks again for coming home with me.  I really hate being alone at night
in that house.”  I’m glad I kept my mouth shut after hearing that.

“Anytime. 
See you in the morning,” Alyssa says as they go to leave.

“Good
night, Rocco.  Don’t forget your painting duties,” she adds.

“I’m
looking forward to it,” I say. 

Tyler
reaches over to shake my hand.  “She will hunt you down if you aren’t
there.  Just saying.”  We laugh. 

“Ty,
are you seriously trying to ruin your chances of getting laid for the next
month?”  We laugh harder.  Well, Alyssa and I do anyway.

When
the door to the apartment closes, she is instantly at my side.  “You have
as long as it takes me to change and brush my teeth before you are talking to
me about whatever was wrong,” she warns.  My eyes close and I feel myself
taking a deep breath as she walks away.  “Rocco,” she calls me
softly.  The way my name sounds coming from her makes my heart do some
crazy shit.  When I look at her she asks, “Will you please stay with me,
tonight?”

“Sunshine,
I’m trying to figure out how to stay with you every night.”  It gets me
that beautiful smile of hers before she goes into the bathroom.  I’m not
sure if she wants to talk in here or the living room, but I get her bed ready
for her anyway.  Only for a minute do I think about the fact that no one
will be here for the rest of the night and what we could be doing instead of
talking.  I don’t want our first time to have any bad memories attached to
it.  After the last few nights and my almost blow out with Ryan, tonight
is not the night for it.  I’ll stick with my original plan of waiting
until after the charity dinner next weekend.