Inferno - Chelle Bliss by Chelle Bliss

I blink and stare at him, having nothing other than the obvious. “You have a life, and I’m interrupting it.”

“I’m going home to eat some old pizza and go to sleep. Unless you plan to not sleep and play loud music all night, you wouldn’t be interrupting my night at all.”

There’s a knock at his window, and we both jump. He swings his head around to look at the two people outside, waving wildly.

“Fuck,” he hisses before rolling down his window. “Hey.” His mood immediately changes from annoyed to jovial. “What are you two doing here?”

An older man with a long gray beard smiles at him before his gaze moves to me. “Was about to ask you the same thing, kid.”

“Funny running into you here, honey. Who’s the girl?” the older, shorter woman asks, clinging to the man next to her.

“This is Opal,” my rescuer says.

I’ve already forgotten his name, which should be a crime. I was so lost in the moment that I didn’t take any time to file away that bit of information.

“Hi, Opal,” the woman says with the kindest smile and eyes. “You kids coming in for a drink?”

“No. It’s late. I need to sleep.”

The older man laughs. “Late? Stone, man. You’ve gotten old in a heartbeat.”

Stone fits him too. He’s big and wide. He looks solid although I haven’t touched him. He was big enough to send Jeff out the door without even taking a shot at him.

“Adulting isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“This is about the time you used to head out to the club, and now you’re running home to get some shut-eye?” the man says to Stone.

“Come in for a beer,” the lady insists. “Just one. You and your girlfriend.”

“I don’t know, Auntie.”

Auntie? This guy has family everywhere, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think we were being followed by them.

I have no family, and with that, I never had to worry about running into anyone at a bar late at night. But part of me thinks that’s nice and somehow I’m missing out on something.

“I have to get Opal home,” he says.

But now’s my shot. He’s done enough for me for the night—hell, for a lifetime. This may be my only chance to walk away and leave him free and clear of my bullshit.

“Come on. I’ll buy you two a beer or whatever girlie shit your generation drinks now,” the man insists, ticking his head toward the bar.

I giggle at that. I like this guy. He’s rough-looking. Someone I’d probably have turned the other way from if I saw him coming toward me, but I would’ve been wrong. He has a kindness to him that has a way of drawing you in.

“You want a beer?” Stone asks me, pleading with his eyes for me to say no.

“Sure.”

Stone closes his eyes, knowing I killed his hopes of getting away from his aunt and uncle. I feel a little bad, but not entirely. Having a drink and making an older couple happy outweighs Stone’s old pizza.

“Is the kitchen still open?” Stone asks.

“Sure as fuck is,” the man replies.

“I’m starving,” Stone says, scratching his stomach through his T-shirt. “Fine. We’ll come for one drink.”

The older woman’s smile grows wider. “Fan-fucking-tastic. We never get you to ourselves, and with such a lovely lady too. This is a treat.”

The couple backs away from the car, and Stone puts up his window, grumbling under his breath. “There’s no hope of keeping this a secret now. Sorry, Opal.”

“No need to apologize, Stone. We’ll have a drink, and I’ll have a plan by the time we’re finished.”

“If your plan isn’t solid, I have that spare bedroom with your name on it.”

“Okay.”

“Just so you know,” he says as he reaches for his door handle, “Bear and Fran are nosy as hell. They’re going to ask questions and a lot of them. I’ll let you answer, and I’ll follow your lead. Tell them what you want, or stay quiet if you want me to do the talking. They’re the nicest people, but they always want to know everything.”

“Got it.” I smile, wrapping my fingers around my door handle.

“Ready for this?”

I nod and push open my door, stepping into the damp evening air that smells like salt and the ocean. It’s something I notice every time I walk outside. After growing up in Chicago, surrounded by the smells of the city, I never want to get used to the cleanness of the air here.

His aunt and uncle walk in front of us, holding hands like a couple of kids.

It makes my heart ache a little.

I want something like that.

Stone sneaks a glance at me as we walk toward the bar.

I want to reach out and wrap my arm around his, but I stop myself, remembering this isn’t a date.

He may have saved me, but I’m still nothing to him and he’s a stranger to me.

The music smacks us in the face as soon as the doors open. The bar isn’t well lit, and there are people everywhere.

It’s an easy place to blend in and get lost.

It’s perfect for tonight.

“There’s a table!” his aunt Fran says, shouting over the music and waving her hand in the direction of the only open table in the place.