Komal Kant - Wrong Side of Town

This house wasn’t much to look at, but me and my brothers had done our best to fix it up over the years and had expanded it so that we had a lot more room. My room was one of the new rooms we’d built, and it stretched across almost half the back of the house with a window view of the trees that surrounded the creek.

I didn’t bother turning on the light; I just led Estella right to my bed and pulled back the covers, waiting for her to get in. She hesitated for a few seconds, but finally slid into the bed.

Taking a deep breath and telling my hormones to keep themselves under control, I slid in beside her and pulled the covers over us. It was a cold night and I could feel her shaking beside me, so I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

When she didn’t fight me and relaxed against me, I let out a breath and planted a kiss on her forehead. We lay there in the silence, both of us wide awake, but neither of us saying anything. It was a comfortable silence; nothing needed to be said. We weren’t going to have sex; I just needed her with me.

It’d been a long time since I’d had a girl in my bed without having sex with her, but that’s not what I wanted to do with Estella right now. All I wanted was to be close to her, so she knew that, yeah, I was drunk; I was stupid, but I cared about her more than she could understand.

Finally, when the silence became too much for me, I spoke. “I meant everything I said tonight.”

“I know.”

Estella

Even though Vincent and I hadn’t had sex last night, I felt like I was doing the walk of shame when I left his bedroom the next morning and walked to the kitchen.

If you asked me why I’d decided to stay the night with him and sleep in the same bed, I honestly couldn’t tell you. Maybe it was because I did have strong feelings for him, or maybe it was because he had sounded completely genuine about everything he’d said to me last.

Whatever my reasons were, I’d made my choice. I’d chosen to stay with him. And you know what? I’d actually liked it. I’d liked being close to him and holding him, and running my fingers over the taut muscles of his stomach.

I’d liked that he hadn’t tried to make a move on me even though he’d been drunk and could easily overpower me. Most of all, I liked that I could trust him.

The delicious smell of bacon and eggs frying wafted in from the kitchen, and when I stepped inside, I found Vincent and Dylan standing at the stove.

“Um, good morning,” I said, suddenly feeling shy.

Both Vincent and Dylan turned around, and Dylan ran to me and hugged me so tight that my ribs started to hurt.

“Estella! Vin’s cooking up breakfast for us!”

My eyes locked with Vincent’s. His expression was serious as he watched me before turning back to the stove and continuing with his cooking.

“Oh, wow,” I said, not really what to make of Vincent cooking. I didn’t even know he could cook. “Iguess I'm rubbing off on you, huh? Well, I'm pretty hungry so I'mexcited to try Vincent's cooking."

Dylan beamed. “Let me get you a plate.”

He bounded off and started rummaging around in the cupboard. Vincent turned around again and took the pan off the stove and advanced towards me.

“Sit down, darlin’.”

Sill surprised that Vincent had cooked breakfast, I took a seat at the table unsure of how to act around him. Was he still the same guy from last night who'd confessed his feelings for me, or was he someone completely different? Sometimes with Vincent you never knew what you were going to get.

Dylan set the table and sat down across from me, and Vincent walked over with the frying pan and filled my plate with eggs and bacon. There was way too much food for me on the plate, but it smelled delicious.

Vincent sat down across from me and gave me the smallest smile. "Eat up, Stelle."

I didn't want to offend him so I dug into the eggs. They were a little under cooked so I took a bite of bacon instead. It was difficult to bite into so I put it back on the plate and stared around at the table.

There was an awkward silence as we all looked at each other before Dylan burst inti laughter.

“Hey, if it’s that bad, just say it.” Vincent said, scowling back at us.

“It’s really bad,” I blurted out.

“You try and do something nice for someone but no one appreciates it.” Despite the scowl on his face, Vincent’s tone was light and it was pretty clear that he wasn’t actually annoyed. He ate a forkful of eggs and made a face. “Okay, fine, it does taste bad.”

The entire situation got to me and I also started laughing. Vincent tried to glare at me, but as soon as he made eye contact, he burst into laughter too.

“Do we have to eat this?” Dylan asked, picking at his eggs with his fork.

“No, Kid, you don’t have to.” Vincent reached over and tousled his hair. “Why don’t you go eat some cereal? I need to talk to Estella for a sec.”

“Okay, sure.” Dylan pushed his chair back and stood up, and was just about to walk across the kitchen when he stopped and fixed me with a strange look. “Hey, why is Estella here so early?”

My cheeks immediately flamed at Dylan’s innocent question and my eyes darted to Vincent for help.

“She brought me home last night and fell asleep here.” Vincent didn’t miss a beat.

“Oh, okay.” Dylan shrugged and proceeded to the cupboard.

I didn’t know why I hadn’t said that instead of feeling all awkward about it. I guess a part of me felt like something more had happened between Vincent and me, even though it hadn’t.

Vincent stood up and I followed him out onto the porch. We were silent for a few minutes before Vincent finally spoke.

“I’m sorry for putting you in that position last night.” He paused. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. I’ve thought about the things you’ve said to me. I’ve thought about the choices I’ve made and what I can do differently.”

He turned his obsidian eyes on me, and it was like they were on fire. “I want to change for you. I need you to know that I can be a better person. I remember everything I said to you last night and I meant every single word. I want you to know that.”

My voice was soft when I spoke. “I believe you.”

I reached out and touched his face, his mouth, his forehead. Our eyes drank each other in and I suddenly felt as though the final obstacle between us had been overthrown. Whatever walls had been built up between us were now gone.

Vincent was someone I could trust. He was a friend.

* * *

When Vincent pulled up outside my house, my heart sank. Seth’s BMW was parked out front.

I knew he’d come over to see Savannah, but honestly, I didn’t want him to see me with Vincent. He wouldn’t like that I was hanging out with a guy like Vincent. I mean, it had nothing to do with him who I spent my time with, but I just knew that this was not going to play out well.

“Whose car is that?” Vincent asked, a protective edge in his voice as we both got out of the car.

There really wasn’t any way to avoid the confrontation that was coming. I could already sense that Seth and Vincent would not warm to each other.

The front door opened and Seth and Savannah stepped outside. Savannah waved at me. “I thought I heard you pull up!” She raised her eyebrows in question at Vincent but said nothing.

Seth, on the other hand, looked mad as we all met halfway. There was an awkward silence in which Seth—dressed in a crisp, clean suit—and Vincent—dressed in his usual leather jacket and jeans—eyed each other up.

Seth’s bottom lip curled and he looked revolted. “Who the hell is this, Estella? You stay out all night with guys like this? Where were you?”

Before I could open my mouth, Vincent took a step forward.  “I’m Vincent Madden. Who the fuck are you?”

Seth looked like he’d been slapped across the face. I guess no one had ever spoken to him like that before. We Markson kids were always polite and well-mannered. Vincent was from another world.

“I’m Estella’s cousin.” Seth straightened up and puffed out his chest like a rooster on display. In comparison to Vincent, there was nothing impressive about him.

Vincent snickered and he had that smirk playing around his mouth whenever he was feeling particularly smug or confident about something. He turned to me and lowered his voice.

“Dylan told me it’s your birthday tomorrow. I want you to come by the house at six.” He eyes flickered over to Seth. “If that’s okay with your cousin.”

Seth’s face turned red and he looked like he was about to say something nasty to Vincent but then thought better of it.

“My cousin doesn’t own me,” I said, fixing Seth with a fierce look.

“Good. As long as he knows that.” Vincent ran a hand through my hair and inclined his head at Seth before leaving.

I didn’t even bother acknowledging Seth further, and hurried past him and into the house, wondering what Vincent had planned for me.

Vincent

“Vincent, I can’t see anything!” Estella cried, waving her arm in front of her as she tried to feel for anything that was in her way.

She was blindfolded and I had her other arm linked through mine, guiding her down the path to the creek.

“It’s just a little further,” I said into her ear, smiling at the way goosebumps popped up on her neck.

When we finally reached the clearing in front of the dock, I took of Estella’s blindfold and waited for her to react.

Her eyes grew wide and she clamped a hand over her mouth, staring at me like she wasn’t sure what to say. “I-you-oh my gosh! You did this for me?”

I nodded, placing a hand on her lower back. “Yeah, I knew you liked the creek so I got Dil to help me out a little.”

Estella’s eyes wandered over the lanterns in the trees, to the fairy lights wrapped around the tree branches, and then to the table set up just in front of the dock. There was a picnic basket on it with some bread and cheese and chicken that I’d bought pre-cooked—nothing fancy, but I hoped it was the gesture that counted.

Estella’s face was glowing when she turned to me. “This is amazing! I can’t believe you did all this! No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.”

“I hope you like it,” I said, leading her to the table and pulling out her chair for her.

Once she was seated, all I could do was stare at her. Estella was goddamn beautiful and here she was looking at me like I was the most amazing person she’d ever laid eyes on.

And there was a smile on her face—a genuine smile that I’d given her, not that fake shit she was always putting on.

I served her up a plateful of food and she eyed it warily before accepting it.

“Don’t worry,” I said with a laugh. “I didn’t cook it this time.”

“I liked that you cooked for me,” Estella said as she chewed on a piece of chicken. “Even though I’ve tasted better food from an eight-year-old.”

“Ouch, that hurts my feelings.”

Estella laughed, tilting her head to the side so that her honey brown locks flowed over her shoulders. She was so beautiful and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was everything I needed. Nothing else mattered anymore.

“I’m glad that you’re trying to change, Vincent. It gives me hope.”

I reached across and took her hand in mine. “I’m trying to change for you. I want you to see that I can be a better person. I want you to proud of me instead of being disappointed all the time.”

“Yes, but you being in this gang, you fighting, those are things that aren’t right. You can’t use violence and intimidation to solve all your problems.”

I squeezed her hand. “I’m leaving all that behind, Stelle. I’m giving all that up for you, for Dylan. I want us to have a life together because there is no way I could picture you not being in my life. I want you, all of you, and I’m giving it all up for you.”

“What about the fight that’s coming up?”

“I told Ryder I wasn’t going to do it. I told him I quit.”

Estella’s expression completely changed and her mouth fell open as she pulled her hand free from my grasp. She stood up from her seat and shook her head, backing away from me slowly at the same time.

Suddenly it felt like a crushing weight had descended into my chest at the look in her eyes. I’d been sure Estella felt the same way about me, but now I wasn’t even sure.