Sad_Girl
Blue Crack Supplier
**Disclaimer: Though inspired in part by real people, none of the events which take place in this story are true, nor are they meant to represent in any way the people portrayed. Fiction. False. Not true.
The promises we make Part 19
Laney felt a bit like Alice on the other side of the looking glass. Or perhaps she’d had a psychotic break and found her way into one of her teenage fantasies. Either way, she was in a position she had never truly expected to find herself in. Not that she wanted out. If she had taken leave of reality to find herself in the line of Bono’s admiration, she didn’t want to be cured.
“I bet you have some stories to tell about these boys when they were younger.” Tessa said with a playful smile. Laney felt a broad grin cross her face and fought to control it. She had always felt she looked a bit foolish when she smiled like that; with her teeth showing and her cheeks dimpled.
“Oh, I have a few.” She agreed with a nod, her grin fought down to a smirk.
“Ah, she was too young to know any of the really embarrassing tales of our youth.” Edge informed Tessa as he settled down beside the pool, his long legs dangling down into the water. Laney couldn’t help but notice that there was a perfect circumferential area of his head which was a shade whiter than his face, neck and ears from the stocking cap he wore so often. It was a shame, really. He was a handsome man, in a very Irish sort of way. That certainly seemed to appeal to a great many women of the world.
“I don’t know about that.” Laney laughed, wondering if he even knew half of the things she’d seen over the years. There was a certain advantage to going ignored and underestimated. “I remember witnessing a party or two which might be of interest.”
“Uh-oh. There’s a good chance she remembers things we don’t.” Bono joked.
“I’d say that’s a given.” Laney replied, her eyes dancing. He’d been a slightly awkward youth, but handsome nonetheless. Now? She couldn’t imagine a man she would find more attractive. He wasn’t the slender hipped rocker type, he’d filled out as most people tend to do with age. He was fit, though, not flabby. He had thick hands and arms and a broad set of shoulders on him which made her mind wander, and he was not shy in the least about showing off that broad, firm chest.
He knew women found him attractive, that was clear enough. Laney wondered if he realized that was less to do with his actual physique and more to do with his confidence and attitude. Maybe, maybe not. Either way she doubted he’d change. He was who he was, and unless he felt there was something particularly wrong about himself, no one would convince him to behave in any other way.
“I hear you’ve done all right for yourself.” Bono said to her as he stretched out in the lounge chair next to her, his hands folded behind his head.
“Well, I don’t have a mansion here in Dublin and a summer home in France. No apartment in Manhattan. But I’m pretty happy with my life.” She told him.
“That’s what matters most, isn’t it?” He said, nodding in agreement with his own question. “So, are you married? Have kids?” He asked, not bothering to disguise the interest in his eyes.
“No and no. Married to my job, I suppose.” She replied honestly.
“I know you’re a doctor, where do you work?”
“I work in a Trauma Unit in Belfast.” She informed him.
“You’re living in Belfast, then?”
“No, I actually live in Carrickfergus.” She informed him, knowing even before she had completed her sentence what his reaction would be. She wasn’t disappointed.
“Oh I wish I was, I-in Carrickfergus…” He sang, his beautiful voice fitting the song as perfectly as if the old tune had been written just for him. She smiled at him, loving the sound of his voice just as much today as she had at age five.
“I’m sure she never gets tired of that.” Edge said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Bono’s quick reaction caught his friend off guard, as he leaned forward in his seat and gave Edge a playful shove. Bono was possibly more surprised than Edge when his shove set him off balance enough that he slipped into the pool, disappearing under the water at the deep end of the pool.
“Oh bollix.” Bono muttered, his eyes growing wide as Edge resurfaced sputtering and cursing. He climbed out of the pool quickly and began stalking toward Bono like a hungry jungle cat with the scent of blood in it’s nose.
Bono surprised Laney by quickly moving out of his own seat and sliding into hers, pulling her on top of himself as a human shield. Not that she was complaining. At all. Even if he had put her in mortal danger, she doubted she would complain. He was warm and solid underneath her, his sweet laughter in her ear and his moist breath against her skin. The surprise of it only added to the intensity of the sensation. That and the fact that she was barely clad, wearing a bikini which she had bought and worn only one other time, before that day.
She laughed out loud as Edge approached, still seemingly irate, and Bono referred to him as a ‘wet hen’. Needless to say, that did not help abate Edge’s vexation. Bono slid one thick hand across Laney’s exposed abdomen and wrapped the length of his arm around her, holding tight to her waist. His other hand was wrapped around her upper arm as he hid behind her.
She could hardly believe how solid he was; how very masculine. He smelled masculine, the width of his shoulders and squareness of his hips. Even the thickness of the thighs which she sat upon. He was everything she had fought for years to convince herself she would never find in one man.
“You wouldn’t hurt your own flesh and blood just to get even with me, would you?” Bono asked Edge with a smirk and Laney repressed a giggle. She tried to act impassive to the little game she had unintentionally become a part of, without hastening it’s end. She wasn’t in any particular hurry to move.
“You’d have been better off just gettin’ tossed in the pool.” Edge told him with a little smile. “Now you’re gonna be watching your back all the time, wonderin’ when it’s comin’.” Bono laughed at his friends threatening words. There was no malice in Edge’s eyes, and he knew the incident would be forgotten by the time the sun set that night.
Edge eyed his long time friend one more time as if considering going through Laney to get back at him, and then he settled into the chair Bono had abandoned. When Bono made no apparent move to leave, Laney leaned her head back, resting it against the mans shoulder.
“Getting’ comfortable, there, are ye?” She asked him, and he smiled at her, a smile which was just slightly too intimate for their relationship, and he nodded.
“I’m very comfortable, thanks.” He teased, his words softer than she expected them to be. They, too, carried an intimate quality. She swallowed hard over the lump which formed in her throat, her breathing picking up pace along with her heart as her eyes met his. Their faces were less than a foot apart, just about every other inch of their bodies touching already. She’d had sex dreams which were less erotic than this simple moment.
“Wait, wait…” He said, shifting his weight underneath her and directing her to a slightly different position. “Oh, yeah, right there, that’s better…” he told her with a dramatic moan, his eyes rolling back in his head playfully. She swatted him on the shoulder and rolled off his lap, afraid if she stayed any longer she would embarrass herself.
Did he know the power he held over her? The way the sound of his voice moaning like that made her feel? Her first response was doubt; she told herself he was only playing, after all. In her heart she wondered, though, if he had been testing her. Wanting to see how she would react. She smiled at him, her hands on her hips as she looked down at him in her chair.
“I ought to throw you in the bleedin’ pool myself, you scamp.” She told him and he grinned at her, silently daring her to try. She might have, too, if his mobile hadn’t began to buzz just then.
“Hello. Yeah, this is.” He answered the phone, his eyes finding some distant spot on the horizon as he spoke. “What? Right now? I don’t… right. Ok. No, no it’s ok.” He said, rising from the seat and saying goodbye before shoving the phone back into his trouser pocket.
“I’ve got to go, but it was really good seeing you again Laney.” He told her, his eyes meeting hers and lingering for a long moment. “Are we still on for tonight?” He asked, turning to Edge who nodded in agreement before Bono left in his usual whirlwind manner. He was a busy man, always in demand, someone or something else always needing his attention.
“Tonight?” Laney asked, looking at Edge. “ I thought we were going to dinner tonight?”
“We are.” Tessa told her. “Though we should call and change the reservations, tell them we have another guest.” She continued, thinking out loud now.
“It shouldn’t be a problem.” Edge told her, folding his hands behind his head and closing his eyes to the sun. Laney thought about it for a moment. In a few hours, she was going to see him again. She was used to going years in between meetings with the man, and now she had just a few hours to prepare herself to see him again. She excused herself, apologizing to Tessa for not sitting for the portrait for very long as she hurried off into the house.
“So how long has she been in love with him?” Tessa asked as soon as she was out of ear shot.
“What?”
“Laney. How long has she been in love with Bono?” She asked, and Edge shot her a bemused glance. “You do realize she’s in love with him, don’t you?”
“The only time she knew him at all, she was a child.” Edge argued, but in his gut he knew. He had always known. That was what made him so nervous about the reunion. It was a moment he’d been expecting for several long years. Tessa smiled at him knowingly.
“You know, the age difference isn’t so bad. They’re closer in age than Cat and Adam.” She said.
“Trine and Shane are closer in age difference than Cat and Adam, as well, but you wouldn’t bless that union, would you?” He replied, closing his eyes again and resting in the soothing afternoon sun.
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“Cat? Are you ready?” Adam called for the third time, looking at his watch as he stood near the doorway, anxious to leave for the evening.
“If I could find a pair of God-Damned pants that would actually fit!” She screamed back, her southern accent at it’s thickest when she was angry or frustrated. There was the sound of a discarded pair of pants hitting the door as she threw them violently across the room. Adam doubted he would get used to these temper tantrums. His hope lie squarely in the fact that she would only be pregnant for four more months.
“Why don’t you go shopping for maternity clothes? He had suggested a few days earlier. She had barely spoken to him for two days after that, and then she had wept and told him that he had called her fat. Now they were supposed to be meeting Edge, Tessa, and Bono for dinner, and they were already ten minutes past the time of the reservation.
Adam looked at Trine, who was rummaging through the refrigerator in search of something she had brought back from Texas with her. Apparently, nobody sold the type of salad dressing in Ireland which she liked to dip her French fries in. She felt his eyes on her back and turned to look at him, her eyes widening as she tried to think of a way out of what he was about to ask.
“Is there anything you can do to help her?” He asked, and the girl sighed, hanging her head defeatedly. For one thing, she wanted to be on her best behavior because he had allowed her to become a part of the band again. Another reason she was compelled to help was simply that she felt sorry for him. Cat was a handful, and he was clearly at the end of his rope. She turned on her heel and marched into their bedroom to hurry the process along and take the brunt of Cat’s foul mood.
A few moments later, when the door swung open and Cat stepped out in a flowing pastel skirt and a simple but beautifully cut silk shirt, Adam’s blue eyes shone pleasantly. Cat smiled shyly at his admiration, and Trine rolled her eyes at the pair.
“Thank you, Trine.” Adam told her politely and Trine fought a smile, which crossed her face anyway, and waved a dismissive hand. As much as she had once sought to hate the man, she loved him now. He was charming yet unassuming, spiritual and worldly at the same time. He was her father, but in so many ways, he was a friend, as well.
They weren’t gone five minutes before the phone rang, and Trine answered it with a sigh.
“Hey-llo?” she greeted the caller playfully, expecting it to be Edge or Tessa wondering where Adam and Cat were.
“Trine?” A familiar voice asked, and Trine’s heart quivered unexpectedly. “What are you doing tonight?” Alex asked, and trine glanced down at her cut-off sweat pants and ragged T-shirt, feeling like a total slob. As if he could see her through the phone. And why would it matter? It was just Alex, after all. It’s not like it was Larry or someone she wanted to think of her as pretty. But Alex had said she was pretty, already. The memory made her smile and blush, running a hand over her baby soft, short hair nervously.
“Nothing. Adam and Cat just went out to meet Edge, Tessa and Bono, I’m just sittin’ here.” She told him honestly, her palms starting to sweat in anticipation of him inviting her somewhere. She scolded herself for being so silly; he was just a band mate. An adorable band mate with a smile that made her stomach feel like it was full of butterflies.
“Oh. I was going to come over and see if Cat wanted to work on some stuff.” He replied, and Trine’s heart sank like a stone.
“Yeah, she’s out.” She told him again, her tone decidedly icy.
“Would you mind if I came over anyway? Maybe we could work on it. Or I dunno, watch a movie or something?” He asked, and she cursed herself for how quickly she agreed. She tried to act casually, after that, for fear he might get freaked out. She’d scared Larry away more than once by being too eager to see him.
As soon as she’d told him good-bye, she rushed back to her room to change her clothes, the thought barely crossing her mind that she hadn’t asked Adam if it would be ok to have someone visit. She dismissed it as quickly as it had occurred to her. He was a fellow band mate and a long time friend of Cat’s after all. What kind of trouble could it cause?
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When Edge, Tessa and Laney arrived at the restaurant they were quickly escorted to a table near the windows which was set aside from the other tables to ensure their privacy. She had to laugh at the way the young waiter fumbled over his words and dropped the menus as he tried to act naturally. It was obvious Edge was a hero to the boy.
Laney could understand why, he was definitely smart and talented. He had created something completely unique over the years. He had forged through and done things his way, because he didn’t like the way other people had done them. Still, he was, and would always be to her, just her cousin, Dave. A very cool if slightly annoying relative, someone whom she could count on to be there to help her out, and then to tease her mercilessly about it once the crisis had passed.
She doubted she would ever be the sort to like the sort of special attention he received. Even after so many years, he didn’t seem all that comfortable with it either. She was looking over the menu when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and a chill travel down her spine. She glanced up and saw his reflection in the window as he approached. She had to concentrate on her breathing to keep it slow and deep, and she spread the menu out on the table so no one would notice the way her hands had begun to tremble.
“There he is. I was beginning to think you and Adam had gone to another restaurant.” Edge greeted him with a little smile as Bono reached the table, patting Edge on the shoulders and then leaning in to kiss Tessa on the cheek in greeting.
“Adam’s not here yet?” He asked, though the answer was obvious, since neither Adam nor Cat were anywhere to be seen.
“Adam’s coming?” Laney asked with a soft smile, her eyes lighting up at the news.
“Yeah, he and his wife.” Edge informed her, barely noticing her enthusiasm as he scanned the menu as if it were the most serious decision of his life. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and Laney frowned, her throat tightening nervously at the possibility.
“Larry isn’t coming, is he?” She asked seriously, and Bono let out a surprised laugh.
“Oh, that’s right!” He said, shaking his head. “You’re scared of Larry, aren’t you?”
“No.” She replied defensively. She looked at her menu but could feel his eyes on her, knew he was smirking at her. “Not anymore.” She added softly, making him chuckle again. She glanced up at him with a mischievous smile and finished by adding, “Not since I got a cat.”
Everyone at the table, except for Tessa, laughed so hard that the entire dining room turned to look at them, wondering what was so funny. Edge actually had to rest his forehead on the table for a moment, doubled over with laughter.
“What?” Tessa finally asked, smiling a soft, bewildered smile at Laney, since she seemed to be the one who was most composed.
“Old joke.” She said dismissively, shaking her head.
“Larry hates cats.” Edge informed his fiancée’.
“Hates ‘em.” Bono echoed, since when their dear friend stated this fact he always said it twice for emphasis.
“No, Larry and his girlfriend are in the states with her family.” Edge finally replied to the original question.
“Why are you afraid of Larry?” Tessa asked seriously, her brown eyes wide with curiosity. Laney sighed and rubbed her eyes in embarrassment. It was a childish thing, being afraid of him.
“Because he used to chase her off when she tried to follow us around.” Edge informed her with a smile at the memory. “It got to the point he could scare her off just by looking at her.” He chuckled.
“At least he never turned the hose on you.” Bono told her with a playful wink.
“Feck he didn’t! He turned the hose on me once and threatened to stuff me in the bass drum more times than I can count!” she replied with mock indignation. The laughter from this was still rumbling when Adam and Cat arrived in a hurry, apologizing for their late appearance.
“Laney?” Adam asked, smiling a toothy smile when she turned to look up into those cobalt blue eyes of his. She could never resist that smile, it warmed her from the inside out, causing a wide grin to appear on her own face every time she saw it.
“Adam.” She replied, her eyes dancing as they washed over him. He had aged, she would not deny that, but he had aged as well as Bono had. How was it possible these men just kept getting sexier?
“Look at you, gel! Wow, how long has it been?” He asked, bending to embrace her in greeting. Laney chuckled and hugged him back, closing her eyes and savoring the memories which came rushing back to her.
“It’s been too long.” She replied sincerely as Adam moved away from her to pull a chair out for his pretty young wife, whom he introduced as Cat. Laney greeted her with a smile and a handshake, noticing her protruding belly with a smirk. Leave it to Adam, she thought, to find himself at age forty-five with a young, pregnant wife.
“I didn’t realize you guys were so close.” Edge said, his sea-green eyes darkening noticeably as he looked back and forth between Adam and Laney. Laney’s cheeks flushed and she smiled shyly.
“Oh, yeah. Adam was the first man I ever saw naked.” She informed him, looking at Adam with a mischievous grin, making Adam choke on the drink of water he had just taken. One of his giant hands hit the table as he managed to catch his breath through his laughter. Then he threw his head back and let out a belly laugh at the memory before running a hand over his face and trying to compose himself. He managed to contain his laughter, but could not seem to stop smirking.
“What?” Bono asked, and Laney had to admit her heart thrilled at the possibility that he was jealous. If you had told her, yesterday, that he would react at all to this story, she would’ve called you a liar. She turned her attention on the young woman sitting between herself and Adam to make sure she was not getting the wrong idea. Cat, it turned out, was laughing at the story.
“When I informed him of my intentions to study medicine, he graciously volunteered to give me an anatomy lesson.” Laney explained with a laugh.
“That sounds about right.” Cat said, nodding her head. Laney smiled approvingly. This woman knew Adam well, she thought, and she seemed to deal perfectly with who he was. Adam was a conundrum; a scoundrel and a gentleman at the same time. It would take a special kind of woman to appreciate that.
She glanced over at Edge to see him scowling rather than laughing.
“Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” She told him playfully. “It wasn’t so horribly inappropriate as you might assume. It was just … Adam.” Thankfully, right then, the young waiter returned inquiring about appetizers and drink orders, taking the focus off the revelation.
The conversation throughout dinner remained lively, full of laughter and energy, just as it always seemed to be around that particular group of men. Laney’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much, by the time the waiter inquired about dessert. She couldn’t recall a time when she’d had more fun.
When the hospital administration had imposed this ‘vacation’ on her, she had been irate. She should know better than them whether or not she needed a break. So what if the only vacation she had taken in past years had been to go to Africa and work with doctors without borders? She loved her work.
Her work was her life. She had no family to speak of, no love life, and very few interests which she bothered to pursue outside of medicine. She was bored out of her mind on days off, so why should she want an entire month to do nothing with?
She silently apologized for the curses she’d muttered while leaving the hospital that day, and the one’s she’d said while packing her bags. She had forgotten what it was like to really laugh out loud and be uninhibited. She felt like her old self again, for a while.
Then there was the other factor, of course. She was giddy over the way he looked at her, those deep blue eyes washing over her like warm water. She’d given up on ever seeing that look in his eye years ago, but there it was. She had doubted it, at first. Thought perhaps earlier, at their brief reunion in the backyard, she’d been imagining it. Now, after whiling away nearly two hours over dinner, she was certain she had seen it again.
Intimacy. Curiosity. Seduction. He said so much with his eyes, it was a wonder he ever needed to speak at all. Of course, she would hate to see that fabulous voice of his wasted, either. So when dinner was over and he suggested they go for a drink, somewhere, her heart felt as if it might explode. She was trying hard not to get dragged back down into her adolescent fantasies, but here she was practically living them.
“I don’t think so. Not tonight.” Edge replied, and Laney’s heart dropped into her gut. She turned to look at him in disbelief, feeling like a 12 year old girl who’d been told she couldn’t go to the slumber party all her other friends would be attending.
“Why not?” She blurted, sounding a lot like a twelve year old as well. She bit her lip and forced herself to get it together. The last thing she needed was to turn back into the little girl with a crush.
“Really. What else have you got to do?” Bono inquired, tossing back the last of the Guinness he’d ordered with his dinner. Laney tried not to stare as he licked the last few drops from his lips, but she realized she had failed miserably when he winked at her, making her blush bright red.
“I hate to say it, but I’m way too tired.” Cat replied with a sigh. She looked up into Adam’s eyes and told him, “You can go, if you want to. I don’t want to make you go home early if you want to stay out…” Adam rolled his eyes at her and kissed her on the tip of the nose, and Laney could almost see the love radiating from the pair like a visible aura.
Adam had never looked better. He was healthy, sober and in love. It gave her hope for her own future, to see him like that. She had often wondered if there was anything other than her work, left for her remaining years. Wasn’t love and romance, even family, supposed to have been established by the time she turned thirty two? Apparently, that just wasn’t the case.
Lost in her thoughts on that subject, Laney didn’t hear him, at first. Even then, it took a moment for it to register that he was speaking to her. She blinked up at him as he stood and stretched before moving around the table beside her.
“What?” She asked, her head foggy with the wine she’d had with her meal and simply being close enough to feel his body heat.
“I said it looks like it’s just you and me, then.” Bono repeated himself with a smirk, speaking more slowly and deliberately. “Unless you want to beg off as well?” He asked, leaning against the table in order to bring our faces closer to each other. As if she ever could tell him no, even if she wanted to. Which she couldn’t imagine.
“No. I mean, yeah. I mean… Just you and me.” She stammered, taking a final sip of her wine to buy herself a moment to get her heart to start beating again. She said her goodbyes and slipped out before anyone could possibly take the opportunity away from her, promising herself she would make this would be a night she would never forget.
The promises we make Part 19
Laney felt a bit like Alice on the other side of the looking glass. Or perhaps she’d had a psychotic break and found her way into one of her teenage fantasies. Either way, she was in a position she had never truly expected to find herself in. Not that she wanted out. If she had taken leave of reality to find herself in the line of Bono’s admiration, she didn’t want to be cured.
“I bet you have some stories to tell about these boys when they were younger.” Tessa said with a playful smile. Laney felt a broad grin cross her face and fought to control it. She had always felt she looked a bit foolish when she smiled like that; with her teeth showing and her cheeks dimpled.
“Oh, I have a few.” She agreed with a nod, her grin fought down to a smirk.
“Ah, she was too young to know any of the really embarrassing tales of our youth.” Edge informed Tessa as he settled down beside the pool, his long legs dangling down into the water. Laney couldn’t help but notice that there was a perfect circumferential area of his head which was a shade whiter than his face, neck and ears from the stocking cap he wore so often. It was a shame, really. He was a handsome man, in a very Irish sort of way. That certainly seemed to appeal to a great many women of the world.
“I don’t know about that.” Laney laughed, wondering if he even knew half of the things she’d seen over the years. There was a certain advantage to going ignored and underestimated. “I remember witnessing a party or two which might be of interest.”
“Uh-oh. There’s a good chance she remembers things we don’t.” Bono joked.
“I’d say that’s a given.” Laney replied, her eyes dancing. He’d been a slightly awkward youth, but handsome nonetheless. Now? She couldn’t imagine a man she would find more attractive. He wasn’t the slender hipped rocker type, he’d filled out as most people tend to do with age. He was fit, though, not flabby. He had thick hands and arms and a broad set of shoulders on him which made her mind wander, and he was not shy in the least about showing off that broad, firm chest.
He knew women found him attractive, that was clear enough. Laney wondered if he realized that was less to do with his actual physique and more to do with his confidence and attitude. Maybe, maybe not. Either way she doubted he’d change. He was who he was, and unless he felt there was something particularly wrong about himself, no one would convince him to behave in any other way.
“I hear you’ve done all right for yourself.” Bono said to her as he stretched out in the lounge chair next to her, his hands folded behind his head.
“Well, I don’t have a mansion here in Dublin and a summer home in France. No apartment in Manhattan. But I’m pretty happy with my life.” She told him.
“That’s what matters most, isn’t it?” He said, nodding in agreement with his own question. “So, are you married? Have kids?” He asked, not bothering to disguise the interest in his eyes.
“No and no. Married to my job, I suppose.” She replied honestly.
“I know you’re a doctor, where do you work?”
“I work in a Trauma Unit in Belfast.” She informed him.
“You’re living in Belfast, then?”
“No, I actually live in Carrickfergus.” She informed him, knowing even before she had completed her sentence what his reaction would be. She wasn’t disappointed.
“Oh I wish I was, I-in Carrickfergus…” He sang, his beautiful voice fitting the song as perfectly as if the old tune had been written just for him. She smiled at him, loving the sound of his voice just as much today as she had at age five.
“I’m sure she never gets tired of that.” Edge said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Bono’s quick reaction caught his friend off guard, as he leaned forward in his seat and gave Edge a playful shove. Bono was possibly more surprised than Edge when his shove set him off balance enough that he slipped into the pool, disappearing under the water at the deep end of the pool.
“Oh bollix.” Bono muttered, his eyes growing wide as Edge resurfaced sputtering and cursing. He climbed out of the pool quickly and began stalking toward Bono like a hungry jungle cat with the scent of blood in it’s nose.
Bono surprised Laney by quickly moving out of his own seat and sliding into hers, pulling her on top of himself as a human shield. Not that she was complaining. At all. Even if he had put her in mortal danger, she doubted she would complain. He was warm and solid underneath her, his sweet laughter in her ear and his moist breath against her skin. The surprise of it only added to the intensity of the sensation. That and the fact that she was barely clad, wearing a bikini which she had bought and worn only one other time, before that day.
She laughed out loud as Edge approached, still seemingly irate, and Bono referred to him as a ‘wet hen’. Needless to say, that did not help abate Edge’s vexation. Bono slid one thick hand across Laney’s exposed abdomen and wrapped the length of his arm around her, holding tight to her waist. His other hand was wrapped around her upper arm as he hid behind her.
She could hardly believe how solid he was; how very masculine. He smelled masculine, the width of his shoulders and squareness of his hips. Even the thickness of the thighs which she sat upon. He was everything she had fought for years to convince herself she would never find in one man.
“You wouldn’t hurt your own flesh and blood just to get even with me, would you?” Bono asked Edge with a smirk and Laney repressed a giggle. She tried to act impassive to the little game she had unintentionally become a part of, without hastening it’s end. She wasn’t in any particular hurry to move.
“You’d have been better off just gettin’ tossed in the pool.” Edge told him with a little smile. “Now you’re gonna be watching your back all the time, wonderin’ when it’s comin’.” Bono laughed at his friends threatening words. There was no malice in Edge’s eyes, and he knew the incident would be forgotten by the time the sun set that night.
Edge eyed his long time friend one more time as if considering going through Laney to get back at him, and then he settled into the chair Bono had abandoned. When Bono made no apparent move to leave, Laney leaned her head back, resting it against the mans shoulder.
“Getting’ comfortable, there, are ye?” She asked him, and he smiled at her, a smile which was just slightly too intimate for their relationship, and he nodded.
“I’m very comfortable, thanks.” He teased, his words softer than she expected them to be. They, too, carried an intimate quality. She swallowed hard over the lump which formed in her throat, her breathing picking up pace along with her heart as her eyes met his. Their faces were less than a foot apart, just about every other inch of their bodies touching already. She’d had sex dreams which were less erotic than this simple moment.
“Wait, wait…” He said, shifting his weight underneath her and directing her to a slightly different position. “Oh, yeah, right there, that’s better…” he told her with a dramatic moan, his eyes rolling back in his head playfully. She swatted him on the shoulder and rolled off his lap, afraid if she stayed any longer she would embarrass herself.
Did he know the power he held over her? The way the sound of his voice moaning like that made her feel? Her first response was doubt; she told herself he was only playing, after all. In her heart she wondered, though, if he had been testing her. Wanting to see how she would react. She smiled at him, her hands on her hips as she looked down at him in her chair.
“I ought to throw you in the bleedin’ pool myself, you scamp.” She told him and he grinned at her, silently daring her to try. She might have, too, if his mobile hadn’t began to buzz just then.
“Hello. Yeah, this is.” He answered the phone, his eyes finding some distant spot on the horizon as he spoke. “What? Right now? I don’t… right. Ok. No, no it’s ok.” He said, rising from the seat and saying goodbye before shoving the phone back into his trouser pocket.
“I’ve got to go, but it was really good seeing you again Laney.” He told her, his eyes meeting hers and lingering for a long moment. “Are we still on for tonight?” He asked, turning to Edge who nodded in agreement before Bono left in his usual whirlwind manner. He was a busy man, always in demand, someone or something else always needing his attention.
“Tonight?” Laney asked, looking at Edge. “ I thought we were going to dinner tonight?”
“We are.” Tessa told her. “Though we should call and change the reservations, tell them we have another guest.” She continued, thinking out loud now.
“It shouldn’t be a problem.” Edge told her, folding his hands behind his head and closing his eyes to the sun. Laney thought about it for a moment. In a few hours, she was going to see him again. She was used to going years in between meetings with the man, and now she had just a few hours to prepare herself to see him again. She excused herself, apologizing to Tessa for not sitting for the portrait for very long as she hurried off into the house.
“So how long has she been in love with him?” Tessa asked as soon as she was out of ear shot.
“What?”
“Laney. How long has she been in love with Bono?” She asked, and Edge shot her a bemused glance. “You do realize she’s in love with him, don’t you?”
“The only time she knew him at all, she was a child.” Edge argued, but in his gut he knew. He had always known. That was what made him so nervous about the reunion. It was a moment he’d been expecting for several long years. Tessa smiled at him knowingly.
“You know, the age difference isn’t so bad. They’re closer in age than Cat and Adam.” She said.
“Trine and Shane are closer in age difference than Cat and Adam, as well, but you wouldn’t bless that union, would you?” He replied, closing his eyes again and resting in the soothing afternoon sun.
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“Cat? Are you ready?” Adam called for the third time, looking at his watch as he stood near the doorway, anxious to leave for the evening.
“If I could find a pair of God-Damned pants that would actually fit!” She screamed back, her southern accent at it’s thickest when she was angry or frustrated. There was the sound of a discarded pair of pants hitting the door as she threw them violently across the room. Adam doubted he would get used to these temper tantrums. His hope lie squarely in the fact that she would only be pregnant for four more months.
“Why don’t you go shopping for maternity clothes? He had suggested a few days earlier. She had barely spoken to him for two days after that, and then she had wept and told him that he had called her fat. Now they were supposed to be meeting Edge, Tessa, and Bono for dinner, and they were already ten minutes past the time of the reservation.
Adam looked at Trine, who was rummaging through the refrigerator in search of something she had brought back from Texas with her. Apparently, nobody sold the type of salad dressing in Ireland which she liked to dip her French fries in. She felt his eyes on her back and turned to look at him, her eyes widening as she tried to think of a way out of what he was about to ask.
“Is there anything you can do to help her?” He asked, and the girl sighed, hanging her head defeatedly. For one thing, she wanted to be on her best behavior because he had allowed her to become a part of the band again. Another reason she was compelled to help was simply that she felt sorry for him. Cat was a handful, and he was clearly at the end of his rope. She turned on her heel and marched into their bedroom to hurry the process along and take the brunt of Cat’s foul mood.
A few moments later, when the door swung open and Cat stepped out in a flowing pastel skirt and a simple but beautifully cut silk shirt, Adam’s blue eyes shone pleasantly. Cat smiled shyly at his admiration, and Trine rolled her eyes at the pair.
“Thank you, Trine.” Adam told her politely and Trine fought a smile, which crossed her face anyway, and waved a dismissive hand. As much as she had once sought to hate the man, she loved him now. He was charming yet unassuming, spiritual and worldly at the same time. He was her father, but in so many ways, he was a friend, as well.
They weren’t gone five minutes before the phone rang, and Trine answered it with a sigh.
“Hey-llo?” she greeted the caller playfully, expecting it to be Edge or Tessa wondering where Adam and Cat were.
“Trine?” A familiar voice asked, and Trine’s heart quivered unexpectedly. “What are you doing tonight?” Alex asked, and trine glanced down at her cut-off sweat pants and ragged T-shirt, feeling like a total slob. As if he could see her through the phone. And why would it matter? It was just Alex, after all. It’s not like it was Larry or someone she wanted to think of her as pretty. But Alex had said she was pretty, already. The memory made her smile and blush, running a hand over her baby soft, short hair nervously.
“Nothing. Adam and Cat just went out to meet Edge, Tessa and Bono, I’m just sittin’ here.” She told him honestly, her palms starting to sweat in anticipation of him inviting her somewhere. She scolded herself for being so silly; he was just a band mate. An adorable band mate with a smile that made her stomach feel like it was full of butterflies.
“Oh. I was going to come over and see if Cat wanted to work on some stuff.” He replied, and Trine’s heart sank like a stone.
“Yeah, she’s out.” She told him again, her tone decidedly icy.
“Would you mind if I came over anyway? Maybe we could work on it. Or I dunno, watch a movie or something?” He asked, and she cursed herself for how quickly she agreed. She tried to act casually, after that, for fear he might get freaked out. She’d scared Larry away more than once by being too eager to see him.
As soon as she’d told him good-bye, she rushed back to her room to change her clothes, the thought barely crossing her mind that she hadn’t asked Adam if it would be ok to have someone visit. She dismissed it as quickly as it had occurred to her. He was a fellow band mate and a long time friend of Cat’s after all. What kind of trouble could it cause?
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When Edge, Tessa and Laney arrived at the restaurant they were quickly escorted to a table near the windows which was set aside from the other tables to ensure their privacy. She had to laugh at the way the young waiter fumbled over his words and dropped the menus as he tried to act naturally. It was obvious Edge was a hero to the boy.
Laney could understand why, he was definitely smart and talented. He had created something completely unique over the years. He had forged through and done things his way, because he didn’t like the way other people had done them. Still, he was, and would always be to her, just her cousin, Dave. A very cool if slightly annoying relative, someone whom she could count on to be there to help her out, and then to tease her mercilessly about it once the crisis had passed.
She doubted she would ever be the sort to like the sort of special attention he received. Even after so many years, he didn’t seem all that comfortable with it either. She was looking over the menu when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and a chill travel down her spine. She glanced up and saw his reflection in the window as he approached. She had to concentrate on her breathing to keep it slow and deep, and she spread the menu out on the table so no one would notice the way her hands had begun to tremble.
“There he is. I was beginning to think you and Adam had gone to another restaurant.” Edge greeted him with a little smile as Bono reached the table, patting Edge on the shoulders and then leaning in to kiss Tessa on the cheek in greeting.
“Adam’s not here yet?” He asked, though the answer was obvious, since neither Adam nor Cat were anywhere to be seen.
“Adam’s coming?” Laney asked with a soft smile, her eyes lighting up at the news.
“Yeah, he and his wife.” Edge informed her, barely noticing her enthusiasm as he scanned the menu as if it were the most serious decision of his life. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and Laney frowned, her throat tightening nervously at the possibility.
“Larry isn’t coming, is he?” She asked seriously, and Bono let out a surprised laugh.
“Oh, that’s right!” He said, shaking his head. “You’re scared of Larry, aren’t you?”
“No.” She replied defensively. She looked at her menu but could feel his eyes on her, knew he was smirking at her. “Not anymore.” She added softly, making him chuckle again. She glanced up at him with a mischievous smile and finished by adding, “Not since I got a cat.”
Everyone at the table, except for Tessa, laughed so hard that the entire dining room turned to look at them, wondering what was so funny. Edge actually had to rest his forehead on the table for a moment, doubled over with laughter.
“What?” Tessa finally asked, smiling a soft, bewildered smile at Laney, since she seemed to be the one who was most composed.
“Old joke.” She said dismissively, shaking her head.
“Larry hates cats.” Edge informed his fiancée’.
“Hates ‘em.” Bono echoed, since when their dear friend stated this fact he always said it twice for emphasis.
“No, Larry and his girlfriend are in the states with her family.” Edge finally replied to the original question.
“Why are you afraid of Larry?” Tessa asked seriously, her brown eyes wide with curiosity. Laney sighed and rubbed her eyes in embarrassment. It was a childish thing, being afraid of him.
“Because he used to chase her off when she tried to follow us around.” Edge informed her with a smile at the memory. “It got to the point he could scare her off just by looking at her.” He chuckled.
“At least he never turned the hose on you.” Bono told her with a playful wink.
“Feck he didn’t! He turned the hose on me once and threatened to stuff me in the bass drum more times than I can count!” she replied with mock indignation. The laughter from this was still rumbling when Adam and Cat arrived in a hurry, apologizing for their late appearance.
“Laney?” Adam asked, smiling a toothy smile when she turned to look up into those cobalt blue eyes of his. She could never resist that smile, it warmed her from the inside out, causing a wide grin to appear on her own face every time she saw it.
“Adam.” She replied, her eyes dancing as they washed over him. He had aged, she would not deny that, but he had aged as well as Bono had. How was it possible these men just kept getting sexier?
“Look at you, gel! Wow, how long has it been?” He asked, bending to embrace her in greeting. Laney chuckled and hugged him back, closing her eyes and savoring the memories which came rushing back to her.
“It’s been too long.” She replied sincerely as Adam moved away from her to pull a chair out for his pretty young wife, whom he introduced as Cat. Laney greeted her with a smile and a handshake, noticing her protruding belly with a smirk. Leave it to Adam, she thought, to find himself at age forty-five with a young, pregnant wife.
“I didn’t realize you guys were so close.” Edge said, his sea-green eyes darkening noticeably as he looked back and forth between Adam and Laney. Laney’s cheeks flushed and she smiled shyly.
“Oh, yeah. Adam was the first man I ever saw naked.” She informed him, looking at Adam with a mischievous grin, making Adam choke on the drink of water he had just taken. One of his giant hands hit the table as he managed to catch his breath through his laughter. Then he threw his head back and let out a belly laugh at the memory before running a hand over his face and trying to compose himself. He managed to contain his laughter, but could not seem to stop smirking.
“What?” Bono asked, and Laney had to admit her heart thrilled at the possibility that he was jealous. If you had told her, yesterday, that he would react at all to this story, she would’ve called you a liar. She turned her attention on the young woman sitting between herself and Adam to make sure she was not getting the wrong idea. Cat, it turned out, was laughing at the story.
“When I informed him of my intentions to study medicine, he graciously volunteered to give me an anatomy lesson.” Laney explained with a laugh.
“That sounds about right.” Cat said, nodding her head. Laney smiled approvingly. This woman knew Adam well, she thought, and she seemed to deal perfectly with who he was. Adam was a conundrum; a scoundrel and a gentleman at the same time. It would take a special kind of woman to appreciate that.
She glanced over at Edge to see him scowling rather than laughing.
“Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” She told him playfully. “It wasn’t so horribly inappropriate as you might assume. It was just … Adam.” Thankfully, right then, the young waiter returned inquiring about appetizers and drink orders, taking the focus off the revelation.
The conversation throughout dinner remained lively, full of laughter and energy, just as it always seemed to be around that particular group of men. Laney’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much, by the time the waiter inquired about dessert. She couldn’t recall a time when she’d had more fun.
When the hospital administration had imposed this ‘vacation’ on her, she had been irate. She should know better than them whether or not she needed a break. So what if the only vacation she had taken in past years had been to go to Africa and work with doctors without borders? She loved her work.
Her work was her life. She had no family to speak of, no love life, and very few interests which she bothered to pursue outside of medicine. She was bored out of her mind on days off, so why should she want an entire month to do nothing with?
She silently apologized for the curses she’d muttered while leaving the hospital that day, and the one’s she’d said while packing her bags. She had forgotten what it was like to really laugh out loud and be uninhibited. She felt like her old self again, for a while.
Then there was the other factor, of course. She was giddy over the way he looked at her, those deep blue eyes washing over her like warm water. She’d given up on ever seeing that look in his eye years ago, but there it was. She had doubted it, at first. Thought perhaps earlier, at their brief reunion in the backyard, she’d been imagining it. Now, after whiling away nearly two hours over dinner, she was certain she had seen it again.
Intimacy. Curiosity. Seduction. He said so much with his eyes, it was a wonder he ever needed to speak at all. Of course, she would hate to see that fabulous voice of his wasted, either. So when dinner was over and he suggested they go for a drink, somewhere, her heart felt as if it might explode. She was trying hard not to get dragged back down into her adolescent fantasies, but here she was practically living them.
“I don’t think so. Not tonight.” Edge replied, and Laney’s heart dropped into her gut. She turned to look at him in disbelief, feeling like a 12 year old girl who’d been told she couldn’t go to the slumber party all her other friends would be attending.
“Why not?” She blurted, sounding a lot like a twelve year old as well. She bit her lip and forced herself to get it together. The last thing she needed was to turn back into the little girl with a crush.
“Really. What else have you got to do?” Bono inquired, tossing back the last of the Guinness he’d ordered with his dinner. Laney tried not to stare as he licked the last few drops from his lips, but she realized she had failed miserably when he winked at her, making her blush bright red.
“I hate to say it, but I’m way too tired.” Cat replied with a sigh. She looked up into Adam’s eyes and told him, “You can go, if you want to. I don’t want to make you go home early if you want to stay out…” Adam rolled his eyes at her and kissed her on the tip of the nose, and Laney could almost see the love radiating from the pair like a visible aura.
Adam had never looked better. He was healthy, sober and in love. It gave her hope for her own future, to see him like that. She had often wondered if there was anything other than her work, left for her remaining years. Wasn’t love and romance, even family, supposed to have been established by the time she turned thirty two? Apparently, that just wasn’t the case.
Lost in her thoughts on that subject, Laney didn’t hear him, at first. Even then, it took a moment for it to register that he was speaking to her. She blinked up at him as he stood and stretched before moving around the table beside her.
“What?” She asked, her head foggy with the wine she’d had with her meal and simply being close enough to feel his body heat.
“I said it looks like it’s just you and me, then.” Bono repeated himself with a smirk, speaking more slowly and deliberately. “Unless you want to beg off as well?” He asked, leaning against the table in order to bring our faces closer to each other. As if she ever could tell him no, even if she wanted to. Which she couldn’t imagine.
“No. I mean, yeah. I mean… Just you and me.” She stammered, taking a final sip of her wine to buy herself a moment to get her heart to start beating again. She said her goodbyes and slipped out before anyone could possibly take the opportunity away from her, promising herself she would make this would be a night she would never forget.
Looking forward to the next one, as always!
By the way, thanks for sending me Chapter 18 email. 
