Page 71 of Getting it Wrong (Addy's Rollercoaster)

Tired, so very tired, I stumbled and grabbed the rail as I took the stairs to the basement level. Noting the red light on the alarm panel downstairs, I turned and followed the long corridor to the end. Hearing the murmur of voices on the other side of the storage room door, I tensed. My heart rate kicked up as I inserted my key. One of the voices was surely Rachel’s, but the other was deep and masculine.

Could it be Collin? He hadn’t spared me another glance all evening.

Carefully, I opened the door. The soft glow of pink, orange, green, and violet lights greeted me, lights in the shape of butterflies dangling from strings tied to the ceiling. Lights currently being tied.

With his back to me, Barry was on top of a stepladder, and Rachel stood directly beneath him. Shifting, she glanced at me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Trying to surprise you.” Barry turned to look at me and tottered, but my sister steadied him, putting her hand on his calf.

Quickly crossing the room, I placed my hand on the other. Beneath his jeans, he was solid muscle.

“You should be in bed already.” I narrowed my gaze on Rachel. I didn’t have it in me to handle Barry right now. He shouldn’t even be here.

“I’m not sleepy.” Rachel was fully dressed, wearing her jean jacket and a knit cap on her head.

Irritation flooded me. As nice as this gesture was, I was barely able to stand on my feet. “I don’t know why not. I’m exhausted.”

“We figured you were.” Rachel didn’t wither to be on the receiving end of my frustration. “That’s why we wanted to get this done before it got any later.”

“He shouldn’t know where we are.” I treated her first, then him, to a dose of my displeasure.

“It wasn’t too difficult to figure out,” Barry said while climbing down the ladder.

“I’ll bet you just asked where we were staying tonight.” I shook my head at Rachel. “And she told you.”

“It was a little more involved than that.” Barry folded the ladder and tucked it away in an alcove behind the metal shelves that held supplies. “What do you think?”

He pointed to the ceiling, and his faded gray T-shirt that was too tight and too small lifted, revealed a far too sexy glimpse of his abs.

Tearing my gaze away, I looked up. A flock of butterflies floated above me. Did they come in flocks? It seemed to me whenever I saw one, they always flew alone.

I focused on a two-toned one. Its wings blue and copper, it fluttered in the air blowing from the vent as if it were a real butterfly free to fly wherever it wished, and not one tethered to an inescapable string. Like me.

“It’s very pretty. Thank you,” I said softly.

Staring at the colorful ceiling, my eyes were full of color, but my mind remained empty of sound. Butterflies might look like music made me feel, but I couldn’t hear it anymore.

I turned back to my sister and my friend. “I don’t know where you got them or how you managed to sneak inside here when security did their last sweep of the club,” that last bit was for Barry, “but we can save a discussion about how this can’t happen again for another time.” I pulled in a much-needed breath and let it out. “You need to go.”

Barry’s jaw firmed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“There are cameras everywhere.” I gave him a pleading look, twisting my hands.

Martin wouldn’t want Barry here; I knew that for certain. No matter how nice his dinner and the conversation that accompanied it had been, what Martin didn’t want was something to be avoided.

“I can’t afford to lose my job, Barry.”

“I disabled the camera in here.” Barry pointed to the corner where a loose wire now dangled from a nearly invisible video camera. A shiver rolled through me, knowing it was there and had probably been on when I’d changed clothes earlier. “I bought the decorations for your birthday, but I figured you needed the pick-me-up now.”

“I did. It was a very thoughtful thing to do.”

The truth was, I needed more than a pick-me-up. I desperately wanted a hug from my best friend. But I couldn’t ask or allow myself to have it. If his strong and steadying arms came around me, I knew I would lose the very loose grip I had on keeping my shit together.

“My thoughts are nearly always on you,” he said low, his compelling gaze locked on mine. “I wish ...” He cleared his throat. “Well, that’s no longer important. What is important is you. Come here.”

Moving toward me, he opened his arms.

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