Page 20 of Tess, Property of Blaze

Tess

Iquietly open the restroom door and shove the phone from Viper into my back pocket. I tiptoe out into the hallway of the café, sneaking my head around the corner to look into the main room. Luisa is still sitting at our table, her back toward me. I can’t go back there, she’ll see my cut lip and bruised cheek and I’ll be forced to try to explain what happened, and I just can’t do that right now.

She’s typing away on her phone, distracted by whatever is on her screen, so I quickly sprint to the café’s front door and head out onto the street, hailing a cab as soon as I’m out of sight of the café.

“Where to, miss?” the driver asks as I slide into the back seat with my phone in hand.

“Just drive,” I reply urgently, staring out the rear window of the cab at the café and then glancing back to the driver.

He looks over his shoulder at me and raises his eyebrows. “Sorry, did you say just drive?”

I quickly shoot my gaze from his to the café, and then back to the front of the cab, panic filling me. I tap the driver’s seat and say urgently, “Just drive, now!”.

He finally understands and takes off, and I sit back in my seat, blowing out a relieved breath, shutting my eyes and trying to calm myself down. He just drives around for a little while until I can figure out where I’m going to go. I can’t go back to the club, not looking like this, anyway, Blaze will want answers, and I can’t explain it all right now. I also don’t know how he’ll react.

I chew on my lip, forgetting about the cut, and wince at the sting. “Where can I go?” I whisper to myself. I don’t want to be alone right now, not after seeing Viper.

My phone rings and I jump in my seat, worried that it’s Viper, but then realize it’s from my phone, not the one he’s given me. I look down at the screen; Luisa is calling me. I quickly dismiss the call, feeling guilt about abandoning her at the café like I did, but then a thought comes to my mind—Jeff, that’s where I’ll go. Jeff won’t say a thing, and I can trust him, he’s never given me reason not to. And Jeff won’t push me to tell him what happened, he isn’t like that.

I search my phone for his number and dial it. It rings endlessly, and I almost hang up, when finally he answers, sounding out of breath. “Yo.”

“Jeff?”

“That you, Tess?”

I look out my window at the busy streets we’re travelling through. “Yeah, it’s me. Why are you out of breath?” I can’t help but ask.

“I was just punching a bag, why? What’s up?”

I pause for a second, then say, “I… I need a favor.”

“So what is it? You need me to open the shop tomorrow?” he asks, then a gulping sound, like he’s drinking.

“Um… no, that’s not it…. I… um….” Ugh.

“Spit it out, Tess. You’ve never held back from me before.”

I manage a slight smile, knowing he’s right. I don’t hold back when I disagree with something Jeff says. I inhale a shaky breath, worried that he might say no to me coming over. I really have no one else to turn to.

“I was wondering if it would be okay… if I came over?” I say hesitantly, chewing on a fingernail.

“You wanna come here? Now? What’s going on, Tess?”

“Jeff, please,” I plead, my emotions causing my throat to clog and a single tear to roll down my cheek. “I just need somewhere to stay for a while, I can’t go into more detail right now.”

“Did something happen with you and Blaze?”

I shake my head even though he can’t see me. “No, nothing like that. Please, Jeff, I have no one else to turn to.”

I hear him let go of a breath on the other end of the phone. “Tess, I don’t want a mad biker club at my doorstep, you sure you and Blaze are fine?”

“I promise, now are you gonna let me come or what?” I say, getting a little irritated now. I thought he was my friend, what the hell is he worried about? I’d never put him in a dangerous situation like that.

“Okay, come over, you know where I’m at?”

“Yes, I do. I’ll see you in fifteen.”

I end the call and give directions to the driver to Jeff’s apartment. He eyes me in the rearview mirror and nods his head. Once we arrive, I pay him using my phone, forgetting that I left my purse back at the café. My phone vibrates, and once I’m on the sidewalk in front of Jeff’s building and the cab pulls away, I check my phone. It’s a text from Lu: Where are you? I’m worried, you just left without saying a word, please let me know you’re okay.

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