Echo’s lips press together. “You better start talking, Lil, and you better do that now. I don’t like being kept out of the loop. You know that.”
“There may have been a beating just after you left town,” Lilith says. “And then there may have been some pressure applied to Heath in the form of his clients being encouraged to desert him. I mean, you lost everything because of what that asshole did; it was only fair he lost some shit too.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this when it happened?” Echo says.
“You were busy just getting through your days. I’m telling you now.”
Echo reaches for her coffee and takes a sip. Looking at me, she says, “Who taught you how to make good coffee?”
“My aunt.”
“I like her already,” Echo says.
I chuckle as I shake my head. “You’ve gotta stop making snap decisions about liking people so fast.”
She shrugs. “We agreed life’s short. What I need to do more of is trust my gut. That’s where I went wrong with my husband.” Giving her attention back to her friend, she says, “Okay, so Liam roughed Heath up and tried to screw with his work. How and why did I not hear about this?”
“Sweetie,” Lilith says, “you’ve been out in the wilderness for six months. No one’s got time to pay attention to life when they’re out there. And also, Liam told him not to go running to you.”
Echo rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t out in the damn wilderness. I was in Sydney working.”
“Yes, working, but mostly just trying to make it through the day. You do recall all the hours we spent on the phone while you cried your soul out, right?”
Echo takes a moment considering that and then nods. “I do.” She guzzles some more coffee and looks at me. “You’re in charge of making coffee while you’re staying here.”
“Can we just circle back to Heath and the photo you sent me tonight,” Lilith says. “I want to make sure we’re not in danger of you getting in your car and going to his place to tell him what you think of him.”
“Not right now, we’re not,” Echo says. From the way she says this, I have zero doubt that if the mood strikes her tomorrow, she’d do it. And fuck if that doesn’t turn me on. I like a woman with some fire in her soul.
“Okay, but I think we can both agree it’s a bad idea. I mean, I’m all for Heath knowing what a fucking asshole he is, but I’m not about my best friend becoming fresh meat down at Wacol because she couldn’t stop herself from trying to build new skills, namely inflicting grievous bodily harm.”
“I don’t know, learning new skills is always a good thing,” Echo says with a shrug. “I haven’t learnt anything new in a long time.”
Lilith finishes her coffee and places the mug down on the marble counter we’re standing around. “If you end up at Wacol, your coffee machine is mine. I also call dibs on your mother’s paintings. Not her sculptures, though. They’re just plain fucking weird.”
Echo laughs. “I’ll never understand your aversion to her sculptures.”
“I like dick, but I don’t need dicks all over my apartment.”
I eye the sculpture I can see beyond the dining table. At first glance, I wouldn’t have assumed it was a dick, but now I see that it is. It’s subtle, but it’s definitely a dick.
“Right,” Lilith says as she wakes her phone up to see the time. “It’s getting close to your running time, so I’m gonna go before you try and drag me out there with you.” She looks at me. “Do not let any harm come to her or you will have me to answer to before Liam or Zane even get close to you.”
I chuckle. This chick is fucking amusing. “Should I expect to see you at three tomorrow morning?”
“I like to keep men guessing, so I’ll refrain from answering that,” she says, causing my grin to grow. “What time are you going to see your mum today?” she asks Echo.
“I’m gonna have dinner with her,” Echo says.
“Okay, well I’ve got a date tonight that I may need your assistance with,” Lilith says. “Do not let me down, sissy. While you’ve been out there in the wilderness, I’ve had to handle shit on my own. Let the record show, I’m not cut out to handle shit on my own.”
Echo smiles like she really loves what her friend just said. “I’ve got you.”
“Good,” Lilith says before wrapping her arms around Echo and squeezing her hard. They cling to each other for long enough that I begin to wonder if they’ll ever let go, but they do, at which point Lilith’s eyes come to mine and she jabs a finger my way as she says, “Don’t forget what we talked about, Mr Caveman. You will hurt if my bestie gets hurt.”
With that she leaves the kitchen. The front door opens and closes a moment later and Echo and I are left alone.
I eye her. “Why do I feel like a fucking tornado just hit and then left just as fast?”
She laughs. “That’s one way to describe Lil. A mini tornado.”
“And what did she mean by you going running soon?”
“I usually start waking up around four and am out running by five. Not today, though. I need sleep.” She looks me up and down. “And you need rest. How’s your body feeling?”
“I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”
She places our mugs in the dishwasher before saying, “Do you have everything you need?”
“Yeah.”
As we exit the kitchen and she heads towards the stairs, she says, “Thank you for doing this. I know I sounded like an ungrateful brat earlier when I whinged about Zane and Liam, but I appreciate you putting your shit on hold to look out for me.”
I watch her ass all the way up those damn stairs.
I also think about the fact I’ve known her less than twenty-four hours and yet it feels like I’ve known her for a long fucking time.
I don’t know what the fuck that’s about.
I’ve never met anyone I’ve thought this about.
I’ve also never met a woman I wanted to spend time with like I do with Echo.
Christ.
I need to get laid.
I’m not the kind of man who wants anything but some fun and some sex. Life’s too fucking short and unpredictable to want anything more.
6
Colt
Echo said she was tired, but when I stir just after 8:00 a.m., she looks like she’s been awake for hours.
“Morning,” she says with a smile that makes being awake after only a few hours sleep worth it.
Gone are the track pants and hoodie from last night, and in their place are black jeans and a black T-shirt. As she makes her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, I catch the ‘Don’t be a little Bitch’ written on the back of the tee.
“You want coffee?” she calls out as the sounds of her pottering around in the kitchen fill the room.
I push up off the couch, doing my best to ignore the pain in my body, and say, “Yeah. Thanks.”
After using the bathroom, I join her in the kitchen, noting the candles she’s lit throughout the place and the movie playing through the sound system. I also note she’s wearing less make-up today and the look suits the fuck out of her.