The Funeral of a Good Girl

By – TempestRaces

Chapter Thirty-One – Of Trust and Low Expectations

"Will you look at that," Leon drawled, watching Tempest and Vince cross around the dance floor, Vince's possessive arm around his companion's shoulders.

Dom sighed, rubbing his head. "I thought you said she dropped him at races."

"She did."

"Guess she changed her mind," Jesse added.

"I didn't see Vince being able to overlook the fact that she dropped him in public," Letty said.

"Maybe he didn't. Maybe he's just holding her upright or some shit," Jesse said, grinning. "She's so wasted I don't know how she didn't fall down in a drunk pile somewhere ages ago."

"She is pretty drunk," Leon admitted with a grin. "And it's mostly your fault," he accused Jesse. "Every time she stopped drinkin' you appeared another shot in front of her."

"She's a riot when she's loaded. Am I right or what?" Jesse grinned.

"She's not gonna be lovin' you too much when she wakes up in the morning," Leon reminded. "But I never dreamed she was crazy enough to pole dance."

"She's crazy enough for anything when she's drinking tequila."

Before anyone else could make a comment, Vince and Tempest reached the booth. "You guys ready to head out?" Vince asked the group.

"Yeah," Dom answered with a relieved sigh, glad they could finally be underway. "What the fuck kept you guys?"

"Bumped into each other in the bathroom hall and got to talkin'," Vince answered in a tone that left no room for further discussion.

Tempest looked up at him in shock. He made up a lie to tell his friends all in the interest of keeping her secret and not embarrassing her in front of her cousin and his friends. It seemed out of character for him. But that didn't stop her from being glad he'd done it. So she had a serious decision to make for herself. She had told him she was done with him. And she had meant it. But had she made a mistake? Or was his conduct tonight enough to compensate for his words this morning? Was the comfort and pleasure she knew she would find with him tonight worth what she knew was coming when she left? Was a week of his company worth the week of fights and heartbreak that would go hand in hand with it? It was a simple decision really. It only took a minute movement to allow her to lean into his side and slide a hand into one the back pockets of his jeans. With him she felt safe from the world. What he could do to her all on his own would have to be a worry for another day.

"Well, whatever. Let's go already," Dom said with a long suffering sigh.

They all walked into the parking lot after saying good night to Hector. They headed for where Mia's car was parked, with Letty's sitting right beside it.

Like he knew something he hadn't been told, Leon offered to ride with Dom and Letty for the trip home. It left the back seat of Mia's car free for Tempest and Vince. Not that anyone was sure what was going on between the two of them, but it was still clear something was. Leon didn't even know if he was doing either of them any favours to be enabling whatever they thought they were doing. But something was just off about Tempest, and if she wanted to be with Vince, than that was what he was going to let her do.

It wasn't like Vince was clear on exactly what was up between Tempest and him either. It was something he couldn't help but think on as he walked toward Mia's car, his arm still around Tempest's shoulders as she leaned wearily against his side. He wasn't even willing to yell at her anymore. Not after what she'd been through. Angry as he still was about the joke she'd helped play on him and about what she'd said to him at races, it was scary how fast seeing someone being harmed changed your mind about how much you needed to fight with them. He was willing to keep his anger inside if it meant keeping her from any further distress. Wanting to wrap a woman in cotton wool and protect her from everything that could hurt her wasn't something he was used to. Least of all with a woman like her. A woman who hardly seemed to need anyone nine times out of ten. She was the last person who would appreciate him thinking he needed to protect her from anything, yet she was the only one he had ever really felt that way about.

He really hadn't ever even felt that way about Mia. Sure, he felt a desire not to share her; he was possessive over her, jealous when she dated other guys. But he had never felt a need to protect her from the world. Just a need to be the only guy she was dating and sleeping with. He growled at himself internally. He hated to over-think on things like he was currently doing. Why couldn't his brain just see that he had found a guy trying to do something he found repulsive, to a woman he had come to care about due to her relationship with one of his best friends and the fact they had had several nights of very good sex, and let it go? Why did he have to think about what it meant that he thought about her differently and felt about her differently than he did other girls?

Before he could spend any more time over-thinking the answers to that question, they stopped beside the car and Mia unlocked the doors. He opened the door before Jesse could and flipped the seat forward. He slid in, crawled over to the far side, and watched as Tempest slid into the back with him before Jesse could. Jesse tried, but his little cousin was a little quicker on the draw. Vince wanted to be upset that Jesse didn't even want her to share a car seat with him for a half hour drive home, but he couldn't. He'd done enough to her in a week to understand why Jesse was feeling protective. But when it came down to brass tacks, his cousin was only two months younger than he was. He couldn't protect her from things she didn't want to be protected from.

And judging by the way she landed on her own side of the back seat before promptly falling over to land with the back of her head on his thigh as her cheek pressed against his stomach, she had made her choice. "Man, I'm so drunk and tired," she moaned, kicking her feet up onto the seat to better stretch out. "If I'm passed out or dead when we get home, just leave me in the car 'til morning. If I'm dead, you can deal with it then. If I'm passed out, I'll just sleep in here until I wake up. Ok?"

"Sure," Mia replied, laughing. "You can just sleep in my car. But if you throw up back there, I'll have to kick your butt."

"Yeah, you threatening me is real scary," Tempest said on a yawn, as if to illustrate how not scary the prospect was.

Jesse chuckled. "Don't think she takes you seriously at all Mi."

"I got that, thanks," Mia answered, giggling softly. "She actually pass out?" she asked, when Tempest didn't have a smart ass reply.

"I think so," Vince answered, talking low to let her stay out of it if she was. He tipped his head back onto the headrest and allowed himself to drift, idly toying with Tempest's hair with one hand as the other stroked absently over her stomach. She shifted in her sleep with a quiet groan, settling on her side facing the back of the car seat with her head turned on an angle to allow her cheek to rest against his stomach. His hand reached out to brush hair out of her face without conscious thought. When her eyes fluttered open a few minutes later he was still unconsciously stroking her hair back from her face.

"Did I fall asleep?" she murmured.

"Yeah, for about ten minutes. We got twenty or so more to drive, so just go back to sleep."

She yawned sleepily in answer to his statement before shifting again, sitting up before reclining against his chest and closing her eyes. "If you say so."

He shifted sideways against the side of the car so she was reclined onto the center of his chest at a more comfortable angle. "You know, pretty much the only time you listen to me is when you're exhausted and you're half asleep."

"Um," she answered, burrowing closer into him.

He wasn't sure if she was even aware what she had answered to. He was pretty sure she was actually already back asleep. He was sure of it when she snored softly a few times before fisting one hand in his shirt as if she needed to hold onto something to make sure they wouldn't leave her alone. There was that need to keep her safe again. It was hard not to feel that way when she was curled up against him so trustingly, as though she could sleep because he was there. It was a sobering, completely terrifying thought. Mia and Jesse were talking softly but he couldn't follow their conversation at all. He was too wrapped up in watching the subtle emotions that played across the face of the girl in his arms while she slept, as he fought against a rising tide of panic. She trusted him. Really, honestly, trusted him-in spite of everything. Could that be good? When it came to her, and his ability to treat her the way she deserved, he didn't trust himself. How could she trust him so totally? His thoughts encompassed his total attention as he struggled to pigeonhole how he felt about the whole situation.

So much so that when they parked at home, he wasn't really aware where they were, just that the car had stopped moving.

"So, are you both going to sleep back there all night?"

Mia's question brought him out of his own little world. "Shit, guess I felt asleep too," he said. He hoped it would cover up for the way he had been acting.

"Yeah, ok," Mia answered. Her tone gave away the fact she didn't buy his story for a second. "You coming into the house or not?"

"Yeah. Fuck, gimme a second, would you?"

"Ok. Don't bite my head off. What're we going to do with her? Leave her here to sleep like she said?"

"No. I'll take her in the house. Don't worry about it."

"Vince," Mia started and then stopped on a sigh.

"What?" he growled in reply to a question which had only been implied, not asked.

"It's just," Mia paused again. "It's just that it was likely a good thing that someone put a stop to things where they did. I don't think it's such a hot idea for the two of you to pick back up where you left off."

"Your concern is duly noted, mother," Vince snipped sarcastically. "You think I'm gonna just. Gonna just," there was no good way to finish that thought when talking to Mia, Vince mused as he pondered how to finish his sentence. "Just gonna," he growled instead of saying anything else, "while she's passed out drunk? You think I'm that low?"

"Of course not! I'm just worried. About both of you. And I know it's none of my business. But I worry."

"I know you do. But you don't have to. We're gonna be fine." He wanted to tell Mia everything, so she'd understand. Because he wanted to get it off his chest, didn't want it to be solely his worry anymore and wanted to share the burden with someone else. But he couldn't violate the trust that had been placed in him. He sighed. "She can't be alone in case she gets sick in the night, ok? That's all there is to this. You don't have to worry."

"When did you turn into a knight in shining armour?" Mia asked with a giggle.

"Dunno," he mumbled in discomfort. "Don't assign me boy scout points I didn't earn, Mia. I owe her plenty. This is the least I can do."

"Guess I can't argue with that. Get to bed before you fall down already."

"Well, if someone'd shut up, I'd be down the stairs already."

"Man, you can be a real prince, you know that V?" Mia slammed the car door closed after Vince got out of the back seat, somehow managing to juggle his hold on the sleeping Tempest and keep his own balance. She shook her head in annoyance. Was there anything a person could say to Vince that he wouldn't take the wrong way? On purpose, to have a reason to act like a jackass half the time?

"Yeah, yeah, I'm an asshole. I get it already. Shit, I hear it a couple hundred times a day lately. I might be stupid, but I ain't that stupid that I don't get it."

"Yeah, stupid is the last thing you are," Mia retorted sharply. "Not that you want to let on to that. At least if we all think you're stupid, we don't expect too much out of you."

Sick of the argument, Vince only shrugged. "Can I go to bed now? I'm pretty tired and she's a dead weight here."

"Yes, just go already." Mia watched Vince precede her up the walk and fought a need to stomp her foot after him. What a frustrating man!